This page has been validated.
228
THE LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD
ing; one climbed up to a throne,[1] another either crept down or fell down over heels. Beholding this, I said: "Oh, this is evil, that the reward of the long and hard toil that these men had to endure before they secured these seats should be so short! Indeed, before a man has begun to enjoy his honours they have already come to an end." The interpreter answered: "The Lady Fortuna must distribute her gifts in this fashion, that all whom she wishes to favour may receive their share; one must give way to the other.
- ↑ This passage is very characteristic of the period of the Thirty Years' War, and its sudden changes of Government. Thus Frederick of the Palatinate for a time took the place of Ferdinand of Austria as ruler of Bohemia; Wallenstein became Duke of Mecklenburg; Bernhard of Weimar attempted to establish his sovereignty on the banks of the Upper Rhine.
