Frederick the Great and His Court

ense clouds of smoke which rolled from the lips of all had soon enveloped the room with a v

earance, that the contrast between it and the ball may not be too great. Tell me, Pollnitz, how are matters progressing over ther

sed. Her majesty was never more beautiful, more radiant, or gayer than today. She sho

ently attired?" said the king,

queen possessed so prince

while I am writhing on a bed of pain," exclaimed the king, who, in his easily excited irritability, never once remembered that

ll, and not on a bed of pain. The queen

o his lips, and took a long draught of beer,

come over to this ball," murmured the king. "They dare any

ring to give the conversation another direction. "Never before in my life did I

x Tailor Apprentices who are afraid of Blue Monday.' See! we will now devote ourselves to poetry and the arts, and our learned and fantastic son will soon have no advantage over us whatever. If he plays the flute, we paint. While he writes sentimental, we will write satirical poems; and while he sings to sun, moon, and stars

gs," exclaimed Count von Goltz, blo

ling recruits, drawing plans, and studying the art of war, he devotes his time to the acquirement of useless and superficial knowledge, which benefits no one, and is most

or was better drilled, at the last review, than th

s which no one understood. He was never pleased to hear any defe

, in a fawning voice. "If your majesty designed to be angry, it was not necessary to light the pipes and fill

drink this to the health of him who first overcame his timid he

ckert, sire," said Count Hacke, wi

had built; he also took leave of the city exchanges, which he had not yet provided with royal commissioners, destined to despoil them of their riches; he bade adieu to his decoration and to his

e a gentleman of the chimney-sweep; but gratitude is a rare virtue, men seldom remember the benefits they have received; your doing so, is an evidence that you have a noble heart, one which I know h

my heart, at least, was always pure, and I will endeavor to preserve it so. You have rescued me from the scum of the people. As the ancient Romans gave freedom to those slaves who had rendered themselves worthy of i

mneys and indifferent beer breweries. Privy Councillor Von Eckert can, therefore, still exe

smiling. Von Eckert's countenance had become pale and lowering, and

rchant refuse to supply you with any more wine until your old accounts have been settled, I shall be perfe

e father of a coming generation, you should, at least, endeavor to become the progenitor of your ancestors and the father of your fathers. Ancestors are born to you as children are to others, and, if I am not mistaken, you are already the possessor of three.

ouse, and as I have invested him with a title of nobility, it is but proper that a noble coat-of-arms should be placed over his door. Gen

king, took pains to propose the most magnificent coat-of-arms imaginable. But the king was not pleased with the grave and learned devices which were proposed. He disliked giving

it a nice white coat of paint, and not an old graystone color to make it look like a robber castle. Ecke

iniscence. I propose to quarter this shield. The first field shall show on a silver ground a black chimney, in which we will also have indicated the Prussian colors. The second field is blue, with a golden vat in the centre, having reference to Eckert's great ability as a beer-brewer. The thi

also so well pleased, that he, in all gravity, determined to accept it, and to have a coat-of-

in, Von Pollnitz, was, however, the gayest of the gay. And if the pleasantries which bubbled from his lips like water from a fountain, at any t

is new house, Pollnitz turned to his neighbor and asked if he had

new house, but I have also given him a coat-of-arms; and I wager the privy councill

at this moment. "I wager you are in a bad humor, because

as handsome as the house is,

be much too large a one for you!

her left me a fortune of about two hundred thousand dollars, but what is such a trifle to a nobleman? It was not enough for a decent support, and it was too much to go begging on. I calculated how long this sum might be made to last, and finding that, with considerable econo

u expended two hundred thousand dol

you that I was obliged to pract

posing. It was perhaps the great contrast between the unlimited extravagance of the baron and his own frugality, which exerted so great

s is, therefore, not sufficient for

ive in a style befitting a nobleman,

consider necessary to enable you to

t in thought for a mo

hat respectably, I should require fo

, not possible!"

ire, that I hardly know whet

ou believe that?

ourth part of this income," sai

th!" said Coun

laimed General Von Schwerin an

d gentlemen of my court. Let us hear how Pollnitz would manage to spend so

this commission, and handed

w an income of four hundred thousand dollars can be spent in a respectable manner. You shall dictate, and I will be your secretary. Woe to you, however, if you do not keep your word, if you e

ousand which I expend over and above t

need more, that is, provided he does not ex

ng a nobleman, I should nevertheless need mo

oldest debts," said the king. "But commence. And you, gentle