Germany nor for a small Germany. The "company" was their god
and their country. All that concerned them was to know whether
the play was likely to be suppressed. When they were annexed to
Prussia, at first they could not believe that Count Bismarck,
whatever he might do with kings, would venture to interfere
with the "bank." It was to them a divine institution--
something far superior to dynasties and kingdoms. . . .

`For a year the Hombourgers were allowed to suppose that their
"peculiar institution" was indeed superior to fate, to public
opinion, and to Prussia; but at the commencement of the present
year they were rudely awakened from their dreams of security.
The sword that had been hanging over them fell. The directors of
the company were ordered to appear before the governor of the
town, and they were told that they and all belonging to them were
to cease to exist in 1872, and that the following arrangement was
to be made respecting the plunder gained until that date. The
shareholders were to receive 10 per cent. on their money; 5000
shares were to be paid off at par each year, and if this did not
absorb all the profits, the surplus was to go towards a fund for
keeping up the gardens after the play had ceased. By this means,
as there are now 36,000 shares, 25,000 will be paid off at par,
and the remaining 11,000 will be represented by the buildings and
the land belonging to the company, which it will be at liberty to
sell to the highest bidder. Since this decree has been
promulgated the Hombourgers are in despair. The croupiers
and the clerks, the Jews who lend money at high interest, the
Christians who let lodgings, all the rogues and swindlers who one
way or another make a living out of the play, fill the air with
their complaints.