And, further, let us not undervalue the circumstance that he must have come in close contact with one of the chief actors in this unbloody revolution.
Frederick spent his first school holidays at Szafarnia, in Mazovia, the property of the Dziewanowski family.

In a letter written on August 19, 1824, he gives his friend and school-fellow William Kolberg, some account of his doings there--of his strolls and runs in the garden, his walks and drives to the forest, and above all of his horsemanship.

He tells his dear Willie that he manages to keep his seat, but would not like to be asked how.

Indeed, he confesses that, his equestrian accomplishments amount to no more than to letting the horse go slowly where it lists, and sitting on it, like a monkey, with fear.

If he had not yet met with an accident, it was because the horse had so far not felt any inclination to throw him off.