The King will lie in state to-morrow and the day after in military dress. The body will not be embalmed, and will be interred on Thursday, in accordance with his orders. He also ordered the pastor to pray at his bedside immediately after his death and aloud in the middle of his family, exhorting them to peace and concord. This was done, and it is to be hoped that his prayer will be heard, though there is no immediate appearance that any one heeds it. The immediate withdrawal of the Prince of Wittgenstein and of Herr von Lottum was expected, but the new King begged them not to leave him, at any rate at first. The public is glad to see the father's old servants thus retained by the son, and the more so as their relations with the Prince Royal were not entirely agreeable and an earlier change was expected. It is to be hoped that there will be no change at all. Such is the summary of a conversation on my part with M. Bresson and Lord William Russell; after which I went to see the collection of pictures belonging to Count Raczynski, the best private collection in Berlin. A large cartoon by a pupil of Cornelius of Munich, representing one of the great battles of Attila, is the best thing there. Tradition relates that the battle was continued in the sky, and that those who perished go on fighting, like shadows in the clouds, at certain times of the year; the two battles are to be seen in the cartoon. The design is admirable and well executed. The rest of the collection did not greatly attract me.
Madame de Lieven writes from Paris: "We have had a curious week here: the Ministry was defeated in the Chamber upon the law for the funeral of Napoleon, and attempted revenge by sowing discord between the Chamber and the country; after more mature reflection, and after the proposed subscription had been a partial failure, the matter was dropped, and the letter of Odillon Barrot concluded it.
"The Duc d'Orléans, in Africa, has had a fresh attack of dysentery, which was very dangerous for twenty-four hours."
Now an extract from a letter from the Duc de Noailles: "Notwithstanding the complete fiasco concerning the Imperial remains, Thiers retains his strength, and will become complete master. The proposal of Remilly,[103] which was in sight, will not come up for discussion this year. There will be no dissolution between the two sessions; after next session dissolution is certain; the new Chamber will be moderately, but certainly more Left. Thiers is determined neither to urge on nor to check progress in this direction; to guide the movement, but to follow it, as he thinks that strength and the majority are there to be found. He hopes to be able to restrain the Left, but in case of failure he has determined rather to obey it than to resign. So we are definitely embarked upon this path, and this is the great event of the winter; the consequences, but not the rapidity, of the movement can be calculated."