[ 232 ] 



STEPHENSIANA. 



[jVpril 1 , 



NO. XXVUI. 



NINON. 



THIS celebrated woman \v;is accns- 

 lomed to speak thus of herself: 

 " No sooner Iiad I arrived at the age of 

 reason, than I hegan to examine which 

 of the two sexes had been most favoiu ed 

 in this particular by nature ; and, per- 

 ceiving tliat the men were not the worst 

 used in the distribution, 1 from that 

 moment became a man." 



MADAME DF, BREGY, 



Tlie niece of the learned Saumaise made 

 the following epitaph on a nobleman at 

 tlie court of France; and it must be 

 allowed that it possesses much bril- 

 liancy, and considerable point :— 

 Cy-dissous git un grand seigneur. 

 Qui de son vivant nous apprit, 

 Ou'nn hoinine pent vivre sanscreur, 

 Et niuurir sans rendre I'esprit. 



NEW ANECDOTES OF FRFDEKIC II. 



■From a Swedish Mainiscnpt, in the 

 Library of Upsal. 



Fredeiic II. both in his capital and 

 at Potsdam, consecrated his love of, and 

 his taste for, the arts, by means of seve- 

 ral pompous monuments. In respect 

 to his own person, however, hedis|)laycd 

 a noble simj)iicity ; while his mind was 

 continually nourished witii tile lessons 

 of philosophy, &c. his zeal for the bene- 

 fit of his subjects was so grcst, that he 

 rose before day, for the purpose of 

 yielding himself up to tlie cares of 

 government. The life and reign of this 

 monarch have already given biith to an 

 immense number of works ; but I glean 

 in a fertile field, and I write concerning 

 » prince who, during half a century, 

 fixed the attention of all Europe. 



Among the members of ihe diplomatic 

 •corps residing at Berlin, when Frederic 

 •ascended the throne, was M. de Rn- 

 deiischild. The new king soon disco- 

 vered his merit, and immediately admit- 

 ted him into the little social circle, in 

 which a taste for letters and the arts 

 seemed to take away all distinction 

 between the monarch and those by 

 whom he was surrounded. 



When his majesty entered on his first 

 campaign, he invited Rudenschitd to 

 repair thither by means of the following 

 short billet: — 



Venez, ce sera pour lier encore plus 

 ietroitcnient couoaissance, 



Fredbric 



The minister immediately repaired to 

 the camp of the hero, whom he soon 

 beheld in the full blaze of glory, the 

 vanquisher of Austria, and the centre of 

 all the granil ncgoeiations of Europe. 

 The Marshal de Belle-Isle soon after 

 arrived on the part of France ; Spain 

 sent thither the Count de Montejo, and 

 England Lord Hindfort. But jarring 

 interests could not be conciliated, and 

 the war recommenced. 



During one of his friendly and confi- 

 dential conferences with the Swedish 

 minister, the king proposed an alliance 

 oflensive and defensive between their 

 respective states. In consequence of 

 this plan, Prussia and Sweden were to 

 act in concert against Russia, and the 

 latter were to make a descent in Cour- 

 land with an army of 20,000 men, whicii 

 were to be maintained at the expense 

 of his Prussian majesty. But, the court 

 of Stockholm insisting on another plan, 

 Frederic ever after declined any political 

 connexion with that power, which soon 

 after sent letters of recal to Rudens- 

 child. This was resented by his ma- 

 jesty with exactly the same warmth as 

 if it had been a declaration of war ; and 

 the minister was allowed to remain. 



Soon after this, he was entrusted with 

 a delicate and important negociatiou : 

 this was no other than a demand, on the 

 part of his court, of a princess of the 

 house of Prussia, for Adolphus Frederic, 

 prince royal of Sweden ; together with 

 an alliance oflensive and defensive 

 against Denmark. The king, who had 

 been greatly mortified on a former occa- 

 sion, in respect to a political connexion 

 between the two crowns, declined the 

 political, but acceded to the matrimo- 

 nial, alliance; at the same time pro- 

 posing the Princess Amelia, who was 

 the youngest of his sisters. But Adol- 

 phus Frederic preferred the Princess 

 Louisa Ulrica, and the king at length 

 acceded, although the Empress Eliza- 

 beth of Russia had expressed a desire 

 to marry the Grand Duke, her nephew, 

 to this lady. On the completion of the 

 negociation, Rudenschild obtained the 

 title of envoy extraordinary ; and, on 

 presenting his letters of credence, Fre- 

 deric addressed him in the following 

 flattering terms; — "I am exceedingly 

 happy that jour court has thouglit fit to 

 confer 



