simple life, and evident intention to carry out extensive reforms had aroused the most intense excitement at Vienna. On his accession the popular expectations were in no way disappointed. Joseph's watch words were Reform and Economy. The pompous splendor which had characterized the court even during the last years of Maria Theresa came to a sudden end. The empress-queen's expenses had amounted to six million florins a year. Those of Joseph II. barely touched half a million. During his long exclusion from power Joseph had contracted a bitter detestation of the two classes of men who had most victimized his mother, courtiers and priests. The Tartuffes were driven from the palace. The number of court offices was ruthlessly cut down. All the great court festivals known as gala days, then forty in number, were abolished, with the single exception of New Year's Day. What remained of the old Spanish costume and ceremonial was now finally swept away. The emperor appeared on the throne of his fathers attired in a sim ple military uniform. "My lord chamberlain," said Joseph with a grin, "will faint when he sees this." That stately official might indeed have said that the glory was departed. The special table maintained for the entertainment of his staff was abolished, and the under chamberlains on duty were ordered to leave the palace at one o'clock and get their dinner elsewhere.

He

In his public capacity Joseph worked as hard as Frederick the Great. In sum mer he rose at five, in winter at six. then slipped on a dressing gown and worked through piles of despatches till nine o'clock, when he stopped for a frugal breakfast. He then dressed and went to the audience chamber. Not only was he accessible to all, but, being well acquainted with the tyranny of the court underlings, he used to go into the corridor outside the audience chamber at regular intervals and ask who wished to see him. He never, says Wraxall, kept any one waiting with whom he had made an appointment. At about twelve the emperor broke up the levée and went for a drive. He usually drove himself in an open calèche drawn by two English horses. The drive finished, Joseph returned to his dinner. This meal, except on meagre days, consisted of five plain dishes-a

soup, a bonilli, vegetables, a fricassee, and a rôti. These were brought to his apartment in five deep dishes, placed one upon the other; they were laid on the stove in order to keep them warm till the emperor was ready. The dinner was ordered for two o'clock. Joseph, however, on returning from his drive, usually looked over any important despatches which had come in during his absence. It was thus frequently as late as five o'clock before he sat down to table. The dinner, which must have been rather flat by this time, was very unceremonious. In Vienna Joseph always dined alone. He was waited on by one servant, with whom he used to converse during the meal. In the country, however, he frequently had guests from the nobility. When on his travels his secretaries always dined with him.

After dinner Joseph enjoyed an hour's music. He was an excellent pianist and sang with a fine bass voice. He then returned to his work, at which he continued till about seven o'clock, when, if not pressed for time, he always drove to the theatre. He was extremely fond of comic operas and broad farces. It was characteristic of him that he went to the theatre like a private person, and always refused to occupy the imperial box.

Joseph, though not a libertine, was no woman-hater like the old cynic of SansSouci. After the theatre he went to some reception, where he finished the evening in pleasant conversation with a party of ladies. Up to 1777 Joseph's favorite resort had been the salon of Countess Windischgratz. After her death in that year he spent his evenings at the Lichtenstein Palace. He here used invariably to meet a chosen coterie of five great ladies-" Les cinq dames réunies de la société qui m'y ont toléré," he called them on his death-bed. English visitors who were present at these receptions speak of them as delightful. Conversation was the only recreation allowed, for Joseph, unlike his father, never played at cards. Between ten and eleven Joseph returned home. He at once went to his study and worked often til long beyond midnight. He then took a plate of soup and retired for the night. His bed was merely a sack filled with straw. Only just before his death could he be brought to use a mattress stuffed with feathers.

The foregoing sketch of Joseph's daily routine shows that the life of a really hard-working and conscientious monarch is one of the hardest in existence. The important political events of his reign are beyond our province. It therefore merely remains for us to tell very briefly the sad story of his end.

