The Youth of the Great ElectorMühlbach, L. (Luise)
General
The Youth of the Great Elector
Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg, 1620-1688 -- Fiction
"I have counted on you, Leuchtmar, and well I knew that my reliance would
not be in vain. You must aid and sustain me, for I stand in urgent need of
wise friends, of diligent, faithful workers, in order to gain the goal
which I have placed before me in the future, and to execute the schemes
which I have planned. In the first place, Leuchtmar, do you know properly
who I am?"
"Yes, your highness," replied Leuchtmar, smiling. "I think I know right
well. You are the youthful hero, the Hercules to whom the gods have
committed the twelve difficult tasks, that he may prove himself a
demi-god, and who now begins his work with the zeal of courage and the
inspiration of faith."
"The comparison may be slightly applicable," said the Elector, "and as far
as the Augean stable is concerned. I, too, have my stable to cleanse; only
it belongs not to Augias, but to Schwarzenberg. Still, I will try to
purify it. But I must set about my undertaking with dexterous hands; of
that, however, let us speak hereafter. I shall first consider your
simile, drawn from the story of Hercules. Do you know, Leuchtmar, the
names of my twelve tasks, and their extent? I ask you once more, do you
know who I am, or, rather, what my name is? Look, there lies the document
which I am just on the point of sending to my good subjects, and by means
of which I shall notify them of my assumption of the reins of government.
Just read the heading, Leuchtmar."
Leuchtmar took the paper handed him and read: "'We, Frederick William,
Marquis of Brandenburg, Lord High Chancellor and Elector of the Holy Roman
Empire, Duke of Prussia, Julich, Cleves, Stettin, Pomerania, Cassuben, and
Vandalia, as also Duke of Silesia, Croatia, and Jägerndorf, Burgrave of
Nuremberg, Prince of Rugen, Count of Markberg and Ravensberg, Baron of
Ravenstein.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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