Page:Maria Felicia.pdf/147

 The harper looked about him in the ancient armory of the Castle.

“Do you wave me a greeting, or a menace?” he asked. “Do you greet, or threaten the disturber of your peace? I wonder what mottoes were written on you when you waved over thousands of beating hearts? Did lust command then? Did slaves unfurl you? Did a slave carry you in front of a crowd of slaves, who were driven like a flock of sheep to the shambles, who fought to gain one more gold ring for him who was already exercising despotic power? Oh, people, have you never bowed to anything else than material strength and brutal aggressiveness? Will you bow to nothing else? Is it only for these that you are capable of subduing your selfishness and willing to shed your blood? When Frederick of Prussia, craving the Bohemian crown, led his army into this country, and they perished here by thousands, not a voice was raised against him; and for that exploit his nation calls him great. But now when Joseph wants to deliver the nation from superstition, liber-