Skimmings; or, A winter at Schloss Hainfeld, in lower Styria

Front matter

# V i,

V s-^

Y <f

Chapter I.— The Invitation, . . . , 9

n.—THE SCHLOSS, . . , , . 24

HI.— THE COUNTESS, . . . , , 29

IV.— THE IRON COFFIN, . o . . 37

v.— THE NEIGHBOURS, ... 44

VI.— THE RIVAL GUESTS, . . . , 52

vn.— THE ARCHDUKE JOHN OF AUSTRIA, 63

Vin.— THE GERMAN LANGUAGE, . , . 74

IX.-^THE DAY AT HAINFELD, . . . 82

X.— THE WORSER, ..... 99

Xn.— QUACKERY— ABSOLUTISM, . . 119

Xni.— THE IMPERIAL TOBACCONIST, . 129

XIV.— THE GERMAN BED, . . . , 135

XV.— SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE, , 140

XVL— THE FESTIVITIES OF HAINFELD, , 159

XVn.— A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS, , 168

XVni.— THE ALARM, . . • . . 178

XIX.— THE CATASTROPHE, , . . .186

XXL— THE COUNTESS AND WALTER SCOTT, 205

SCHLOSS HAINFELD;

OR,

A WINTER IN LOWER STYRIA.

CHAPTER I.

THE INVITATION.

It was a bright sunny morning, near the end of April 1834, when, accompanied by my wife and family, I left Rome for Naples. The climate of the " Eternal City," which is grateful to most constitutions, had not proved so to mine j and, for the first time in my life, I had fallen into low spirits, and indolent habits. The endless ruins of ancient Rome — the wonders of the Vatican — the forest of churches — the gorgeous palaces — even the great Colosseum itself, and almost St. Peter's, one by one, had faded into indifference before my languid observation. This was not health ; and my physician, who had much experience of the Roman climate, — so fair and treacherous, — declared, that nothing would do me any good but change of air.

Never was learned opinion so quickly verified. At first starting, the warm sun and the clear sky had no charms for me. And this strange feeling, which admitted the good, but felt only the gloom, so long as I continued in the immediate vicinity of Rome, gradually, but perceptibly, began to evaporate as the carriage ascended the gentle slope of the ancient volcanic mountain of Albano. By the time we had gained the height of several hundred feet above the dome of St. Peter's, judging from its appearance in the distance, I felt as if a load were taken oflf my lungs, and the nice mechanism which gives activity to the breath, and keeps up the flame of life, was once more free to move. I became enchante-d with the blueness of the sky — the sharpness of the lights and shades ; and as the gentle puffs of wind crossed our path, I caught myself stretching forward to inhale their new and invigorating freshness. Long before reaching Albano, which stands, I should suppose, about a thousand feet above the level of the Tiber, I became so hungry and happy, that had not some traces of rheumatism tied me by the leg, I should infallibly have leaped from the carriage, and scampered up the hill before the party to order dinner. On arriving at Albano, new objects of interest met our view. Our windows looked full on the open sea — the beautiful, the classical Mediterranean — nowhere, except at Naples, so fertile in associations as near the coast we now looked upon. The beach might be distant about ten or twelve miles ; and between us and the sea lay a broad flat belt of alluvial, marshy soil, scantily cultivated, and only here and there dotted with a bright, white cottage. Nearer, and where the land gradually rose towards the volcanic focus, the scenery partook of a more fertile and varied character; being not only cast into all sorts of shapes by the freaks of ancient earthquakes and eruptions of lava, but covered with villas, gardens, vineyards, and olive orchards, every where glowing with the astonishing verdure of an Italian spring.

Peeping through the foliage we could perceive many remnants of ancient buildings, which greatly contributed to characterize the scene. Some of these maintained more or less their old shape of towers and arches — others merely showed, by huge piles of brick and sculptured blocks of marble, what they might have been. Far off to the left, along the shore, in the south-eastern direction, we could just distinguish the island of Ponzo, and still farther off, we were told might be seen, in days of peculiar clearness, the island of Ischia, which forms the northern horn of the Bay of Naples.

