Das landhaus am Rhein. English
CHAPTER VIII.
THE NEW CAIN.
After the men had assembled, Eric knocked at the door, according to apre-concerted arrangement; and, as it opened, Sonnenkamp came forward.A bluish pallor rested on his countenance, as he stepped up to thelittle table where two sticks for whittling and a pocket-knife wereplaced. Resting one hand upon the table, he began,--
"Gentlemen of honor and worth!"--here pausing a moment, he continued,"I use the words worth and honor, because they are not always, and, infact, are very seldom, united together,--you fulfil a human duty incoming here at my call, and bestowing upon me a portion of your life,these hours, your feelings, and your thoughts. I acknowledge thisfavor. On the Western prairies, in the lonely log-house, in order toform an opinion of a man from whom wrong has been suffered, and inorder to pronounce a verdict thereupon, and to execute it, we call inthe neighbors living on the solitary farms for miles around; and I havedone this now, and you have come here in obedience to the call. You areto pass a judgment, you are to decide upon what penalty shall beinflicted in reference to acts that cannot be weighed in the balancesof legal statutes. I shall lay open to you, without reserve, my pastlife. I can do this the more easily, as you know already the worst inmy case. You are to see how I have grown up from childhood, and then todecide and to judge. I have never felt pity myself, and I ask no pityfrom you: I ask for justice."
Sonnenkamp had begun in a depressed tone, and with downcast eyes; buthe soon grew more animated, his countenance became more intent, and hiseye lighted up.
"I make the declaration, therefore, that I accept your finding, andsubmit myself to whatever expiation you may determine upon. I have onlyone request. Let each one of you, within a week, write out his opinion,and render in his verdict; then let the paper be given into the handsof Herr Captain Doctor Eric Dournay, who will break the seal in thepresence of two other persons.
"I will now withdraw a moment, in order that you may determine whetheryou will undertake the service under this condition, and, if you thinkit expedient, may choose a foreman."
He bowed. There was something theatrical and yet gravely composed inhis manner of speaking, and in the way in which he now withdrew for amoment into the adjoining apartment.
The assembled gentlemen looked at one another; but no one spoke: alleyes were turned upon Clodwig, from whom an opinion was first expected.
He said now in a quiet and low tone,--
"Herr Weidmann will be so good as to undertake the office of foreman.We need one to make, in the first place, the necessary preliminaryarrangements."
Weidmann at once accepted the position, and announced that he agreed tothe proposal for a written verdict. The rest were also ready; butProfessor Einsiedel, beginning timidly, and gaining more and moreconfidence as he proceeded, said that this ought not to excludeconsultation together in order to elucidate and confirm the individualopinion: otherwise, all the effect of a common tribunal would be lost,and it would be superfluous for them to sit there together.
This opinion was acceded to, and Eric was deputed to call Sonnenkampagain into the room.
As Eric opened the door, he thought he noticed a nestling like thatmade by a silk dress, and he was at a loss what to make of it.
He found Sonnenkamp in the seed-room, hurriedly smoking a cigar: helaid it down, and went back to the audience-room.
Weidmann informed Sonnenkamp of the conclusion they had come to, andthe remarks of Professor Einsiedel. Sonnenkamp nodded assent. "Before Iresume," he said, taking one of the pieces of wood with a smile, "Imust beg indulgence for a habit which I am sorry to say I cannot drop.I am in the habit, when I am alone, busy in thought--and I shalladdress you as if I were alone--as I remarked, I am accustomed eitherto smoke or to whittle, oftentimes both together. I can compose myselfbetter if my accustomed practice is now indulged in."
