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CHAPTER VII.

1835-1837.

Visit to Mecklenburg, and Tour through Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, etc.-First Visit to England.-Residence at Brussels.-Letters of the Prince.

IMMEDIATELY after their confirmation the young princes went to Mecklenburg to congratulate their greatgrandfather the Grand-duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin* on the 50th anniversary of his accession to the grand dukedom, and after a few days spent there they joined their father at Berlin. Their stay at that capital at this time was short, as they merely remained till they had been presented at court, after which the princes set out on a tour by themselves, visiting Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Pesth, and Ofen, and returning to Coburg toward the end of May. On the 11th of that month, while they were still at Berlin with their father, the Duchess of Gotha writes to congratulate the duke on the success which the young princes had every where met with. "I was sure beforehand," she says, "that you would be received with the accustomed friendship at Berlin. It is really most satisfactory that our dear children bore every thing so well, and have every where made themselves so beloved by their nice manners. May God con

*The mother of the princes was the daughter of Duke Augustus of Saxe-Gotha, by his first marriage to a daughter of this Grand-duke of Mecklenburg.

tinue to protect them. I would, however, entreat you not to tire them too much, particularly by too much traveling at night "*

Again, on the 23d of the month, the duchess speaks of the arrival of the young princes in Vienna; of their having visited their uncle, Count Mensdorff, and their aunt at Prague,† and with true grandmotherly solicitude repeats the expression of her anxiety that they should not be over-fatigued.

At every court which they visited they seem to have been received with the greatest kindness, and to have created the most favorable impression.

On the 27th of June, after the return of the duke to Coburg, where the princes had already been settled some time, the duchess writes: "Accept my best thanks for your dear letter of the 24th, announcing your safe arrival at the lovely Rosenau. Thank God that you and the dear children arrived quite well after your great fatigues; but I must scold you a little for having made your journey back such a fatiguing one."

It would be interesting to read the Prince's own account of their tour, and of the impression made upon him by all he saw; and he doubtless wrote fully to his parents and his grandmother during his travels; but the following short letter to his step-mother, the new Duchess of Coburg, is the only letter of his written at this time that is at present forthcoming:

* A caution, the Queen remarks in a note, very necessary, but which was unheeded.

† Count Mensdorff had been transferred, at this time, from the command of the fortress of Mayence to that of the troops at Prague.

"Berlin, May 9, 1835.

"DEAR MAMMA,-I hope you will excuse my long silence, for I can assure you that I have never been able to find a moment's leisure; even the time for this letter is, as it were, snatched from other things, for we are already expected at a review.

"I can assure you, dear mamma, that we are quite well, and that we have enjoyed ourselves in Mecklenburg as well as in Berlin. It requires, however, a giant's strength to bear all the fatigue we have had to undergo. Visits, parades, rides, déjeûners, dinners, suppers, balls, and concerts follow each other in rapid succession, and we have not been allowed to miss any of the festivities."

At the beginning of July the young princes went to Gotha for their grandmother's birthday, and she writes on the 12th, when they had again left her, to express the pleasure it had given her to have "the dear children with her on her birthday." After describing the manner in which it had been kept, she adds: "I would willingly have kept them longer with me, but good Florschütz said it was not good that their studies should be longer interrupted, particularly as they were to have a new master to-morrow. I submitted, and must again assure you how very much I was pleased with the dear young people. May God protect them!".

Early in 1836 we find the Prince corresponding from Gotha, where the brothers were again residing, with Dr. Seebode, director of the Gymnasium (High School) at Coburg; and his letters give us a pleasing insight into the literary nature of his pursuits, and the philosophical and inquiring turn of his mind, even at this early period of

his life, for he was not yet seventeen years old. On the 5th of February he writes:*

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VEREHRTESTER HERR CONSISTORIALRATH,-In spite of all the distractions (Zerstreuungen) of our life here at Gotha, in spite of innumerable visits, in spite of the howling of the wind and storm, in spite of the noise of the guard under our windows, I have at length completed the frame-work (Disposition) of my Essay on the Mode of Thought of the Germans (die Anschauungsweise der Deutschen); and I send it with this for your perusal, begging you not to judge too severely the many faults which your critical eye will doubtless discover in it.

"You have my work without head or tail (ohne Kopf und Schwanz). I have sketched no form (kein Skelett entworfen) of introduction or conclusion, thinking it unnecessary, for my desire is to trace through the course of History the progress of German civilization (Culturgang der Deutschen) down to our own times, making use, in its general outlines (in allgemeinen Umrissen), of the division which the treatment of the subject itself commands.

"The conclusion will contain a retrospect of the shortcomings of our time, with an appeal to every one to correct those shortcomings in his own case (jene Mängel zuerst aus seinem eignen Benehmen zu verbannen), and thus to set a good example to others.

"If this idea should not please you, pray write and tell me so, and I will then endeavor to find another conclusion.

"Gotha, 5th February, 1836."

*See original of this and following letters in Appendix C.

Again, on the 12th of March, he writes:

"We have heard with great regret of the accident you have met with. I would not believe it at first, but your letter confirms it. I hope you may very soon be well again.

"The work on the History of German Literature gets on but slowly, owing to our Gotha engagements (Gothaischen Verhältnissen). Accept again my heartfelt thanks for the correction of my last essay. As I go on with it, I will change and modify the points on which you raise some doubts.

"The time for our departure to Brussels draws certainly nearer, yet still so far off that we shall, under any circumstances, first go once more to Coburg, probably toward Easter. We shall then certainly call at your house, and hope to find you perfectly recovered.

"Gotha, March 12, 1836."

Another letter to the same gentleman, written from Brussels toward the end of the year, relates to the same subject. It is therefore inserted here, though somewhat out of its proper place. On the 18th of December the Prince writes:

Accept my most heartfelt thanks, as well for your kind letter as for the beautiful present that accompanied it. You could not have given me any thing that would have pleased me more than this great work. I intend immediately to study and to follow the thoughts of the great Klopstock into their depths (dem grossen Klopstock in seinen Tiefen nachzudenken), though in this, for the most part, I do not succeed.

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