Two Princesses
As has already been related, the Electoress widow Anna, mother of the
reigning Elector, was invited to act as godmother at the christening of
the new-born Prince. She belonged to the Lutheran Confession, and her
hatred of the Reformers was so intense that, while she was willing to
enter her name as a witness in the church book she could not bring
herself to attend the ceremonies in the cathedral. The Electoress made
several ineffectual attempts to conciliate her mother-in-law. It may be
well imagined that the incident greatly excited the people. The number
of Reformers in the two cities, as has been said, was insignificant and
nearly every one sided with the widowed Electoress. She was so ardent in
her zeal that she even employed the Lutheran minister, Balthazar
Meissner, to preach both the last Sundays of her stay in the large hall
of the castle. She also invited many prominent citizens of both the
cities to attend the service. As the people were leaving the castle on
the last Sunday they met the Electoress coming out of the cathedral. She
imagined that they did not greet her with their usual deference and even
fancied that many of them showed signs of marked disrespect.
On the following Monday the Electoress summoned the wife of a halberdier
who had attended the castle service on the preceding day. The woman was
much alarmed, fearing that the Electoress was going to rebuke her; but
the latter reassured her. "As to this matter," she said, "neither my
husband nor I have any desire to prevent you from doing what your
conscience approves, but I claim, and Sigismund also, that we shall have
the same right and that we shall pray to our common Heavenly Father in
the Reformed Church without being condemned for it." Then she questioned
the woman about Balthazar Meissner's sermon, what he had said and
whether he had bitterly attacked the Reformers. "Is it true," she
inquired, "that he assailed my brother and the Bohemians?"
After some hesitation the woman replied: "Yes! He invoked the wrath of
Heaven upon the Bohemians and also--upon their new King. He also
implored divine help for the Catholics in their contest with the
detested Reformers."
"Go on! Tell me all, conceal nothing."
After some cross-questioning, the Electoress ascertained that Balthazar
Meissner had stigmatized the Reformers as children of the devil and
worse even than the Catholics, some of whom might expect the divine
mercy. Furthermore he had said that whenever a country fell into the
hands of a ruler who was one of these heretical Reformers, the devil
erected an altar upon, which the salvation of his subjects was
sacrificed.
After the Electoress had dismissed the woman, she reflected for some
time upon the course she should pursue. At last she decided to
remonstrate with her mother-in-law so that such dangerous proceedings
should not be repeated. She went at once to her apartments, sent in her
name by a maid in waiting, and was admitted. Though both were under the
same roof, the two ladies had not seen one another for several weeks.
The manner of their meeting showed their alienation. The Electoress
bowed low; her face was pale, and its expression that of one who was
very ill. The Princess Anna stood erect and motionless some seconds and
regarded her with piercing glances from her black eyes. Her gray locks
shadowed a flushed face, the features of which revealed a crafty nature.
Politely acknowledging her deference, she motioned the Electoress to be
seated and then asked in a cutting tone: "What is it that has brought
you to your mother-in-law? Surely something very extraordinary must have
happened."
The reply came in a clear, firm voice. "Yes, something very
extraordinary has happened. I, the Princess of the country, have been
insulted under my own roof, by a priest--I and my husband and the
government. And who has brought this shame upon us? My own
mother-in-law, the mother of my dear husband! She protected this priest,
she summoned him here, she invited citizens here to listen to insults of
myself and assaults upon my religion, and to expose me to their hatred
and derision. O my God! when ever before has a Princess been so
treated?" She burst into tears.
With the utmost coolness the other replied: "Nathan also went to the
house of the King, and his words were a two-edged sword. He came to save
David from destruction, and, lo, he succeeded; for David repented. The
pious Balthazar came to this house and denounced the apostasy of those
who are floundering about in the morasses of the heretical Reformed
religion. Oh, that his words were a trumpet blast to rouse you from your
sinful slumber and that you, like David, might repent and acknowledge
your error."
The Electoress in the meantime had regained composure. "I have not come
here," said she, "to engage in useless dispute with you about the
doctrines of the Lutheran and Reformed faiths, but I may remind you that
if you assail us so shamefully you cannot blame the Catholics for
assailing you. You call us apostates and you condemn the Catholics for
their persecution of you, and yet in your heart you deny us in like
manner the freedom of conscience!"
"Well! when we see hearts in the power of Satan, should we not cry
aloud?"
"How can you be so bitterly unjust?" replied the Electoress. "Should you
not hesitate before you insult a religion in which not only I but my
husband, your son, believe--a religion indeed in which a man believed
who for a long time was the nearest one to you on earth?"
The other sprang from her seat and paced the room to and fro with eyes
blazing with excitement. "My Sigismund!" she exclaimed at last with
clasped hands and upturned eyes. "My Sigismund, that you also should
have apostatized from the true faith! Was it the longing for those
possessions on the frontier of Holland which you hoped to secure by your
renunciation of your religion, that blinded you? Or, had the Evil One--"
"Horrible!" said the Electoress. "You spare neither the dead nor the
living, neither friends nor kinsmen. How dare you assert that your
husband went over to the Reformed Church for the sake of those
possessions? I am as sure that was not the case, as I am that you are
standing here."
"Sure," said the Electoress Anna, "sure! tell me what grounds you have
for your certainty."
"They are simple and, I think, convincing. Every one says that when your
husband made the change, he intended if possible to acquire those
possessions, but was conscious at the same time that he would lose
Lutheran Brandenburg. On the one hand, a little gain; on the other, an
immense loss. Had he been influenced by material considerations, do you
suppose, does any one suppose, that he would not have decided to remain
with the Lutherans and secure a great gain, rather than go over to the
Reformers and incur a great loss? His action is conclusive proof that
his renunciation was a matter of conscience, and conscience alone."
"You may be right," exclaimed the Electoress Anna, with a sigh. "My
husband has told me this and also my son, and yet, and yet--" After a
pause she continued: "But grant it were so! Is the power of the Evil One
so great that it can thus deceive the conscience?"
"We think otherwise," replied the Electoress. "We hope, if we strive to
live rightfully and in accordance with our faith, to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven, but we do not believe that its doors of mercy are closed
against others. We tolerate other beliefs. We do not charge them with
being heterodox."
The princely widow came close to the Electoress, looked at her fixedly,
and said: "I will tell you just how you stand. You Reformers have a very
small following in the country, therefore you are tolerant. Should your
numbers increase, then--"
"Then, do you mean we will be as intolerant as the Lutherans? Never!"
The conversation had taken a turn which did not please the widowed
Electoress. She could no longer talk reasonably or dispassionately. She
turned suddenly and asked the following questions: "What was your real
purpose in calling upon me? Tell me truly. Had you not rather I would
leave the castle, the city, and the country? Place your hand upon your
heart and tell me no untruth."
The Electoress replied: "God is my witness that I shall speak the truth.
I take your hand, beloved Princess Mother, and implore you and yours to
live in peace with us under this roof, to refrain from assailing the
faith of others, and to prove the excellence of your belief by your
conduct. Dear mother, let us set the country an example of the peace
which we find in our common love of the Saviour."
"No! No! the serpent of Paradise is hidden in your words. No! a
long-cherished thought impels me to instant decision. A few days hence I
shall go from here, far from this wretched country to a land where
genuine Lutherans may be found. Say no more. I wish to be alone."
A silent adieu and the Electoress left the apartment.