Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia

by L. Mühlbach

  CHAPTER IX.

  SANS-SOUCI.

  Duroc hastened once more through the rooms and halls to the corridor,where the palace-steward came to meet him.

  "Dinner is ready, grand marshal," he said.

  "And have you set another table in the adjoining room?"

  "Your orders have been punctually obeyed."

  "Be good enough, then, to conduct me to the large dining-hall."

  The steward bowed in silence, and led the way. All the marshals andgenerals were already assembled when Duroc entered.

  "Gentlemen," he said, smiling, "his majesty is now occupied with histoilet, and Roustan has assured me that it would last half an hour. Wehave half an hour, therefore, to take our dinner." Followed by theothers, he went into the next room. A table had been set there, andappetizing odors invited them to sit down to it.

  "Now, steward, have every thing served up as quick as possible. We havebut twenty minutes left." During that time there reigned profoundsilence, only now and then interrupted by a word or a brief remark. Themarshals contented themselves in making the viands disappear, andemptying the bottles. Duroc, who had frequently cast anxious glances atthe large clock, now rose hastily. "Gentlemen," he said, "our time isup, and we must be ready for the emperor's dinner. I will go to hismajesty, and conduct him to the dining-hall. I hope all of you haveeaten well, so as not to need much of the official repast to which weare going. The emperor has graciously ordered us all to dine with him.Be so kind as to repair to the hall."

  When Napoleon entered, a few minutes later, preceded by Duroc, he foundall the marshals assembled. The dinner commenced, and he, it seemed, wasno less hungry than his generals, for not only did he eat his soup withthe utmost rapidity, but when he saw one of his favorite dishes placednear him, he smiled and nodded kindly to the grand marshal, who wasstanding at his right, and presented him a glass of wine.

  "See how attentive these dear Germans are!" he said. "If I am notmistaken, this is my favorite dish, _fricassee a la Marengo."_

  "Yes, sire, I sent the bill of fare hither last night by the courierwho announced your majesty's arrival, and I am glad to see that it hasbeen punctually attended to."

  "So these German cooks know already how to prepare a _fricassee a laMarengo?_ Who has taught them this?"

  "Your majesty; your majesty is now the cook and butler for allGermany--everybody has become familiar with your favorite dishes."

  The emperor smiled. Placing a piece of bread on his fork, he dipped itinto the dish, and repeated this several times; and when the grandmarshal placed before him a silver plate, filled with a portion of thesame, he commenced to eat rapidly. Aware of his habit, his attendantshad taken care that the pieces of meat were sufficiently small, and thewhole dish not too hot. He began to eat the meat with a fork, and thesauce with a spoon, but he seemed to regard both as too inconvenient;for he laid them aside, and, after the fashion of the Turks, used hisdelicate white hands, adorned with diamond-rings.[13] Scarcely twelveminutes had elapsed when he rose. The grand marshal immediatelypresented to him a golden basin and a napkin to wash his hands.

  [Footnote 13: Constant, for many years Napoleon's devoted _valet dechambre_, gives in his reminiscences a detailed account of the emperor'shabits, and writes as follows about his mode of dining: "The greatrapidity with which the emperor was accustomed to eat was frequentlyvery injurious to his health. One of the immediate effects of this habitwas, that he did not eat very cleanly. He liked to use his fingersinstead of a fork, and, indeed, instead of a spoon. Great care was takenalways to place a favorite dish before him. He partook of it in themanner above described, dipping his bread into the sauce, which did notprevent the other guests from eating of the same dish, or at leastsuch as wished to do so, and there were few who did not. I have evenseen some who pretended to regard this favorite dish as a way ofdoing homage to the emperor. Napoleon's favorite dish was a sort ofchicken-fricassee, called, in honor of the conqueror of Italy,'_fricassee a la Marengo_.'"--Constant, Memoires, vol. ii., p. 56.]

