I trust my children may be enabled to read the following attentively and remember the same as my justification. They will learn that I devoted every moment to my work, and avoided all useless expense, that I kept away from the tavern, went but rarely to weddings or banquets, and only entertained guests when not to do so would have been unbecoming, as, for instance, on occasions of family feasts or of civic repasts. It is--thanks to that retired life, scarcely diversified by the rare indulgence of a favourite dish washed down by a copious libation--that I have been enabled to amass a sufficient competence to make the devil and his acolytes burst with envy. Their jealousy goes as far as to accuse me of having arrived very poor at Stralsund, and to have ransomed the city, magnified my travelling expenses, and abused the custody of the seals. This third part of the story of my life will explain the origin of my fortune. Stralsund has never been instrumental in making my position, and I have never proved false to my oath.
My monetary provision after my wedding consisted of Gottschalk's golden florin, hence, two florins of current coin; my savings and the gratifications were nothing more than a memory. I had nothing to expect from my father. We were in a bare and cold tenement we had rented; in default of a boiler my wife did the washing in an earthen jar. Without money and without a livelihood, I did not dare to ask my father-in-law for the promised two hundred florins, for he had warned me that it was my father's duty to begin paying up. I was obliged to listen to the humiliating words, "To get married without anything to live upon." My wife herself was getting fretful; a loaf of fine flour on our table set her grumbling as a luxury beyond our means. She said to her mother, "You did not advise me; you simply handed me over." A friend of her childhood, a burgomaster's daughter, had married a wealthy old man. Wallowing in luxury, the owner of two houses (I was his tenant), she overwhelmed us with jokes, and asked my wife what she intended to do with her swallow's tail, alluding to the sword I continued to wear.
What a deplorable beginning! God's help has, nevertheless, enabled me to provide during the space of forty-six years for my wants and those of my family. It was not a small affair, considering that the maintenance and starting in life of my children cost more than nine thousand florins, and my household, one year with another, three hundred florins. I, moreover, own a well appointed house, and am enabled to live ex fructibus pecuniae salvo capitali, and for the last forty-six years could truthfully say: "I am better off to-day than yesterday." And I have accomplished all this with my pen. Thanks be to the Lord.
The people of the city asked me to be their scribe. The richest grain merchant, a personage without merit save that of his money, dictated a long petition to me, intended for the sovereign. He was pleased with my editing and writing of it, and he asked me how much he owed me. As I did not care to accept any remuneration, he flung two schellings of Lubeck on the table, exclaiming, "Don't be an ass. Have you not got your paunch to fill?" From the lips of any one else this would have savoured of sarcasm, but that man meant no harm.
The public and private courses of the artistae, philosophi et jurisperiti of Greifswald could only be profitable to a scribe and notary; hence, I spent every available moment attending them. I hired a room in the priory building, and was there from morn till night, only going home to dine, and coming back immediately afterwards. My first clerk was the son of Master Peter Schwarz, but I could do nothing with him; then I took Martin Speckin, who by now is a rich young fellow. His Greifswald people brought him to me; part of his duty was to keep my room at the priory sufficiently heated, and to precede me with the lantern when I went out. He was a zealous servitor.
Meanwhile, I incurred everybody's criticism, and my wife showed her displeasure pretty openly. People, she said, thought it disgraceful for me to return to school once more. My maternal grandmother asked me if as yet I had not learnt to keep a family. The remarks did not affect me in the least. I continued attending the lectures of Joachim Moritz, and day by day it appeared to me I got a better understanding of the practice of law. My interest in useful literature also increased day by day. Crescit amor studii quantum ipsa scientia crescit. Not less true did the other proverb begin to appear: Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit. I also followed the public courses of Balthazar Rau, to-day Dr. Rau of the Libellus de anima of Philip Melanchthon. Nor was I ashamed to join his discipuli privati, to whom he expounded at his house the Dialectica of the same author. I felt very satisfied with myself for doing all this, and on February 19, 1552, the Imperial Chamber inscribed my name on the roll of its notaries, on the presentation of Duke Philip.
