_Heinrich_ went to the palace that very day and requested a private
audience. The prince, a young man with stern features and aristocratic
bearing, received him in his study. He had just risen from his
writing-table, which was covered with a pile of papers, and upon his
lofty brow still rested the shadows of thought, which began slowly to
disappear at the sight of Ottmar. The large blue eyes seemed wearied
with toil, and gazed earnestly into vacancy, as if in search of some
ideal country that could be better governed than his own. Long, fair
whiskers framed his delicate face. His youthful, earnest character
confined itself rigidly to the strict forms of unapproachable dignity.
Words flowed from his lips as purely, readily, and smoothly as a cool
breeze, and any one who saw him for the first time would be chilled by
the frigid reserve which pervaded his whole appearance. He was the very
type of the aristocrat by birth and education, who had polished his
manners into an impalpable shield against the common herd. The
foundation of all aristocratic deportment is economy of time. The
aristocrat husbands all personal exertion as far as possible. He
chooses the shortest, most indispensable forms of speech, limits his
voice to the lowest tone that can be heard, and his gestures to those
absolutely unavoidable. He considers this a duty towards himself and
others; he speaks curtly and rapidly, because he is always in a hurry
himself and is not sure that others may not be also; uses a low tone,
because he does not know whether it will be agreeable to others to hear
more of his voice than may be necessary to comprehend his meaning;
makes few or no gestures, because he does not wish to compel the eyes
of others to follow aimless courses and bendings. In intercourse with
his superiors or equals, modesty forbids him to intrude more of his
personal character than is indispensably connected with the affair, and
pride withholds him from revealing to his inferiors anything more than
is unavoidable. Thus alone the aristocrat acquires the self-control and
delicacy that distinguish him. Only by this silent accommodation to
forms, limited to the lowest minimum of personal exertion, does he when
a courtier regain the time of which the necessary ceremonials rob him,
and only this extreme indulgence and careful use of his physical
strength gives him the endurance demanded by the exactions of
court-life.
The young prince was a perfect type of these precepts. Whether a warm
or cold heart throbbed beneath that smooth exterior, even _Heinrich_,
his confidant, did not venture to decide.
"You have come at a very opportune moment, my dear Ottmar," said he. "I
was about to send for you."
_Heinrich_ bowed low, in answer to this greeting.
"See, here are a pile of papers and letters which I wish to share with
you. So much has come at the same time."
"You know, my prince, that you have no more devoted servant than I. Let
me bear a part of your burden," said _Heinrich_, in his most persuasive
tones, for his power of imitating the expression of what he did not
possess was most masterly.
"I know that you have often proved it. If I can find truth anywhere it
is in you. You alone are impartial, and see clearly, while the circle
of vision in most men is limited by personal interests and prejudices."
"I have the good fortune to have my prosperity secured by perfectly
independent circumstances, and therefore can follow my convictions; but
this falls to the lot of very few. Do not judge them too harshly, your
Highness, for the majority of mankind are fettered by anxieties
concerning their means of livelihood."
"It may be so, but they lack the essential thing,--genius,--the clean,
far-seeing gaze which no lessons in state-craft can supply; besides,
those who do understand anything rarely possess the art of telling the
truth without wounding others or becoming brutal. One cannot well have
any dealings with such people.
"There is the new press-law again. Good Minister B---- once took it
into his head to carry it through. You know his blunt manner of urging
a decision. I must confess that this preliminary, which almost entirely
abolishes the right of censorship, is contrary to my feelings and
conscience. Shall I permit every revolutionary wretch to scatter poison
among my thoughtless, credulous people? Ought I to do so, as a prince,
whose duty it is to watch over the nation intrusted to his care as a
father watches his children?"
"This question presents only two different points of view, your
Highness. Do you prefer to win, by this act of clemency, a transient
gratitude? or, by persistently following your better convictions,
obtain lasting satisfaction? If the former, make the desired
concessions; yet consider that this first favor will draw an
immeasurable number of consequences in its train. From the moment this
new freedom of the press is fairly established, you will regret having
undertaken obligations which you cannot execute without inaugurating a
totally different _regime_. Your Highness knows that the intoxication
of freedom, caused by the victorious revolution, has penetrated here
also, and the fire now and then still glimmers beneath the ashes. Will
you, by means of the press, permit air to reach the scarcely suffocated
flames?"
"May God have mercy upon my poor country!" murmured the prince, under
his breath.