  Napoleon's guests had done well in dining beforehand; for, as theservants did not attend to them so quickly as to their master, and asthey, moreover, were not able to eat so fast as he, they would assuredlyhave risen hungry from the table.[14]

  [Footnote 14: The guests invited to the imperial table always dinedbeforehand. The emperor, in the haste with which he ate, did not noticethat the others had no time to do so. Once, when he departed from thetable, and Eugene, his stepson, rose immediately after him, Napoleonturned to him, and said:

  "But you have had no time to eat?"

  "Pardon me," replied the prince, "I dined beforehand."--"Memoires deConstant," vol. ii., p. 55.]

  "To horse, gentlemen!" exclaimed Napoleon. "Let us ride over toSans-souci, and do homage to the manes of the king who was a philosopherand a great general at the same time."

  The streets of Potsdam were deserted as the emperor and his brilliantsuite rode through them. All the windows were closed; the citizens werenowhere to be seen; only a crowd of idle boys followed the imperialcavalcade. The soldiers of the grand French army alone greeted theemperor with joyous cheers outside of the city, where they wereencamped. Potsdam thought, perhaps, of its king, who had immortalizedit, and was sad and ashamed that those whom Frederick the Great hadrouted in so glorious a manner at Rossbach now made their triumphalentry into his capital.

  Napoleon's brow was gloomy; this silence of the population wasdisagreeable and oppressive. It seemed to him to be a sign of thehostile spirit of the Prussians; and as he was riding slowly, his headslightly bent forward, along the avenue toward Sans-souci, he muttered:"This is a malicious and infamous trick! The haughty nobility will stilloppose me, but I will crush them. They must not succeed, however, inmaking me angry, but I shall chastise those who have induced thecitizens to remain at home, and not to greet me." And, thoughtfully, herode on toward the country-seat of Frederick the Great.

  No one was at the palace to welcome him but the castellan, a venerableman, who, with a few aged servants in faded liveries, received theall-powerful conqueror at the open folding-doors of the hall leading tothe terrace. Napoleon looked at him with a rapid, piercing glance. "Youlived in the period of Frederick II.?" he asked hastily.

  "Yes, sire, we were fortunate enough to serve the great king," said thecastellan, in faultless, fluent French. "Hence, the honorable task hasbeen intrusted to us to watch over his sacred resting-place, and toprotect it from injury."

  "The name of the great king is a sufficient protection for this house,"said Napoleon. "My soldiers have a profound respect for true greatness;they will not dare to desecrate this sanctuary. Be my guide, my friend.Let me see the sitting-room of your king!"

  "Of the present king, sire?" asked the castellan.

  Napoleon smiled. "I think there is but one king in Sans-souci," hesaid, "and that is Frederick II. Conduct me to his sitting-room!" andrapidly crossing the semicircular marble hall, he walked toward theside-door which the castellan opened.

  "Sire," he said, solemnly, "this is the king's sitting-room; it is stillfurnished precisely as when he lived in it. It has undergone no changewhatever."

  Napoleon entered; his marshals followed him. None of them uttered aword; every one seemed involuntarily to tread lightly, as if he fearedto disturb the silence reigning in this room, sacred by its greatreminiscences. The emperor walked rapidly into the middle of the room;there he paused with folded arms, and his large dark eyes glided slowlyfrom object to object. The marshals moved softly around, and, oncontemplating the old-fashioned furniture, their ragged silken covers,the plain desk with the inkstand placed near the window, the largeeasy-chair, shrouded in a ragged purple blanket, smiled disdainfully andwhispered to each other that this was a room entirely unfit for a king,and that one might purchase better and more tasteful furniture of anysecond-hand dealer in Paris. Napoleon, perhaps, had overheard theirwords, or at least noticed their whisperings, for he bent an angryglance on them. "Gentlemen," he sai
d, "this is a place which deservesour profound respect. Here lived one who was a greater general thanTurenne, and from whose campaigns we all might derive instruction.Alexander the Great himself would have admired Frederick's battle ofLeuthen."

