The first proof, and several succeeding ones, which I made myself, turned out so excellent that probably few better impressions ever have been made since. Two more presses were made at once, and six printers hired. The work might still be finished in the stipulated time. New hopes thrilled us. Hastily I inscribed the stones and the printing began. But--oh, human weakness! Does it seem credible that of my six helpers not one could master the extremely simple method of manipulation, the mere matter of rubbing evenly and thoroughly? Of six impressions hardly one ever reached perfection. There were blank spaces here and there. Yes, even when, accidentally, they produced three sections of a sheet correctly, the fourth invariably was a flat failure, and thus ruined the entire sheet. We would have been glad enough had we lost even one half the paper, if only we could have saved our credit by completing the work, regardless of our money loss. But of three reams of paper only thirty-three impressions were won in the end. I will merely touch on the painful scenes that ensued. The stipulated time had almost expired and no prospect of results. The manuscript and the paper remaining in stock were taken away from us and given to Herr Falter, while we had to suffer severe censure from the Countess, and in her name from others. Herr Gleissner had to pay for new paper, which made a monthly deduction from his salary necessary. The grant of our privilege was endangered, for the Kurfürst had obtained a poor opinion of our process. Indeed, so long as the Kurfürst Karl Theodor lived, all our efforts to obtain a privilege were fruitless. We could not even succeed in having it proposed, although the referee, Herr von Stubenrauch, made us promises from month to month.