that wherever he went the Nuremberg merchant received respect and confidence above many—­perhaps all others.  The insecurity of the roads and of justice in the lawless times before the election of the Hapsburgs might have impaired this great blessing; but since Rudolph had wielded the sceptre with virile energy, made commerce secure, and administered justice, confidence had also returned, and to maintain it no sacrifice should be too great.  As for him, Berthold Vorchtel, he would not spare himself, and if he expected the city to imitate him he would know how to answer for it.

Here he was interrupted by loud shouts of applause; but, without heeding them, he quietly went on:  “And it is necessary to secure confidence in the Nuremberg merchant in two directions:  his honesty and the capital at his command.  Our business friends, far and near, must be permitted to continue to rely upon our trustworthiness as firmly as upon rock and iron.  If we brought the arrogant Italian to say of us that, amongst the German cities who were blind, Nuremberg was the one-eyed, we ought now to force them to number us amongst those who see with both eyes, the honest, trust-inspiring blue eyes of the German.  But to attain this goal we need the imperial protection, the watchful power of a great and friendly ruler.  The progress which our trade owed to the Hohenstaufen proves this; the years without an Emperor, on the contrary, showed what threatens our commerce as soon as we lack this aid.  Rights and privileges from sovereigns smoothed the paths in which we have surpassed others.  To obtain new and more important ones must be our object.  From the first Reichstag which the Emperor Rudolph held here, he has shown that he esteems us and believes us worthy of his confidence.  Many valuable privileges have revealed this.  To maintain this confidence, which is and will remain the source of the most important favours to Nuremberg, is enjoined upon us merchants by prudence, upon us directors of the city by regard for its prosperity.  But, my honourable friends, reluctantly as I do so, I must nevertheless remind you that this confidence, here and there, has already received a shock through the errors of individuals.  Who could have forgotten the tale of the beautiful cap of the unhappy Meister Mertein, who has preceded us into the other world?  Doubtless it concerned but one scabby sheep, yet it served to bring the whole flock into disrepute.  Perhaps the fact that it occurred so soon after Rudolph’s election to the sovereignty, during the early days of his residence in our goodly city, imprinted it so deeply upon our imperial master’s memory.  A few hours ago he asked for some information concerning the sad affair which now occupies our attention, and when I represented that the public spirit and honesty of my countrymen, fellow-citizens, and associate members of the Council would prevent it from injuring our trade at home or abroad, he alluded to that story, by no means in the jesting way with which he formerly mentioned the vexatious incident that redounded to the honour of no one more than that of his own shrewdness, which at that time—­seven years ago—­was so often blended with mirth.”