"
"What would you have us do with them?"
"You should disarm them. You should exact restitution of their
illegally-won wealth. You should open the Rhine to honest commerce."
"That is easy to enunciate, and difficult to perform. If the Castles
were disarmed, especially those on the left bank, a great injustice
would be done that might lead to the extinction of many noble families.
Why, the forests of Germany are filled with desperate outlaws, who
respect neither life nor property. I myself have suffered but recently
from their depredations. In broad daylight an irresistible band of these
ruffians descended upon and captured the supposed impregnable Castle of
Rheinstein, shamefully maltreating Baron Hugo von Hohenfels, tying him
motionless, and nearly strangling him with stout ropes, after which the
scoundrels robbed him of every stiver he possessed. The following
midnight but one they descended on Furstenberg, a fief of my own, and
not contenting themselves with robbery, brought red ruin on the Margrave
by burning his Castle to the ground.
Pages:
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481