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the successful issue of his favorite scheme that that she had not already thought over." She
he could not even wait for fine weather for the assured him that "she died contented and at
ceremony of the coronation, but started in mid-
peace. She spoke with equal calmness to
winter, just one month after the attainment of one of her beloved and sorrowing attendants.
his object, on the 17th December, 1700, with the Do not pity me, for I shall soon gratify my
whole of his court, on his way to Königsberg. curiosity on several points which Leibnitz
The cavalcade was one of the grandest ever could not explain to me. Moreover, I procure
known in Germany. The whole court travelled for the king the pleasure of a funeral, in which
in 300 carriages, besides wagons. The royal he will have the opportunity of displaying his
company, which journeyed in four divisions, was
so large that in addition to the horses taken from love for pomp and ceremony."
Berlin, not less than 30,000 were required to
This most accomplished princess, une des
draw the carriages. The king only travelled plus accomplies princesses de la terre, as Leibnitz
during the forenoon, and the journey lasted terms her, died at the early age of thirty-six.
twelve whole days; wherever halt was made, In a letter to Wootton, written in July, 1705,
dinners and festivities took place from mid-day shortly after her death; Leibnitz says that
till evening. The queen was driven by her "she possessed extraordinary knowledge and
dashing brother-in-law, the Margrave Albrecht; a strong yearning to obtain more. Her con-
spite of the bitter cold, he sat on the box dressed versations with me always were directed to-
in a gala costume of embroidered satin, silk wards gratifying this passion. Never was
stockings, and a huge wig. The 18th January,
1701, was fixed upon as the coronation day. On seen a more intellectual or more joyous prin-
cess. As she often did me the honor to con-
the 29th December, 1700, the elector Frederick
drove into Königsberg.
verse with me, and as I was accustomed to
this pleasure, I have felt her loss more than
The festivities lasted all through the months others." He also wrote to Fräulein Pollnitz,
of January and February, and on the 8th that he does not cry, nor pity himself, but
March the cavalcade returned with equal he does not know where he is; the queen's
pomp to Berlin, where for two or three months death seems like a dream to him; but on
nore the same frivolities took place. The awaking he finds it is too true.
sketch given by Dr. Vehse of life at the court king is inconsolable; all the town is in a state
of the first Prussian monarch fully justifies of consternation."
Niebuhr in his assertion, that "the court of
Frederick, like that of almost all German
courts of that period, was unspeakably odious
it was at the same time both coarse and
frivolous. There was no worse sort of frivol-
ity than what prevailed during the latter part
of the seventeenth century.

The

For a whole year the king mourned, but in 1708 he married a princess of MecklenburgSchwerin, who atoned for certain youthful indiscretions by a life of severe piety, which at last degenerated into moody fits of melancholy. The king, who was ill, and had long been separated from her, was for some time ignoThe only exception to this sweeping con- rant of the real state of her health. One demnation was the separate court of Freder- morning the queen escaped from her attendick's wife, the intellectual and brilliant Sophia ants, ran through a gallery leading from her Charlotte of Hanover. At first she submitted room to the king's, burst through the glass to the stiff and dull ceremonial of her hus- window, and rushed with bleeding hands, diband's court, but by degrees she formed a little shevelled hair, and in white undress, into the circle of her own in Lützelburg, near Berlin, king's apartment. The sudden apparition of where she gave unceremonious evening par- this bleeding spectre, who overpowered him ties. People might go from these pleasant with reproaches, was too much for the ailing supper parties of the queen to the levees held monarch; the fever increased upon him, and by the king at four o'clock in the morning. the pomp-loving Frederick died after a few The most agreeable woman at this little court weeks' illness, of the fright, in the full conwas a certain Fräulein von Pollnitz, distin-viction that he had seen the White Lady. guished for her beauty and wit, but accused The second Prussian monarch, Frederick by her enemies of being too fond of men, wine, William I., showed from earliest infancy the and play. The queen's greatest friend, how-strongest aversion both the pomps and cereever, and the real ornament of her court was monies of his father's court, and to the learnLeibnitz, who complains that she was never ing and love of art of his mother. He hated satisfied with any answer, but wanted to know everything French, and was essentially Gerwhy and wherefore" of everything. man in his habits and tastes. He had but Her opinions on religion and politics were two ruling passions, and these never left him, those of a philosopher. On her death-bed she viz., money and tall soldiers. In his will he thanked a French clergyman," La Bergerie,' ,"states that he was compelled during his whole who came to give her religious consolation, life, as a blind to the house of Austria, to assaying that she had for twenty years or more sume two passions he did not really possess meditated on those matters; that no doubt the one was an unreasonable avarice, the remained, and that he could tell her nothing other an excessive desire for tall soldiers.

