Skip to main content

Full text of "History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick the Great"

See other formats 


2 

=  1 

8 

=^  ^ 

2 

1 

^ 

7 

sov^      %a3AiNa]UV^ 


'^<?Aaviigii-^'^'^     ^<?Aavaan-i'^ 


\S? 


\Mf  I'NIVER.V//, 


^, 


J 


%jnvj-jo>'       <rii33Nvsoi^ 


^lOS;ANGElfj;> 


s 

uu. 


F0%        ^^orCALIFO/?^ 


>      y  - 


:^[i]NiV[;?^-> 


■,'ns^NCp[/;r> 


•SOl^        %a3AINn3WV 


:«?' 


vr 


'^^AHvaaiH^     "^^Aavaanis^ 


^<!/0JllV3JO'^ 


.^^OFCAllFOfiUA 

CD 
i.yri 


'^o-mm\^ 


^WEUNIVERi-/^       ^lOSANC[lfj> 


\\U  I'MIVFR.r/ 


%Ji3AINn-3WV^ 


.vin^Afjr.rifj-. 


'^. 


soi^      %a3AiNn-3UV^ 


v^lOSANCELfj> 
o 


'^/ia3AiNn-3\^v.~' 


^RY<?^       \>NtHBRARYa^ 


.A-Opr.' 


m  3.  ijrffis, 


^xnh^or. 


HISTORY 


OF 


FRIEDRICH    II.   OF    PRUSSIA. 


CALLED 


FREDERICK  THE  GREAT. 


THOMAS    CARLYLE. 

[1858-1865.] 

IN  TEN  VOLUMES. 
VOL.   III. 


LONDON: 

CHAPMAN  AND  HALL,  193  PICCADILLY. 

1873. 


LONDON : 
KOBSON  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS,  PAN'CRAS  ROAD,  N.W. 


y.  3 
CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  III. 


BOOK  VIII. 

CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED:  LIFE  AT  CUSTRIN. 

NoVEMBEK  1730 — FeBKUAKV  I732. 
CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Chaplain  Muller  waits  on  the  Crown-Prince  i 

u.   Crown-Prince  to  repent  and  not  perish        .         \ 

Crown-Prince  begins  a  new  course,  p.  7. 

III.  WiLHELMiNAiSTo  WED  THE  Prince  OF  Baireuth       10 
iV.  Criminal  Justice  in  Preussen  AND  elsewhere       16 

Case  of  Schlubhut,  p.  17. 
Ciise  of  the  Criminal-Collegium  itself,  20. 
Skipper  Jenkins  in  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  22. 
Baby  Carlos  gets  his  Apanage,  24. 

V.  Interview  of  Majesty  and  Crown-Prince  at 

CuSTRIN  .  .  .  .  .  .26 

Schulenburg's  Three  Letters  to  Grumkow,  on  Visits  to 

the  Crown-Prince,  during  the  Ciistrin  time,  p.  35. 
His  Majesty's  Building  Operations,  47. 

VI.  \Vilhelmina's  Wedding  .....       50 


BOOK  IX. 

LAST  STAGE  OF  FRIEDRICH'S  APPRENTICESHIP:  LIFE  IN  RUPPIN. 
1732-1736. 

I.  Princess  Elizabeth  Christina  of  Brunswick- 

Bevern  .......       58 

Who  his  Majesty's  Choice  is  ;  and  Vihat  the  Crown-Prince 

thinks  of  it,  p.  66. 
Duke  of  Lorraine  arrives  in  Potsdam  and  in  Berlin,  75. 
Betrothal  of  the  fJrown- Prince  to  the  Brunswick  Charmer, 

Niece   of  Imperial   Majesty,   Monday  evening,    loth 

March  17^2,  77. 

1542173 


iv  CONTENTS   OF  VOLUME   III. 

CHAr.  TAGIC 

II.  Small  Incidents  at  Ruppin    ....       79 

HI.  The  Salzburgers  ......       86 

IV.  Prussian  Majesty  visits  the  Kaiser      .         .100 

V.  Ghost  of  the  Double-Marriage  rises  ;  to  no 

purpose 117 

Session  of  Tobacco-Parliament,  6tli  December  1732,  p. 
120. 

VI.  King  August  meditating  great  Things  for 

Poland  .         .         .         .         .         .         .123 

VII.  Crown-Prince's  Marriage      .         .         .         .127 

VIII.  King  August  dies;  and  Poland  takes  Fire  .     134. 

Poland  has  to  find  a  new  King,  p.  136. 
Of  the  Candidates  ;  of  the  Conditions.     How  the  Elec- 
tion went,  138. 
Poland  on  Fire  ;  Dantzig  stands  Siege,  142. 

IX.  Kaiser's  Shadow-Hunt  has  caught  Fire        .     143 

Subsequent  course  of  the  War,  in  the  Italian  part  of  it, 

p.  146. 
Course  of  the  War,  in  the  German  part  of  it,  148. 

X.  Crown-Prince  goes  to  the  Rhine  Campaign  .     149 

Glimpse  of  Lieutenant  Chasot,  and  of  other  Acquisitions, 

p.  174. 
Crown-Prince's  Visit  to  Baireuth  on  the  w  ay  home,  176. 

XI.   In  Papa's  Sick-room  ;  Prussian  Inspections  : 

End  of  War  .         .         .         .         .         .180 

BOOK  X. 

AT  REINSBERG.     1736-1740. 

I.  Mansion  OF  Reinsberg  .         .         .         ,         .196 

Of  Monsieur  Jordan  and  the  Literary  Set,  p.  205, 

II.  Of  \'oltaire  and  the  Literary  Correspond- 
ences      210 

III.  Crown-Prince  makes  a  Morning  Call    .         .     235 

IV.  News  of  thi-:  Day  .         .         .         .         .         .242 

Of  Berg  and  Jiilich  again  ;  and  of  Lu'sciiis  witli  the  one 
Razor,  p.  247. 

V.  Visit  at  Loo  .         .         .         .         .         .         .251 

Crown-Prince  Ijccomes  a  Freemason  ;  and  is  harangued 

by  Monsieur  de  Bielfeld,  p.  254. 
Scckendorf  gets  lodged  in  Gratz,  260. 
'I'he  l'".ar  of  Jenkins  rcemerges,  262. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOLUME  III.  v 

CHAr.  I-AGK 

VI.  Last  Year  ok  Reinsberg;  Journey  to  Preus- 

SEN         .......     264 

Pine's  Horace  ;  and  the  Anti-Maccliiavel,  p.  266. 
I'riedrich  in  Preussen  again ;  at  the  Stud  of  Trakehnen. 
A  tragically  great  Event  coming  on,  270. 

VII.   Last  Year  of   Reinsberg  :  Transit  of  Bal- 
timore AND  other  Persons  and  Things  .     275 

Bielfeld,  what  he  saw  at  Reinsberg  and  aroinid,  p.  279. 
Turk  War  ends ;  Spanish  War  begins,     A  Wedding  in 
Petersburg,  282. 

VIII.   Death  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm       .         .         .     2S5 


MAPS. 

Custrin  .........       43 

Philipsburg 170 

Kingdom  of  Prussia         ....       to  face  p.  298 


HISTORY 


FREDERICK   THE    GREAT. 


BOOK  VIII. 

CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED  :  LIFE  AT  CUSTRIN. 

November  1730 — February  1732. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHAPLAIN  MULLER  WAITS  ON  THE  CROWN-PRINCE. 

Friedricii's  feelings  at  this  juncture  arc  not  made  known  to 
us  by  himself  in  the  least  ;  or  credibly  by  others  in  any  con- 
siderable degree.  As  indeed  in  these  confused  Prussian  History- 
Books,  opulent  in  nugatory  pedantisms  and  learned  marine- 
stores,  all  that  is  human  remains  distressingly  obscure  to  us  ; 
so  seldom,  and  then  only  as  through  endless  clouds  of  ever- 
whirling  idle  dust,  can  we  catch  the  smallest  direct  feature  ol 
the  young  man,  and  of  his  real  demeanour  or  meaning,  on  the 
present  or  other  occasions !  But  it  is  evident  this  last  pheno- 
menon fell  upon  him  like  an  overwhelming  cataract ;  crushed 
him  down  under  the  immensity  of  sorrow,  confusion  and  de- 
spair; his  own  death  not  a  theory  now,  but  probably  a  near 
fact, — a  welcome  one  in  wild  moments,  and  then  anon  so  un- 
welcome. Frustrate,  bankrupt,  chargeable  with  a  iriend's  lost 
life,  sure  enough  he,  for  one,  is :  what  is  to  become  of  him  ? 
Whither  is  he  to  turn,  thoroughly  beaten,  foiled  in  all  his  en- 
terprises? Proud  young  soul  as  he  was  :  the  ruling  Powers,  be 
they  just,  be  they  unjust,  have  proved  too  hard  for  him!  We 
VOL.  III.  B 


2  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVI':D.        r.,.okViii. 

6th-igth  Nov.  1730. 

hear  cf  tragic  vestiges  still  traceable  ofFriedrich,  belonging  to 
this  time:  texts  of  Scripture  quoted  by  him,  pencil-sketches  of 
his  drawing;  expressive  of  a  mind  dwelling  in  Golgothas,  and 
pathetically,  not  defiantly,  contemplating  the  very  worst. 

Chaplain  Miiller  of  the  Gens-d'Armes,  being  found  a  pious 
and  intelligent  man,  has  his  orders  not  to  return  at  once  from 
Ciistrin ;  but  to  stay  there,  and  deal  Avith  the  Prince,  on  that 
horrible  Predestination  topic  and  his  other  unexampled  back- 
slidings  which  have  ended  so.  Miiller  staid  accordingly,  for  a 
couple  of  weeks,  intensely  busy  on  the  Predestination  topic, 
and  generally  in  assuaging,  and  mutually  mollifying,  paternal 
Majesty  and  afflicted  Son.  In  all  which  he  had  good  success; 
and  especially  on  the  Predestination  point  was  triuinphantly 
successful.  Miiller  left  a  little  Book  in  record  of  his  procedures 
there;  which,  had  it  not  been  bound  over  to  the  official  tone, 
might  have  told  us  something.  His  Correspondence  with  the 
King,  during  those  two  weeks,  has  likewise  been  mostly  printed  ;i 
and  is  of  course"  still  more  official, — teaching  us  next  to  no- 
thing, except  poor  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  profoundly  devotional 
mood,  anxieties  about  'the  claws  of  Satan'  and  the  like,  which 
we  were  glad  to  hear  of  above.  In  Miiller  otherwise  is  small 
help  for  us. 

But,  fifty  years  afterwards,  there  was  alive  a  Son  of  this 
Miiller's  ;  an  innocent  Country  Parson,  not  wanting  in  sense, 
and  with  much  simplicity  and  veracity ;  who  was  fished-out  by 
Nicolai,  and  set  to  recalling  what  his  Father  used  to  say  of  this 
adventure,  much  the  grandest  of  his  life.  In  Miiller  Junior's 
Letter  of  Reminiscences  to  Nicolai  we  find  some  details,  got 
from  his  Father,  which  arc  worth  gleaning : 

'Whei  my  Father  first  attempted,  by  royal  order,  to  bring  the 
'  Crovvn-rrince  to  acknowledgment  and  repentance  of  the  fault  com- 
'  milted,  Crown-Prince  gave  this  excuse  or  explanation:  "As  his 
'  Father  could  not  endure  the  sight  of  him,  he  Iiad  meant  to  get  out  of 
'  the  way  of  his  displeasure,  and  go  to  a  Court  with  which  his  Father 
'was  in  friendship  and  relationship,"' — clearly  indicating  England, 
think  the  Miillers  Junior  and  Senior. 

'  For  proof  that   the  intention  was  towards  England  this  other 
'circumstance  serves,   that  the  one  confidant — Heir  von  Keith,   if  I 
'  mistake  not'  (no,  you  don't  mistake),  'had  already  bespoken  a  ship 
'  for  passage  out.' — Here  is  something  still  more  uncxi)ected  : 
'  Forstcr,  i.  376-370. 


Chap.  I.     MULLER  WAITS   ON   CROWN-PRINCE.  3 

6t!i-i9th  Nov.  1730. 

'  My  Father  used  to  say,  he  found  an  excellent  knowledge  and  con- 
viction of  the  traths  of  religion  in  the  Crown-Prince.  By  the  Prince's 
arrangement,  my  Father,  who  at  first  lodged  with  the  Commandant, 
had  to  take  up  his  quarters  in  the  room  right  above  the  Prince ;  who 
daily,  often  as  early  as  six  in  the  morning,  rapped  on  the  ceiling  for 
him  to  come  down;  and  then  they  would  di.spute  and  discuss,  some- 
times half-days  long,  about  the  different  tenets  of  the  Christian  Sects; 
— and  my  Father  said,  the  Prince  was  perfectly  at  home  in  the  Polemic 
Doctrines  of  the  Reformed  (Calvinistic)  Church,  even  to  the  minutest 
points.  As  my  Father  brought  him  proofs  from  Scripture,  the  Prince 
asked  him  one  time,  How  he  could  keep  chapter  and  verse  so  exactly 
in  his  memory?  Father  drew  from  his  pocket  a  little  Hand-Concord- 
ance, and  showed  itTiim  as  one  help.  This  he  had  to  leave  with  the 
Prince  for  some  days.  On  getting  it  back,  he  found  inside  on  the  fly- 
leaf, sketched  in  pencil,' — what  is  rather  notable  to  History, — 'the 
figure  of  a  man  on  his  knees,  with  two  swords  hanging  crosswise  over 
his  head;  and  at  the  bottom  these  words  of  Psalm  Seventy-third 
(verses  25,  26),  Whom  have  I  in  Heaven  but  thee  1  And  there  is  none 
upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee.  My  flesh  and  my  heart  fainteth 
and  faileth  ;  hut  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  poiiion  for- 
ever. ' — Poor  Friedrich,  this  is  a  very  unexpected  pencil-sketch  on  his 
part ;  but  an  undeniable  one ;  betokening  abstruse  night-thoughts  and 
forebodings  in  the  present  juncture  ! — 

'  Whoever  considers  this  fine  knowledge  of  religion,  and  reflects  on 
'  the  peculiar  character  and  genius  of  the  young  Herr,  which  was  ever 
'  struggling  towards  light  and  clearness  (for  at  that  time  he  had  f/ot  be- 
'  come  indifferent  to  religion,  he  often  prayed  with  my  Father  on  his 
'  knees), — will  find  that  it  was  morally  impossible  this  young  Prince 
'  could  have  thought'  (as  some  foolish  persons  have  asserted)  '  of  throw- 
'  ing  himself  into  the  arms  of  Papal  Superstition,'  (seeking  help  at 
Vienna,  marrying  an  Austrian  Archduchess,  and  I  know  not  what, )  '  or 
'  allow  the  intrigues  of  Catholic  Priests  to' — Oh  no,  PI  err  Midler,  no- 
body but  very  foolish  persons  could  imagine  .such  a  thing  of  this  youn^^ 
Herr. 

'  When  my  Father,  Plerr  von  Katte's  execution  being  ended,  hast- 
'  ened  to  the  Crown-Prince  ;  he  finds  him  miserably  ill  {st-'ir  a/terirt) ; 
'  advises  him  to  take  a  cooling-powder  in  water,  both  which  materials 
'  were  ready  on  the  table.  This  he  presses  on  him :  but  the  Prince  al- 
'  ways  shakes  his  head.'  Suspects  poison,  you  think?  '  Hereupon  my 
'  Father  takes  from  his  pocket  a  paper,  in  which  he  carried  cooling- 
'  powder  for  his  own  use;  fLakes-out  a  portion  of  it  into  his  hand,  and 
'  so  into  his  mouth ;  and  now  the  Crown-Prince  grips  at  my  Father's 
'powder,  and  takes  that.'  Privately  to  be  made  away  with;  death 
resolved  upon  in  some  way!  thinks  the  desperate  young  man?- 

That  scene  of  Katte's  execution,  and  of  the  Prince's  and 

-  Nico'i.ii,  Anckdoten,  vi.  183-189. 


4  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        jw<viir. 

6th-i9th  Nov.  1730. 

Other  people's  position  in  regard  to  it,  has  never  yet  been  hu- 
manly set  forth,  otherwise  the  response  had  been  different.  Not 
humanly  set  forth, — and  so  was  only  barked  at,  as  by  the  in- 
finitude of  little  dogs,  in  all  countries ;  and  could  never  yet  be 
responded  to  in  austere  vox  Jiumana,  deep  as  a  De  Pro/i/ndis, 
terrible  as  a  Chorus  of  yEschylus, — for  in  effect  that  is  rather 
the  character  of  it,  had  the  barking  once  pleased  to  cease. 

'  King  of  Prussia  cannot  sleep,'  writes  Dickens  :  '  the  officers 
'  sit  up  with  him  every  night,  and  in  his  slumbers  he  raves  and 
'talks  of  spirits  and  apparitions.'-^  We  saw  him,  ghost -like, 
in  the  night-time,  gliding  about,  seeking  .shelter  with  Feekin 
against  ghosts ;  Ginkel  by  daylight  saw  him,  now  clad  in  thun- 
derous tornado,  and  anon  in  sorrowful  fog.  Here,  farther  on, 
is  a  new  item, — and  joined  to  it  and  the  others,  a  remarkable 
old  one: 

'  In  regard  to  Wilhelmina's  marriage,  and  whether  a  Father 
'  cannot  give  his  daughter  in  wedlock  to  whom  he  pleases, 
'  there  have  been  eight  Divines  consulted,  four  Lutheran,  four 
'  Reformed  (Calvinist) ;  who,  all  but  one'  (he  of  the  Garrison 
Church,  a  rhadamanthine  fellow  in  serge),  have  answered,  "  No, 
your  Majesty!"  'It  is  remarkable  that  his  Majesty  has  not 
'  gone  to  bed  sober  for  this  month  past.''* 

\yhat  Scckcndorf  and  Grumkow  thought  of  all  these  phe- 
nomena? They  have  done  their  job  too  well.  They  are  all  for 
mercy  ;  lean  with  their  whole  weight  that  way,  —  in  black 
qualms,  one  of  them  withal,  thinking  tremulously  to  himself, 
"What  if  his  now  Majesty  were  to  die  upon  us,  in  the  in- 
terim I" 


CHAPTER  II. 

CROWN-PRINCE  TO  REPENT  AND  NOT  PERISH. 

In  regard  to  Friedrich,  the  Court-Martial  needs  no  amend- 
ment from  the  King;  the  sentence  on  Friedrich,  a  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  guilty  of  desertion,  is,  from  President  and  all  members 
except  two,  Death  as  by  law.  The  two  who  dissented,  in- 
voking royal  clemency  and  pardon,  were  Major-Gcnerals  by 
rank, — Schvverin,  as  some  write,  one  of  Ihcm,  or  if  not  Schwerin, 

•I  DesiiaUli,   )(!  October  1730.  ■>  Dickens,  olh  riiul  iQlIi  December  1730. 


Chap.  ir.     PRINCE  TO  REPENT  AND  NOT  PERISH.       5 

Cth-igth  Nov,  1730. 

then  Linger  ;  and  for  certain,  Donhof, — two  worthy  gentlemen 
not  known  to  any  of  my  readers,  nor  to  me,  except  as  names. 
The  rest  arc  all  coldly  of  opinion  that  the  military  code  say;; 
Death.  Other  codes  and  considerations  may  say  this  and 
that,  which  it  is  not  in  their  province  to  touch  upon  ;  this  is 
what  the  military  code  says  :  and  they  leave  it  there. 

The  Junius  Brutus  of  a  Royal  Majesty  had  answered  in. 
his  own  heart  grimly.  Well  then  !  But  his  Councillors,  Old 
Dessauer,  Grumkow,  Seckendorf,  one  and  all  interpose  vehe- 
mently. "  Prince  of  the  Empire,  your  Majesty,  not  a  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel only  !  Must  not,  cannot;" — nay  good  old  Bud- 
denbrock,  in  the  fire  of  still  unsuccessful  pleading,  tore  open 
his  waistcoat:  "  If  your  Majesty  requires  blood,  take  mine;  that 
other  you  shall  never  get,  so  long  as  I  can  speak  !"  Foreign 
Courts  interpose  ;  Sweden,  the  Dutch  ;  the  English  in  a  cir- 
cuitous way,  round  by  Vienna  to  wit ;  finally  the  Kaiser  him- 
self sends  an  Autograph  ;i  for  poor  Queen  Sophie  has  applied 
even  to  Seckendorf,  will  be  friends  with  Grumkow  himself, 
and  in  her  despair  is  knocking  at  every  door.  Junius  Brutus 
is  said  to  have  had  paternal  affections  withal.  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm,  alone  against  the  whispers  of  his  own  heart  and  the 
voices  of  all  men,  yields  at  last  in  this  cause.  To  Seckendori, 
who  has  chalked-out  a  milder  didactic  plan  of  treatment,  still 
rigorous  enough, 2  he  at  last  admits  that  such  plan  is  perhaps 
good ;  that  the  Kaiser's  Letter  has  turned  the  scale  with  him  ; 
and  the  didactic  method,  not  the  beheading  one,  shall  be  tried. 
That  Donhof  and  Schvverin,  with  their  talk  of  mercy,  with 
"  their  eyes  upon  the  Rising  Sun,"  as  is  evident,  have  done 
them'selves  no  good,  and  shall  perhaps  find  it  so  one  day.  But 
that,  at  any  rate,  Friedrich's  life  is  spared  ;  Katte's  execution 
shall  suffice  in  that  kind.  Repentance,  prostrate  submission 
and  amendment, — these  may  do  yet  more  for  the  prodigal,  if 
he  will  in  heart  return.  These  points,  sometime  before  the 
8th  of  November,  we  find  to  be  as  good  as  settled. 

The  unhappy  prodigal  is  in  no  condition  to  resist  farther. 
Chaplain  MUller  had  introduced  himself  with  Katte's  dying 
admonition  lb  the  Crown-Prince  to  repent  and  submit.  Chajj- 
lain  Miiller,    with   his  wholesome   cooling-powders,   with  his 

'  Date,  nth  October  1730  (FOister,  i.  380). 

*  His  Letter  to  the  King,  ist  November  1730  (in  Furster,  i.  375,  376). 


6  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.        Bookviil. 

6tli-i9lh  Nov.  1730. 

ghostly  counsels,  and  considerations  of  temporal  and  eternal 
nature, — we  saw  how  he  prospered  almost  beyond  hope.  Even 
on  Predestination,  and  the  real  nature  of  Election  by  Free 
Grace,  all  is  coming  right,  or  come,  reports  Miiller.  The 
Chaplain's  Reports,  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  grimly  mollified 
Responses  on  the  same  :  they  are  written,  and  in  confused 
form  have  been  printed ;  but  shall  be  spared  the  English 
reader. 

