Part 13 (1/2)

The other preachers expected the same fate, but matters went no farther, so Niemann would have risked nothing by adding his signature to that of his colleagues. Besides, the Interim was a.s.sailed from every direction; the attacks were made in German, in Latin, in Italian, in French, and in Spanish. Every line was weighed and refuted in the name of the Holy Word. The pope, for very shame, did not know where to hide his face.

Let my children bear in mind the high degree of fortune attained by the emperor. At the summit of that prosperity, when everything seemed to proceed according to his desires, he imagined that unhindered he could break his promise to undertake nothing against the Augsburg confession.

For love of the pope, he contemplated ruining the unshakable stronghold of Luther. From that moment the emperor's star waned; all his enterprises failed. Instead of being razed to the ground, Luther's stronghold was, on the contrary, furnished with solid ramparts, and to-day it counts powerful defenders in Germany, such as the Duke of Prussia, the Margrave of Baden, the Margrave Ernest von Pforzheim, and others, while among other nations the number of champions inspired by the blood of the martyrs is constantly on the increase. That stronghold shall set its enemies at defiance for evermore.

At Stettin they went on blackening my character so effectually that Dr.

Schwallenberg succeeded in getting himself sent on a mission to repair the effects of my supposed neglect. On my side, I had made up my mind to resign the functions of solicitor, and to leave Spires in December.

I wrote to that effect to Chancellor Citzewitz, giving him the motives for my decision.

At his arrival Dr. Schwallenberg took up his quarters at a canon's of his acquaintance--an easy method of being boarded and lodged for nothing; he had retrenched in that way all along the route, though taking care to put down his expense in the usual manner. When I presented myself at his summons, he was at table; he did not ask me to sit down, adopted a haughty tone, and even wished me to serve him. I, however, protested energetically. ”This is not part of my duty. If there was an attempt to impose it upon me, I should refuse it; in that respect I have finished my apprentices.h.i.+p. On the other hand, the advocate and I are very anxious to have your views on the affairs of our princes which have entailed so much writing upon me, at present without any result. Will you please name your own time?” ”I'll see the advocate by himself,” replied Schwallenberg. And, in fact, he went to the lawyer, but instead of entering upon the discussion of the urgent questions, he insinuated that I was a fifth wheel on the coach. ”Get him dismissed, and his emoluments will increase your modest fees,” he remarked. The advocate was an honourable man. He replied that I was being slandered, and that he did not care about earning money by means of a cabal. Thereupon Dr. Schwallenberg went for a trip to Strasburg.

At his return the arguments of the case were ready, but he refused to read them, alleging that they had to be submitted to the dukes. I dispatched a messenger, who also carried a missive from Schwallenberg.

The latter then departed for the Diet of Ratisbon. In due time came the princes' answer, and feeling certain that it related to the lawsuit, I opened it and read as follows:

”Very learned, dear and faithful! We are pleased to express to thee our particular satisfaction at thy diligence at re-establis.h.i.+ng our affairs, so greatly compromised by our solicitor that without thy arrival on the spot they would have entirely lapsed. As for the arguments thou hast elaborated with the advocate, we have ordered them to be returned to thee the moment our counsellors shall have examined and according to need amended them. We also authorize thee to go to the Diet of Ratisbon at our cost, etc.”

It would be difficult to conceive blacker treachery. For at least a twelvemonth I had despatched messenger after messenger for instructions. In spite of that, all the delay had been imputed to me. A rogue presented as his work arguments not one word of which belonged to him; he had not even taken the trouble to read the doc.u.ments. And while the princes tendered him their thanks, my disgrace was complete.

I had no longer anything to expect from my fellow-men; the Almighty, however, chose that moment to make my innocence patent to every one, and to confound my enemies. Thus was Mordecai laden with honours after the ignominious fall of Haman. Yes, even before the arguments were sent back from Pomerania, the Chamber delivered the following judgment: ”In the matter of the town of Stolpe and of Simon Wolder against his Grace Barnim, Duke of Pomerania, etc., we decide and declare that the said duke is acquitted of all the charges and obligations advanced against him by the plaintiffs.” What hast thou to say against that, infamous libeller? Hide thy head with shame, vile hypocrite! The feelings with which I despatched a special messenger to the duke may easily be imagined. It may be equally taken for granted that I did not mince matters in pointing out the merits of Dr. Schwallenberg. And although his diabolical machinations had filled my heart with sadness, they turned to my profit and my salvation, so true it is that the Lord converts evil into good. I was, however, strengthened in my decision to abandon the office of solicitor, and, above all, the princes' service, and that notwithstanding Citzewitz's offer, both verbal and in writing, of a profitable position at the chancellerie of Wolgast. I had become disgusted with the life at courts. A new career was open to me in a town where, though the devil and his acolytes have not quite given up the game, there is nevertheless a means of enjoying one's self and to live and die according to G.o.d's precepts. My sister, who was married to Peter Frubose, burgomaster of Greifswald, proposed to me to marry her sister-in-law. As I expected to be at Greifswald on New Year's Day, I wrote to her to arrange the wedding before the carnival. A cabinet messenger, who was going home for good, sold me a young grey trotting horse, with its bridle and saddle.