the 66

These were the only weaknesses that could excuse his collecting so large a treasure and so strong an army.

The first step the new king took was to summon the treasurer of the household, and to strike his pen through the whole list of the court officers. A certain General Tettau, noted for his coarse wit, increased the confusion of the treasurer by saying," Gentlemen, our excellent lord is dead, and the new king sends you all to the devil." Nothing but soldiers were now to be seen about the

court.

We will give Dr. Vehse's account of the tabagie or club, where Frederick William I. was to be found every night surrounded by his counsellors and generals:

The Areopagus, in which matters of domestic and foreign politics were discussed, was the famous Tabacks-Collegium, or smoking-club. A smoking-room was established at Berlin, Potsdam, and in the summer months at Wusterhausen. The smoking-room at Berlin- La chambre rouge avec les nues de tabac, qui composent la moyenne region d'air de la chambre, as Frederick the Great describes it in a letter to Grumbkow, dated Ruppin, 17th March, 1733 — was built after the Dutch fashion, like a model kitchen, with an array of blue china plates on a dresser, and has been preserved until the present day in the same state, as a memorial of the strict warrior king. Large silver beer cans, out of which the beer was poured by means of a cock into the jugs and glasses, were placed on the table. The strangers book is still shown, with the names of the Czar Peter and of Frederick the Great, who was introduced at the early age of eleven. The members of the smoking-club met at about five or six, and stayed till ten, eleven, or sometimes till twelve o'clock. The club was composed of the generals and other officers who formed the usual so ciety of the king. The most remarkable among them, next to Grumbkow and the Prince of Anhalt Dessau were: 1st, Christian Wilhelm von Derschau, a man much feared for his harshness. He was the superintendent of the new building in the new Fredrickstadt, and is said to have ruined many families by his extortions in carrying out his plans. 2nd, General Count Alexander Dōnhoff, who had the control of the court players. 3rd, General David Gottlob von Gersdorf. 4th, Egidius Ehrenreich von Sydow. These four Derschau, Dönhoff, Gersdorf, and Sydow-had more influence than all the other ministers put together.

Poland, was a frequent guest; so was Francis of Lorraine, when he came to solicit the King of Prussia to vote for him as emperor.

The servants were dismissed, so as to be freed from all restraint. Towards seven o'clock, the king paid a visit to the queen, where a cover was always laid for him; but he stayed there a very dined found cold meats on the side-table. At short time. Such of the guests as had not yet about eight, the young princes came in to wish the king good-night. The members of the smoking-club, decorated with their several orders, sat round the table and smoked long pipes; before each of them was placed a white jug full of Duchstein beer, from Königslutter, in Brunswick. Those who could not smoke, such as the old Prince of Dessau, and Seckendorf, took their pipes cold, and made a show with their lips, as if they were smoking. The king, who liked coarse jokes, was delighted when foreign princes were either intoxicated with the strong beer, or were made sick by the tobacco, to which they were not used. He himself was passionately fond of smoking, and sometimes when Stanislaus Leszzinsky, who also was a great smoker, was present-smoked as many as thirty pipes at a sitting. On the table were laid the papers published at Berlin, Hamburg, Leipsic, Breslau, Vienna, Frankfort, the Hague, and Paris. A reader was appointed to read out and explain what was too abstruse. This reader was the learned, coxcombical Jacob Paul, Freiherr von Gundling.

