ou have a
mother and a father---you are in the flower of your life--and yet you
intended to commit so horrible a crime! For you will not deny that
murder is a crime."

"Murder in ordinary cases is one of the greatest crimes," said Staps, in
his calm, gentle voice. "But to take your life--to rid the world of
Napoleon--is no murder and no crime; it is an act of justice--nay, it is
a sacred duty! If I had killed you, no one would have called me an
assassin; my attempt is criminal because it did not succeed. That is
what one of our own great poets says concerning certain actions:

'Conceived and unsuccessful--there's the crime!
Accomplished, it becomes a deed immortal.
And what succeeds will surely be forgiven,
For God's own verdict lies in the result!"'[48]

[Footnote 48:

"Gedacht bloss und missglueckt--ist's nur ein Frevel,
Vollbracht, ist's ein unsterblich Unternehmen.
Und was nur glueckt, das wird dann auch verziehen,
Denn jeder Ausgang--ist ein Gottes-Urtheil!"

SCHILLER.

]

"And God, then, has decided against you," said Napoleon, quickly.

"No, God delays only the execution of the blow, and perhaps I am not the
right instrument. He will choose another, and my successors will know
better how to find your heart. Believe me, the Germans know how to do
their duty; and to rid Germany of her tyrant, and restore peace to her
people, is their duty."

"You have read a good deal, I suppose?" asked the emperor. "And it seems
books have excited your imagination. What were your favorite works?"

"Sire, historical works," said Staps, calmly. "I derived from them the
courage required for my deed."

"You know something of Brutus, then?" asked Napoleon, with a
compassionate smile.

"There were two Brutuses. The last Brutus killed the tyrant, and died
for liberty. Mankind have not ceased admiring him, as France has not
ceased admiring the Maid of Orleans. She delivered her country from its
enemies, but she was captured, and perished. I intended to do what that
heroic maid did--save my native land from oppression, but God decreed
that her destiny, and not her deed, should be mine."

"Does your father know of your folly?"

"Neither he nor my betrothed, nor any one else, knew of my purpose. I
came hither alone, and alone I intended to accomplish it. Not until I
had succeeded was its revelation to be made. And the news would have
come to those I love as a pledge of p