"Must not a moment come when your Highness's duty will compel you to
check the progress of this seditious literature? and will you not then
have broken your promise and forfeited the transient gratitude which
would be paid you?"
"Very true."
"Well, what withholds your Highness from following your convictions,
which you have already so often tested, that your own feelings were
always the best guides?"
"The doubt whether I can silence and conciliate the discontented masses
in a way that will be beneficial to them,--the doubt regarding the
means I ought to employ," said the prince, thoughtfully, rubbing his
brow.
"But surely this is not the right expedient, your Highness. By granting
the freedom of the press you only afford discontented people an
opportunity of making their useless complaints and wishes public, and
thus making them still more persuaded of hardships, while you neither
can, nor desire to, remove their causes. Will not this bring you into a
thousand conflicts between your heart and your most sacred convictions
in regard to popular education?"
"Certainly."
"If I might venture to give your Highness my humble counsel, I should
say that the freedom of the press is the last thing that ought to be
granted to a nation. The people must first be contented; then they may
be allowed to speak. Pardon my frankness, your Highness; you know I am
always truthful."
"That is the very quality I prize in you; but since you are now in the
mood to express your opinions even more sincerely than usual, I should
also like to hear by what means you propose to content the country."
_Heinrich_ was astonished by this question. He perceived that he had
gone incautiously near the verge of truth, and felt he must return, for
to-day he had more cause than ever to desire to win the prince's favor,
while strangely enough he had never taken less pleasure in deceit.
"Your Highness," he said, at last, "do not ask me whether your subjects
are contented, for you must yourself answer the question with a 'no,'
without being able to alter the state of affairs. If you ask whether
they are prosperous, I may be permitted to reply 'yes.' To make a
nation prosperous is within the power of princes; to keep them
contented depends upon the power of time. Your country, your Highness,
is prospering admirably under your august sceptre. The causes of
discord do not come from within, but from without. They do not result
from your government, but from the tempest of freedom which roars from
foreign frontiers. When this tempest subsides the nation will once more
perceive its prosperity. To await this time quietly and indulgently
seems to me the only counsel a conscientious man is permitted to lay at
the feet of your Highness."
"You are right, Ottmar. I have already said the same thing to myself.
If every prince had a friend like you ('Who apparently contradicts him
while telling him the very thing he wants to hear,' _Heinrich_ mentally
interposed), matters would not proceed so far," said the sovereign,
extending three fingers of his slender hand to _Heinrich_. "I shall not
sign the press-law. I hope my throne, which has outlasted the storms of
so many centuries, will also be strong enough to withstand the pressure
of these times. If I perceived that these innovations would produce
happiness, I certainly would not withhold them from my country. But I
cannot. Other nations possibly may be ripe for freedom; my people are
not. The men called 'patriots' may say what they like; their intentions
are doubtless good, but they wish to raise the masses to a position of
which they are not and never will be worthy. No one can see into this
matter more clearly than the priests. We must ask them, if we wish to
learn to know the people, and the ideal we have imagined will soon
vanish. If freedom can be given to these rough natures, it is
emancipation from evil by the perception of good, and this only
religion and her representatives can bestow. Therefore, my dear Ottmar,
I will scorn to purchase a cheap popularity by frivolous concessions,
and content myself with fulfilling the duties God imposed upon me with
the holy oil. I do not desire to hold the highest place, I only wish to
be the protector and guide of the nation intrusted to my care: so, as
you have very justly observed, away with all inconsequent and aimless
innovations!"
The prince carelessly pushed away the papers and drew out several
letters. "Here is this marriage business again. You must do me a favor
which no one else can bestow. I have the privilege of choosing between
two charming princesses, neither of whom I know, as one has just
entered society and the other resides at a court I have never visited.
You are prudent and skillful,--a connoisseur in female beauty and
character; you must take a private pleasure trip, and make the
acquaintance of one of the ladies, that you may be able to give me
exact information concerning her, and thus perhaps save me the trouble
of a useless journey in search of a wife. But more of this hereafter. I
see you wish to tell me something, and have been indiscreet in delaying
you so long."
"I have nothing to say which could be more important than listening to
you, my prince. However, as you command, I must obey; besides, the
matter does not concern me, but an unfortunate man, who is suffering
unjustly for my fault, and whom I feel it my duty to aid. Will your
Highness graciously condescend to permit me to appeal from the prince
to the man, to make a confession which not the prince, but the man,
should hear?"
