“No, your honor.”
“Go at once, and bring the priest before me!”
“I beg pardon, your honor, but he has gone to visit a sick person at some distance.”
“Then send him to me in the city. To-morrow, at nine in the morning, he must appear before me, and bring his sermon with him!”
The mayor made an humble obeisance.
“Did the priest presume to say anything about the Pope?”
“No, your honor; since the Roman Catholic priests who preached about the Pope were sent to Siberia, nothing is said about him.”
“With regard to other matters, how are things progressing in the village?”
“Admirably, your honor! After the twenty Catholic families were sent to Siberia, all the inhabitants are willing to die in obedience to our good emperor. The people are all satisfied; no one wishes to go into exile.”
“In how many villages of Germany,” said the governor to his guests, “can you find the people so contented and ready to give their lives in obedience to our good emperor? The form of government in the holy Russian Empire works miracles. Now, gentlemen, follow me to the schoolhouse, so that you may see how Russia educates her subjects.”