“I should think the Swedes would be delighted to have your highness for an ally, to stand with them against the Emperor and the German Empire, and the States-General, too, would gladly give you the right hand of confederation.”

“Oh, yes, the Swedes would gladly accept me as their ally, provided that I would voluntarily resign to them Pomerania and Ruegen, renouncing all claim to these lands; and the States would gladly extend to me the right hand of fellowship, only I must have first laid down in this hand the duchies of Cleves and Julich as an offering of friendship!  But such a thing would I never do, and never shall I peaceably resign the smallest strip of land that should be mine to purchase thereby repose for myself.  Up to this time I have enjoyed only the title to my lands, but it must and shall be now the purpose of my whole life to substantiate these claims, and not merely to conquer back what is my own, but, an’ it please God, to enlarge my territories and give to them unity and compactness.  I am now a Prince only by my armorial bearings, but I will be a veritable Prince.  I now wear only the most delapidated semblance of a Prince’s mantle, inflated by hollow wind, but I shall change it into a purple mantle, such as no German Prince would be ashamed of, which every one in the German Empire shall respect, yea, even the Emperor himself.”

“And you will gain your end,” cried Leuchtmar, “yes, you will gain it.  It stands written on your lofty brow, it shines forth from your fiery eyes, and is spoken by every feature of your noble, energetic face.  You will gain your end.  From the confusion and chaos of the present times you will emerge as a distinguished, mighty Prince; out of nothingness and disorder you will construct a powerful state, and to your towering titles give a firm basis of strength and truth!”

“Amen!  God grant it!” said Frederick William, piously lifting his large eyes to Heaven.  “It seems now, indeed, as if it were an unattainable goal,” he continued, after a pause, “and to no one else would I confess it, for I would only become the scorn and derision of my enemies.”

“But the delight of your friends!” cried Leuchtmar, deeply moved, “the invigorator and uplifter of your friends!” “Friends, say you?  Where are my friends?  Look abroad throughout the whole German Empire, the whole of Europe, and then tell me where my friends are.  I have not even friends in my next-door neighbors, not even in my nearest relations!  Yes, were I rich and influential, had I protection to give and benefits to dispense, then would the Princes far and near gladly bethink themselves of the claims of consanguinity, and overwhelm me with civilities and attentions.  But I am powerless, and they dread lest I should need their protection and their influence; therefore are they forgetful of family ties!  But they shall find themselves mistaken in me, my dear relatives!  They shall be forced some day to acknowledge that the Elector of Brandenburg is self-sustaining, and stands erect without the aid of foreign supports.  You look at me doubtfully, and perhaps think me a braggart, promising great things which I may never be able to perform?  It would seem so, indeed, now, for where are the means for accomplishing such aims?  Wretched and in the process of dissolution is all about me, nowhere do I see determined friends, efficient followers!”