The severe labors to which Joseph surrendered himself had by the year 1787 begun to tell seriously upon a frame which contained the seeds of consumption. His physical weakness was aggravated by the failure of his various reforming measures and by the collapse of the Austrian army in the Turkish campaign of 1788. Joseph's ecclesiastical changes had brought down upon him the most violent denunciations from every section of the Austrian clergy. The nobility, for whose insolence toward the lower and middle classes he felt the most burning indignation, regarded him with inveterate hatred. He had always refused to acknowledge the claims of birth, and had presented commoners to episcopal sees and to high posts in the civil service. Worse than this, he had bestowed patents of nobility on persons engaged in commercial pursuits, as, for instance, the worthy banker, Joseph Michael Arnstein, who, moreover, was a Jew. Joseph evidently held the doctrine that before the state, as represented by himself, all men were equal. When a nobleman mildly hinted to him that it would be more in accordance with the fitness of things if he, Joseph, were to consoit more with the nobles, his equals, and less with people who were absolutely of no birth at all, like Mozart for instance, who was only a musician, Joseph turned on the speaker and retorted, "If I wished to keep company only with my equals, I should have go down to the vault in the Capuchins and pass my days among the coffins of my

to

ancestors.

During the Turkish campaign of 1788 Joseph caught a bad fever in the Hungarian marshes. He recovered from this first illness, but the end was evidently close at hand. The emperor had grown thin and pale, his voice, once so strong, had sunk to a husky whisper, his clear blue eyes" imperial" blue as his friends had fondly called them-had become weak and watery. In spite of the remonstrances of his physicians, he still continued his labors on behalf of the state. Meantime

his political troubles grew and multiplied; the Netherlands, where he had introduced extensive reforms with the view of uniting those provinces more closely to the central government of Vienna, were in active revolt. The Hungarian magnates, furious at his generous efforts on behalf of their miserable serfs, were openly threatening insurrection. At last, on January 28th, 1790, Joseph found himself compelled to issue the celebrated decree by which he revoked all his reforms. From this blow he never recovered; he began to sink rapidly, and on February 12th his chief physician informed him that there was no hope.

Even on his death-bed more troubles were to come upon him. On the 15th, after saying farewell to his generals, he expressed a wish to take leave of the wife of his nephew Francis, Elizabeth of Wurtemberg. The latter, a pretty and engaging princess, had always been a favorite of his, and her affection had done much to brighten the last sad months of his reign. The princess was in an advanced state of pregnancy, and Joseph, fearing lest his ghastly appearance might cause her a sudden shock, bade his room be darkened, with the exception of one taper which stood at some distance from his bed. Scarcely, however, had the young princess entered the gloomy chamber and heard his first faltering words of greeting than she fainted away and had to be carried out. A few hours after she was seized with the pangs of labor, and was delivered prematurely of a child amid frightful sufferings. By the dawn of February 17th she was dead. The lord chamberlain, Count Rosenberg, had to communicate the news of this sad event to the dying emperor. On hearing it, Joseph cried out-

"O Lord! Thy will be done! what I suffer no tongue can tell! I thought I was prepared to bear all the agony of death which the Lord would vouchsafe to lay upon me; but this dreadful calamity exceeds everything that I have suffered in this miserable world."

The emperor remained for some hours in a state of stupor. He, however, rallied enough to add a few codicils to his will, leaving legacies to old servants and to the widows of certain deserving officers who had fallen in the Turkish war. On February 19th the emperor made his peace

with God, and in the early morning of February 20th he passed away.

Joseph II. was succeeded in all his dignities by his brother Leopold, a ruler who, though a dilettante and a profligate, possessed political and diplomatic talents of the highest order. With his accession commences a new period in the history of Austria. It falls to the imperial house of

Hapsburg, as the chief representative of the old régime, to bear the brunt of the fight against the civil and military propagandism of the French Revolution. And as that event is usually taken as setting an end to the shallow yet splendid life of the eighteenth century, it is here that we propose to conclude our sketch of the old court of Vienna.-Temple Bar.

On arriving at Aden, I found a letter from the Governor of Ceylon, inviting me to make no arrangements on reaching that island, as there was to be an Elephant Kraal early in February at a place about fifty miles from Colombo. This was very exciting news to one during whose govern ment of nearly six years in Ceylon, there had not been a single kraal.

The whole affair was a private concern got up by certain chiefs of the Western Provinces as a compliment to their new governor. They took the entire expense on themselves of driving in the elephants, and of erecting some very pretty and comfortable houses, made of the leaves of the talipot palm, for the accommodation of the Governor and his party, and of the local officials. The promoters of the entertainment, however, expected to recoup themselves for their outlay by the sale of the captured elephants, but the sport alone would have induced them to undertake it. It seldom comes, it is true, for kraals are not an every-day occurrence. In 1866 one was given in honor of the Duke of Edinburgh; and another in 1882 in honor of the English princes; but though few and far between, yet tradition keeps alive the story, and what Epsom is to an Englishman, or a "corrida de Toros" to Spaniards, such is a kraal to the Singalese. They will go any distance to one, and are as knowing and as garrulous about ele phants and their doings as the most thorough "Aficionado" about Manchegan

bulls.

