pon my knees and cry, 'I thank Thee, O God, that
in Thy goodness I have recognized Thy sublimity, and that Thou hast
revealed thy glory to me.' All this appears of little importance to your
majesty, for the heart of a king is not like that of other men, and the
personal happiness of individuals appears a matter of little account to
him who thinks and works for the good of an entire nation. But the
fly, sire, which is sunning itself upon the plumes of the helmet of a
victorious king, has its right to happiness, for God created it with the
same care and love that He created the noblest of His creatures--man!
and it would be cruel to kill it without necessity. Sire, I do not extol
myself. I know that in your eyes I am no more than the fly upon your
helmet, but I only implore you to grant me my life, for God has given it
to me."

"You mean by this that I shall forbid General von Leuthen to marry
his daughter to the rich man who seeks her, and to which marriage,
understand me well, I have already given my consent."

"Sire, I only know that this union drives not only me to despair, but
one of the noblest and best of God's creatures. Fraulein von Leuthen
does not love the bridegroom forced upon her; she detests him, and
she has good reason to, for the banker Ebenstreit is a cold-hearted,
purse-proud man, enfeebled by a voluptuous, vicious life, and seeks
nothing nobler and more elevated in the young girl to whom he has
offered his hand, than the title and noble name which she can procure
for him. Your majesty, I implore not for myself, but for the daughter
of a man who once had the good fortune to save your life in battle! Have
pity upon her, and do not sacrifice her to an inconsolably hopeless life
by the side of an unloved and detested husband!"

The king slowly shook his head. "You forget that the general to whom I
am indebted for this favor has begged my consent to this marriage, and
that I have granted it."

"Sire, I conjure you to recall it! Upon my knees I implore you not to
grant it! Do not make two people unhappy, who only beg of your majesty
the permission to love and live with each other!" Moritz threw himself
at the king's feet, praying with clasped hands, his face flushed with
deep emotion, and his eyes dimmed with tears.

"Rise!" commanded Frederick, "rise, do not kneel to me as to a God. I
am a feeble mortal, subject to the same ills which threaten you and the
whole human race. Rise, and answer me one quest