rtisans, and with these an order of precedence. The court shoemaker
tried by petitioning and bribery to obtain the right of nailing the
coat of arms of his sovereign over his door; and the court tailor and
court gardener quarrelled bitterly which should go before the other,
for the tailor, according to the letter of the rule of precedence,
went as a matter of course before the gardener, but the latter had
obtained the right of bearing a sword.[76] Wealth was the only thing
besides rank that gave a privileged position. Whoever calls ours a
money-seeking time, should remember how great was the influence of
money in former times, and how eagerly it was sought by the poor. The
rich man could, it was thought, effect everything. He could be made a
nobleman, provided with a title, or by his presents put his rulers
under an obligation to him. These presents, were in general received
willingly. Greedily did the chancellor, the judge, or the councillor
accept them, and even the most sensitive rarely withstood a delicately
offered gift. The protection, however, obtained by the citizen in the
new state was still very deficient; it was difficult for him to obtain
justice against people of distinction and influence. Lawsuits in most
of the German territories were endless. A difficult case of
inheritance, or a bankruptcy business, would go on to the second and
third generation. Government, with the best will, could not always
punish even violent injury to property from burglary or robbery. It is
instructive to investigate the proceedings against the bold robber
bands; even when they succeeded in catching the delinquent, the stolen
goods could seldom be restored to the owners. The neighbouring
governments sometimes delivered up, on requisition and petition, the
criminal who had found an asylum in their country, but such deliveries
were generally preceded by special influence, and frequently by
presents of money; but the confiscated possessions of the criminal were
in many cases retained, and disappeared in the hands of the officials.
When in 1733, at Coburg, a gold and silver manufactory was robbed, and
strong suspicion fell on a wealthy Jewish trader, the proceedings were
often stopped and interfered with, in consequence of the relations the
Jew had with the court; and even after he was known to be in intimate
connection with a band of robbers and murderers, the proceedings
against his assistants could not be pursued further, because th