| ing the castle. Altogether, the building is an interesting relic of feudal times; and adds a prominent and striking feature to the beautiful and romantic scenery by which it is surrounded. Adjacent to the castle, and a little further inland, stand the ruins of a small chapel, formerly used as a place of devotion by the garrison. In this now roofless building, many kings of Scotland are said to be interred; and the circumstance is not improbable, from its proximity to what was undoubtedly a royal residence, although it is well known that Iona was the favourite cemetery of the Scottish monarchy for many generations. Zion, we hoped had been thrown for ever "to the moles and to the bats." Upon this subject we must regard in a very different point of view those who, from their infancy, have been trained in such errors, and those who, though they either knew or might have known better, allow themselves heedlessly to be misled into them. We may have a high respect and consideration for the one class, who, with their imperfect lights, may yet be truly holy and religious men, which we canOn the south side of the chapel there is a projecting not bestow upon the others, who, from igno- rock, in front of which I paused for a few minutes, to rance or indifference, do not prize their supe-contemplate the landscape beneath and around me. rior advantages, but suffer themselves to be Immediately before me was the chapel, roofless and "tossed to and fro, and carried about with dilapidated, and voiceless as the dust which slept within its walls. A little beyond it was the castle, every wind of doctrine." It is not, indeed, tall, prominent, and commanding; but silent also as only to the superstitions of old times, that the grave of its inhabitants. Farther off, and gleammen of this unstable mind and imperfect ing with the rays of the setting sun, was the bright and azure sea, with here and there a white sail flitting knowledge are exposed. There are no less gracefully along. Farther off still were the Island of new follies and delusions every day rising, Lismore, and the lofty hills of Morvern, rearing their which can only be thoroughly guarded bold summits towards the sky. It was a prospect against by a sound and steady acquaintance eminently fitted to impress the imagination; and I lingered on the spot, until warned by the rapidly de with God's revealed word, which, when duly scending sun that the day was already spent, and applied to the understanding and the conscience, is able to dispel all material error and all deadly sin. Let us all then lay to heart the admonition of Paul to Timothy-"Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." THE YOUNG PEDLAR OF CORRIVOULIN.* Or are they mortal tones I hear?" I HAD been ferried across the Connel, and was retracing my steps towards Oban, when I turned aside to take a parting look of the ruined castle of Dunstaffnage This ancient fortress, once the residence of Scotland's kings, stands on a rocky promontory at the entrance of Loch Etive. The building is of a square form, the sides of a commanding height, although the masonry be rude; and the rock having been hewn away on a line with the walls, and made precipitous like them, the castle must, before the invention of gunpowder, have been nearly impregnable. In former days, it was accessible only by a drawbridge, which fell from a little gateway; but, at present, the interior is approached by a staircase of a considerable altitude, as it is necessary to surmount the rock before reach From "Principles and Practice; or, Stories for Young People." Edinburgh: Oliphant and Son.--London: Hamilton, and Co., 1840. 12mo, pp. 244.-This small volume blends amusement with serious instruction, and may safely be placed in the hands of those for whose especial perusal it was written.-ED. that I was a stranger in the land which I so much admired. As I turned to depart, I was startled by the sound of vocal music issuing from the chapel. I had carefully examined the building but a short time before, and had seen no one within it; neither had I observed any one approach it afterwards. Still, it was quite possible that some lonely worshipper might, unperceived by me, have sought the altar of his forefathers, there to unite his remembrance of them with his adoration of the Most High. Curious, therefore, to see the person who had chosen that spot for his evening devotions, I drew near to the chapel on tip-toe, and looked in; but there was no one to be seen: nothing was visible but the bare walls, and the long grass, and the tombstones of the dead. The music, however, continued to issue slowly and solemnly from the centre of the building. The language was the Gaelic, the voice apparently that of a young man about twenty years of age, and the theme one of the psalms of David. I am not superstitious, but I felt a singular sensation creep over my frame, at thus "hearing a voice, but seeing no man." I walked round the chapel, then retired to my former station beside the rock, and surveyed every spot within sight, but no human being was to be seen. Yet the voice rose and fell in sweet melody as before, distinctly and audibly from the roofless sanctuary. "Can this be real?" said I to myself," or is my imagination deceiving me? Has some disembodied spirit returned to the scene of its former devotions, to renew the orisons of departed years, or may this strange phenomenon be traced to natural causes? At all events, I shall await the issue." looked towards the setting sun; its disk already touched the horizon, and I was still three miles from Oban; but the idea of leaving