A DAY AT POTSDAM.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3098, 2 June 1881, Page 4

A DAY AT POTSDAM.

There is no place in all the German empire so rich in historical associations and so suggestive as this city of Potsdam. Everything in and ahout the palaces remains just as it was in the days of Frederick the Great—the gorgeous structure that he built at the close of the Seven Years' War to show that his treasury wa3 not impoverished, ami surmounted by three colossal figures holding high in the in the air the Prussian crown, anH representing the kingdoms of Austria, France, and Russia; the little desk in the old palace on which be sketched his grand campaign ; the upright machine where fof> ■ivismv'd n"i+--h his own hands the height of the men drafted for the array service ; the (Jiirrow seats ulong the entry way which hf quietly substituted in the place of the comfortable lounges on which he found the persons in attendance reposing ; the marvellous great hall, built of shells, and pearls and corals, and precious stones, and crystals, and minerals of every sort, at a cost which no one but himself ever knew, every bill bfing burnt as soon as it was paid ; the stand by the old piano, with the music-score written hy his own hand resting there, when he used to play the flute so persistently ; the plain bed in which he slept; the row of chairs with their soft velvet cushions appropriate.:! to his dogs, and on which they slept; the arm-chair in which lie died, marked •with blood drawi by the lancet applied in hie last hours with the hope of prolonging life ; the very stool on which his feet rested at. the moment when the soul of that strange und mighty man went off some-wi'ei'-s into eternity ; nothing has been disturbed for a hundred years, and, unless govne great political revolution sweeps away relics of the past, nothing will be airftiii'bed for ages to come. Outside the palace, perhaps the most interesting memorial is the old windmill, which

owner refused to soil to the Emperor, and which the civil courts forbade him to touch •without the proprietors consent, still standing in its place, and saoredly cherished ns a monument of the law's defiance of despotic right.

There once came to King Nebuchadnezzar the vision of an image, ' whose brightness was exoollent, and the form whereof was terrible' ; portions of which were of fine gold, and silver, and iron, and another made of common clay. It is a fit emblem of the men whose shades continue to haunt the palaces of Potsdam. On a bright, sunny morning of October, we stood in the pleasant little room at Sans-Souci, where Frederick and Voltaire used to dine together, quietly, day after day, discussing over their wine all sorts of topics—the great warrior measuring weapons with his friend in the field of philosophy as rigorously as he ever crossed swords with his foes on the battle-ground (firm friends they were at first, and bitter enemies afterwards). Then we strolled into the snug apartment where the scoffing Frenchmen studied, and meditated, and ■wrote; and everything eoemed so natural and homelike, that we could not help feeling as if the two strange old gentlemen had just stepped out for a moment, and might return again in vropria persona at any time. We do not wonder that Voltaire was so disgusted, when, on his return to Sans-Souci from a journey, he found his little study strangely transformed by the new carvings that adorned the walls. 'What does this mean?' iuquired the astonished Frenchman, not dreaming that the King had been informed of the loose way in which he had been talking while he was abroad, and the wretched return he had made for the hospitalities that had been heaped upon him by his Majesty. ' First, you see the storks,' Frederick replied ; ' they represent the man who goes running about from place to place. Next come the parrots, who rattle away and gossip at random, talking of many things when they should be silent. Then there are the squirrels, who are fond of nibbling nuts and sweetmeats all the time, as you are. And there is the monkey, who looks so much like you ;' all which extraordinary metaphorical embellishment is as fresh today as it ever was, and tells its story as vividly as ever.

There is another great man who has left bis mark here, and he also reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar's image. As wo stood by Frederick's writing-desk, we asked how it happened that, while everything else had been carefully preserved, the cloth lining of tlio desk-lid tvae gono, exposing the rough wnod underneath, and were told that when Ivapoleon took possession of the palace, he tore off the cover and carded it away as a

relic. But this was not the worst thing that he did. Afterwards he visited the tomb whei-e Frederick the threat and his savage old father sleep peacefully side hv side in their coffins, one made of marble and the other of zinc, without any ornament, or emblem, or even a name to distinguish them. Into the tomb Napoleon once came at nvdnighfc in full uniform, and as the pale light of the candle fell upon the plain zinc box that held the bones of the man whose frown was once so terrible, lie luid his hand solemnly upon the coffin, and said, "If this man were alive, 1 should not be here' — thus ackuowledging Frederick to have been even mightier than himself, This was sublime ; but who could have thought that, after this, Napoleon the Great could have Oeen capable of stealing the sword which the ■lead .varrior carried in Iri3 battles, .m-'. which up to that time had tilv.ays lain up" his coffin, the only outward symbol of his .(lory ? But tbis Napoleon did, and tout vhe sword off into France. What became of it no one knows. Frederick never nitwit to be buried where he now lies ; he iiad selected a quiet little grassy nook, by the side of his favourite horse and hi? pet dojr j . whom he loved so much better than he did his father, —not without cause, —but, while the marble monument and the carved burialstones show where his fovourites lie, the place which he chose for his own restingp!nce is vacant.

We might write at length of the splendours it Potsdam, but we have room to spetk .' >nly one t ; ins; further, and that is wh:i f i- ' nown as the Raphael gallery, so credit > hie to the royal personage to whom Prussia is indebted for its existance. 'My people of course cannot travel over all Eimope to see the finest works of art that are scattered about in various places,' he said, ' and I will therefore employ at my own cost the painters I can find to make copies of all Eaphael's pictures, and place them hero in a gallery where everybody can see them ;' which accordingly he did, and wonderfully good copies they are. There are many grand things in this Prussian dominion, livery child mu*t bo sent to school as soon us the age of six years is reached, and if the parents are too poor to buy the books ai d whatever else may be needed, the Government provides them.

The saying, " Excuse haste and a bad pen," has been attributed to a pig which ran away from home. "What does 'Good Friday' mean?" asked one schoolboy of another. You had better go home and rend your ' Robinson Crusoe,''' was the withering reply.

"You see, grandma, we perforate an aperture in the apex, and a corresponding aperture in the base; and by applying 4 " u ~ egg to the lips and forcibly inhaling the breath, the eg? is entirely discharged of its contents." "Bless my soul!" cried the old lady ; what improvements they do make ! Now, in my young days, we just made a hole in both ends and sucked."