ence.

Incident First fell out some six years ago or more,--in 1719, year of
the Heidelberg Protestants, of Clement the Forger, when his Majesty
"slept for weeks with a pistol under his pillow," and had other
troubles. His Majesty, on one of his journeys, which were always many,
was taken suddenly ill at Brandenburg, that year: so violently ill, that
thinking himself about to die, he sent for his good Queen, and made a
Will appointing her Regent in case of his decease. His Majesty quite
recovered before long. But Grumkow and the old Dessauer, main aspirants;
getting wind of this Will, and hunting out the truth of it,--what a
puddling of the waters these two made in consequence; stirring up mire
and dirt round the good Queen, finding she had been preferred to them!
[Wilhelmina, i. 26, 29.] Nay Wilhelmina, in her wild way, believes they
had, not long after, planned to "fire a Theatre" about the King, one
afternoon, in Berlin City, and take his life, thereby securing for
themselves such benefit in prospect as there might be! Not a doubt of
it, thinks Wilhelmina: "The young Margraf, [Born 1700 (see vol. v. p.
393.)] our precious Cousin, of Schwedt, is not he Sister's-son of that
Old Dessauer? Grandson of the Great Elector, even as Papa is. Papa once
killed (and our poor Crown-Prince also made away with),--that young
Margraf, and his blue Fox-tiger of an Uncle over him, is King in
Prussia! Obviously they meant to burn that Theatre, and kill Papa!" This
is Wilhelmina's distracted belief; as, doubtless, it was her Mother's
on the day in question: a jealous, much-suffering, transcendently
exasperated Mother, as we see.

Incident Second shows us those, two rough Gentlemen fallen out of
partnership, into open quarrel and even duel. "Duel at the Copenick
Gate," much noised of in the dull old Prussian Books,--though always in
a reserved manner; not even the DATE, as if that were dangerous, being
clearly given! It came in the wake of that Hanover Treaty, as is now
guessed; the two having taken opposite sides on that measure, and got
provoked into ripping up old sores in general. Dessau was AGAINST King
George and the Treaty, it appears; having his reasons, family-reasons
of old standing: Grumkow, a bribable gentleman, was FOR,--having also
perhaps his reasons. Enough, it came to altercations, objurgations
between the two; which rose ever higher,--rose at length to
wager-of-battle. Indignant challenge on the part of the Old Dessauer