The meeting had been set against Johann by the air of superior knowledge which he had assumed, as much as by the unpalatable conclusions to which he sought to lead them. The murmurs of suspicion and dislike swelled in a tumult as he went on. At the first break a voice from the centre of the hall demanded—
“Let him abdicate!”
This sentiment was received with a sound of cheering which told how strongly the feelings of the audience were inflamed against the King and his champion. Maximilian, who had listened to it all with downcast head, moved uneasily in his seat, and looked for a moment as if he would have made for the platform himself.
But Johann stilled the clamour with a contemptuous wave of his hand.
“I was not afraid of King Maximilian’s guards,” he cried, “and I am not afraid of you. If there is a man in this room who is prepared to take this pistol from me and go with it to the palace, let him come forward.”
And he held it out defiantly. The effect was magical. Not one of his judges responded to the challenge. The whole crowd shrank from his glance, and allowed him to continue in silence.
“You ask me why he does not abdicate? What good would that do? Do you think that a dull-witted boy like Prince Ernest would be any better for you than Maximilian? How would you like to have the Princess Hermengarde for a Regent?” The Princess’s name was received with hisses. “I thought so. I thought you would at least see that much.” He could not refrain from taunting them, forgetting that his true object was not to silence but to persuade. Maximilian, watching the scene, was tortured by the unskilfulness of his advocate. It was not thus that he had wrought on Johann himself in the gallery at Neustadt.
“Surely it is better for us,” the orator proceeded, “to have a man on the throne who sympathises with us. Even if the King fails to perform what I hope from him, he leaves us free to go on with our own work independently. It is not as if I were asking you to desist from the movement. No, I rather urge you to go on more boldly now than ever. Do not trust in me or in the King, but act exactly as you would have done if I had never gone to Neustadt.”
These words produced a favourable impression, and for the first time there was a slight sound of applause.
Johann eagerly followed up his success.