Japhet, what hosts of them have marched across Existence, in that
manner;--and where is the memory that would, even if it could,
speak of them all!--

We will hope the mind of our little Fritz has powers of
assimilation. Bayle-Calvin logics, and shadows of Versailles,
on this hand, and gunpowder Leopolds and inarticulate Hyperboreans
on that: here is a wide diversity of nutriment, all rather tough
in quality, provided for the young soul. Innumerable unconscious
inferences he must have drawn in his little head! Prince Leopold's
face, with the whiskers and blue skin, I find he was wont, at
after periods, to do in caricature, under the figure of a Cat's;--
horror and admiration not the sole feelings raised in him by the
Field-Marshal.--For bodily nourishment he had "beer-soup;"
a decided Spartan tone prevailing, wherever possible, in the
breeding and treatment of him.

And we need not doubt, by far the most important element of his
education was the unconscious Apprenticeship he continually served
to such a Spartan as King Friedrich Wilhelm. Of whose works and
ways he could not help taking note, angry or other, every day and
hour; nor in the end, if he were intelligent, help understanding
them, and learning from them. A harsh Master and almost half-mad,
as it many times seemed to the poor Apprentice; yet a true and
solid one, whose real wisdom was worth that of all the others, as
he came at length to recognize.



Chapter III.