And  Grumkow  has  been  out  at  Ciistrin,  preaching  to  the 
same  purport  from  other  texts  :  Grumkow,  with  the  thought 
ever  present  to  him,  "  What  if  Friedrich  Wilhelm  should  die  ?" 
is  naturally  an  eloquent  preacher.  Enough,  it  has  been  set- 
tled (perhaps  before  the  day  of  Katte's  death,  or  at  the  latest 
three  days  after  it,  as  we  can  see).  That  if  the  Prince  will, 
and  can  with  free  conscience,  take  an  Oath  ("no  mental  re- 
servation," mark  you!)  of  contrite  repentance,  of  perfect  pro- 
strate submission,  and  purpose  of  future  entire  obedience  and 
conformity  to  the  paternal  mind  in  all  things,  "  Gnadenwahl" 
included, — the  paternal  mind  may  possibly  relax  his  durance 
a  little,  and  put  him  gradually  on  proof  again. ^ 

Towards  which  issue,  as  Chaplain  Miiller  reports,  the 
Crown-Prince  is  visibly  gravitating,  Avith  all  his  weight  and 
will.  The  very  Gtiadeuwahl  is  settled  ;  the  young  soul  (truly 
a  lover  of  Truth,  your  Majesty)  taps  on  his  ceiling,  niy  lloor 
being  overhead,  before  the  winter  sun  rises,  as  a  signal  that  I 
must  come  down  to  him  ; — so  eager  to  have  error  and  dark- 
ness purged  away.  Believes  himself,  as  I  believe  him,  ready 
to  undertake  that  Oath  ;  desires,  however,  to  see  it  first,  that 
he  may  maturely  study  every  clause  of  it. — Say  you  verily  so? 
answers  Majesty.  And  may  my  ursine  heart  flow  out  again, 
and  blubber  gratefully  over  a  sinner  saved,  a  poor  Son  plucked 
as  brand  from  the  burning  ?  '  God,  the  Most  High,  give  His 
'  blessing  on  it,  then  !'  concludes  the  paternal  Majesty  :  '  And 
'  as  He  often,  by  wondrous  guidances,  strange  paths  and  thorny 
'  steps,  will  bring  men  into  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  so  may  our 
'  Divine  Redeemer  help  that  this  prodigal  son  be  brought  into 
'  His  communion.  That  his  godless  heart  be  beaten  till  it  is 
'  softened  and  changed  ;  and  so  he  be  snatched  fr9Ri  the  claws 
'  of  Satan.  This  grant  us  the  Almighty  God  and  Father,  for 
'  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  passion  and  death's  sake  ! 

•'  King's  LcUcr  to  Miiller,  81I1  Novcinbcr  (FOrslci-,  i.  379). 


Chap.  II.    PRINCE  TO  REPENT  AND  NOT  PERISH.      7 

lyth  Nov.  1730. 

'  Amen ! — -I  am,  for  the  rest,  your  well-affectioned  King,  Fried- 
'  RICH  WiLHELM  {IVusicrhauseii,  2>th  November  ijso).''^ 

Croiun-Prince  begms  a  new  Course. 

It  was  Monday  6th  November,  when  poor  Katte  died. 
Within  a  fortnight,  on  the  second  Sunday  after,  there  has  a 
Select  Commission,  Grumkow,  Borck,  Buddenbrock,  with  three 
other  Soldiers,  and  the  Privy  Councillor  Thulmeyer,  come  out 
to  Ciistrin  :  there  and  then,  Sunday  November  igth,^  these 
Seven,  with  due  solemnity,  administer  the  Oath  (terms  of  Oath 
conceivable  by  readers) ;  Friedrich  being  found  ready.  He 
signs  the  Oath,  as  well  as  audibly  swears  it :  whereupon  his 
sword  is  restored  to  him,  and  his  prison-door  opened.  Fle 
steps  forth  to  the  Town  Church  with  his  Commissioners  ;  takes 
the  sacrament ;  listens,  with  all  Ciistrin,  to  an  allusive  Sermon 
on  the  subject  ;  '  text  happily  chosen,  preacher  handling  it 
well.'  Text  was  Psalm  Seventy-seventh,  verse  eleventh  (tenth 
of  our  English  version),  And  I  said.  This  is  my  injinnity ;  but 
I  will  remember  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High; 
or,  as  Luther's  version  more  intelligibly  gives  it.  This  I  have 
to  sttffer  J  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High  can  change  all. 
Preacher  (not  Miiller  but  another)  rose  gradually  into  didactic 
pathos  ;  Prince,  and  all  Ciistrin,  were  weeping,  or  near  weep- 
ing, at  the  close  of  the  business." 

Straight  from  Church  the  Prince  is  conducted,  not  to  the 
Fortress,  but  to  a  certain  Town  Mansion,  which  he  is  to  call 
his  own  henceforth,  under  conditions  :  an  erring  Prince  half- 
liberated,  and  mercifully  put  on  proof  again.  His  first  act 
here  is  to  write,  of  his  own  composition,  or  helped  by  some 
official  hand,  this  Letter  to  his  All-serenest  Papa  ;  which  must 
be  introduced,  though,  except  to  readers  of  German  who  know 
the  '  Dero'  (Theirs?),  'Allerdurchlaiichtigster,'  and  strange  pipe- 
clay solemnity  of  the  Court-style,  it  is  like  to  be  in  great  part 
lost  in  any  translation  : 

'Ciistrin,  19th  November  1730. 
'  AU-serenest  and  AU-graciousest  Father, — To  your  Royal  Majesty, 
'  my  AU-graciousest  Father,  have,' — i.e.  '  I  have,'  if  one  durst  write  the 

*  Forster,  i.  379. 

5  Nicolai,  exactest  of  men,  only  that  Documents  were  occasionally  less  accessible 
in  his  time,  gives  (A)tekdoteii,  vi.  187),  '  Saturday  November  25th,'  as  the  day  of  the 
Oath;  but,  no  doubt,  the  later  inquirers,  Preuss  (i.  56)  and  ethers,  have  found  him 
wrong  in  this  small  instance. 

^  Preuss,  i.  56. 


8  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.        Bookvill. 

19th  Nov.  1730, 
'I,' — 'by  my  disobedience  as  Theiro'  (Youit^)  'subject  and  soldier, 
'  not  less  than  by  my  undutifulness  as  Theiiv  Son,  given  occasion  to 
'  a  just  wrath  and  aversion  against  me.  With  llie  All-obedientcst  re- 
'  spect  I  submit  myself  wholly  to  the  grace  of  my  most  All-gracious 
'  Father;  and  beg  him,  Most  Ail-graciously  to  pardon  me;  as  it  is  not 
'  so  much  the  withdrawal  of  my  liberty  in  a  sad  arrest  {malhcureusen 
'  Ai'rest),  as  my  own  thoughts  of  the  fault  I  have  committetl,  that  have 
'  brought  me  to  reason :  Who,  with  all-obedientest  respect  and  sub- 
'  mission,  continue  till  my  end, 

'  My  AU-graciousest  King's  and  Father's  faithfully  obedientest 
'  Servant  and  Son, 

'Friedrich.'' 

This  new  House  of  Friedrich's  in  the  little  Town  of  Ctis- 
trin,  he  finds  arranged  for  him  on  rigorously  thrifty  principles, 
yet  as  a  real  Household  of  his  own  ;  and  even  in  the  form  of 
a  Court,  with  Hofmarschall,  Kammerjunkers,  and  the  other 
adjuncts  ; —  Court  reduced  to  its  simplest  expression,  as  the 
French  say,  and  probably  the  cheapest  that  was  ever  set  up. 
Hofmarschall  (Court-Marshal)  is  one  Wolden,  a  civilian  Official 
here.  The  Kammerjunkers  are  Rohwedel  and  Natzmer;  Natz- 
mer  Junior,  son  of  a  distinguished  Feldmarschall  :  '  a  good- 
hearted  but  foolish  forward  young  fellow,'  says  Wilhelmina  ; 
'  the  failure  of  a  coxcomb  {petit-maltre  uianqtte)'  For  example, 
once,  strolling  about  in  a  solemn  Kaiser's  Soiree  in  Vienna, 
he  found  in  some  quiet  corner  the  young  Duke  of  Lorraine, 
Franz,  who  it  is  thought  will  be  the  divine  Maria  Theresa's 
husband,  and  Kaiser  himself  one  day.  Foolish  Natzmer  found 
this  noble  young  gentleman  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  Soiree  ; 
went  up,  nothing  loath,  to  speak  graciosities  and  insipidities 
to  him  :  the  noble  young  gentleman  yawned,  as  was  too  natu- 
ral, a  wide  long  yawn  ;  and  in  an  insipid  familiar  manner, 
foolish  Natzmer  (Wilhelmina  and  the  Berlin  circles  know  it) 
put  his  finger  into  the  noble  young  gentleman's  mouth,  and 
insipidly  wagged  it  there.  "Sir,  you  seem  to  forget  where 
you  arc  !"  said  the  noble  young  gentleman  ;  and  closing  his 
mouth  with  emphasis,  turned  away  ;  but  happily  took  no  far- 
ther notice.*^  This  is  all  we  yet  know  of  the  history  of  Natz- 
mer, whose  heedless  ways  and  slapdash  speculations,  tinted 
with  natural  ingenuity  and  goodhumour,  are  not  unattractive 
to  the  Prince. 

7  I'rcuss,  i.  c;6,  57  ;  .ind  Anonymous,  Friedrichs  dei  GrosstH  iirK^e  an  ieinen 
I' titer  ( IJcrlin,  Poscn  uud  Uromberg,  1838),  p.  3. 
"  Wilhclminu,  i.  310. 


Chap.  ir.  PRINCE  TOREPENT  AND  NOT  PERISH.       9 

19th  Nov.  1730. 

Hofmarschall  and  these  two  Kammerjunkers  are  of  the 
lawyer  species  ;  men  intended  for  Official  business,  in  which 
the  Prince  himself  is  now  to  be  occupied.  The  Prince  has 
four  lackeys,  two  pages,  one  valet.  He  '  wears  his  sword, 
but  has  no  sword-tash  {porie-cpce),'  much  less  an  officer's  uni- 
form :  a  mere  Prince  put  upon  his  good  behaviour  again  ;  not 
yet  a  soldier  of  the  Prussiaji  Army,  only  hoping  to  become  so 
again.  He  wears  a  light-gray  dress,  '  hechtgraiier  (pike-gray) 
frock  with  narrow  silver  cordings  ;'  and  must  recover  his  uni- 
form, by  proving  himself  gradually  a  new  man. 

For  there  is,  along  with  the  new  household,  a  new  employ- 
ment laid  out  for  him  in  Ciistrin  ;  and  it  shall  be  seen  what 
figure  he  makes  in  that,  first  of  all.  He  is  to  sit  in  the  Do- 
incinen-Kamtner  or  Government  Board  here,  as  youngest  Rath  ; 
no  other  career  permitted.  Let  him  learn  Economics  and  the 
way  of  managing  Domain  Lands  (a  very  principal  item  of  the 
royal  revenues  in  this  Country)  :  humble  work,  but  useful ; 
which  he  had  better  see  well  how  he  will  do.  Two  elder  Raths 
are  appointed  to  instruct  him  in  the  Economic  Sciences  and 
Practices,  if  he  show  faculty  and  diligence  ; — which  in  fact  he 
turns  out  to  do,  in  a  superior  degree,  having  every  motive  to  try. 

This  kind  of  life  lasted  with  him  for  the  next  fifteen  months, 
all  through  the  year  1731  and  farther;  and  must  have  been 
a  very  singular,  and  was  probably  a  highly  instructive  year  to 
him,  not  in  the  Domain  Sciences  alone.  He  is  left  wholly 
to  himself.  All  his  fellow-creatures,  as  it  were,  are  watching 
him.  Hundred-eyed  Argus,  or  the  Ear  of  Dionysius,  that  is 
to  say,  Tobacco-Parliament  with  its  spies  and  reporters, — 
no  stirring  of  his  finger  can  escape  it  here.  He  has  much 
suspicion  to  encounter  :  Papa  looking  always  sadly  askance, 
sadly  incredulous,  upon  him.  He  is  in  correspondence  with 
Grumkow  ;  takes  much  advice  from  Grumkow  (our  prompter- 
general,  president  in  the  Dionysius'-Ear,  and  not  an  ill-wisher 
farther) ;  professes  much  thankfulness  to  Grumkow,  now  and 
henceforth.  Thank  you  for  flinging  me  out  of  the  six-story 
window,  and  catching  me  by  the  coatskirts  ! — Left  altogether 
to  himself,  as  we  said  ;  has  in  the  whole  Universe  nothing 
that  will  save  him  but  his  own  good  sense,  his  own  power  of 
discovering  what  is  what,  and  of  doing  what  will  be  behovefui 
therein. 


lo  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        p.ookVilT. 

Feb.  1 73 1. 

He  is  to  quit  his  French  literatures  and  pernicious  prac- 
tices, one  and  all.  His  very  flute,  most  innocent  "  Princess," 
as  he  used  to  call  his  flute  in  old  days,  is  denied  him  ever 
since  he  came  to  Ciistrin  ; — but  by  degrees  he  privately  gets 
her  back,  and  consorts  much  with  her  ;  wails  forth,  in  beau- 
tiful adagios,  emotions  for  which  there  is  no  other  utterance 
at  pi-esent.  He  has  liberty  of  Ciistrin  and  the  neighbourhood  ; 
out  of  Ciistrin  he  is  not  to  lodge,  any  night,  without  leave  had 
of  the  Commandant.  Let  him  walk  warily  ;  and  in  good  ear- 
nest study  to  become  a  new  creature,  useful  for  something  in 
the  Domain  Sciences  and  otherwise. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WILHELMINA  IS  TO  WED  THE  PRINCE  OF  BAIREUTH. 

Crown-Prince  Friedrich  being  settled  so  far,  his  Ma- 
jesty takes  up  the  case  of  Wilhelmina,  the  other  ravelled  skein 
lying  on  hand.  Wilhelmina  has  been  prisoner  in  her  Apart- 
ment at  Berlin  all  this  while  :  it  is  proper  Wilhelmina  be  dis- 
posed of ;  either  in  wedlock,  filially  obedient  to  the  royal  mind  ; 
or  in. some  much  sterner  way,  'within  four  walls,'  it  is  whis- 
pered, if  disobedient. 

Poor  Wilhelmina  never  thought  of  disobeying  her  parents  : 
only,  which  of  them  to  obey  ?  King  looks  towards  the  Prince 
of  Baireuth  again,  agreed  on  before  those  hurly-burlies  now 
past  ;  Queen  looks  far  otherwards.  Queen  Sophie  still  des- 
perately believes  in  the  English  match  for  Wilhelmina  ;  and 
has  subterranean  correspondences  with  that  Court  ;  refusing 
to  see  that  the  negotiation  is  extinct  there.  Grumkow  him- 
self, so  over-victorious  in  his  late  task,  is  now  heeling  towards 
England ;  '  sincere  in  his  wish  to  be  well  with  us,'  thinks  Dick- 
ens :  Grumkow  solaces  her  Majesty  with  delusive  hopes  in  the 
English  quarter.  "Be  firm,  child;  trust  in  my  management; 
"  only  swear  to  me,  on  your  eternal  salvation,  that  never,  on 
"  any  compulsion,  will  you  marry  another  than  the  Prince  of 
"  Wales  ; — give  me  that  oath  !"i  Such  was  Queen  Sophie's 
last  proposal  to  Wilhelmina, — night  of  the  27th  of  January 
1 73 1,  as  is  computable, — her  Majesty  to  leave  for  Potsdam 
on  the  morrow.     They  wept  much  together  that  night,  but 

'   Wilhelmina,  I.  3t.(. 


Chap.  III.    WILHELMINA  TO  WED   BAIREUTH.  ii 

Feb.  1 731. 

Wilhelmina  dextrously  evaded  the  oath,  on  a  rehgious  ground. 
Prince  of  Baireuth,  whom  Papa  may  like  or  may  not  hke,  has 
never  yet  personally  made  appearance :  who  or  what  will  make 
appearance,  or  how  things  can  or  will  turn,  except  a  bad  road, 
is  terribly  a  mystery  to  Wilhelmina. 

What  with  chagrin  and  confinement,  what  with  bad  diet 
(for  the  very  diet  is  bad,  quality  and  quantity  alike  unspeak- 
able), Wilhelmina  sees  herself  '  reduced  to  a  skeleton  ;'  no 
company  but  her  faithful  Sonsfeld,  no  employment  but  her 
Books  and  Music  ; — struggles,  however,  still  to  keep  heart. 
One  day,  it  is  in  February  173 1,  as  I  compute,  they  are  sitting, 
her  Sonsfeld  and  she,  at  their  sad  mess  of  so-called  dinner,  in 
their  i-emote  upper  story  of  the  Berlin  Schloss,  tramp  of  sentries 
the  one  thing  audible  ;  and  were  '  looking  mournfully  at  one 
'  another,  with  nothing  to  eat  but  a  soup  of  salt  and  water,  and 
'  a  ragout  of  old  bones  full  of  hairs  and  slopperies,' — nothing 
else  ;  that  was  its  real  quality,  whatever  fine  name  they  might 
give  it,  says  the  vehement  Princess, — '  we  heard  a  sharp  tap- 
'  ping  at  the  window ;  and  started  up  in  surprise,  to  see  what 
'  it  could  be.  It  was  a  raven,  carrying  in  its  beak  a  bit  of 
'  bread,  which  it  left  on  the  window-sill,  and  flew  away.'- 

'  Tears  came  into  our  eyes  at  this  adventure.'  Are  we  be- 
come as  Hebrew  Elijahs,  then  ;  so  that  the  wild  ravens  have 
to  bring  us  food  ?  Truth  is,  there  was  nothing  miraculous,  as 
Wilhelmina  found  by  and  by.  It  was  a  tame  raven, — not  the 
soul  of  old  George  I.,  which  lives  at  Isleworth  on  good  pensions  ; 
but  the  pet  raven  of  a  certain  Margravine,  which  lost  its  way 
among  the  intricate  roofs  here.  But  the  incident  was  touching. 
"  Well,"  exclaimed  Wilhelmina,  "  in  the  Roman  Histories  I  am 
"  now  reading,  it  is  often  said  those  creatures  betoken  good 
"  luck."  All  Berlin,  such  the  appetite  for  gossip,  and  such  the 
famine  of  it  in  Berlin  at  present,  talked  of  this  minute  event  : 
and  the  French  Colony, — old  Protestant  Colony,  practical  con- 
siderate people, — were  so  struck  by  it,  they  brought  baskets  of 
comfortable  things  to  us,  and  left  them  daily,  as  if  by  accident, 
on  some  neutral  ground,  where  the  maid  could  pick  them  up, 
sentries  refusing  to  see  unless  compelled.  Which  fine  proced- 
ure has  attached  Wilhelmina  to  the  French  nation  ever  since, 
as  a  dextrous  useful  people,  and  has  given  her  a  disposition  to 
help  them  where  she  could. 

2  Wilhelmina,  i.  316. 


12  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        Book  viir. 

iilh  May  1731. 

The  omen  of  the  raven  did  not  at  once  bring  good  luck  : 
however,  it  did  chance  to  be  the  turning-point,  solstice  oi  this 
long  Greenland  winter  ;  after  v/hich,  amid  storms  and  alarms, 
daylight  came  steadily  nearer.  Storms  and  alarms  :  for  there 
came  rumours  of  quarrels  out  at  Potsdam,  quarrels  on  the  old 
score  between  the  Royal  Spouses  there  ;  and  frightful  messages, 
through  one  Eversmann,  an  insolent  royal  lackey,  about  wed- 
ding Weissenfels,  about  imprisonment  for  life  and  other  hard 
things  ;  through  all  which  Wilhelmina  studied  to  keep  her  poor 
head  steady,  and  answer  with  dignity  yet  discreetly.  On  the 
other  hand,  her  Sisters  are  permitted  to  visit  her,  and  percept- 
ible assuagements  come.  At  length,  on  the  nth  of  May,  there 
came  solemn  Deputation,  Borck,  Grumkow,  Thulmeyer  in  it, 
old  real  friends  and  pi"etended  new;  which  set  poor  Wilhel- 
mina wringing  her  hands  (having  had  a  Letter  from  Mamma 
overnight)  ;  but  did  bring  about  a  solution.  It  was  Friday  i  ith 
of  May  ;  a  day  of  crisis  in  Wilhelmina's  history  ;  Queen  com- 
manding one  thing.  King  another,  and  the  hour  of  decision  come. 

Entering,  announcing  them.selves,  with  dreadful  solemnity, 
these  gentlemen,  Grumkow  the  spokesman,  in  soft  phrase,  but 
with  strict  clearness,  made  it  apparent  to  her.  That  marry  she 
must, — the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Baireuth, — and  without  the 
consent  of  both  her  parents,  which  was  unattainable  at  present, 
but  peremptorily  under  the  command  of  one  of  them,  whose 
vote  was  the  supreme.  Do  this  (or  even  say  that  you  will  do 
it,  whisper  some  of  the  v/ell-affected),  his  Majesty's  paternal 
favour  will  return  upon  you  like  pent  waters  ; — and  the  Ouecn 
will  surely  reconcile  herself  (or  perhaps  turn  it  all  her  own  way 
yet  !  whisper  the  well-affected).  Refuse  to  do  it,  her  Majesty, 
your  Royal  Brother,  you  yourself  Royal  Highness,  God  only 
knows  what  the  unheard-of  issue  will  be  for  you  all!  Do  it, 
let  us  advise  you  :  you  must,  you  must  ! — Wilhelmina  wrung 
her  hands  ;  ran  distractedly  to  and  fro  ;  the  well-affected  whis- 
pering to  her,  the  others  '  conversing  at  a  window.'  At  length 
she  did  it.  Will  marry  whom  her  all-gracious  Papa  appoints  ; 
never  wished  or  meant  the  least  disobedience  ;  hopes,  beyond 
all  things,  his  paternal  love  will  now  return,  and  make  every- 
body blessed ; — andO,  reconcile  Mamma  to  me,  ye  well-afifectcd ! 
adds  she. — Bravissimo  !  answer  they :  her  Majesty,  for  certain, 
will  reconcile  herself;  Crown-Prince  get  back  from  Custrin, 
and  all  will  be  well.'^ 

••  Wilhelmina,  i.  227-333. 


