Page:Works of Heinrich Heine 07.djvu/227

Rh German pietists might now do a good business here.

People once believed that wonders would come to pass and sudden changes take place should Casimir Perier no longer take the lead; but it would seem as if meantime the evil had become incurable, and even the death of Perier cannot cure the state.

That Perier should perish by the cholera, or by a general disaster which neither strength nor cunning could resist, must needs disconcert his bitterest enemies. The universal enemy Death had crept in to their confederation, and the most vigorous assistance from such an ally was not agreeable. Perier, indeed, gained by it the sympathy of the multitude, who all at once felt that he was a great man. Now, when he must be replaced by others, this greatness becomes evident. If he could not with ease bend the bow of Ulysses, he was at least able to achieve it when he exerted all his strength. Certainly his friends can now boast that if the cholera had not prevented, he would have accomplished all his plans.