intrigues which were going forward in
the neighbourhood of Hamburg, especially when the English, Swedes, and
Russians were in arms, and there were the strongest grounds for
suspecting the sincerity of Prussia.

On the 5th of January 1806 the King of Sweden arrived before the gates of
Hamburg. The Senate of that city, surrounded on all sides by English,
Swedish, and Russian troops, determined to send a deputation to
congratulate the Swedish monarch, who, however, hesitated so long about
receiving this homage that fears were entertained lest his refusal should
be followed by some act of aggression. At length, however, the deputies
were admitted, and they returned sufficiently well satisfied with their
reception.

The King of Sweden then officially declared, "That all the arrangements
entered into with relation to Hanover had no reference to hint, as the
Swedish army was under the immediate command of its august sovereign."

The King, with his 6000 men, seemed inclined to play the part of the
restorer of Germany, and to make himself the Don Quixote of the treaty of
Westphalia. He threatened the Senate of Hamburg with the whole weight of
his anger, because on my application the colours which used to be
suspended over the door of the house for receiving Austrian recruits had
been removed. The poor Senate of Hamburg was kept in constant alarm by
so dangerous a neighbour.

The King of Sweden had his headquarters at Boetzenburg, on the northern
bank of the Elbe. In order to amuse himself he sent for Dr. Gall, who
was at Hamburg, where he delivered lectures on his system of phrenology,
which was rejected in the beginning by false science and prejudice, and
afterwards adopted in consequence of arguments, in my opinion,
unanswerable. I had the pleasure of living some time with Dr. Gall, and
I owe to the intimacy which subsisted between us the honour he conferred
on me by the dedication of one of his works. I said to him, when he
departed for the headquarters of the King of Sweden, "My dear doctor, you
will certainly discover the bump of vanity." The truth is, that had the
doctor at that period been permitted to examine the heads of the
sovereigns of Europe they would have afforded very curious craniological
studies.

It was not the King of Sweden alone who gave uneasiness to Hamburg; the
King of Prussia threatened to seize upon that city, and his Minister
publicly declared that it would very soon belong to his master. The
H