the spot without solving the mystery, if it were capable of solution, was even more disagreeable than that of a star-light journey amidst the mountain solitudes of a strange land. I had scarcely adopted the resolution of awaiting the event, when the music ceased, and there was silence for about two minutes; after which the voice again rose distinctly, in the form of slow and solemn prayer to the Almighty. The words were Gaelic as before, but I knew enough of that language to be aware that the invisible worshipper was wrestling powerfully with his God. My wonder and curiosity increased as the prayer proceeded; for, besides praying for his own salvation, and that of his kindred and fellow-men, the unseen speaker pleaded earnestly for the success of bible and missionary, and tract and school societies, and in a more especial manner of the Society for support of Gaelic Schools in the Highlands. "If this be a disembodied spirit," thought I, "it must be one which has not been long disengaged from the flesh, for these societies are but of recent institution; or the inhabitants of the unseen world possess a most accurate knowledge of what is doing in this." In the mean time the voice ceased altogether, silence sunk afresh upon the scene, and I seemed to feel more than ever alone. I again approached the chapel, and looked in ; but it was empty as before; and the stillness, which on my first arrival had pervaded that resting place of the dead, now appeared to be doubly solemn. The voice at any rate was gone; and the invisible worshipper seemed to have departed, without leaving me the slightest clue to the mystery which had perplexed me. I was about to quit the spot with my astonishment unabated, and my curiosity wound up to the highest pitch, when I perceived a slender lad appear from behind the rock, in front of which I had been standing; and, without observing me, bend his steps towards the Connel. "Can this be the invisible worshipper?" said I, half aloud; "and has the phenomenon, which has puzzled me, been merely the consequence of an echo?" I smiled involuntarily, as this idea flashed across my mind; and, calling after the young man, I requested him to stop. He did so, and approached me. He was dressed in the light blue coat and trousers of the West Highlands, and had a bonnet of a somewhat darker shade upon his head. He had a staff in one hand, and supported with the other a large and heavy box, which was also suspended from his neck by a broad strap of black leather. It struck me, as he drew near, that there was something very ingenuous in his appearance; he bowed respectfully when I addressed him; and, in reply to my inquiry if he had been praising God and praying aloud behind that rock, he acknowledged with a modest blush, and in good English, that he had. Although the tone and language were different, the voice was the same as that which had proceeded from the chapel. "Were you aware," said I, "that a remarkable echo existed in this place?" "An echo, sir," replied the youth; "I do not know what it means." I explained to him, in as few words as possible, the philosophy of sound, and the nature of an echo; and then inquired if he were really ignorant that such a thing existed there. He assured me that he was, and went on to say, that he was comparatively a stranger to the place; for that, though he sometimes went to Oban to dispose of his wares, he had visited Dunstaffnage but once before; and that then he was alone, without any one to point out the curiosities of the neighbourhood, if there were any. "And how did you happen," said I, "to come here this evening?" "As to that, sir," replied he, " I have no objections to own it. In the house where I slept last night, there was no opportunity for prayer or praise; and, as I was to pass this night at Connel ferry, I thought I might again be interrupted. So I turned out of the road to seek a quiet nook, where, unseen and unheard, as I thought, except by God himself, I might sing his praises, and seek his face in prayer." "And do you always use the Gaelic language in your devotions?" "In general I do, sir. It is the language of my country, and of my father's house; and when my piety is the warmest, it always finds vent in Gaelic." There was so much good sense, as well as devotional feeling, in the young man's answers, that I felt The illusion was complete. Every syllable of the replies issued distinctly from the chapel, as if the youth himself had been there. While I was musing on the influence which such a phenomenon might have had on superstitious minds, and the uses to which it might have been put in the days of popish delusion, the youth himself rejoined me; and, willing that he should be sensible of the effect which his devotional exercises had had upon me, I told him that I should now retire behind the rock, and answer any questions that he might put to me, when he would find that my voice would proceed, not from the place where I was standing, but from the chapel. "It would ill become me, sir," said the youth, in his usual modest manner, "to put questions to a gentleman like you: but, if you will repeat a verse of scripture, it will come to the same thing." I accordingly went behind the rock, and repeated the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses of the eleventh chapter of St. John; "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this?" When I returned to the spot where I had left my new acquaintance, I found him with his mouth open, his eyes staring, and his hands folded upon his breast. Although conscious of the effect which the same phenomenon