and it was soon arranged that Schiller should read his new play to a
company of actors. The reading turned out a dismal failure. One by one
the distressed auditors withdrew, wondering if what they heard was
really the work of the same man who had written 'The Robbers'. The next
day Meyer looked over the manuscript by himself and saw that it was not
so bad after all; it had merely been murdered in the reading by its
author's bad voice and extravagant declamation. But the decision did not
rest with the friendly Meyer; it rested with Dalberg, who was just then
away from home. Meanwhile, as reports came from Stuttgart to the effect
that Schiller's disappearance had caused a great sensation and that
there was talk of pursuit, or of a possible demand for his extradition,
the two friends thought it best not to remain in Mannheim. Schiller did
not actually believe that the duke would pursue him, but there was no
telling; it was best to be on the safe side.

Accordingly 'Dr. Ritter' and 'Dr. Wolf' set out for Frankfurt. From
there Schiller addressed a pathetic letter to Dalberg, setting forth
that he was in great distress and asking for an advance of money
against the first performance of 'Fiesco'. But the cautious Dalberg,
who had just been in Stuttgart, replied coolly that 'Fiesco' was
unsuited to the stage and would need to be radically revised. So the
luckless author, having no other recourse, returned to the village of
Oggersheim, in the vicinity of Mannheim, and there, with the faithful
Streicher to keep him company, he spent the next few weeks, partly upon
the thankless revision of 'Fiesco' and partly upon 'Louise Miller',
which interested him more. Having done his best with 'Fiesco' he sent
it to Dalberg, who curtly refused it a second time. His theatrical
hopes thus completely baffled, Schiller turned over his play to the
bookseller Schwan, who gave him eleven louis d'ors for it and
immediately published it as a book for the reader.