a day for his arrival at Rheinberg, the prince's château, where the marriage was to be celebrated. Prince Henry, too glad of any excuse for a ball, and determined to celebrate the marriage on a magnificent scale, set apart three whole days for this purpose. Suddenly my sister received a letter from Pogwisch, announcing that he could not reach Rheinberg till some days after the appointed time. Prince Henry, seriously vexed at seeing that the solemnities, for which every thing was ready, were thus delayed, sent an orderly express to tell me to be at Rheinberg, with my uniform, by a certain day. I arrived at the appointed time, and was desired to marry my sister par procuration. It was in vain that I suggested that this was only done by great folks. I was told, 'that was the prince's concern, not mine.' "Believe me, my brother Frederick does not possess true courage. To give you an example: at the battle of Rossbach, he rode away from the field. I was wounded, and was conveyed by a peasant to Weissenfels, to have my wounds dressed. There I met the king, and congratulated him upon his victory, of which he knew nothing." To return, however, to the life led by the prince and his small court at Rheinberg. — "From the year 1780, when the prince had been to Paris, he was quite Frenchified. He affected not to be able to speak German, and French was always spoken at his table. His dress was that worn at the French court: in summer, a silk or satin coat, an embroidered waistcoat, silk breeches and stockings, and shoes with enormous buckles. Two huge watch-chains hung out of his fob in front; he wore large brilliants on his fingers; he carried a large gold tassel; a small three-cornered hat looped up with an agraffe of steel on common days of brilliants on gala occasions. In his hand he always had a gold snuff-box, while a sort of opera-glass stuck out of his pocket. He wore a powdered wig with curls, and a small pigtail; or sometimes, in the morning, he preferred a Cadogan, in imitation of his own hair: of course, he wore large jabots and ruffles. In the morning he was seldom visible, except when he occasionally went out en negligé to pay a visit. This negligé consisted in a light gray greatcoat, the peruke was en papillotes, and nearly extinguished by a huge round hat. "At about five o'clock in the afternoon, every one was assembled in full dress, in one of the saloons. A table was set out, behind which officiated the prince's chaplain. After deliver-headed cane, attached to which was a huge silk ing an impressive oration on our respective duties as man and wife, the chaplain addressed to me the usual question, and I answered Yea,' in the proper place, and the betrothal was completed, after which the prince came up and wished us joy. We then went to a concert, where my bride was forced to sit on the right, and I on the left of the prince, while an aria was sung in our praise by the best singers of the place. We afterwards went to supper, whence we adjourned to the bridal-chamber, where the ceremony of throwing the stocking was duly performed. The next day we had a grand breakfast, and a still grander dinner, and in the evening an opera and a supper. All this time, I was compelled to do the honors as bridegroom. The third day a great ball was given: these balls were curious enough; for as the number of people in the castle was extremely limited, all the maids of the house, the families of the actors, the musicians and burghers in the village, were summoned to attend. In the middle of the ball I was called out, my brother-in-law, the real husband, had arrived, furious on discovering that all these ceremonies had taken place in his absence. The prince, however, would take no notice whatever of him, and he had to sleep that night at the inn. The next morning he was duly married to my sister, but there was no grand breakfast; no ceremony of any kind was observed; the prince, to show his contempt for poor Pogwisch, wore his peruke still en papillotes. Thus ended this ridiculous scene." "This was the manner of his life: - during the morning he wrote letters; he then had some one to read aloud to him, while he daubed some china paper for screens; he then went out for a while, always alone, and was well pleased if no notice was taken of him; one of the prince's passions was seeing dead bodies; but, as he could not endure the sight of them if they were ghastly, care was taken to have them painted red enough to suit his taste. He then called in at the actresses' lodgings, or attended the rehearsals, where he trained the actors himself, correcting their gestures and modes of expression. Of course, the theatre was French, and he chose the repertoire for the whole year himself, making marginal notes in the copies of the plays, for instance, as a surprise to myself on my birth-day,'-or, in commemoration of the battle of Freiberg' (which he won). At about two o'clock the company met in the drawing-room, and when all had taken their places, the prince walked in, dressed as I have described him. Dinner was announced: the ladies entered the dining-room first, followed by the prince and the gentlemen. A servant relieved him of his hat and sword. The prince who were to have the honor of sitting near him. sat at one corner of the table, and selected those All the servants were then sent out of the room, and if any guest wanted any