250 R. M.Johnston Frederick William might have done worse, as the sequel proved, than take the French adventurer as his financial adviser, and this was doubtless the opinion of Mirabeau himself. His letter to Frederick William is a high pitched but fine piece of rhetorical flat- tery and advice ; it merits perusal as it is most characteristic of the writer. There is some internal evidence that tends to show that this letter was addressed by one Illumine to another. In the early days of the new reign it was expected that great authority would be exercised by Prince Henr)^ brother of the late king, but Frederick William soon showed that, even if he was not disposed to do the hard work of his station, he had no intention of sharing any of its authority. Neither with the King, nor with Prince Henry, to both of whom he made all possible advances, did Mira- beau succeed in improving his position ; he was too French and too heroic a remedy for the ills of Prussia. Before the coolness of the King, and because of his equivocal unofficial position, Mirabeau soon found himself at a standstill ; a fortnight after the accession he writes : "It is becoming very difficult to observe the King. He is intro- ducing the strictest ceremonial of German etiquette. It is said that he will not receive foreigners, at all events for a while. I shall of course be informed of what is going on by the spying of valets, courtiers and secre- taries, and also by the intemperate outbursts of Prince Henry ; but there are only two ways of really exercising influence here, that is in giving, or rather in suggesting, ideas to the master or to his ministers. To the master? How can I, as we do not meet? To the ministers? It is neither easy nor proper for me to broach business with them since I am not accredited, and those discussions that do arise by chance are short, vague, and interrupted. If my services are considered useful, I should be sent where I can be accredited,' other^vise I shall cost more here than I am worth." The question of Holland, that was eventually to lead to Prus- sian intervention, was fast coming to a head. Ewart, a very young diplomat, whose early death closed an interesting and promising career, was temporarily in charge of the British embassy at Berlin, and was successfully negotiating an understanding with the Prus- sian ministers. Mirabeau, with no official position, unsupported and unheeded by the ministers at Versailles, could do little to place France in a better position, and was condemned to look on while the friendship of England and Prussia became every day closer. If powerless and playing a losing game, he at all events kept his wits about him. The representative of England was beginning to assume a high tone about the rights of the Stadholder of Holland : " Yes- terday, Mr. Ewart," writes Mirabeau, " secretary of the English legation, in the presence of fifteen people, M. de Hertzberg backing
