to ensue thereupon; who produced defensively his instruction from
head-quarters; but got only rebukes for such heavy-footed clumsy
procedure, so unlike Diplomacy with its shoes of felt;--and, in
brief, was turned out of the Diplomatic function, as unfit for it; and
appointed to manage certain Orange Properties, fragments of the
Orange Heritage which his Majesty still has in those Countries. This
misadventure sank heavily on the spirits of Luiscius, otherwise none of
the strongest-minded of men. Nor did he prosper in managing the Orange
Properties: on the contrary, he again fell into mistakes; got soundly
rebuked for injudicious conduct there,--"cutting trees," planting trees,
or whatever it was;--and this produced such an effect on Luiscius, that
he made an attempt on his own throat, distracted mortal; and was only
stopped by somebody rushing in. "It was not the first time he had tried
that feat," says Pollnitz, "and been prevented; nor was it long till he
made a new attempt, which was again frustrated: and always afterwards
his relations kept him close in view:" Majesty writing comfortable
forgiveness to the perturbed creature, and also "settling a pension
on him;" adequate, we can hope, and not excessive; "which Luiscius
continued to receive, at the Hague, so long as he lived." These are the
prose facts; not definitely dated to us, but perfectly clear otherwise.
[Pollnitz, ii. 495, 496;--the "NEW attempt" seems to have been "June,
1739" (_ Gentleman's Magazine,_ in mense, p. 331).]

Voltaire, in his Dutch excursions, did sometimes, in after years, lodge
in that old vacant Palace, called VIEILLE COUR, at the Hague; where he
gracefully celebrates the decayed forsaken state of matters; dusky vast
rooms with dim gilding; forgotten libraries "veiled under the biggest
spider-webs in Europe;" for the rest, an uncommonly quiet place,
convenient for a writing man, besides costing nothing. A son of this
Luiscius, a good young lad, it also appears, was occasionally Voltaire's
amanuensis there; him he did recommend zealously to the new King
of Prussia, who was not deaf on the occasion. This, in the fire of
satirical wit, is what we can transiently call "giving alms to a
Prussian Excellency;"--not now excellent, but pensioned and cracked; and
the reader perceives, Luiscius had probably more than one razor, had not
one been enough, when he did the rash act. Friedrich employed Luiscius
Junior, with no result that we hear of farther;