Part 14 (2/2)
”Poor Fredersdorf,” said he, softly, ”I have slain his hobby-horse, and that is always an unpardonable offence to any man. I might, perhaps, have closed my eyes to the mad follies of these so-called pietists, if they had not drawn my poor secretary into the toils.
For his sake I will give them a lesson. I will force him to see that they are hypocrites and charlatans. Happen what will, I have saved Fredersdorf from ridicule; if he curses me for this, I can bear it cheerfully.”
The king was right; Fredersdorf was insane with pa.s.sion. He cursed the king, not only in his heart, but with his trembling lips; he called him a tyrant, a heartless egotist. He hated him, even as an ignorant, unreasoning child hates the kind hand which corrects and restrains.
”They will discover this mystery; they will learn how to make gold, and I shall not be there,” murmured Fredersdorf, gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth; ”who knows? perhaps they will not divulge to me this costly receipt!
They will lie to me and deceive me. Ah! the moon is rising; she casts her pure, silver rays into this hated room, now become my prison. Now, even now, they are a.s.sembling; now the holy incantation begins, and I--I am not there! ”He tore his hair, and beat his breast, and cried aloud.
Fredersdorf was right. As the moon rose, the conspirators, who had been notified by Von Kleist, the husband of the beautiful Louise von Schwerin, began to a.s.semble. The great saloon in which the gay and laughter-loving Louise had given her superb b.a.l.l.s and soirees--in which her dancing feet had trampled upon her fortune and her happiness--was now changed into a solemn temple of wors.h.i.+p, where the pious believers a.s.sembled to pray to G.o.d and to adjure the devil. The king had forbidden that the churches should be opened except on Sunday and the regular fete days. Some over-pious and fanatical preachers had dared to disobey this order. The a.s.semblies had been broken up by force of arms, the people driven to their homes, and the churches closed. Both priests and people were threatened with severe punishment if they should dare to open the churches again during the week. [Footnote: Preuss's ”Geschichte Friedriotia des Grossen.”]
The pietists, forgetting the Bible rule, to ”give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's,” refused obedience to the spirit of the command, and a.s.sembled together in the different houses of the faithful.
Their wors.h.i.+p consisted princ.i.p.ally in stern resolves to remain obedient to the only true doctrine. To the proud fanatic this is, of course, the faith which he professes, and there is salvation in no other. With zealous speech they railed at the king as a heretic or unbeliever, and strengthened themselves in their disobedience to his commands by declaring it was well-pleasing in the sight of G.o.d.
The pietists, who had in vain endeavored to retain the power and influence which they had enjoyed under Frederick William, whom they now declared to have been the holiest and wisest of kings, had become the bitterest enemies of Frederick the Great. The king called their piety hypocrisy, laughed at their rage, replied to their curses by witty words and biting sarcasm; and on one occasion, after listening to an impertinent request, he replied laconically: ”The cursed priest don't know himself what he wants. Let him go to the devil!” [Footnote: Busching's ”Character of Frederick the Great.”]
This so-called prayer-meeting was to take place to-day in the ball- room of the beautiful Louise, after the regular hour of wors.h.i.+p.
Only the elect and consecrated would remain behind to take part in the deeper mysteries, and be witness to the incantation by which the astrologist Pfannenschmidt would constrain his majesty the devil to appear. No woman was allowed to be present at this holy ordinance, and each one of the consecrated had sworn a solemn oath not to betray an act of the a.s.sembly.
Von Kleist had taken the oath, and kept it faithfully. But there is a wise Persian proverb which says: ”If you would change an obedient and submissive wife into a proud rebel, you have only to forbid something! If you wish to keep a secret from the wife of your bosom, slay yourself, or tear out your tongue; if you live, she will discover your secret, even though hidden in the bottom of your heart.” Louise von Kleist had proved the truth of this proverb. She had discovered the secret which her husband wished to conceal from her. She had soon recovered from the fleeting love entertained at first for the husband chosen for her by the king. She had returned to the levity of her earlier days, and only waited for an opportunity to revenge herself upon her husband. Louise hated him because he had never been rich enough to gratify her extravagant taste and caprices. He had even restrained her in the use of her own means: they were always in want of money, and constantly railing bitterly at each other.
For all this misery Louise wished to revenge herself upon her husband, as beautiful and coquettish women always wish to revenge themselves. She was more than ready to believe the words of that poet who says that ”a woman's heart is always girlish and youthful enough for a new love.” She wished to take special vengeance upon her husband for daring to keep a secret from her. So soon as she discovered the object of these secret meetings, she informed the king, and implored him to come to her a.s.sistance and rescue her husband from those crooked paths which had cost her her wedded happiness and her fortune. Frederick agreed at once to her proposition, not so much for her sake as because he rejoiced in the opportunity to free Fredersdorf from the mystic suppositions which had clouded his intellect, and convince him of the cunning and hypocrisy of the alchemist Pfannenschmidt.
