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14
MARIA FELICIA

to be named its citizens and to witness for a part of each year its glory and fame.

On the back steps and driver’s seats were hosts of footmen, swinging with the motion of the carriages, and through the carriage windows, which gleamed with the lights held by the attendants, were seen those for whom the Almighty did not make the stern law that in this world man shall earn bread with his own hands and wet it with his tears. On silk cushions, cavaliers, and ladies glittering with gold and silver embroidery, were carelessly rocking. The cosmetics on their faces had to conceal only the traces of glowing passions, for those faces showed not the marks of daily care which were visible on the foreheads of those who were so good-naturedly admiring their splendor. At that time only a few dreamed about equal rights for all, discussed the pride of position and birth, complained about the unjust privileges, and compared the fate of the oppressed with the fate of those occupying higher places in life. These thoughts were not yet spreading their dis-