Gundling was born in 1673, and was the son of a curate at Hersbruck, near Nuremberg. He had been a professor at Berlin, and was appointed, at Grumbkow's suggestion, to be reader to the smoking-club. He had rooms allotted to him at Potsdam, was supplied with food from the royal table, and accompanied the king wherever he went, so as to be at hand to assist the king with his instructive conversation. Grumbkow had put up a sort of pulpit in his dining-room, especially for Gundling's use, whence the court reader expounded the newspapers while the guests sat at meat. Gundling was, therefore, in his way, a person of some importance-so much so, that both the Russian and Austrian courts thought it worth their while to win him to their side. Seckendorf wrote to Prince Eugene on the 23d October, 1726, "that no one did the Austrians more harm than a certain privy councillor, Gundling, who, much against his will, was forced to act the part of a merry-andrew, but who was always in the king's company; that he was looked upon as an oracle in publicis. Whenever Austrian affairs were discussed, this man insinuated into the king's ear fulsa principia;

There were some ten other habitués, scarcely that he was worth winning by the present of a worth naming.

golden chain and a miniature of the emperor.' Gandling accordingly was presented with a But besides these officers, the ministers and miniature set in diamonds. In order to render foreign envoys were invited to the smoking-club. learning which Gundling really possessedAmong the latter, next to the Austrian envoy, ridiculous, he was forced to act the part of a Seckendorf, the person most in favor was the jester, for the king's amusement. The king Dutch General, Ginckel. Foreign princes, who revived for him the office of master of the cerecame to Berlin on a visit, and other notable monies, and bestowed upon him the dress of that travellers, also received invitations to the smok-office -a red frock coat embroidered with black ing-club. Stanislaus Leszzinsky, the King of satin, with large French cuffs and gold button

longer, and fled to his brother, who was a professor, at Halle. The king had him fetched back, and threatened to treat him as a deserter, but, seeing that he was crest-fallen, soothed him with excessive praise, and a present of 1,000 thalers; he had, moreover, sixteen quarterings bestowed upon him, and the title of Count. This was in 1724. Some three years after this, the greatest

holes, a large peruke, with long, pendent curls made of white goat's hair, a large hat with an ostrich's feather, straw-colored breeches, red silk stockings, with gold clocks to them, and high red-heeled shoes. Gundling, moreover, was made President of the Academy of Sciences, a post formerly held by Leibnitz. He was also raised to the dignity of a Count. The king then made Gundling one of his cham-joke was played upon him. His rival and sucberlains. One day, when Gundling was drunk, they cut his chamberlain's key off his coat; the king threatened to treat him like a soldier who had lost his musket. After poor Gundling had been forced to wear, by way of punishment, a large wooden key a yard long, the lost key was restored to him. The careful chamberlain had it firmly attached to his coat by a blacksmith. All these honors were bestowed upon Gundling only to make him and them ridiculous. Among other things, Gundling was appointed by the king to superintend all the mulberry trees in his dominions; he was made finance councillor; the ministers were ordered to introduce him formally into their office, to provide him with the vota sessionis, and to hand over to him the department of all the silk-worms in the whole monarchy.

In the smoking club the coarsest and roughest jokes were played off upon him. Soldiers were the only people whom the king held in any respect; learned men he called pedants, paperstainers and smearers; these were to be taught how superior soldiers were to them in everything. It was, as we have already said, the king's great pleasure to make his guests drunk, and Gundling was plied with liquor till he was insensible. When they had thus gained the victory over learning, poor Gundling was exposed to the heavy, coarse jokes of the king and his officers. Figures of donkeys, apes, and oxen were pinned to his coat, and his upper lip was adorned with a cork mustachio. He was made to read the most atrocious libels on himself, which the king had caused to be inserted in the newspapers. An ape, dressed exactly like Gundling, and with a chamberlain's key, was placed at his elbow, and the king insisted upon his embracing this his natural son, before the whole company. At Wusterhausen some tame bears were kept in the courtyard, and some of these were placed in Gundling's bed; their hug made him keep his bed and spit blood for several days. Once, in mid-winter, Gundling was reeling home, over the draw-bridge, when he was seized by four stout grenadiers, and dropped, with a cord, down into the frozen moat, until his weight broke the ice. This excellent joke was repeated, for the especial amusement of the king, and commemorated by a picture. Another time Gundling was invited to dinner, and the sedan-chair was purposely made to let him drop through. The more he cried to the bearers to stop, the faster they went, and he was compelled to run all the way. Frequently, when Gundling got home, he found the door of his room bricked up, and he was hunting for it all night; at other times he was besieged in his study with squibs and crackers.

