"Oh, your majesty, that is a wicked invention of my enemies, and
utterly unfounded. If I had really stolen and sold those magnificent
brilliants--worth half a million--from my dying love, it would have
been sufficient to assure me a luxurious life, and I should not have
found it imperative to become a Catholic."

"Ah, you confess, then, that you did not become a Catholic from
conviction, but in order to obtain the favor of the cardinals and
the Pope?"

"Nothing escapes the quick eye of your majesty, so I will not dare
to defend myself. I came back to Berlin then, a Catholic, and the
ever-blessed king received me graciously. He was a noble and a pious
man, and my soul was seized with a glowing desire to imitate him. I
saw, indeed, how little I had advanced on the path to glory by
becoming a Catholic! I made a bold resolve and entered the Reformed
Church."

"And by this adroit move you obtained your object: you became the
favorite of my father the king. As he, unhappily, can show you no
further favor, it is no longer prudent to be a reformer, so you are
again a Lutheran--from conviction!"

"Oh, all the world knows the great, exalted, and unprejudiced mind
of our young king," said Pollnitz. "It is to him a matter of supreme
indifference what religious sect a man belongs to, so he adopts that
faith which makes him a brave, reliable, and serviceable subject of
his king and his fatherland."