bble who were
disposed for any outrage, and to carry on the trade into which Kohlhaas
had initiated him on his own account. This worthless fellow, partly to
frighten the officers by whom he was pursued, partly to induce the
peasantry after the ordinary fashion to take part in his misdeeds,
called himself vicegerent to Kohlhaas, and spread a report with the
cunning he had learned from his master, that the amnesty had not been
kept with many men, who had returned quietly to their homes--nay that
Kohlhaas himself, by a shameful violation of faith, had been imprisoned
immediately on his arrival at Dresden, and had been consigned to the
care of a guard. In placards, quite similar to those of Kohlhaas, he
made his band of incendiaries appear as a warlike force, raised solely
for the honour of God, with the mission of seeing that the amnesty
granted by the elector was properly carried out. The whole affair, as
we have already said, had nothing to do with the honour of God, nor
with any attachment to Kohlhaas, about whose fate the fellow was
totally indifferent, but he merely intended under the protection of
devices to burn and plunder with greater impunity. The knights, as
soon as the news of this occurrence reached Dresden, could scarcely
conceal their joy at the entirely new turn which it gave to the whole
affair. With sagacious and dissatisfied side-glances they alluded to
the mistake that had been made in granting Kohlhaas the amnesty in
spite of all their warnings, just as if for the sake of encouraging
rascals of every kind to follow in his steps. Not contented with
giving credence to Nagelschmidt's pretext, that he had taken up arms
solely for the support and defence of his oppressed master, they
plainly expressed their opinion that the whole enterprise was devised
by Kohlhaas to intimidate the government, and thus to hurry on the
decree and render it completely conformable to his obstinate will.
Nay, the cupbearer went so far as to say to a party of hunting squires
and courtiers, who, after their meal, had assembled in the elector's
anteroom, that the disbanding of the gang of robbers at Luetzen was a
mere feint; and while he laughed much at the chancellor's love of
justice, he showed from many circumstances clearly combined, that the
troop existed now just as much as before, in the woods of the
electorate, and merely waited for a signal from the horse-dealer to
break out anew with fire and sword. Prince Christia