thing, he knocked the glass with his knife. The dinner consisted of two courses and a dessert; the prince ate much, but drank sparingly. The conversation was always interesting, and turned chiefly on the events of the day, or on history. What the prince liked best, was for some one to turn the conversation on the subject of the Seven Years' War: when this happened, the dinner generally lasted long enough to tire out most of the guests. When the prince warmed with his subject, he began to speak German, and much was said well worth hearing. His court was an asylum for many of the emigrants: at this time the Count de Boufflers, the Marshal de Bassompierre, Count la Roche Aymont, and many others, were staying with him. The new monarch dismissed some of these drunken, gouty old officers, as he gradually learnt from bitter experience that they were no match for Napoleon's soldiers; but enough of them still remained to account for the successive defeats, year by year, of the Prussian armies, defeats through which we have neither inclination nor space to follow them. These years were the saddest in Prussian history. In the year 1806, after the battle of Jena, Prussia had sunk to the lowest depth of disgrace and misery: strong places like Magdeburg, Stettin, Custrin, and Prenzlau, surrendered, almost without strikThe prince ate with his fingers, in a way that ing a blow, to the first insignificant squadron of was unpleasant to spectators. Immediately after French horse that galloped up to their gates. dinner, coffee was handed round, when the The demoralization of the army was universal; prince bowed to the company and left the room. meanwhile, Napoleon advanced with gigantic If there was any play in the evening, the comstrides into Westphalia, Pomerania, Silesia, and pany assembled again at six o'clock; if there was none, they met in the saloon at half-past six, Poland, and ended by dictating his own terms when tea was handed round, and some new at Tilsit. Of many of these disgraceful scenes, book was read aloud At the play, he and Count Henckel himself was an eye-witness. the company sat in the pit, and two large fires Even after the dreadful defeat of Jena, he gives burnt one on each side. Between the acts tea some ludicrous examples of the stupid and invetwas carried round, and the prince went about erate attachment of the old officers to trifling complimenting those actresses who had given him satisfaction. He occasionally found fault with forms; for example, the indignation of Generthem pretty loudly, calling those who had acted al von Rüchel against mustachios, and a certain ill, asses, swine, &c.' The prince always fashion of leather straps round their hats, which kept the birth-day of his brother Ferdinand, the young officers had adopted on service. who came on these occasions with his whole "Are those dogs' collars, then, allowed here?" family to Rheinberg. He took the greatest was the first question he asked at a review. care of son cher frère Ferdinand, who was inva- When it was over, he took the arm of Prince riably well wrapped up by his wife in several William, the king's brother, and led him a few warm coats, in spite of his entreaties to the contrary; the consequence was that Prince Ferdi- steps aside, bawling, however, so that all could nand generally went fast asleep in the middle of hear, "But, your royal highness, have the kindthe play. This occasioned several very laugha-ness to set a good example; what is to come of ble incidents. Once, the scene represented a all this, otherwise?" Prince William wore muslandscape, with a large tree in the middle of the tachios. stage this was to be changed into the inside of a room, but, when the scene shifted, no power could move the tree from its station. Prince Ferdinand, suddenly awakened by the noise and scuffle of feet, thought it necessary to pay some compliment to his brother, and after examining the scene through his opera-glass, said to Prince Henry, who was ready to sink into the earth at this failure: Mon frère, celà fait un très bel effet, cet arbre dans cette chambre.” "Our king," says Count Henckel, "lived in a small house at Tilsit, up to which several steps led. Early in July, Napoleon expressed a wish to see the Queen of Prussia, who was then staying in Memel. In the position we then were, it was impossible to avoid gratifying Napoleon's wish; indeed, some people hoped that by this means we should obtain more advantageous terms. The queen, therefore, arrived in Tilsit on the 6th of In 1797-8 King Frederick William the July. She was one of the first women of her Second died, and was succeeded by Frederick day; strikingly handsome, full of dignity, indeWilliam the Third. When news of this event all her thoughts and ways. It is absurd, howscribably fascinating, and thoroughly Prussian in reached head-quarters, the troops were called to ever, as so many have maintained, to say that arms, and the colonel of the regiment made the she exercised any great influence on affairs of following remarkable speech:-"His majesty state. The king, who loved her above all other Frederick William the Second has been gra- things, was not the man to allow himself to be ciously pleased to die. We have therefore to guided by any one, still less by a woman. swear allegiance to a new king; what his name her greatest glory that Napoleon attempted to lower