, Kohlhaas would undoubtedly bring
it to the knowledge of the people, accompanied by malicious comments,
and the populace might easily be so far misled that nothing further
could be done against him by the authorities of the state, Luther
concluded that, in this extraordinary case, scruples about entering
into negotiations with a subject who had taken up arms must be passed
over; that, as a matter of fact, the latter, by the conduct which had
been observed toward him, had in a sense been cast out of the body
politic, and, in short, in order to put an end to the matter, he
should be regarded rather as a foreign power which had attacked the
land (and, since he was not a Saxon subject, he really might, in a
way, be regarded as such), than as a rebel in revolt against the
throne.

When the Elector received this letter there were present at the palace
Prince Christiern of Meissen, Generalissimo of the Empire, uncle of
that Prince Friedrich of Meissen who had been defeated at Muehlberg and
was still laid up with his wounds, also the Grand Chancellor of the
Tribunal, Count Wrede, Count Kallheim, President of the Chancery of
State, and the two lords, Hinz and Kunz Tronka, the former Cup-bearer,
the latter Chamberlain--all confidential friends of the sovereign from
his youth. The Chamberlain, Sir Kunz, who in his capacity of privy
councilor, attended to the private correspondence of his master and
had the right to use his name and seal, was the first to speak. He
once more explained in detail that never, on his own authority, would
he have suppressed the complaint which the horse-dealer had lodged in
court against his cousin the Squire, had it not been for the fact
that, misled by false statements, he had believed it an absolutely
unfounded and worthless piece of mischief-making. After this he passed
on to consider the present state of affairs. He remarked that by
neither divine nor human laws had the horse-dealer been warranted in
wreaking such horrible vengeance as he had allowed himself to take for
this mistake. The Chamberlain then proceeded to describe the glory
that would fall upon the damnable head of the latter if they should
negotiate with him as with a recognized military power, and the
ignominy which would thereby be reflected upon the sacred person of
the Elector seemed to him so intolerable that, carried away by the
fire of his eloquence, he declared he would rather let worst come to
worst, see the judgment of the