Chap. III.     WILHELMINA  TO  WED   BAIREUTH.         13 

mil  May  1731. 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  was  overjoyed  ;  Oucen  Sophie  Dorothee 
v/as  in  despair.  With  his  Majesty,  who  '  wept'  hl^e  a  paternal 
Ijcar,  on  reembracing  Wilhehiiina  the  obedient  some  days 
lience,  it  became  a  settled  point,  and  was  indicated  to  Wilhel- 
mina  as  such,  That  the  Crown-Prince  would,  on  her  actual  wed- 
ding, probably  get  back  from  Ciistrin.  But  her  Majesty's  re- 
concilement,— this  was  very  slow  to  follow.  Her  Majesty  was 
still  in  flames  of  ire  at  their  next  interview  ;  and  poor  Wilhel- 
niina  fainted,  on  approaching  to  kiss  her  hand.  "  Disgraced, 
vanquished,  and  my  enemies  triumphing !"  said  her  Majesty  ; 
and  vented  her  wrath  on  Wilhelmina  ;  and  fell  ill  (so  soon  as 
there  was  leisure),  ill,  like  to  die,  and  said,  "Why  pretend  to 
weep,  when  it  is  you  that  have  killed  me  !" — and  indeed  was 
altogether  hard,  bitter,  upon  the  poor  Princess  ;  a  chief  sorrow 
to  her  in  these  trying  months.  Can  there  be  such  wrath  in 
celestial  minds,  venting  itself  so  unreasonably  ? — 

At  present  there  is  no  leisure  for  illness  ;  grand  visitors  in 
quantity  have  come  and  are  coming  ;  and  the  Court  is  brilliant 
exceedingly; — his  Majesty  blazing  out  into  the  due  magnifi- 
cence, which  was  very  great  on  this  occasion,  domestic  mat- 
ters looking  up  with  him  again.  The  Serenities  of  Brunswick 
are  here,  young  and  old  ;  much  liked  by  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ; 
and  almost  reckoned  family  people, — ever  since  their  Eldest 
Son  was  affianced  to  the  Princess  Charlotte  here,  last  visit  they 
made.  To  Princess  Charlotte,  Wilhclmina's  second  junior, — 
mischievous,  coquettish  creature  she,  though  very  pretty  and 
insinuating,  who  seems  to  think  her  Intended  rather  a  phleg- 
matic young  gentleman,  as  Wilhelmina  gradually  discovers. 
Then  there  is  old  Duke  Eberhard  Ludwig,  of  Wiirtemberg, 
whom  we  saw  at  Ludwigsburg  last  year,  in  an  intricate  condi- 
tion with  his  female  world  and  otherwise,  he  too  announces 
himself, — according  to  promise  then  given.  Old  Duke  Eber- 
hard Ludwig  comes,  stays  three  weeks  in  great  splendour  of 
welcome  ; — poor  old  gentleman,  his  one  son  is  now  dead  ;  and 
things  are  getting  earnest  with  him.  On  his  return  home,  this 
time,  he  finds,  according  to  order,  the  foul  witch  Griivenitz  duly 
cleared  away;  reinstates  his  injured  Duchess,  with  the  due 
feelings,  better  late  than  never  ;  and  dies  in  a  year  or  two,  still 
childless. — 

These  are  among  the  hiqh  guests  at  Berlin  ;  and  there  arc 


14  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         r,>or.viii. 

27lh  May  1731. 

plenty  of  others  whom  we  do  not  name.  Magnificent  dining; 
with  '  six-and-twenty  blackamoors,'  high-coloured  creatures, 
marching  up  the  grand  staircase,  round  the  table,  round  it,  and 
then  down  again,  melodious,  doing  'janizaiy  music,'  if  you  hap- 
pen to  prefer  that  kind  ; — trained  creatures  these  blackamoors, 
all  got  when  boys,  and  set  to  cymbaUing  and  fifing  betimes, 
adds  my  authority.^  Dining,  boar-hunting  (if  the  boar  be  hunt- 
able),  especially  reviewing,  fail  not  in  those  fine  summer  days. 

One  evening,  it  is  Sunday  27th  of  May,  latish,  while  the 
high  guests,  with  Queen  and  Wilhelmina,  are  just  passing  in 
to  supper  (King's  Majesty  having  'gone  to  bed  at  seven,'  to  be 
well  astir  for  the  review  tomorrow),  a  sound  of  wheels  is  heard 
in  the  court.  Modest  travelling-equipage  rolls  up  into  the 
inner  court ;  to  the  foot  of  the  grand  staircase  there,  whither 
only  Princes  come  : — who  can  it  be  ?  The  Queen  sends  to  in- 
quire. Heavens,  it  is  the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Baireuth  !  •  Me- 
'  dusa's  Head  never  produced  such  effect  as  did  this  bit  of 
'  news :  Queen  sat  petrified  ;  and  I,'  by  reflex,  was  petrified  too  ! 
Wilhelmina  passed  the  miserablest  night,  no  wink  of  sleep;  and 
felt  quite  ill  in  the  morning  ; — in  dread,  too,  of  Papa's  rough 
jests, — and  wretched  enough.  She  had  begged  much,  last 
night,  to  be  excused  from  the  review.  But  that  could  not  be  : 
"I  must  go,"  said  the  Queen  after  reflection,  "and  you  with 
me."  Which  they  did  ; — and  diversified  the  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  mock-war  bj'-  a  small  unexpected  scene. 

Queen,  Princess  and  the  proper  Dames  had,  by  his  Ma- 
jesty's order,  to  pass  before  the  line  :  Princess  in  much  trouble, 
'with  three  caps  huddled  on  me,  to  conceal  myself,'  poor  soul. 
Margraf  of  Schvv'cdt,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  'looked  swollen 
with  rage,'  high  hopes  gone  in  this  manner  ; — and  saluted  us 
_with  eyes  turned  away.  As  for  his  Mother,  the  Dessau  Mar- 
gravine in  high  colours,  she  was  'blue  in  the  face'  all  day. 
Lines  passed,  and  salutations  done,  her  Majesty  and  Dames 
withdrew  to  the  safe  distance,  to  look  on  : — Such  a  show,  for 
pomp  and  circumstance,  Wilhelmina  owns,  as  could  not  be 
equalled  in  the  world.  Such  wheeling,  rhythmic  coalescing  and 
unfolding ;  accurate  as  clockwork,  far  and  wide ;  swift  big 
column  here,  hitting  swift  big  column  there,  at  the  appointed 
place  and  moment ;  with  their  vollcyings  and  trumpetings, 
bright  uniforms  and  streamers  and  field-music, — in  equipment 

■'  Fassmann,  p.  726,  &c. 


Chap.iii.     WILHELMINA  TO  WED    BAIREUTPI.  15 

28th  May  1731. 

and  manoeuvre  perfect  all,  to  the  meanest  drummer  or  black 
kettledrummer  : — supreme  drill-sergeant  playing  on  the  thing, 
as  on  his  huge  piano,  several  square  miles  in  area  !  Comes  of 
the  Old  Dessauer,  all  this  ;  of  the  "  equal  step;"  of  the  abstruse 
meditations  upon  tactics,  in  that  rough  head  of  his.  Very  pretty- 
indeed. — But  in  the  mean  while  an  Official  steps  up  ;  cap  in 
hand,  approaches  the  Queen's  carriage  ;  says.  He  is  ordered  to 
introduce  his  Highness  the  Prince  of  Baireuth.  Prince  comes 
up  accordingly;  a  personable  young  fellow;  intelligent-look- 
ing, self-possessed  ;  makes  obeisance  to  her  Majesty,  who  ans- 
wers in  frosty  politeness  ;  and — and  Wilhelmina,  faint,  fast- 
ing, sleepless  all  night,  fairly  falls  aswoon.  Could  not  be  helped  : 
and  the  whole  world  saw  it ;  and  Guy  Dickens  and  the  Diplo- 
matists wrote  home  about  it,  and  there  rose  rumour  and  gossip 
enough  !^  But  that  was  the  naked  truth  of  it  :  hot  weather, 
agitation,  want  of  sleep,  want  of  food  ;  not  aversion  to  the  He- 
reditary Prince,  nothing  of  that. 

Rather  the  contrary,  indeed  ;  and,  on  better  acquaintance, 
much  the  contraiy.  For  he  proved  a  very  rational,  honour- 
able and  eligible  young  Prince  :  modest,  honest,  with  abund- 
ance of  sense  and  spirit  ;  kind  too  and  good,  hot  temper  well 
kept,  temper  hot  not  harsh  ;  quietly  holds  his  own  in  all  circles  ; 
good  discourse  in  him,  too,  and  sharp  repartee  if  requisite, — 
though  he  stammei'ed  somewhat  in  speaking.  Submissive  Wil- 
helmina feels  that  one  might  easily  have  had  a  worse  husband. 
What  glories  for  you  in  England  !  the  Queen  used  to  say  to 
her  in  old  times  :  "  He  is  a  Prince,  that  Frederick,  who  has  a 
"  good  heart,  and  whose  genius  is  very  small.  Rather  ugly 
"  than  handsome  ;  slightly  out  of  shape  even  {nn  pen  contre- 
"  fait).  But  provided  you  have  the  complaisance  to  suffer  his 
"  debaucheries,  you  will  quite  govern  him ;  and  you  will  be 
"  more  King  than  he,  when  once  his  Father  is  dead.  Only 
"  see  what  a  part  you  will  play  !  It  will  be  you  that  decide 
"  on  the  weal  or  woe  of  Europe,  and  give  law  to  the  Nation,"" 
— in  a  manner  !  Which  Wilhelmina  did  not  think  a  celestial 
prospect  even  then.  Who  knows  but,  of  all  the  offers  she  had, 
'  four'  or  three  '  crowned  heads'  among  them,  this  final  modest 
honest  one  may  be  intrinsically  the  best  1  Take  your  portion, 
if  inevitable,  and  be  thankful ! — 

5  Dickens,   of  2d  June  1731  (in  palhetic   terms);    Wilhelmina,   i.  341  (without 
pathos).  °  Wilhelmina,  i.  143. 


i6  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        Bockvili. 

3d  June  1731. 

The  Betrothal  follows  in  about  a  week  :  Sunday'  3d  June 
1731  ;  with  great  magnificence,  in  presence  of  the  high  guests 
and  all  the  world  :  and  Wilhelmina  is  the  affianced  Bride  of 
Friedrich  of  Baireuth  : — and  that  enormous  Double-Marriage 
Tragicomedy,  of  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  is  at  last  ended. 
Courage,  friends  ;  all  things  do  end  ! — 

The  high  guests  hereupon  go  their  ways  again  ;  and  the 
Court  of  Berlin,  one  cannot  but  suppose,  collapses,  as  after  a 
great  effort  finished.  Do  not  Friedrich  Wilhelm  and  innumer- 
able persons, — the  readers  and  the  writer  ot  this  History  in- 
cluded,— feel  a  stone  rolled  off  their  hearts  ? — It  is  now,  and 
not  till  now,  that  Queen  Sophie  falls  sick,  and  like  to  die  ;  and 
reproaches  Wilhelmina  with  killing  her.  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
hopes  confidently,  not ;  waits  out  at  Potsdam,  for  a  few  days, 
till  this  killing  danger  pass  ;  then  departs,  with  double  impe- 
tuosity, for  Preussen,  and  dispatch  of  Public  Business  ;  such  a 
mountain  of  Domestic  Business  being  victoriously  got  under. 

Poor  King,  his  life,  this  long  while,  has  been  a  series  of 
earthquakes  and  titanic  convulsions.  Narrow  miss  he  has  had, 
of  pulling  down  his  house  about  his  ears,  and  burying  self,  son, 
wife,  family  and  fortunes,  under  the  ruin-heap, — a  monument 
to  remote  posterity.  Never  was  such  an  enchanted  dance,  of 
well-intentioned  Royal  Bear  with  poetic  temperament,  piped 
to  by  two  black-artists,  for  the  Kaiser's  and  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion's sake  !  Let  Tobacco-Parliament  also  rejoice  ;  for  truly 
the  play  was  growing  dangerous,  of  late.  King  and  Parlia- 
ment, we  may  suppose,  return  to  Public  Business  with  double 
vigour. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CRIMINAL  JUSTICE  IN  PREUSSEN  AND  ELSEWHERE. 

Not  that  his  Majesty,  while  at  the  deepest  in  domestic  in- 
tricacies, ever  neglects  Public  Business.  This  very  summer 
he  is  raising  Hussar  Squadrons  ;  bent  to  introduce  the  Hussar 
kind  of  soldiery  into  his  Army ; — a  good  deal  of  horsebreaking 
and  new  sabre-exercise  needed  for  that  object.'  The  affairs 
of  the  Reich  have  at  no  moment  been  out  of  his  eye;  glad  to 
seethe  Kaiser  edging  round  to  the  Sea- Powers  again,  and 

'  Fassm.ann,  pp.  ^ij,  418. 


Chap.  IV.      CRIMINAL  JUSTICE   IN  PREUSSEN.  17 

June  1731. 

things  coming  into  their  old  posture,  in  spite  of  that  sad  Treaty 
of  Seville. 

Nay,  for  the  last  two  years,  while  the  domestic  volcanos 
were  at  their  worst,  his  Majesty  has  been  extensively  dealing 
with  a  new  question  which  has  risen,  that  o{\.\^q.  Salzburg  Pro- 
testants j  concerning  which  we  shall  hear  more  anon.  Far  and 
wide,  in  the  Diets  and  elsewhere,  he  has  been  diligently,  piously 
and  with  solid  judgment,  handling  this  question  of  the  poor 
Salzburgers;  and  has  even  stored  up  moneys  in  intended  so- 
lace of  them  (for  he  foresees  what  the  end  will  be) ; — moneys 
which,  it  appears  about  this  time,  a  certain  Official  over  in 
Preussen  has  been  peculating!  In  the  end  of  June,  his  Ma- 
jesty sets  off  to  Preussen  on  the  usual  Inspection  Tour;  which 
we  should  not  mention,  were  it  not  in  regard  to  that  same 
Official,  and  to  something  very  rhadamanthine  and  particular 
which  befell  him;  significant  of  what  his  Majesty  can  do  in  the 
way  of  prompt  justice. 

Case  of  Schhibhut. 

The  Kdnigsberg  Domain -Board  {Kriegs-  tind  Dovidnen- 
Kajiuner)  had  fallen  awry,  in  various  points,  of  late  ;  several 
things  known  to  be  out-at-elbows  in  that  Country  ;  the  Kam- 
mer  Raths  evidently  lax  at  their  post  ;  for  which  reason  they 
have  been  sharply  questioned,  and  shaken  by  the  collar,  so  to 
speak.  Nay  there  is  one  Rath,  a  so-called  Nobleman  of  those 
parts,  by  name  Schlubhut,  who  has  been  found  actually  de- 
faulting ;  peculating  from  that  pious  hoard  intended  for  the 
Salzburgers  :  he  is  proved,  and  confesses,  to  have  put  into  his 
own  scandalous  purse  no  less  than  11,000  thalers,  some  say 
30,000  (almost  5,000/.),  which  belonged  to  the  Pubhc  Trea- 
sury and  the  Salzburg  Protestants  !  These  things,  especially 
this  latter  unheard-of  Schlubhut  thing,  the  Supreme  Court  at 
Berlin  {Crifiiinal -Collegium)  have  been  sitting  on,  for  some 
time  ;  and,  in  regard  to  Schlubhut,  they  have  brought  out  a 
result,  which  Friedrich  Wilhelm  not  a  little  admires  at.  Schlub- 
hut clearly  guilty  of  the  defalcation,  say  they  ;  but  he  has 
moneys,  landed  properties  :  let  him  refund,  principal  and  in- 
terest ;  and  have,  say,  three  or  four  years'  imprisonment,  by 
way  of  memento.  "  Years'  imprisonment  ?  Refund  ?  Is  theft 
in  the  highest  quarters  a  thing  to  be  let-off  for  refunding  ?" 

VOL,  III.  c 


1 8  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         BookViil. 

July  1731. 

growls  his  Majesty  ;  and  will  not  confirm  this  sentence  of  his 
Criminal-Collegium  ;  but  leaves  it  till  he  get  to  the  spot,  and 
see  with  his  own  eyes.  Schlubhut,  in  arrest  or  mild  confine- 
ment all  this  while,  ought  to  be  bethinking  himself  more  than 
he  is  ! 

Once  on  the  spot,  judge  if  the  Konigsberg  Domain-Kam- 
mer  had  not  a  stiff  muster  to  pass  ;  especially  if  Schlubhut's 
drill-exercise  was  gentle  !  Schlubhut,  summoned  to  private 
interview  with  his  Majesty,  carries  his  head  higher  than  could 
be  looked  for  :  Is  very  sorry  ;  knows  not  how  it  happened  ; 
meant  always  to  refund  ;  will  refund,  to  the  last  penny,  and 
make  all  good. — "  Refund .''  Does  He  {Er)  know  what  steal- 
ing means,  then  ?  How  the  commonest  convicted  private  thief 
finds  the  gallows  his  portion  ;  much  more  a  public  magistrate 
convicted  of  theft?  Is  He  aware  that  He,  in  a  very  especial 
manner,  deserves  hanging,  then  ?" — Schlubhut  looks  offended 
dignity;  conscious  of  rank,  if  also  of  quasi -theft  :  "  Es  ist 
nicht  Manier  (it  is  not  the  polite  thing)  to  hang  a  Prussian 
Nobleman  on  those  light  terms  !"  answers  Schlubhut,  high- 
mannered  at  the  wrong  time  :  "I  can  and  will  pay  the  money 
back  !" — Noble-vsxTkw  ?  Money  back  ?  "  I  will  none  of  His 
scoundrelly  money."  To  strait  Prison  with  this  Sdnirke  / — 
And  thither  he  goes  accordingly  :  unhappiest  of  mortals  ;  to 
be  conscious  of  rank,  not  at  the  right  place,  when  about  to  steal 
the  money,  but  at  the  wrong,  when  answering  to  Rhadaman- 
thus  on  it  ! 

And  there,  sure  enough,  Schlubhut  lies,  in  his  prison  on 
the  Schlosspiaiz,  or  Castle  Square,   of  Konigsberg,  all  night  ; 
and  hears,  close  by  Xht' Doindnen-Kanuner,  which  is  in  the 
same  Square,  Do/nd/icn-Ka}n}ner\\\\exe.\\\s  Office  used  to  be,  a 
terrible  sound  of  carpentering  go  on  ;  —  unhappiest  of  Prus- 
sian Noblemen.    And  in  the  morning,  see,  a  high  gallows  built  • 
close  in  upon    the  Domain- Kammer,   looking  into  the   ver '' 
windows   of  it;  —  and   there,    sure  enough,    the    unfortuna' 
Schlubhut  dies  the  thief's  death,  few  hours  hence,  speaking 
thinking  what,  no  man  reports  to  me.      Death  was  certain  f(  , 
him  ;  inevitable  as  fate.     And  so  he  vibrates  there,  admoni 
tory  to  the  other  Raths   for  days, — some  say  for  weeks, — till  I 
by  humble  petition  they  got  the  gallows  removed.    The  stumps) 
of  it,  sawed  close  by  the  stones,  were  long  after  visible  in  that 
Schlossplatz  of  Konigsberg.     Here  is  prompt  justice  with  a 


Chap.  IV.      CRIMINAL  JUSTICE   IN  PREUSSEN.  19 

July  1731. 

witness  !  Did  readers  ever  hear  of  such  a  thing  ?  There  is 
no  doubt  about  the  fact,^  though  in  all  Prussian  Books  it  is 
loosely  smeared  over,  without  the  least  precision  of  detail  ;  and 
it  was  not  till  after  long  searching  that  I  could  so  much  as  get 
it  dated  :  July  1731,  while  Friedrich  Crown-Prince  is  still  in 
eclipse  at  Ciistrin,  and  some  six  weeks  after  Wilhelmina's  be- 
trothal. And  here  furthermore,  direct  from  the  then  Schlub- 
hut  precincts,  is  a  stray  Note,  meteorological  chiefly  ;  but 
worth  picking  up,  since  it  is  authentic.  '  Wehlau,'  we  observe, 
is  on  the  road  homewards  again, — on  our  return  from  utter- 
most Memel, — a  day's  journey  hitherwards  of  that  place,  half 
a  day's  thitherwards  of  Konigsberg  : 

'  Tuesday  loth  J-idy  1731.  King  dining  with  General  Dockum  at 
'  Wehlau,' — where  he  had  been  again  reviewing,  for  about  forty  hours, 
all  manner  of  regiments  brought  to  rendezvous  there  for  the  purpose, 
poor  '  General  Katte  with  his  regiment'  among  them  ; — King  at  dinner 
with  General  Dockum  after  all  that,  '  took  the  resolution  to  be  off  to 
'  Konigsberg  ;  and  arrived  here  at  the  stroke  of  midnight,  in  a  deluge 
'  of  rain.'  This  brings  us  within  a  day,  or  two  days,  of  Schlubhut's 
death.  Terrible  'combat  of  Bisons  {Uri,  or  Aiierochsen,  with  such 
'  manes,  such  heads),  of  two  wild  Bisons  against  six  wild  Bears, '  then 
ensued ;  and  the  Schlubhut  human  tragedy ;  I  know  notin  what  sequence, 
— rather  conjecture  the  Schlubhut  had  gone  Jirst.  Pillau,  road  to  Dant- 
zig,  on  the  narrow  strip  between  the  Frische  Haf  and  Baltic,  is  the  next 
stage  homewards ;  at  Pillau,  General  Finkenstein  (excellent  old  Tutor 
of  the  Crown-Prince)  is  Commandant,  and  expects  his  rapid  Alajesty, 
day  and  hour  given,  to  me  not  known.  Majesty  goes  in  three  carriages ; 
Old  Dessauer,  Grumkow,  Seckendorf,  Ginkel  are  among  his  suite; 
weather  still  veiy  electric  : 

'  At  Fischhausen,  half  \vay  to  Pillau,  Majesty  had  a  bout  of  elk- 

'  hunting  ;    killed  sixty  elks'   (Melton -Mowbray  may  consider  it), — 

'  creatures  of  the  deer  sort,   nimble  as  roes,   but  strong  as  bulls,   and 

'  four  palms  higher  than  the  biggest  horse, — to  the  astonishment  ol 

'  Seckendorf,   Ginkel  and  the  strangers  there.     Plalf-an-hour  short  oi 

Pillau,   furious   electr.city  again;    thunderbolt  shivered  an  oak-tree 

-  "ifteen  yards  from  Majesty's  carriage.     And  at  Pillau  itself,  the  Bat- 

t  ilion  in  Garrison  there,  drawn-out  in  arms,  by  Count  Finkenstein,  to 

1  eceive  his  Majesty'  (rain  over  by  this  time,  we  can  hope),  'had  sud- 

^  jenly  to  rush  forward  and  take  new  ground ;  Frische  Haf,  on  some 

pressure  from  the  elements,  having  suddenly  gushed  out,  two  hundred 

paces  beyond  its  old  watermark  in  that  place.'' 

2  Benekendorf  (Anonymous),  Karakterzuge  aiis  dem  Lehen  ICum's'  Frkdrich 
Vilhebn  I.  (Berlin,  1788),  vii.  15-20 ;  Forster  (ii.  268),  &c.  &c. 

3  See  Mauvillon,  ii.  293-297  ;— correcting  by  Fassniann,  p.  422. 


20  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.        Book  vill. 

1731- 
Pillau,  Fischhaiisen, — this  is  where  the  excellent  old  Adal- 
bert stamped  the  earth  with  his  life  '  in  the  shape  of  a  crucifix' 
eight  hundred  years  ago  :  and  these  are  the  new  phenomena 
there  !  —  The  General  Dockum,  Colonel  of  Dragoons,  whom 
his  Majesty  dined  with  at  Wehlau,  got  his  death  not  many 
months  after.  One  of  Dockum's  Dragoon  Lieutenants  felt  in- 
sulted at  something,  and  demanded  his  discharge  :  discharge 
given,  he  challenged  Dockum,  duel  of  pistols,  and  shot  him 
dead.^  Nothing  more  to  be  said  of  Dockum,  nor  of  that  Lieu- 
tenant, in  military  annals. 

Case  of  the  Criminal-  Collegium  itself. 