her in men's eyes by every possible means, will be, whether Frederick William, or Freder- thus proving that he feared her. * * Well-inick, we can't exactly tell; but that does not sig-formed, Queen Louisa loved literature, and ennify." Herr Gerichtschreiber read aloud the oath of allegiance. It is deavoured by reading to increase her store of knowledge. During the first years of her mar ried life, it was impossible to see any two more beautiful or captivating women than she and her sister, Princess Louis of Prussia, different as they were in their appearance. The queen was tall, and finely formed, with a commanding air; Princess Louis was small, with an oval face, and a spirited, lively manner. These two exalted personages looked especially captivating in a ball-room, were great dancers, and made the hearts of all those who had the honor to dance with them leap for joy. * * * "The queen entered Tilsit accompanied by her ladies. After the interval of an hour or so, Napoleon came up to her house, mounted on a long-tailed gray Arab, and followed by a large retinue. Generals held his stirrup as he dismounted; the king and the princes came to meet him at the bottom of the steps; Napoleon carried in his hand a small riding whip; he bowed right and left, and went straight up to the queen. The king followed with the princes, marshals, and generals. The conversation lasted about a quarter of an hour; Napoleon left the house, turned round when he had gone down a few steps, made a few complimentary speeches, and galloped away. The great folks dined that day with the Emperor of Russia, who went down to the carriage-door to meet the queen. After dinner she returned to Memel." And thus ended this remarkable meeting. Napoleon stayed in Tilsit just long enough to sign the treaty which almost annihilated the political existence of Prussia; and all parties, Russians, French, and Prussians, quitted the town. It would be tedious to follow Count Henckel through all his marchings and countermarchings, in various parts of Prussia, when the army was reduced to its peace establishment; but, as a specimen of manners and customs, which have fortunately gone out of fashion, we will mention what Count Henckel saw in the country house of Duke Albert Frederic of Prussia, at Neuhausen. This was a gigantic bed, consisting of three floors or stories, if we may use the phrase. The duke and his wife slept in the middle, or what might be termed the first floor; the mistress of the robes lay under them, and above, or in the attics, were distributed the ladies of the bedchamber. Such a practice prevails, or at any rate did prevail lately, in Russia; and we have heard of a German lady, newly married to a Russian nobleman, discovering under her bed her husband's valet, lying fast asleep, and snoring most audibly. On this proceeding being objected to, and the husband called in to eject his man, the former demanded, with a tone which seemed to doubt of the reasonableness of the objection: "And pray what am I to do, supposing in the middle of the night I want a glass of water?" In 1810 Count Henckel was sent with Field marshal Count Kalkreuth to congratulate the Emperor Napoleon on his marriage with Maria Louisa, and seems to have passed his time at Paris most agreeably in seeing sights, and eating excellent dinners. "One day," says Henckel, "we dined with Cambacères, where M. d'Egreville, to whom the Almanac des Gourmands is dedicated, always acted as master of the ceremonies. At dessert, several plates containing six or eight radishes were placed on the table. I inquired of D'’ Egreville what they were, and he answered, where Teltow was, and D'Egreville, with an Des ravêts de Teltow.' I asked him, for fun, expression of compassionate pity for my ignorance, and desirous to hide it from the rest of the company, putting up his hand to his mouth, whispered into my ear-Teltow is in Amer ica.' " been in Prussia, it is necessary to observe that Teltow is close to Berlin, and produces a peculiar sort of radish. Another day Fouché gave a great dinner, and it so happened that bad news had been received from Spain. Count Henckel must needs ask Fouché whether fresh intelligence had not arrived from Spain. "Pour vous, monsieur, il n'existe point d'Espagne," was Fouché's insolent reply. Dinners, however, were not the only occupation of Count Henckel: he was so constant a visitor at the Collection des Monuments aux petits Augustins, made by M. Lenoir, that at last one of the men in livery whose place it was to show and explain the various curiosities, oppressed with the number of visitors, came up to Henckel, saying: "Sir, you have been here so often that you know the things as well as we do: will you, therefore, have the goodness to show this company round the room?" At the Musée Napoleon, which then contained nearly every thing remarkable in the known world, Henckel had the good luck to be near a staid Dutchman and his wife, who were standing prosily before the iron bars protecting the Venus of Medici and the Torso from the vulgar. "What is that?" said the wife, pointing to the Torso. The husband, holding his stick under his nose with the air of a connoisseur, looked for a long time, and replied, "Det is ok antiquitäten;"— these are antiquities too,"- a most satisfactory answer. For the information of those who have not While Count Henckel was at Paris, a