that the supreme authority of the land knows nothing whatever about thine affair—­nay, more, that the sovereign against whom thou art rebelling does not even know thy name, so that when thou shalt one day come before the throne of God thinking to accuse him, he will be able to say with a serene countenance, ’I have done no wrong to this man, Lord, for my soul is ignorant of his existence.’  Know that the sword which thou wieldest is the sword of robbery and bloodthirstiness.  A rebel art thou, and no warrior of the righteous God; wheel and gallows are thy goal on earth—­gallows and, in the life to come, damnation which is ordained for crime and godlessness.

Wittenberg, etc.  MARTIN LUTHER.”

When Sternbald and Waldmann, to their great consternation, discovered the placard which had been affixed to the gateway of the castle at Luetzen during the night, Kohlhaas within the castle was just revolving in his distracted mind a new plan for the burning of Leipzig—­for he placed no faith in the notices posted in the villages announcing that Squire Wenzel was in Dresden, since they were not signed by any one, let alone by the municipal council, as he had required.  For several days the two men hoped in vain that Kohlhaas would perceive Luther’s placard, for they did not care to approach him on the subject.  Gloomy and absorbed in thought, he did indeed, in the evening, appear, but only to give his brief commands, and he noticed nothing.  Finally one morning, when he was about to have two of his followers strung up for plundering in the vicinity against his express orders, Sternbald and Waldmann determined to call his attention to it.  With the pomp which he had adopted since his last manifesto—­a large cherubim’s sword on a red leather cushion, ornamented with golden tassels, borne before him, and twelve men with burning torches following him—­Kohlhaas was just returning from the place of execution, while the people on both sides timidly made way for him.  At that moment the two men, with their swords under their arms, walked, in a way that could not fail to excite his surprise, around the pillar to which the placard was attached.

When Kohlhaas, sunk in thought and with his hands folded behind his back, came under the portal, he raised his eyes and started back in surprise, and as the two men at sight of him drew back respectfully, he advanced with rapid steps to the pillar, watching them absent-mindedly.  But who can describe the storm of emotion in his soul when he beheld there the paper accusing him of injustice, signed by the most beloved and honored name he knew—­the name of Martin Luther!  A dark flush spread over his face; taking off his helmet he read the document through twice from beginning to end, then walked back among his men with irresolute glances as though he were about to speak, yet said nothing.  He unfastened the paper from the pillar, read it through once again, and cried, “Waldmann! have my horse saddled!”—­then, “Sternbald, follow me into the castle!” and with that he disappeared.  It had needed but these few words of that godly man to disarm him suddenly in the midst of all the dire destruction that he was plotting.