blink as he gazed close into my face, if I had been subject to such an infirmity. The hand with which he grasped me trembled also with such violence, that I felt in danger every moment of being precipitated to the floor.

He was attired in an old and faded uniform of dark blue, faced with white, and braided with yellow. His wasted limbs were encased tightly in his white leather inexpressibles, while all below the knee danced at ease in the enormous jack boots of polished leather. His coat was ludicrously turned back so as to display the white lining, which fashion might at first have been supposed to have been invented in order to enable the wearer to sit at ease, but the idea was contradicted by the direction in which the sword was hung crosswise, at right angles from the person, causing the beholder to wonder what on earth could become of it when the bearer sought to repose in those high-backed chairs which were just then the fashion. His majesty having contemplated me to his entire satisfaction, set me down at length, and turning to Blumensdorf, said, in as stern a voice as though he had been passing severest judgment-"You may retire-but before you go to rest, beat up the guard at the eastern gate, make them form into line before the door of the guard-house, and see that no man sleeps in his woollen jacket. Let those who are discovered thus transgressing be placed in confinement, and receive to-morrow twenty stripes of the schlague."

The colonel bowed low, and moved towards the door.

His majesty recalled him,-" Oh, another thing. See that the men on duty have their leather chin-stays tightly buckled-'tis a windy night, try them every one yourself." Blumensdorf looked rather blank. "Then go to the second postern, and see that the beer cans are cleaned and hung against the wall, examine them each with your own eyesthat post is the most slatterly of all. I shall go one round myself tonight, and see that every thing is in order, and my commands attended Wait till I arrive. When I have passed you may repair to-bed, you will still have time enough for sleep till dawn."

to.

Blumensdorf glanced at the clock. It was already somewhat past twelve, and with a look of despair, he hurried from the room. When he had disappeared, his majesty took us from the table, and placed us in the pocket of his coat; but as I did not quite sink to the bottom, I was enabled to behold all that passed. His majesty first of all removed the two logs, putting an end to the barren feud which had existed between them all the evening, by covering them thickly with ashes, to prevent their burning away too quickly, then blew out the single taper, and in the dark groped his way to a small door in the corner of the apartment, through which he passed along a narrow passage, dimly lighted by a miserable lamp suspended from the ceiling, calling aloud as he hurried along, "Hallo, Fritz, Trenck, where are you?"

The summons was answered by a boy of about twelve years of age, who had been asleep on one of the benches which ran along the wall of the passage, and who came stumbling forwards, rubbing his eyes, and stammering out, "So please your majesty-"

A smart rap of the cane of "his majesty" upon the shoulders soon awoke him thoroughly, and another one upon the knuckles of the hand which he had raised to rub away the pain, instantly checked the low groan he was about to utter.

"What! asleep again ?" shouted his majesty. "By the Lord, 'twould seem that young and old are bent on nought but sleep in this palace. Why, you young scoundrel, know you not that life is dwindled more than half by the waste of time in sleep? How dare you slumber at your post? Fleusberg shall make you smart for this to-morrow. A week's arrest, and seven chapters of Deuteronomy to get by heart, do you hear? Now light me to her majesty's chamber. How is the princess tonight ?"

The poor boy checked the movement of impatience to which the hard sentence had given rise, and turning on his tormentor a look full of feeling, he replied in a trembling voice, "The princess is still suffering, your majesty. The fever is abating, so the doctor said as he left the room, but the pain and restlessness still remain."

While he yet spoke, he knelt down as Blumensdorf had done, and scratched at a low door, which was immediately opened by a tired-looking abigail, and his majesty entered, leaving poor Trenck to stand shivering on the outside, waiting to light him on his return. The room we now entered was, although far from brilliant, still comfortable, and for the first time since I had left my oven I felt warm. There were, at least, curtains to the windows, and thick heavy draperies to the bed. There was a blazing fire on the hearth, and tapers burning in the silver flambeaux on the mantel-piece, and what added more than all to the genial air of comfort which the apartment wore, there was a lady seated in an armchair by the fire, at work upon one of those nameless pieces of female industry, called knitting, knotting, or netting, which are of so much use in killing both time and grief.

