ns aside. What language that miserable
writer has dared to use against me in this paper--what sarcasms and
sneers he has taken the liberty of uttering against me! And the King of
Prussia did not have him arrested! this weak-headed government permitted
the libeller quietly to pursue his infamous course!"

"Sire, the editor of this paper, called _The Telegraph_, I am told was
one of the intimate friends and followers of Prince Louis Ferdinand."

"And, consequently, also one of the friends of the queen!" added
Napoleon, quickly. "That woman has disdained no expedient to wage war
against me; she hates me intensely, and with more energy than her feeble
husband. I will pay her for this hatred, and she shall feel what it is
to provoke my anger. Yes, I will humiliate her. She may now, perhaps,
repent with tears what she has done. She is already a fugitive. I will
drive her into the remotest corner of her country, and compel this proud
queen to bow before me in the dust, and beg me on her knees for mercy!
But I will not have mercy upon her; I will be inexorable! My anger shall
crush her and her house, as it has crushed whosoever dared oppose me.
Woe unto those who have been her willing tools; they shall atone for
having served her hatred against me!--Is any thing known about the
fellow who edited this paper, and wrote these wretched articles?"

"Sire, the editor is a certain Professor Lange, one of the most zealous
royalists, and especially an ardent admirer of the queen."

"Then he has fled with her, I suppose, and she will instigate him on the
way to pen new slanders, which, by virtue of the licentiousness of the
press, he will utter against me?"

"No, sire, he has not fled, but kept himself concealed here; our police,
however, ferreted out his whereabouts and arrested him. It remains for
your majesty to decree what is to be done with him."

"He shall be a warning example to the German scribblers, and remind them
of the penalty incurred by those who stir up resistance against me by
their insults and sneers. I will silence these libellers once for all,
and destroy their contemptible free press by the executioner's axe. The
punishment inflicted upon Palm seemed not sufficient--let M. Lange,
then, be another warning to them. Let him die as Palm died!"

"Your majesty, then, will give to the sentimental Germans another
martyr, to whom they will pray, and whose death will increase their
enthusiasm? Sire, martyrs are like fools