And  thus  was  the  error  of  the  Criminal-Collegium  rectified 
in  re  Schlubhut.  For  it  is  not  in  name  only,  but  in  fact,  that 
this  Sovereign  is  Supreme  Judge,  and  bears  the  sword  in  God's 
stead, — interfering  now  and  then,  when  need  is,  in  this  terrible 
manner.  In  the  same  dim  authentic  Benekendorf  (himself  a 
member  of  the  Criminal-Collegium  in  later  times),  and  from 
him  in  all  the  Books,  is  recorded  another  interference  some- 
what in  the  comic  vein  ;  which  also  we  may  give.  Undisputed 
fact,  again  totally  without  precision  or  details  ;  not  even  date- 
able,  except  that,  on  study,  we  perceive  it  may  have  been  be- 
fore thisSchlubhul's  execution,  and  after  the  Criminal-Collegium 
had  committed  their  error  about  him, — must  have  been  while 
this  of  Schlubhut  was  still  vividly  in  mind.  Here  is  the  un- 
precise  but  indubitable  fact,  as  the  Prussian  Dryasdust  has 
left  us  his  smear  of  it  : 

'  One  morning  early'  (might  be  before  Schlubhut  was 
hanged,  and  while  only  sentence  of  imprisonment  and  restitu- 
tion lay  on  him),  General  Graf  von  Donhof,  Colonel  of  a  Mus- 
keteer regiment,  favourite  old  soldier, — who  did  vote  on  the 
mild  side  in  that  Court-Martial  on  the  Crown-Prince  lately  ; 
but  I  hope  has  been  forgiven  by  his  Majesty,  being  much 
esteemed  by  him  these  long  years  past  ; — this  Donhof,  early 
one  morning,  calls  upon  the  King,  with  a  grimly  lamenting 
air.  "  What  is  wrong,  Hcrr  General  ?" — "Your  Majesty,  my 
best  musketeer,  an  excellent  soldier,  and  of  good  inches,  fell 
into  a  mistake  lately, — bad  company  getting  round  the  poor 
fellow ;  they,  he  among  them,  slipt  into  a  house  and  stole  some- 

•>  7th  Aoiil  iTii  (Militair-Lcxikon,  i.  365). 


Chap. IV.      CRIMINAL  JUSTICE   IN  PREUSSEN.  21 

1731- 

thing  ;  trifle  and  without  violence:  pay  is  but  three  half-pence, 
your  Majesty,  and  the  Devil,  tempts  men  !  Well,  the  Criminal- 
Collegium  have  condemned  him  to  be  hanged  ;  an  excellent 
soldier  and  of  good  inches,  for  that  one  fault.  Nobleman 
Schlubhut  was  'to  make  restitution,'  they  decreed:  that  was 
their  decree  on  Schlubhut,  one  of  their  own  set  ;  and  this  poor 
soldier,  six  feet  three,  your  Majesty,  is  to  dance  on  the  top  of 
nothing  for  a  three-halfpenny  matter  !"  —  So  would  Donhof 
represent  the  thing, — '  fact  being,'  says  my  Dryasdust,  '  it  was 
'  a  case  of  housebreaking  with  theft  to  the  value  of  6,000  tlia- 
'  lers,  and  this  musketeer  the  I'ingleader  !' — Well ;  but  was 
Schlubhut  sentenced  to  hanging  ?  Do  you  keep  two  weights 
and  two  measures,  in  that  Criminal-Collegium  of  yours,  then  ? 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  feels  this  sad  contrast  very  much  ;  the 
more,  as  the  soldier  is  his  own  chattel  withal,  and  of  superla- 
tive inches  :  Friedrich  Wilhelm  flames-up  into  wrath  ;  sends 
off  swift  messengers  to  bring  these  Judges,  one  and  all,  instantly 
into  his  presence.  The  Judges  are  still  in  their  dressing-gowns, 
shaving,  breakfasting  ;  they  make  what  haste  they  can.  So 
soon  as  the  first  three  or  four  are  reported  to  be  in  the  ante- 
room,  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  in  extreme  impatience,  has  them 
called  in  ;  starts  discoursing  with  them  upon  the  two  weights 
and  two  measures.  Apologies,  subterfuges  do  but  provoke  him 
farther  ;  it  is  not  long  till  he  starts  up,  growling  terribly  :  "  Ilir 
Schurken  (Ye  Scoundrels),  how  could  you  ?"  and  smites  down 
upon  the  crowns  of  them  with  the  Royal  Cudgel  itself.  Fancy 
the  hurry-scurry,  the  unforensic  attitudes  and  pleadings  !  Royal 
Cudgel  rains  blows,  right  and  left  :  blood  is  drawn,  crowns 
cracked,  crowns  nearly  broken  ;  and  '  several  Judges  lost  a 
few  teeth,  and  had  their  noses  battered,'  before  they  could  get 
out.  The  second  relay  meeting  them  in  this  dilapidated  state, 
on  the  staircases,  dashed  home  again  without  the  honour  of  a 
Royal  interview.^  Let  them  learn  to  keep  one  balance,  and 
one  set  of  weights,  in  their  Law-Court  henceforth. — This  is  an 
actual  scene,  of  date  Berlin  1731  or  thereby;  unusual  in  the 
annals  of  Themis.  Of  which  no  constitutional  country  can 
hope  to  see  the  fellow,  were  the  need  never  so  pressing. — I 
wish  his  Majesty  had  been  a  thought  more  equal,  when  he  was 
so  rhadamanthine  !  Schlubhut  he  hanged,  Schlubhut  being 
only  Schlubhut's  chattel ;  this  musketeer,    his  Majesty's  own 

*  Benekendorf,  vii.  33 ;  Forster,  ii.  270. 


22  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        Bookvrii. 

1731- 
chattel,  he  did  not  hang,  but  set  him  shouldering  arms  again, 
after  some  preliminary  dusting  ! — 

His  Majesty  was  always  excessively  severe  on  defalcations  ; 
any  Chancellor  with  his  Exchequer-bills  gone  wrong,  would 
have  fared  ill  in  that  country.  One  Treasury  dignitary,  named 
Wilke  (who  had  'dealt  in  tall  recruits,'  as  a  kind  of  bye-trade, 
and  played  foul  in  some  slight  measure),  the  King  was  clear 
for  hanging ;  his  poor  Wife  galloped  to  Potsdam,  shrieking 
mercy ;  upon  which  Friedrich  Wilhelm  had  him  whipt  by  the 
hangman,  and  stuck  for  life  into  Spandau.  Still  more  tra- 
gical was  poor  Hesse's  case.  Hesse,  some  domain  Rath  out  at 
Konigsberg,  concerned  with  moneys,  was  found  with  account- 
books  in  a  state  of  confusion,  and  several  thousands  short, 
when  the  outcome  was  cleared  up.  What  has  become  of  these 
thousands,  Sir?  Poor  old  Hesse  could  not  tell  :  "  God  is  my 
witness,  no  penny  of  them  ever  stuck  to  me,"  asseverated  poor 
old  Hesse;  "but  where  they  are — ?  My  account-books  are 
in  such  a  state  ; — alas,  and  my  poor  old  memory  is  not  what 
it  was  !"  They  brought  him  to  Berlin  ;  in  the  end  they  actu- 
ally hanged  the  poor  old  soul ; — and  then  afterwards  in  his 
dusty  lumber-rooms,  hidden  in  pots,  stuffed  into  this  nook  and 
that,  most  or  all  of  the  money  was  found  \^  Date  and  docu- 
ment exist  for  all  these  cases,  though  my  Dryasdust  gives 
none  ;  and  the  cases  are  indubitable  ;  very  rhadamanthine 
indeed.,  The  soft  quality  of  mercy, — ah,  yes,  it  is  beautiful  and 
blessed,  when  permissible  (though  thrice-accursed,  when  not) : 
but  it  is  on  the  hard  quality  of  justice,  first  of  all,  that  Empires 
are  built  up,  and  beneficent  and  lasting  things  become  achiev- 
able to  mankind,  in  this  world  ! — 

Skipper  JenMns  in  the  Gulf  of  Florida. 

A  couple  of  weeks  before  Schlubhut's  death,  the  English 
Newspapers  are  somewhat  astir, — in  the  way  of  narrative 
merely,  as  yet.  Ship  Rebecca,  Captain  Robert  Jenkins  Mas- 
ter, has  arrived  in  the  Port  of  London,  with  a  strange  story  in 
her  logbook.  Of  which,  after  due  sifting,  this  is  accurately  the 
substance  : 

'London,  23^-27//;  fuHe  1731.  Captain  Jenkins  left  this  Port  with 
'  the  Rebecca,   several  months  ago;  sailed  to  Jamaica,   for  a  cargo  of 

•■  Ffirster  (ii.  269),  &c.  &c. 


Chap.  IV.      CRIMINAL  JUSTICE   IN  PREUSSEN.  23 

731- 

sugar.  He  took  in  his  cargo  at  Jamaica ;  put  to  sea  again,  5th  April 
1 73 1,  and  proceeded  on  the  voyage  homewards;  with  indifferent 
winds  for  the  first  fortnight.  April  20th,  with  no  wind  or  none  that 
would  suit,  he  was  hanging  about  in  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of 
Florida,  not  far  from  the  Havana,' — almost  too  near  it,  I  should 
think;  but  these  baffling  winds! — 'not  far  from  the  Havana,  when  a 
Spanish  Guarda-Costa  hove  in  sight;  came  down  on  Jenkins,  and 
furiously  boarded  him:  "Scoundrel,  what  do  j'«i?<  want;  contraband- 
ing in  these  seas?  Jamaica,  say  you?  Sugar?  Likely!  Let  us  see 
your  logwood,  hides,  Spanish  pieces-of-eightl"  And  broke  in  upon 
Jenkins,  ship  and  person,  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner.  Tore-up 
his  hatches  ;  plunged  down,  seeking  logwood,  hides,  pieces-of-eight ; 
found  none, — not  the  least  trace  of  contraband  on  board  of  Jenkins. 
They  brought  up  his  quadrants,  sextants,  however ;  likewise  his  stock 
of  tallow-candles  :  they  shook  and  rummaged  him,  and  all  things,  for 
pieces-of-eight;  furiously  advised  him,  cutlass  in  hand,  to  confess 
guilt.  They  slashed  the  head  of  Jenkins,  his  left  ear  almost  off.  Order 
had  been  given,  "  Scalp  him!" — but  as  he  had  no  hair,  they  omitted 
that ;  merely  brought  away  the  wig,  and  slashed  : — still  no  confession, 
nor  any  pieces-of-eight.  They  hung  him  up  to  the  yardarm, — actual 
neck -halter,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  tarry,  and  did  not  run : — still 
no  confession.  They  hoisted  him  higher,  tied  his  cabin-boy  to  his 
feet ;  neclyhalter  then  became  awfully  stringent  upon  Jenkins ;  had 
not  the  cabin-boy  (without  head  to  speak  of)  slipt  through,  noose  be- 
ing tarry;  which  was  a  sensible  relief  to  Jenkins.  Before  very  death, 
they  lowered  Jenkins,  "Confess,  scoundrel,  then!"  Scoundrel  could 
not  confess;  spoke  of  "British  Majesty's  flag,  peaceable  English  sub- 
ject on  the  high  seas. " — "  British  Majesty ;  high  seas !"  answered  they, 
and  again  hoisted.  Thrice  over  they  tried  Jenkins  in  this  manner  at 
the  yardarm,  once  with  cabin-boy  at  his  feet :  never  had  man  such  a 
day,  outrageous  whiskerando  cutthroats  tossing  him  about,  his  poor 
Rebecca  and  him,  at  such  rate !  Sun  getting  low,  and  not  the  least 
trace  of  contraband  found,  they  made  a  last  assault  on  Jenkins ; 
clutched  the  bloody  slit  ear  of  him;  tore  it  mercilessly  off;  flung  it 
in  his  face,  "  Carry  that  to  your  King,  and  tell  him  of  it !"  Then  M-ent 
their  way;  taking  Jenkins's  tallow-candles,  and  the  best  of  his  sextants 
with  them ;  so  that  he  could  hardly  work  his  passage  home  again,  for 
want  of  latitudes; — and  has  lost  in  goods  11 2/.,  not  to  speak  of  his 
ear.  Strictly  true  all  this;  ship's  company,  if  required,  will  testify  on 
their  oath.'' 

These  surely  are  singular  facts  ;  calculated  to  awaken  a 
maritime  public  careful  of  its  honour.  Which  they  did, — after 
about  eight  years,  as  the  reader  will  see  !  For  the  present, 
there  are  growlings  in  the  coffeehouses  ;  and,  '  Thursday  2%th 

7  Daily  yoiifftal  {and  the  other  London  Newspapers),  i2th-i7th  June(o.s. )  1731. 
Co.xc's  t'Vaipole,  i.  579,  560  (indistinct,  and  needing  correction). 


24  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         Bookviii. 

'  Jiine,^  say  the  Newspapers,  '  This  day  Captain  Jenkins  with 
'  his  Owners,'  ear  in  his  pocket,  I  hope,  '  went  out  to  Hamp- 
*  ton  Court  to  lay  the  matter  before  his  Grace  of  Newcastle  :' 
"  Please  your  Grace,  it  is  hardly  three  months  since  the  illus- 
trious Treaty  of  Vienna  was  signed  ;  Dutch  and  we  leading-in 
the  Termagant  of  Spain,  and  nothing  but  halcyon  weather  to 
be  looked  for  on  that  side  !"  Grace  of  Newcastle,  anxious  to 
avoid  trouble  with  Spain,  answers  I  can  only  fancy  what ;  and 
nothing  was  done  upon  Jenkins  and  his  ear  f — may  '  keep  it 
in  cotton,'  if  he  like  ;  shall  have  'a  better  ship'  for  some  so- 
lacement.  This  is  the  first  emergence  of  Jenkins  and  his  ear 
upon  negligent  mankind.  He  and  it  will  marvellously  reemerge, 
one  day! — 

Baby  Carlos  gets  his  Apanage. 

But  in  regard  to  that  Treaty  of  Vienna,  seventh  and  last 
of  the  travail-throes  for  Babj'  Carlos's  Apanage,  let  the  too  ob- 
livious reader  accept  the  following  Extract,  to  keep  him  on  a 
level  with  Public  '  Events,'  as  they  are  pleased  to  denominate 
themselves  : 

'By  that  dreadful  Treaty  of  Seville,  Cardinal  Fleury  and  the  Spaniards 
should  have  joined  with  England,  and  coerced  the  Kaiser  zi  et  arniis 
to  admit  Spanish  Garrisons'  (instead  of  neutral)  '  into  Parma  and  Pia- 
cenza,  and  so  secure  Baby  Carlos  his  heritage  there,  which  all  Nature 
was  in  travail  till  he  got.  "War  in  Italy  to  a  certainty!"  said  all  the 
Newspapers,  after  Seville:  and  Crown-Prince  Friedrich,  we  saw,  was 
running  off  to  have  a  stroke  in  said  War ; — inevitable,  as  the  Kaiser 
still  obstinately  refused.  And  the  English,  and  great  George  their 
King,  were  ready.  Nevertheless,  no  War  came.  Old  Fleury,  not 
wanting  war,  wanting  only  to  fish-out  something  useful  for  himself, — 
Lorraine  how  welcome,  and  indeed  the  smallest  contributions  are  wel- 
come!— Old  Fleury  manoeuvered,  hung  back  ;  till  the  Spaniards  and 
Termagant  Elizabeth  lost  all  patience,  and  the  very  English  were  weary, 
and  getting  suspicious.  Whereupon  the  Kaiser  edged  round  to  the 
Sea-Powers  again,  or  they  to  him  ;  and  comfortable  As-you-ivere  was 
got  accomplished  :  much  to  the  joy  of  Fnedrich  Wilhelm  and  others. 
Here  are  some  of  the  dates  to  these  sublime  phenomena : 

^ March  i6tk,  ij'ii,  Treaty  of  Vienna,  England  and  the  Kaiser 
coalescing  again  into  comfortable  A s-you-wcre.  Treaty  done  by  Ro- 
binson' (Sir  Thomas,  ultimately  Earl  of  Grantham,   whom  we  shall 

"  'The  .Spaniards  own  they  did  a  witty  thing, 
Who  cropt  our  ears,  and  sent  them  to  the  King.' 

Poi'E  (date  not  given  me). 


Chap.  IV.     CRIMINAL  JUSTICE   IN  PREUSSEN.  25 

1731- 

often  hear  of  in  time  coming) ;  '  was  confirmed  and  enlarged  by  a  kind  of 
'second  edition,  22d  July  1731;  Dutch  joining,  Spain  itself  acceding, 
'  and  all  being  now  right.      Which  could  hardly  have  been  expected. 

'  For  before  the  first  edition  of  that  Treaty,  and  while  Robinson  at 
'  Vienna  was  still  labouring  like  Hercules  in  it, — the  poor  Duke  of 
'Parma  died.  Died;  and  no  vestige  of  a  "Spanish  Garrison"  yet 
'  there,  to  induct  Baby  Carlos  according  to  old  bargain.  On  the  con- 
'  trary,  the  Kaiser  himself  took  possession, — "  till  once  the  Duke's 
'  Widow,  who  declares  herself  in  the  family-way,  be  brought  to  l)ed ! 
'  If  of  a  Son,  of  course  he  must  have  the  Duchies ;  if  of  a  Daughter 
'  only,  then  Carlos  shall  get  them,  let  iu)t  Robinson  fear."  The  due 
'  months  ran,  but  neither  son  nor  daughter  came;  and  the  Treaty  of 
'  Vienna,  first  edition  and  also  second,  was  signed ;  and, 

'  October  7,0th,  1731,  Spanish  Garrisons,  no  longer  an  hypothesis, 
'but  a  bodily  fact,  6,000  strong,  "convoyed  by  the  British  Fleet," 
*  came  into  Leghorn,  and  proceeded  to  lodge  themselves  in  the  long- 
'  litigated  Parma  and  Piacenza; — and,  in  fine,  the  day  after  Christmas, 
'  blessed  be  Heaven, 

'  Decembe}-  zdth,  Baby  Carlos  in  highest  person  came  in :  Baby 
'  Carlos  (more  power  to  him !)  got  the  Duchies,  and  we  hope  there 
'  was  an  end.  No  young  gentleman  ever  had  such  a  pother  to  make 
'  among  his  fellow-creatures  about  a  little  heritable  property.  If  Baby 
'  Carlos's  performance  in  it  be  anything  in  proportion,  he  will  be  a 
'  supereminent  sovereign ! 

'  There  is  still  some  haggle  about  Tuscany,  the  Duke  of  which  is 
'  old  and  heirless ;  Last  of  the  Medici,  as  he  proved.  Baby  Carlos 
'  would  much  like  to  have  Tuscany  too  ;  but  that  is  a  Fief  of  the  Empire, 
'  and  might  easily  be  better  disposed  of,  thinks  the  Kaiser.  A  more  or 
'  less  uncertain  point,  that  of  Tuscany ;  as  many  points  are !  Last  of 
'  the  Medici  complained,  in  a  polite  manner,  that  they  were  parting  his 
'  clothes  before  he  had  put  them  off:  however,  having  no  strength,  he 
'did  not  attempt  resistance,  but  politely  composed  himself,  "Well, 
'  then!"8  Do  readers  need  to  be  informed  that  this  same  Baby  Carlos 
'  came  to  be  King  of  Naples,  and  even  ultimately  to  be  Carlos  III.  of 
'  Spain,  leaving  a  younger  Son  to  be  King  of  Naples,  ancestor  of  the 
'  now  Majesty  there?' 

And  thus,  after  such  Diplomatic  earthquakes  and  travail  of 
Nature,  there  is  at  last  birth  ;  the  Seventh  Travail-throe  has 
been  successful,  in  some  measure  successful.  Here  actually 
is  Baby  Carlos's  Apanage  ;  there  probably,  by  favour  of  Hea- 
ven and  of  the  Sea-Powers,  will  the  Kaiser's  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion be,  one  day.  Treaty  of  Se\'ille,  most  imminent  of  all  those 
dreadful  Imminences  of  War,  has  passed  off  as  they  all  did  ; 

"  Scholl,  ii.  219-221 ;  Coxe's  Walpolc,  i.  346  ;  Coxe's  House  of  Austria  (London, 
1854),  iii.  151. 


26  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         Bookvill. 

peaceably  adjusts  itself  into  Treaty  of  Vienna  :  A  Termagant, 
as  it  were,  sated  ;  a  Kaiser  hopeful  to  be  so,  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion and  all :  for  the  Sea-Powers  and  everybody  mere  halcyon 
weather  henceforth, — not  extending  to  the  Gulf  of  Florida  and 
Captain  Jenkins,  as  would  seem  !  Robinson,  who  did  the  thing, 
— an  expert  man,  bred  to  business  as  old  Horace  Walpole's 
Secretary,  at  Soissons  and  elsewhere,  and  now  come  to  act  on 
his  own  score, — regards  this  Treaty  of  Vienna  (which  indeed 
had  its  multiform  difficulties)  as  a  thing  to  immortalise  a  man. 

Crown-Prince  has,  long  since,  by  Papa's  order,  written  to 
the  Kaiser,  to  thank  Imperial  Majesty  for  that  beneficent  in- 
tercession, which  has  proved  the  saving  of  his  life,  as  Papa 
inculcates.  We  must  now  see  a  little  how  the  saved  Crown- 
Prince  is  getting  on,  in  his  eclipsed  state,  among  the  Domain 
Sciences  at  Ciistrin. 

CHAPTER  V. 

INTERVIEW  OF  KIAJESTY  AND  CROWN-PRINCE  AT  CUSTRIN. 

Ever  since  the  end  of  November  last  year,  Crown-Prince 
Friedrich,  in  the  eclipsed  state,  at  Ciistrin,  has  been  prosecut- 
ing his  probationary  course,  in  the  Domain  Sciences  and  other- 
wise, with  all  the  patience,  diligence  and  dexterity  he  could. 
It  is  false,  what  one  reads  in  some  foolish  Books,  that  Fried- 
rich  neglected  the  functions  assigned  him  as  assessor  in  the 
Kriegs-  wid  Donidncn-Kammer.  That  would  not  have  been 
the  safe  course  for  him  !  The  truth  still  evident  is,  he  set  him- 
self with  diligence  to  learn  the  Friedrich-Wilhelm  methods  of 
administering  Domains,  and  the  art  of  Finance  in  general,  es- 
pecially of  Prussian  Finance,  the  best  extant  then  or  since  ; — 
Finance,  Police,  Administrative  Business  ; — and  profited  well 
by  the  Raths  appointed  as  tutors  to  him,  in  the  respective 
branches.  One  Hillc  was  his  Finance-tutor;  whose  '  Kom- 
'J>cndi7im,'  drawn  up  and  made  use  of  on  this  occasion,  has 
been  printed  in  our  time  ;  and  is  said  to  be,  in  brief  compass, 
a  highly  instructive  Piece  ;  throwing  clear  light  on  the  exem- 
plary Friedrich-Wilhelm  methods. 1  These  the  Prince  did  ac- 
tually learn  ;  and  also  practise,  all  his  life, — '  essentially  fol- 

'  Preuss,  i.  59  n. 


Chap.v.  INTERVIEW  AT  CUSTRIN.  27 

1731- 

lowing  his  Father's  methods,'  say  the  Authorities, — with  great 

advantage  to  himself,  when  the  time  came. 