He seated himself, took one of the bits of wood, and, cutting a deepnotch around it, began,--
"I beg that any one of you will interrupt me with questions ifinvoluntarily I leave any thing obscure or unexplained. Now then: I amthe only son of the richest man in Warsaw. If I tell you of my youth,it is not because I wish to throw the responsibility of my acts uponcircumstances or upon fate. My father had the largest business in woodand grain. When I was six years old, he removed to a large German town,for in clearing a forest my older brother had been killed by a fallingtree; My mother died soon after, and lies buried with him in thevillage near by. I was often told that I should have a step-mother; butit was not so. My father--I speak as openly of him as of myself--wasone of the most popular of men, but felt no affection for any person orthing on earth. He gave both hands to every one who approached him, andwas extremely complaisant, kind, cordial, and expressive; but, as soonas a man had turned his back; he spoke slightingly of him. He was ahypocrite from choice, even where there was no necessity of being so.He was so even towards the beggar. This, however, I did not perceiveuntil at a later period. At my father's table there were present stateofficials, artists, and learned men: they liked good eating, and, inorder to get it, were obliged to set off our table with theirdecorations and titles. We gave great parties, and had no socialvisiting. There were grand banquets in the house, and there sat down atthem men decorated with stars, and women with bare shoulders: at thedessert I was brought in, passed from lap to lap, carressed andflattered, and fed with ices and confectionery. I was dressedhandsomely, and in some old lumber-room there must be a portrait,--Iwould give a great deal to come across it again,--painted life-size,and with crisped locks, by the first court-painter, and afterwards soldwith the rest of our household stuff. We had no relatives. I had aprivate tutor; for my father did not want to send me to a publicschool. I grew up the idol of my father, and he always kissed me warmlywhen I was carried to him by his order. My tutor indulged me in everything, and taught me to regard myself alone as the central point ofall, and never to pay any regard to my dear fellow human beings. Thishelped me more than he could imagine. The capital thing is to blunt theconscience, as it is termed: all men do it, but some more superficiallythan others. The world is nothing but a collection of egoisms hangingloosely together. When I was sixteen years old, I had already falleninto the hands of usurers; for I was the heir of a million, and thatwas a larger sum then than seven times as much to-day. My father'ssolicitor settled with them, and, as soon as that was done, I ran upnew bills, delighted that my credit was so good. In short, I was a fastyouth, and I continued to be so. I have already said, I believe, that Ihad no love, no respect even, for my father, who was--the truth must betold--one of the most exquisite hypocrites that ever wore the whitecravat of respectability. My father was a very honest hypocrite. Othersdissemble, and whitewash it over with a coating of ideality, persuadingthemselves that there is something real and actual in other things thanmoney and pleasure. My father was also a philosopher, and used to say,My son, the world belongs to him who has strength or cunning enough toconquer it; and whoever takes a sentimental view has the pleasure oftaking it, and nothing more."
Sonnenkamp scraped energetically at the bit of wood which he held inhis hand, and for a moment nothing was heard but the scratching of theknife rounding off the end.
"This being said," he resumed, "I can continue with calmness. Atseventeen years of age, I was a spendthrift, inducted into all kinds ofrespectable iniquities. I was a jolly comrade, a good-for-nothingfellow; but I was respectable, rich, and therefore very popular; fornature and destiny had been terribly lavish in securing this result. Myfather regularly paid my gambling debts and other debts also. He wentwith me to the ballet, and often handed me his more powerful operaglass, that I might get a better view of the sylph-like Cortini, whowas no stranger to me, as he very well knew. Yes, we were a jovial set.My father gave me only one counsel, and that was, Don't confineyourself to one. Every Sunday I must dissemble, and say I was going tochurch; but my father knew well enough, and took a secret satisfactionin the knowl
edge, that I went elsewhere. Our carriage stood every otherSunday at the church where the most pious and celebrated preacher heldforth; and on the alternate Sunday we did not drive, but walked, forthen our coachmen also went, and our horses, too, had a Sunday. Ourvery servants must appear pious. My father was Protestant, and I wasCatholic out of regard to my mother. I leave it for others to decide inwhich confession hypocrisy is cultivated the more successfully.
