"
"Would not the election of such a person to the highest position in the
State prove even a greater misfortune to the land than the continuance
of the present regime, for this young man adds to his father's vice of
drunkenness the evil qualities, of dishonesty, cruelty, ribaldry, and a
lack of respect for the privileges both of Church and nobility?"
"Such indeed is my opinion, daughter."
"Then is it not your duty at once to acquaint the three Archbishops with
what you have already told me, so that the disaster of his election may
be avoided?"
"It is a matter to which I gave deep thought during my journey thither,
and I also invoked the aid of Heaven in guiding me to a just
conclusion."
"And that conclusion, Father?"
"Is to say nothing whatever about my experiences in Frankfort."
"Why?"
"Because it is not given to a humble man like myself, occupying a
position of no authority, to fathom what may be in the minds of those
great Princes of the Church, the Archbishops. In effect they rule the
country, and it is possible that they prefer to place on the throne a
drunken nonentity who will offer no impediment to their ambitions,
rather than to elect a moral young man who might in time prove too
strong for them.
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