She rose as his majesty entered, with her finger on her lips, and advanced towards him-then pointed to the small bed which stood in a corner of the room, and from which proceeded at intervals a low moan, or rather hum, as if the person who occupied the couch were endeavouring to remember snatches of some half-forgotten tune. His majesty paused, and glanced towards the little bed from whence the sound proceeded. How was the countenance of that man altered since I first beheld it, when the giant Blumensdorf was kneeling so humbly at his feet! Never shall I forget the appealing look he turned upwards, as if in prayer to Heaven, clasping his hands with a nervous anguish which would have moved a heart of stone. No longer the haughty tyrant, but the trembling father of a sick child, he moved about in subdued silence, not even daring to utter a sound either of impatience or command. At a sign from the queen, he sat down in the fauteuil from which she had arisen, and drew from his feet the heavy jackboots, the creaking of which over the carpet he feared might irritate his darling. Her majesty had already placed her hand upon the little silver bell which stood upon the table, in order to summon Trenck to perform that office, but the king, with the fierce impatience which seemed to form the chief ingredient of his character, had snatched it from her, taking care to muffle the clapper, lest the sound should reach the little princess. It was a pleasant sight to behold the coarse, vulgar tyrant of a few minutes before, brought so low as this; fearing even to breathe lest it might rob the child of one moment's repose. Yes, he who had just rewarded the poor page with hard blows and threats of punishment for catching one instant's slumber, would have given half his kingdom could he have insured a few hours'

rest and sleep to the unhappy being tossing about there upon that narrow bed, hovering between life and death, seeming to strive against each with equal power. It was, however, impossible, even with all this precaution, to avoid disturbing the restless invalid, who soon becoming aware of the entrance of another person into the chamber, began to whine, and to draw aside the curtain of the bed with fretful impatience, and to call in querulous accents for help-for drink-for light-for change of position, and finally for her father! At the word, the king stepped quickly to the side of the bed, and bending over it, spoke in a low voice to the child, uttering words of endearment in such a tender tone, that I was lost in astonishment to imagine how his rude and brawling tongue had power to form them.

The little girl sprang upon his neck in a transport of delight, and clung to him and kissed him, and begged him to take her in his arms, and the king, unable to resist the appeal, lifted her up with awkward tenderness, first taking especial care to wrap her in the blanket, and to tie her béguin beneath her chin, and to cover her head from the air, and carried her to the fire, where he sat down in the fauteuil, and nursed her on his knees.

It certainly was very comical to behold this stiff, starched, priggish man of discipline and terror, with his military accoutrements sticking out at right angles about his person, his fierce, hard features distorted with a smile of maudlin fondness, endeavouring to rock the little girl, and to soothe her fretfulness with all the patience of a nurse.

And when the child put forth her little pale hand, and languidly patted that grim dread visage, to see him kiss the little wasted fingers, it certainly was ridiculous, and after the scenes I had just witnessed, enough to "make a cat laugh," but somehow it produced quite a different effect upon me, for I felt a much stronger inclination to cry. Presently, however, the king was recalled to memory of us, and the dangerous position in which we had been left, by an exclamation from the princess, who, with the true capricious movement of a spoilt child, pulled her father by the ear until his head was drawn low enough for him to hear the word she had to whisper to him in confidence.

"And Fido, father, when am I to see poor Fido?"

His majesty laid his finger to the side of his nose and tried to look waggish, and then, drawing us from his pocket, placed us in the hands of the princess. To describe the little creature's surprise and delight at beholding us would be quite impossible. She almost leapt from his arms, and it became painful to listen to the exclamations of wonder, which fell half pronounced from her parched lips, and the laughter which died away in her hoarse dry throat, as she examined us with minute attention, discovering fresh beauties as she gazed.

"I told you I would bring you two Fidos, my darling, in return for the one broken by that awkward blockhead, Trenck, the other morning," said the king, kissing her fondly on the forehead.

"But it was not Trenck, it was Fritz, who broke Fido, father," returned the child, pertinaciously.

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Nay, we will not quarrel, love. I only know Trenck said it was hewho did it, and not Fritz. And Trenck got the punishment, which he richly deserved either way, whether for awkwardness or lying, so let us talk no more of that."

The little maiden took me up again, but looked more grave, and did not renew the exclamations of admiration which the observation of the king had interrupted. I could see that she was preoccupied, and presently she resumed the subject, looking earnestly in her father's face, with her deep hollow eyes, she said in a whisper,

"But Trenck did not get the chastisement did he, dear father ?”

“Tush, I know not, child," replied the monarch peevishly; "I only know that I told the meister of the pages to punish him for his disobedience in playing rackets in the long gallery, whereby poor Fido was shattered, and my darling made unhappy.'