Our admiration of this beautiful prospect was interrupted by the necessity of attending to the arrangements of the journey. As we travelled veturino, we had to stop for a couple of hours at Albano ; during which time sundry other carriages arrived, and either passed on smartly with post horses, or stopped to take rest as we had done. Amongst these there was one which particularly engaged our attention ; and with that sort of feverish curiosity which proverbially belongs to travelling, I set about trying to discover who the people were with whose appearance we had been struck. Great was our pleasure on learning that here was no other than our amiable and'accomplished Polish friend, with an unpronounceable name, the Countess Rzewuska. We lost no time in repairing to her apartment to renew so agreeable an acquaintance, though it was but for a moment ; for it appeared we were passing on opposite tacks, as she was coming from Naples, and we from Rome. No sooner had we entered than, she exclaimed —

"Oh how fortunate! It is only a day or two since I received a letter from Germany, containing a message to you ; and had we not now fallen in with each other, I might never have been able to deliver it. My correspondent supposed we were still at Rome together, forgetting that at this season the travellers who crowd there in winter, scatter themselves in all directions, the moment the breath of Spring opens the season. This letter," continued she, pulling one from her reticule, "contains a message from the Countess Purgstall, an elderly Scotch lady, who, having married forty years ago a nobleman of Austria, has resided in that country ever since. I am desired to ascertain if you be the son of Sir James Hall, one of her earliest and most intimate friends in Edinburgh? And if so, as I believe to be the case, I am requested to invite you, in her name, most cordially, to pay her a visit at her country place, the Schloss, or castle, of Hainfeld, near Gratz, should you think of taking the homeward route through Styria, instead of following the beaten track of the Tyrol."

It was impossible such an invitation could have been ^iven to travellers less hampered by plans ; for we mada it a constant rule to be giiided by circumstances as they arose, and not to entangle ourselves by previous arrangements which might or might not prove suitable when the time came. Thus, the map of Europe was always before us, where to choose our place of rest, or rather unrest, and Mrs. Starke our guide. Having looked at the various routes, studied them, and made our calculations as to time and place, we came to the resolution that, provided we received, in due season, a somewhat more specific invitation, it might be no bad sport to visit a German castle, as something fresh, and out of the ordinary course of jogtrot travelling. In order to prevent all mistakes, I thought it best to communicate at once with the lady herself.

I accordingly wrote a letter, mentioning the number of which our party consisted, giving a sketch of our plans for the summer, and requesting farther information about roads, and the best seasons for travelling in Germany.

To this letter I received two answers, the second being written under an erroneous impression that the first was misdirected ; and as there are several parts of these letters which help to elucidate the character of our future hostess^ I shall venture to make free extracts from both. As yet our purpose of paying her a visit was quite undecided 5 but we felt our interest in the project, and our curiosity as to the character and situation of our distant and unseen friend, greatly heightened by these communications. I should mention, that all we knew of the Countess Purgstall was, that she was sister to Mrs. Dugald Stewart, widow of the celebrated writer on moral philosophy; that she had married a German nobleman, late in the last century, and proceeded with him to Austria, and that she had never revisited her native country. We had also a vague recollection of having heard that she had been extremely unfortunate in her family, and was left solitary in the world ; moreover, that she was remarkably clever, and rather eccentric. But we formed no just conception of this extraordinary person from any such glimpses of character as these letters, or other accounts afforded us. On reading them now, it is true, when familiar with the whole topic, we can discover many touches which might have given us some insight into a matter which eventually interested us a great deal more sincerely and deeply than we could at first have supposed possible. The Countess's first letter ran thus — it was dated 7th May, Hainfeld :

" I have this moment, my dear sir, received your letter, dated Albano, 21st April. I am now so unaccustomed to a pleasing sensation, that I tremble while I tell you, it will be doing me a very great favour indeed if Mrs. Hall and you will bestow a visit upon me. Your little darlings surely need repose. I beseech you to let them find a home for a few weeks in Hainfeld ; the house is large ; there are thirty-nine rooms on this floor all completely furnished, though in the mode of the last cantury; the air and water are good ; the country is rich, well cultivated, and varied enough to be pleasing. I dare not promise you amusements ; I am a widowed woman cut ofi" from the tree of life ; but if a cordial welcome can render solitude supportable, I am sure you w411 find it here. Hungary is only three hours distant from this — it is a country little known. You will be well received by my neighbours on the frontier, and find the people a race distinct from any in Europe.

" As to this road, I can assure you it is excellent — in every respect preferable to the one by Tyrol. The first English travellers by accident took the road by Tyrol ; this made it the fashion, and ever since they have flown that way like a flock of birds. The Alps and lakes of Styria are fully as interesting as those in Tyrol, and as yet unknown to the English, and Gratz is not inferior to Innspruck. Besides, you can have an advantage in taking this road I am sure you will know to value — it is to be acquainted with the Archduke John, who lives in a quiet, simple style at his iron works, and will receive you with pleasure. He is wonderfully well informed; has vast practical knowledge, and his manners are truly pleasing. As a man he has few equals— as a prince he is

a phenomenon.

