Johannes von
Mueller! I tell you once more, it is for your sake that I have come. I
wanted to appear before you either as your guilty conscience or as your
friend, as your judge or as your ally. I refused to believe in all that
was told me about you. I would trust only my own ears, my own eyes.
Johannes von Mueller, I have come to ask you: Do you still remember the
oath we took in so solemn a manner at Frankfort?"

"I do," said Johannes von Mueller, timidly. "Carried away by the
enthusiasm of our hopes, we covenanted for the welfare of Germany, and
especially for her deliverance from foreign tyranny."

"We swore to unite in active love for Germany, and in active hatred
against France," exclaimed Gentz, solemnly. "I have fulfilled my oath; I
have toiled incessantly for the deliverance of Germany. The persecutions
I have suffered at the hands of the French, and Napoleon's wrath, speak
for me! I have well improved my time. But what have you done? Where are
the friends enlisted for our covenant? Where are the allies gathered
around you to assist against France? The time for action is coming, and
we must be ready to fight the battle and expel the tyrant. Johannes von
Mueller, where are the troops you have enlisted--the men you have gained
over to our cause?"

"I have enlisted no troops--prepared no battles, and concentrated no
corps," said Mueller, sighing. "On the battle-field of Jena lie buried
not only our soldiers, but our hopes. The disaster is boundless; name,
rights, existence--all gone! A new order of things is at hand. The great
period of many monarchies, since the downfall of the Roman empire, is
closed. No other path to prosperity and glory remains to us than that of
the arts of peace; we cannot succeed by war."

"It is true, then," exclaimed Gentz, mournfully, "that you are a traitor
and a renegade, and have not been slandered! You have not only lost your
faith, but the consciousness of your perfidy! Oh, I refused to believe
it; I thought it was impossible. I did have confidence in you. It was
well known to me that you had long since lost your courage and
inclination to struggle for our cause. I was also aware that, even
before the commencement of the war between Prussia and France, your
irresolution and timidity had increased. I was not greatly surprised,
therefore, that you remained at Berlin when all faithful men left the
capital, or, as some assert, you returned hither agreeably to an
invitation from the