This morning Humboldt came of his own accord to suggest that before going to lunch with the Princess of Prussia I should see the Island of the Peacocks, with its beautiful conservatories and curious menagerie. The King's boatmen and the overseers of the botanical gardens waited on me, and I brought back some splendid flowers. We reached the Princess of Prussia a little late. After lunch she took me in the pony chaise to see Glinicke, the pretty villa of Prince Charles, who is at this moment at the baths of Kreuznach with his wife. Thence I returned to Potsdam and to Berlin by the railway.
_Berlin, July 3, 1840._--Madame de Perponcher came for me to-day at four o'clock. She took me through the rooms of her mother, the Countess of Reede, so that we avoided the crowd and were the first to reach the Court of Condolence which was held by the Queen at Berlin. She was seated on her throne in a room hung with black; the shutters were closed, and the room was lighted only by four large candles, according to old etiquette. The Queen wore a double veil, one streaming behind and the other lowered before her face; all the ladies were dressed in the same way, and it was impossible to distinguish faces. Each made a silent bow before the throne, and that was all. It was strangely sad and lugubrious, but a very noble and imposing ceremony. The men who passed before the throne were in uniform, with their faces uncovered, but any gold or silver on their uniforms was covered with black crape.
_Berlin, July 5, 1840._--My stay at Berlin has now come to an end. I went to high mass this morning, a less meritorious act here than elsewhere, on account of the admirable music.
_Herzberg, July 6, 1840._--I started this morning from Berlin by railway as far as Potsdam, where I stayed for lunch. When I got out of the train I found a footman with a very affectionate farewell letter from the Princess of Prussia. I have been spoilt to the last moment. I feel most deeply grateful, for every one has shown me a kindness and a cordiality which I had only experienced in England before now.
I have finished the _Stories of the Merovingian Age_, by M. Augustin Thierry. The book is not without interest or originality; as a picture of strange and unknown customs, it is valuable. I have begun the Dialogues of Fénelon on Jansenism, a book which is little known and almost forgotten, though admirably written, and sometimes as striking as the _Provincial Letters_.