Berlin, June 7, 1840.—Yesterday evening the King had reached the end, the death-rattle set in, and there was that motion of the hands, mechanical but terribly symptomatic, which common people call "picking things up to pack." He was unable to speak, and seemed to have lost consciousness.
I am extremely guarded here in discussing either politics or religion; I hear a great deal, and listen with interest to anything I am told about the state of this country, but I am not imprudent in my answers. Prudence here is easier than in France, where it is almost impossible not to be overcome by the contagion.
I have just been told that the Emperor Nicholas has arrived; I do not think he will see the King, from whose room all are excluded, though he is still alive.
Berlin, June 8, 1840.—The King died yesterday at twenty-two minutes past three in the afternoon, surrounded by all his family, whose hands he clasped without speaking. He died in the arms of the Princess of Liegnitz, for whom the royal family and the public are showing the greatest respect. She has perfectly fulfilled her duty. The Prince Royal fell fainting at the moment when the King expired. Grief is general and widespread. The Emperor Nicholas is said to have lamented loudly; he arrived from Warsaw in thirty-seven hours, accompanied only by General Benkendorff.
Yesterday evening the troops took the oath to the new Sovereign. The Government has issued a proclamation everywhere of the death, which is touching, simple, and perfectly correct.
I have been to Frau von Schweinitz to hear news of Princess William, who takes the title of Princess of Prussia, as her husband is heir-presumptive, though he is not Crown Prince, since he is the brother, not the eldest son, of the new King. The will had been opened. The late King has ordered a military funeral; his body will be placed in the cathedral by day, and, in accordance with his wishes, taken to Charlottenburg by night, to be placed in the same vault with the late Queen, his wife. I have just visited this monument in the park of Charlottenburg, yesterday afternoon. It is enclosed in a temple in ancient style at the end of a long walk of pines and cypress-trees; within the temple, between two candelabras beautifully carved in white marble, is to be seen, upon a raised platform, a bed of white marble, upon which the Queen's statue is gracefully and simply recumbent, wrapped in a long robe with open sleeves. The bare arms are crossed over the breast, the neck is bare, and the head wears only the royal circlet. It is a masterpiece, especially for the drapery, which is remarkably true to nature, and the best work of Rauch, the Prussian sculptor, whom the late Queen had educated at Rome. The general effect is beautiful, but too mythological; the religious touch which death imperiously claims is wanting.
The King will lie in state to-morrow and the day after in military dress. The body will not be embalmed, and will be interred on Thursday, in accordance with his orders. He also ordered the pastor to pray at his bedside immediately after his death and aloud in the middle of his family, exhorting them to peace and concord. This was done, and it is to be hoped that his prayer will be heard, though there is no immediate appearance that any one heeds it. The immediate withdrawal of the Prince of Wittgenstein and of Herr von Lottum was expected, but the new King begged them not to leave him, at any rate at first. The public is glad to see the father's old servants thus retained by the son, and the more so as their relations with the Prince Royal were not entirely agreeable and an earlier change was expected. It is to be hoped that there will be no change at all. Such is the summary of a conversation on my part with M. Bresson and Lord William Russell; after which I went to see the collection of pictures belonging to Count Raczynski, the best private collection in Berlin. A large cartoon by a pupil of Cornelius of Munich, representing one of the great battles of Attila, is the best thing there. Tradition relates that the battle was continued in the sky, and that those who perished go on fighting, like shadows in the clouds, at certain times of the year; the two battles are to be seen in the cartoon. The design is admirable and well executed. The rest of the collection did not greatly attract me.
Madame de Lieven writes from Paris: "We have had a curious week here: the Ministry was defeated in the Chamber upon the law for the funeral of Napoleon, and attempted revenge by sowing discord between the Chamber and the country; after more mature reflection, and after the proposed subscription had been a partial failure, the matter was dropped, and the letter of Odillon Barrot concluded it.
"The Duc d'Orléans, in Africa, has had a fresh attack of dysentery, which was very dangerous for twenty-four hours."
Now an extract from a letter from the Duc de Noailles: "Notwithstanding the complete fiasco concerning the Imperial remains, Thiers retains his strength, and will become complete master. The proposal of Remilly,[ [103] which was in sight, will not come up for discussion this year. There will be no dissolution between the two sessions; after next session dissolution is certain; the new Chamber will be moderately, but certainly more Left. Thiers is determined neither to urge on nor to check progress in this direction; to guide the movement, but to follow it, as he thinks that strength and the majority are there to be found. He hopes to be able to restrain the Left, but in case of failure he has determined rather to obey it than to resign. So we are definitely embarked upon this path, and this is the great event of the winter; the consequences, but not the rapidity, of the movement can be calculated."