knowing nothing of the custom, had omitted it last year;--and that was
the reason why the fellow had so pushed along all day that he could pass
Dolgelin before sunset, and get his 10 thalers in Muncheberg from the
Burgermeister there."

2. JANUARY, 1785. "The second time I saw the King was at the Carnival of
Berlin in 1785. I had gone with my Tutor to a Cousin of mine who was a
Hofdame (DAME DE COUR) to the Princess Henri, and lived accordingly
in the Prince-Henri Palace,--which is now, in our days, become the
University;--her Apartments were in the third story, and looked out into
the garden. As we were ascending the great stairs, there came dashing
past us a little old man with staring eyes, jumping down three steps at
a time. My Tutor said, in astonishment, 'That is Prince Henri!' We now
stept into a window of the first story, and looked out to see what the
little man had meant by those swift boundings of his. And lo, there came
the King in his carriage to visit him.

"Friedrich the Second NEVER drove in Potsdam, except when on journeys,
but constantly rode. He seemed to think it a disgrace, and unworthy of a
Soldier, to go in a carriage: thus, when in the last Autumn of his life
(this very 1785) he was so unwell in the windy Sans-Souci (where there
were no stoves, but only hearth-fires), that it became necessary to
remove to the Schloss in Potsdam, he could not determine to DRIVE
thither, but kept hoping from day to day for so much improvement as
might allow him to ride. As no improvement came, and the weather grew
ever colder, he at length decided to go over under cloud of darkness,
in a sedan-chair, that nobody might notice him.--So likewise during the
Reviews at Berlin or Charlottenburg he appeared always on horseback: but
during the Carnival in Berlin, where he usually stayed four weeks, he
DROVE, and this always in Royal pomp,--thus:--

"Ahead went eight runners with their staves, plumed caps and
runner-aprons [LAUFER-SCHURZE, whatever these are], in two rows. As
these runners were never used for anything except this show, the office
was a kind of post for Invalids of the Life-guard. A consequence of
which was, that the King always had to go at a slow pace. His courses,
however, were no other than from the Schloss to the Opera twice a week;
and during his whole residence, one or two times to Prince Henri and the
Princess Amelia [once always, too, to dine with his Wife, to whom he did
not speak one word, but