nd continue the stout race of the
Guelphs. The lot fell on Duke George, the sixth brother. The others
remained single, or contracted left-handed marriages after the princely
fashion of those days. It is a queer picture--that of the old prince dying
in his little wood-built capital, and his seven sons tossing up which
should inherit and transmit the crown of Brentford. Duke George, the lucky
prizeman, made the tour of Europe, during which he visited the Court of
Queen Elizabeth; and in the year 1617, came back and settled at Zell, with
a wife out of Darmstadt. His remaining brothers all kept their house at
Zell, for economy's sake. And presently, in due course, they all died--all
the honest dukes; Ernest, and Christian, and Augustus, and Magnus, and
George, and John--and they are buried in the brick church of Brentford
yonder, by the sandy banks of the Aller.

Dr. Vehse gives a pleasant glimpse of the way of life of our dukes in
Zell. "When the trumpeter on the tower has blown," Duke Christian
orders--viz. at nine o'clock in the morning, and four in the evening, every
one must be present at meals, and those who are not must go without. None
of the servants, unless it be a knave who has been ordered to ride out,
shall eat or drink in the kitchen or cellar; or, without special leave,
fodder his horses at the prince's cost. When the meal is served in the
Court-room, a page shall go round and bid every one be quiet and orderly,
forbidding all cursing, swearing, and rudeness; all throwing about of
bread, bones, or roast, or pocketing of the same. Every morning, at seven,
the squires shall have their morning soup, along with which, and dinner,
they shall be served with their under-drink--every morning, except Friday
morning, when there was sermon, and no drink. Every evening they shall
have their beer, and at night their sleep-drink. The butler is especially
warned not to allow noble or simple to go into the cellar: wine shall only
be served at the prince's or councillor's table; and every Monday, the
honest old Duke Christian ordains the accounts shall be ready, and the
expenses in the kitchen, the wine and beer cellar, the bakehouse and
stable, made out.

Duke George, the marrying duke, did not stop at home to partake of the
beer and wine, and the sermons. He went about fighting wherever there was
profit to be had. He served as general in the army of the circle of Lower
Saxony, the Protestant army; then he went over to the e