is servant
had suffered. The case was clear enough, the fact that the horses had
been illegally detained threw a light on all the rest, and even if it
were assumed that they had been injured merely by chance, the claim of
their owner to have them back in a healthy condition, was nevertheless
just. Besides Kohlhaas had plenty of good friends at Dresden, who
promised heartily to support his cause, his extensive trade in horses
had gained him a numerous acquaintance, and the honesty of his dealings
had acquired him the good will of the most important men in the
country. He frequently dined with his advocate, who was himself a man
of consequence, gave him a sum to defray the law expenses, and being
fully satisfied by him as to the issue of the suit, returned, after a
few weeks to his wife at Kohlhaasenbrueck. However months passed on,
and the year was nearly at an end, and he had not yet got from Saxony
even a statement concerning his suit, much less the decision itself.
After he had applied to the tribunal several times anew he asked his
legal assistant in a confidential letter, what could be the cause of
this monstrous delay, and learned that his suit had been entirely set
aside in consequence of a high application to the supreme court at
Dresden. In answer to another letter from the horse-dealer, couched in
terms of high dissatisfaction, and asking a reason for all this, the
jurist replied, that the Squire Wenzel von Tronka was related to two
young gentlemen, Herrn Henry and Conrad von Tronka, one of whom was
attached to the lord cup-bearer, while the other was chamberlain. He
advised him, without proceeding further in the suit, to try to get his
horses back from the Tronkenburg, gave him to understand that the
squire, who was now in the capital, had ordered his people to return
them, and finally entreated him, if he would not be satisfied, at
any-rate not to give him (the writer) any further commissions relative
to the matter.

At this time, Kohlhaas happened to be in Brandenburg, where the
town-governor (_Stadt-hauptmann_) Heinrich von Geusau, to whose
jurisdiction Kohlhaasenbrueck belonged, was occupied in founding several
charitable institutions for the poor and sick, a considerable sum,
which had come into the possession of the city, being appropriated for
that purpose. Above all he was endeavouring to convert a mineral
spring, the source of which was in a neighbouring village, and
concerning the virtues of