Chancellor Citzewitz took me with him to Stettin, and afterwards to Stargardt to assist him in a personal lawsuit. There was no question of honorarium, for we were both of opinion that his kindness to me warranted such gratuitous service.
In 1553 the Owstin family had a lengthy lawsuit with reference to a village which Citzewitz finally took away from them. In my capacity of notary to the Owstins, I received forty crowns for my work. When Valentin von Eichstadt, the new chancellor, married his daughter to an Owstin, he bore his predecessor a grudge for his success in the matter. Meanwhile, the grand marshal of the court of Wolgast, Ulrich Schwerin, became involved in litigation with Dr. B. vom Walde; the latter and Citzewitz took sides against Schwerin and Eichstadt, and each tried to harm the other as much as possible. Duke Ernest Louis intervened. The report of his displeasure was maliciously exaggerated. In a fit of despair Citzewitz stabbed himself to death.
J. vom Kalen, at that time high bailiff of Rügen (although he could neither read nor write), had sentenced an individual for having caught a small fish in the stream flowing past his garden. The angler appealed against the sentence, probably at the instigation of expert people, wishing to do the bailiff a good turn. The latter had entrusted the affair to me, merely saying that when I got to Wolgast I should get to know what it was "all about"; but when I presented myself and obtained communication of the documents, I declined to move in the matter. I nevertheless considered myself entitled to the three crowns I had received as a deposit; besides, they were not claimed.
The city of Pasewalk had to stand the brunt of a man named Fürstenberg, who, because matters did not always proceed according to his wishes, had renounced his citizenship. Not satisfied with that, he one night nailed to the post before the city gates a placard threatening to set fire to the place. He was almost as good as his word, for he set fire to several barns outside the walls. He was arrested at Lebus, and confined in the tower of the castle. The duke chose me to assist the two counsellors entrusted with the prosecution by the authorities of Pasewalk. The prisoner was put to the rack in our presence, judged the next day, and beheaded by the sword. To our great surprise the council allowed us to depart without offering the smallest present. On the other hand, the duke sent to my home two measures of rye, worth at that time about ten florins.
Holste, the governor of the convent of Puddegla, an eccentric and even dangerous young man, came to Greifswald to entrust me with his law affairs. He promised to remunerate me largely, and as an earnest gave me ten crowns. Shortly afterwards he had a difference with the duke, who had him confined to his quarters, but I succeeded in settling the affair to the satisfaction of both. My client was short of money for the time being, but the convent of Puddegla is situated on the banks of a beautiful lake teeming with fish (as a rule monks are not in the habit of choosing the worst spots). There was an abundance of enormous cray-fish, of various kinds of perch, of breams an ell long, of fat eels, of carp as black as soot and having only one eye, the fat and flesh having closed the other; they were indeed fit for a king's table. Holste filled my conveyance with victuals of that description, and I was glad to cry quits with him for some time to come.
It was well I felt so disposed, for in a short time he got another affair on his hands. At first he thought that the advice of his maternal uncle George vom Kalen, and three captains from Rügen would be sufficient to settle matters, and as a matter of course he invited them to his small property at Wusterhausen, where he filled them with food and drink night and day. It was all in vain; their brain refused to suggest a way out of the difficulty except that he should send for me, which recommendation he followed. I drew up a humble petition to the duke. As I intended to leave early the next morning, Holste gave me six crowns, for the liquor that was in him already rendered him more generous than usual and than there was any occasion, considering the state of his revenues.
The gentlemen caroused till deep into the night, for long after I had retired I was awakened by George vom Kalen steadying himself by grasping my pillow. He came to propose to me to transact his law business for the future. As I was by no means anxious for that practice, I declined, though in most guarded terms. Notwithstanding this refusal, my interlocutor drew three crowns from his wallet, and slipped them into my purse, which he took from under my pillow. His two companions follow his example, and present me each with two crowns. In vain do I point out to them that I cannot accept what I have not earned, and I take the seven coins from my purse to hand them back. Thereupon George vom Kalen tells me plainly that if I persist in refusing this money, he will flay me alive as I am lying there. Knowing the people with whom I had to deal, I deemed it more prudent to listen no longer to my scruples. The company resumed their drinking, and by the time I was back at Greifswald with my thirteen crowns in my pocket, they were probably still snoring stretched under the table.
A small farmer had got his step-daughter with child. When the truth leaked out, the girl's mother moved heaven and earth to shield her husband from the death penalty by flight. As for her daughter, her only child, to fling her upon the world in that condition was exposing her to disgrace, to starvation, and perhaps to everlasting punishment. At the request of some friends, I personally went to Wolgast and presented a petition to be handed immediately to the prince. After considerable waiting, I saw him come out of his apartment. "Why does this woman speak of her daughter and not of her husband?" he asked. "Because he has taken flight," I answered; "besides, considering the heinousness of the crime, she is afraid that to mention him will not avail much." "You lawyers," retorted his Highness, "you have a way of presenting things, of polishing and whitening the most atrocious and blackest horrors. It really requires some experience to determine whether your petitions are compatible either with law, equity, or religion. I am bound to remember that God has entrusted me with the punishment of gross and impious excesses. I shall not decide upon this case to-day, but think it over." These are the words of a just, but nevertheless merciful prince, and the petitioner had the proof of it.
Michael Hovisch, the son of poor peasants, had been brought up from his earliest years in town, put to school, and then into a business establishment. He succeeded in gaining the confidence of his employers, who sent him to Sweden and Denmark. Gradually he began to operate on his own account. Modest in behaviour, neat, and even elegant in appearance, he could aspire to a good match. Meanwhile Captain Dechow took it into his head to claim him for gratuitous and enforced seignorial labour. An old ducal farm had to be rebuilt. In vain did Hovisch offer a considerable sum instead. Dechow resolved to constrain him by imprisonment. He was a relentless despot, who tried to make himself conspicuous by oppressing the peasantry and, wherever it could be done, also the urban populations. Hovisch was compelled to take flight. At the request of some personages whom I was anxious to oblige, and being moreover strongly interested in the young fellow himself, I personally presented to Duke Philip a petition in which the vexatious proceedings of the captain were set forth at length. I defy people to guess the prince's reply. Here it is: "That my subjects load thee with butter, eggs, cheese, poultry, geese, sheep and the rest, is all very well, nay, perfect in its way," he said. "Take my word for it, though," he went on, "that I can manage to govern them rightly enough with the assistance of my captain without your meddling." I told Citzewitz plainly that if the oppressed were thus deprived of their right of humble petition there was "no saying" how things would end. "Dechow," remarked Citzewitz, "is an arbitrary, hasty brute, but he has managed to ingratiate himself with the duke. Fortunately, his Highness has been warned. I'll recur to the subject when I get an opportunity; there must be a change." Dechow left Wolgast for Lubeck, where the people soon got tired of him. Michael Hovisch was never again heard of. It was the last time I took it into my head to present a petition, and especially to wait for its answer.
To sum up, in the space of two years, the occupation of procurator, and, above all, of notary, brought me eleven hundred and four and twenty crowns in hard cash.