world, and
Kohlhaas had been arrested, and delivered up to the Brandenburg
tribunal for judgment and execution.

The elector admitted that the mistake in sending Eibenmeyer was not so
great, but expressed his wish that he should not appear at Vienna in
his official capacity of prosecutor till he had received further
instructions, and told the prince to communicate this to him
accordingly through an express. The prince replied that this command
came unfortunately a day too late, since Eibenmeyer, according to a
notice which had arrived that very day, had appeared in the quality of
attorney, and had proceeded to bring the complaint before the
state-chancery in Vienna.

When the elector asked with astonishment how this was possible in so
short a time, he answered, that three weeks had already elapsed since
Eibenmeyer's departure, and that by the instructions which he had
received, it was incumbent upon him to despatch the business as soon as
possible after his arrival at Vienna. The prince further remarked,
that a delay would, under the circumstances, be so much the more
unjustifiable, as the Brandenburg representative, Zaeuner, was
proceeding against Squire Wenzel von Tronka with the boldest energy,
and had already moved the court, that the horses, as a preliminary
measure, should be taken out of the hands of the flayer, with a view to
their future recovery, and had succeeded in carrying this point in
spite of all the objections of the opposite party.

The elector, ringing the bell, said, "Well, no matter!" and after
putting some indifferent questions to the prince, such as "how matters
stood in Dresden," and "what had been going on in his absence," he
shook hands with him, unable any longer to conceal the state of his
mind, and dismissed him. On the very same day he sent to him a written
request for all the documents relating to the Kohlhaas affair, under
the pretext that he would take the management of it into his own hands
on account of its political importance. The thought of destroying the
man from whom alone he could learn the mysteries of the slip was to him
insupportable, so he addressed to the emperor a letter in his own hand,
in which he requested him in the most pressing manner, for certain
important reasons, which he would perhaps explain more definitely in a
short time, to set aside the complaint which Eibenmeyer had brought
against Kohlhaas, until some further conclusion had been arrived at.

The em