had produced upon myself, I could not help smiling at his astonishment; and addressing him in a gay tone, I said, "That is a curious thing, and in the days of Romish superstition might have been turned to some account." "Yes, sir," replied the youth, solemnly; "and the days are not long gone by when, if I had heard such thing without previous warning, I should have fled from the spot with horror, and been haunted all the rest of my life with imaginary terrors." "And would it not have had the same effect now?" Because, blessed be God, I know something of his grace as manifested in Christ Jesus-something of his holy word, and watchful care over his people; and I could not believe that he would allow the course of nature to be inverted, for the poor object of frightening a travelling merchant out of his wits." "Well said, my good lad. But how long may it be since you thus became acquainted with the way of salvation?" "About four years, sir. I was then but fifteen years old, and was the first of my father's house who saw the way of acceptance clearly. But, praised be God, he has called us all now. Some are in heaven already; and the rest, I have cause to hope, are on the way to it." "And through what means, may I ask, was the salvation of your household brought about?" "By means, sir, of a society, which has been to the Highlands as rivers of waters in a dry place, and pools in the desert; and which has been to me, and to many others, the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation-the Society for support of Gaelic Schools." "Indeed! I have heard of that society, and felt interested in its operations; its object was so simple, and so consonant with sound reason. The evening is fast closing in, and yet I should be glad to hear the little story of your family. Suppose we sit down on this green sward for half-an-hour, while you relate the particulars." "I cannot refuse your request, sir, without doing great injustice to a society to which I owe much, and dishonour to God to whom I owe everything. My family history is short, but, like most family histories, it contains much that is sad as well as much that is joyous. "I am a native of Corrivoulin, in the parish of Ardnamurchan, and, like the other inhabitants, was very ignorant of God and of his holy child Jesus. My father was a fisherman, and was a good deal from home; but, as he could not read himself, and the parish-school was at a distance, he never once thought of having his children instructed. We had no bible in the house, nor indeed any other book; and, when my father was at sea, we had nothing to do, but spent our whole time in idleness and folly. On the subbath, my father and the other men about the place, sat on the beach, and told wild and romantic tales about apparitions and the second-sight; or strolled about the hills and glens in the neighbourhood, in search of the bits of pointed flint, called elf-arrowheads, which they very seldom found. "Things were in this state at Corrivoulin, when the Society for support of Gaelic Schools offered us a teacher, on condition that we provided the necessary accommodation. The idea of having their children taught, without trouble or expense, operated powerfully on many; though they would have been better pleased had the instruction been in English, as it would have been more likely to forward the temporal interests of their offspring. Poor people! they did not then know the value of their own souls, and how could they feel for the souls of their children? However, the accommodation was provided, and the teacher came. He was a middle-aged man, of simple and unassuming manners, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' Immediately on his arrival, he assembled all the people in the school-house, and told them that he should only remain two years amongst them; so that, if they ever wished to acquire the ability to read the bible in their own language, now was the time. Some of the parents, and many of the children, were that very day enrolled as scholars. My father, who had taken no share in providing the school-house, was with difficulty prevailed upon to enter me. I was his eldest child, but he had two others quite capable of instruction. These he was urged to enrol at the same time; but his answer was -he would see how Norman came on. "I have already said that the teacher was a man of God. As a necessary consequence, he was a man of prayer. He prayed with his scholars at meeting, and at parting; and on the sabbath he read the scriptures, and prayed with as many of the neighbours as chose to come together; for the parish-church was too distant for the people to attend it regularly, even if they had had the inclination. ing, and doing my duty to my parents; but my conscience soon told me that all this would not do; I was unhappy still. I opened my mind to the teacher; he was deeply interested in the disclosure, and pointed me to the Lamb of God. He read with me, reasoned with me, and prayed with me; and, by the blessing of God's Holy Spirit on these means, I was led to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to me in the gospel. I need scarcely say that I soon found peace, as well as joy, in believing. "You will readily conclude, sir, that, having thus found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, I was most anxious to make him known to my dear parents too. Respecting this, however, I had serious difficulties to contend with. My father was an upright and high-spirited man, who was addicted to no vice, and paid every man his own, and therefore imagined that he had no need of a