" I dare not speak of the home of my youth. Thirtyfive years of absence have spunged me from the remembrance of those dearest to me ; but if you graciously visit me, you will draw back the veil and give me a glimpse of things still, alas ! too dear to me.

" If you will write me a note and let me know when I dare hope to see you, it will be a great pleasure to me. The Governor of Milan, Count Hardegg, will please you much, and also our countryman. General Count Nugent, at Trieste. I fear to lose a post, and send you these hurried lines, praying you to believe me your truly obliged, and I trust soon to say grateful friend,

" C* PURGSTALL.^^

The second letter is fuller, and still more characteristic.

« My Dear Sir,

" With a grief which I cannot express, I discovered a few minutes ago, on looking over the little register of my letters, that I had addressed my answer to yours not to Rome, but to Naples. It was a degree of absence worthy of your good grand uncle, of absent memory ; but I have not, alas ! the apology of genius to plead. My mistakes are owing to a very different cause of late — to the state of my health. For more than three years I have been the victim of rheumatism, or what some physicians are pleased to call the tic-douloureux-volant. This cruel disease has torn my nerves in pieces, and when I am agitated, as I was when I received your letter — so dearly welcome to me — I became quite confused. Pardon, my dear sir, my seeming delay in answering your letter. I wrote instantly, but my silly letter is literally poste restante in Naples. I hope these lines will reach you safely, and convince Mrs. Hall and you how unfeignedly happy I shall be to see you and your little darlings. It will indeed be most gratifying . to me if you will allow the infants to repose here for a few weeks, and find in Hainfeld the quiet of home. Your ex-

* It may be right to explain that this C. stands for Countess, and not for the initial of a Christian name, hers being J. A. It is a general custom on the continent for persons of rank to write their title as a part of the signature.

THE INVITATIOIf. 15

cellent Scotch nurserymaid will revive me with letting me hear once more the language of my heart. She shall arrange all here exactly as she wishes, and, I trust, make the dear children comfortable. The house is very large ; there are thirty-nine rooms on this floor. Not only your family, but any friends you choose to bring along with you, can find place enough. The country is truly healthy ; the soil rich and well cultivated, and the hills and distant mountains covered with forests. The people resemble their oxen — they are diligent and docile. There are few neighbours, except in Hungary (three hours' distance from this) J and Hungary is a country little known and deserving your attention. Styria is also a country little known, owing to the singular fancy or fashion of the English always to fly between Vienna and Italy, by the way of Tyrol. Kotzebue says, ' The English carry their prejudices, as they do their tea-kettles, all over the world with them.' This, in general, is merely an impertinence ; but in what respects the Tyrol road, it holds true ; our road is in many respects preferable.

" You inquire as to the state of the roads. They are excellent. The Eilwagen, a kind of diligence, takes regularly fifty-five hours between Trieste and Gratz, and twenty-five hours between Gratz and Vienna. As man and beast in Austria move discreetly, this, with the aid of your post-map, will show you the true state of the roads.

"The tenure of property in this country is very difierent from the English ; and I would fain, were it possible, excite your curiosity as to Styria. The constitution of the American States interested you. Why should not ours do so ? The country is divided into circles ; mine contains 4200 souls. My bailifi' collects all the taxes within the circle ; manages the conscription ; the police; the criminal justice in the first instance, the property of minors, &c., &c. He must have passed his trials as an advocate, and I must pay him and his assistants, or what is called my chancery. I defy the public afiairs, in as far as this goes, to cost less to a government. The said bailifi" also collects the dominical, or what is due to me, and manages the landed property, which, as we have no farming, is kept, according to the Scotch phrase, in our own hands. The first crop of hay was housed yesterday, so if you travel with your own horses, good food is ready for them. After the wheat and rye are cut down, buck- wheat is sown, which can ripen even under the snow. It is the food of the peasantry, as oatmeal was formerly of the Scotch Highlanders ; but the crop from the best ground is sold off to pay the very high taxes. The people are good and docile. The noblesse, owing to the dreadful war, &c., are mostly on short commons. We have no poor, which, owing to the question in England respecting the poor-laws, is deserving of being noticed. No man is allowed to marry till he can prove he is able to maintain a wife and children ; and this, with the law of celibacy of the clergy, and the caution required of the military* — almost an act of celibacy — are checks on population, which would make the hearts of Mr. Malthus and Miss Martineau burn within them for admiration. The result is, the entire demoralizing of the people. The mask of religion helps nothing. At the last grand jubilee, in the next parish, seventy -two pairs of virgins adorned the procession, dressed in white, and covered with garlands of flowers. In eight months forty-four of them were in the family way. Madame Nature is not a political economist, and she does not let her laws be outraged with impunity.

