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BERLIN AND SANS-SOUCI

OR,

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS FRIENDS

An Historical Romance

BY

L. MUHLBACH

AUTHOR OF JOSEPH II. AND HIS COURT, FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS COURT, MERCHANT OF BERLIN, ETC.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY MRS. CHAPMAN COLEMAN AND HER DAUGHTERS

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I. The Alchemist's Incantation II. The Old Courtier III. The Morning Hours of a King IV. The Pardoned Courtier V. How the Princess Ulrica became Queen of Sweden VI. The Tempter VII. The First Interview VIII. Signora Barbarina IX. The King and Barbarina X. Eckhof XI. A Life Question XII. Superstition and Piety

BOOK II.

     I. The Two Sisters
    II. The Tempter
   III. The Wedding-Festival of the Princess Ulrica
    IV. Behind the Curtain
     V. A Shame-faced King
    VI. The First Rendezvous
   VII. On The Balcony
  VIII. The First Cloud
    IX. The Council of War
     X. The Cloister of Camens
    XI. The King and the Abbot
   XII. The Unknown Abbot
  XIII. The Levee of a Dancer
   XIV. The Studio
    XV. The Confession
   XVI. The Traitor
  XVII. The Silver-Ware
 XVIII. The First Flash of Lightning

BOOK III.

     I. The Actors in Halle
    II. The Student Lupinus
   III. The Disturbance in the Theatre
    IV. The Friends
     V. The Order of the King
    VI. The Battle of Sohr
   VII. After the Battle
  VIII. A Letter Pregnant with Fate
    IX. The Return to Berlin
     X. Job's Post
    XI. The Undeceived
   XII. Trenck's First Flight
  XIII. The Flight
   XIV. "I will"
    XV. The Last Struggle for Power
   XVI. The Disturbance in the Theatre
  XVII. Sans-Souci

BOOK IV.

     I. The Promise
    II. Voltaire and his Royal Friend
   III. The Confidence-Table
    IV. The Confidential Dinner
     V. Rome Sauvee
    VI. A Woman's Heart
   VII. Madame von Cocceji
  VIII. Voltaire
    IX. A Day in the Life of Voltaire
     X. The Lovers
    XI. Barbarina
   XII. Intrigues
  XIII. The Last Struggle

BERLIN AND SANS-SOUCI

OR,

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS FRIENDS.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.

THE ALCHEMIST'S INCANTATION.

It was a lovely May morning! The early rays of the sun had not withered the blossoms, or paled the fresh green of the garden of Charlottenburg, but quickened them into new life and beauty. The birds sang merrily in the groves. The wind, with light whispers, swept through the long avenues of laurel and orange trees, which surrounded the superb greenhouses and conservatories, and scattered far and wide throughout the garden clouds of intoxicating perfume.

The garden was quiet and solitary, and the closed shutters of the castle proved that not only the king, but the entire household, from the dignified and important chamberlain to the frisky garden-boy, still slept. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of hasty steps. A young man, in simple citizen costume, ran up the great avenue which led from the garden gate to the conservatory; then cautiously looking about him, he drew near to a window of the lower story in a wing of the castle. The window was closed and secured with inside shutters; a small piece of white paper was seen between the glass and the shutter. A passer-by might have supposed this was accidental, but the young burgher knew that this little piece of paper was a signal. His light stroke upon the window disturbed for a moment the deathlike silence around, but produced no other effect; he struck again, more loudly, and listened breathlessly. The shutters were slowly and cautiously opened from within, and behind the glass was seen the wan, sick face of Fredersdorf, the private secretary and favorite of the king. When he saw the young man, his features assumed a more animated expression, and a hopeful smile played upon his lip; hastily opening the window, he gave the youth his hand. "Good-morning, Joseph," said he; "I have not slept during the whole night, I was so impatient to receive news from you. Has he shown himself?"

Joseph bowed his head sadly. "He has not yet shown himself," he replied in a hollow voice; "all our efforts have been in vain; we have again sacrificed time, money, and strength. He has not yet appeared."

"Alas!" cried Fredersdorf, "who could believe it so difficult to move the devil to appear in person, when he makes his presence known daily and hourly through the deeds of men? I must and will see him! He MUST and SHALL make known this mystery. He shall teach me HOW and of WHAT to make gold."

"He will yield at last!" cried Joseph, solemnly.

"What do you say? Will we succeed? Is not all hope lost?"

"All is not lost: the astrologer heard this night, during his incantations, the voice of the devil, and saw for one moment the glare of his eye, though he could not see his person."

"He saw the glare of his eye!" repeated Fredersdorf joyfully. "Oh, we will yet compel him to show himself wholly. He must teach us to make gold. And what said the voice of the devil to our astrologer?"

"He said these words: 'Would you see my face and hear words of golden wisdom from my lips? so offer me, when next the moon is full and shimmers like liquid gold in the heavens, a black ram; and if you shed his blood for me, and if not one white hair can be discovered upon him, I will appear and be subject to you.'"

"Another month of waiting, of patience, and of torture," murmured Fredersdorf. "Four weeks to search for this black ram without a single white hair; it will be difficult to find!"

"Oh, the world is large; we will send our messengers in every quarter; we will find it. Those who truly seek, find at last what they covet. But we will require much gold, and we are suffering now, unhappily, for the want of it."

"We? whom do you mean by we?" asked Fredersdorf, with a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders.

"I, in my own person, above all others, need gold. You can well understand, my brother, that a student as I am has no superfluous gold, even to pay his tailor's bills, much less to buy black rams. Captain Kleist, in whose house the assembly meets to-night, has already offered up far more valuable things than a score of black rams; he has sacrificed