Saviour. My mother was entirely devoted to him, and to her family, and supposed herself as sure of heaven as her neighbours. I had great perplexity of mind, therefore, as to how I should introduce the subject of religion to them. I was not yet sixteen, and but a child in Christian experience myself, though feelingly awake to their spiritual danger. I mentioned the matter to the teacher, who advised me to pray much for my parents in private. This I did for several months, often retiring to the hills, and behind the rocks on the sea-shore, for the purpose; but still things remained in the same state. The teacher then advised me to try to set up family worship, assuring me that God would not fail to bless his own word to my parents' souls. I spoke to my father on the subject, who coldly answered me that I might do as I pleased, and with this negative permission I was constrained to be satisfied. Accordingly, one evening when the family were all assembled, I placed the table in the middle of the floor, and laid my bible and psalmbook upon it. I then sat down, and said, 'Let ns worship God.' I read a psalm and sung it, no one offering to join me, though none attempted any interruption. I then read a chapter of scripture, and afterwards knelt down and prayed, while the rest continued sitting and looking on. I prayed, however, for them all, one by one; but, when I rose from my knees, no remark was made, though I inwardly thanked God that I had been enabled to erect an altar to his praise in my father's house. "The next evening, things went on precisely in the same way; but, on the following one, a happy change took place. I sang, indeed, and knelt down alone; but as I was praying for my parents, my father rose from his seat and knelt down beside me; my mother slid down upon her knees beside the cradle, which she was rocking at the time; the children, one after another, did the like, and before I concluded we were all (the little baby excepted) on our knees together, for the first time in our lives, around a throne of grace. That night, sir, I could not sleep-do not wonder if I add, I even wept for joy. "On the ensuing evening, after I had read the psalm, my father said, Norman, if you will give out the line, as the precentor does in the church, we will sing along with you.' This was a pleasant proposal, sir, to me, as you may well suppose; but, when our united voices arose in praise to God, my delight was so great that it almost choked my utterance. My parents, however, did not observe my emotion; or, if they did, they took no notice of it. "As soon as any of the scholars were able to read the bible, that blessed book was furnished to them by "Matters went on in this manner for five or six the society at a very low price, and the teacher began weeks, when one evening, after family worship was to explain its all-important contents. I had not been over, my father sat down by the fire, and gazed inmany months at school, when I became very uneasy tently on the burning peats for some time; after in my mind. The bible told me that I was a sinner, which he suddenly turned round to me, and said, under the wrath and curse of God, and that I couldNorman, you must teach me to read.' "Will you not of myself recover his favour. I endeavoured to please him, indeed, by reading the bible, and pray not go to school?' said I. 'No,' said he, 'I have not time for that. I must earn my family's bread; but you shall teach me in the evenings, and we shall begin to-night. So bring the spelling-book.'-Words, sir, cannot express the pleasure with which I obeyed that command. My mother and the children went to bed, but my father and I sat up till midnight, and before we parted he knew all the letters. Next night, and for several nights afterwards, I tried him with syllables; but in learning these he made so little progress, that I became discouraged, and he himself began to despond. I again applied to the teacher for advice. He smiled, and said, 'It is because there is no meaning in the syllables; give him the bible at once.' Accordingly I laid by the spelling-book, and put the Gaelic Testament into my father's hand. There, as the teacher foresaw, he found ineaning in every word, and soon made rapid progress. In four months he could read as well as myself. Happy was I, sir, the first time I saw my dear father go to sea, with his bible in the boat; and happier still when, a few evenings afterwards, as we were going to family worship, he said, Norman, I will now be the priest of my family myself. He accordingly gave out the psalm, read a chapter, and prayed. I could not doubt, sir, after his prayer that evening, that my father was a converted man. my father pressed him for one moment to his lips, and then made for the door. Again we saw him in the door-way, his own shirt and the baby's nightgown both in flames; but, just as he was in the act of springing over the threshold, the roof fell in, and my poor father and little Murdoch perished together before our eyes." Here the poor youth again became greatly agitated; he covered his face with his hands, and the tears gushed out between his fingers. After pausing a few minutes, however, he regained his composure, and continued his narrative. "It was an awful sight, sir, and yet I could not but feel assured that their souls were safe. My father was a converted man; and little Murdoch, who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, would receive the full benefit of the Redeemer's purchase. My poor mother, however, was not prepared to see things in that light; she beheld her idols perish, and fell senseless