After a pleasant morning drive and at subsequent short ride along a bridle path we reached our destination, and found our leaf cottages very prettily situated in a meadow by the side of a clear stream.

We were invited to be the guests of the Governor in this pleasant bivouac, and much enjoyed the hospitality. The kraal itself was about three-quarters of a mile away, on the other side of the hill which flanked our meadow. It was constructed at the end of a valley, and ran up the side of the hill, and was two or three acres in extent. The word "Kraal" is Dutch, and is identical with the Spanish "Corral" or enclosure; and the present enclosure was formed of the trunks of trees sunk into the ground. Cross bars lashed to them by tough creepers from the jungle, gave the palisade great strength, and peeled pointed sticks were arranged along it to repulse any attempt on the part of the captive elephants to break out. A grand stand, large enough to hold fifty persons, was erected over the palisade in a position which commanded a view of the kraal, and a small kind of crow's nest was placed just over the opening through which the elephants were to be driven. From that post the Governor and a few friends would be able to see the first rush of the huge beasts into the kraal; and we were strictly enjoined when the time arrived not to speak or cough, and above all things, not to smoke, lest suspicion being aroused, the elephants should turn back.

In the evening the Governor invited the two native chiefs who were getting up the hunt to dinner. They informed us that the herd was well surrounded, and they hoped to drive them in next morning. We had much elephant talk, and broke up full of expectation.

The morning came, but with it the adverse news that the herd had fallen back, and that there would be no driving in that day; but in order that time might not

hang heavily upon us, a fish kraal was proposed for our amusement in the afternoon. This was effected in a lovely spot where a large pool of a couple of acres in extent was hemmed in by a ridge of rocks, and filled by the river tumbling through a rocky defile above it. The fish which occupied the pool were driven into a corner by nets; in it were placed boughs and logs of wood, under which they hid. At length the net completely surrounded the corner, which seemed alive with fish. They were a species of carp, almost all small-scarcely any reaching 2 lb. in weight, but they jumped like the best Irish steeplechasers. The net was raised about three feet above the surface of the pool, and many of them cleared it gallantly and got off safely into the open water. A prodigious quantity were captured at last and distributed among the beaters, who received them with much satisfaction, fish curry being a special dainty.

Next day good news arrived that though the elephants had broken through the inner circle the day before, yet that they had been driven back by the outer cordon and were expected to enter the kraal before noon. In elephant-catching there are two cordons, one in advance, the other some distance behind, to turn the elephants if they grow restive and succeed in breaking back. They are driven very slowly, only a few miles a day. There were from 500 to 600 beaters employed, who were relieved by a succession of newcomers from the villages on these occasions. When dusk advances, a halt is proclaimed and a cordon of fires in a constant blaze prevents the retreat of the elephants during the night. Next day after breakfast, we went up to the kraal and took our silent untobaccofied station in the crow's nest over the entrance. We heard the wild cries of the beaters apparently near, louder and louder, quicker and quicker came the shots. We knew the great beasts were close at hand, all at once we held our breath, we saw the jungle wave, and then heard the crash of trees, and on rushed headlong into the kraal eleven elephants, bearing down everything before them. "Now we may light our cigars," we cried, and so we did. In an instant the palisades in the space left open for the entry were securely fixed and all hope of escape impossible. The next step was to beat down the jungle within the

