an army in the Seven Years' War, which, accustomed by
Frederic the Great to constant victory, grew careless, so that, in after
days, it lost many battles from over-confidence. All the minutest
details were present to his mind, and I had reason to admire his
excellent memory.

"I had the great advantage," said he, "of being born at a time when the
greatest events which agitated the world occurred, and such have
continued to occur during my long life; so that I am a living witness of
the Seven Years' War, of the separation of America from England, of the
French Revolution, and of the whole Napoleon era, with the downfall of
that hero, and the events which followed. Thus I have attained results
and insight impossible to those who are born now and must learn all
these things from books which they will not understand.

"What the next years will bring I cannot predict; but I fear we shall
not soon have repose. It is not given to the world to be contented; the
great are not such that there will be no abuse of power; the masses not
such that, in hope of gradual improvement, they will be contented with a
moderate condition. Could we perfect human nature, we might also expect
a perfect state of things; but, as it is, there will always be a
wavering hither and thither; one part must suffer while the other is at
ease, envy and egotism will be always at work like bad demons, and party
strife will be without end.

"The most reasonable way is for every one to follow his own vocation to
which he has been born, and which he has learned, and to avoid hindering
others from following theirs. Let the shoemaker abide by his last, the
peasant by his plough, and let the king know how to govern; for, this is
also a business which must be learned, and with which no one should
meddle who does not understand it."

Returning to the French papers, Goethe said: "The liberals may speak,
for when they are reasonable we like to hear them; but with the
royalists, who have the executive power in their hands, talking comes
amiss--they should act. They may march troops, and behead and hang--that
is all right; but attacking opinions, and justifying their measures in
public prints, does not become them. If there were a public of kings,
they might talk.

"For myself," he continued, "I have always been a royalist. I have let
others babble, and have done as I saw fit. I understood my course, and
knew my own object. If I committed a fault as a single individ