Solid  Nicolai  hunted  diligently  after  traces  of  him  in  the 
Assessor  business  here  ;  and  found  some  : — Order  from  Papa, 
to  '  make  Report  upon  the  Glassworks  of  the  Neumark  :'  Au- 
tograph signatures  to  common  Reports,  one  or  two  ;  and  some 
traditions  of  his  having  had  a  hand  in  planning  certain  Farm- 
Buildings  still  standing  in  those  parts  : — but  as  the  Kammer 
Records  of  Ciistrin,  and  Ciistrin  itself,  were  utterly  burnt  by 
the  Russians  in  1758,  such  traces  had  mostly  vanished  thirty 
years  before  Nicolai's  time.^  Enough  have  turned  up  since, 
in  the  form  of  Correspondence  with  the  King  and  otherwise  : 
and  it  is  certain  the  Crown-Prince  did  plan  Farm-Buildings  ; — 
'  both  Carzig  and  Himmelstiidt  (Carzig  now  called  Friedrichs- 
'  felde  in  consequence),'""  dim  mossy  Steadings,  which  pious 
Antiquarianism  can  pilgrim  to  if  it  likes,  Avere  built  or  rebuilt 
by  him : — and  it  is  remarkable  withal  how  thoroughly  instructed 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  shows  himself  in  such  matters  ;  and  how 
paternally  delighted  to  receive  such  proposals  of  improvement 
introducible  at  the  said  Carzig  and  Himmelstadt,  and  to  find 
young  Graceless  so  diligent,  and  his  ideas  even  good.^  Per- 
haps a  momentary  glance  into  those  affairs  may  be  permitted 
farther  on. 

The  Prince's  life,  in  this  his  eclipsed  state,  is  one  of  con- 
straint, anxiety,  continual  liability  ;  but  after  the  first  months 
are  well  over,  it  begins  to  be  more  supportable  than  we  should 
think.  He  is  fixed  to  the  little  Town  ;  cannot  be  absent  any 
night,  without  leave  from  the  Commandant ;  which,  however, 
and  the  various  similar  restrictions,  are  more  formal  than 
real.  An  amiable  Crown-Prince,  no  soul  in  Ciistrin  but  would 
run  by  night  or  by  day  to  serve  him.  He  drives  and  rides 
about,  in  that  green  peaty  country,  on  Domain  business,  on 
visits,  on  permissible  amusement,  pretty  much  at  his  own 
modest  discretion.  A  green  flat  region,  made  of  peat  and 
sand  ;  human  industry  needing  to  be  always  busy  on- it  :  raised 
causeways  with  incessant  bridges,  black  sedgy  ditch  on  this 
hand  and  that ;  many  meres,  muddy  pools,  stagnant  or  flow- 
ing waters  everywhere  ;  big  muddy  Oder,  of  yellowish -drab 
colour,    coming   from  the  south,   big  black  Warta  (Warthe) 

2  Nicolai,  A)iekdoten,  vi.  193.  *  See  Map  at  p.  43. 

•'  Forster,  ii.  390,  387,  391. 


28  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.        Book  viii. 

J731. 
from  the  Polish  fens  in  the  east,  the  black  and  yellow  re- 
fusing to  mingle  for  some  miles.  Nothing  of  the  picturesque 
in  this  country  ;  but  a  good  deal  of  the  useful,  ot  the  im- 
provable by  economic  science  ;  and  more  of  fine  produc- 
tions in  it,  too,  of  the  floral,  and  still  more  interesting  sorts, 
than  you  would  suspect  at  first  sight.  Friedrich's  worst  pinch 
was  his  dreadful  straitness  of  income  ;  checking  one's  noble 
tendencies  on  every  hand  :  but  the  gentry  of  the  district  pri- 
vately subscribed  gifts  for  him  {se  cotisirent,  says  Wilhelmina)  ; 
and  one  way  and  other  he  contrived  to  make  ends  meet. 
Miinchow,  his  President  in  the  Kammer,  next  to  whom  sits 
Friedrich,  '  King's  place  standing  always  ready  but  empty 
there,'  is  heartily  his  friend  ;  the  Miinchows  are  diligent  in  get- 
ting up  balls,  rural  gaieties,  for  him  ;  so  the  Hilles, — nay  Hille, 
severe  Finance  Tutor,  has  a  Mamsell  Hille  whom  it  is  pleasant 
to  dance  with  ;^  nor  indeed  is  she  the  only  fascinating  speci- 
men, or  flower  of  loveliness,  in  those  peaty  regions,  as  we  shall 
see.  On  the  whole,  his  Royal  Highness,  after  the  first  par- 
oxysms of  Royal  suspicion  are  over,  and  forgiveness  beginning 
to  seem  possible  to  the  Royal  mind,  has  a  supportable  time 
of  it  ;  and  possesses  his  soul  in  patience,  in  activity  and  hope. 
Unpermitted  things,  once  for  all,  he  must  avoid  to  do  :  per- 
haps he  will  gradually  discover  that  many  of  them  were  fool- 
ish things  better  not  done.  He  walks  warily;  to  this  all  things 
continually  admonish.  We  trace  in  him  some  real  desire  to 
be  wise,  to  do  and  learn  what  is  useful  if  he  can  here.  But 
the  grand  problem,  which  is  reality  itself  to  him,  is  always,  To 
regain  favour  with  Papa.  And  this,  Papa  being  what  he  is, 
gives  a  twist  to  all  other  problems  the  young  man  may  have, 
for  they  must  all  shape  themselves  by  this  ;  and  introduces 
something  of  artificial, — not  properly  of  hypocritical,  for  that 
too  is  fatal  if  found  out, — but  of  calculated,  reticent,  of  half- 
sincere,  on  the  Son's  part  :  an  inevitable  feature,  plentifully 
visible  in  their  Correspondence  now  and  henceforth.  Corre- 
sponding with  Papa  and  his  Grumkow,  and  watched,  at  every 
step,  by  such  an  Argus  as  the  Tobacco-Parliament,  real  frank- 
ness of  speech  is  not  quite  the  recommendable  thing;  appar- 
ent frankness  may  be  the  safer  !  Besides  mastery  in  the  Do- 
main Sciences,  I  perceive  the  Crown-Prince  had  to  study  here 
another  art,   useful  to  him  in   after  life  :  the  art  of  wearing 

<  Preuss,  i.  59. 


Chap.v.  INTERVIEW  AT  CUSTRIN.  29 

among  his  fellow-creatures  a  polite  cloak-of-darkness.  Gradu- 
ally he  becomes  master  of  it  as  few  are  :  a  man  politely  im- 
pregnable to  the  intrusion  of  human  curiosity;  able  to  look 
cheerily  into  the  very  eyes  of  men,  and  talk  in  a  social  way 
face  to  face,  and  yet  continue  intrinsically  invisible  to  them. 
An  art  no  less  essential  to  Royalty  than  that  of  the  Domain 
Sciences  itself;  and. — if  at  all  consummately  done,  and  with 
a  scorn  of  mendacity  for  help,  as  in  this  case, — a  difficult  art. 
It  is  the  chief  feature  in  the  Two  or  Three  Thousand  Lctteis 
we  yet  have  of  Friedrich's  to  all  manner  of  correspondents  : 
Letters  written  with  the  gracefulest  flowing  rapidity ;  polite, 
affable, — refusing  to  give  you  the  least  glimpse  into  his  real 
inner  man,  or  tell  you  any  particular  you  might  impertinently 
wish  to  know. 

As  the  History  of  Friedrich,  in  this  Ciistrin  epoch,  and  in- 
deed in  all  epochs  and  parts,  is  still  little  other  than  a  whirl- 
pool of  simmering  confusions,  dust  mainly,  and  sibylline  paper- 
shreds,  in  the  pages  of  poor  Dryasdust,  perhaps  we  cannot  do 
better  than  snatch  a  shred  or  two  (of  the  partly  legible  kind, 
or  capable  of  being  made  legible)  out  of  that  hideous  cauldron  ; 
pin  them  down  at  their  proper  dates  ;  and  try  if  the  reader 
can,  by  such  means,  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  thing  with  his  own 
eyes.      Here  is  shred  first ;  a  Piece  in  Grumkow's  hand. 

This  treats  of  a  very  grand  incident  ;  which  forms  an  era 
or  turning-point  in  the  Ciistrin  life.  Majesty  has  actually,  after 
hopes  long  held  out  of  such  a  thing,  looked  in  upon  the  Pro- 
digal at  Ciistrin,  in  testimony  of  possible  pardon  in  the  dis- 
tance ; — sees  him  again,  for  the  first  time  since  that  scene  at 
Wesel  with  the  drawn  sword,  after  year  and  day.  Grumkow, 
for  behoof  of  Seckendorf  and  the  Vienna  people,  has  drawn  a 
rough  •  Protocol'  of  it  ;  and  here  it  is,  snatched  from  the  Dust- 
whirlwinds,  and  faithfully  presented  to  the  Enghsh  reader.  His 
Majesty  is  travelling  towards  Sonnenburg,  on  some  grand 
Knight-of-Malta  Ceremony  there ;  and  halts  at  Ciistrin  for  a 
couple  of  hours  as  he  passes  : 

Grumkow's  '  Proiokoll'  of  the  i^lh  August  1731 ;  or  Summary 
0/ what  took  place  at  Cilstnti  that  day. 

'  His  Majesty  arrived  at  Ciistrin  yesterday'  {gesterti,  Monday  1 5th, 
—hour  not  mentioned),    'and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  Government 


30  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.         Bookvill. 

ijiliAug.  1731. 
'  House,  with  an  attendance  of  several  hundred  persons.  Major-General 
'  Lepel, '  Commandant  of  Clistrin,  '  Colonel  Derschau  and  myself  are 
'  immediately  sent  for  to  his  Majesty's  apartment  there.  Privy-Coun- 
*  cillor  Wold  en,'  Prince's  Hofmarschall,  a  solid  legal  man,  'is  ordered 
'  by  his  Majesty  to  bring  the  Crown-Prince  over  from  his  house;  who 
'  accordingly  in  few  minutes,  attended  by  Rohwedel  and  Natzmer,' 
the  two  Kammerjunkers,  'entered  the  room  where  his  Majesty  and  we 
were. 

'  So  soon  as  his  Majesty,  turning  round,  had  sight  of  him,  the 
'  Crown-Prince  fell  at  his  feet.  Having  bidden  him  rise,  his  Majesty 
'  £aid  with  a  severe  mien : 

'  ' '  You  will  now  bethink  yourself  what  passed  year  and  day  ago ; 
"  and  how  scandalously  you  saw  fit  to  behave  yourself,  and  what  a 
' '  godless  enterprise  you  took  in  hand.  As  I  have  had  you  about  me 
"  from  the  beginning,  and  must  know  you  well,  I  did  all  in  the  world 
' '  that  was  in.  my  power,  by  kindness  and  by  harshness,  to  make  an 
"  honourable  man  of  you.  As  I  rather  suspected  your  evil  purpose,  I 
"  treated  you  in  the  harshest  and  sharpest  way  in  the  Saxon  Camp," 
at  Radewitz,  in  those  gala  days,  ' '  in  hopes  you  would  consider  your- 
"  self,  and  take  another  line  of  conduct;  would  confess  your  faults  to 
' '  me,  and  beg  forgiveness.  But  all  in  vain ;  you  grew  ever  more  stiff- 
"  necked.  When  a  young  man  gets  into  follies  with  women,  one  may 
"  try  to  overlook  it  as  the  fault  of  his  age:  but  to  do  with  forethought 
"  basenesses  {Idchdeen)  and  ugly  actions;  that  is  unpardonable.  You 
"  thought  to  carry  it  through  with  your  headstrong  humour:  but  hark 
"  ye,  my  lad  (hore,  mein  Kerl),  if  thou  wert  sixty  or  seventy  instead 
"  of  eighteen,  thou  couldst  not  cross  my  resolutions."  It  would  take 
a  bigger  man  to  do  that,  my  lad !  "  And  as,  up  to  this  date  {bis  data) 
"  I  have  managed  to  sustain  myself  against  any  comer,  there  will  be 
"  methods  found  of  bringing  thee  to  reason  tool — 

'  "  How  have  not  I,  on  all  occasions,  meant  honourably  by  you! 
"  Last  time  I  got  wind  of  your  debts,  how  did  I,  as  a  Father,  admon- 
"  ish  you  to  tell  me  all;  I  M'ould  pay  all,  you  were  only  to  tell  me  the 
"  truth.  Whereupon  you  said.  There  were  still  Two-thousand  Thalers 
"  beyond  the  sum  named.  I  paid  these  also  at  once;  and  fancied  I  had 
"  made  peace  with  you.  And  then  it  was  found,  by  and  by,  you  owed 
"  many  thousands  more;  and  as  you  now  knew  you  could  not  pay,  it 
"  was  as  good  as  if  the  money  had  been  stolen; — not  to  reckon  how 
"  the  French  vermin,  Montholieu  and  partner,  cheated  you  with  their 

"  new  loans."    Pfui! "  Nothing  touched  me  so  much"  (continues 

his  Majesty,  verging  towards  the  pathetic),  "as  that  you  had  not  any 
"  trust  ill  me.  All  this  that  I  was  doing  for  aggrandisement  of  the 
"  House,  tlic  Army  and  Finances,  could  only  be  for  you,  if  you  made 
"  yourself  worthy  of  it !  I  here  declare  I  have  done  all  things  to  gain 
"  your  friendship; — and  all  lias  been  in  vain!"  At  M'hich  words  the 
'  Crown- Prince,  witli  a  very  sorrowful  gesture,  threw  himself  at  his 
'  Majesty's  feet,' — tears  (presumably)  in  both  their  eyes  by  this  time. 


Chap.v.  INTERVIEW  AT  CUSTRIN.  31 

15th  Aug.  1731. 

'  "  Was  it  not  your  intention  to  go  to  England  ?"  asked  his  Majesty 
'  farther  on.  The  Prince  answered  '^  Ja  1" — "Then  hear  what  the 
"  consequences  would  have  been.  Your  Mother  would  have  got  into 
' '  the  greatest  misery ;  I  could  not  but  have  suspected  she  was  the 
"  author  of  the  business.  Your  Sister  I  would  have  cast,  for  life,  into 
' '  a  place  where  she  never  would  have  seen  sun  and  moon  again.  Then 
"  on  with  my  Army  into  Hanover,  and  burn  and  ravage ;  yes,  if  it  had 
"  cost  me  life,  land  and  people.  Your  thoughtless  and  godless  conduct, 
"  see  w-hat  it  was  leading  to.  I  intended  to  employ  you  in  all  manner 
' '  of  business,  civil,  military ;  but  how,  after  such  an  action,  could  I 
"  show  the  face  of  you  to  my  Officers  (soldiers)  and  other  servants? — 
"  The  one  way  of  repairing  all  this  is.  That  you  seek,  regardless  of  your 
"  very  life  in  comparison,  to  make  the  fault  good  again!"  At  which 
'  words  the  Crown-Prince  mournfully  threw  himself  at  his  Royal  Ma- 
'  jesty's  feet ;  begging  to  be  put  upon  the  hardest  proofs :  He  would 
'  endure  all  things,  so  as  to  recover  his  Majesty's  grace  and  esteem. 

'Whereupon  the  King  asked  him:  "Was  it  thou  that  temptedst 
'  Katte;  or  did  Katte  tempt  thee?"  The  Crown-Prince  without  hesit- 
'  ation  answered,  "I  tempted  him." — "I  am  glad  to  hear  the  truth 
'  from  you,  at  any  rate."  ' 

The  Dialogue  now  branches  out,  into  complex  general  form ;  out  of 
which,  intent  upon  abridging,  we  gather  the  following  points.  King 
loquitur  : 

"How  do  you  like  your  Ciistrin  life?  Still  as  much  aversion  to 
"  Wusterhausen,  and  to  wearing  your  shroud"  {StcrbeJdttel,  name  for 
the  tight  uniform  you  would  now  be  so  glad  of,  and  think  quite  other 
than  a  shroud!)  "as  you  calledit?"  Prince's  answer  wanting. — "Likely 
' '  enough  my  company  does  not  suit  you :  I  have  no  French  manners, 
"  and  cannot  bring  out  bon-viots  in  \[\t pelit-maitre  way;  and  truly  re- 
"  gard  all  that  as  a  thing  to  be  flung  to  the  dogs.  I  am  a  German 
"  Prince;  and  mean  to  live  and  die  in  that  character.  But  you  can  now 
"  say  what  you  have  got  by  your  caprices  and  obstinate  heart;  hating 
"everything  that  I  liked ;  and  if  I  distinguished  any  one,  despising 
"  him!  If  an  Officer  was  put  in  arrest,  you  took  to  lamenting  about 
"  him.  Your  real  friends,  who  intended  your  good,  you  hated  and 
"calumniated;  those  that  flattered  you,  and  encouraged  your  bad 
"  purpose,  you  caressed.  You  see  what  that  has  come  to.  In  Berlin, 
"  in  all  Prussia  for  some  time  back,  nobody  asks  after  you.  Whether 
' '  you  are  in  the  world  or  not ;  and  were  it  not  one  or  the  other  coming 
"  from  Ciistrin  who  reports  you  as  playing  tennis  and  wearing  French 
"  hairbags,  nobody  would  know  whether  you  were  alive  or  dead." 

Plard  sayings;  to  which  the  Prince's  answers  (if there  were  any  be- 
yond mournful  gestures)  are  not  given.  We  come  now  upon  Predesti- 
nation, or  the  Gnademvahl ;  and  learn  (with  real  interest,  not  of  the 
laughing  sort  alone)  how  his  'Majesty,  in  the  most  conclusive  way,  set 
'  forth  the  horrible  results  of  that  Absolute-Decree  notion ;  which  makes 
'  out  God  to  be  the  Author  of  Sin,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  died  only  for 


32  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         Bookviit. 

15th  Aug.  1731. 
'  some!  Upon  which  the  Crown-Prince  vowed  and  declared  (hoch  und 
'  theucr),  he  was  now  wholly  of  his  Majesty's  orthodox  opinion.' 

The  King,  now  thoroughly  moved,  expresses  satisfaction  at  the 
orthodoxy;  and  adds  with  enthusiasm,  "  When  godless  fellows  about 
"  you  speak  against  your  duties  to  God,  the  King  and  your  Country, 
"  fall  instantly  on  your  knees,  and  pray  with  your  whole  soul  to  Jesus 
"  Christ  to  deliver  you  from  such  wickedness,  and  lead  you  on  better 
"  ways.  And  if  it  come  in  earnest  from  your  heart,  Jesus,  who  would 
"  have  all  men  saved,  will  not  leave  you  unheard."  No!  And  so  may 
God  in  his  mercy  aid  you,  poor  son  Fritz.  And  as  for  me,  in  hopes 
the  time  coming  will  show  fruits,  I  forgive  you  what  is  past.-^To  which 
the  Crown  -  Prince  answered  with  monosyllables,  with  many  tears ; 
'  kissing  his  Majesty's  feet ;' — and  as  the  King's  eyes  M'ere  not  dry,  he 
withdrew  into  another  room  ;  revolving  many  things  in  his  altered  soul. 

'  It  being  his  Majesty's  birthday'  (4th  August  by  old  style,  15th  by 
neu\  forty-third  birthday),  '  the  Prince,  all  bevvept  and  in  emotion, 
'  followed  his  Father;  and,  again  falling  prostrate,  testified  such  heart- 
'  felt  joy,  gratitude  and  aftection  over  this  blessed  anniversary,  as  quite 
'  touched  the  heart  of  Papa ;  who  at  last  clasped  him  in  his  amis'  (poor 
soul,  after  all!),  'and  hurried  out  to  avoid  blubbering  quite  aloud.  He 
'  stept  into  his  carriage,'  intending  for  Sonnenburg  (chiefly  by  water) 
this  evening,  where  a  Serene  Cousin,  one  of  the  Schwedt  Margraves, 
Head  Knight  of  Malta,  has  his  establishment. 

'  The  Crown-Prince  followed  his  Majesty  out ;  and,  in  the  presence 
'  of  many  hvuidred  people,  kissed  his  Majesty's  ieet'  again  (linen  gaiters, 
not  Day-and-Martin  shoes);  'and  was  again  embraced  by  his  Majesty, 
'  who  said,  "  Behave  well,  as  I  see  you  mean,  and  I  will  take  care  of 
*  you,"  which  threw  the  Crown-Prince  into  such  rn  ecstasy  of  joy  as 
'  no  pen  can  express:'  and  so  the  carriages  rolled  away, — towards  the 
Knights-of-Malta  business  and  Palace  of  the  Head  Knight  of  Malta,  in 
the  first  place.  ^ 

These  are  the  main  points,  says  Grumkow,  reporting  next 
day ;  and  the  reader  must  interpret  them  as  he  can.  A  Crow^n- 
Prince  with  excellent  histrionic  talents,  thinks  the  reader. 
Well ;  a  certain  exaggeration,  immensity  of  wish  becoming  it- 
self enthusiasm  ;  somewhat  of  that  :  but  that  is  by  no  means 
the  whole  or  even  the  main  part  oi  the  phenomenon,  O  reader. 
This  Crown-Prince  has  a  real  affection  to  his  Father,  as  we 
shall  in  time  convince  ourselves.  Say,  at  lowest,  a  Crown- 
Prince  loyal  to  fact ;  able  to  recognise  overwhelming  fact,  and 
aware  that  he  must  surrender  thereto.  Surrender  once  made, 
the  clement  much  clears  itself ;  Papa's  side  of  the  question 
getting  fairly  stated  for  the  first  time.     Sure  enough,  Papa  is 

*  FOrstcr,  iii.  30-54. 


Cl.np.V.  INTERVIEW  AT  CUSTKIN.  33 

15th  Aug.  1731. 

God's  Vicegerent  in  several  undeniable  respects,  most  import- 
ant some  of  them  :  better  try  if  we  can  obey  Papa. 

Dim  old  Fassmann  yields  a  spark  or  two, — as  to  his  Ma- 
jesty's errand  at  Sonnenburg.  Majesty  is  going  to  preside  to- 
morrow 'at  the  Installation  of  young  Margraf  Karl,  new //tvr- 
mcistcr  (Grand-Master)  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John'  there  ;  'the 
Office  having  suddenly  fallen  vacant  lately.'  Office  which  is 
is  an  heirloom  ; — usually  held  by  one  of  the  Margraves,  half- 
uncles  of  the  King, — some  junior  of  them,  not  provided  for  at 
Schwedt  or  otherwise.  Margraf  Albert,  the  last  occupant,  an 
old  gentleman  01  sixty,  died  lately,  '  by  stroke  of  apoplexy  while 
at  dinner  ;'^ — and  his  eldest  Son,  Margraf  Karl,  with  whom  his 
Majesty  lodges  tonight,  is  now  Herrmeister.  '  Majesty  came 
at  six  P.M.  to  Sonnenburg'  (must  have  left  Ciistrin  about  five) ; 
•forty-two  Ritters  made  at  Sonnenburg  next  day,' — a  certain 
Colonel  or  Lieutenant-General  von  Wrccch,  whom  we  shall 
soon  see  again,  is  one  of  them  ;  Seckendorf  another.  '  Fresh 
Ritter-ScJdag  ('  Knightstroke,'  Batch  of  Knights  dubbed)  'at 
Sonnenburg,  29th  September  next,'  which  shall  not  the  least 
concern  us.  Note  Margraf  Karl,  however,  the  new  Herrmeister ; 
for  he  proves  a  soldier  of  some  mark,  and  will  turn-up  again  in 
the  Silesian  Wars  ; — as  will  a  poor  Brother  of  his  still  more  im- 
pressively, '  shot  dead  beside  the  King,'  on  one  occasion  there. 