Everything being wound up and settled with the advocates and procurators, etc., and having taken regular leave of them, I bade farewell to Spires on December 3, 1550, so disgusted with the Imperial Chamber as to have made up my mind never to return to it during my life. I had remained in foreign parts for five years in the interests of my father's lawsuit, in addition to the two years I had spent in behalf of the dukes of Pomerania. These years were not altogether without result. In fact, both in the chancelleries of Margrave Ernest and of the Commander of St. John, as well as at the secretary's office of our dukes and at the diets, I furthered my own affairs and ama.s.sed more money than many a doctor. It had all been done by my talent as a law writer, an art which is neither taught in Bartolus nor in Baldus, but which requires much application, memory, readiness to oblige and constant practice. Truly, I had worked day and night, and, as this narrative shows, incurred many dangers. Many folk after me, dazzled by my success, tried in their turn to become law writers, but they very soon succ.u.mbed to the monotony of the business, to the incessant labour, to the protracted vigils, to hunger, thirst, cares and dangers.

Barely one in a hundred succeeds.

I reached Stettin on December 21, and, all things considered, there was nothing to grumble at in the welcome I received. The counsellors, among whom were Schwallenberg's confederates, heard my explanations at length as they said on behalf of the prince. I was warned that they had agreed upon baulking me of an audience. The next day they informed me that the duke was as pleased with the energy I had shown as with the tenour of my report, and that I was authorized to bring a plaint against Schwallenberg. As for the prince's promise of a gratification, he had not forgotten it, and he asked me to exercise patience for a few days.

He evidently wished to consult with the court of Wolgast. I answered as follows:

”Great is my joy to learn that my lord and master appreciates my devotion and acknowledges how undeserved was my disgrace. I should be grieved to have to attack Dr. Schwallenberger on the eve of my marriage. The evidence, however, is conclusive; the duke is more interested than I in the punishment of the rogue. What, after all, have I to gain by a lawsuit now that the prince, heaven be praised, thanks me by word of mouth and in writing? Nor is it possible for me to wait here for the promised recompense. I prefer to come back after the wedding.”

When they became aware of my determination to abandon the court for the city, all the counsellors intoned a ”hallelujah.” There was an instantaneous change of language and behaviour to me. They were lavish with offers of service, but the first sentence of Chancellor Citzewitz at our meeting was: ”A plague upon the bird that will not wait for the stroke of fortune.” Here ends the story of my life previous to my marriage.

PART III

CHAPTER I

Arrival at Greifswald--Betrothal and Marriage--An old Custom--I am in Peril--Martin Weyer, Bishop

I reached Greifswald on January 1, 1551, at nightfall. I was thirty years old. After I had written to Stralsund for my parents' consent, and had conferred with my Greifswald relatives and those of my future wife, the invitations for the betrothal were sent out on both sides. On January 5, in the chapel of the Grey Friars, at eight in the morning, Master Matthew Frubose made a solemn promise to give me his daughter, in the presence of the burgomasters, councillors, and a large number of notable burghers. Burgomaster Bunsow gave me a loan of two hundred florins.

The wors.h.i.+pful council had been obliged to suppress the dances at weddings, because the manner in which the men whirled the matrons and damsels round and round had become indecent. Those who infringed the order, no matter what was their condition, were cited before the minor court. It so happened that a week after our betrothal my intended and I were invited to a wedding at one of the princ.i.p.al families. When the wedding banquet was over, my betrothed came back to me, and, being ignorant of the council's orders, I danced with her, but most quietly, and a very short time. Notwithstanding this, an officer of the court came the next morning and summoned me to appear. At the first blush I could scarcely credit such an instance of incivility. Moreover, it boded ill, and I could not help foreseeing struggles, animosities, and persecution in this manner of bidding me welcome by a satellite of the hangman after an absence of eight years. Does not the poet say, _Omina principiis semper inesse solent_? I was very indignant, and ran to the eldest of the burgomasters. He pointed out to me that urgent and severe proceedings were necessary against the coa.r.s.e licence of the students and others, but my case being entirely different, he promised to stay all proceedings.

I had not said a word about the dowry, and least of all had I inquired as to its amount; but my sister told me that my father-in-law gave his daughter two hundred florins. I made no answer. My chief concern was to get a wife. According to my brother's calculations, one hundred marks yearly would suffice to keep the house. Experience told me a different story.

I went to Stralsund for my wedding clothes and other necessary things.

My father gave me some sable furs he had had for many years. I bought the cloth for the coat as well as the rest of my marriage outfit. My father had put in pledge the things I intended offering to my bride. I was obliged to redeem them. Among several other objects there was a piece of velvet for collarettes for my betrothed and my sister. At Frankfurt-on-the-Main I had bought a dagger ornamented with silver.

Those various purchases exhausted my stock of money.

Although I had invited my numerous Stralsund relatives on both sides in good time, only Johannes Gottschalk, my old schoolfellow and colleague at the chancellerie of Wolgast, came to my wedding. He made me a present of a golden florin of Lubeck.

My marriage took place at Greifswald on February 2, 1551. As I was one of the last to ”mount the stone,” it may be interesting to give an account of that old custom. At three in the afternoon, and just before the celebration of the marriage service, the bridegroom was conducted to the market place between two burgomasters, or, in default of these, between the two most prominent wedding guests. At one of the angles of the place there was a square block of stone, on which the bridegroom took up his position, the guests ranging themselves in good order about fifty paces away. The pipers gave him a morning greeting lasting about five or six minutes, after which he resumed his place in the wedding procession. The purpose of the ceremony, according to tradition, was to give everybody an opportunity of addressing some useful remark to the bridegroom at that critical moment. These remarks were often more forcible and outspoken than flattering, and were not always distinguished by their strict adherence to the truth.