t he keep it to
himself, or at least not waste any sparks of light on the brutish herd
to which they can be nothing but so many pearls thrown to the swine.
If you let your eye survey the time we are living in--if you make some
effort to follow the great currents of thought--then you will easily
perceive the cause of that disturbed equilibrium which is now making
itself felt in all the great civilized countries; I am not talking of
Sweden, of course, which is not a civilized country. Can you name
the centre of gravity--that centre which cannot be disturbed without
everything going to pieces--the instability of which tends to upset
everything? The name of it is--the nobility. The nobility is the
thinking principle. The feudal system is falling--and that means the
world. Erudition is in decay. Civilization is dying. Yes, indeed--You
don't believe that? But if you have any historical outlook at all, you
can see that it is so. The nobility started the Crusades. The nobility
has done this and that and everything. Why is Germany being torn to
pieces? Because the peasantry has risen against the nobility, thus
cutting off its own head. Why is France safe--la France? Because France
is one with the nobility, and the nobility is one with France--because
those two ideas are identical, inseparable. And why, I ask again, is
Sweden at present shaken to its nethermost foundations? Because the
nobility has been crushed. Christian the Second was a man of genius. He
knew how to conquer a country. He didn't cut off a leg or an arm--nay,
he cut off the head. Well, then! Sweden must be saved, and the King
knows how. The nobility is to be restored, and the Church is to be
crushed. What do you say to that?

Olof (rising). Nothing! (Pause.) You are a freethinker?

Courtier. Of course!

Olof. You don't believe, then, that Balaam's ass could talk?

Courtier. Gracious, no!

Olof. But I do.

Courtier. Really?

[Enter Lars Andersson.]

Lars Andersson. The peace of the Lord be with you, Olof.

Olof (embracing him). Well met, Lars!

Courtier. Populace! [Exit.]

Lars. Well, how do you like living here?

Olof. It's so close!

Lars. Somewhat!

Olof. And no room overhead.

Lars. That's why they find it so hard to keep their backs straight.

Olof. In ten minutes I have become so much of a courtier that I know how
to be silent when an ass is talking.

Lars. There is no harm in that.

Olof. What does the King think?

Lars. He doesn'