  The aged castellan, who was standing at the door, raised his head, andwith a kind glance seemed to thank Napoleon for the tribute he had paidto the manes of the heroic dead.

  The emperor's eyes were now fixed on the large clock placed on a gildedpedestal. It was a master-piece of the period of Louis XV., and adornedin the most brilliant roccoco style. The large dial, with the figures ofcolored enamel, rested in a frame and case of splendidly-wrought gold,and this was surmounted by a portrait of the Emperor Titus, with theinscription, "_Diem perdidi_."

  "Is that the clock which the king caused to be purchased from the heirsof the Marquise de Pompadour?"

  "Yes, sire, it is. It has always stood in this room, since he purchasedit. Frederick the Great prized it very highly, and consulted itexclusively until his death. And it seemed to know that he liked it, forwhen he closed his eyes, the clock stopped and never went again."

  "Ah," exclaimed Napoleon, quickly, "since the death of Frederick thegovernment of Prussia, it seems, really did not know the time any more.And what about that ragged old easy-chair? Did the king use it, too?"

  "Sire," said the castellan, solemnly, laying stress on every word heuttered--"sire, the great king died in that chair; his head rested onthe pillow now lying on the seat, and he was covered with that blanket."

  The emperor rapidly approached; the marshals followed his example andwalked toward it on tiptoe. He stood before it; his arms folded, hislips compressed, contemplating it. Behind him stood the marshals, whoseindifferent countenances and curious glances contrasted strangely withthe pale face of their master. Not far from them, near the door, stoodthe white-haired castellan; his hands clasped, and his head bowedmournfully on his breast.

  Suddenly the room was filled with light; the sun, which had hithertobeen hidden by clouds, burst forth and shone brilliantly; golden beamsfell upon the easy-chair of Frederick the Great, and surrounded it, asit were, with a halo.

  "This, then, is the death-bed of the great king," said Napoleon,musingly. "The gods did not permit him to fall on the battle-field.Disease and age vanquished the hero of the Seven Years' War, and he diednot amid the triumphs of his soldiers, but solitary and alone! MayProvidence, in His mercy, preserve us from such a fate!" And turningquickly to the castellan, he asked, "Were you present when the kingdied?"

  "Yes, sire, I was; for I was his _valet de chambre_."

  "Tell me the last words he uttered."

  "Sire, he spoke repeatedly, but so inaudibly and rapidly that we did notapprehend him. The last words which we were able to understand were:'Give me back my soldiers of the Seven Years' War! I am tired of rulingover slaves!'"

  "Strange, strange," murmured Napoleon; "he was tired of ruling overslaves! as though it were possible to rule over free men! Ah, I shouldlike to have known this king, who was such an autocrat, and yet despisedslaves! who wielded the sword as skilfully as the pen! to whom thebooming of the cannon sounded as melodious as the notes of hisflute--who made verses with Voltaire, and won battles with Schwerin andZiethen! He was able to do every thing, and we have not seen hisequal!"

  "Oh, sire," murmured the marshals, "your majesty forgets--"

  "Silence, gentlemen!" he exclaimed, in an angry voice, pointing with hisoutstretched arm to the easy-chair, "do not flatter me in _this_ room. Iwish I had known Frederick the Great, for I believe we should haveunderstood each other."

  "Sire," said the castellan, "it is true, his majesty did not know you;nevertheless, he dreamed of you."

  Napoleon hastily turned toward him and asked: "What? He dreamed of me?Tell me all about it. Approach!"

  The castellan, obeying the sign made to him, advanced a few steps slowlyand hesitatingly.