We  add  this  of  Dickens,  for  all  the  Diplomatists,  and  a 
discerning  public  generally,  are  much  struck  with  the  Event 
at  Ciistrin  ;  and  take  to  writing  of  it  as  news  ; — and  '  Mr.  Gin- 
kel,'  Dutch  Ambassador  here,  an  ingenious,  honest  and  observ- 
ant man,  well  enough  known  to  us,  has  been  out  to  sup  with 
the  Prince,  next  day  ;  and  thus  reports  of  him  to  Dickens  ; 
•  Mr.  Ginkel,  who  supped  with  the  Prince  on  Thursday  last,' 
day  after  the  Interview,  'tells  me  that  his  Royal  Highness  is 
'  extremely  improved  since  he  had  seen  him  ;  being  grown 
'  much  taller  ;  and  that  his  convei^sation  is  surprising  for  his 
'  age,  abounding  in  good  sense  and  the  prettiest  turns  of  ex- 
'  pression.'^ 

Here  are  other  shreds,  snatched  from  the  Witch-Cauldron, 
and  pinned  down,  each  at  its  place  ;  which  give  us  one  or  two 
subsequent  glimpses  : 

^  2ist  June  1731 :  Fassmann,  p.  423;  Polluitz,  ii.  390. 
'  Despatch,  i8th  August  1731. 
VOL.  III.  D 


34  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.        BookVliI. 

iith  Sept.  1 73 1. 
Potsdam,  ■zist  August  1731  (King  to  Wolucn  (.lie  Ilofmarschall). 
o  e  o  '  Crown-Prince  sliall  travel  over,  and  personally  inspect,  the  fol- 
'  lowing  Domains :  Quartschen,  Himmelstadt,  Carzig,  Massin,  Lebus, 
'  Gollow  and  Wollup,'  dingy  moor-farms  dear  to  Antiquarians  ;  'travel 
'  over  these  and  not  any  other.  Permission  always  to  be  asked,  of  his 
'  Royal  Majesty,  in  writing,  and  mention  made  to  which  of  them  the 
'  Crown-Prince  means  to  go.  Some  one  to  be  always  in  attendance, 
'who  can  give  him  lit  instruction  about  the  husbandry;  and  as  the 
'  Crown-Prince  has  yet  only  learned  the  theory,  he  must  now  be  diligent 
'  to  learn  the  same  practically.  For  which  end  it  must  be  minutely 
'  explained  to  him,  How  the  husbandry  is  managed, — how  ploughed, 
'  manured,  sown,  in  every  particular;  and  what  the  differences  of  good 
'  and  bad  husbandry  are,  so  that  he  may  be  able  of  himself  to  know 
'  and  judge  the  same.  Of  Cattle-husbandry  too,  and  the  affairs  of 
'  Brewing  ( Viclizucht  iind  Brauxvesen),  the  due  understanding  to  be 
'  given  him ;  and  in  the  matter  of  Brewing,  show  him  how  things  are 
'  handled,  mixed,  the  beer  drawn  off,  barrelled,  and  all  how  they  do 
'  with  it  {-vie  ■iibcrall  dabci  vcrfahren) ;  also  the  malt,  how  it  must  be 
'  prepared,  and  what  like,  when  good.  Useful  discourse  to  be  kept-up 
'  with  him  on  these  journeys;  pointing  out  how  and  why  this  is  and 
'  that,  and  whether  it  could  not  be  better :' — O  King  of  a  thousand ! — 
'  Has  liberty  to  shoot  stags,  moorcocks  [Hiihucr)  and  the  like ;  and  a 
'  small-hunt'  {klcine  jfagd,  not  a  Parforce  or  big  one)  '  can  be  got-up 
'  for  his  amusement  now  and  then ;'  furthermore  '  a  little  duck-shooting 
'  from  boat,'  on  the  sedgy  waters  there, — if  the  poor  soul  should  care 
about  it.  Wolden,  or  one  of  the  Kammerjunkers,  to  accompany  always, 
and  be  responsible.  '  No  Mddchen  or  Fraiiensiiicnsch,'  no  shadow  of 
womankind; — keep  an  eye  on  him,  'you  three!' 

These  things  are  in  the  Prussian  Archives  ;  of  date  the 
week  after  that  interview.  In  two  weeks  farther,  follows  the 
Prince's  speculation  about  Carzig  and  the  Building  of  a  Farm- 
stead there  ;  with  Papa's  '  real  contentment  that  you  come  upon 
•  such  proposals,  and  seek  to  make  improvements.   Only' — 

Wuslerhausen,  nth  September  (\s.mgio  Cxown^nncc).  ■"■  *  'Only 
'  you  must  examine  whether  there  is  meadow-ground  enough,  and  how 
'  many  acres  can  actually  be  allotted  to  that  Farm. '  (Hear  his  Majesty !) 
'  Take  a  Land-surveyor  with  you ;  and  have  all  well  considered ;  and 
'  exactly  inform  y<?«;-.ft'//' what  kind  of  land  it  is,  whether  it  can  only  grow 
'  rye,  or  whether  some  of  it  is  barley-land :  you  must  consider  it  your- 
'  self,  and  do  it  all  out  of  your  own  head,  though  you  may  consult  with 
'  others  about  it.  In  grazing-ground  {TJiithi<iig)  I  think  it  will  not  fail ; 
'  if  only  the  meadow-land' — 

in  fact,  it  fails  in  nothing  ;  and  is  got  all  done  ('wood  laid  out 
'  to  season  straightway,'  and  'what  digging  and  stubbing  there 


Chap.v.  INTERVIEW  AT  CUSTRIN.  35 

4th  Oct.  1731. 

'  is,  proceeded  with  through  the  winter')  :  done  in  a  successful 
and  instructive  manner,  both  Carzig  and  liimmelstadt,  though 
we  will  say  nothing  farther  of  them.^ 

C list  rill,  ^zd  September  (Crown-Prince  to  Papa).  '■^  *  '  Have  been 
'  atLelms;  excellent  land  out  there;  fine  weather  for  the  husbandman.' 
'  Major  Rodcr,'  unknown  Major,  'passed  this  way;  and  dined  with 
'  me,  last  Wednesday.  He  has  got  a  pretty  fellow  (sc/wnen  Kcrl)  for 
'  my  Most  All-Gracious  Father's  regiment'  (the  Potsdam  Giants,  where 
1  used  to  be);  '  whom  I  could  not  look  upon  without  bleeding  heart. 
'  I  depend  on  my  JMost  All-Gracious  Father's  Grace,  that  he  will  be 
'  good  to  me :  I  ask  for  nothing  and  no  happiness  in  the  world  but 
'  what  comes  from  You ;  and  hope  You  will,  some  day,  remember  me 
'  in  grace,  and  give  me  the  Blue  Coat  to  put  on  again !''' — To  which 
Papa  answers  nothing,  or  only  "  Hm,  na,  time  may  come!" 

Carzig  goes  on  straightway  ;  Papa  charmed  to  grant  the 
moneys  ;  'wood  laid  out  to  season,'  and  much  'stubbing  and 
digging*  set  on  foot,  before  the  month  ends.  Carzig  ;  and  di- 
rectly on  the  heel  of  it,  on  like  terms,  Himmelstadt, — but  of 
all  this  we  must  say  no  more.  It  is  clear  the  Prince  is  learn- 
ing the  Domain  Sciences  ;  eager  to  prove  himself  a  perfect  son 
in  the  eyes  of  Papa.  Papa,  in  hopeful  moments,  asks  himself: 
"  To  whom  shall  we  iriarry  him,  then  ;  how  settle  him  ?"  But 
what  the  Prince,  in  his  own  heart,  thought  of  it  all  ;  how  he 
looked,  talked,  lived,  in  unofficial  times  1  Here  has  a  crabbed 
dim  Document  turned  up,  which,  if  it  were  not  nearly  unde- 
cipherable to  the  reader  and  me,  would  throw  light  on  the 
point  : 

Schiilciilnij-gs  Three  Letters  to  Grumkow,  on  Visits  to  the 
Crown-Prince^  during  the  Cilstrin  Time. 

The  reader  knows  Lieutenant-General  Schulenburg  ;  stiff 
little  military  gentleman  of  grave  years,  nephew  of  the  maypole 
Emerita  who  is  called  Duchess  of  Kendal  in  England.  '  Had 
a  horse  shot  under  him  at  Malplaquet ;'  battlings  and  experi- 
ences enough,  before  and  since.  Has  real  sense,  abundant 
real  pedantry  ;  a  Prussian  soldier  every  inch.  He  presided  in 
the  Copenick  Court-martial ;  he  is  deeply  concerned  in  these 
Crown-Prince  difficulties.  His  Majesty  even  honours  him  by 
expecting  he  should  quietly  keep  a  monitorial  eye  upon  the 

^  Forstcr,  i.  3S7-392. 

"  Briefiuecksel mit  F(T/^>-(QEuvies,  .\.xvii.  part  3d,  p.  27). 


36  CROWN-rRINCE  RETRIEVED.        Bookviil. 

4th  Oct.  1731. 

Crown-Prince  ; — being  his  neighbour  in  those  parts  ;  Colonel- 
Commandant  of  a  regiment  of  Horse  at  Landsberg  not  many- 
miles  off.  He  has  just  been  at  Vienna^**  on  some  'business' 
(quasi-diplomatic  probably,  which  can  remain  unknown  to  us) ; 
and  has  reported  upon  it,  or  otherwise  finished  it  off,  at  Ber- 
lin ; — whence  rapidly  home  to  Landsberg  again.  On  the  way 
homewards,  and  after  getting  home,  he  writes  these  three  Let- 
ters ;  offhand  and  in  all  privacy,  and  of  course  with  a  business 
sincerity,  to  Grumkow  ; — little  thinking  they  would  one  day 
get  printed,  and  wander  into  these  latitudes  to  be  scanned  and 
scrutinised  !  Undoubtedly  an  intricate  crabbed  Document  to 
us  ;  but  then  an  indubitable  one.  Crown-Prince,  Schulenburg 
himself,  and  the  actual  figure  of  Time  and  Place,  are  here  mir- 
rored for  us,  with  a  business  sincerity,  in  the  mind  of  Schulen- 
burg,— as  from  an  accidental  patch  of  water  ;  ruffled  bogwater, 
in  sad  twilight,  and  with  sedges  and  twigs  intervening  ;  but 
under  these  conditions  we  do  look  with  our  own  eyes  ! 

Could  not  one,  by  any  conceivable  method,  interpret  into 
legibility  this  abstruse  dull  Document  ;  and  so  pick  out  here 
and  there  a  glimpse,  actual  face-to-face  view,  of  Crown-Prince 
Friedrich  in  his  light-gray  frock  with  the  narrow  silver  tresses, 
in  his  eclipsed  condition  there  in  the  Ciistrin  region  ?  All  is 
very  mysterious  about  him ;  his  inward  opinion  about  all  manner 
of  matters,  from  the  Gnadcnivalil  to  the  late  Double-Marriage 
Question.  Even  his  outward  manner  of  life,  in  its  flesh-and- 
blood  physiognomy, — we  search  in  vain  through  tons  of  dusty 
lucubration  totally  without  interest,  to  catch  here  and  there  the 
corner  of  a  feature  of  it.  Let  us  try  Scliulenburg.  We  shall 
know  at  any  rate  that  to  Grumkow,  in  the  Autumn  173 1,  these 
words  were  luculcnt  and  significant  :  consciously  they  tell  us 
something  of  young  Friedrich  ;  unconsciously  a  good  deal  of 
Lieutenant-Gcneral  Schulenburg,  who  with  his  strict  theolo- 
gies, his  military  stiffnesses,  his  reticent,  pipeclayed,  rigorous 
and  yet  human  ways,  is  worth  looking  at,  as  an  antique  spe- 
cies extinct  in  our  time.  He  is  just  home  from  Vienna,  getting 
towards  his  own  domicile  from  Berlin,  from  Ciistrin,  and  has 
seen  the  Prince.  He  writes  in  a  wretched  wayside  tavern,  or 
post-house,  between  Ciistrin  and  Landsberg, — dates  his  Letter 
'  IVicn  (Vienna),'  as  if  he  were  still  in  the  imperial  City,  so 
offhand  is  he. 

iw  bcpiemlcr  1731  [^MiliUur-Lexikon,  iii,  433). 


Chap.v.  DINES  AT  KAMMIN.  37 

4th  Oct.  173 r. 

No.  I.  To  his  Exccllcnz  (add  a  shovelful  of  other  titles)  Licutcnant- 
General  Jlci-r  Baron  von  Grrtmkow,  President  of  the  Kricqes-nnd 
Domdnen-Directoritim,  oj  the  (in  fact,  Vice-President  of  the  Tobacco- 
Parliament),  ui  Berlin. 

'  Wien'  (properly  Tjerlln-Landsberg  Highway, 

other  side  of  Ciistrin),  '  4th  October  1731. 

'  I  regret  mnch  to  have  missed  the  pleasure  ot  seeing  your  Excellency 
'  again  l)e(ore  I  left  Berlin.  I  set  off  betAveen  seven  and  eight  in  the 
'  morning  yesterday,  and  got  to  Ciistrin'  (seventy  miles  or  so)  '  before 
'  seven  at  night.  But  the  Prince  had  gone,  that  day,  to  the  Bailliage 
'  of  riimmelstadt'  (up  the  Warta  Country,  eastward  some  five-and-thirty 
miles,  much  preparatoiy  digging  and  stubbing  there);  and  he  'slept  at 
'  JMassin'  (circuitous  road  back),  '  where  he  shot  a  few  stags  this  mom- 
'  ing.  As  I  was  told  he  might  probably  dine  at  Kammin'  (still  nearer 
Ciistrin,  twelve  miles  from  it;  half  that  distance  east  ofZomdorf, — 
mark  that,  O  reader*)  '  with  Madam  Colonel  Schoning,  I  drove  thither. 
'  He  had  arrived  there  a  moment  before  me.'  And  who  is  JMadam 
Schoning,  lady  of  Kammin  here? — Patience,  reader. 

'  I  found  him  much  grown;  an  air  of  health  and  gaiety  about  him. 
'  He  caressed  me  greatly  {me  gracieiisa  fort) ;  afterwards  questioned  me 
'  about  my  way  of  life  in  Vienna ;  and  asked,  if  I  had  diverted  myself 
'  well  there?  I  told  him  what  business  had  been  the  occasion  of  my 
'journey,  and  that  this  rather  than  amusements  had  occupied  me;  for 
'  the  rest,  that  there  had  been  great  aflluence  of  company,  and  no  lack 
'  of  diversions.     He  spoke  a  long  time  to  Madam  de  Wreech' — 

'  Wrochem'  Schulenburg  calls  her  :  young  Wife  of  Lieutenant- 
General  von  Wreech,  a  Marlborough  Campaigner,  made  a 
Knight  of  Malta  the  other  day;^^ — /i/s  charming  young  Wife, 
and  Daughter  of  Madam  Colonel  Schoning  our  hostess  here  ; 
lives  at  Tamsel,  in  high  style,  in  these  parts :  mark  the  young 
Lady  well, — 

'  who  did  not  appear  indifferent  to  him.'  No ! — '  and  in  fact  she  v.as 
'  in  all  her  beauty;  a  complexion  of  lily  and  rose.' 
Charming  creature  ;  concerning  v/hom  there  are  anecdotes  still 
afloat,  and  at  least  verses  of  this  Prince's  writing  ;  not  too  well 
seen  by  Wreech,  lately  made  a  Knight  of  Malta,  who,  though 
only  turning  forty,  is  perhaps  twice  her  age.  The  beautifulest, 
cleverest, — fancy  it;  and  whether  the  peaty  Neumark  pro- 
duces nothing  in  the  floral  kind  ! 

'  We  went  to  dinner ;  he  asked  me  to  sit  beside  him.  The  conversa- 
'  tion  fell,   among  other  topics,   on  the  Elector  Palatine's  Mistress,' — 
crotchety  old  gentleman,   never  out  of  quai-rels,  with  Heidelberg  Pro- 
testants, heirs  of  Jiilich  and  Berg,  and  in  general  with  an  unreasonable 
*  Map  at  p.  43.  "  Militair-Lexikoit,  iv.  269. 


38  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  nookviir. 

4th  Oct.  1 73 1. 

world,  whom  we  saw  at  Mannheim  last  year ;  has  a  Mistress, — 'Elector 
'  Palatine's  Mistress,  called  Taxis.  Crown-Prince  said:  "I  should  like 
'  to  know  what  that  good  old  gentleman  does  with  a  Mistress?"  I 
*  answered,  that  the  fashion  had  come  so  much  in  vogue,  Princes  did 
'  not  think  they  were  Princes  unless  they  had  mistresses ;  and  that  I 
'  was  amazed  at  the  facility  of  women,  how  they  could  shut  their  eyes 
'  on  the  sad  reverse  of  fortune  nearly  inevitable  for  them ; — and  instanced 
'  the  example  of  Madam  Gr'avenitz' — 

'  Gravenitz  ;'  example  lately  fallen-out  at  Wiirtemberg,  as  we 
predicted.  Prayers  of  the  Country,  "  Deliver  us  from  evil," 
are  now  answered  there  :  Gravenitz  quite  over  with  it !  Alas, 
yes  ;  lately  fallen  from  her  high  estate  in  Wiirtemberg,  and 
become  the  topic  of  dinner-tables  ;  seized  by  soldiers  in  the 
night-time  ;  vain  her  high  refusals,  assurances  of  being  too 
unwell  to  dress,  "  Shall  go  in  your  shift,  then," — is  in  prison, 
totally  eclipsed.^-  Calming  her  fury,  she  will  get  out ;  and 
wearisomely  wander  about  in  fashionable  capitals,  tonjoiirs  icn 
lavement  a  ses  iroiisses  I — 

'  There  were  other  subjects  touched  upon ;  and  I  always  endeavoured 
'  to  deduce  something  of  moral  instruction  from  them,'  being  a  military 
gentleman  of  the  old  school. 

'  Among  other  things,  he  said.  Pie  liked  the  great  world,  and  was 
'  charmed  to  observe  the  ridiculous  weak  side  of  some  people.  "That 
'  is  excellent,"  said  I,  "if  one  profit  by  it  oneself:  but  if  it  is  only  for 
'  amusement,  such  a  motive  is  worth  little ;  m'C  should  rather  look  out 
'  for  our  own  ridiculous  weak  side."  On  rising,  Hofmarschall  Wolden 
'  said  to  me,'  without  much  sincerity,  '  "You  have  done  well  to  preach 
•'  a  little  morality  to  him."  The  Prince  went  to  a  window,  and  beckoned 
'  me  thither. 

'  "You  have  learned  nothing  of  what  is  to  become  of  me?"  said 
'  he.  I  answered :  "  It  is  supposed  your  Royal  Highness  will  return  to 
'  Berlin,  when  the  Marriage"  (Wilhclmina's)  "takes  place;  but  as  to 
'  what  will  come  next,  I  have  heard  nothing.  But  as  your  Iliglmess 
'  has  friends,  they  will  not  fail  to  do  their  endeavour;  and  M.  de  Gnim- 
'  kow  has  told  me  he  would  try  to  persuade  the  King  to  give  you  a 
'  regiment,  in  order  that  your  Higlincss  might  have  something  to  do." 
'  It  seemed  as  if  tliat  would  give  him  pleasure.  I  then  took  the  liberty 
'  of  saying :  "  Monseigneur,  the  most,  at  present,  depends  on  yourself." 
'  — "  How  so?"  asked  he.  I  answered,  "  It  is  only  hy  showing  good 
'  conduct,  and  proofs  of  real  wisdom  and  \\orlh,  that  the  King's  entire 

'  favour  can  l^e  gained.     First  of  all,  to  fear  God" ' And,  in  fact, 

I  launched  now  into  a  moral  preachment,  or  discursive  Dialogue,  of  great 

lenglli ;  much  needing  to  have  tlie  skirls  of  it  Iv.cked  up,  in  a  way  of 

faithful  abridgment,  for  behoof  of  poor  English  readers.     As  follows : 

'-  Michaclis,  iii.  440;  Pollnitz,  i.  297. 


Ciinp.v.  DINES  AT   KAMMIN.  39 

4th  Oct.  1731. 

"■  Schitlcnhitrcr ;  If  your  Highness  behave  well,  the  King  will  accord 
'  what  you  want;  but  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  begin  by  that. — 
'  Prince :  I  do  nothing  that  can  displease  the  King. — Schiilcubiirg :  It 
'  would  be  a  little  soon  yet !  But  I  speak  of  the  future.  Your  High- 
'  ness,  the  grand  thing  I  recommend  is  to  fear  God  I  Everybody  says, 
'  you  have  the  sentiments  of  an  honest  man ;  excellent,  that,  for  a  be- 
'  ginning ;  but  without  the  fear  of  God,  your  Highness,  the  passions 
'  stifle  the  finest  sentiments.  Must  lead  a  life  clear  of  reproach ;  and 
'  more  particularly  on  the  chapter  of  women !  Need  not  imagine  you 
'  can  do  the  least  thing  without  the  King's  knowing  it:  if  your  High- 
'  ness  take  the  bad  road,  he  wWX  wish  to  correct  it;  the  end  will  be, 
'  he  will  bring  you  back  to  live  beside  him ;  which  will  not  be  very 
'agreeable. — Prince:  Hmph,  No! — ScJmlenbiirg:  Ofthe  ruin  to  health 
'  I  do  not  speak ;  I — Prince :  Pooh,  one  is  young,  one  is  not  master 
'  of  that ;' — and,  in  fact,  on  this  delicate  chapter,  which  runs  to  some 
length,  Prince  answers  as  wildish  young  fellows  will ;  quizzing  my  grave 
self,  with  glances  even  at  his  Majesty,  on  alleged  old  peccadilloes  of 
ours.  Which  allegations  or  inferences  I  rebutted  with  emphasis.  "'But, 
'  I  confess,  though  I  employed  all  my  rhetoric,  his  mind  did  not  seem 
'  to  alter;  and  it  will  be  a  miracle  if  he  change  on  this  head.'  Alas, 
General!     Can't  be  helped,  I  fear! 

*  He  said  he  was  not  afraid  of  anything  so  much  as  of  living  con- 
'  stantly  beside  the  King. — Schulcnbnrg :  Arm  yourself  with  patience, 
'  Monseigneur,  if  that  happen.  God  has  given  you  sense  enough; 
'  persevere  to  use  it  faithfully  on  all  occasions,  you  will  gain  the  good 
'  graces  of  the  King. — Prince:  Impossible;  beyond  my  power,  indeed, 
'  said  he;  and  made  a  thousand  objections. — Schnlenburg :  YourHigh- 
'  ness  is  like  one  that  will  not  learn  a  trade  because  you  do  not  already 
'  know  it.  Begin  ;  you  will  certainly  never  know  it  otherwise !  Before 
'  rising  in  the  morning,  form  a  plan  for  your  day,' — in  fact,  be  moral, 
O  be  moral ! 

His  Highness  now  got  upon  the  marriages  talked -of  for 
him  ;  an  important  point  for  the  young  man.  He  spoke,  hope- 
fully rather,  of  the  marriage  with  the  Princess  of  Mecklenburg, 
— Niece  of  the  late  Czar  Peter  the  Great  ;  Daughter  of  that 
unhappy  Duke  who  is  in  quarrel  with  his  Ritters,  and  a  trouble 
to  all  his  neighbours,  and  to  us  among  the  number.  Readers 
recollect  that  young  Lady's  Serene  Mother,  and  a  meeting  she 
once  had  with  her  Uncle  Peter, — at  Magdeburg,  a  dozen  years 
ago,  in  a  public  drawingroom  with  alcove  near  ; — anecdote  not 
lightly  to  be  printed  in  human  types,  nor  repeated  where  not 
necessary.  The  Mother  is  now  dead  ;  Father  still  up  to  the 
eyes  in  puddle  and  trouble  :  but  as  for  the  young  Lady  herself, 
she  is  Niece  to  the  now  Czarina  Anne  ;  by  law  of  primogeni- 
ture Heiress  of  all  the  Russias  :  something  of  a  match  truly  ! 