At length the wretched man could stand it no

cessor, one Fassman, by the king's command, wrote the severest satire upon him, called The Learned Fool. Fassman was ordered to present this production to Gundling, in the smoking club. Gundling, bursting with fury, seized a small silver pan, filled with charcoal, intended to light the pipes, and flung its contents into Faseman's face, singeing his eyebrows and eyelashes. Fassman seized Gundling, and belabored him so with the pan, that he was unable to sit down for a month, without pain. The two rivals never could meet again in the smoking-room without coming to blows, to the intense delight of the king and the ministers, the generals and the foreign envoys. At length the king insisted upon the two gentlemen settling their differences by a regular duel. Fassman called Gundling out, and the latter was forced to accept the challenge, whether he liked it or no. But, when the combatants met in the field, Gundling flung down his pistol, while Fassman discharged his, which was loaded only with powder, and set fire to Gundling's peruque; it required buckets of water to extinguish the fire, and to bring Gundling to himself. At length Gundling brought his learned but much plagued life to a close. He died at Potsdam, in the year 1731, at the age of fifty-eight, of an ulcer in the intestines, produced by excessive drink. The king did not spare him, even when dead. For ten years or more, a huge wine-butt had been prepared for the reception of Gundling's corpse, and in this cask he was buried, spite of the expostulations of the clergy.

A more active, restless man than the king (says Dr. Vehse) it was impossible to find. There was not an atom of repose in him. Frederick was so vehemently active, that it caused no astonishment when he beat with his own hand a lazy fellow, who was idling his time away in the streets at Berlin. He likewise roused one of the guards of the gate at Potsdam, who had overslept himself, and had kept the peasants waiting outside the gate. "Good morning, sir," said he, while he kicked him out of bed.

It was an awkward business to meet the king in the streets. Whenever he saw any one he rode close up to him, till his horse's head touched the man's shoulder. Then came the regular question, "Who are you?" Those who looked like Frenchmen were certain to be detained by him. One of them very prudently answered his question of Qui êtes vous? by saying that he did not understand French. He even stopped the French priests in the streets, and always asked if they had read Molière, meaning to insinuate that he took them to be no better than actors. The son of Beausobre, whom Frederick the Great respected so much, answered this stereotyped question by saying, Oui, sire, et surtout

l'Avare. The king liked a quick repartée like | de Pompadour, was a handsome brunette, this. A student in theology was one day accosted by the king in the street. "The Berliners are good for nothing," said the king. "That is true, as a general rule," said the student, "but there are exceptions." "And who may they be?" said the king. "Your Majesty and I." The king immediately had him up to the palace, to be examined, and, as the candidate for orders passed well through the ordeal, he received the first living that became vacant. Those who ran away, on seeing the king approach, fared the worst. Frederick heat a Jew severely who ran away on meeting him in the street, and for saying that he had done so for fear. During the beating the king administered to the Jew, he repeated the words "You are to love me, I tell you, and not to fear me."

the daughter of a trumpeter in one of the regiments quartered in Berlin; her sister was a figurante in the Opera. The good-natured prince, who was struck by her beauty, sent her to Paris to finish her education. She had such influence over the Crown Princo. that Frederick the Great gave orders to his ministers not to pay any attention to the recommendations coming from "a certain person;" and to put a stop to her intrigues married Wilhemine at once to the son of one of the gardeners ut Potsdam, of the name of Rietz. This marriage, however, was merely nominal, as Rietz undertook never to live under the same roof with her. A house was taken for her at Potsdam, where the Crown Prince visited her with his uncle's consent. The king's bamboo cane was a weapon con"She is," writes Lord Malmesbury in 1775, stantly put in requisition, aud held in due " honor.