  "Sire," he said, "it was a few years after the Seven Years' War. I hadjust entered the king's service, and was on duty during that night; thatis to say, I slept in the anteroom, and had received strict orders toawaken the king at a fixed hour in the morning, and to enter his bedroomduring the night as soon as he called me, or if I should hear any noise.Suddenly I heard the cry, 'Fire, fire!' I rushed immediately into thebedroom, but no fire was to be seen. My master lay on his couch,groaning, breathing heavily, and evidently under the influence of baddreams. I, therefore, took the liberty to awaken him. 'Ah,' said he,heaving a deep sigh, 'I am glad you awakened me; I had a weird, terribledream, and I will relate it to you. I dreamed I was standing on theterrace of Sans-souci, and around me I beheld my state and all mypalaces close together, and behind them I thought I could descry thewhole world, with all its cities and countries; it was spread out beforemy eyes like a painting of wondrous beauty, and I was rapturously gazingat it. All at once the sky grew dark; black clouds passed over it;profound darkness covered the beautiful world, and dreadful shrieks andgroans resounded through the air. But from the midst of the black cloudsa bright, dazzling star burst like a rocket, and set fire to everything, until all countries were in ruins, and all cities burned down.And as I saw that, I cried in my anguish, "Fire! fire!" Fortunately, youcame and awakened me.' That, sire," said the castellan, drawing a deepbreath, "that was the dream. The king went on to say: 'The dream, I amsure, is a portentous one, and some remarkable event will doubtlesshappen in the course of this night. Write down every thing I told you,and remember the date and year!' I did as his majesty ordered me; Iwrote down the date, the year, and even the hour in which the dreamoccurred."

  "Was the dream really a portentous one? Did any remarkable event occurin that night?"

  "Yes, sire, a very remarkable event occurred in that night, but hismajesty did not hear of it; he died too early."

  "When did he have that dream?" asked Napoleon, fixing his eyes on theold man, who composedly bore the searching gaze.

  A pause ensued. The castellan replied: "Sire, Frederick the Great hadthat dream on the 15th of August, 1769."

  "On my birthday!" ejaculated Napoleon.

  "On the 15th of August, 1769," repeated the old man, "at three o'clockin the morning."

  "The hour of my birth," muttered the emperor to himself. After a shortpause he turned again toward the castellan, and a strange, sarcasticsmile played on his lips.

  "The star fell from the sky, and set fire to all the palaces andcountries?" he asked.

  The castellan nodded.

  "And you believed that the dream referred to me, and that I am thefallen star?"

  "Sire, I only related what the king had dreamed, and in what night andin what hour he had the remarkable dream. His majesty spoke frequentlyabout it, and all his friends heard of it. But nobody was able tointerpret it. He died without obtaining the solution."

  "But you have solved it," said Napoleon, sneeringly. "I am the fallenstar, and you think I have come to fulfil that dream?"

  "Sire, I--"

  "I shall burn down your palaces and scourge your country," added he,harshly. "Why did you irritate me? I did not commence the war; since youdesired it, I gave it to you. But tell your friends and the goodcitizens of Potsdam that the dream of their king will not be entirelyfulfilled. It may be that I shall be compelled to destroy royal palaces,but the house of the citizen and the cabin of the peasant will not feelmy wrath, nor will I lay waste your fields. Tell the good denizens ofthis city--tell them not to be afraid of me; for never shall I assailtheir rights and privileges, nor interfere with their interests. Andnow, gentlemen, let us proceed!" He quickly crossed the room, andentered the adjoining apartment.

  "Sire, this is the reception-room of Frederick the Great," said thecastellan, who had followed. "On that table lies the full suit in whichhis majesty gave his last audience--his uniform, his order of the BlackEagle, his hat and sword."

  Napoleon hastened to the table, and seized the sword. "Ah, the sword ofFrederick II.," he exclaimed, with sparkling eyes. "He often wi
elded itwith a victorious hand, and that hat covered a head adorned with thelaurel-wreath of the poet and the great general! These are trophies thatI prefer to all the treasures of Prussia. What a capital present for theInvalides, especially for those who formed part of the army of Hanover!They will be delighted, no doubt, when they see in our possession thesword of him who beat them at Rossbach! And as my dear brother,Frederick William III., has conferred the order of the Black Eagle onme, I suppose he will permit me to take this decoration as a souvenir ofthe greatest king of the house of Hohenzollern. What about the bell thatis placed beside the hat?"

