wned prince, and his
companion willingly left him in this delusion. About evening they
arrived at a city, at the entrance of which they perceived a crowd of
people assembled round a tower, in which culprits condemned to death were
accustomed to pass the last night of their lives. Faustus, observing
that the people were looking up to the ironed windows with the deepest
sorrow, asked the cause of this assemblage. Whereupon a hundred voices
gave him an answer.

"Dr. Robertus, our father, the friend of freedom, the protector of the
people, the avenger of the oppressed, sits imprisoned in yonder tower.
The cruel tyrannical Minister, once his friend, has now condemned him to
death; and to-morrow he is to be executed, because he dared to uphold our
privileges."

These words sunk deep into the soul of Faustus. He conceived a high
opinion of a man who, at the risk of his own life, had dared to stand
forward as the avenger of his fellow-creatures. As he himself had just
been a witness of the consequences of oppression, he commanded the Devil
to carry him to this doctor. The Devil took him aside, and then flew up
with him into the tower, and entered the cell of the avenger of the
people. Faustus saw before him a man whose daring and gloomy physiognomy
was truly disgusting. But the romantic imagination of Faustus pictured,
at first sight, the form of a great man, from what he had heard and from
what he saw before him. The doctor did not seem much surprised at their
sudden appearance. Faustus approached him, and said:

"Doctor Robertus, I come to hear your story from your own mouth; not that
I have any doubt, for your appearance confirms all that has been told me
of you; I am now convinced that you fall a sacrifice to that tyranny
which oppresses the race of man, and which I abhor as much as you do. I
come likewise to offer you my assistance, which, contrary to all
appearances, can extricate you from this dreadful situation."

The doctor looked coldly upon him, let his face sink into his hands, and
replied:

"Yes, I fall a victim to power and tyranny; and, what is most grievous to
me, through the means of a false friend, who sacrifices me more to his
fear and envy than to his despotic principles. I know not who ye are,
and whether ye can save me; but I wish that men of your appearance should
know Dr. Robertus, who is to bleed to-morrow in the cause of freedom.
From my earliest youth the noble spirit of independence,