" As another motive to visit Styria, there is a physician at St. Gothard, three hours from this, who works all the miracles ever wrought, except raising the dead. Were I not virtually dead, I would consult him. He is a Homeopathic ; forty-nine thousand sick have been with him since November, and all believe in his infallibility. The Alleopathic school endeavour to suffocate the system of Hanneman, but in vain. A question of such consequence to the human race, and so easily decided on the spot, is surely deserving of your investigation.

" I am ashamed to send you so tedious a scrawl, but you will pardan me, for you know it is out of the abundance

♦ No officer in the Austrian army is allowed to marry, unless he previously deposites a sum of money in the hands of Government for the maintenance of his widow and children in the event of his death. Thesum varies with the rank of the officer. — B. H.

of the heart the mouth speaketh. May I trust you will induce Mrs. Hall to 'unfatigue' herself and her little angels, in this Tadmore in the wilderness ? I have nothing, alas ! to oflfer you all but my hearty welcome. God knows it is sincere. In haste, for I fear to lose a post. I bid you, my dear sir, farewell. — 11th June. My address is simply Gratz, N. B. There is a respectable library here.^'

These letters very nearly made us decide to take Styria in our way to the North, but we had still much to see in Italy, and elsewhere. It is not my present purpose, however, to enter upon these adventures, though some of them proved highly interesting. The following answer which I sent to the Countess's pressing invitation, will suffice to show what we were about, and in what mind we looked forward to the proposed visit.

" Naples, 1th July, 1834.

" Mr Dear Madam,

"You need have no further remorse of conscience about the address of your letters, as both of them reached me in safety. In my turn I must apologize and explain the reason of this tardy reply. We have been ^bsent from Naples on a cruise to Sicily and Malta, in a vessel of this place, hired expressly for the voyage ; and although we have returned more than a week, we have not yet come to such a fixed arrangement for our future plans as to enable us to say, with much precision, at what period we shall be in your neighbourhood. In the mean time, I must no longer delay writing in my own name, and that of Mrs. Hall, to thank you for your kindness and attention, and to say that we shall be most happy to avail ourselves of your hospitable invitation on our way north, if we can possibly arrange to do so. We are at present busily employed in * seeing up ' or ' demolishing ' Naples and its beautiful contorni ; but, in the course of this month, or, as the Indian ships say, 'in all July,' we hope to complete our sight-seeing labours. It is probable that towards the middle of September we shall be advancing upon your castle. As the

18 THE INVITAriON.

time draws nearer, however, I shall give you due notice of our approach. Our party will not occupy more than three or four of the three dozen apartments which you speak of, and I have no doubt we shall all greatly enjoy our visit.

" I shall endeavour to profit also by your advice with respect to Styria ; indeed, we have no especial love for the Tyrol, and should only have followed the beaten Cockney route, from having generally observed that the said Cockney, somehow, almost always finds out the things best worth seeing. Your local authority in this matter, however, will certainly guide us, unless unforeseen circumstances carry us too far out of the way. For my part, I have always so much difficulty in acquiring correct geographical ideas with respect to any country I have not visited, that I can seldom decide which route it is best to take, till the country in question is near at hand. By the time we reach Venice, we shall be better instructed on many such points, and it will certainly be no small comfort to see something new on the continent. It is true I am not writing a book ; but I often sigh for some bit of grouud to tread upon which has not been ploughed up by the merciless pens of preceding travellers. In this poor exhausted Italy, countless classical scholars, men of wit and fancy, blues, Roman Catholics, Protestants, poets, painters, and philosophers, with ten thousand others, of all persuasions, capacities, politics, tastes, and experiences have worried and scourged the land till it will scarcely bear a blade of decent grass, or even a thistle for any stray donkey that may be passing. But your account of Styria does stir up my inkhorn ; and if I jlon't make a quarto out of it, the fault is mine !

" Seriously, I shall be very glad to see the state of manners you allude. to, and I look forward with pleasure to our meeting in the castle of Hainfeld, there, as you say, to 'unfatigue' ourselves; a process very suitable, I assure you, after the toils of sight-seeing in the south of Italy at midsummer, more especially as old Vesuvius is now in full eruption, and his sides streaked with fiery torrents.

i

^* I feel flattered and gratified by the favourable opinion expressed by your neighbour of the work I wrote On America. I have had, in my day, my share of abuse; and very well pleased I was with such notice. When an author takes any particular line, especially in politics, he ought to consider the censure of those he is entirely opposed to, as the best acknowledgment that he has not missed his intended point — that he has not mistated his own views. For the rest, he must be content with the approbation of one or two judicious fciends, merely to satisfy him that he has not, in his zeal, done harm instead of good to the cause he wishes to defend."