  "Sire," said the castellan, mournfully and hesitatingly, "it is the bellwhich the king used during his whole reign to call the gentlemen waitingin the anteroom, and the footmen at night."

  "That bell shall stand henceforward in my cabinet and on my desk," saidNapoleon. "Grand marshal, order all these things to be packed up and tobe sent immediately to Paris, and add to them also the clock in theother room--the clock that was so faithful to the great king as to stopat his death, and to refuse to mark the time for any one else. I willwind it up, and the clock of Frederick the Great must strike again forme. Conduct us to the other rooms, castellan."

  The old man cast a long and melancholy look on the precious relics thatwere about to be taken from him, and took leave of them with a profoundsigh. He then conducted the party to the other rooms. He showed them thelibrary, where Frederick, during the last years of his life, had spentevery hour when not occupied with government affairs, longing for noother society than that of his books. He then took them to the rooms inwhich Voltaire had lived, and showed the emperor a paper on which theking had written verses that Voltaire had corrected and revised.Napoleon contemplated every thing with the greatest attention, and thencaused himself to be conducted to the fine long hall, in whichFrederick, accompanied by his dog, used to take his daily walk when theweather was too bad for him to do so in the open air. The walls of thishall were adorned with many paintings and engravings--all, however, didnot apparently belong to the period of Frederick; for there were amongthem paintings and engravings representing his last hours, and hislonely nocturnal funeral.--Others again depicted the scene of youngFrederick William II. standing by the corpse of his great uncle, andswearing with tearful eyes, his hand placed on the head of Frederick,that he would be a just and good ruler to his people.

  "And what does this picture represent?" asked Napoleon, pointing to anengraving by the side of the above-mentioned painting.

  "Sire," said the castellan, in confusion, "it is a copper-plate,representing the king's tomb. It does not properly belong here, but hasbeen placed here temporarily. The artist sent it hither with the requestto place it somewhere in Sans-souci, and I hung it up in this placeuntil my master disposes of it in some other way."

  "But what about this one?" asked the emperor, whose piercing eyes werefixed on another engraving. "There is the tomb of Frederick; two men, infull uniform, are standing by its side; a beautiful lady is with them,and all three are raising their hands in an odd manner. Ah, ah, now Icomprehend: that is last year's scene, when the Emperor Alexander tookleave of the king and queen at the grave of Frederick the Great, andswore eternal friendship to them as well as eternal enmity to France?That is what this engraving represents, I suppose?"

  "Yes, sire, it is," said the castellan, timidly.

  Napoleon, with a flashing glance, called his marshals to his side."Behold there, gentlemen, one of those theatrical scenes with whichpeople here in Prussia were declaiming against me, while I was silent,but arming against them," said he with a sneer. "If the King of Prussiadoes not fulfil the other oaths he has taken more faithfully than thisone, I pity his people; but he has incurred the retribution of the gods,who insist on it that men shall fulfil their promises or they will becrushed. We have seen enough of the place where Frederick the Greatpassed his life; let us pay a last visit to him in his tomb. Where isit?"

  "In Potsdam, sire, in the church close to the palace."

  "Very well. Come, gentlemen. And you, castellan, do not forget that thedream has not been altogether fulfilled. The 'fallen star' is only adevouring fire to the kings who bid him defiance, but not to the peoplewho obediently submit." He nodded, stepped from the hall into theanteroom, and then into the vestibule, where the horses were ready forhim and his suite.

