not to Derschau.
My brothers then announced themselves as the successors to this fief, and
the King bestowed on them the estate of Great Sharlack conformable to the
feudal laws. That it might be properly divided, it was put up to
auction, and bought by the youngest of my brothers, who paid surplus to
the other, and to my sister. He likewise paid debts charged upon it,
according to the express orders of the court. The persons who called
themselves my creditors were impostors, for I had no creditors; I was but
nineteen when my estates were confiscated, consequently was not of age.
By what right therefore, could such debts be demanded or paid? Let them
explain this who can.

The same thing happened when an account was given in to the Fiscus of the
guardianship, although I acknowledge my guardians were men of probity.
One of them was eight years in possession, and when he gave it up to my
brothers he did not account with them for a single shilling. At present,
therefore, the affair stands thus:--Frederic William has taken off the
sentence of confiscation, and ordered me to be put in possession of my
estates, by a gracious rescript: empowered by this I come and demand
restitution; my brother answers, "I have bought and paid for the estate,
am the legal possessor, have improved it so much that Great Sharlack, at
present, is worth three or four times the sum it was at the time of
confiscation. Let the Fiscus pay me its actual value, and then let them
bestow it on whom they please. If the reigning king gives what his
predecessor sold to me, I ought not thereby to be a loser."

This is a problem which the people of Berlin must resolve. My brother
has no children, and, without going to law, will bequeath Great Sharlack
to mine, when he shall happen to die. If he is forced in effect to
restore it without being reimbursed, the King instead of granting a
favour, has not done justice. I do not request any restitution like
this, since such restitution would be made without asking it as a favour
of the King. If his Majesty takes off the confiscation because he is
convinced it was originally violent and unjust, then have I a right to
demand the rents of two-and-forty years. This I am to require from the
Fiscus, not from my brother. And should the Fiscus only restore me the
price for which it then sold, it would commit a manifest injustice, since
all estates in the province of Prussia have, since 1746, tripled and
quadruple