great review of some 18,000 men occurred in the Place des Tuileries, and we will extract a most characteristic anecdote of Napoleon, — trance, while the troops marched by, and at a "The emperor stood close to the great engiven signal from the officer, each troop shouted, Vive l'Empereur!' The square, from being "We all assembled in a small room on the the Fourth's sister. ** ground floor, where we were most closely packed. could not help thinking all the time of a pauper's wedding, as bread and liqueurs were handed about here as at Compiègne. Then came the master of the ceremonies, with his wand of office in his hand, and asked for the Prince of Hessen Homburg, who had brought a letter of congratulation on the emperor's marriage he was then in the Austrian service, and afterwards, as reigning prince, married George We were then told to go up stairs. Vous êtes invités à monter. One portion only of the door was opened, and we were admitted into a small room, in the middle of which, exactly opposite to the door, stood the emperor in his usual green uniform, in shoes and buckles, and with his little cocked hat under his arm: the great officers of state, the princes, and adjutants, were behind him. A death-like silence prevailed: on entering, every one made a low bow, and took up a position behind the ambassador of his country. Meanwhile the emperor stood stock still, with the exception of occasionally taking a pinch of snuff. The closing the door was the sign that all those to be presented had entered the room. The silence was such that you might have heard a pin drop. Napoleon first turned round and spoke, not to the Austrian ambassador, Count Metternich (the present arch-chancellor), but to the Landamman d' Affry, a tall and excellent old man, in a suit of red satin. He then turned suddenly round, as if to receive the Prince of Hessen Homburg: he would not listen to what he had to say, but, in passing the prince, snatched the letter of congratulation out of his hand, without so much as looking at him, crumpled the letter before he squeezed it into his pocket, and then proceeded to the other ministers. Napoleon spoke a few words only to the ministers of the great powers, and to a few foreigners who happened to be present. He then returned to his former position in the middle of the room, made a slight bow, whereupon the door was again half opened, and we retreated one after the other, with our face to the emperor. After this, we were led to pay our respects to the Empress Maria Louisa. But this was almost a journey, as, to get to her reception rooms, we had to go up some flights of stairs leading almost under the roof, and down again on the other side, then through several rooms, till we at last reached the presence chamber. The | Spanish ambassador, the Duke of San Fernando, a small, weak old man, was incessantly exclaiming, 'J'étouffe! J'étouffe!' When we were presented, the master of the ceremonies gave our names to the mistress of the robes, who repeated them to the empress. She said something to every one. If she could not be called beautiful, still she was exquisitely fair, and had a full and pretty figure. "The presentations never ceased that day, for we were then presented to the emperor's sisters; but it was already so dark that we could see nothing. We likewise made our bow to the Queen of Spain, an old, insignificant personage. In one corner of the room stood the throne, which looked as if it were intended to serve a very different purpose." Count Henckel's account agrees with all others, in describing Napoleon's attempts at aping the forms and ceremonies of older courts as not only ill done, but ludicrous. He seems to have been singularly ill at ease in these drawing-room exhibitions, and never to have been able to say any thing to those who were presented to him but " il fait chaud," or to have made some equally trite observation. A great festival at Neuilly, which then belonged to Pauline Borghese, followed this review. Plays were acted: among others, one in which the famous scene of Princess von Hatzfeldt, throwing herself at Napoleon's feet to beg her husband's life, was represented with great applause. "Then followed a promenade in a garden fill with statues, brilliantly illuminated. On the approach of the emperor and Maria Louisa, the statues suddenly became endued with life, one after the other, and formed a ghostly corps de ballet, dancing before the emperor and gradually disappearing. Besides this, there were groups of artisans at their several handicrafts, dispersed about in various directions. The emperor passed by very quickly, as the dew was very heavy, and all the ladies were in ball costumes: it was a curious sight to see them all holding up their gowns for fear of the mud. "After this there were fireworks, and Madame Saqui, dressed as Hymen, ascended by a rope to the temple of Hymen. Then the regular ball commenced: there were two rooms, in one of which the imperial couple and great folks danced, while in the other were the rest of the company: each lady had a bouquet in her hand. The emperor danced a country dance with the empress, a ballet-master calling out the figures. danced like an ill-put together mannikin, with his head hanging on one side, and his arms shaking to and fro at every movement. He I was standing by the door of the room in which the rest of the company