=The Last Days of Müller.=--The illustrations herein given cover this diverse field and serve to indicate the versatility of the modellers who worked during the Müller period. The peasant types and some of the smaller figures belong to the latter days of the Müller _régime_. Although Müller retired from the factory in 1801, he kept in touch with what was in progress. His hand may not have been on the helm, but he had spirit enough left in his retirement to burst forth with pungent criticisms upon the later methods pursued, and there is no doubt the old veteran was frequently consulted by those upon whom his mantle had fallen. The fiery spirit of Müller, proof against all adversity, with the eye of the eagle saw across a longer space than men of ordinary vision. "Everything which has been done after I left the factory," growls out the fiery old man, "has been to its detriment." And who shall say that his words were not true? Müller had heard the guns booming in the Sound in 1801, he had seen the havoc of bombardment by an alien fleet in 1807. His heart's desire, his beloved factory, had been wrecked. A great man's treasure-house of dreams had been devastated. The story of the ruin which overtook the factory comes with stunning poignancy with the knowledge that owing to the misery which followed the war the factory actually closed down in 1810, for a time, owing to the want of fuel. Years after the death of Müller and the glories of his day had departed, a number of his oldest models and moulds were found in a heap of shards stowed away in a loft in the old factory. At the removal to the new factory at Frederiksberg it was hardly thought worth while to carry them away. Fortunately, this was done, and in spite of their wrecked condition, loving hands have pieced them together. It is now happily possible to reproduce faithfully some two hundred of the beautiful models of the great days. Frantz Heinrich Müller, the greatest potter of Denmark, is not dead, although his ashes have lain in a nameless grave for nearly a century. His memory still lies green in the hearts of those who love great things finely conceived, great triumphs nobly won, and great dreams perfectly consummated. CHAPTER V THE _FLORA DANICA_ SERVICE (1790-1802) MADE FOR CATHERINE II, EMPRESS OF RUSSIA CHAPTER V THE _FLORA DANICA_ SERVICE (1790-1802) _MADE FOR CATHERINE II, EMPRESS OF RUSSIA_ The Crown Prince Frederik (afterwards Frederik VI) orders the Flora Danica service to be made--A period of twelve years occupied in making it--The taste of the Empress Catherine II of Russia--Theodor Holmskjold, the botanist--The service.