g glance, the noble,
resolute face of whom was pallid with deep grief, but from whose eyes
there beamed courageous energy. "Are you the translator of the chapters
from Tacitus, which my Minister Herzberg handed me?" asked the king,
after a pause.

"Yes, sire," gently answered Moritz.

"I am told that it is ably done," continued his majesty, still
attentively observing him. "You will acknowledge that it is exceedingly
difficult to render the concise style of Tacitus into the prolix,
long-winded German?"

"Pardon me, sire," replied Moritz, whose youthful impetuosity could
with difficulty be diverted from the real object of his pilgrimage.
"Our language is by no means long-winded, and there is no difficulty in
translating Latin authors into German, which equals any living tongue
in beauty and sonorousness, and surpasses them all in depth of thought,
power, and poesy."

"Diable!" cried the king, smiling; "you speak like an incarnate German
philologist, who confounds the sound of words with profound thought. You
will acknowledge that until now our language has not been much known."

"Sire," answered Moritz, "Martin Luther, in his translation of the Bible
three hundred years since, employed hundreds of beautiful, expressive
formations."

"He is not only a learned man," said the king to himself, "but he seems
an honorable one; and now, as I have proved his scholarly attainments,
I must indulge his impatience." The king's penetrating glance softened,
and his features changed their severe expression. "The Minister von
Herzberg informed me that he found you by the roadside, and that you
would journey hither on foot."

"It is true, sire."

"Why did you travel in that manner?"

"Sire, I desired, as the poor, heavily-laden pilgrims of the middle
ages, to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Father at Rome, who was the
king of kings. Every step in advance seemed to them to lighten their
burden and enhance their happiness. Your majesty is in our day what the
pope was held to be in the middle ages, therefore I have wandered as
a pilgrim to my king, who has the power to bind and to loose, and from
whom I must not only implore personal happiness, but that also of a good
and amiable young girl."

"Ah! it concerns a love-affair. As I now look at you, I can understand
that. You are young and passionate, and the maidens have eyes. How can I
help you in such an adventure?"

"Sire, by not granting a title to a certain person, or if i