To this letter I received the following answer when at the delicious Baths of Lucca, the most delightful summer residence in all Italy. There are so many traits, explanatory more or less of the peculiarities of our future hostess, scattered up and down these letters, which will assist in introducing her to the reader's acquaintance much better than I could do myself, that I venture to give them almost entire. -They wi\\ show also how great her anxiety was to engage us, at all hazards, to come to her, and thus serve to explain subsequent passages in the curious history of our intercourse.

" 12th August, " My Dear Sir, — I had the happiness of receiving your letter of the 7th July, in course; and a few minutes ago, your second dear letter, dated the 26th. It was only my fear of teazing you with my scribble-scrabbles, as Winifred Jenkins would call them, that prevented me from answering the first directly. Mrs. Hall and you knew, I thought, my sincere Welshes, and had promised to bestow on me the long-wished-for enjoyment of hearing once more the language of my heart. I hoped, and still hope, you will find repose agreeable, particularly for your little darlings, after such long and fatiguing wanderings. I have been very anxious on their account, for the heat this summer is unexampled, and for infants it is dangerous.

Even here the thermometer of Reaumur was at 31° in the shade, or 102° of Fahrenheit.

" Tyrol is certainly worth seeing, particularly for cockneys who never saw a mountain; but as no one of them, by any accident, ever took the Styrian road, they could form no judgment on the subject. Gratz, though a town of no consequence, has finer environs than any town I know, Florence excepted; and it has a merit which, luckily for its inhabitants, has not been discovered by the English, who arc on the saving establishment — it is the cheapest place to live at in Europe.

" Tlie Archduke John has founded a museum at Gratz, the geological specimens of which, mostly collected by himself, will give you a just idea of the bones of our country. My horses shall be in waiting as soon as you tell me the day and the number necessary to conduct you safely to poor desolate Ilainfcld, and any friends of yours shall be heartily welcome; only I pray you to prepare them for our half-savage state of existence. Vulgar meat and drink in plenty, and an undiscovered country, is all they dare expect. I am sure Venice will be very interesting to you. I used to consider a fine ship under sail as the proudest work man could boast of; but when one sees this city of palaces sitting on the sea, and smiling at the waves in tlicir fury, every other wonder of the world is annihilated. Its rapid destruction is saddening. — If it is painful to see a once-lovely woman becoming decrepid, what is it to see Venice sinking into its watery grave .'*

" You do perfectly well to go by steam, for you can sup at Venice, and breakfast at Trieste. The coast-road is very tedious, and there are often bad fevers about. I am sure you will like the commander-in-chief at Trieste, Count Nugent, also Mr. Thomas Thomson Hay, a first-rate merchant there, who, from his kind attention to me, I am certain must be a good man. He will give you hettcr information respecting the commerce, &c., of Trieste, than those who govern there. At Adelsberg, three posts on this side of Trieste, there is a vast cavern, which, when illuminated, is, they say, magnificent. A singular kind of fishes is found in a stream that runs through these caves.

They have a comb on their heads like that of a cock; they have no eyes, yet, when exposed to the light, they seem to suffer. Near Adelsberg, but about a post off the road, is a lake called the Cirknitzer See. By means of five or six tunnels, the water leaves it once in^he year, and it is possible to cut down corn, hunt, and fish on the same ground, during the same season! When the waters return, they bring a number of fish, often from six to eight pounds weight, out of their subterranean abode.

"At Lay bach, two roads part for Gratz — they are equally good; but that by Cilly is twelve posts; the other, by Klagenfurt and Upper Styria, is nineteen posts; and by this road one sees mountains, brothers and sisters to the Tyrolese; and those who love them can satisfy the sentiment. The great iron-works of Vordernberg, where the Archduke John resides, are about a post from Leoben. The country from Bruck to Gratz is extremely romantic. Your late arrival, alas! will only show you the nakedness of the land, though autumn, as it retires, may still, as Sir Walter expresses it, leave ^ its mantle's fold' on the forests; but ' the shroud of russet dropped with gold,' is a poor indemnity for the summer's beauty you have left behind you. All things pass!

"I am ashamed of so tedious a letter. During the thirtysix years I have lived in this country, I have forgotten, in a great degree, English; and I see so many new words in a Review Mr. Hay lent me a few days ago, they quite confuse my poor head. It is a dreadful fate to survive all one lived for, as I have done, — even the language of my mother country. My spirits are failing me to-day, and the very flies will not allow me to write; they nestle between my spectacles and my eyes, and torment me. I pray write soon, my dear sir."