as a favor that I might be permitted to remain until
quite late with the company.

It appears that the rejoicings upon the occasion of the prince royal's
investiture were truly magnificent; no one can remember to have ever
witnessed so brilliant and gay a carnival. All the colleges represented
tragedies and comedies, and everywhere allusions were made to the prince
royal, who seems to be adored.

On the Monday preceding Ash Wednesday (Barbara's wedding day) the
collegians, under the care of the Jesuit fathers, represented the
tragedy of 'Antigone,' in which the celebrated warrior, Demetrius,
defends his father against his enemies, and restores his estates to him.
At the end of the piece the following lines were recited, and received
with the greatest applause:

'Not only 'mid the Greeks were faithful sons;
Demetrius in our own times finds his peers.
In thee, O Charles the Great, may we behold
Sublime example and heroic deeds.
For thou against injustice hast thy sire
Defended; thy dear sire, whose virtues rare
Efface the memories left by antique Greece.
Be thou the father of thy country! Reign!
Reign over us! Thy people all wilt love thee
With the love of a Demetrius.'

One may see from this that the prince royal has devoted partisans; an
interior conviction assures me that he will one day be king of Poland. I
was deeply interested in the praise which the prince palatine bestowed
upon him: if I am not mistaken, the hero of my dreams will one day be a
great man; but I may be deceived in my previsions, or they may be
rendered vain by the power of intrigue.

I judge of the generality by the diversity of opinion existing within
our own little circle. The views of the princess palatine differ from
those of her husband. She desires to see neither the prince royal nor
Poniatowski king of the republic, but carries her wishes still
elsewhere.... To whose prayers will God listen?

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote B: A beautiful Polish lady, who was secretly married to the
Prince Sigismund Augustus, afterward King of Poland. When he ascended
the throne, at his father's death, he acknowledged his marriage, and
Barbara reigned as queen until the year 1561, when she died, to the
great sorrow of her husband and her people, to whom she had proved
herself a real mother.--_Translator's note._]

THE ISLE OF SPRINGS.

CHAPTER I.

VOYAGE AND APPROACH.

On the 22d of November, 1855, a smal