"Now the question came up what was I to do? I had no fancy for sittingat the accountant's desk, and wanted to be a soldier; but I was not ofnoble rank, and was not willing to be received at the Jockey Clubsimply on sufferance. I dropped off from my youthful companions, andfrom that time played the gentleman. I went to Paris. I enjoyed asuperfluity of the pleasures furnished by the world. Most people plumethemselves upon their virtue, and their virtue is nothing more than afeebleness of constitution; they make a virtue of necessity. When I hadsowed enough wild oats, my father sent for me. I lived at home, and thespecimens I saw before me of what was termed virtue were nothing butcowardice, and fear of not being respected. To be virtuous is a bore;to appear virtuous is amusing and profitable at the same time. Everything that can be done without detection is allowable: the main thingis to belong to society. I often went from the most brilliantassemblies into the wretchedest dens; and the lowest vice seemed to methe most worthy of respect. I was a roue, and remained so. We wereproud of being a rollicking and reckless crew. It had a sort of poetictinge. Let one be a poet like Byron, be a genius, an exception to theordinary crowd, and what in lower conditions would be crime is thenregarded as a gallant feat. I saw that the whole world was vice under amask, and I think there is no vice; the name is given, poison iswritten on the phial, so that the bulk of mankind may not drink out ofit. I was made acquainted, whether accidentally or designedly I do notknow, with a beautiful girl, fresh as a rose. It was time that I, atone and twenty, should settle down as a married man. All congratulatedme on having sowed my wild oats, as it is termed, and that I was now tobecome a respectable husband and the head of a family. My betrothed wasan enthusiastic child, and I don't understand it to this day, how shecould make light of my past as she did, probably under the direction ofher mother. Why I married the child I do not know. As I was going tochurch, and returning from it, as I was making the wedding trip, inwhich every thing was very modest and proper, it seemed to be somebodyelse, and not myself, who was the actor. We returned, and--but I willspin out the story no further than to say, that I discovered an earlierattachment of the sweet child. The only thing that vexed me was to belaughed at. I left her, and while the arrangements were being made fora separation, she died, and with her an unborn life. I was again free,free! That means that I was in Paris. I wanted to enjoy life: to drainthe cup to the very dregs. Dissipation, dissipation, was my sole end: Iyearned for distracting pleasure--I wanted to exhaust life, and everymorning it was new born. My soul was a void, a void everywhere. Idespised life, and yet did not fling it from me. What has life tooffer? Reputation or riches--the former I could not strive after, thelatter was open to me. My father wanted to hold me within a narrowrange. I operated on the Exchange. I gained considerable sums, and lostthem again, but still had enough left to keep afloat by means ofgambling. I was at Marseilles, among a jolly set, when I heard of myfather's death. The largest part of my inheritance was seized upon bymy creditors, and, because I wanted to have no recollections of home, Iwrote to the attorney to sell off every thing. A malicious saying wentthe rounds after his death. We had had no idea how well he was known;now it was said, 'There was one good thing about him, and that is, hewas better than his son.'
"The Germans say that God and the Devil are wrestling with one anotherfor the dominion of the world. I have hitherto only heard of these twomighty potencies, they have never yet presented themselves before me;but I was convinced that there were two things engaged in a strongtussle, and these were Work and Ennui. Men benumb themselves in work,in pleasure, in the foolery of morality, as it is termed. All isvanity, the wise king has said; but it ought to be said, All is stale,tedious, flat, a long-drawn yawn, that ends only in the death-rattle. Ihave run over the whole sandy desert of ennui, and there is no remedythere but opium, hashish, gambling, and adventure. I took lessons of ajuggler, and acquired great skill, for which I stood in high reputeamong my companions; I had the most splendid apparatus. I lived inItaly at a later period, out of pure wantonness, as a juggler byprofession. I was in Paris at the time of Louis Philippe; there'snothing merrier than these frequent _emeutes_: they are the people'sgames of chance."
Sonnenkamp stopped, and now, boring with his knife very delicately, hesaid,--
"Do you look at me in astonishment, because I impart wisdom? Well, thatis also insipid like every thing else: honor, gold, music, friendship,glory, all is emptiness. The men of virtue, the men of honor, are alllike those augurs who could not look into each other's faces withoutlaughing at the idle tale which they impose upon the world. The gods ofto-day, in the church as well as in the world, say, we know that youare only hypocrites; but that you must play the hypocrite is anevidence of our authority. And the so-called delight in nature, inmountain and valley, in water and forest, sunlight and moonlight andstarry brightness--what does it all amount to? a mere cheat, a curtainto hide the grave you are to lie in. What is a man to do in the world?Do you know that millions have lived before him, and have looked at thestars? Is he to be proud of playing the same old tune over and overagain, like the man with his hurdy-gurdy, grinding out the same melodyto-day and to-morrow that he did yesterday? You see I had learned myByron by heart. The misfortune was, that I was neither a poet nor ahighly interesting pirate. I was disgusted with the world and withmyself. I did not want to kill myself. I wanted to live, and to despiseevery thing. I had madly, as if in mockery of myself, lost every thingat play; and now came the merriest thing of all. It was a cold, wetnight; but it suited me well, as I went through the streets, completelyplucked as I was. Whew! How lustily the wind blew! it was cooling. Herewas I traversing the ant-hill of the great city; my money I had gambledaway, and my love had been unfaithful. A nice, prudent little fellowthere was, who proved to me over a bottle of canary, that I possessed acapital which I didn't understand how to put at interest; that I was aborn diplomatist. I knew the decoy-duck at the first whistle. I was tobe a diplomatist, and so I sported that character. New horses, newservants, a new love, and a large new house, were now mine. I was anattache; in good German, I was a spy. I cover the word with no nicelittle moral cloak. The life was a merry one. This time the discoveryhad been made: now dissembling had a definite end. The praise which theambassador lavished upon me I deserved more than he was aware. Did youever hear of being insured against the insurance company? I brought theambassador most important information; but I had an after appointmentwith the minister of police, and gave him secret notice of theambassador's machinations. The ambassador gave me false information;but we could extract from this what his real intention was."
