Louisa of Prussia and Her Times | Page 9

permit me to withdraw--"
He left the window hastily, and took his hat, but Thugut's vigorous
hand kept him back.
"Where are you going, count?" said he, smiling.
"To the governor of Vienna," said Saurau. "I want to ask him why he
permits this nonsense, and order him to disperse the rabble in the most
summary manner!"
"Pray, stay here," said Thugut, quietly. "The governor of Vienna is a
man of great sagacity, who knows perfectly well how we have to treat
the people. Why, it would be an unparalleled tyranny if the poor people
were not even allowed to give the prime minister their good advice, and
tell him what they think of the state of affairs. Just give them this
permission, and they will believe they have performed a most heroic
deed, and it will seem to them as if they could boast of great liberty.
True political wisdom, my dear little count, commands us to give the
people a semblance of liberty; we thereby succeed in dazzling their
eyes so well that they do not perceive that they have no real liberty
whatever."
The clamor and noise in the street below had increased in fury. The
people, whose dense masses now entirely obstructed the street,
impetuously moved up to the portal of the ministerial palace, the front
door of which had been locked and barred already by the cautious
porter. Vigorous fists hammered violently against the door, and as an

accompaniment to this terrible music of their leaders, the people
howled and yelled their furious refrain: "We want to see the minister!
He shall give us peace! peace! peace!"
"Ah! I know what it means!" exclaimed Count Saurau, gnashing his
teeth. "Your enemies have instigated these scoundrels. The party that
would like to overthrow you and me, that wants to make peace with
France at any price, and to keep Belgium united with Austria-- this
party has hired the villains below to get up a riot. They want to compel
your excellency either to resign or to comply with the wishes of the
people, and make peace with the French Republic."
Thugut laughed. "Compel ME!" said he, laconically.
At that moment the mob yelled louder than ever, and the shout-- "Peace!
we want peace!" shook the windows.
Simultaneously the furious blows against the front door redoubled in
violence.
"Assuredly, I cannot stand this any longer!" exclaimed the police
minister, perfectly beside himself. "I ought not to listen quietly to this
outrage."
"No," said Thugut, very quietly, "we won't listen to it any longer. This
is my breakfast-hour, and I invite you to be my guest. Come, let us go
to the dining-room."
He took the count's arm, and proceeded with him to the adjoining room.
Breakfast for eight persons was served in this room, for Baron Thugut
was in the habit of keeping every day open table for seven uninvited
guests, and his intimate acquaintances, as well as his special favorites,
never failed to call on the minister at least once a week during his
well-known breakfast and dinner hours.
To-day, however, the minister's rapid and inquisitive glances did not
discover a single guest. Nobody was in the room except the eight
foot-men who stood behind the chairs. Well aware of their master's
stern and indomitable spirit, they occupied their usual places, but their
faces were very pale, and their eyes turned with an expression of
extreme anxiety toward the windows which, just then, trembled again
under the heavy, thundering blows levelled at the front door.
"Cowards!" muttered Thugut, while walking to his chair at the upper
end of the table and beckoning Count Saurau to take a seat at his side.
At this moment, however, the door was hastily opened, and the steward,

pale and with distorted features, rushed into the room.

CHAPTER III
.
THE INTERVIEW.
"Excuse me, your excellency," said he, "but this time they are assuredly
in earnest. The people are storming the front door--the hinges are
beginning to give way, and in fifteen minutes, at the latest, the
scoundrels will have forced an entrance!"
"You had no business to close the door," said the minister. "Who
ordered you to do so? Who ordered you to barricade the house, as if it
were a fortress--as if we had a bad conscience and were afraid of the
people?"
The steward looked aghast, and did not know what to reply.
"Go down-stairs at once," continued the minister; "order the porter to
open the door, and admit everybody. Show the people up-stairs; and
you rascals who are standing there with pale faces and trembling knees,
open the two folding-doors so that they can get in without hurting each
other. Now do what I have told you."
The steward bowed with a sigh expressive of the agony he