"Speak frankly."
"Five years ago a certain Albert Preheim was sentenced to ten years'
imprisonment in irons for having committed a murderous assault upon the
present assistant and former prefect of the Collegium Germanicum, who
was spending a few days in H----."
"Oh, yes; I remember," interrupted the prince. "The man defended
himself by the incredible statement that he had mistaken him for a
rival, but could prove nothing and was sentenced."
"Well, your Highness, the man is too severely punished. He is no
murderer, and his statements are true. He acted without premeditation,
when almost unaccountable for his deeds and under the impulse of the
blindest jealousy. The act he committed concerns me, since he had
reason to believe me the seducer of his betrothed bride."
The prince drew his breath through his shut teeth like a person whose
sensitive feelings have been rudely jarred, and made no reply.
_Heinrich_ noticed it and possessed sufficient tact to represent the
whole affair as if he had himself been the victim of accident. The
nocturnal visit he had induced the young girl to make he prudently
omitted, and ascribed everything else to the simplicity of an
inexperienced maiden, who, in the agony roused by the stings of
conscience, had represented the matter to her deceived lover in a very
vague and exaggerated manner. In this case, as usual, he succeeded in
convincing the prince.
"Make no further apologies about so natural an indiscretion," said he.
"True, I confess that, for my own part, I cannot understand how the
most tempting opportunity can ever obtain the mastery over the will. As
a prince, everything is at my command, but my wishes have never led me
to the pleasures of mere sensuality; still, I judge no man who thinks
and feels differently in regard to these matters,--you least of all;
therefore do not consider it any token of disfavor if I am compelled to
request you to make amends for your error, for such it is, yourself.
Unfortunately, I am unable to be of any assistance to you."
"Your Highness!" exclaimed _Heinrich_, in astonishment, "will you not
pardon the unfortunate man?"
"You ask a pardon for Severinus's would-be murderer. I cannot believe
that you have maturely considered this matter. Severinus still suffers
from the effects of that dangerous wound, and ought I to release the
man who dealt it? Severinus is the soul of the whole reverend order of
Jesuits. He has relations with the leading ecclesiastics in my domains.
The order, nay, even the whole church, was greatly agitated by this
unprecedented crime, whose punishment my confessor thought far too
light, and now, after five years, I am to perform a most unusual act of
clemency. Tell me yourself, how would it be received? how would it be
looked upon by the whole priesthood, which was then deeply offended
because I would not make the criminal a terrible example? If you so
firmly believe the man's deposition, leave the matter to the regular
course of the law; then he will not need my pardon."
"I thought, your Highness, in consideration of the certainty that the
unhappy man did not wish to kill Severinus----"
"That is all very fine, my dear fellow," interrupted the prince, with
somewhat more animation than usual; "but who knows it? And if I should
bring it forward as the cause of my clemency, who will believe it? Can
I prove that my private opinion is the correct one, and a sufficient
cause for remitting a punishment universally considered to be well
merited? My individual opinion ought not voluntarily to take sides with
Severinus's assailant, and decide a matter so complicated. Only the
calm, unanimous judgment of a court of justice can determine the true
meaning of the act, and free him by the power of the law. If you are
convinced of the truth of your assertion, you will certainly succeed in
persuading the court to believe it, and you doubtless feel that the
duty of bearing the punishment for your error rests with you rather
than me."
The prince said all this in a low, rapid tone, with a most friendly
smile, yet every word fell upon _Heinrich's_ soul like a blow. He
clinched his teeth even while he smiled, mentally called the prince a
smooth, cold egotist, and was convinced that he was a martyr of
self-sacrifice in comparison with this man. When two egotists meet,
each, with mournful self-satisfaction, considers himself the victim of
the other. This was the case with the prince, who also reflected upon
the selfishness of _Heinrich's_ expectations, and thought himself very
noble because he forgave him.
"Your Highness," said _Heinrich_, with the frankness which was his most
dangerous mask, "if I avoided adopting the means you mentioned, it was
because as a member of the court and council of state I dared not
venture to compromise myself by any public transactions in regard to
this delicate matter. I thought I was obliged to honor your Highness's
servant in myself as well as in any one else. I did not suppose that a
powerful prince like my most gracious ruler need fear the anger of the
priesthood for performing such a truly Christian deed, and therefore
most humbly beg pardon for my indiscreet petition."
