ct the
elector's view of the case would be fruitless, entreated him to try
some plan to obtain possession of the slip, and then to leave the
fellow to his fate; but the elector replied, that he could see no plan
at all, although the thought of going without the paper, and of seeing
all knowledge of it perish with Kohlhaas, made him almost desperate.
To his friend's question, whether he had made any efforts to discover
the gipsy herself, he answered that the government (_Gubernium_), in
pursuance of a command which he had sent forth under a false pretext,
had in vain sought for the woman to that day, in all the public places
in the electorate, while, from other reasons which he declined to
communicate more explicitly, he expressed his doubts whether she was to
be found in Saxony. It chanced that the chamberlain wished to travel
to Berlin for the sake of some considerable property in the Neumark, to
which his wife had become entitled by the bequest of the High
Chancellor Kallheim, who died soon after he was displaced; and,
therefore, as he really was much attached to the elector, he asked him,
after a short deliberation, whether he would let him act quite at
liberty in this matter.

The elector, pressing the chamberlain's hand with warmth against his
breast, answered: "Consider that you are myself, and get the paper;"
and, therefore, the chamberlain, having entrusted his office to other
hands, hastened his journey by a day or two, and, leaving his wife
behind, set off for Berlin, accompanied only by some servants.

Kohlhaas, who, as we have already said, had in the meanwhile arrived at
Berlin, and by the special order of the elector had been put in a state
prison, made as comfortable as possible for the reception of him and
his five children, was, immediately after the appearance of the
imperial attorney from Vienna, brought before the chamber council
charged with a breach of the imperial peace. Although he said, in
answer, that he could not be prosecuted for his armed attack in Saxony,
and the violence he had there committed, by virtue of the agreement
made with the Elector of Saxony, at Luetzen, he was informed that of
that agreement the emperor, whose attorney conducted this complaint,
could take no cognizance. When the matter was explained to him, and he
heard, besides, with reference to his affair at Dresden, that he would
have ample justice against Squire Wenzel von Tronka, he readily
submitted. The very day o