at such ingratitude and absurdity.  But the officers of the Royal Guard went so far as to draw up a petition to the King, requesting him to dismiss all the officers of the corps who were not noble, and Blucher was applied to to present this petition to the King.  Blucher read the paper and ordered all the officers to assemble on the parade and thus addressed them:  “Gentlemen, I have received your paper and read its contents with the utmost astonishment.  All the remarks that I shall permit myself to make on the subject of this petition, are, that it makes me ashamed of being myself a noble.”  He then tore the petition in pieces and dismissed them.

I have been once at the theatre. Lodoiska was performed.  I saw a number of fine women in the boxes.  Formerly gallantry and pleasure were the order of the day at Berlin; but now, the Court assuming the exterior of rigid morality and strictly exercised religious devotion, mystic cant and dullness is the order of the day.  The death of the Queen of Prussia threw a great damp over the amusements of the Court.  At Charlottenburg, which is a short distance from Berlin, in the grounds there, they point out to you her favourite spots.  She was a most amiable Princess, and united to great personal beauty so much grace and fascination and so many good qualities that she was beloved by all, and the breath of calumny never ventured to assail her.

The alley Unter den Linden in the evening presents a great assemblage of Cyprian nymphs, who promenade up and down; they dress well and are perfectly well behaved.  There is a superb establishment of this kind at Berlin, which all strangers should visit out of curiosity.  It is not indispensably necessary to sacrifice to the Goddess whose worship is carried on there; but you may limit yourself to admire the temple, call for refreshments and contemplate the priestesses.

There is the utmost moral and political freedom at Berlin, and tho’ the Government is despotic in form, freedom of speech is allowed.  An army of 200,000 men admirably disciplined and armed, of these a garrison of 15,000 men in Berlin and as many at Potsdam, are quite sufficient to keep in check all attempts to put political theories and speculations into practice.  Indeed, it would be very difficult to excite a revolt; the various German governments are carried on very paternally and the government is scarcely felt; habits of obedience have taken deep root among the people, and a German peasant as long as he gets enough to eat and drink, does not conceive himself unhappy, or thinks of a change.  I could not help laughing the other day, at a little village near Berlin, when I heard some peasants talking of Napoleon; one of them, who seemed to have some partiality for him, exclaimed, meaning to blame him for leaving Elba:  Aber warum verliess er seine Insel?  Er hatte doch zu essen und trinken so viel er wolte (Why did he leave Elba?  He had surely plenty to eat and drink).  This good peasant could not conceive that a man blessed with these comforts should like to change his situation or run any risks to do so.