"tending to himself, he threw down the frog "in a panic, and from that time forward "conceived the most unconquerable aversion "for every animal of the kind.12 Princess "Caroline, knowing this, took advantage of it "to retaliate on the Prince for the many little "tricks with which he loved to torment her.

Amongst other tricks he had played her, he "had one evening, during a party at the Palace, "filled the pockets of the cloak left by the "Princess in the cloak-room with soft cheese; "and helping assiduously to cloak her at the "conclusion of the evening, he was delighted at "the horror with which she threw the cloak upon himself as the perpe

"

66

away and turned

"trator of the joke.

For this the Princess took "ample revenge, by collecting a basketful of

frogs at the Rosenau, and having them placed unobserved in his bed, to the destruction of "his night's rest.

"Of the many virtues that distinguished the "Prince, two deserve especial mention; for they were conspicuous, even in his boyhood, winning "for him the love and respect of all. Growing "with his growth, these virtues gained strength

12 NOTE BY THE QUEEN.-Particularly toads.

"with years, till they formed, as it were, part of "his very religion. One was, his eager desire "to do good and to assist others; the other, the grateful feeling which never allowed him to forget an act of kindness, however trifling, to "himself.

66

"He gave an early instance of the former "quality, when only six years of age, in the

eagerness with which he made a collection "for a poor man in Wolfsbach (a small village "close to the Rosenau), whose cottage he had "seen burnt to the ground. He never rested "till a sufficient sum had been collected to "rebuild the poor man's cottage. How many "more substantial proofs has he given of the same virtue since he grew up! particularly in "the numerous benevolent institutions founded 'by him in his native home!

66

66

"These two qualities of heart won for him "the affection of all; and to them more particu

larly may be ascribed that peculiar charm. "which fascinated all who knew our beloved "master awakening those feelings of love, "admiration, and respect, which attended him "from the cradle to his premature grave."

CHAPTER VI.

1832-1835.

THE ROSENAU AND REINHARDSBRUNN-EXCURSIONS IN THE THÜRINGERWALD-CONFIRMATION OF THE PRINCES.

WHILE the winter months, including perhaps those of early spring and late autumn, were generally spent either at Coburg or Gotha, in the enjoyment of the society and amusements afforded by those cities, the more genial months of the year were passed, for the most part, either at the Rosenau or at Reinhardsbrunn.

The Prince was always a great admirer of fine scenery, and early showed this taste in the excursions for which the residence at either of these places gave so much facility. "Nothing,"

M. Florschütz says, "could exceed the intense

66

enjoyment with which a fine or commanding "view inspired the young Prince;" and the time

passed at the Rosenau or at Reinhardsbrunn, delightfully situated as were these summer residences the one at the south-west, the other at the north-east extremity of that lovely district of wood and hill, known as the " Thüringerwald"-enabled him to gratify this taste to an almost unlimited extent.

As the place of the Prince's birth, and one to which he remained through life passionately attached, though not destined often to revisit it, we must here attempt some description of the Rosenau. Distant about four miles from Coburg, it is charmingly placed on a knoll that rises abruptly from and terminates to the south, a ridge running out, their last offshoot, from a range of wooded hills which divide the lovely valley of the Itz from the broad and undulating plain through which passes the main road from Coburg to Hildburghausen, Meiningen, &c.

This ridge is cut a quarter of a mile above the house, and again half a mile higher up, at the little villages of Unter and Ober Wolfsbach, prettily situated on the right or western bank of the Itz, by openings through which country roads ascend to the open country to the west; while from the latter village it runs back in a steep ascent, first to the picturesque ruins of