My eldest son saw the light on August 29 of the same year. The confinement was a most critical one, and through the midwife's blundering, he had a stiff neck for his life.[[66]] On September 1 he was christened, and received the name of Johannes. His two godfathers were the burgomasters Gaspard Bunsow and Peter Gruwel, and his great-grandmother stood as his godmother. My eldest daughter, Catherine, was born on December 6, 1553, and christened the next day.[[67]]
The wife of V. Prien, a daughter of the House of Maltzan, had taken possession of the fief of Schorsow, in virtue of the privilege accorded to noble damsels by the laws of Mecklenburg. When she died, and even before she was buried, the Maltzans of Mecklenburg violently invaded the fief. Joachim Maltzan, of Osten and of Nerung, who had helped his cousins by sending them reinforcements, was cited before the Imperial Chamber, in poenam fractae pacis. As he was most uneasy about the issue of the suit, Dr. B. vom Walde and Chancellor Citzewitz advised him to send me to Spires provided with counsel's opinion of Joachim Moritz. I complied with their wish, though the journey was exceedingly inconvenient to me. Joachim Maltzan provided me with two completely equipped horses, and the necessary funds; the chancellor and the doctor promised me a handsome gratification at my return. Instead of a servant, I took my brother Christian, and we started on the Sunday of Quasimodo (the Sunday after Easter). At Spires I fully instructed both procurator and advocate. The document drawn up by Moritz elicited their praise. They had no idea of the existence on the shores of the Baltic of a lawyer of that merit. They soon considered their client as being out of his difficulties, and, my mind at rest, I set out for my return journey to Pomerania.
I got there at Whitsuntide. When sending back the horses to Maltzan, I added my report, which put an end to his anxiety, and at the same time forwarded an account of my expenses day by day, the price of each meal, etc., leaving him to decide the amount of my honorarium. Well, the moment he felt reassured, Maltzan did not show the least inclination to settle with me; on the contrary, he accused me of having been too lavish. "Look at the fellow, and then consider the copious meals he took. May all the evils of Job befall thee." That was his favourite objurgation. In vain did I call to my aid the two counsellors who, as it were, had forced my hand. Maltzan turned a deaf ear to all my requests. At the beginning he would have given hundreds to get over his difficulties, but now he sang out, "I have broken the rope, and I do not care."
He was very rich, but very mean and coarse beyond description. One night at Wolgast, I saw him send his hose at bedtime to be repaired. When early next morning the tailor brought the garment back, he asked a florin for his work. Maltzan refused to give more than a schelling, and overwhelmed the poor wretch with curses. The latter had, however, to take what he could get. Maltzan, who could neither write nor read, was obliged to have a secretary, but in consequence of his avarice, he had to be content with mediocre individuals. Dr. Gentzkow found him one who was satisfied with earning his food and a small salary. After a couple of years, during which his master had dragged him about with him to Rostock and elsewhere, everybody knew him as Maltzan's servant. He knew all Maltzan's investments, as well as the dates of his revenues being due; it was he who stored away the money in linen bags. "Put a hundred crowns into each bag, and place them in a line," said Maltzan. "In that way, I can see at a glance where I am; ten bags make a thousand crowns." One fine morning the secretary stamped a blank sheet of paper with the seal of his employer, departed for Rostock, took on credit at the ordinary tradesman's as much velvet, satin and damask as he could conveniently carry away, filled in the blank sheet in his master's name, then returned and took from each bag only ten crowns in order to dissimulate his theft. After that he went collecting the outstanding debts, farmers' and tenants' rents, etc., and disappeared with a sum sufficient to remunerate a good secretary for a decade of years or more. Maltzan himself had the annoyance of having to make good the merchant's losses. He had never been married, and his property, amounting to a hundred thousand golden florins, fell to two cousins, who spent it in feasting, swilling, and riotous living. One died burdened with debt; the other is alive, but in a similar position. Ill-gotten goods do not last.