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any man long celebrated to you by his genius and achievements; or

thing long celebrated to you by the praises of books and

picturesno; that gaze is only the gaze of intense curiosity;

interest; wonder; engaged in drinking delicious deep draughts

that taste good all the way down and appease and satisfy the

thirst of a lifetime。  Satisfy itthat is the word。  Hugo and

the mastodon will still have a degree of intense interest

thereafter when encountered; but never anything approaching the

ecstasy of that first view。  The interest of a prince is

different。  It may be envy; it may be worship; doubtless it is a

mixture of bothand it does not satisfy its thirst with one

view; or even noticeably diminish it。  Perhaps the essence of the

thing is the value which men attach to a valuable something which

has come by luck and not been earned。  A dollar picked up in the

road is more satisfaction to you than the ninety…and…nine which

you had to work for; and money won at faro or in stocks snuggles

into your heart in the same way。  A prince picks up grandeur;

power; and a permanent holiday and gratis support by a pure

accident; the accident of birth; and he stands always before the

grieved eye of poverty and obscurity a monumental representative

of luck。  And thensupremest value of all…his is the only high

fortune on the earth which is secure。  The commercial millionaire

may become a beggar; the illustrious statesman can make a vital

mistake and be dropped and forgotten; the illustrious general can

lose a decisive battle and with it the consideration of men; but

once a prince always a princethat is to say; an imitation god;

and neither hard fortune nor an infamous character nor an addled

brain nor the speech of an ass can undeify him。  By common

consent of all the nations and all the ages the most valuable

thing in this world is the homage of men; whether deserved or

undeserved。  It follows without doubt or question; then; that the

most desirable position possible is that of a prince。  And I

think it also follows that the so…called usurpations with which

history is littered are the most excusable misdemeanors which men

have committed。  To usurp a usurpationthat is all it amounts

to; isn't it?



A prince is not to us what he is to a European; of course。

We have not been taught to regard him as a god; and so one good

look at him is likely to so nearly appease our curiosity as to

make him an object of no greater interest the next time。  We want

a fresh one。  But it is not so with the European。  I am quite

sure of it。  The same old one will answer; he never stales。

Eighteen years ago I was in London and I called at an

Englishman's house on a bleak and foggy and dismal December

afternoon to visit his wife and married daughter by appointment。

I waited half an hour and then they arrived; frozen。  They

explained that they had been delayed by an unlooked…for

circumstance:  while passing in the neighborhood of Marlborough

House they saw a crowd gathering and were told that the Prince of

Wales was about to drive out; so they stopped to get a sight of

him。  They had waited half an hour on the sidewalk; freezing with

the crowd; but were disappointed at lastthe Prince had changed

his mind。  I said; with a good deal of surprise; 〃Is it possible

that you two have lived in London all your lives and have never

seen the Prince of Wales?〃



Apparently it was their turn to be surprised; for they

exclaimed:  〃What an idea!  Why; we have seen him hundreds of

times。〃



They had seem him hundreds of times; yet they had waited

half an hour in the gloom and the bitter cold; in the midst of a

jam of patients from the same asylum; on the chance of seeing him

again。  It was a stupefying statement; but one is obliged to

believe the English; even when they say a thing like that。  I

fumbled around for a remark; and got out this one:



〃I can't understand it at all。  If I had never seen General

Grant I doubt if I would do that even to get a sight of him。〃

With a slight emphasis on the last word。



Their blank faces showed that they wondered where the

parallel came in。  Then they said; blankly:  〃Of course not。  He

is only a President。〃



It is doubtless a fact that a prince is a permanent

interest; an interest not subject to deterioration。  The general

who was never defeated; the general who never held a council of

war; the only general who ever commanded a connected battle…front

twelve hundred miles long; the smith who welded together the

broken parts of a great republic and re…established it where it

is quite likely to outlast all the monarchies present and to

come; was really a person of no serious consequence to these

people。  To them; with their training; my General was only a man;

after all; while their Prince was clearly much more than thata

being of a wholly unsimilar construction and constitution; and

being of no more blood and kinship with men than are the serene

eternal lights of the firmament with the poor dull tallow candles

of commerce that sputter and die and leave nothing behind but a

pinch of ashes and a stink。



I saw the last act of 〃Tannh:auser。〃  I sat in the gloom and

the deep stillness; waitingone minute; two minutes; I do not

know exactly how longthen the soft music of the hidden

orchestra began to breathe its rich; long sighs out from under

the distant stage; and by and by the drop…curtain parted in the

middle and was drawn softly aside; disclosing the twilighted wood

and a wayside shrine; with a white…robed girl praying and a man

standing near。  Presently that noble chorus of men's voices was

heard approaching; and from that moment until the closing of the

curtain it was music; just musicmusic to make one drunk with

pleasure; music to make one take scrip and staff and beg his way

round the globe to hear it。



To such as are intending to come here in the Wagner season

next year I wish to say; bring your dinner…pail with you。  If you

do; you will never cease to be thankful。  If you do not; you will

find it a hard fight to save yourself from famishing in Bayreuth。

Bayreuth is merely a large village; and has no very large hotels

or eating…houses。  The principal inns are the Golden Anchor and

the Sun。  At either of these places you can get an excellent

mealno; I mean you can go there and see other people get it。

There is no charge for this。  The town is littered with

restaurants; but they are small and bad; and they are overdriven

with custom。  You must secure a table hours beforehand; and often

when you arrive you will find somebody occupying it。  We have had

this experience。  We have had a daily scramble for life; and when

I say we; I include shoals of people。  I have the impression that

the only people who do not have to scramble are the veteransthe

disciples who have been here before and know the ropes。  I think

they arrive about a week before the first opera; and engage all

the tables for the season。  My tribe had tried all kinds of

placessome outside of the town; a mile or twoand have

captured only nibblings and odds and ends; never in any instance

a complete and satisfying meal。  Digestible?  No; the reverse。

These odds and ends are going to serve as souvenirs of Bayreuth;

and in that regard their value is not to be overestimated。

Photographs fade; bric…a…brac gets lost; busts of Wagner get

broken; but once you absorb a Bayreuth…restaurant meal it is your

possession and your property until the time comes to embalm the

rest of you。  Some of these pilgrims here become; in effect;

cabinets; cabinets of souvenirs of Bayreuth。  It is believed

among scientists that you could examine the crop of a dead

Bayreuth pilgrim anywhere in the earth and tell where he came

from。  But I like this ballast。  I think a 〃Hermitage〃 scrap…up

at eight in the evening; when all the famine…breeders have been

there and laid in their mementoes and gone; is the quietest thing

you can la

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