two
parties; and for many years nothing was heard, spoken, or dreamt of, but
the Devil, the white nun, and Father Gebhardt. The matter was argued
from the pulpit of every sect: mountebanks, Capuchins, and dog-doctors,
made it their theme; while the lawyers, after having taken the
depositions of the nun and the father, and confronted them with each
other, wrote folio volumes concerning the sinful and unsinful chances of
the dream. Was this a time for Faustus and his discoveries to succeed?

In Frankfort, which is at the present day the asylum of science, Faustus,
however, hoped for better fortune. He offered his Bible to the reverend
Town Council for two hundred gold guilders; but, as a large sum had just
been expended in purchasing five hogsheads of prime Rhenish for the
council cellar, his demand came rather unseasonably. He paid his court
to the town-clerk, to the speaker, and to the senators,--from the proud
patrician to the yet prouder head of the shoemaker guild. He was
promised by all favour, protection, and assistance.

At length he attached himself to the then presiding mayor, from whom he
for a long time gained nothing; but, as if in recompense, the
lady-mayoress kindled a violent passion in his susceptible heart. One
evening the mayor assured him that the council, on their next day of
meeting, would come to a determination, by virtue of which the assembled
members would most probably pay down the sum for the Bible. Faustus
replied, that his children might very possibly die of hunger before so
enlightened an assembly had decided; and, maddened with despair, he now
returned to his solitary apartment. In this moment he suddenly
recollected his magic formula. The thought of running some bold risk,
and of purchasing independence of man by an alliance with the Devil,
rushed more vividly than ever through his brain. Yet the idea terrified
him. With hasty steps, furious gestures, and fearful cries, he strode up
and down the chamber, struggling with his rebellious spirit, which urged
him to penetrate the surrounding darkness; still his soul shuddered and
was unresolved. The clock struck eleven from the neighbouring tower.
Black night hung about the earth. The north-wind howled, and clouds
obscured the face of the full moon. Nature now appeared in a second
chaos. A night more suited to bewilder an excited imagination could not
be conceived. Yet was the beam of his mind balanced. In one scale hung
relig