e firmness and paternal kindness.
Nothing could exceed the actual and moral happiness of the principality,
whose laborious and steady population, by their soberness and piety,
presented a pure specimen of the German character. This excellent people
enjoyed so much real felicity, and were so perfectly contented with
their condition, that the enlightened care of the Grand Duke was not
much called into action to preserve them from the mania of
constitutional innovations. As far as modern discovery went, and those
practical suggestions which have a wholesome influence over the
well-being and morals of his people, the Grand Duke was always anxious
to acquire knowledge himself, and apply it invariably for the use and
benefit of his people, his residents at the capitals of the different
states of Europe having little else to occupy themselves whilst on their
mission but to keep their master fully informed as to the rise and
progress of science and all the arts which are connected with public
welfare and public utility.

We have said that the Duke felt as much affection as gratitude for the
old Marquis d'Harville, who, in 1815, had rendered him immense service;
and so, thanks to his powerful recommendation, Sarah of Halsbury and her
brother were received at the court of Gerolstein with every distinction,
and with marked kindness. A fortnight after her arrival, the young
Scotch girl, endued with so profound a spirit of observation, had easily
penetrated the firm character and open heart of the Grand Duke. Before
she began to seduce his son,--a thing of course,--she had wisely
resolved to discover the disposition of the father. Although he had
appeared to dote on his son, she was yet fully convinced that this
father, with all his tenderness, would never swerve from certain
principles, certain ideas as to the duty of princes, and would never
consent to what he would consider a _mesalliance_ for his son, and that
not through pride, but from conscience, reason, and dignity. A man of
this firm mould, and the more affectionate and good in proportion as he
is firm and determined, never abates one jot of that which affects his
conscience, his reason, and his dignity.

Sarah was on the point of renouncing her enterprise in the face of
obstacles so insurmountable; but, reflecting that, as Rodolph was very
young, and his gentleness and goodness, his character at once timid and
meditative, were generally spoken of, she thought she might fi