to the ground. In that state she was carried to the house of a neighbour; and, as soon as she awoke to a full consciousness of her loss, fever and delirium ensued. For three weeks we despaired of her life; and when the fever happily subsided, the deepest melancholy took possession of her mind. In vain the teacher and I endeavoured to shew her, from the bible, that all things work to "While my father was thus learning to read the Gaelic scriptures for himself, he had sent all the rest of his children to school, who were capable of instruc-gether for good to them that love God;' and that, if tion; so that the whole family might, in some measure, be said to be 'asking the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward,' excepting my poor mother. Her heart continued wholly engrossed by her domestic concerns. Indeed (why should I conceal it?), the fine manly form of my father, and the beauty of my infant brother Murdoch, who was my father's very image, were the subjects of her idolatry, and seemed to have left no room in her heart for God. God, however, did not say of her, as he said of Israel of old, Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.' No; he had purposes of mercy towards her, though it was through much tribulation,' that she was to enter into the kingdom of God.' He smote her idols, in order that he might bring her to himself." At this part of his narrative the young man became much affected, but, after drawing two or three deep sighs, he was able to proceed. "When I had acquired the art of reading, I became very fond of books; but I soon found the books printed in Gaelic to be so few in number, that, if I wished to pursue my favourite pastime, I inust of necessity learn English. This, with the assistance of the teacher, I very easily accomplished; and then, indeed, sir, I found a new world opened up to me. There was no subject I could mention, on which there did not seem to be a book. The teacher lent me several, and amongst others the Pilgrim's Progress. I had sat up very late, one night, reading that singular book, and had just lain down in bed, when I perceived the smell of burning straw. Thinking that one or two straws had been accidentally put into the fire with the peats, I paid no attention to it at first; until a blaze of light, and a crackling noise, made me start out of bed, when I discovered, with horror and amazement, that the cottage was in flames. I awoke my father and mother, and rushed naked out of doors. My parents, and the other children, who were able, immediately followed. We stood gazing in silence on the destruction of our little property, when all at once my mother, with a fearful shriek exclaimed, 'O! where is my little Murdoch' 'Have you not got him?" said my father; and, with the air of a distracted man, he rushed into the burning dwelling. Through the window, the glass of which had been first broken, and then melted by the heat, we saw him approach the blazing bed, and snatch the infant, still asleep, in his arms. Awakened by the sudden shock, the poor child began to cry, and she would only come to Christ as her Saviour, she Her "In consequence of my father's death, the support of the family became my duty, of course. I was too young to turn fisherman, and so I sold my father's share of the boat to his partner in the business. With the money I bought this box in Glasgow, and filled it with such articles as I thought would be easily disposed of in the West Highlands. A kind Providence has blessed the attempt, and I have been enabled to maintain my brothers and sisters in tolerable comfort. My eldest sister goes to service at next term, and one by one I hope to see the rest settled in the world. I have now been to Glasgow, getting my box filled for the fourth time; and I am taking home a few pounds in my pocket besides. But it is a wandering life, sir, and I do not like it much; for it often shuts ine out from the means of grace, and exposes me to company in which my principles are laughed at, and my Maker's name profaned. When I grow a little stronger, therefore, I mean to buy a boat at Greenock, and, with the help of my next brother Dugald, set up for a fisherman-the fittest trade, as I think, for my father's son. But it is growing very dark, sir, and I reckon you are even a greater stranger hereabouts than myself." Such was the story of this Highland youth, to which, I need scarcely say, I listened with the greatest interest. At first I was much struck by the correctness of his style of speaking, as being so unlike that of the Scottish peasantry in the Lowlands; but I immediately recollected that English was with him an acquired language, and that therefore he would neces sarily speak it with more precision, and less slovenliness, than is customary with country people in using their vernacular tongue. When he had finished his narration, although there was little more light re maining than sufficed to let us see each other distinctly, I requested him to show me the contents of his box. I was anxious to make him some recompense for his lost time, as well as to possess myself of some memorial of an interview which had interested me so much. From amidst a profusion of articles, all useful in their way, I selected a very neat penknife, with two blades and a tortoise-shell handle, on one side of which a little plate of silver was inlaid. For that I gave him five shillings, although the price he set upon it was but four; and we parted, never to meet again, in all probability, on this side of the grave. I have that penknife still; indeed I never use any other; nor can I look upon it without thinking of my interview, at Dunstaffnage, with the young and pious pedlar of Corrivoulin. THE LATE KING OF PRUSSIA'S WILL. TO THE MINISTER OF STATE. BERLIN, June 19.