40  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  BooIcVIII. 

4th  Oct.  1731, 
'  But  there  v,ill  l)c  difficulties;  your  Highness  to  chnnge  your  reli- 
'  gion,  lor  one  thing? — Frincc  :  Won't,  by  any  means. — Sthtilcnburg: 
'  And  give-up  the  succession  to  Prassia? — Prince  :  A  right  fool  if  I  did  ! 
' — Schii/cnbnrg :  Then  this  marriage  comes  to  nothing. — Thereupon 
'  next  he  said,  If  the  Kaiser  is  so  strong  for  us,  let  him  give  me  his 
'  second  Daughter;'  lucky  Franz  of  Lorraine  is  to  get  the  first. — ^Sclmlcii- 
'  burg  :  Are  you  serious? — Prince :  Why  not?  with  a  Duchy  or  two  it 
'  would  do  very  well. — Schulenbnrg :  No  Duchies  possible  under  the 
'  Pragmatic  Sanction,  your  Highness  :  besides,  your  change  of  religion? 
'  — Prince  :  Oh,  as  to  that,  never ! — Then  this  marriage  also  comes  to 
'  nothing.  Of  the  English,  and  their  Double-Marriage,  and  their  Ho- 
'  tham  brabble,  he  spoke  lightly,  as  of  an  extinct  matter, — in  terms 
'  your  Excellency  will  like. 

'  But,  said  I,  since  you  speak  so  much  of  marriages,  I  suppose  you 
'wish  to  be  married? — Prince:  No;  but  if  the  King  absolutely  will 
'  have  it,  I  will  marry  to  obey  him.  After  that,  I  will  shove  my  wife 
'  into  the  corner  [planterai  la  ma  feinme),  and  live  after  my  o^^'n  fancy. 
'  — Schnlenburg :  Horrible  to  think  of!  For,  in  the  first  place,  your 
'  Plighness,  is  it  not  written  in  the  Law  of  God,  Adulterers  shall  not 
'  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven?'  And  in  the  second  place;  and  in  the 
third  and  fourth  place ! — To  all  which  he  answered  as  wild  young  fel- 
lows do,  especially  if  you  force  marriage  on  them.  '  I  can  perceive,  if 
'  he  marries,  it  will  only  be  to  have  more  liberty  than  now.  It  is  cer- 
'  tain,  if  he  had  his  elbows  free,  he  would  strike  out  {s'en  donnerait  a 
'■  gaitche).  He  said  to  me  several  times  :  "I  am  young;  I  want  to 
'  profit  by  my  youth."  '  A  questionable  young  fellow,  Herr  General ; 
especially  if  j'ou  force  marriage  on  him. 

'  This  conversation  done,'  continues  the  General,  'he  set  to  talking 
'  with  the  Madam  Wrcech, '  and  her  complexion  of  lily  and  rose ;  '  but 
'  he  did  not  stay  long;  drove  off  about  five'  (dinner  at  the  stroke  of 
twelve  in  those  countries),  '  inviting  me  to  see  him  again  at  Ciistrin, 
'  which  I  promised.' 

And  so  the  Prince  is  off  in  the  Autumn  sunset,  driving 
down  the  peaty  hollow  of  the  Warta,  through  unpicturesque 
country,  which  produces  Wreechs  and  incomparable  flowers 
nevertheless.  Yes  ;  and  if  he  look  a  si.x  miles  to  the  right,  there 
is  the  smoke  of  the  evening  kettles  from  Zorndorf,  rising  into 
the  sky  ;  and  across  the  River,  a  twenty  miles  to  the  left,  is 
Kuncrsdorf :  poor  sleepy  sandy  hamlets  ;  where  nettles  of  the 
Devil  arc  to  be  plucked  one  day  ! — 

'The  beautiful  Wrecch  drove  off  to  Tamsel,'  her  fine  house:  I  to 
this  wretclied  tavern;  where,  a  couple  of  hours  after  that  conversation, 
I  began  writing  it  all  down,  and  have  nothing  else  to  do  for  the  night. 
^■our  Excellency's  most  moral,  stiffnecked,  pipeclayed  and  extremely 
obedient,  '  VoN  ScilUi.ENFURG.''' 

'3  Furslcr,  iii.  65-71. 


Chap.v.  DINES  AT  LANDSBERG.  41 

iglh  Oct.  1731. 

This  yoiinc^  man  may  be  orthodox  on  Predestination,  and 
outwardly  growing  all  that  a  Papa  could  wish  ;  but  here  arc 
strange  heterodoxies,  here  is  plenty  of  mutinous  capricious  fire 
in  the  interior  of  him,  Herr  General  !  In  fact,  a  young  man 
unfortunately  situated  ;  already  become  solitary  in  Creation  ; 
has  not,  except  himself,  a  friend  in  the  world  available  just  now. 
Tempestuous  Papa  storms  one  way,  tempestuous  Mamma  Na- 
ture another  ;  and  between  the  outside  and  the  inside  there 
are  inconsistencies  enough. 

Concerning  the  fair  Wrecch  of  Tamsel,  with  her  complexion 
of  lily  and  rose,  there  ensued  by  and  by  much  whispering,  and 
rumouring  underbreath ;  which  has  survived  in  the  apocryphal 
Anecdote-Books,  not  in  too  distinct  a  form.  Here,  from  first 
hand,  are  three  words,  which  we  may  take  to  be  the  essence 
of  the  whole.  Grumkow  reporting,  in  a  sordid,  occasionally 
smutty,  spy  manner,  to  his  Seckcndorf,  from  Berlin,  eight  or 
ten  months  hence,  has  this  casual  expression  :  '  He'  (King 
Friedrich  Wilhelm)  '  told  me  in  confidence  that  Wreech,  the 

'  Colonel's  Wife,   is to  P.  R.    (Prince-Royal)  ;  and  that 

'  Wreech  vowed  he  would  not  own  it  for  his.  And  his  Ma- 
'  jesty  in  secret  is  rather  pleased,'  adds  the  smutty  spy.^"^ 
Elsewhere  I  have  read  that  the  poor  object,  which  actually 
came  as  anticipated  (male  or  female,  I  forget),  did  not  live 
long  ; — nor  had  Friedrich,  by  any  opportunity,  another  child 
in  this  world.  Domestic  Tamsel  had  to  allay  itself  as  it  best 
could  ;  and  the  fair  Wreech  became  much  a  stranger  to  Fried- 
rich,— surprisingly  so  to  Friedrich  the  King,  as  perhaps  we 
may  see. 

Predestination,  Gnademvahl,  Herr  General  :  v/hat  is  ortho- 
doxy on  Predestination,  with  these  accompaniments  l^^  Wc 
go  now  to  the  Second  Letter  and  the  Third, — from  Lands- 
berg  about  a  fortnight  later  : 

No.  2.   To  //IS  Excellency  (shovelful  of  titles)  von  Grtuiilcoiu,  in  Berlin. 

'  Lcind?iberg,  igth  October  1731. 
'The  day  before  yesterday'  (that  is,  Wednesday  17th  October)  'I 
'  received  an  Order,  To  have  only  fifty  Horse  at  that  post,  and' — Order 

"  Grumkow  to  Seckendorf,  Berlin,  20th  August  1732  (Forstei-;  iii.  112). 

'•  For  Wreech  see  Benekendorf,  v.  94;  for  Schulenbiirg,  ib.  26; — and  Militair- 
Lexiko/i,  iii.  432,  433,  and  iv.  268,  269.  Vacant  on  the  gossiping  points;  cautiously 
odicial,  both  these. 


42  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  rod:  viir. 

19th  Oct.  1731. 
which  shows  us  that  there  has  fallen  out  some  recruiting  squabble  on 
the  Polish  Frontier  hereabouts ;  that  the  Polack  gentlemen  have  seized 
certain  Corporals  of  ours,  but  are  about  restoring  them ;  Order  and 
affair  which  we  shall  omit.  '  Corporals  will  be  got  back :  but  as  these 
'  Polack  gentlemen  will  see,  by  the  course  taken,  that  we  have  no  great 
'  stomach  for  biting,  I  fancy  they  will  grow  more  insolent ;  then,  'ware 
'  who  tries  to  recruit  there  for  the  future ! 

'  On  the  same  day  I  was  apprised,  from  Ciistrin,  That  the  Prince- 
*  Royal  had  resolved  on  an  excursion  to  Carzig,  and  thence  to  the  Bail- 
'  liage  of  Plimmelstadt'  (digging  and  stubbing  now  on  foot  at  Himmel- 
stadt  too),  '  which  is  but  a  couple  of  miles"'  from  this ;  that  there 
'  would  be  a  little  hunt  between  the  two  Bailliages;  and  that  if  I  chose 
'  to  come,  I  might,  and  the  Prince  would  dine  with  me. ' — Which  I  did  ; 
and  so,  here  again,  Thursday  i  Sth  October  1 73 1,  in  those  remote  Warta- 
Oder  Countries,  is  a  glimpse  of  his  Royal  Highness  at  first  hand. 
Schulenburg  continues;  not  even  taking  a  new  paragraph,  which  in- 
deed he  never  does : 

'They  had  shut-up  a  couple  oi  Spiesser  (young  roes),  and  some 
'  stags,  in  the  old  wreck  of  a  Satigarteii^  (Boar-park,  between  Carzig 
and  Himmelstadt ;  fast  ruiuirtcii  Smigarten,  he  calls  it,  daintily  throw- 
ing-in  a  touch  of  German  here) :  '  the  Prince  shot  one  or  two  of  them, 
'  and  his  companions  the  like;  but  it  does  not  seem  as  if  this  amuse- 
'  ment  were  much  to  his  taste.  He  went  on  to  Himmelstadt;  and  at 
'  noon  he  an-ived  here,'  in  my  poor  Domicile  at  Landsberg. 

'At  one  o'clock  we  went  to  table,  and  sat  till  four.  He  spoke  only 
'  of  very  indifferent  things;  except  saying  to  me:  "Do  you  know,  the 
'  King  has  promised  400,000  crowns  (60,000/.)  towards  disengaging 
'  those  Bailliages  of  the  Margraf  of  Baireuth's,"  ' — old  Margraf,  Bail- 
liages pawned  to  raise  ready  cash;  readers  remember  what  intenninable 
Law-pleading  there  was,  till  Friedrich  Wilhelm  put  it  into  a  liquid 
state,  "  Pay  me  back  the  moneys,  then  !"" — '  '■'  400,000  thalers  to  the 
'  old  Margraf,  in  case  his  Prince  (Wilhelmina's  now  Bridegroom)  have 
'  a  son  by  my  Sister."  I  answered,  I  had  heard  nothing  of  it.  —  "But," 
'  said  he,  "that  is  a  great  deal  of  money!  And  some  hundred-thou- 
'  sands  more  have  gone  the  like  road,  to  Anspach,  who  never  will 
'  be  able  to  repay.  For  all  is  much  in  disorder  at  Anspach.  Give 
'  the  Margraf  his  Heron-hunt  [c/iasse  au  heron),  he  cares  for  nothing; 
'  and  his  people  pluck  him  at  no  allowance."  I  said:  That  if  these 
'  Princes  would  regulate  their  expenditure,  they  might,  little  by  little, 
'  pay-off  their  debts;  that  I  had  been  told  at  Vienna  the  Baireuth  Bail- 
'  liagcs  were  mortgaged  on  very  low  terms,  those  who  now  held  them 
'  making  eight  or  tcnpcr-cent  of  their  money;' — that  the  Margraf  ought 
lo  make  an  effort;  and  so  on.  '  I  saw  very  well  that  these  Loans  the 
'  King  makes  arc  not  to  his  mind. 

'  Directly  on  rising  from  talile,  he  went  away;  excusing  himself  lo 
'  me,  That  he  could  not  pass  the  night  here  ;  that  the  King  would  not 
!''•  '  Dfitii-millc  German.  "  Suprh,  vol.  ii.  pp.  228-g. 


Chap.  V.     SCHULENBURG'S  SECOND   LETTER.  43 

19th  Oct.  1731. 

'  like  his  sleeping  in  the  Town;  besides  that  he  had  still  several  things 
'  to  complete  in  a  Report  he  was  sending-off  to  his  Majesty.  He  went  to 
'  Massin,  and  slept  there.  For  my  own  share,  I  did  not  press  him  to 
'  remain  ;  what  I  did  Avas  rather  in  the  way  of  form.  There  were  with 
'  him  President  Miinchow,'  civil  gentleman  whom  we  know,  'an  En- 
'  gineer  Captain  Reger,  and  the  three  Gentlemen  of  his  Court,'  Wold  en, 


yRANKFffBT 


\ 
I-  \ 


Rohwedel,  Natzmer  who  once  twirled  his  finger  in  a  certain  mouth,  the 
insipid  fellow. 

'  He  is  no  great  eater;  but  I  observed  he  likes  the  small  dishes 
'  {pdils plats)  and  the  high  tastes:  he  does  not  care  lor  fish;  though  I 
'  had  very  fine  trouts,  he  never  touched  them.  He  does  not  take  brown 
*  soup  {soup  au  bouillon).     It  did  not  seem  to  me  he  cared  lor  wine : 


44  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.         Bookviir. 

19th  Oct.  1731. 
'  he  tastes  at  all  the  wines;  but  commonly  stands  by  bni-gmidy  with 
'  water. 

'  1  introduced  to  him  all  the  Officers  of  my  Regiment  who  are  here; 
'  he  received  th.em  in  the  style  of  a  king'  {rn  roi,  plenty  ot  quiet  pride 
in  him,  Herr  General).  '  It  is  certain  he  feels  what  he  is  born  to;  and 
'  if  ever  he  get  to  it,  will  stand  on  the  top  of  it.  As  to  me,  I  mean  to 
'  keep  myself  retired  ;  and  shall  see  of  him  as  little  as  I  can.  I  per- 
'  ceive  well  he  does  not  like  advice,'  especially  when  administered  in 
the  v.'ay  of  preachment,  by  stiff  old  military  gentlemen  of  the  all-wise 
stamp ; — '  and  does  not  take  pleasure  except  with  people  infei-ior  to 
'  him  in  mind.  His  first  aim  is  to  find-out  the  ridiculous  side  of  every 
'  one,  and  he  loves  to  banter  and  c|uiz.  It  is  a  fault  in  a  Prince :  he 
'  ought  to  know  people's  faults,  and  not  to  make  them  known  to  any- 
'  body  whatever,' — which,  we  perceive,  is  not  quite  the  method  with 
private  gentlemen  of  the  all-wise  type  ! — 

'  I  speak  to  your  Excellency  as  a  friend  ;  and  assure  you  he  is  a 
'  Prince  who  has  talent,  but  who  will  be  the  slave  of  his  passions  {se 
' /e]-a  dominer par ses passions,' — not  a  felicitous  prophecy,  Herr  Gene- 
ral) ;  '  and  will  like  nobody  but  such  as  encourage  him  therein.  For 
'  me,  I  think  all  Princes  are  cast  in  the  same  mould ;  there  is  only  a 
'  more  and  a  less. 

'At  parting,  he  embraced  me  twice;  and  said,  "I  am  soriyl  can- 
'  not  stay  longer;  but  another  time  I  %vill  profit  better."  Wolden'  (one 
of  the  Three)  '  told  me  he  could  not  describe  how  well-intentioned  for 
'  your  Excellency  the  Prince-Royal  is'  (cunning  dog  !),  'who  says  often 
'  to  Wolden'  (doubtless  guessing  it  will  be  re-said),  "If  I  cannot  show 
'  /ii>n  my  gratitude,  I  will  his  posterity :"  ' — profoundly  obliged  to  the 
Grumkow  kindred  first  and  last ! — '  I  remain  your  Excellency's'  most 
pipeclayed  '  VoN  Schulenburg.''* 

And  so,  after  survey  of  the  spademen  at  Carzig  and  Himmel- 
stiidt  (where  Colonel  Wreech,  by  the  way,  is  Amts-Hauptmanii, 
Cmcial  Head-man),  after  shooting  a  Spiesser  or  two,  and  dining 
and  talking  in  this  sort,  his  Royal  Highness  goes  to  sleep  at 
Massin  ;  and  ends  one  day  of  his  then  life.  We  proceed  to 
Letter  No.  3. 

A  day  or  two  after  No.  2,  it  would  appear,  his  Majesty, 
who  is  commonly  at  Wusterhauscn  hunting  in  this  season,  has 
lieen  rapidly  out  to  Crossen,  in  these  Landsberg  regions  (to 
south,  within  a  day's  drive  of  Landsberg),  rapidly  looking  after 
fjomething  ;  Grumkow  and  another  Official  attending  him  : — 
other  Official,  'Truchsess,'  isTruchsess  von  Waldburg,  a  worthy 
soldier  and  gentleman  of  those  parts,  whom  we  shall  again 

<s  FOrster,  iii.  71-73. 


Chap.  V.       SCIIULENBURG'S  THIRD   LETTER.  45 

22J  Oct.  1731. 

hear  of.  In  No.  3  there  is  mention  likewise  of  the  '  Kurfiirst 
of  Koln,'  —  Elector  of  Cologne  ;  languid  lanky  gentleman  of 
Bavarian  breed,  whom  we  saw  last  year  at  Bonn,  richest  Plu- 
ralist of  the  Church  ;  whom  doubtless  our  poor  readers  have 
forgotten  again.  Mention  of  him  ;  and  also  considerable  sulky 
humour,  of  the  Majesty's- Opposition  kind,  on  Schulcnburg's 
part  ;  for  which  reason,  and  generally  as  a  poor  direct  reflex 
of  time  and  place, — reflex  by  ruffled  bog-water,  through  sedges, 
and  in  twilight;  dim  but  indubitable, — we  give  the  Letter, 
though  the  Prince  is  little  spoken  of  in  it  : 

No.  3.   To  the  Excellency  Gruinkow  (as  above),  in  Berlin. 

'  Landsberg,  22d  October  (Iilonday)  1731. 

*  Monsieur, — I  trast  your  Excellency  made  your  journey  to  Crossen 
'  with  all  the  satislaction  imaginable.  Had  I  been  warned  sooner,  I 
*  would  have  come ;  not  only  to  see  the  King,  but  for  your  Excellency'.s 
'  sake  and  Truchsess's :  but  I  received  your  Excellency's  Letter  only 
'  yesterday  morning;  so  I  could  not  have  arrived  before  yesternight, 
'  and  that  late ;  for  it  is  fifty  miles  off,  and  one  has  to  send  relays  befoi^e- 
'  hand  ;  there  being  no  posthorses  on  that  road. 

'  We  are, — not  to  make  comparisons, — like  Harlequin  !  No  sooner 
'  out  of  one  scrape,  than  we  get  into  another;  and  all  for  the  sake  of 
'  those  Big  Blockheads  {ranioiir  de  ces  grands  colosses).  What  the  Kur- 
'  furst  of  Koln  has  done,  in  his  character  of  Bishop  of  Osnabrlick,' — a 
deed  not  known  to  this  Editor,  but  clearly  in  the  way  of  snubbing  our 
recruiting  system, — '  is  too  droll :  but  if  we  avenge  ourselves,  there  will 
'  be  high  play,  and  plenty  of  it,  all  round  our  borders  !  If  such  things 
'  would  make  any  impression  on  the  spirit  of  our  Master :  but  they  do 
'  not ;  they' — in  short,  this  recruiting  system  is  delirious,  thinks  the 
stiff  Schulenburg  ;  and  scruples  not  to  say  so,  though  not  in  his  place 
in  Parliament,  or  even  Tobacco-Parliament.  For  there  is  a  Majesty's 
Opposition  in  all  lands  and  times.  'We  ruin  the  Country,'  says  the 
Honourable  Member,  '  sending  annually  millions  of  money  out  of  it, 
'  for  a  set  of  vagabond  fellows  {gens  a  sac  da  corde),  who  will  never  do 
'  us  the  least  service.  One  sees  clearly  it,  is  the  hand  of  God,'  darken- 
ing some  people's  understanding ;  '  otherwise  it  might  be  possible  their 
'  eyes  would  open,  one  time  or  another!' — A  stiff  pipeclayed  gentleman 
of  great  wisdom,  with  plenty  of  sulphur  burning  in  the  heart  of  him. 
The  rest  of  his  Letter  is  all  in  the  Opposition  strain  (almost  as  if  from 
his  place  in  Parliament,  only  far  briefer  than  is  usual  '  within  these 
walls') ;  and  winds-up  with  a  glance  at  Victor  Amadeus's  strange  feat, 
or  rather  at  the  Son's  feat  done  upon  Victor,  over  in  Sardinia;  preceded 
by  this  interjectionary  sentence  on  a  Prince  nearer  home : 

'  As  to  the  Prince-Royal,  depend  on  it  he  will  do  whatever  is  re- 


46  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  Bookviil. 

22d  Oct.  1731. 
'  quired  of  him'  (mnrry  anyljody  you  like  <S:c.),  'if  you  give  him  more 
'  elbow-room,  for  that  is  whither  he  aims. — Not  a  bad  stroke  that,  of 
*  the  King  of  Sardinia' — Grand  news  of  the  day,  at  that  time;  now 
somewhat  forgotten,  and  requiring  a  word  from  us  : 

Old  King  Victor  Amadeus  of  Sardinia  had  solemnly  abdi- 
cated in  favour  of  his  Son  ;  went,  for  a  twelvemonth  or  more, 
into  private  felicity  with  an  elderly  Lady-love  whom  he  had 
long  esteemed  the  first  of  women  ; — tired  of  such  felicity,  after 
a  twelvemonth  ;  demanded  his  crown  back,  and  could  not  get 
it !  Lady-love  and  he  are  taken  prisoners  ;  lodged  in  sepa- 
rate castles  :i3  and  the  wrath  of  the  proud  old  gentleman  is 
Olympian  in  character, — split  an  oak  table,  smiting  it  while 
he  spoke  (say  the  cicerones)  ; — and  his  silence,  and  the  fiery 
daggers  he  looks,  are  still  more  emphatic.  But  the  young 
fellow  holds  out ;  you  cannot  play  handy-dandy  with  a  King's 
crown,  your  Majesty  !  say  his  new  Ministers.  Is  and  will 
continue  King.  '  Not  a  bad  stroke  of  him,'  thinks  Schulen- 
burg, — 

— 'especially  if  his  Father  meant  to  play  him  the  same  trick,'  that  is, 
clap  him  in  prison.  Not  a  bad  stroke ; — which  perhaps  there  is  another 
that  could  imitate,  '  if  his  Papa  gave  him  the  opportunity !  But  this 
'  Papa  will  take  good  care  ;  and  the  Queen  will  not  forget  the  Sardin- 
'  ian  business,  when  he  talks  again  of  abdicating, '  as  he  does  when  in 
ill-humour. — 

'  But  now  had  not  we  better  have  been  friends  with  England,  should 
'  war  rise  upon  that  Sardinian  business?  General  Schulenburg,' — the 
famed  Venetian  Fieldmarshal,  bruiser  of  the  Turks  in  Candiaj^"  my 
honoured  Uncle,  who  sometimes  used  to  visit  his  Sister  the  Maypole, 
now  Emcnta,  in  London,  and  sip  beer  and  take  tobacco  on  an  even- 
ing, with  George  I.  of  famous  memory, — he  also  'writes  me  this  Vic- 
tor-Amadeus  news,  from  Paris;'  so  that  it  is  certain;  Ex-King  locked 
in  Rivoli  near  a  fortnight  ago  :  '  he,  General  Schulenburg,  says  farther, 
'  To  judge  by  the  outside,  all  appears  very  quiet ;  but  many  think,  at 
'  the  bottom  of  the  bag  it  will  not  be  the  same.' — 

'  I  am,  with  respect,'  yqur  Excellency's  much  in  buckram, 

'Le  Comte  de  Schoulenbourg.'2' 

So  far  Licutcnant-Gcneral  Schulenburg  ;  whom  we  thank 
for  these  contemporary  glimpses  of  a  young  man  that  has  be- 

'3  2(1  Septcmlicr  2730  abdicated,  went  to  Chainb(5ry ;  reclaims,  is  locked  in  Rivoli, 
8lh  October  1731  (news  of  it  just  come  to  Schulenburg);  dies  there,  31st  October  1732, 
his  67th  year. 

w  Same  who  was  beaten  by  Charles  XII.  before  :  a  worthy  soldier  nevertheless, 
say  the  Aull)oritie.s :  Life  oi  him  by  Varniiagcn  von  Eiisc  {^Biographische  Denktitalc, 
Ucrlin,  1S45). 

