“With divine help I will prove myself worthy of their confidence. The history of our people shows that the man who is called to high duties, and places his reliance upon God, is a safe guide and protector of the people, and such an one often accomplishes important results in a short time. The incomparable Charles the Great united all classes of his people into a powerful whole, forced the most rebellious to recognize his authority, eradicated heathenism in a single generation, reformed the habits of the people by the glorious teachings of Christianity, and established a well-ordered Empire. At a later period, when princes failed to profit by what he had accomplished, when fraternal strife swept away the best and devastated the country, they suffered many years from the disgrace of it and bowed their necks under the yoke of the barbarous Magyars, until the matchless Henry[9] came with all the old authority and the old virtues, and made the barbarians tremble at the very name of Germany.” “How faithfully thou hast treasured in thy memory the actions of the great!” “Yes, I have vowed that these men, but above all that Charles, the noble-hearted founder of German power, called ‘the Great’ by the world and ennobled by the Church, shall be my constant exemplar. The German authority shall again prevail, and the German Empire shall flourish again as in the days of old.” “And yet, how many obstacles stand in the way of this achievement!” “Charles also encountered obstacles, and certainly as great ones as these, but he finally overcame them. He found the most potent remedies for the evils of his time, and we must do the same for ours.” “But the evils now are entirely different.” “I think they are very similar. He was forced to break the power of the grand dukes and protect the common people, and that is what we must do.” “The first task may be impossible, for it is extremely difficult to decide what the dukes have rightly inherited and what they have usurped.” “In such cases we shall have to prevent any further increase of their power,—the remedy which Henry attempted to apply. The great cities with their industries and commerce, where the arts and sciences are cultivated more assiduously than in many knightly castles, must employ their wealth and power to curb insolence and punish offences against the laws. This will enable them to help each other and manage their own affairs. They certainly should know better what is for their welfare than those at a distance, who are ignorant of their circumstances.” “That will exercise an important influence upon the general welfare.” “True. The Emperor will find in every city a power already organized with which to punish those who now violate the law with impunity; because the law-enforcing power is so distant they can escape with their plunder behind protecting walls.” “But how about the people in the open country?”