Every necessary preparation had been made by order of the king. The pious a.s.sembly had scarcely met, when Louise called the four policemen who were waiting in a neighboring house, and placed them in a small closet adjoining the ball-room, where every thing which took place could be both seen and heard.
The conspirators had no suspicion. The meeting was larger than ever before. There were people of all cla.s.ses, from the day laborer to the comfortable burgher, from the honorable officer under government to the highest n.o.ble. They prayed earnestly and fervently, and sang hymns to the honor and glory of G.o.d. Then one of the popular priests stepped into the pulpit and thundered forth one of those arrogant, narrow-minded, and violent discourses which the believers of those days indulged in. He declared all those lost, condemned to eternal torture, who did not believe as he believed; and all those elected and sanctified who adhered to his holy faith, and who, despising the command of the heretical king, met together for these forbidden services.
All this, however, was but the preparation for the great solemnity prepared for the initiated, who were now waiting with loudly-beating hearts and breathless expectation for the grand result.
And now another orator, the astrologer, the enlightened prophet of G.o.d, ascended the pulpit. With what pious words he warned his hearers to repentance! how eloquently he exhorted them to contemn the hollow and vain world, which G.o.d had only made lovely and attractive in order to tempt men to sin and try their powers of resistance! ”Resist! resist!” he howled through his nose, ”and persuade men to turn to you, and be saved even as we are saved--to become angels of G.o.d, even as we are G.o.d's holy angels.” In order, however, to reach their exalted goal, they must make greater efforts, use larger means. Power and wealth were necessary to make the world happy and convert it to the true faith. The world must become wholly theirs; they must buy from the devil the gold which he has hid in the bowels of the earth, and with it allure men, and save their souls from perdition. ”We, by the grace of G.o.d, have been empowered to subdue the devil, and to force him to give up his secret. To those who, like ourselves, are enlightened by the holy spirit of knowledge, the mysteries of the lower world must be made clear. It is also a n.o.ble and great work which we have before us; we must make gold, and with it we must purchase and convert the whole race to holiness!”
When this pious rhapsody was concluded, he called the a.s.sembly to earnest prayer. They fell upon their knees, and dared to pray to G.o.d that He would give them strength to adjure the devil.
It was not, however, exactly the plan of the astrologer to crown the efforts of the elect with success, and bring the devil virtually before them. As long as his majesty did not appear, the pious must believe and hope in their priest; must give him their love, their confidence, and their gold; must look upon him as their benefactor, who was to crown their future with glory and riches, and bring the world to their feet. In short, he knew it was impossible for him to introduce a devil who could disclose the great secret. The prayers and offerings of the past had failed, and their future sacrifices must also be in vain.
And now, in the midst of solemn hymns, the ram was led to the altar- -this rare offering which had cost so much weary wandering and so much precious gold. With pompous ceremony, and covered with a white veil, the black ram was led to the sacrifice. The holy priest Pfannenschmidt, clothed in gold-embroidered robes, stood with a silver knife in his hand, and a silver bowl to receive the blood of the victim. As he raised the knife, the faithful threw themselves upon their knees and prayed aloud, prayed to G.o.d to be with them and bless their efforts.
The astrologer, glowing with piety and enthusiasm, was about to sink the knife into the throat of the poor trembling beast, when suddenly something unheard of, incredible, took place. A figure fearful to look upon sprang fiercely from behind the altar, and seized the arm of the priest.
”Spare the offering, let the sacrifice go free!” he said, with a thundering voice. ”You have called me, and I am here! I am the devil!”
”The devil! it is truly the devil!” and, with timid glances, they looked up at the giant figure, clothed in crimson, his face completely shaded by a wide-brimmed hat, from which three crimson feathers waved majestically: these, with his terrible club-foot, all gave unmistakable evidence of the presence of Satan. They believed truly in him, these pious children of G.o.d; they remained upon their knees and stammered their prayers, scarcely knowing themselves if they were addressed to G.o.d or to the devil.
There in the little cabinet stood Louise von Kleist, trembling with mirth, and with great effort suppressing an outburst of laughter.
She looked with wicked and mocking eyes upon her husband, who lay s.h.i.+vering and deadly pale at the feet of the devil and the black ram. He fixed his pleading glances upon the fiery monster who was to him indeed the devil. Louise, however, fully understood this scene; she it was who had induced young Fredersdorf to a.s.sume this part, and had a.s.sisted him in his disguise.
”This moment repays me, avenges me for all I have suffered by the side of this silly and extravagant fool,” said Louise to herself.
”Oh, I will mock him, I will martyr him with this devil's work. The whole world shall know of it, and, from this time forth, I shall be justified and pitied. No one will be surprised that I am not constant to my husband, that I cannot love him.”
Whilst the pious-elect still rested upon their knees in trembling adoration, the priest Pfannenschmidt had recovered from his surprise and alarm. He, who did not believe in the devil, although he daily addressed him, knew that the monster before him was an unseemly jest or a malicious interruption. He must, therefore, tear off his mask and expose him to the faithful.
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