A smile passed over the countenances of the hearers, and Sonnenkampcontinued,--
"A day came when I must flee. I had the choice of five passports withfive different names under which to travel. I wanted, first of all,concealment; and one is best concealed among so called honest people. Icame to Nice, where I was a gardener. All my senses were paralyzed. Iseemed to myself a corpse, and as if I with my thoughts were only thecompanion of this corpse. Here I and the gardener became one again; theodor of the moist earth was the first thing that, for a long time, hadgiven me any pleasure, no, that made me feel I was alive. Chemistry canimitate every thing; but the fragrance that rises out of the freshearth no perfume ever possessed. Herr Dournay surprised me on the firsthour of his arrival, just as I was digging in the fresh mould. It gaveme strength. The masquerade pleased me; I had good sleep, a goodappetite. The gardener's daughter wanted to marry me. I had again areason for flight. I had laid away a good sum of money; now I dug itup. I began a new life of pleasure at Naples. I confess I wa
s proud ofassuming all sorts of transformations: I was entirely afloat, in goodhealth and good spirits. I had a good circulation, and social talent:the world was mine. I had friends wherever I went: how long were theymy friends? Perhaps only so long as I stuck fast to my money. That wasa matter of indifference to me. I desired no loyalty, for I gave none.I was always thankful to my parents for one thing; they had given me anindestructible constitution. I had a body of steel, a heart of marble,and unshakable nerves; I knew no sickness and no pity. I haveexperienced many provocations to pity"--
He paused. It was the only time during his whole speech that he smiled;and a peculiar smack of satisfaction proceeded from him.
Then he continued:--
"A strange trait of sentimentalism stuck fast to me, however. It was atNaples, on a wonderfully beautiful evening, we were sailing in amiscellaneous and merry party on the sea, and I was the merriest of thewhole. We disembarked. Who can tell what transpires in a human being?At this time, there, under the bright Italian sky, in the midst oflaughing, singing, jesting men and women, the thought darted through mymind: What hast thou in the wide world? Nothing. Yet there is onething: yonder in Poland thy mother's grave. And out of laughing, wantonItaly, I travelled without halt through the different countries, sawnothing, journeying on and on towards dreary, dirty Poland. I came tothe village that I had not seen since my sixteenth year. And such isman--no, such am I! I did not want to undergo the pain of seeing mymother's grave. I looked over the burial-ground hedge; but I did not goinside, and travelled back again without having seen the grave. Such amI, so good or so bad; I believe they are one and the same thing. Itravelled through Greece and Egypt, and was in Algiers. I have led alife of utterly unbridled excess, and have done every thing toundermine my vital power, but have failed to accomplish it. I have aniron, indestructible constitution. I was in England, the land ofrespectability. It may be that I have a special eye to see them; but Isaw everywhere nothing but masks, hypocrisy, conventionalism. I tookship for America. You will laugh when I tell you that I meant to jointhe Mormons, and yet such is the fact. These people have the courageand honesty to ordain polygamy by law, while in the rest of the worldit exists under a lying disguise. But I was not suited to thatcommunity. I soon returned to New York, and there I found thehigh-school and the Olympus of gamblers. The fast livers of Paris andLondon are bunglers compared with the Yankees. It was the fashion todeclaim against the Southern chivalry; but I have found among themtruly heroic natures, of the stuff out of which conquering Rome wasbuilt up. Only he who has been in America knows what the being thatcalls himself man is in reality. Every thing there is reckless,untramelled. They only dissemble in the matter of religion, that's respectable."
Eric and Weidmann looked at each other. Weidmann had given expressionto the same thought a few days before at Mattenheim, but in a whollydifferent connection.
Sonnenkamp went on.
