their benefit, and that the Counsellor had no right to withhold them.
Some of the men and youths, who had kept out of the way on the previous
day, now mingled among the groups. They were presumably the same who
had made the nightly attack on the cart containing the provisions.
Erastus had to summon his men from their work to guard the wagons. The
physicians themselves began to be weary of their work. "Let us give the
provisions to this rebellious peasantry and leave them to their fate,"
they said. Whilst thus a violent discussion arose among the members of
the Commission, an impudent youth sprang upon the provision cart and
tore down the linen covering. Immediately the women surrounded the cart
and seized casks and sacks with eager hands. Suddenly the trot of
horses was heard at the entrance of the village. "The police magistrate
with four mounted men," cried a laborer, "he knows what is necessary to
do." The women crept off, in an instant the crowd dispersed and the
young men disappeared behind the houses. Herr Hartmann Hartmanni, "the
learned Magistrate," as he was wont to be called by the guests at the
Hirsch, appeared on the spot and sprang from his horse. He was a
handsome man, this magistrate, but his tall figure was broken down
through dissipation. Only a few sparse black hairs covered the head of
this man yet in the prime of life, and all the seven mortal sins had
left their traces on his worn face. His eyes were crooked, and his legs
no longer carried out the wishes of their owner. Although the ends of
his moustache curled up grimly, the corners of the mouth were weak and
flabby. For so severe a man his bearing was rather affected, as he much
liked to show off the learning, which he owed to the old school of
humanity at Heidelberg. Herr Hartmann Hartmanni did not like work.
Instead of fulfilling his office at the town-hall, he preferred making
verses, and the reports of his examinations often read like poems. The
Kurfuerst wished to dismiss him, but the Amtmann of Heidelberg had
rendered to Frederic III., at the death of Otto Heinrich, a signal
service. He had enabled the poor Duke of Simmern to enter Heidelberg in
sufficient time to possess himself of his legitimate inheritance, which
the Duke Albert of Bavaria was already preparing to seize. Thus the
Kurfuerst felt himself bound down by personal obligations, and many a
Prince has been compelled to adopt new reforms to render an official
whom he does not wish