SCHNETZEN.
A cuckoo's egg I that riddle puzzles me ;
But this I know. Schnetzen is no maji's dupe,
Moch less a Jew's.
[Somrrras and yos Tritenborn take their seats side by side.
TRTTENBORN.
Knights, counsellors and burghers !
Sir Henry Schnetzen, Governor of Salza,
Comes on grave mission from His Highness Frederick,
Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringio,
Our town's imperial Patron and Protector.
SCHNETZEN.
Gentles, I greet you in the Landgrave's name,
The honored hearer of his princely script,
Sealed with his signet. Read, good Master Clerk.
[He hands a parchment to the Scrivner, who reads aloud:
Lord President and Deputies of the town of Nordhausen ! Know that we, Fredorick, Mar- grave of Meissen, and Landgrave of Thuringia, command to be burned all the Jews within our territories as far as our lands extend, on account of the great crime they have committed against Christendom in throwing poison into the wells, of
