Imperial Privileged National Gazette

An emblem of the Imperial double-headed eagle with a crown is depicted here.

Justice and Police Affairs.

Urgent plea to philanthropists.

A promising youth, who, for the sake of advantageous prospects and according to the wishes of his parents, had to dedicate himself to commerce, especially the spice and material trade—it seems against his inclination—instead of the fine arts, especially the art of copperplate engraving, and who had already largely completed his apprenticeship in the capital of Thuringia according to his parents’ issued apprenticeship certificate to the satisfaction of his masters, went after a visit to the former in Gotha, instead of returning to the place of his destination, without a passport, on May 10, 1794, secretly away from there, without one knowing to this day—notwithstanding all possible inquiries through friends and sent-out messengers—where? And he took nothing with him but a collection of old Rembrandt copperplates of value, which he highly esteemed.

One has reason to suspect that he went via Kassel to Holland or France, because travel to distant lands, especially by sea, always seemed to be his inclination.

He is named Johann Friedrich Heinrich Beck, but perhaps now conceals his true name; he is 19 years old, is of fair height, has freckles, and red hair, which he wears in a queue, cut short on the front of the head and somewhat longer on the sides; brown eyes and a somewhat shy expression; writes a

very good hand, can draw a little, paint, and engrave in copper, of which he left behind some attempts that received praise; pursues mathematics, plays the piano, and understands French, English, and Dutch fairly well.

At the time of his departure, he wore a steel-green cloth coat with high, yellow, somewhat indented buttons, a green- and white-striped fabric vest with high yellow buttons, along with green and yellow mottled breeches, and had a gold watch with him; a red and white checkered East Indian neckerchief around, a round hat on, and short boots cut out at the back, along with white stockings.

Good people, who can feel the pain of tender and worried parents, are most urgently asked to let news of this inexperienced youth of good heart and character reach Mr. War Registrar Schenk in Gotha, or also under cover to the expedition of the Deutsche Zeitung German Newspaper and the Imperial privileged Reichs-Anzeiger there, and to take care of him fatherly until a reply is received, and also not to lose sight of him. No letter needs to be franked for this reason, or where it cannot be done otherwise, one offers to reimburse all costs. He himself can trust himself freely and safely to the aforementioned Mr. War Registrar Schenk, as a man who loves him and who has known him from youth: and it is most solemnly assured to him that, if he does not wish to reveal his current situation and residence, as one suspects, to his