"My five passes were still good. I went here under the name of CountGronau: the Americans are fond of intercourse with noblemen. After awild night, I shot a man who had insulted me on the public street. Ifled, and lived for a time among the horse-thieves of Arkansas. It wasa droll life, a life of craft and adventure that nowhere else has itslike. Man becomes there a lurking beast of prey, and my body underwentthe most monstrous experiences. I left this partnership, and became asailor on a whaling-ship. I had shot lions and leopards in Algiers, andnow I was hunting the king of the ocean. The whole world is here onlyto be captured and subdued. I have been through all sorts ofexperience. I soon gained dexterity enough to reach the position ofboat-steerer, and I was appointed to this. There was one thing more; tohunt men, the merriest of all. This was adventure worth engaging in,this man-hunting: here was a new excitement, a novel attraction. Wesailed for Madagascar through many perils. We caught men and boughtmen; boldness and cunning were called into activity, and the businesspleased me. Great risk, great profits. In Louisiana, where the greatsugar plantations have each three, four, and five thousand slaves, andin Charleston, South Carolina, are the chief slave-markets; for themost part, boys are carried there, and no elderly men. You willconsider it contemptible; but it does appear to me a triumph of humanfreedom and power for one man to steal and sell another. No animalcan so seize and serve his kind, always supposing, though by nomeans granting the fact, that negroes are men. Yes, I have been aslave-trader: they called me the sea-eagle. That bird has the sharpestscent, he flies off, and cannot be caught. It was a bold and beautifulpastime. I have even stolen the chief who was selling me his subjects.These talking black beasts are equal to their so-called fellow-men inone respect, perhaps,--I say perhaps,--they can play the hypocrite likewhite men. No beast can dissemble, and, if dissembling can give a titleto human rights, then the blacks deserve that title. After the firstburst of rage, the chief was very tractable; but one day I was pursued,with my cargo on board, by an English ship, and had to pitch the wholehuman dust-heap into the sea. This gave food to the sharks. Look here,this is the finger which the chief tried to bite off: you know how hehas made his appearance in these days. From that time I left off goingto sea, and carried on the business through others; finally I gave itup altogether. I had enough, I had large plantations, and the child ofthe boat-steerer, who had died in the whale-fishery, had been broughtup by me, and I married her. Such a being, only half-awake, prattlinglike a child in every thought, or, rather, with no thought at all, waspleasing to me. I had at that time no idea that there were women withgreat, heroic, world-conquering souls."
Sonnenkamp spoke these last words in a very loud tone. After a shortpause, he continued,--
"I was living in quiet retirement when the insane party of the Northarose, whose object was to abolish slavery. And when my own countrymenentered into the front ranks as the magnanimous friends of man, I cameforward in the newspapers and acknowledged myself a German, in order tosay that all were not like these shriekers about humanity. I showedthat it was madness to desire to free the slave. Humane men wanted torender benevolent aid; but the wretchedness of the world is not curedby benevolence, nor the poverty, nor the crime. The works of mercy, allseven together, do not help the world, they are all quack-remedies: theonly real benevolence to the lower orders of men is slavery. They wantto be nothing else than what they are: the best thing is for them to betaken care of by their masters--for the blacks certainly, and no lessso, perhaps, for the whites. Herr Weidmann knows that his nephew hasbeen my bitterest enemy. I was in the Southern States, and there I andmy compeers were nobles. We are the privileged class. There areprivileged races, and privileged persons among those races. The baronsof the Southern States seemed to me the only honest men I had becomeacquainted with; everywhere else there was hypocrisy. I was displeased,indeed, that they wanted to get for their cause the cover of religion;but it was a rich joke that the ministers of religion volunteered theiraid in this attempt.
