2O2 Humboldt's Letters. 



am not personally acquainted with Fallersleben. The 

 whole passage, however, in the " Wbchenstube,"* 

 alluding to the King and to me, must be changed. 

 It is based on a false rumor. I never have shown 

 the book to the King, and I never applied to the 

 King to quash the indictment, as he is always rather 

 irritated against Prutz, on account of the old cousin 

 from Kulmbach.f It was Minister Bodelschwingh who 

 showed' it to the King. On this Minister Prutz had 

 personally made a very favorable impression, which it 

 was easy to improve. Prutz had applied to have the 

 indictment quashed, and besides he would hardly have 

 been found guilty on all the counts. It was thought 

 advisable, as he made the first advances to the Govern- 

 ment, not to rebut him. The passage " that our King 

 should be asked," must also be discarded, as it would 

 give offence to the Grand Duchess, who likes to show 

 her independence of Prussia at every opportunity. So 

 she protected, not long ago, the Chancellor Mueller, when 

 the Court of Weimar was diplomatically reproached for 

 allowing a journal here prohibited to be read in a read- 

 ing-room at Weimar. The Court of Weimar replied 



* Die " Politische" Wochenstube by Robert Prutz, a satire on Schel- 

 ling and his philosophy. Tr. 



f The cousin referred to is Margrave Albrecht, of Brandenburg, 

 who, in Prutz's drama^ "Moritz von Sachsen," is represented as 

 a " Robber Knight." Tr. 



