sting with which he solemnizes the return of him who is a thorn
in his flesh, a thorn which he is firmly determined to pluck out, and
tread under foot! I came here humble, poor, and empty-handed, and _he_
solemnizes my return by offering presents to my mother and my sisters!
And they accept them, feel not at all the degradation, and will appear at
the _fete_ in clothes with which my enemy, my adversary, my murderer has
presented them!"

"Prince, you go too far. Your hatred carries you away."

"No, I do not go too far!" cried the Prince, beside himself. His
countenance was deadly pale, his eyes flashed, and his whole being seemed
pervaded by the fire of wrath and hatred. "No, I do not go too far, and my
hatred does not carry me away! He is the evil demon of my house--of my
country! He is to blame for all the disasters of the last twenty years,
for all the humiliation and shame by which my family has been visited. The
Mark is to be ruined--that is his end, that is his aim; the Electoral
house of Brandenburg must die out--that is his hope; and he will leave
untried no means whereby this hope may become reality. He has already
tried once to murder me,[22] and he will try it again. A dagger's point
lurks in each glance that he fixes upon me, a drop of poison in each word
that he directs to me. If I stood alone with him upon the summit of a
tower, he would hurl me down, and then afterward follow my coffin with a
thousand tears! And my father would lean upon him, and thank God that only
his son had been snatched from him, not his friend, his favorite; and my
mother would weep for me, and yet go about in mourning which he had
presented to her, and she would esteem it a peculiar act of amiability if
he should exert himself to divert her mind and raise her spirits. No voice
would be raised against him, and no one would venture to accuse him, for
my father himself would protect him, and the grace and favor of the
Emperor would speak him clear of any suspicion. He is my master, my
lord--that is what fills me with rage and indignation; and I will surely
die of this if the count does not succeed in dispatching me first, and
putting me out of the way."

"He will not venture to attempt that, for he knows public opinion would
accuse and denounce him as the murderer."

"What cares he for public opinion, what asks he about it--_he_ who has
power to repress it, _he_ who stands so secure that it can not touch
_him_?"

"Nobody stands so