SCENE IV.
Enter Reissman.
Reiss. Aye, good morrow, Miss! Good morrow, Mr. Clarenbach! Well, how are you?
Clar. At work, Sir!
Reiss. So you have, ex officio, been appointed guardian of the poor orphans of Brunnig?
Clar. Yes, Sir, these four days.
Reiss. Aye, aye; it will prove a troublesome piece of business. Poor children! I pity them.
Clar. So do I.--And, to tell you the truth, the valuable bequest of the old aunt ought to go to the children, and not to you; to whom, contrary to all right and equity, she has bequeathed her all.
Reiss. Aye! Good heaven!--but then it is so in her will.
Clar. True enough. But the law should not permit it.
Reiss. A last will!--O Lord! that is a sacred thing. I pity the children, but--
Clar. I intend to try the validity of it.
Reiss. Aye, aye? I have been told so.
Clar. You ought to decline the bequest, Mr. Reissman.
Reiss. But, what heaven has sent me--
Clar. The property of orphans!
Reiss. You would not have me rob my child of the divine blessings which, without the least solicitation on my part, have devolved upon me from a strange person?
Clar. Your daughter, is not poor. The children of Brunnig are all beggars.
Reiss. Aye, good man, we will manage that, we will manage it!
Clar. How so?
Reiss. O heaven! Yes, we will send the children to the hospital to receive a christian education, and to be instructed, and I will--
Clar. To what hospital?
Reiss. To ours, of which I am the director, and you a trustee.
Clar. That will not do.
Reiss. If it be our will---
Clar. It must not be our will.
Reiss. Who is to oppose us?
Clar. The rules of the foundation itself; right and equity. The hospital, ad Sanctum Mauritium, is destined for the old and the sick; we must not displace them. No, I will carry on the suit against you as an unlawful heir.--
Reiss. Aye, thou good Lord in heaven! the will is so plain--
Clar. If I am cast, I will take Brunnig's children into my house, and then I will immediately engage in more business, employ more hands, and work hard to accomplish my design, with the aid of heaven.
Reiss. But your son, the deputy, approves of the children being sent to the hospital.
Clar. I do not approve of it.
Reiss. Your son is a sensible learned man, who most certainly knows--
Clar. And I have spent a good deal on him too.
Reiss. And a just man too he is.
Clar. That is his duty.
Reiss. And as these children may be taken care of in another manner, why would you, at your time of life, burthen yourself with more trouble? You have now toiled long enough, and to your credit too: now you should rest, and leave off business.
Clar. God forbid!
Reiss. Your son will not give up that point, I tell you: as a good son, he will lead his father to honour.
Clar. To honour? And what honour do I want, pray? I am a good workman, have sufficient to live on, employ fifteen people daily; share my earnings with many a poor man, and have a good conscience. What honour can he add to what I have?
Reiss. This very moment it is in agitation, to elect you mayor of our town. That is as good as settled, only--
Clar. No, Sir! I will not listen to that. I am quite well, when governed; and might not be so, if I were to govern others.
Reiss. But consider, how happy many a man would feel, if he--
Clar. Oh yes! I know well enough: many a man would wish to govern now-a-days; but not I. I intend to remain reigning master-carpenter in my own house and timber-yard.
Reiss. But perhaps your son might form connections--
Clar. A fig for every connection; cannot he form connections unless his father be mayor?
Reiss. The world has its prejudices--
Clar. Not I.
Reiss. To whom it is often prudent to yield.
Clar. No, Sir, no!
Reiss. But, suppose your son should wish to rise still higher?
Clar. Then God grant it do him good! that is my cordial wish. But I shall remain where I am, and I shall not climb after him.
Reiss. Well then, I must speak plain to you; your son pays his addresses to my daughter.
Clar. Does he? that is well done. Your daughter is an amiable young lady.
Reiss. Well, well;--but then I have some conditions to propose. I only desire that you may change your situation in life.
Clar. Does your daughter likewise insist on it?
Reiss. Suppose she did?
Clar. Then I would, were I in my son's place, decline the hand of a lady that would be ashamed of my father.
Reiss. But, if I should only ask that you shall leave off business--
Clar. Leave off business? I might as well leave off living. I am proud of my business, for, upon my word, I am a good carpenter.
Reiss. Well then, you may say you have been a carpenter. When you are Mayor, I will, with pleasure, call you brother. Only accept the office, and we will see the business taken care of.
Clar. No. I would be what I was called. I had better keep away from your council-board.
Reiss. I have now done my duty. Consider, that when the children come out of the hospital, I intend to make them a present. And that, if an action is brought against me, I shall not think myself under any obligation whatever.
Clar. Do not take it amiss;--I am rather positive, for I am arrived at the age in which people know which way the world turns, because they have often been forced to turn along with it. Should the poor children lose their suit, you are not the man neither of whom I should wish them take alms.
Reiss. Oh! if matters stand so, then I will do nothing at all, for my conscience is free, thank God.
Clar. I wish you joy.
Reiss. As for the rest, it is now all in your option, whether you will promote your son's happiness through that marriage, or not. I wish you good business, Master Clarenbach.
Clar. (alone.) Hem, hem!--I do not wish it, I know well enough;--but I should be sorry for Jack, if he were to lose the girl on that account.