Little Poems in Prose

added superficial minds, of the generous inten- tion of the offended Prince. From a man so naturally and wilfully eccen- tric, everything was possible, even virtue, even clemency; above all, if perchance he hoped to find therein unexpected pleasures. But with those who like myself were able to pierce more deeply into the depths of this curious sick soul, it seemed infinitely more probable that the his- trionic talents of a man doomed to death; he wished to profit by his opportunity to make a physiological experiment of capital interest, and to discover to what point the habitual tal- ents of an artist might be altered or modified by the extraordinary situation in which he found himself. But beyond that, was there in his soul a more or less well defined intention of clemency? That is a point which has never been cleared up. At last, the great day being arrived, this lit- tle court displayed all its pomp, and it would be difficult to imagine, unless one had seen it, all that the privileged class of a small State with limited resources can exhibit in the way of splendour on an occasion of royal solemnity. This was doubly true, first of all by the magic of the luxury displayed, and secondly by the mysterious moral interest which was attached to it.