but we observed he was in much anxiety about the coat. In the evening he got a glass or two in his head, and grew extremely merry said at last, he was sorry, but for divers state reasons and businesses he must of necessity return home, which, however, he put off till about two in the morning. I think next day he would not remember very much of it."

This sketch furnishes a good idea of the rude and coarse atmosphere of these courts, with their rustic figures on a background of extravagance. It is a good. introduction to the young bride.

The almost pastoral happiness of the little court at Strelitz had been rudely disturbed by the wars between the great Frederick and the Empress Maria Theresa, which was to prove disastrous for the small German territories, which he overran with his armies and pillaged and laid waste. His excuse was that they would not join him in the contest. The little Duchy of MecklenburgStrelitz suffered cruelly: contributions were levied, the young men were forced into the king's army, furniture and property plundered; even the churches were despoiled. After the great defeat of Daun at Torgau in 1760 the whole of Germany seemed to be at the conqueror's mercy: so desperate was the outlook, that an extraordinary step was taken by the second of the young princesses then at Strelitz, and which was to determine her future destiny. As the victory seemed to portend a new series of horrors and despoilings, she addressed an earnest letter to Frederick, describing the

sufferings of her country and appealing to his mercy and forbearance. This was an exceptional step in one so young-she was then only sixteen-and was as timely as it was efficacious. One might at first be inclined to doubt the truth of the story, for there is a melodramatic tone about it, and nothing is more common than such imaginary letters of sovereigns to other personages, which found their way into newspapers and memoirs. But this is thoroughly well authenticated by Lord Mahon in his History, and by various German writers.

The letter ran :

"May it please your Majesty,

"I am at a loss whether I should congratulate or condole with you on your late victory, since the same success which has covered you with laurels has overspread the country of Mecklenburg with desolation. I know, sire, that it seems unbecoming my sex, in this age of vicious refinement, to feel for one's country, to lament the horrors of war, or to wish for the return of peace. I know you may think it more properly my province to study the arts of pleasing, or to inspect subjects of a more domestic nature; but, however unbecoming it may be in me, I cannot resist the desire of interceding for this unhappy people.

"It was but a very few years ago that this territory wore the most pleasing appearance. The country was cultivated, the peasant looked cheerful, and the towns abounded with riches and festivity. What an alteration at present from such a charming scene.

I am not expert

at description, nor can my fancy add any horrors to the picture; but surely even conquerors themselves would weep at the hideous prospects now before me. The whole country, my dear country, lies one frightful waste, presenting only objects to excite terror, pity, and despair. The employments of the husbandman and the shepherd are quite suspended; for the husbandman and the shepherd are become soldiers themselves, and help to ravage the soil which they formerly cultivated. The towns are inhabited only by old men, women, and children; while perhaps here and there a warrior, by wounds or loss of limbs rendered unfit for service, is left at his door, where his little children hang round him, ask the history of every wound, and grow themselves soldiers before they find strength for the field. But this were nothing, did we not feel the alternate insolence of either army as it happens to advance or retreat, in pursuing the operations of the campaign. It is impossible, indeed, to express the confusion which they who call themselves our friends create, for even those from whom we might expect relief only oppress us with new calamities. From your justice therefore, it is, sire, that we hope redress: to you even children and women may complain, whose humanity stoops to the meanest petition, and whose power is capable of repressing the greatest wrong."

It was noted that almost immediately after this letter was despatched, a complete change took place in the Prussian king's system. A missive to General de Ziethen enjoined order and regularity in the conduct of the army.

с

"I am determined," he wrote, "that henceforth all violent expedients, all exactions, all arbitrary supplies shall cease." Strict discipline was henceforth to be enforced. The king, indeed, was so pleased with the young princess and her appeal, that the letter was shown and handed about; a copy found its way to the English court and to the Princess of Wales, by whom it was shown to the king, who was greatly struck by it.

When the subject of the young monarch's marriage came on the tapis, and the court was busy with the selection of a bride, this letter became an important factor. The good sense and feeling exhibited in it, and its success as a piece of diplomacy, showed that the writer must have "character." It would therefore seem, though it is not quite certain, that the letter itself may have suggested the marriage.

CHAPTER II.

STRELITZ AND THE BRIDE.

THE person selected for this delicate office of choosing a wife was Colonel Græme, or Graham-a notorious Jacobite who had been actually "out" in the '45, so that Hume's jest on him seemed well founded: that he had exchanged the dangerous office of making a king for the more lucrative one of making a king's marriage. Lord Bute's passion. for employing his own countrymen was no doubt the reason of this selection, but Græme seems to have been a cautious, discreet man. The princess dowager, it was said, would have preferred one of the Brunswick princesses, but her choice was not found acceptable.1

Græme accordingly set off, and in due time appeared in the little court of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. On his arrival he found that the grand duchess and her two daughters were at the watering-place of Pyrmont, to which he followed, where they were seen as simple,

1 Another suggested candidate was a princess or Hesse, who had been seriously thought of for the king, but there were such stories about her conduct that "nobody could take upon them to recommend her." (Thus the Duchess of Brunswick to Lord Malmsbury).