ssly. The Emperor added that he
had commissioned the Electors of Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel, and
Hesse-Cassel to act as intermediaries in the matter. They were empowered
to settle the dispute in his Majesty's name and in the interests of
virtue, law, and order. Serenissimus was overwhelmed. He vowed he would
abjure his allegiance to Austria, and as for the Protestant Church which
had proved so inconveniently honest, that could go by the board and he
would go over to Rome.

The Pope Clement XI. was unfriendly to Austria politically, and his
Holiness would welcome the Duke of Wirtemberg to the fold. For the rest,
Eberhard Ludwig talked wildly of approaching Louis XIV. and throwing in
his lot and his army with his old adversaries. The Pope was indeed
informed of the whole tangle, and had entered into secret negotiations
with Zollern on the subject.

Hereupon Forstner reappeared, and by his reproaches, his tediousness, and
his tactlessness nearly confirmed Serenissimus in his frantic decision.
Then arrived Osiander. He was a man of great strength of character and
intellect, and he succeeded in demonstrating to the Duke the
dishonourable nature of his intentions. Also he induced his Highness to
comprehend that the Pope, though ready to gather all men, and especially
princes, into the maw of Rome, could not make a double marriage legal
where there was no feasible plea for annulment of the first union. To be
politically hostile to Austria was one thing, to enter into open combat
with her another. Wirtemberg was not a large enough bribe in any case.

At this juncture arrived the Electorial ambassadors, and lengthy, tedious
negotiations commenced. The deliberations seemed endless. Did the
ambassadors believe their task to be nearing completion, the other side
had always a fresh plea, a new quibble; and the winter was far advanced
before these unfortunate envoys declared that they could do no more.

'We have proved the so-called marriage to be illegal,' they wrote to the
Emperor; 'we have offered lands and moneys to the favourite; we have been
conciliatory, then threatening, but Serenissimus is as one blinded, and
the woman remains in her preposterous position. We can do no more, save
humbly to recommend your Majesty to enforce the rigours of the law
against this bigamous female.' So Brunswick Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel, and
Hesse-Cassel retired discomfited.

On the other side, Schuetz in Vienna had made no headway. The