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 duties and the practical affairs of state, and the wild theories of ghostly influences instilled in his mind by the interested gossips about him. In such a condition of mind Wenzel lent a ready ear to accusations against his officers, and especially his step-father. To an ignorant mind success and power seem to spring only from abuse of opportunity. The thousand details, the myriad of special instances, and the infinite exercise of skill and judgment that lead to the combination known as success, are all overlooked. Ignorance always attributes the worst motives, and if this ignorance be associated with supposed supernatural or satanic influences, the result is an amalgam of fear and hatred that is ready to annihilate the success as the result of hostility to the dupe himself. The ignorant always believes himself to be the especial object of attack. This moody temper readily corresponded with the purposes of the young queen and her counselors. Judith frequently complained of the straitened circumstances of the royal finances. A peremptory order from the king required Zawis to disclose the condition of the kingdom, and especially of the revenues.

Wenzel had already acquired that disposition so frequently exhibited since by the rulers of Austria and Spain,—to require wealth to spring from the substance of the country’s property and not from the economic proceeds of it. Hence, at the urgent instigation of the queen, he required his minister to seize all that was needed directly from those who had something, utterly regardless of the instant ruin