-I order two precious documents to be published, which, according to the will of my late royal father and sovereign, were put into my hands on the day of his death, one of which is headed "My last will," and the other begins with the words" On you, my dear Frederick," both of which are in his own hand writing, and dated December 1, 1837. The heroic king of our great period has departed, and gone to his rest, and lies by the side of the bitterly-lamented and never-to-be-forgotten *.I pray to God, the Ruler of hearts, that he will cause the love of the people, which supported Frederick William III. in the hour of danger, which cheered him in old age, and allayed the bitterness of death, to pass to one, his son and successor, who has resolved, with the help of God, to walk in his father's ways. Let my people pray with me for the preservation of the blessings of peace-that precious jewel which he gained for us with the sweat of his brow, and cherished with truly paternal care. This I know, should that jewel ever be in danger-which God forbid-my people will rise up like one man at my call, as his people did at his call. Such a people is worthy and qualified to hear royal words like these which are here subjoined, and will perceive that I cannot mark the commencement of my reign by any more worthy act than the publication of these. "My time in trouble, my hope in God. "On thy blessing, Lord, all depends. Grant it me now also, for this work! "When this my last will shall come to the sight of ardently beloved children, of my dear Augusta, and my other beloved relations, I shall no more be among them, but be in the number of the departed. May they, when they see the well-known inscription, "Remember the departed,' &c., remember me too, in love. "May God be a merciful and gracious judge to me and receive my spirit, which I commend to his hands. Yes, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. In another world thou wilt unite us all again; may thou in thy mercy find us worthy of it, for the sake of thy dear Son, Christ our Saviour. By the same decree of God I have had to undergo heavy and hard trials, as well as in what personally concerned me (especially), when seventeen years ago he deprived me of that which was the dearest to me, as by the events which The queen Louisa is intended, but no substantive is mentioned in the German. The adjective being in the feminine sufficiently points out who is meant. so heavily afflicted my dear country. But, on the other hand, God (eternal thanks to him for it) las permitted me to live to witness glorious and happy events. Among the first, I reckon above all the struggles gloriously endured in 1813, 1814, and 1815, to which the country owes its restoration. Among the latter, the happy and consolatory, I especially reckon the cordial love and attachment and the prosperity of my children, as well as the especially unlooked-for providence of God in having given me, in my fifth decennium, a companion for life whom I feel myself bound publicly to acknowledge as a model of faithful and tender attachment. My true, sincere, last thanks to all who have served the state and me with judgment and fidelity. My true, sincere, and best thanks to all who were devoted to me with affection and fidelity, and by their personal attachment. I forgive all my enemies, even those who, by malicious language and writings, or by deliberate misrepresentations, have endeavoured to deprive me of the confidence of my people, which is my greatest treasure, but, God be thanked, very seldom with success. "Berlin, December 1, 1837. "To you, my dear Frederick, the burden of the government now comes with the whole weight of its responsibility. By the position in which I have now placed you in respect to this charge, you are the better prepared for it than many other successors to thrones. It is now your part to fulfil my just hopes and the expectation of the country; at least endeavour to do So. Your principle and feelings are a security to me that you will be a father to your subjects. Beware, however, of the love of innovation, now so general; beware of impracticable theories, so many of which are now in vogue; but, at the same time, beware of an equally fatal obstinate predilection for what is old; for it is only by avoiding these two schools, that really useful changes proceed. "The army is now in a remarkably good condition since its re-organization. It has fulfilled my expectation in war, so also in peace. May it never lose sight of its high destination, but may the country likewise never forget what it owes to it. "Do not neglect to provide for, as far as lies in your power, concord among all the European powers; but, above all, may Prussia, Russia, and Austria never separate from each other. Their union is to be regarded as the key-stone of the great European alliance. "My dearly-beloved children all give me reason to expect that they will distinguish themselves by a useful, active, moral, pure, and godly life, for that alone brings down blessings, and in my last hours this shall give me comfort. "May God guard and protect my dear country. "May God guard and protect our homes now and for ever. 66 May he bless you, my dear son, and your government; may he grant you strength and judgment to carry it on, and give you conscientious councillors and servants and loyal subjects. Amen! (Signed) "FREDERICK WILLIAM. "Berlin, December 1, 1837." |