by Calsabigi's face that the plan did not please him, but I told
him that he would not get shareholders save on these terms, or on terms
even less favourable to himself.

He had degraded the lottery to the level of biribi; his luxury and
extravagance caused him to be distrusted; it was known that he was head
over ears in debt, and the king could not banish the fear that he would
be cheated in spite of the keenness of his comptroller-general.

The last drawing under the king's sanction made everyone in good spirits,
for the lottery lost twenty thousand crowns. The king sent the money
immediately by a privy councillor, but it was said, when he heard the
result of the drawing, that he burst out laughing, observing,--

"I knew it would be so, and I am only too happy to have got quit of it so
cheaply."

I thought it my duty to go and sup with the director to console him, and
I found him in a state of great depression. He could not help thinking
that his unhappy drawing would make the task of getting shareholders more
difficult than ever. Hitherto the lottery had always been a gainer, but
its late loss could not have come at a worse time.

Nevertheless, he did not lose heart, and the next morning the public were
informed by printed bills that the office would remain closed till a
sufficient number of guarantors were found.

CHAPTER XVIII

Lord Keith--My Appointment to Meet the King in the Garden of Sans-Souci
My Conversation with Frederick the Great--Madame Denis The Pomeranian
Cadets--Lambert--I Go to Mitau My Welcome at the Court, and My
Administrative Journey

The fifth day after my arrival at Berlin I presented myself to the
lord-marshal, who since the death of his brother had been styled Lord
Keith. I had seen him in London after his return from Scotland, where he
had been reinstated in the family estates, which had been confiscated for
Jacobinism. Frederick the Great was supposed to have brought this about.
Lord Keith lived at Berlin, resting on his laurels, and enjoying the
blessings of peace.

With his old simplicity of manner he told me he was glad to see me again,
and asked if I proposed making any stay at Berlin. I replied that I would
willingly do so if the king would give me a suitable office. I asked him
if he would speak a word in my favour; but he replied that the king liked
to judge men's characters for himself, and would often discover merit
where no one had suspected its presence, and vice