"He is yet at The Hague!" cried the Elector. "He ventures thus to brave
me--to oppose himself to my strict injunctions? Or have you not handed him
my letter, Schlieben? Or have you not repeated to him all that I said and
urged you by word of mouth to convey to him? Did you not inform him that I
ordered him, under penalty of my princely and fatherly displeasure, to set
out and journey hither in the speediest manner possible?"

"Your Electoral Highness, I carried out exactly every command given me by
your highness, and the Electoral Prince surely would not have delayed an
instant gratifying the demands of his revered father, if many concurring
circumstances had not made it impossible for him. The Electoral Prince has
himself more narrowly pointed out and explained these in this letter,
which he has charged me to deliver to your highness."

And with a deep inclination the chamberlain extended a large sealed packet
to his Sovereign.

George William took it with angry impatience, and so curious was he to
read the contents of the packet that he hastily tore off the cover, the
sooner to arrive at its purport. A closely written sheet of fine paper was
within the cover, and the Elector unfolded it with eager hands. But after
looking at this a long while, he shook his head passionately, and the
flush of anger on his countenance grew yet darker.

"What sort of new-fashioned, disrespectful handwriting is this?" growled
George William. "This is not at all as if it had been written by a
prince's son, but by a scholar who had carefully sought to crowd as many
lines as possible into one page in order to save paper. A prince should
never renounce or be unmindful of his own dignity. But it is unbecoming,