over had proposed to substitute in its place a rope, which, as he pointed out, “could be easily lowered as each girl jumped it”; but his suggestion meeting with no approval, rather with general derision as likely to make a mock of competitors, he retired from all further active participation in our gambollings.
The sons of the Emperor were unusually fortunate in their Governor, who together with his military training possessed the broad-minded, more tolerant liberal spirit of the age, and knew when to sink the martinet in the man. He was able to realize that the formation of character is first of all a development from within, chiefly moulded by the cast of the minds that surround it—a growth of mind modified, not produced, by outward circumstances.
The Crown Prince and his brother Prince Fritz remained only for a very short time under his charge before going on to the university; but the younger Princes were in his care for some years at Ploen, where I was once invited to stay for a few weeks to give Prince Joachim lessons in English.
The “Schloss” where the Princes lived was a large, bright, pleasant country-house standing in pretty but not large grounds, bordered by forest, on the edge of the beautiful Ploener See. From the neighbouring Kadetten-Schule, where the boys undergo a semi-military training, four to six cadets were chosen to share the lessons and amusements of the Princes, always returning to the Schule to sleep.
Ploen is a very small, primitive town, so small that I made the mistake of calling it a “village” and was severely reprimanded by Prince Joachim for my blunder. It had just one long straggling street, with a few shops, and at the end close to the lake stood the Kadetten-Schule, which had formerly been the residence of the old Danish Kings, some of whose bodies lay in the crypt of the little chapel adjoining—a dismal place, full of sarcophagi huddled together in mouldering oblivion.
As the boys were occupied all morning with their other studies, I, who was lodged in the Prinzen-Villa under the fostering care of the wife of the private detective, had nothing to do till one o’clock; and the Governor kindly allowed me to ride one of his two horses every morning—fine big cavalry chargers, which fled away with me in a light-hearted manner over the tree-shaded roads and fields, evidently pleased at my light weight and determined that I should have a good time. I had been allowed to bring my side-saddle from the New Palace: “the very first time,” the Master of the Horse assured me, “that such a privilege had ever been granted to any lady at court.” He jokingly said he hoped it would not establish a precedent, and I said I hoped it would. The stable authorities were always very amiable and courteous, and anxious to gratify my taste for riding.
These morning excursions allowed me to explore a great deal of the neighbourhood, which I should otherwise have been unable to see. All this district of Holstein is rather flat, but beautifully wooded, with many lakes which add a wistful calm beauty to the sleepy landscape. There is something reminiscent of England in the farm-houses and the hedgerows, which are never seen in Brandenburg, where the fields are unfenced.
At one o’clock I was at the Schloss for luncheon, where I had to talk English with the Prince and his cadets—charming boys, some of whom I had met in Potsdam, where they lived. None of the tutors knew any English, though one of them had evidently learned some from a book which professed—without fulfilling its profession—to teach “without a teacher.”
After luncheon the boys, including the Prince, who was then about fifteen, all went with me down to the “island” which lay in the lake, and where farming operations on a small scale were carried on.
A long narrow road led to the island, which was really a peninsula, and there everybody, including the Prince and myself, engaged in the occupation—it being the season of potato harvest—of digging potatoes out of the ground and gathering them into heaps. The coachman and footman and a young officer, a sort of deputy-governor, all assisted in this work. Some geese came along and gobbled up the stray small potatoes we threw in their direction, and the sun, reflected from the lake in front, shone brightly on us as we toiled, girt round with potato-sacks to keep our clothes clean. This participation in agricultural pursuits is a part of the training devised by the Governor, but, as he himself was not an agriculturist, I doubt whether it was really as beneficial as it might have been. The propagation and development of seeds, the rearing of young animals, and the study of their wants, would, I think, have been less monotonous than this incessant potato gathering, which we pursued nearly every afternoon while I was there.