kraal, in order that the noosers might have every opportunity of easy approach. An opening was made in the enclosure, and six tame elephants stalked into it. Two turned tail the moment the wild herd approached them, and were so frightened that they would do nothing, so they were ig nominiously turned out, and four remained for the work; two of them gigantic old tuskers who knew their business and never quailed. The poor captives, among whom were two mothers with calves, kept constantly together, thinking their safety lay in union. The great object was to pen them in some spot, in order that the noosers might get to their feet and fix the rope upon them. It was a most striking scene, the rush of the beasts bearing down everything crashing and waving before them, and all at once brought to a standstill by the sight of the huge tusker stepping gravely out and barring the way with his gigantic head. It seemed to be the perfect symbol of the Eschylean inexorable resistless fate, something treading slowly, noiselessly, bearing with it utter irretrievable ruin. The deliberation and calmness of the approach was a terrible sight, nothing appeared but the enormous head and the trunk which touched the ground, and the bright colors of the riders; all the rest was hidden in the foliage. The poor prisoners halted, gazed, knew their master, and bolted another way; to be again encountered by his comrade. At last a roar, or rather a shriek, and a violent trumpeting denoted that a capture had been effected. fixed on the leg of a calf, a small one, but for all that he made a good fight. One of the large elephants dragged him down by the rope to a tree in the corner of the kraal by which a small stream was running and there he was tied up. Both on this and on other occasions it was amusing to see the good-natured manner in which the tame elephants handled their prisoners. They pushed thein to the very spot where they wished them to go, and when there kept them perfectly steady till the tyingup process was effected. There was no attempt to beat or hurt them. They seemed as it were to say "there is not the slightest use in resistance," and the captives after a very short struggle seemed to acquiesce in that view of the case. The noosing and tying-up process was continued the next day, but we were obliged

The rope was

to leave and failed in consequence to see a very touching episode. The calf of one of the cow elephants was noosed, the mother did her best to save it, but when it was dragged away by the huge tame tuskers she gave up the hopeless struggle, and retired into the rank of the still free wild ones. The young elephant was tied to a tree in a corner of the kraal within three or four yards of the largest concourse of spectators. The wild elephants being again driven round the kraal passed near the spot, and this time the poor cow walked deliberately out from her fellows and came down to her calf, with whom she remained the whole day, comforting and petting it with her trunk, and not paying the slightest heed to the stones and sticks and bad language which were constantly hurled at her. At last she too submitted to be tied up without resistance. The Governor's party left that afternoon, and on the following day the remaining elephants were secured without loss of life or accident.

It was notified to me on my arrival by the Kandyan chiefs of the North-Western Province that as a remembrance of the friendship which used to exist between us during my term of government, they were about to offer me the compliment of a kraal on a great scale in the wild regions of their province.

They were already busily engaged in a drive of the elephants which abounded there, and were employing a prodigious force of beaters, from 1500 to 2000 men. It is probable there was some exaggeration in the number; still there is no doubt that a vast number of men were employed, and a considerable tract of country was being beaten by them toward one point where the site for a kraal had been selected. News reached us from time to time of large herds of elephants being on the move. It was said that 120 had been counted within the circle, and among them a large and formidable tusker. Nothing could exceed the liberality of our entertainers; they had erected a large and tasteful house of talipot leaves close to the kraal for the accommodation of the Governor's party and myself.

The Governor at first did not intend to be present, but allowed himself to be persuaded to change his mind, much to my gratification, as I again had the pleasure of his society. He was accompanied by

Lady and Miss Gordon, which made the party very agreeable.

We received notice that on the 5th of March, the elephants would be close to the kraal. Rumors went abroad that about sixty elephants were being driven, the rest having either escaped by their own exertions, or having been allowed to depart as the number was unmanageable. On the 5th accordingly, we all departed from Kandy at early morn, breakfasted at his beautiful residence near Korunegala with the Government agent or satrap of the North-Western Province, and reached the kraal, which lay about 30 miles due west of Korunegala, at about 6 o'clock in the evening.

On reaching our destination, I was most astonished at the scene which met the eye. A considerable town of leaf huts had suddenly sprung up, and the high road was lined with shops filled with all sorts of wares. Further down, in the almost dry bed, and by the banks of a large river, were rows of bullock carts, each of them the abode of visitors, temporary hotels, and occupied by more than one sleeper, while there was just enough water for somewhat unsatisfactory toilets. Branching from the high road and leading to the kraal, was a by-road, and on each side of it were constructed houses made of talipot leaves, and inhabited by members of the civil service, and other well-to-do folk, They seemed to be filled with ladies in the gay and light attire of tropical costume. It was stated that there were 5000 persons, independently of the beaters, in this temporary camp, over which a week previously nothing had been passing except wild beasts. On reaching the precincts of the town, we were welcomed by a procession of elephants, and marched behind them in state to the spacious bungalow erected by the Kandyan chiefs for our reception. It was very prettily arranged and decorated, with about ten rooms, and not more than five minutes' walk from the kraal.

The next day we visited the kraal. There were about two acres of ground enclosed by a strong stockade, and a beautiful two-storied grand stand had been erected, with upper and lower compartments, from which all the operations could be well seen.

It was most tastefully decorated with scarlet and white drapery; the arms of