g an answer, immediately
leaped his horse over the rails into the river, and notwithstanding its
breadth and rapidity, swam safe ashore. The king, who took it for
granted that he must be drowned, on seeing him come towards him, said in
French, "_Major_, I beg of you not to run such hazards in future."

Despotic power has certainly great advantages, in its rapid
administration of justice, and sometimes in its reaching offences which
would altogether baffle trial by jury. Frederick was ridiculously fond
of exhibiting his musical attainments; and among the other preparatives
for the reception of the Russian grand-duke (afterwards the Emperor
Paul) at Berlin, was a piece of music composed by the king. The husband
of the first singer at the opera, the well-known Madame Mara, was
imprudent enough to observe of this performance, that "the composer knew
more about soldiers than music." The king ordered him to be instantly
made over to the _corps-de-garde_, with orders to punish him, enough to
make him more cautious of criticism in future. The soldiers accordingly,
as there happened to be no punishment in the military regulations for
impertinent remarks on royal amateurs, took the affair into their own
hands. They began by dressing him in a uniform, covering his face with a
huge pair of whiskers, and loading him with the heaviest firelock which
they could find, they then made him perform the manual exercise for two
hours--accompanying the lesson with all the usual discipline of the
cane--then ordered him to dance and sing, finishing their discipline by
making the surgeon take from him a large quantity of blood, obviously to
reduce the heat of temper which had given rise to such impertinence.
After this lesson he was sent back to his wife. Severe as it may have
appeared, Harris regarded it as earned by many previous impertinences of
the same kind, but of which it may fairly be presumed this was the last.

At last the grand-duke arrived, and was received with the most unusual
pomp and ceremony by the Prussian court. By some curious instance of
choice, Sunday is selected on the Continent as the day for every thing
in the shape of show. The Russian prince made his public entry into
Berlin on Sunday, and was met by the trading companies in uniform, by
escorts of cavalry, and the equipages of the king and royal family. In
the evening, after a sumptuous dinner, there was a concert and ball.
The rest of the week was similarly occupied.