II.

What is to be done? The king is thunderstruck[1], hesitates _for_ a moment, and[2] then, urged[3] by the queen, instantly leaves the room. The[4] queen follows[5] her husband with her (S. 43, N. 9, _A_) eyes from the palace window. She sees[6] him on horseback[7] reviewing[8] the National Guards[9]. She has no fear, neither[10] has he. What[11] more? He returns, accompanied[3] by[12] the man whom[13], yesterday, to satisfy public clamour, he created Prime Minister. Has the Minister power to save his master? You (S. 92, N. 5) observe at[14] a glance that[15] he is far more anxious to save himself. He craves[16] permission to resign. Permission[17] is granted, when (S. 4, N. 2) a volley[18] is (S. 4, N. 4) heard close[19] to their ears. What does it mean? This[20] man will tell you who now enters. The King has a pen in his hand, with which he is about (S. 6, N. 4) to appoint his new Prime Minister. “Sign[21] not,” shouts the[22] last comer, a[23] man of the press, with the face[24] of a student, and the spirit[25] of a soldier. “Sign rather[26] your own abdication.” The situation is fine[27]. The pen drops[28] from the King’s fingers; the speaker[29] takes it up, and quietly[30] replaces[31] it in the Monarch’s hand (see S. 43, N. 9).

[1] +wie vom Donner gerührt.+

[2] Here place the verb ‘leaves’.

[3] =The Past (Perfect) Participle is often used elliptically to denote an existing state or condition=; as—

Urged by his father, he instantly left the room.

+Von seinem Vater gedrängt, verließ er eiligst das Zimmer.+

[4] Construe this period by beginning with the adverbial clause ‘from the palace window’, +~von~ den Fenstern des Palastes ~aus~+. The verb must then follow immediately. To denote a starting point with respect to place, the English preposition ‘=from=’ is generally translated by +=von=+ followed by the prepositional adverb +=aus=+, or by +aus ... hinaus+ when the verb indicates a motion from one place to another. In relation to time we use +=von ... an=+, which often corresponds to the English ‘=beginning with=’, or to ‘=from=’ followed by ‘=forwards=’; as—

_Beginning with_ to-morrow (_From to-morrow forwards_) you must take a walk every day.

+~Von morgen an~ müssen Sie jeden Tag spazieren gehen.+

[5] +folgen+ requires the dative.

[6] see S. 78, N. 14.

[7] +zu Pferde.+

[8] +mustern.+

[9] the National Guards, +die Nationalgarde+.

[10] neither has he = and he also not.

[11] +Was giebt’s weiter?+

[12] by the man, +von einem Manne+.

[13] ‘whom — Minister’, construe ‘whom he only (+erst+) yesterday appointed Prime Minister, to satisfy (+genügen+, with the dat.) the impetuous (+ungestüm+) demands of the people’. To appoint, to create, +ernennen+. =Verbs denoting choosing and appointing=, as =+ernennen+, +machen+, and +erwählen+=, to choose, to elect, require in German an Accusative followed by the prep. +=zu=+ with the dative, =when in English they govern two Accusatives in the active voice=; as—

The King _appointed_ Prince Bismarck Prime Minister.

+Der König ~ernannte~ den Fürsten Bismarck ~zum~ Premierminister.+

S. 27, N. 4 will show the construction in connection with the passive voice.

[14] at a glance, +augenblicklich+.

[15] that — anxious, +daß es ihm viel mehr darum zu thun ist+.

[16] to crave permission to resign, +um Erlaubnis bitten, sein Amt nie´derlegen zu dürfen+.

[17] Use the def. art. with this noun, and supply the dat. of the pers. pron. er after the auxiliary; the verb is in the passive voice.

[18] +Musketensalve+, f.

[19] close to their ears = in _the_ immediate neighbourhood.

[20] ‘This — enters’ may be briefly rendered: +Der soeben Eintretende wird es uns zu erkennen geben.+

[21] +unterschrei´ben+, insep. comp. str. v., which use in the 3rd pers. pl. of the Imperative mood. As a mark of respect, the word ‘+Sire+’ may be inserted after this clause.

[22] the — comer, +der Hereingetretene+.

[23] +ein Journalist.+

[24] ‘face’, here = impudence or boldness.

[25] spirit = courage.

[26] +lieber.+

[27] fine = critical.

[28] to drop from, +entfallen+, with the dat.

[29] Form a noun of the present participle of the verb +sprechen+. The noun +Sprecher+ applies, as a rule, to the Speaker in the English House of Commons. The Speaker in the Imperial German Reichstag is styled +Präsident+.

[30] =In German, when the subject stands before the verb, the adverb must never precede the latter or, in compound forms, the copula (auxiliary verb).= Comp. App. § 9.

[31] +wieder geben.+

_Section 103._

THE DRAMA OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848.