  The old man gazed mournfully after the brilliant cavalcade. "He lookslike a marble statue," he muttered, "and I believe that he has no heartin his breast. Every thing in him is made of stone. If he had a heart,he would not dare to come hither and appropriate with a rapacious handthe sacred relics of our great king. I must really go and see whetherhis commands to that effect will be carried out or not." And he left thehall with youthful alacrity, hastening through the apartments back tothe reception-room.

  Yes, the commands had been obeyed! The hat and sword, the order of theBlack Eagle, and the bell, had disappeared. The old castellan uttered agroan, and proceeded to the sitting-room. His anxious eyes glanced atthe spot where the clock had stood. That was also gone. But he heard mentalking and laughing in the anteroom, and when he hastened hither, hesaw some of the emperor's servants, who, in compliance with the ordersof the grand marshal, were engaged in packing up the relics in a basket,and jesting at what they called the strange and insignificant spoilswhich the emperor had obtained here. The white-haired servants ofFrederick the Great were standing close by, and witnessing with tearfuleyes the removal of treasures so sacred on account of the reminiscencesconnected with them. The men were just engaged in placing the clock onthe other articles in a basket. The castellan approached hurriedly andplacing his hand on the dial, said in a low voice, "Farewell! The eyesof Frederick the Great have often gazed at you. His eyes were alsostars, but not fallen stars, and they did not scorch and burn, butrendered the people happy. Farewell, faithful clock, that stopped withgrief in the last hour of my king! When _his_ last hour comes, announceit loudly and joyously, and commence going again, for the worst timewill be over then, and the fallen star will cease burning. Farewell, andstrike that hour as soon as possible!"[15]

  [Footnote 15: The clock remained in Napoleon's possession andaccompanied him to St. Helena. It stood on the mantel-piece in his smallparlor, and is mentioned in his will. He bequeathed it to his son, theDuke de Reichstadt, in the following words: "The clock which alwaysawakened me in the morning; it belonged to Frederick II., and Iappropriated it in Potsdam." The bell he also bequeathed to his son.Many conflicting statements have been made concerning the sword Napoleontook. It was certainly not the sword which Frederick had worn to thelast. The latter had a leathern scabbard which, in several defectiveplaces, had been repaired with sealing-wax because Frederick found thisto be less expensive than to have it repaired by a harness-maker. Theking had taken this sword along, when, in September, 1806, he repairedwith the queen to the headquarters of the army; it accompanied himduring his flight, and was safely brought back by him. It was afterwardat the "_Kunstkammer_" In Berlin. The sword which Napoleon sent to Parishad been presented to Frederick by Peter III. of Russia, who, it is wellknown, was an ardent admirer of the great king. Bluecher, in 1814,brought it back from Paris.]

  Looking even more gloomy than on leaving the city, the emperor rode withhis suite again through the deserted, silent streets of Potsdam. Thebrilliant cavalcade moved as slowly and solemnly as a funeral processiontoward the church, the lower vault of which contained the coffin withthe remains of Frederick. The sexton and his assistants, bearing thelarge bunch of keys and a blazing torch, conducted the emperor throughthe dark and silent corridors, and opened the heavy, clanking iron doorsleading into the vault. Napoleon entered. For a moment he stood still onthe threshold and gazed in surprise at its plain, gloomy vault, thewalls of which were not adorned with trophies, nor with any decorationswhatever, and at that humble wooden coffin, which stood so bare andsolitary in the middle of the sombre room. Behind him were his marshals,who looked at the strange scene with an air of curiosity a
ndastonishment.

  "Ah," said Napoleon, gently turning his head toward them, and pointingwith his right hand to the coffin, "a man must have distinguishedhimself by many great deeds, and obtained immortal glory, to need thusno earthly pomp and splendor!"

  He approached closely to the coffin; folding his arms on his breast, hislips firmly compressed, he gazed long and steadfastly at it. The blazeof the torch shed a bright light on his face, and as his pale head alonewas distinctly visible in the darkness, the beholders might havebelieved one of the marble statues of the Caesars on the terrace ofSans-souci, had descended from its pedestal in order to pay a visit tothe dead king.

