“That she is deserving of all the happiness that every human excellence ought to confer!”

“Hum—­thou art nearer to thirty than I had thought thee, Herr Sigismund!  But touching this Balthazar, thou art not to believe, on account of the few words of grace which fell from me, that my aversion for the wretch is less than thine, or than that of any other honest man; but it would be unseemly and unwise in a bailiff to desert the last minister of the law’s decrees in the face of the public.  There are feelings and sentiments that are natural to us all, and among them are to be classed respect and honor for the well and nobly born,” (the discourse was in German,) “and hatred and contempt for those who are condemned of men.  These are feelings which belong to human nature itself, and God forbid that I, a man already past the age of romance, should really entertain any sentiments that are not strictly human.”

“Do they not rather belong to abuses—­to our prejudices?”

“The difference is not material, in a practical view, young man.  That which is fairly bred into the mind, by discipline and habit, gets to be stronger than instinct, or even than one of the senses.  Let there be an unseemly sight, or a foul smell near thee, and thou hast only to turn thy eyes, or hold thy nose, to be rid of it; but I could never find the means to lessen a prejudice that was once fairly seated in the mind.  Thou mayest look whither thou wilt, and shut out the unsavory odors of the imagination by all the means thou canst invent, but if a man is, in truth, condemned of opinion, he might as well make his appeal to God at once for justice, as to any mercy he is likely to receive from men.  This much have I learned in my experience as a public functionary.”

“I should hope that these are not the legal dogmas of our ancient canton,” returned the youth, conquering his feelings, though it cost him a severe effort.

“As far from it as Basle is from Coire.  We hold no such discreditable doctrines.  I challenge the world to show a state that possesses a fairer set of maxims than ourselves, and we even endeavor to make our practice chime in with our opinions, whenever it can be done in safety.  No in these particulars, Berne is a paragon of a community, and as rarely says one thing and does another, as any government you shall see.  What I now tell thee, young man, is said to thee in the familiarity of a fete, as thou know’st, in which there have been some fooleries, to open confidence and to loosen the tongue.  We openly and loudly profess great truth and equality before the law saving the city’s rights, and take holy, heavenly, upright justice for our guide in all matters of theory.  Himmel!  If thou would’st have thy affair decided on principle, go before the councils, or the magistracy of the canton, and thou shalt hear such wisdom, and witness such keen-sightedness into chicanery, as would have honored Solomon himself!”