"You know you are indispensable to me, Ottmar, and can ask a great
deal; but, even though you may feel angered, I cannot grant this
request. Even if, as you apparently wished to intimate just now, I need
not fear the anger of the priests, I will not rouse it uselessly. If I
am the head, the priesthood is the heart of my body politic; shall I
wound it if it can be avoided? Of course, something must be done for
the poor man; but if one of us is to make a sacrifice for him, it is
surely better and more natural for you to do it than for me. Give the
information therefore, and after his release I will grant him every
favor you may ask."
"So your Highness really commands the affair to be made public?"
"Say yourself. Will it not become so under any circumstances? You know
that I could only pardon Albert Preheim by convincing all as well as
myself that he was not guilty of the murderous assault upon Severinus.
To attain this object should I not be compelled to reveal your acts,
first to the priests, and afterwards, for their satisfaction, to the
public? You would then be quite as much exposed as if you appeared
before a court of justice, and much more harshly judged than if you
atoned for your indiscretion by a frank confession in favor of
Preheim."
"Of course," said _Heinrich_, bitterly.
"Although the affair will then attract attention, which will be as
disagreeable to me as to you, it will in any event be forgotten in the
course of a few months. You must take the journey which I just
mentioned to you at once,--and when you return no one will give it
another thought."
"So, your Highness, it is your wish that a man whom you openly honor
with your confidence, who has a voice in the council, and with whom you
deign to share your cares concerning the weal and woe of the state,
should appear before a court of justice and a curious public to make
confession of his youthful errors?"
"Oh," said the prince, "I leave it entirely to your conscience to
decide whether you do not consider a man whom you thought worthy of my
protection sufficiently deserving for you to perform an act of
magnanimity in his behalf. If you are perfectly satisfied that he is
too severely punished, I know your sense of honor well enough to be
sure that you will act for him. If you are not, you need not expose
yourself for him any more than you will ask me to grant his pardon.
Give this matter careful consideration; I hope you will not force upon
me the alternative of making an innocent man suffer unjustly, or
offending those members of my state whom I esteem most highly." He
looked at his watch. "It is eight o'clock: I must dress. Shall I see
you this evening at the princess mother's?"
"I am at your service, your Highness."
"A pity that it is so small a company. I can have no further
conversation with you about that affair of the marriage to-day."
"I deeply regret that I have not better employed the precious moments
your Highness condescended to bestow."
"Well, _au revoir_," said the prince, rising, and dismissing _Heinrich_
with a gracious wave of the hand.
_Heinrich_ had required all his self-control to avoid making several
subtle rejoinders that hovered on his tongue. He was furiously enraged
by the failure of his plan and the prince's terror of the priesthood,
as he called it. He perceived that the young, strictly religious man
was right from his point of view, but rejected his whole standard of
measurement with indescribably bitter irony. For the first time since
he had lived in N---- this trait in the prince's character had become
personally detrimental, and he felt anew the full severity of the fate
which had forced him to bend to this hated system.
His longing to win the Prison Fairy and his sense of right struggled
violently with his pride. Should he give up the whole affair now? Could
he rest satisfied with a single, useless effort, without being ashamed
of himself, lowered in the eyes of the prince, and, above all, in the
opinion of the Prison Fairy? Must not her pure, noble soul withdraw
from him forever, after she had obtained this glimpse of his nature?
Was she not the only joy for which he hoped in his cheerless life, and
was he to lose it just as he had found it?
Then he asked himself whether she was really what she seemed, whether
she deserved the sacrifice he was making for her sake. With deep
loathing he saw himself standing before the court, in the presence of
the malicious public; his pride struggled against the thought with all
its power, and amid these painful considerations _Henri_ even allowed
himself to be influenced by the fear that, after the confession of his
error, the ladies of the court would be implacably lost to him. Would
the Prison Fairy outweigh all this to _Heinrich_ as well as _Henri_?
Would a smile from her have power to compensate _Heinrich_ for the
sneering laugh on the faces which had hitherto shown only fawning
affability? Was her esteem more than the admiration of the court, which
would now have nothing for him save the scornful shrug of the
shoulders?
While _Henri_ was charming the ladies at the court _soiree_ by his
shallow gallantries, these considerations ceaselessly occupied
_Heinrich's_ thoughts, and he resolved, cost what it might, to see the
Prison Fairy again on the following day.