The young mason who had been most active through all this, again took his place as orator, and went on:  “We lay down this stone for ever, for the establishing the present and the future possessors of this house.  But in that we bury this treasure together with it, we do it in the remembrance—­in this most enduring of works—­of the perishableness of all human things.  We remember that a time may come when this cover so fast sealed shall again be lifted; and that can only be when all shall again be destroyed which as yet we have not brought into being.

“But now—­now that at once it may begin to be, back with our thoughts out of the future—­back into the present.  At once, after the feast, which we have this day kept together, let us on with our labor; let no one of all those trades which are to work on our foundation, through us keep unwilling holiday.  Let the building rise swiftly to its height, and out of the windows, which as yet have no existence, may the master of the house, with his family and with his guests, look forth with a glad heart over his broad lands.  To him and to all here present herewith be health and happiness.”

With these words he drained a richly cut tumbler at a draught, and flung it into the air, thereby to signify the excess of pleasure by destroying the vessel which had served for such a solemn occasion.  This time, however, it fell out otherwise.  The glass did not fall back to the earth, and indeed without a miracle.

In order to get forward with the buildings, they had already thrown out the whole of the soil at the opposite corner; indeed, they had begun to raise the wall, and for this purpose had reared a scaffold as high as was absolutely necessary.  On the occasion of the festival, boards had been laid along the top of this, and a number of spectators were allowed to stand there.  It had been meant principally for the advantage of the workmen themselves.  The glass had flown up there, and had been caught by one of them, who took it as a sign of good luck for himself.  He waved it round without letting it out of his hand, and the letters E and O were to be seen very richly cut upon it, running one into the other.  It was one of the glasses which had been executed for Edward when he was a boy.

The scaffoldings were again deserted, and the most active among the party climbed up to look round them, and could not speak enough in praise of the beauty of the prospect on all sides.  How many new discoveries does not a person make when on some high point he ascends but a single story higher.  Inland many fresh villages came in sight.  The line of the river could be traced like a thread of silver; indeed, one of the party thought that he distinguished the spires of the capital.  On the other side, behind the wooded hill, the blue peaks of the far-off mountains were seen rising, and the country immediately about them was spread out like a map.

“If the three ponds,” cried some one, “were but thrown together to make a single sheet of water, there would be everything here which is noblest and most excellent.”