sacrifice, he responded that he wished to keep the slip
of paper. To the hunting squire’s question as to what
induced him to this strange refusal, since he was being
offered in exchange nothing less than his freedom and
his life, Kohlhaas replied: ‘Noble sir, if your sovereign
came and said, “I will destroy myself together with the
whole legion of those who help me to run the country,”
destroy, do you understand, which is of course my
soul’s dearest wish, then I would nevertheless still
refuse to part with the piece of paper that is worth
more to him than life, and would say to him, “You can
bring me to the scaffold, but I can harm you, and I will.”
With these words, and death all over his countenance,
he summoned a trooper and told him to help himself to
a good portion of the food that was left in the bowl. For
the rest of the hour he spent in the little town, he acted
as though the squire, who was sitting at the table, was
not there, and only turned to him again as he climbed
the carriage with a look that said farewell.O
n receiving news of this outcome, the elector’s
condition deteriorated to such a degree that the
doctor fretted for three days with grave concern for his
life, assailed simultaneously from so many sides.
Nevertheless, he did recover by force of his naturally
solid constitution after spending several distressing
weeks on the sickbed; he recovered sufficiently to be
moved to a carriage, and shored up well with cushions
and blankets he was conveyed back to Dresden to
return once more to the affairs of his government.
As soon as he arrived in the city he sent for Prince
Christien von Meissen and asked him how things stood
with the plan to send Judge Eibenmayer to Vienna to
present before His Imperial Majesty the case against
Kohlhaas concerning his breach of imperial public
peace. The prince replied that in accordance with the
instructions left by the elector when he departed for
Dahme he, Judge Eibenmayer, had gone to Vienna
immediately upon the arrival in Dresden of the jurist
Zäuner, who was representing the elector of Branden-
burg in bringing action against Squire Wenzel von
Tronka relating to the pair of black horses.
The elector, turning red as he made his way to his
desk, expressed his surprise at this hastiness, stating
that, to his recollection, he made it clear that the final
departure of Eibenmayer was to await a further and
more precise order, pending a necessary consultation
with Dr. Luther, who had obtained the amnesty for
Kohlhaas. As he said that, with an expression of
restrained indignation he tossed some of the corre-
spondence and documents lying on his desk on top of
each other. Staring at him for a moment with a puzzled
look, the prince replied that he was sorry if he had not
dealt with this matter to his satisfaction, but he could
show him the resolution of the State Council obliging34 Pearl • August 2019You have to accept whatever comes,
and the only important thing is that
you meet it with the best you have
to give.Eleanor Roosevelthim to send the advocate at that time. He added that
there had been no mention whatsoever in the Council
of State of a consultation with Dr. Luther; that it might
have been expedient previously to consider this
reverend gentleman because of his intercession on
Kohlhaas’ behalf, but that was no longer the case, after
he had violated the amnesty before the eyes of the
whole world and had been arrested and delivered up to
the Brandenburg courts for sentencing and execution.
The elector admitted that the lapse in having sent
Eibenmayer was, in fact, not so serious, but now it was
his wish for the time being that he should not act in
Vienna in his capacity as prosecutor until further
orders, and he bid the prince to instruct him to this
effect without delay by means of an express messenger.
The prince replied that, alas, this order came a day too
late, in that according to a report received that very day
Eibenmayer had already proceeded in that capacity and
filed the action at the Vienna State Chancellery.
In answer to the elector’s astonished question as to
how all this was possible in such a short time, the prince
added that three weeks had elapsed since Eibenmayer’s
departure and that his instructions had been to deal
with this business without delay as soon as he arrived in
Vienna. A delay, the prince remarked, would in this
instance have been all the more inappropriate, as
Zäuner, the Brandenburg advocate, was proceeding
against Squire Wenzel von Tronka with the most
defiant vigour and had already applied to court to
withdraw the black horses temporarily from the hands
of the knacker with a view to their future restoration,
and had succeeded with this motion despite all the
objections on the part of the defendants.
The elector, pulling the bell, said no matter, it was of
no significance, and having turned back to the prince
with a number of indifferent questions about how
things stood in Dresden otherwise and what had
happened in his absence, shook his hands and, unable
to conceal his deep feelings, dismissed him.
The very same day he sent him a written request for
all of the documents relating to the Kohlhaas affair,
under the pretext that he wanted to handle the matter
himself on account of its political implications; and
since the thought of destroying the only man from
whom he could obtain information about the secrets of
the paper was unbearable to him, he drafted a personal
letter to the emperor pleading sincerely and urgently,
for important reasons which he would perhaps explain
more definitely shortly, to be allowed for the time being
to withdraw the suit that Eibenmayer had filed against
Kohlhaas, pending a further decision.
In a note issued by the state chancellery, the
emperor replied that the elector’s seeming sudden
change of heart was most astonishing, adding that the
report submitted to him from the Saxon side had madePearl • August 2019 35sacrifice, he responded that he wished to keep the slip
of paper. To the hunting squire’s question as to what
induced him to this strange refusal, since he was being
offered in exchange nothing less than his freedom and
his life, Kohlhaas replied: ‘Noble sir, if your sovereign
came and said, “I will destroy myself together with the
whole legion of those who help me to run the country,”
destroy, do you understand, which is of course my
soul’s dearest wish, then I would nevertheless still
refuse to part with the piece of paper that is worth
more to him than life, and would say to him, “You can
bring me to the scaffold, but I can harm you, and I will.”
With these words, and death all over his countenance,
he summoned a trooper and told him to help himself to
a good portion of the food that was left in the bowl. For
the rest of the hour he spent in the little town, he acted
as though the squire, who was sitting at the table, was
not there, and only turned to him again as he climbed
the carriage with a look that said farewell.
O
n receiving news of this outcome, the elector’s
condition deteriorated to such a degree that the
doctor fretted for three days with grave concern for his
life, assailed simultaneously from so many sides.
Nevertheless, he did recover by force of his naturally
solid constitution after spending several distressing
weeks on the sickbed; he recovered sufficiently to be
moved to a carriage, and shored up well with cushions
and blankets he was conveyed back to Dresden to
return once more to the affairs of his government.
As soon as he arrived in the city he sent for Prince
Christien von Meissen and asked him how things stood
with the plan to send Judge Eibenmayer to Vienna to
present before His Imperial Majesty the case against
Kohlhaas concerning his breach of imperial public
peace. The prince replied that in accordance with the
instructions left by the elector when he departed for
Dahme he, Judge Eibenmayer, had gone to Vienna
immediately upon the arrival in Dresden of the jurist
Zäuner, who was representing the elector of Branden-
burg in bringing action against Squire Wenzel von
Tronka relating to the pair of black horses.
The elector, turning red as he made his way to his
desk, expressed his surprise at this hastiness, stating
that, to his recollection, he made it clear that the final
departure of Eibenmayer was to await a further and
more precise order, pending a necessary consultation
with Dr. Luther, who had obtained the amnesty for
Kohlhaas. As he said that, with an expression of
restrained indignation he tossed some of the corre-
spondence and documents lying on his desk on top of
each other. Staring at him for a moment with a puzzled
look, the prince replied that he was sorry if he had not
dealt with this matter to his satisfaction, but he could
show him the resolution of the State Council obliging
34 Pearl • August 2019You have to accept whatever comes,
and the only important thing is that
you meet it with the best you have
to give.Eleanor Roosevelt