Forty years he had passed in public life and he could not now take up again the interests and occupations of his youth.

Agriculture had no more charms for him; he was too infirm for sport; he could not, like his father, pass his old age in the busy indolence of a country gentleman's life, nor could he, as some statesmen have done, soothe his declining years by harmless and amiable literary dilettanteism.

His religion was not of that complexion that he could find in contemplation, and in preparation for another life, consolation for the trials of this one.

At seventy-five years of age, his intellect was as vigorous and his energy as unexhausted as they had been twenty years before; his health was improved, for he had found in Dr.Schweninger a physician who was not only able to treat his complaints, but could also compel his patient to obey his orders.

He still felt within himself full power to continue his public work, and now he was relegated to impotence and obscurity.
Whether in Varzin or Friedrichsruh, his eyes were always fixed on Berlin.