Frederick William I. died in May, 1740. His coarse, rough, overbearing nature was not devoid of certain sterling qualities, and he was altogether well fitted for the age of transition in which he lived. Luther's dictum of Auf ein grober Klotz gehört ein grober Keil-(a sturdy log requires a sturdy axe) applies as well to Frederick William as it did to Luther himself. The king would bear no opposition or even discussion. An appeal from the University of Halle, in favor of some wretched professor who had been turned out of the university, was answered by a marginal note to this effect: "Should not - is my subject." A collection of the king's marginal notes would equal Dean Swift's in point and terseness. Oportet meant the memorialist must help himself as well as he could. Non habeo pecuniam was a frequent answer. "Nonsense! nonsense! nonsense!" seems a standard phrase with him, uttered with every variety and intensity of expression. A bill for a broken window-pane had this note appended to it: "It does not annoy Frederick William."

reason;

large in her person, spirited in her looks, loose in her attire, and gives a true idea of a perfect Bacchante. He is liberal to her to profusion, and she alone spends the full income he receives from the king. She makes indeed the best return in her power to such generosity, for at the same time she assures him that he has the sole possession of her af fections, she by no means exacts the same fidelity from him." When Frederick William ascended the throne, the influence of the favorite was all-powerful. She was then thirty-four years old, and says in her apology that friendship had taken the place of love; the bond of union between the king and Madame Rietz was her two children by him, one born in 1770, another in 1778, a third child the king did not acknowledge. Frederick William, not content with his own wife, and his favorite, Madame Rietz, made a morganatic marriage, first with a Fraulein Voss, whom he created Countess Ingenhein, and who died after a year or two, and secondly with a certain Fraulein Dönhoff. The latter was the mother of the late prime minister of Prussia, Count Brandenburg; but her overbearing temper soon brought her into disgrace, He was just, when his passions did not get and Madame Rietz again became undisputed the better of him, and made no distinction of favorite, and was the fountain of all honors. persons. He was as ready to hang a noble or She accompanied the king in his unfortunate an unjust judge as a common malefactor; nor campaign into France, held a sort of court at would he suffer the intrigues of his court to Spa and Aix-la-Chapelle, and was offered one interfere with him. He established his sov-hundred thousand pounds by Lord Henry ereignty, as he himself said, like a Rocher de Bronce

me.

The six-and-forty years' rule of his son, Frederick the Great, is so much better known in this country, that, although we had marked many passages for comment, we will instead proceed to the next reign, and present our readers with a condensed account of a certain Madame de Lichenau, who played a prominent part during the life of Frederick William II.

Wilhelmine Encke, the Prussian Madame

Spencer, the English envoy at Berlin, if she would make Prussia join the coalition against France in 1795; at least, so she says in her apology, and this assertion is borne out by Count Hardenburg, in his Memoires d'un Homme d'Etat.

In 1793 Lord Templetown, a fiery young Irishman of twenty, had offered her his hand and heart, but the king refused his consent, feeling that he would be in the condition of the man who on losing his wife, and being recommended to marry his mistress, said

"mais où passeraisje mes soirées?" In 1795 | Lichtenau was deserted by her husband in this courtship came to a violent end, and Lord 1802 she quitted Breslau during the war, Templetown was ordered to leave Berlin. and lived in Vienna. In 1809 she returned Madame Rietz now determined to go abroad again to Breslau, after the peace of Tilsit, for a change of scene. and eventually died at Berlin, in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty. She was accused in various publications of the most flagitious crimes, but she found many defenders; she has written her own apology in two volumes, at the end of which she has printed many very interesting letters, which form by far the most valuable part of the work, and which prove that even in her disgrace she still retained many warm friends and admirers.