crime, through his royal prerogative, an act of high treason; for, being an officer of the guard, he was immediately responsible to the person of the king. He was bound to this duty by an oath; but he had, nevertheless, carried on interdicted negotiations with foreign ministers and envoys to farther the escape of the crown prince. For such a crime, he deserved to be torn with hot pincers and hung; but, in consideration of his family, he should only be decapitated. In announcing this decision to Katte, he told the messenger to say the king was sorry; but that it was better for him to die, than to banish justice from the world. All attempts to soften this rigorous judgment proved useless. In vain did Katte's grandfather, the venerable field-marshal Count von Wartensleben, entreat for mercy, merely to give him an opportunity to turn the heart of his grandchild to repentance and humility. The mind of the king remained unmoved, and he repeatedly declared, it were better a criminal should die according to justice, than that the world or the kingdom should go to destruction.

ATTE listened to his sentence with great fortitude. Heedless as his former conduct had been, he appeared in a very estimable light, during the few days left him to prepare for death. The grief he caused his parents and grandfather, by

a catastrophe thus recklessly produced, shook his inmost soul; the letters in which he bade them farewell, were written with genuine repentance. He acknowledged with humility that this great misfortune had come upon him, because he had striven only for earthly honours, and forgotten the Most High; but that he saw in this, the love of our heavenly Father, who had conducted him to light by a dark path.

On November 4th, he was taken to Custrin. This was done by command of the king, who would not leave the most rigorous means untried to soften the heart of his son. He explicitly ordered the execution to take place under Frederick's eyes. The morning of the 6th of November was fixed for it. Frederick was compelled to step to the window:

on seeing his friend in the midst of a military guard, between two clergymen, he exclaimed, "Forgive me, my dear Katte!" "'Tis sweet to die for so amiable a prince!" the other replied. The procession then proceeded to the wall, and, strengthened by Christian solace, Katte received the fatal stroke. Frederick's strong constitution gave way; fainting fits seized him, and the integument which had encompassed his heart, now burst asunder.

But the sword which had annihilated Katte, was still suspended over the head of the prince. The worst fears were yet entertained for his life, in consequence of the continued threats of the king. The excitement which his imprisonment had produced throughout the whole of Europe, was immense; and intercessions in his favour became more pressing and numerous.

In September, the king had sent a circular to the foreign courts, to inform them, in general, of the steps he had taken, and that, after the examinations had closed, a minute explanation should be given. Even before this circular was drawn up, remonstrances were received from several courts, designed to turn the king to a milder view of the matter. Austria interfered with particular energy, as it wished to bind the presumptive heir, as well as the father, to its interests by its mediation. Of greater consequence was the remonstrance made against the sentence of death, by the king's most esteemed and most worthy officers. To the declaration, however, that the king was not empowered to punish by death. the electoral prince of Brandenburgh, without a formal process before the emperor and the German empire, he replied that the emperor and empire should not prevent him from proceeding against the "Crown Prince of Prussia" in his sovereign kingdom, according to his pleasure. But Major Buddenbrock bared his breast before him, and heroically exclaimed, "If your majesty demand blood, take mine; his you shall not have, as long as I dare speak!"

If the voice of policy was not to be wholly despised; if the voice of honour was a sound to be respected by the war

like king, one other circumstance occurred which inclined his heart towards mercy with far greater power. This was the long-hoped-for intelligence of the repentance of his son. Muller, a regimental chaplain, who had gone with Katte from Berlin to Custrin and prepared him for death, was at the same time commissioned by the king, to operate on Frederick's mind as much as possible; and, if he showed himself willing to receive his spiritual exhortations, to remain with him for some time. After that fearful blow, Frederick needed but too much a higher consolation. The chaplain had brought him a precious legacy from Katte, consisting of a number of written remonstrances, which were to lead his princely friend to a similar road of grace, by which he had died reconciled with life. He dwelt with particular emphasis upon the fact that he considered his misfortunes as a punishment from God; he conjured the prince, to acknowledge the evidence of the hand of God in it, and submit to the will of his father; but particularly to renounce the belief of fatality. The latter was the most important point, and the king, also, had pressed the chaplain to combat most zealously this belief of Frederick, before attempting aught else.

Frederick, principally through Katte's misguidance, had adopted that doctrine of fatality, which, as is well known, was proscribed with unmerciful severity by a particular sect, and representing mankind individually destined to salvation or damnation from eternity, acknowledged consequently no guilt of the human heart. Thus Frederick viewed all he had hitherto done, merely as the fiats of Providence, over which he had no control. But now his mind was open to receive a better impression; he still struggled zealously in defence of his old creed; but the scripture-proof eloquence of the chaplain at last proved victorious. He felt himself vanquished, and complained that now his thoughts left him. After he had recovered the balance of his mind, his first expression was, that he had not only caused his own misfortunes, but also the death of his friend. The chaplain admitted this; he purposely showed him the whole extent of his

guilt, but at the same time referred him to the Divine Mercy, which was nevertheless, greater than all guilt. But Frederick thought, that even if God should forgive him, he had offended the king to such a degree as to leave no hope of pardon, and, undoubtedly, the chaplain had come to prepare him for death, like Katte.

With much difficulty did the good man stifle this suspicion; and he was only able to restore Frederick's composure by a powerful prayer. He begged him to take up his residence in the castle, that he might see him as often as possible. Muller immediately received an apartment over that of the prince; and the latter frequently gave the sign for him to come as early as six o'clock in the morning. On one occasion the chaplain had lent him a religious book; when it was returned, he found a drawing on a blank leaf, representing a man kneeling beneath two crossed swords, under which were written the words of the Psalmist: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none on earth that I desire. besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

After Katte's execution, the chaplain made daily reports to the king, of Frederick's change of feeling. He also added, that the prince was in danger of falling into a state of melancholy through his unabated grief, and he begged the king, not to refuse the word of mercy to his son much longer. The king lent a willing ear to this counsel, and the chaplain was permitted to communicate to Frederick, on November the 10th, that, although the king could not yet wholly forgive him, he would be released from his close arrest, and should only keep within the walls of the fortress; also, that henceforward he would be employed as counsellor in the Board of Domains at Custrin. The reception of the parental forgiveness unnerved Frederick so much, that he doubted the truth of the news, and could not repress his tears. The sight of the king's handwriting only could convince him.

At the same time, however, the king had demanded of the prince to take an oath, that he would, in future, render the