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twice been flogged with the knout!
* * * * * *
The following day [the Czar] visited all the sights of Berlin, amongst others the very curious
collection of coins and antiques. Amongst these last named was a statue, representing a
heathen god. It was anything but attractive, but was the most valuable in the collection. The
Czar admired it very much, and insisted on the Czarina kissing it. On her refusing, he said to
her in bad German that she should lose her head if she did not at once obey him. Being
terrified at the Czar's anger she immediately complied with his orders without the least
hesitation. The Czar asked the King to give him this and other statues, a request which he
could not refuse. The same thing happened about a cupboard, inlaid with amber. It was the
only one of its kind, and had cost King Frederick I. an enormous sum, and the consternation
was general on its having to be sent to Petersburg.
This barbarous Court happily left after two days. The Queen rushed at once to Monbijou,
which she found in a state resembling that of the fall of Jerusalem. I never saw such a sight.
LITERARY AND OTHER NOTES I 86
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Everything was destroyed, so that the Queen was obliged to rebuild the whole house.
Nor are the Margravine's descriptions of her reception as a bride in the principality of Baireuth less amusing.
Hof was the first town she came to, and a deputation of nobles was waiting there to welcome her. This is her
account of them:
Their faces would have frightened little children, and, to add to their beauty, they had
arranged their hair to resemble the wigs that were then in fashion. Their dresses clearly
denoted the antiquity of their families, as they were composed of heirlooms, and were cut
accordingly, so that most of them did not fit. In spite of their costumes being the 'Court
Dresses,' the gold and silver trimmings were so black that you had a difficulty in making out
of what they were made. The manners of these nobles suited their faces and their clothes.
They might have passed for peasants. I could scarcely restrain my laughter when I first
beheld these strange figures. I spoke to each in turn, but none of them understood what I said,
and their replies sounded to me like Hebrew, because the dialect of the Empire is quite
different from that spoken in Brandenburg.
The clergy also presented themselves. These were totally different creatures. Round their
necks they wore great ruffs, which resembled washing baskets. They spoke very slowly, so
that I might be able to understand them better. They said the most foolish things, and it was
only with much difficulty that I was able to prevent myself from laughing. At last I got rid of
all these people, and we sat down to dinner. I tried my best to converse with those at table,
but it was useless. At last I touched on agricultural topics, and then they began to thaw. I
was at once informed of all their different farmsteads and herds of cattle. An almost
interesting discussion took place as to whether the oxen in the upper part of the country were
fatter than those in the lowlands.
* * * * *
I was told that as the next day was Sunday, I must spend it at Hof, and listen to a sermon.
Never before had I heard such a sermon! The clergyman began by giving us an account of all
the marriages that had taken place from Adam's time to that of Noah. We were spared no
detail, so that the gentlemen all laughed and the poor ladies blushed. The dinner went off as
on the previous day. In the afternoon all the ladies came to pay me their respects. Gracious
heavens! What ladies, too! They were all as ugly as the gentlemen, and their head-dresses
were so curious that swallows might have built their nests in them.
As for Baireuth itself, and its petty Court, the picture she gives of it is exceedingly curious. Her
father-in-law, the reigning Margrave, was a narrow-minded mediocrity, whose conversation 'resembled that
of a sermon read aloud for the purpose of sending the listener to sleep,' and he had only two topics, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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