At M. Bresson's dinner Herr von Humboldt, as usual, relieved every one else of the trouble of talking, which is very convenient for lazy persons like myself.
_Berlin, May 31, 1840._--To-day is an important day in the history of the country, and one of which the King awaits the issue with impatience. The Great Elector ascended the throne on May 31, 1640, Frederick the Great on May 31, 1740, and I am assured of the existence of a prophecy that the Crown Prince will ascend the throne on May 31, 1840.
I went to mass in a church which is hardly a church: it is a great round hall, covered with a single cupola, surrounded with columns, with a large window between each column. Nothing could be less solemn and less Catholic.
I dined with Prince Radziwill, who took me up after dinner to the rooms of his late mother, where I had been a great deal in my youth. They are no longer used, and are just as I had known them. Nobody could be kinder than all the Radziwills have been to me. The daughter of the late Princess married the nephew of Prince Adam Czartoryski. She is now in the country. The two Radziwill Princes married two sisters, the daughters of Prince Clary. They all had plenty of children, and live as a very happy family in the same house.
I had gone home after the dinner, when I received a message from Princess William, the King's daughter-in-law, asking me to pay her a visit. I found her alone, and she kept me talking for an hour. The latest news of the King was very sad. He told his chief groom of the chamber that he had no hope of recovery, but would not speak of his death for fear of affecting those about him. He is said to have insisted upon being carried to-morrow to the window of his room, at the moment of the solemn function which has been largely advertised, and the preparations for which he has supervised from his bed. The Crown Prince, in the King's name, is to lay the first stone of a monument in honour of Frederick II. at the entry of the promenade Unter den Linden. The whole garrison, all the state bodies, and all Berlin, are to be present at this ceremony. Stands have been erected for the public. My son and myself are to find a place on the balcony of Princess William, where the Princesses will be.