s, there is none more fraught with romantic interest than
the struggles of that period, which are closely connected with the
extraordinary fate of their unfortunate prince. We have attempted to
bring them to life again, as they have been related to us on the
heights of Lichtenstein and the banks of the Neckar, at the risk,
however, of being misapprehended. We shall probably be told that the
character of Ulerich[1] is one not fit to be exhibited in a favourable
point of view in an historical romance. He has been calumniated in many
instances, and it has been even the custom, when reviewing the long
list of Dukes of Wuertemberg, to pass over in silence the descendant
between Eberhard[2] and Christoph, and to look upon him with a kind of
horror, as if the troubles of a country were to be attributed solely to
the conduct of its ruler, or that it were better to bury in oblivion
the days of its misfortunes.

It may, however, be a question, whether the condemnation pronounced on
the name of Ulerich, by his bitterest enemy Ulerich von Hutten, has not
been exaggerated; for, to say the least of it, he was too much a party
concerned to be trusted as an impartial judge. The voice which the Duke
and his family raised in vindication of his innocence of the crimes
imputed to him, having been too feeble to withstand the accusations and
calumnies of his enemies, contained in the flagitious publication
"Philippica in Ducem Ulericum," has been silenced by the revolutions of
time.

We have conscientiously compared most of the contemporaneous writers of
that most boisterous period, and have not met with one who absolutely
condemns him. It is but just to keep in view the powerful influence
which time and circumstances produce upon the minds of men. Ulerich von
Wuertemberg was brought up under the guardianship of bad counsellors,
who, for the purpose of making him subservient to their views, fostered
the evil propensities of his mind. As he took the reins of government
into his own hands when boyhood is scarcely ripened into youth, justice
at least compels us to make allowances, and though we cannot extenuate
the outrages he committed during the course of his career, we are bound
to look to the noble side of his character, in which we shall discover
strength of mind and undaunted courage, in circumstances of extreme
difficulty.

The year 1519, the date of our narrative, decided his fate and saw the
beginning of his misfortunes. Posterity,