the great ocean of true nature, and
to distribute them from off the stage among the thirsting people of my
native land."

II

THE CORONATION OF JOSEPH II[17]

The coronation-day dawned at last, on the 3d of April, 1764; the
weather was favorable, and everybody was in motion. I, with several of
my relations and friends, had been provided with a good place in one
of the upper stories of the Romer itself, where we might completely
survey the whole. We betook ourselves to the spot very early in the
morning, and from above, as in a bird's-eye view, contemplated the
arrangements which we had inspected more closely the day before. There
was the newly-erected fountain, with two large tubs on the left and
right, into which the double-eagle on the post was to pour from its
two beaks white wine on this side and red wine on that. There,
gathered into a heap, lay the oats; here stood the large wooden hut,
in which we had several days since seen the whole fat ox roasted and
basted on a huge spit before a charcoal fire. All the avenues leading
out from the Romer, and from other streets back to the Romer, were
secured on both sides by barriers and guards. The great square was
gradually filled, and the waving and pressure grew every moment
stronger and more in motion, as the multitude always, if possible,
endeavored to reach the spot where some new scene arose, and something
particular was announced.

[Footnote 17: From the Twelfth Book of the "Autobiography: Truth and
Poetry from My Own Life." Translated by John Oxenford. A year before
the date of Oxenford's translation (1848) Parke Godwin of New York had
published a translation. Joseph II was the son of Francis I and Maria
Theresa and was crowned King of the Romans (that is, of the Holy Roman
Empire) in 1764 and succeeded to the German Empire in 1765.]

All this time there reigned a tolerable stillness, and when the
alarm-bells were sounded, all the people seemed struck with terror and
amazement. What first attracted the attention of all who could
overlook the square from above was the train in which the lords of Aix
and Nuremberg brought the crown-jewels to the cathedral. These, as
palladia, had been assigned the first place in the carriage, and the
deputies sat before them on the back seat with becoming reverence. Now
the three electors betake themselves to the cathedral. After the
presentation of the insignia to the Elector of Mentz, the crown and
sword are immediat