  After a long pause Napoleon's eye resumed its wonted brilliancy. Hepointed with a strange smile at the dust covering the lid of the coffin."Dust without and dust within! that within was a great king and a hero;yet that without is more lasting than the oaths which the EmperorAlexander swore here a year ago, with Frederick William and thebeautiful Louisa. Even the kiss which Alexander imprinted at that timeon the coffin of Frederick is no longer visible; dust has covered it,and equalized every thing." Thus speaking, he drew lines with his hand;without knowing it, perhaps, his finger traced a large _N_ in the dustof the royal coffin. He then hastily left the dark vault to return tothe palace.[16]

  [Footnote 16: One of Horace Vernet's most beautiful paintings representsthis visit of Napoleon paid to the grave of Frederick the Great.]

  The emperor paced the room a long while, his hands clasped on his back;he then rang the bell impetuously, and sent for the chief of hiscabinet, M. de Menneval.

  "Be seated," said he, as soon as that functionary made his appearance;"take my pen, I will dictate to you my eighteenth bulletin."[17]

  [Footnote 17: Napoleon wrote or dictated all his bulletins withoutconsulting any one in regard to them. After being dictated, thebulletins were, however, submitted to Talleyrand, who took good care tomake no alteration.]

  M. de Menneval sat down at the desk. Napoleon walked slowly up and down,and dictated in a loud, stern voice as follows: "The emperor arrived inPotsdam on the 25th of October, and took up his residence at the royalpalace. He visited on the first day Sans-souci and the environs ofPotsdam, spending some time in the rooms of Frederick II., where everything is still in the same condition as at the time of his death. In thearsenal at Berlin, five hundred cannon, several hundred thousand poundsof powder, and several thousand muskets, were found in excellentcondition. It has been noticed as a singular coincidence that theemperor arrived in Potsdam on the same day and at the same hour, andoccupied the same rooms, as the Emperor of Russia during the latter'svisit--a visit last year which has had such fatal consequences forPrussia. Since that moment the queen has forgotten to take care of herdomestic affairs, and of the most important duties of the toilet, inorder to occupy herself with politics, gain power over the king, andspread everywhere the evil influence which possesses her. The result ofthat famous oath which was taken on the 4th of November, 1805, is thebattle of Austerlitz, and the speedy evacuation of Germany by theRussian army in the manner prescribed by France. Forty-eight hoursafterward that oath at the coffin of Frederick the Great was made thesubject of a copper-plate, which is to be found in all the shops, andeven causes the peasants to laugh. On it is represented the handsomeEmperor of Russia; by his side the queen, and opposite him the king, wholifts up his hand over the coffin; the queen, wrapped in a shawl, likelady Hamilton, as seen on the London copper-plates, places her hand onher heart, and seems to look at the Emperor of Russia. It isincomprehensible how the Berlin police could permit the circulation ofso base a satire. At all events, the shade of Frederick cannot havecontemplated this scandalous scene but with indignation and disgust. Hismind, his genius, his wishes, belong to the French nation, which heesteemed so highly, and of which he said that, if he were its king, nocannon should be discharged in Europe without his permission. On hisreturn from Sans-souci the emperor visited also the tomb of Frederickthe Great. The remains of this great man are reposing in a woodencoffin, covered with one of copper, and in a vault devoid of drapery,trophies, or any thing that might remind the beholder of his heroicdeeds. The emperor has presented the _Hotel des Invalides_ at Paris withthe sword of Frederick, with his insignia of the order of the BlackEagle, as well as with the stands of colors used by the king'slifeguards in the Seven Years' War. The veterans will receive withreverent awe every thing that belonged to one of the greatest generalsknown in history."[18]

  [Footnote 18: Goujon, "Collection des Bulletins de Napoleon," vol.xvii., Bulletin xviii.]