I can only remember at present with reverence; and, as I write not
romance, but facts, I shall here briefly say, ours were mutually the
first-fruits of affection, and that to this hour I regret no
misfortune, no misery, with which, from a stock so noble, my destiny
was overshadowed.

Amid the tumult inseparable to occasions like these, on which it was
my duty to maintain order, a thief had the address to steal my
watch, and cut away part of the gold fringe which hung from the
waistcoat of my uniform, and afterwards to escape unperceived. This
accident brought on me the raillery of my comrades; and the lady
alluded to thence took occasion to console me, by saying it should
be her care that I should be no loser. Her words were accompanied
by a look I could not misunderstand, and a few days after I thought
myself the happiest of mortals. The name, however, of this high-
born lady is a secret, which must descend with me to the grave; and,
though my silence concerning this incident heaves a void in my life,
and indeed throws obscurity over a part of it, which might else be
clear, I would much rather incur this reproach than become
ungrateful towards my best friend and benefactress. To her
conversation, to her prudence, to the power by which she fixed my
affections wholly on herself, am I indebted for the improvement and
polishing of my bodily and mental qualities. She never despised,
betrayed, or abandoned me, even in the deepest of my distress; and
my children alone, on my death-bed, shall be taught the name of her
to whom they owe the preservation of their father, and consequently
their own existence.

I lived at this time perfectly happy at Berlin, and highly esteemed.
The King took every opportunity to testify his approbation; my