re we are at last at the door of my tusculum. Fold your hands,
you unbelieving son of the Church; the gods and heroes await us in this
temple, and you will at least believe in these."

They entered the library, and as the door closed behind them and they
were separated from the whole world, as they stood in the centre of
the room whose only ornament consisted of rows of books, upon which
glittered in golden letters the names of the great minds of all ages,
whose only splendor consisted in the marble busts of Caesar and Virgil,
of Cicero and Alexander, the king said, with beaming eyes:

"I am at last in the republic of minds, and I, as a humble citizen,
approach the great presidents, who look down so graciously upon me."

And, as the king seated himself in his arm-chair before his writing
table, he recovered his sparkling humor, his gay wit, and recounted
with a bright smile to the marquis that he intended to work most
industriously, that he would certainly write a history of this war which
he had just closed, and that he intended always to live at Sans-Souci,
as its quiet and repose seemed more agreeable to him than the noise and
turmoil of the great city. He then dismissed the marquis for a short
time, that he might rest before going to the table.

But the king did not rest. Too many and too powerful thoughts were
surging in his breast. Leaning back in his arm-chair, he thought of the
future. He recalled his own life and arranged his future course. After
sitting thus for a long time, he suddenly arose, his countenance bright
with a firm and energetic expression.

"Yes, thus it shall be," he said aloud. "I will be the father of my
people. I will live for them, forgetting the wickedness of men, or only
avenging myself on them by the prickings of a needle. I have no family,
therefore my people shall be my family. I have no children, therefore
every one who needs my aid shall become my child, and for them I will
do the duties of a father. My country bleeds from a thousand wounds--to
heal these wounds shall be the task of my life."

True to this resolution, the king called together his ministers the next
day, and commanded them to obtain exact accounts of the condition of his
provinces; to inform him of the wants and necessities of the people; and
to assist him in relieving them. True to this resolution, the king was
untiring in his work for the good of his people. He wished to see
all, to prove all. He desired to be t