were dancing, when suddenly I saw the emperor close by me. I turned round, and he said, 'Vous ne dansez pas, monsieur ? ? - Je ne suis pas accoutumé à la danse Française, sire,' said I. Scarcely had I said this, when the emperor spat close to me. I confess honestly, that this put me so much on my mettle, that I might have committed some piece of folly, had not the Mecklenburg minister, who saw the whole occurrence, seized me by the shoulders, and asked me to leave the ball-room and go home. The carriage was the only place where one could give free utterance to one's thoughts, and I used the privilege. Alas! in those times, a Prussian officer cut but a sorry figure in Paris. We were watched day and night; our bureaus, although we kept the keys in our pockets, were not safe." After four months spent in this manner at Paris, occasionally relieved by more agreeable parties, such as those of Madame de Genlis, whose society was ill-looked upon, as hostile to Napoleon, Count Henckel quitted the French capital a few days only before the terrible catastrophe at Prince Schwarzenberg's ball, of which Varnhagen von Ense has given so vivid a description in his memoirs. In the year 1812, when Napoleon made his gigantic preparations for the Russian campaign, the weakness of Prussia forced that country in to an alliance with France. Count Henckel claims for his brother-in-law, General Knese beck, the merit of having suggested to the King of Prussia to save his country by a simulated alliance with France, and of having inspired the Emperor Alexander with the plan of campaign so successfully followed in Russia. Indeed, such was Knesebeck's activity during the Russian campaign, that Napoleon asked San Marsan, his minister at Berlin, to tell him the name of the Prussian general who had foretold the fate which awaited him; and, on learning it, added, significantly, "Il ne faut pas le perdre de vue." All the king's adjutants made the Russian campaign by rotation. When it came to Henckel's turn, he was solicited to carry with him a certain number of orders, as rewards to the officers, besides a sum of ten thousand thalers to be distributed among the generals. It is a remarkable proof of the wretchedly poor condition of the State at that time, that this trifling sum of ten thousand thalers, or 1500l., could not be raised in Berlin. Count Henckel went to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who referred him to the Privy Councillor Stägemann, who again sent him to the Privy Councillor Rother: no one had a farthing, and it ended by Count Henckel raising the money as he best could at Königsberg. During the Russian campaign, Count Henckel sent daily to the king accurate details of all that was going on, and kept a minute journal, which is well worthy of perusal, as giving a most trustworthy account of the convention entered into by the Prussian general, Von Yorck, and the Russian gen | eral, Diebitsch, and of all the other occurrences of a period which was the turning point of the Prussian monarchy. Our limits, however, preclude us from following Count Henckel in the narrative of the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. Suffice it to say, that he was present at the battles of Möckern, Gross Gorschen, Bautzen, and Leipsic; he afterwards commanded a division of the Prussian army in the campaign which, after various encounters at Montmirail, Laon, and other places, brought the Allies before Paris. And now, in the evening of his life, at seventy-four years of age, the veteran devotes to the cultivation of his property in Dessau the same skill and energy which he gave in his youth to military matters; enjoying, after a life passed without reproach, the love, honor, and respect, of his fellow-countrymen.- Fraser's Magazine. A WORD TO YOUNG MEN. How often are of the day is finished, lounging about fashionable we pained to see young men, after the business places of resort; when the hours they nightly styled, might be so usefully occupied in the culdevote to the pursuit of pleasure, as it is wrongly tivation of their minds. A young man has each night at least four hours, before retiring to his rest, which he might occupy in reading and writing. Now say, he goes into business at the age of twenty, and remains unmarried for five years he will then have for mental application, during this time, 7,300 hours. What stores of much useful information might he obtain! Even knowledge might he acquire in this period! How after he marries, his family duties will not detain him from an opportunity of instructing himself in literature or science.— Lou. Lit. Reg. It con WIFE.There is no combination of letters in the English language which excites more pleasing and interesting associations in the mind of man than the word wife. There is magic in this little word. It presents to the mind's eye a cheerful companion, a disinterested adviser, a nurse in sickness, a comforter in misfortune, and a faithful and ever affectionate friend. jures up the image of a lovely and confiding woman, who cheerfully undertakes to contribute to your happiness-to partake with you the cup, whether of weal or woe, which destiny may offer. This word wife is synonymous with the greatest earthly blessing; and we pity the unfortunate wight, who is condemned, by fate's severe decree, to trudge along through life's dull pilgrimage without one. |