special
incitement--a particular cause. However contradictory it may sound, he
was already engaged in another love affair; this time with the lady who
afterwards became his wife, Maria Thekla Michaelina Rorer, of Polish
extraction. The beginning of his intimacy with her dates, strange to
say, from the early part of the year 1797, just previous to his journey
to Koenigsberg with his uncle. Soon after passing his "referendary"
examination, he was moved to the Supreme Court at Berlin, as a
consequence of the promotion of his uncle to be _geheimer
Obertribunalsrath_ in the capital. But before proceeding to Berlin to
take up his residence there, Hoffmann made a tour through the Silesian
mountains, partly with an eccentric friend of his uncle's and partly
alone, finishing up the trip by an inspection of the art treasures of
Dresden, where he was specially struck with works by Correggio and
Battoni (mentioned in _Der Sandmann_, &c.) and Raphael. One very
remarkable incident which happened to him during this trip must not be
passed over in silence. He was induced to play at faro at a certain
place where he stopped, and though he was perfectly unskilled in the
game, yet he had such an extraordinary run of good luck, that he rose
from the table with what was for him a small fortune. Next morning
the event made so deep and powerful an impression upon his excitable
temperament--his mind was so awed by the magnitude of his
winnings--that he vowed never to touch a card again so long as he lived;
and this vow he faithfully kept. In the tale _Spielerglueck_ ("Gambler's
Luck") we find the incident recorded in the experiences of Baron
Siegfried; and in the third volume of the _Serapionsbrueder_ (Part VI.)
he relates some of the very amusing eccentricities of his travelling
companion, which are too long to be given here.

We next find Hoffmann in Berlin, where, whilst the impressions which he
had brought back with him from his excursion were still fresh upon his
mind, he began to revel in the enjoyment of the picture-galleries and
other opportunities for cultivating his taste in art. Here he saw
really how little his own skill in painting was developed; he threw
away colours, and took up drawing again like a beginner. His position
in a professional regard now took a more favourable turn. Freiherr
von Schleinitz, the first president of the court to which Hoffmann
was attached, was a friend of Hippel's; and both he and the genial
good-hea