The banquet seemed to be drawing to a close, and conversation had
become loud and general, when we were suddenly called to order and told
that Funk was about to address us. I ought to mention, in passing, that
Funk belonged to the next district, and was therefore not one of our
voters. He ascended the platform. He generally seemed loth to ascend
the tribune; but when there, his fluent discourse and ready wit enabled
him to control the most obstinate audience.
He began, as usual, by saying that it hardly became him to speak on
this occasion. He was not a voter, and if he were to express the praise
and the thanks due me, to whom he owed his present position, it might
appear as if he were endeavoring to make his private feelings the
sentiment of the audience.
He repeatedly referred to me as the "estimable noble patriarch," and
inveighed in fierce terms against those who would, by a vote of want of
confidence, express their disapproval of the actions of their
representative, who had followed his honest convictions instead of the
opinions of this or that constituent.
He then indulged in an explanation of his reasons for having voted with
the opposition. He possessed the art of repeating the speeches of
others as if they were his own. He repeatedly used the expression "a
free church in a free state," and several times used the word
"republic," when he would immediately correct himself in an ironical
manner, and to the great delight of many of his auditors.
Funk's words filled me with indignation.
When I beheld him standing up before this audience and expressing such
sentiments, I felt as if it were a punishment that I had richly
deserved; for in his case I had assisted a man in whom I had not full
confidence, to a position of honor and importance. I was so occupied
with thoughts of the speaker that I hardly noticed what he was saying,
until I was aroused by hearing him defend me against the charge of
being a Prussian.
"And even if he were a Prussian, we should not forget that the
Prussians are Germans as well as the rest of us. We are far ahead of
them, and for that very reason it is our duty to help them." And then
he began to praise me again, and told them what a noble action it was
that a man who had a pastor for one son-in-law, and one of the first
nobles in the land for another, whose son was to-day a professor, and
might to-morrow be a minister, to receive into his house a girl who had
come to him naked and destitute.
Uproarious laughter followed these words, and Funk exclaimed:
"O you rogues! you know well enough that when I said 'naked and
destitute,' I only meant _poor and without family connections_."
He described me and my wife as the noblest of beings, and repeatedly
referred to Martella.
I asked myself what could have been his reason for introducing
Martella's name before this audience; and then it occurred to me that
he had cherished hopes that my son Ernst would have married his
daughter, who was at that time receiving her education at a school in
Strasburg.
He closed by proposing cheers in my honor. They were immediately
followed by cries of "Hurrah for citizen Funk!"
Funk was impudent enough to walk up to me afterwards and offer me his
hand, while he assured me that he had put a quietus on the opposition
of the stupid bushmen, a term which he was fond of using when referring
to the farmers.
I declined to shake hands, and ascended the tribune without looking at
him. "We have had enough speeches," cried several of the audience,
while others began to stamp their feet and thus prevent me from
speaking. Silence was at last restored, and I began. I am naturally of
a timid disposition, but when in danger, I am insensible to fear, and
quietly and firmly do that which is needed.
I told them that Herr Funk had spoken as if he were a friend of mine,
but that I here publicly declared that he was not my friend, and that I
was no friend of his; and that if he and his consorts really believed
the opinions that they professed, I had nothing in common with them.
For reasons best known to himself, Herr Funk had dragged my family
affairs before the assembly. I was happy to say that I had done nothing
which I need conceal. And further, as Herr Funk had found it proper to
defend me against the charge of being a friend of Prussia, I wished it
known that I was a friend of Prussia, on whose future course I based
all my hopes for the welfare of Germany.
I should not give up my office until the term for which I was elected
expired: when that time came they might reelect me, or replace me by
another, as they thought best.
Virtuous indignation aided me in my effort, and when I finished my
remarks, Richard told me that he had never heard me speak so well. I am
by nature soft-hearted, perhaps indeed too much so; but I can deal
unmerciful blows when they are needed. There is an old saying that a
rider should alight and kill the mole-cricket that he sees while on his
way, for it destroys the roots of the grass. It was a similar feeling
that made me refer to Funk in the way I had done.
To the best of my knowledge, I had never before that had an enemy; now
I knew that I had one. And an enemy may be likened to a swamp with its
miasmatic vapors and noisome vermin. It had been reserved for my later
years to teach me what it is to have enemies and how to meet their
works.
The worst of all is, that a fear of committing injustice makes us
insincere. And when at last this fear gives way to one's horror of
wickedness, they say, "He was not truthful; he was hypocritical, and
simulated friendship for one whom he despised."
Be that as it may, I was, at all events, glad that I would not again
have to take Funk by the hand. It has been my great fault and
misfortune that I could never learn to believe in the utility of
falsehood. Perhaps it was nothing more than a love of comfort that
actuated me; for it is very troublesome to be always on one's guard.
Where I might have done myself good through shrewdness and foresight, I
had simply made myself an object of pity.
It seemed that the affair was not to pass over without a fracas. The
anger which I had controlled found vent through another channel, none
other than Rothfuss.
I saw him standing in the midst of a crowd, and heard Schmalz cry out,
"Let me talk; I would not soil my hands to beat the servant of that
man!"
"What?" cried Rothfuss; "I want nothing to do with the 'fat Switzer,'
for wherever his shadow falls you can find a grease-spot."
Uproarious laughter followed this sally. Funk forced himself into the
midst of the crowd, and placing himself before Schmalz called out, "You
had better hold your tongue, Rothfuss, or you will have to deal with
me."
"With you?" said Rothfuss, "with you? I have but one word to tell you."
"Out with it!"
"Yes," said Rothfuss, "I will tell you something that no human being
has ever yet said to you."
"Out with it!"
"What I mean to tell you has never before been said to you--_You are an
honest man._"
Contemptuous laughter and wild shouts followed this sally, and, when it
looked as if blows were about to fall, and the kreis-director
approached and ordered them to desist, Rothfuss called out, "Herr
Director, would you call that an insult? I said Herr Funk was an honest
man. Is that an insult?"
The officer succeeded in restoring order and we departed, taking
Rothfuss with us.
I had paid the full penalty of my acquaintance with Funk, but felt so
much freer and purer than when I entered the banqueting room, that I
did not regret what had occurred.
Richard wanted to meet his train, and Joseph left for a point down the
Rhine in order to close a contract for railroad ties. I went to the
station with them, and when the train had left, I accepted the
invitation of Rontheim, who had walked down to the railroad with us,
and went home with him.