The child grew thoughtful. We had already lost the power to please. She pushed us gently from her, and laid her head upon her father's bosom, and the father remained rocking her on his knee until near daybreak, when she at length fell into a calm and placid slumber. How carefully he laid her down again in the bed from which he had taken herhow softly did he move lest the slightest sound should break her slumber. The perspiration stood in big drops upon his forehead, from sitting so long before that tremendous fire in the self-same attitude, not daring to move even to take a pinch of snuff (for which he was literally dying), for at the slightest indication of a change of posture, the child would start and moan, and then the stern soldier-nurse would be compelled to resume the rocking motion of the body, and the jogging of the knee, until his fractious burden was once more soothed and quieted. When the princess was fairly laid in her little bed, the king himself drew the curtains of rose-coloured silk carefully around her, and placed me beneath her pillow, that she might find me on waking. Thus, you see, that even from the very beginning I was the favourite of fortune, and was placed above my brother, and although by such distinction I lost the sight of the parting of the king and queen, which I was very curious to behold, for I had already become interested in the study of the habits of this singular individual, yet I must own I felt flattered, and began to feel sure that fortune was not quite so blind as she is represented, and really could distinguish merit after all.

Such is the history of my first entrance into life. I was evidently destined for great things, and if the first scenes I thus witnessed have failed to make the impression upon me which they would have done upon another, it is owing to the many wonderful events that have passed before me since then.

II.

FIDO MAKES SOME CURIOUS REVELATIONS; AND LETS THE READER INTO THE STATE OF THE PRINCESS AMELIA'S HEART.

I LIVED for some time a merry life at the court, fortunate in being the pet and plaything of the little princess, for whom I had been expressly created, and who, having recovered from the sore sickness under which she was labouring when I first had the honour of being presented to her notice, adopted me, by a caprice common to childhood, to be her constant companion. Wherever she went, whether to church or to parade, to funeral or festival I accompanied her. And the king, so hard and tyrannical to every one else, indulged this childish whim in his little favourite, perhaps secretly flattered by her preference for a toy of his own invention, and which it had cost so much pains to bring to perfection.

I usually accompanied my gentle mistress in a little basket lined with blue satin, containing likewise her prayer-book and needlework, which she carried in her hand, and thus I had an invaluable opportunity of becoming acquainted with the minutest secrets of this extraordinary court. The impression it has left upon my mind is that of wonder, to think that so many thousands of reasonable tall and proper men should have suffered the rule of this ignorant despot, who governed with a rod of iron, while they bore it all, and murmured not. I have since learnt that the thing is not at all uncommon, and that you will often see the bravest and brightest nations tyrannised over by a man of small courage and of mean capacity, his very whims respected, his petty caprices submitted to without a murmur, so great is the power of discipline and custom among these extraordinary bipeds.

Frederic William was one of the greatest blockheads that ever lived, and he knew it. This consciousness it was that saved him from those errors into which many a sovereign of far more intellect has been known to fall. He admitted no favourites, he governed by terror alone-he despised all learning, he hated its professors, whom he called the caterpillars of the state, and avowed himself no more ashamed of his ignorance in letters than of his inability to dance upon the tight rope. He owned no law but military law, modulated by his own will, which, to speak truth, was firm and undeviating, and herein lay the secret of his power. He always punished, he never forgave. However, his system of government must have been a good one, at least his subjects must have been well pleased, for during his whole reign there was neither revolt nor conspiracy; and having died “amid the tears and blessings of his people," he was "buried in their hearts"-I quote from the court chronicle of the day.

Among the divers species of hatred which fermented in the bosom of this truly beneficent monarch, might be distinguished a hatred of the world in general, and hatred of his eldest son in particular. This latter sentiment has never been accounted for in any other way than that it existed because the boy was his heir, and that in his person he was continually reminded, that however great to his people the blessing of his reign, yet that blessing was not to continue for ever. There was an old prophecy belonging to the house of Brandenburg, which declared that " every sire should hate the son, and every son should differ from the sire," a prophecy which hitherto had proved true to the very letter. The father of Frederic William had hated him for his avarice and stupidity, and the latter had resolved that the whole tenour of his reign should present a decided contrast to that of his father; distinguished, as it had been, by every kind of splendour and liberality, by encouragement of the arts and patronage of literature. Therefore, as soon as the amiable Frederic William came to the throne, he dismissed the whole of the royal retinue, reserving only the number of attendants requisite for absolute service, forbade the rich and expensive costume which his father loved, and adopted for himself and his household, the plain uniform of the infantry, without ornament or embroidery, discarded the flowing periwig, and took to the short pigtail; announced his intention of giving no encouragement to any authors whatever, save the compilers of almanacks; appointed the court-jester president of the Academy of Belles Lettres which his father had founded, and reduced his own expenditure to so low an ebb, that when he condemned his son to bread and water during his imprisonment at Cüstrin,