"But I soon learned to have less regard even for this Southernchivalry. They are hypocrites, too; for they hold slaves, and yetdespise him who imports the slaves. This is a remnant of the oldhypocrisy of setting up a standard of virtue. Why deny the natural,open, pitiless mastership? Why not openly acknowledge that which theyacknowledge in secret? Because the English worshippers of rank placeslave-traders in the category of pirates? Even the freemen of the Southare themselves the slaves of a vulgar notion. Now it came over me. WhenI had a son, a longing was awakened within me which I could notappease. I know not whether I have already told you, that, in my earlydays, the thought often occurred to me, had I been a noble, had I withmy courage and my ability entered the military service, I should havebecome a steady man like the rest; I might have been for a timedissipated; but then I should have managed my estate, and been thefounder of an honorable line. The fundamental cause of my adventurous,restless life always seemed to me to be the fact that I was a commoner,having every claim to a privileged station, and yet always thrust intothe back-ground. I know that it is an inconsistency; I despise theworld, and I strive after hono
r. This proceeds from a youthfulimpression of what was meant by the nobility. The only guaranty for theworld's smile is rank and genius; without one of these you do notescape from mediocrity and sufferance. I pictured to my wife what agrand life was led at some little court in Germany, and it became afixed idea in her mind. One can tear out the heart more easily thanroot out from it a thought. I see the struggle coming in the New World:courage and strength are on our side. There will be a slaughterunparalleled; but we shall be victorious. The Southern States wantindependence, and this is the only, the highest thing. I have laboredin Europe for our cause. We lived in England, in Italy, in Switzerland.I thought, for a time, of becoming what is called a free, sober citizenof Switzerland. But I hated Switzerland: it suffers the foreigner to befree, so long as he is a foreigner; if he becomes a citizen of theState, he can no longer be a free man, but must take part in all theirpetty concerns. He who is not earning money, and who will not bepious--one can do both at the same time without much trouble--he whodoesn't want to live frugally, will not do for Switzerland. No court,no nobility, no barracks there!--nothing but church, school, andhospital, things that are of no account to me. I didn't want to remainin Switzerland, with inaccessible heights before my eyes; it'soppressive, and for that reason, here on the Rhine it's cozy andhomelike. Germany is and will be the only land for free men. Here onepays his tax, and is let alone. No one has any claim, and in hisposition the nobleman is liable to no interference. I returned toGermany, because I wished to acquire for myself and for my son abrilliant position in society. The regard of one's neighbors, one'sfellow-men, is a fine luxury, perhaps the very finest: this, I wantedto have too. I wanted to give my son what only the German perfectlyknows, dutiful service; and with this view there was perpetuallyringing in my ears one melody--the only sentimentalism I can reproachmyself with--a villa on the Rhine. This was the dream of my childhood,this, of my mature life, and this has been my ruin. When I looked thewhole world over, and asked myself where life could be passed mosthappily, then I had to confess, as I said before, that it is thehighest pinnacle of enjoyment to be a rich baron of some small Germanstate. Here one may have a life fraught with enjoyment without anyclaim of duty, and receive all honor in a limited circle, and enjoymentbesides. I have become familiar with all the different strata ofexistence. I have caroused and scuffled with the red-skins, and morethan once have been in danger of adorning some Indian with my scalp,and I wanted now to make trial of the red-collars and _their_ chief. Idid not want to leave the world without knowing what court life was. Icherished still one idyllic dream--something of the German romancehangs by me yet--and, not without reason, I called my house Villa Eden.Here it was my purpose to live in enjoyment with my plants, and like myplants; but I have been dragged again into the world, more by thethought of my children than any thing else. Enough; you are well awarethat I wanted to be ennobled. Let it be. I have now come to the end.But"--
He paused, and looked at what he had whittled out; it was an African'shead, with the tongue lolling from his mouth. With one sharp cut,Sonnenkamp suddenly cut off tongue and mouth, so that they fell downinto his lap; then, grinning like the figure in his hand, he wenton:--
"I have placed myself and mine under the protection of civilization; Ihave taken refuge, not in the savage wilderness, but in the bosom ofcultivated life, as it is termed. To be honest, I do not repent it. Iam no milk-sop; my soul has been tempered in the fire of hell. I madeno concealment of my past history, because I considered it bad. Whatin this world is bad? I concealed myself from folly and weakness.Thousands repent without becoming any better. Had I been a soldier in asuccessful war, perhaps I should have been a hero. I am a man withoutsuperstition: I haven't even the superstition of the so-calledhumanity. I live and die in the conviction that what is called equalrights is a fable; to free the negro will never do a particle of good,they will be exterminated, when it comes to the pass that a negro maysit in the White House at Washington. The world is full of hypocrisy,and my only pride is, that I am no hypocrite.
"But now, honorable and worthy gentlemen, is there any question youwould like to ask? I am ready to answer it."
He made a pause.
No one made any response.
"Well, then," was his close, "gentlemen of honor and of virtue, Idemand of you, not for my own sake, but for the sake of my children, toimpose upon me some sort of reparation. If you demand that I shouldkill myself, I will do it; if you enjoin banishment, I will go away; ifyou require the half of my property, which is far more than I have everacquired from the negroes, my fellow-men, as they are called, I willresign it. I thank you, and await your verdict on the appointed day."
He retired, and left the men by themselves.
Clodwig whispered to Eric,--
"Cain slew his brother: the Cain of today sells his brother."