“Truly his Imperial Majesty asks and requires a great deal of me,” cried Frederick William, with flashing eyes and cheeks flushed with anger.  “More than a prince dare give, who has to act not merely in subjection and dependence, but as Sovereign of his people.  It seems to me as if no one had cause to interfere in this affair of Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, for it concerns the interior interests of my realm.  Within the limits of my own country I alone am lord and ruler, and only one lord there is, before whom I bow, and whom I recognize as my superior—­the law!  Law is properly supreme within the Brandenburg provinces, and shall and must reign over high and low!  But my favor, sir, my favor, can only flow spontaneously from within, and can not be arbitrarily bestowed even at an Emperor’s behest.  I have not withdrawn my favor from Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, for he never possessed it.  Law and right alone must decide for or against him.  Many of my subjects have brought accusations against him, and for these I am pledged to procure justice at the hands of the courts of justice.  What was done in my lands must be also judged in my lands, else my subjects might be wounded in their sense of right; and to assign this suit to the imperial court at Vienna would be in the highest degree derogatory to the Electoral power and jurisdiction.  I can not therefore gratify his Imperial Majesty in this wish.[53] As concerns his right to the place of grand master, that appointment belongs not to me, but to the members of the order.  They, however, will not elect the young count, and I can not compel them to do so.  Lastly, as regards the estates claimed by the heir of the Stadtholder in the Mark, his title to them is wanting, and, moreover, there are no accounts to prove that the money for which the estates were mortgaged was ever used by the Stadtholder for my father’s benefit.  Besides, even if such contracts existed, they were entered into without the consent of the States, and consequently by the laws of the land were null and void.  This is the reply I have to make to the imperial envoy, of which I can alter and abate nothing, however I may deplore any apparent disrespect to his Imperial Majesty’s wishes.  Return to Vienna, Dr. Gebhard, return with your associate and attache, and repeat to the Emperor what I have said to you.  You are dismissed, gentlemen.”

“Your Electoral Highness will pardon me for venturing to add one more word,” said Count Martinitz, “but I am empowered to do so by the imperial order.  The Emperor Ferdinand commissioned me in his own handwriting, in case that your highness refused to accede to the demands made by Dr. Gebhard—­”

“Demands?” broke in the Elector.  “I did not hear Dr. Gebhard make use of any such term.  Mention was made only of imperial wishes and requests.  You mean that in case I do not grant Dr. Gebhard’s requests—­Proceed, Count Martinitz.”

“I am in that case commissioned to desire your highness in the Emperor’s name to grant a private audience to the attache of the imperial embassy, the Emperor’s privy counselor and chamberlain, Count Adolphus von Schwarzenberg, as he wishes to make an important and confidential communication to your highness.”