2'  t'oratcr,  ill.  73-75. 


Chap.  V.       MAJESTY'S  BUILDING  OPERATIONS.        47 

Oct.  1731. 

come  historical,  and  of  the  scene  he  lived  in.  And  with  these 
three  accidental  utterances,  as  if  they  (which  are  alone  left) 
had  been  the  sum  of  all  he  said  in  the  world,  let  the  Lieu- 
tenant-General  withdraw  now  into  silence  :  he  will  turn  up 
twice  again,  after  half-a-score  of  years,  once  in  a  nobler  than 
talking  attitude,  the  close-harnessed,  stalwart,  slightly  atrabi- 
liar  military  gentleman  of  the  old  Prussian  school. 

These  glimpses  of  the  Crown-Prince,  reflected  on  us  in 
this  manner,  are  not  very  luculent  to  the  reader, — light  being 
indifferent,  and  mirror  none  of  the  best  : — but  some  features 
do  gleam  forth,  good  and  not  so  good  ;  which,  with  others 
coming,  may  gradually  coalesce  into  something  conceivable. 
A  Prince  clearly  of  much  spirit,  and  not  without  petulance  ; 
abundant  fire,  much  of  it  shining  and  burning  irregularly  at 
present;  being  sore  held-down  from  without,  and  anom.alously 
situated.  Pride  enough,  thinks  Schulenburg,  capricious  petu- 
lance enough, — likely  to  go  into  'a  reign  of  the  passions,'  if 
we  live.     As  will  be  seen  ! — 

Wilhelmina  was  betrothed  in  June  last  :  \Yilhelmina,  a 
Bride  these  six  months,  continues  to  be  much  tormented  by 
Mamma.  But  the  Bridegroom,  Prince  of  Baireuth,  is  gradu- 
ally recommending  himself  to  persons  of  judgment,  to  Wilhel- 
mina among  others.  One  day  he  narrowly  missed  an  un- 
heard-of accident :  a  foolish  servant,  at  some  boar-hunt,  gave 
him  a  loaded  piece  on  the  half-cock  ;  half-cock  slipped  in  the 
handling  ;  bullet  grazed  his  Ma^jesty's  very  temple,  was  felt 
twitching  the  hair  there  ; — ye  Heavens  !  Whereupon  imper- 
tinent remarks  from  some"  of  the  Dessau  people  (allies  of 
Schwedt  and  the  Margravine  in  high  colours) ;  which  were 
well  answered  by  the  Prince,  and  noiselessly  but  severely 
checked  by  a  well-bred  King.-^  King  has  given  the  Prince 
of  Baireuth  a  regiment ;  and  likes  him  tolerably,  though  the 
young  man  will  not  always  drink  as  could  be  wished.  Wed- 
ding, in  spite  of  clouds  from  her  Majesty,  is  coming  steadily 
on. 

His  Alajestys  Bitildiiig  Operations, 

♦This  year,'  says  Fassmann,  '  the  building  operations  both 
in  B:rlin  and  Stettin,' — in  Stettin  where  new  fortifications  arc 

■''^  Willielmina,  i.  35?. 


48  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  Bookviil. 

Oct.  1 731. 

completed,  in  Berlin  where  gradually  whole  new  quarters  are 
getting  built,  —  'were  exceedingly  pushed  forward  {iiiisscist 
poussiri).'  Alas,  yes  ;  this  too  is  a  questionable  memorable 
feature  of  his  Majesty's  reign.  Late  Majesty,  old  King  Fried- 
rich  I.,  wishful,  as  others  had  been,  for  the  growth  of  Berlin, 
laid-out  a  new  Quarter,  and  called  it  Fricdrichs  Stadt  ;  scraggy 
boggy  ground,  planned-out  into  streets,  Friedrichs  Strasse  the 
chief  street,  with  here  and  there  a  house  standing  lonesomely 
prophetic  on  it.  But  it  is  this  present  Majesty,  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  that  gets  the  plan  executed,  and  the  Friedrichs  Strasse 
actually  built,  not  always  in  a  soft  or  spontaneous  manner. 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  was  the  ^dile  of  his  Country,  as  well  as 
the  Drill-sergeant ;  Berlin  City  did  not  rise  of  its  own  accord, 
or  on  the  principle  of  leave-alone,  any  more  than  the  Prussian 
Army  itself.  Wreck  and  rubbish  Friedrich  Wilhelm  will  not 
leave  alone,  in  any  kind  ;  but  is  intent  by  all  chances  to  sweep 
them  from  the  face  of  the  Earth,  that  something  useiul,  seemly 
to  the  Royal  mind,  may  stand  there  instead.  Hence  these 
building  operations  in  the  Friedrich  Street  and  elsewhere,  so 
'exceedingly  pushed  forward.' 

The  number  of  scraggy  waste  places  he  swept  clear,  first 
and  last,  and  built  tight  human  dwellings  upon,  is  almost  un- 
countable. A  common  gift  from  him  (as  from  his  Son  after 
him)  to  a  man  in  favour,  was  that  of  a  new  good  House, — an 
excellent  gift.  Or  if  the  man  is  himself  able  to  build.  Majesty 
will  help  him,  incite  him:  "Timber  enough  is  in  the  royal 
forests  ;  stone,  lime  are  in  the  royal  quarries  ;  scraggy  waste 
is  abundant  :  why  should  any  man,  of  the  least  industry  or 
private  capital,  live  in  a  bad  house  ?"  By  degrees,  the  pres- 
sure of  his  Majesty  upon  private  men  to  build  with  encourage- 
ment became  considerable,  became  excessive,  irresistible  ;  and 
was  much  complained  of,  in  these  years  now  come.  Old  Colo- 
nel Derschau  is  the  King's  Agent,  at  Berlin,  in  this  matter  ; 
a  hard  stiff  man  ;  squeezes  men,  all  manner  of  men  with  the 
least  capital,  till  they  build. 

Niissler,  for  example,  whom  we  once  saw  at  Hanover, 
managing  a  certain  contested  Heritage  for  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ; 
adroit  Niissler,  though  he  has  yet  got  no  fixed  appointment, 
nor  pay  except  by  the  job,  is  urged  to  build  ; — second  year 
hence,  1733,  occurs  the  case  ot  Niissler,  and  is  copiously 
dwelt  upon  by  BUsching  his  biographer  :  '•  Build  yourselt  a 


Chap.v.      MAJESTY'S  BUILDING  OPERATIONS.  49 

Oct.  1731. 

house  in  the  Friedrichs  Strasse  !"  urges  Derschau.  "  But  I 
have  no  pay,  no  capital !"  pleads  Niisslcr. — "  Tush,  your  Fa- 
ther-in-law, abstruse  Kanzler  von  Ludvvig,  in  Halle  University, 
monster  of  law-learning  there,  is  not  he  a  monster  of  hoarded 
moneys  withal  ?  He  will  lend  you,  for  his  own  and  his  Daugh- 
ter's sake.-^  Or  shall  his  Majesty  compel  him  ?"  urges  Der- 
schau. And  slowly,  continually  turns  the  screw  upon  Niissler, 
till  he  too  raises  for  himself  a  firm  good  house  in  the  Fried- 
richs Stadt, — Friedrichs  Strasse,  or  Street,  as  they  now  call 
it,  which  the  Tourist  of  these  days  knows.  Substantial  clear 
ashlar  Street,  miles  or  halfrmiles  long  ;  straight  as  a  line  : — 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  found  it  scrag  and  quagmire  ;  and  left  it 
what  the  Tourist  sees,  by  these  hard  methods.  Thus  Herr 
Privy-Councillor  Klinggriif  too,  Niissler's  next  neighbour  :  he 
did  not  want  to  build  ;  far  from  it ;  but  was  obliged,  on  worse 
terms  than  Niissler.  You  have  such  work,  founding  your 
house  ;— for  the  Niissler-Klinggraf  spot  was  a  fish-pool,  and 
'  carps  were  dug  up'  in  founding  ; — such  piles,  bound  platform 
of  solid  beams  ;  '4,000  thalers  gone  before  the  first  stone  is 
laid  :'  and,  in  fact,  the  house  must  be  built  honestly,  or  it  will 
be  worse  for  the  house  and  you.  "  Cost  me  12,000  thalers 
(1,800/.)  in  all,  and  is  worth  perhaps  2,000!"  sorrowfully 
ejaculates  Niissler,  when  the  job  is  over.  Still  worse  with 
Privy-Councillor  Klinggriif :  his  house,  the  next  to  Niissler's, 
is  worth  mere  nothing  to  him  when  built ;  a  soapboiler  oilers 
him  800  thalers  (120/.)  for  it  ;  and  Niissler,  to  avoid  suffoca- 
tion, purchases  it  himself  of  KHnggraf  for  that  sum.  Derschau, 
with  his  slow  screw-machinery,  is  very  formidable  ;  —  and 
Biisching  knows  it  for  a  fact,  '  that  respectable  Berlin  persons 
'  used  to  run  out  of  the  way  of  Biirgermeister  Koch  and  him, 
'  when  either  of  them  turned  up  on  the  streets  !' 

These  things  were  heavy  to  bear.  Truly,  yes  ;  where  is 
the  liberty  of  private  capital  or  liberty  of  almost  any  kind,  on 
those  terms  ?  Liberty  to  annihilate  rubbish  and  chaos,  under 
known  conditions,  you  may  have  ;  but  not  the  least  liberty  to 
keep  them  about  you,  though  never  so  fond  of  doing  it !  What 
shall  we  say  ?  Nussler  and  the  Soapboiler  do  both  live  in 
houses  more  human  than  they  once  had.  Berlin  itself,  and 
some  other  things,  did  not  spring  from  Free-trade.  Berlin 
City  would,  to  this  day,  have  been  a  Place  ot  Scrubs  ('  the 

■-•'  Biisching,  Bcyira,^c,  i.  324.. 
VOL.  III.  E 


50  CROWN-PRINCE  RETRIEVED.  Bookvill. 

2oth  Nov.  1731. 

Berlin'  a  mere  appellative  noun  to  that  effect),  had  Free-trade 
always  been  the  rule  there.  I  am  sorry  his  Majesty  trans- 
gresses the  limits  ; — and  we,  my  friends,  if  we  can  make  our 
Chaos  into  Cosmos  by  firing  Parliamentary  eloquence  into  it, 
and  bombarding  it  with  Blue-Books,  we  will  much  triumph 
over  his  Majesty,  one  day  ! — - 

Thus  are  the  building  operations  exceedingly  pushed  for- 
ward, the  Ear  of  Jenkins  torn  off,  and  Victor  Amadeus  locked 
in  ward,  while  our  Crown-Prince,  in  the  eclipsed  state,  is  in- 
spected by  a  Sage  in  pipeclay,  and  Wilhelmina's  wedding  is 
coming  on. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
wilhelmina's  wedding. 

Tuesday  20th  November  1731,  Wilhelmina's  wedding-day 
arrived,  after  a  brideship  of  eight  months  ;  and  that  young 
Lady's  troublesome  romance,  more  happily  than  might  have 
been  expected,  did  at  last  wind  itself  up.  Mamma's  unreason- 
able humours  continued,  more  or  less  ;  but  these  also  must 
now  end.  Old  wooers  and  outlooks,  '  the  four  or  three  crowned 
heads,' — they  lie  far  over  the  horizon  ;  faded  out  of  one's  very 
thoughts,  all  these.  Charles  XII.,  Peter  II.  are  dead  ;  Wciss- 
enfcls  is  not,  but  might  as  well  be.  Prince  Fred,  not  yet  wedded 
elsewhere,  is  doing  French  madrigals  in  Leicester  House  ;  tend- 
ing towards  the  '  West  Wickham'  set  of  Politicians,  the  Pitt- 
Lyttelton  set;  stands  ill  with  Father  and  Mother,  and  will  not 
come  to  much.  August  the  Dilapidated- Strong  is  deep  in 
Polish  troubles,  in  Anti-Kaiser  politics,  in  drinking-bouts  ; — 
his  great -toe  never  mended,  never  will  mend.  Gone  to  the 
spectral  state  all  these  :  here,  blooming  with  life  in  its  cheeks, 
is  the  one  practical  Fact,  our  good  Hereditary  Prince  of  Bair- 
euth, — privately  our  fate  all  along  ; — which  we  will  welcome 
cheerfully  ;  and  be  thankful  to  Heaven  that  we  have  not  died 
in  getting  it  decided  for  us  ! — 

Wedding  was  of  great  magnificence;  Berlin  Palace  and  all 
things  and  creatures  at  their  brightest  :  the  Brunswick-Beverns 
here,  and  other  high  Guests  ;  no  end  of  pompous  ceremonials, 
solemnities  and  splendours, — the  very  train  of  one's  gown  was 
'twelve  yards  long.'     Eschewing  all  which,   the  reader  shall 


Chap.  VI.  WILHELMINA'S  WEDDING.  51 

20th  Nov.  1731. 

commodiously  conceive  it  all,  by  two  samples  we  have  picked 
out  for  him  :  one  sample  of  a  Person,  high  Guest  present;  one 
of  an  Apartment  where  the  sublimities  went  on. 

The  Duchess  Dowager  of  Sachsen-Meiningen,  who  has 
come  to  honour  us  on  this  occasion,  a  very  large  Lady,  verg- 
ing towards  sixty;  she  is  the  person.  A  living  elderly  Daugh- 
ter of  the  Great  Elector  himself;  half-sister  to  the  late  King, 
half-aunt  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ;  widow  now  of  her  third  hus- 
band :  a  singular  phenomenon  to  look  upon,  for  a  moment, 
through  Wilhelmina's  satirical  spectacles.  One  of  her  three 
husbands,  '  Christian  Ernst  of  Baireuth'  (Margraf  there,  while 
the  present  Line  was  but  expectant),  had  been  a  kind  of  Welsh- 
Uncle  to  the  Prince  now  Bridegroom  ;  so  that  she  has  a  double 
right  to  be  here.  '  She  had  found  the  secret  of  totally  ruining 
'  Baireuth,'  says  Wilhelmina  ;  '  Baireuth,  and  Courland  as  well, 
'  where  her  first  wedlock  was  ;' — perhaps  Meiningen  was  done 
to  her  hand?  Here  is  the  Portrait  of  'my  Grand-Aunt;' 
dashed-off  in  very  high  colours,  not  by  a  flattering  pencil  : 

'  It  is  said  she  was  very  fond  of  pleasing,  in  her  youth  ;  one  saw  as 
'  much  still  by  her  affected  manners.  She  would  have  made  an  excel- 
'  lent  actress,  to  play  fantastic  parts  of  that  kind.  Her  flaming  red 
'  countenance,  her  shape,  of  such  monstrous  extent  that  she  could  hardly 
'  walk,  gave  her  the  air  of  a  Female  Bacchus.  She  took  care  to  expose 
'  to  view  her' — a  part  of  her  person,  large  but  no  longer  beautiful, — 
'  and  continually  kept  patting  it  with  her  hands,  to  attract  attention  thi- 
'  ther.  Though  sixty  gone,'  —  fifty-seven  in  point  of  fact, — 'she  was 
'  tricked-out  like  a  girl;  hair  done  in  ribbon-locks  {viarroiDih),  all  filled 
'  with  gewgaws  of  rose-pink  colour,  which  was  the  prevailing  tint  in  her 
'  complexion,  and  so  loaded  with  coloured  jewels,  you  would  have  taken 
'  her  for  the  rainbow.'' 

This  charming  old  Lad)^  daughter  of  the  Grosse  KurfUrst, 
and  so  very  fat  and  rubicund,  had  a  Son  once  :  he  too  is  men- 
tionable  in  his  way, — as  a  milestone  (parish  milestone)  in  the 
obscure  Chronology  of  those  parts.  Her  first  Husband  was  the 
Duke  of  Courland  ;  to  him  she  brought  an  heir,  who  became 
Duke  in  his  turn, — and  was  the  final  Duke,  last  of  the  '  Kett- 
ler'  or  native  Line  of  Dukes  there.  The  Kettlers  had  been 
Teutsch  Ritters,  Commandants  in  Courland  ;  they  picked-up 
that  Country,  for  their  own  behoof,  when  the  Ritterdom  went 
down  ;  and  this  was  the  last  of  them.      He  married  Anne  of 

'  Wilhelmina,  i.  ;7^. 


52  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  BookVlil. 

20th  Nov.  1731. 

Russia  with  the  big  cheek  (Czar  Peter's  Niece,  who  is  since  be- 
come Czarina)  ;  and  died  shortly  after,  twenty  years  ago ;  with 
tears  doubtless  from  the  poor  rosepink  Mother,  far  away  in 
Baireuth  and  childless  otherwise  ;  and  also  in  a  sense  to  the 
sorrow  of  Courland,  which  was  hereby  left  vacant,  a  prey  to 
enterprising  neighbours.  And  on  those  terms  it  was  that  Saxon 
Moritz  (our  dissolute  friend,  who  will  be  Marechal  de  Saxc  one 
day)  made  his  clutch  at  Courland,  backed  by  moneys  of  the 
French  actress  ;  rumour  of  which  still  floats  vaguely  about. 
Moritz  might  have  succeeded,  could  he  have  done  the  first  part 
of  the  feat,  fallen  in  love  with  swoln-cheeked  Anne,  Dowager 
there  ;  but  he  could  not  ;  could  only  pretend  it  :  Courland 
therefore  (now  that  the  Swoln-cheek  is  become  Czarina)  falls 
to  one  Bieren,  a  born  Courlander,  who  could. ^ — We  hurry  to 
the  '  Grand  Apartment'  in  Berlin  Schloss,  and  glance  rapidly, 
with  Wilhelmina  (in  an  abridged  form),  how  magnificent  it  is  : 

Royal  Apartment,  third  floor  of  the  Palace  at  Berlin,  one  must  say, 
few  things  equal  it  in  the  world.  'From  the  Outer  Saloon  or  Ante- 
'  chamber,  called  Salle  dcs  Sidsscs'  (where  the  halberdier  and  valet  peo- 
ple wait)  '  you  pass  through  six  grand  rooms,  into  a  saloon  magnificently 
'  decorated  :  thence  through  two  rooms  more,  and  so  into  what  they 
'  call  the  Picture-Gallery,  a  room  ninety  feet  long.  All  this  is  in  a  line.' 
Grand  all  this  ;  but  still  only  common  in  comparison.  From  the  Pic- 
ture-Gallery you  turn  (to  right  or  left  is  not  said,  nor  does  it  matter) 
into  a  suite  of  Fourteen  great  rooms,  each  more  splendid  than  the  other  : 
lustre  from  the  ceiling  of  the  first  room,  for  example,  is  of  solid  silver ; 
weighs,  in  pounds  avoirdupois  I  know  not  what,  but  in  silver  coin 
'  10,000  crowns:'  ceilings  painted  as  by  Correggio;  '  wall-mirrors  be- 
'  tween  each  pair  of  windows  are  twelve  feet  high,  and  their  piers  {tvji- 
'  nieaux)  are  of  massive  silver  ;  in  front  of  each  mirror,  table  can  be  laid 
'  for  twelve  ;'  twelve  Serenities  may  dine  there,  flanked  by  their  mir- 
ror, enjoying  the  Correggiositics  above,  and  the  practical  sublimities  all 
round.  '  And  this  is  but  the  first  of  the  Fourteen ;'  and  you  go  on  increas- 
ing in  superbness,  till,  for  example,  in  the  last,  or  superlative  Saloon, 
you  find  '  a  lustre  weighing  50,000  crowns  ;  the  globe  of  it  big  enough 
'  to  hold  a  child  of  eight  years;  and  the  branches  {giiMdoiis)  of  it,'  I 
forget  how  many  feet  or  fathoms  in  extent :  silver  to  the  heart.  Nay 
the  music-balcony  is  of  silver;  wearied  fiddler  lays  his  elbow  on  balus- 

'  Last  Kcttler,  Anne's  Husband,  died  (leaving  only  an  old  Uncle,  fallen  into 
Papistry  and  other  futility,  who,  till  his  death  some  twenty  years  after,  had  to  reside 
abroad  and  be  nominal  mL-rcly),  1711  ;  Moritz's  attempt  with  Adrienne  Lecouvreur's 
ca-h  was,  1726:  Anne  became  SovereiRU  of  .all  the  Russias  (on  her  poor  Cousin  Peter 
Il.'b  death),  1730;  iiiercn  (Jiiroii  as  he  tried  to  write  himself,  being  of  poor  birth) 
did  not  i;et  installed  till  1737  ;  and  had,  he  and  Courland  both,  several  tumbles  after 
that  before  -getting  to  stable  equilibrium. 


Clmp.vi.  WILHELIVllNA'S  V/EDDING.  53 

20th  Nov.  1731. 

trades  of  that  precious  metal.      Seldom  if  ever  was  seen  the  like.     In 

this  superlative  Saloon  the  Nuptial  Benediction  was  given.* 

Old  King  Friedrich,  the  expensive  Herr,  it  was  he  that  did 
the  furnishing  and  Correggio-painting  of  these  subhme  rooms  : 
but  this  of  the  masses  of  wrought  silver,  this  was  done  by  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm, — incited  thereto  by  what  he  saw  at  Dresden  in 
August  the  Strong's  Establishment  ;  and  reflecting,  too,  that 
silver  is  silver,  whether  you  keep  it  in  barrels  in  a  coined  form, 
or  work  it  into  chandeliers,  mirror-frames  and  music-balconies. 
— These  things  we  should  not  have  mentioned,  except  to  say 
that  the  massive  silver  did  prove  a  hoard  available,  in  after 
times,  against  a  rainy  day.  Massive  silver  (well  mixed  with 
copper  first)  was  all  melted  down,  stamped  into  current  coins, 
native  and  foreign,  and  sent  wandering  over  the  world,  before 
a  certain  Prince  got  through  his  Seven-Years  Wars  and  other 
pinches  that  are  ahead  ! — 

In  fine,  Wilhelmina's  Wedding  was  magnificent  ;  though 
one  had  rubs  too  ;  and  Mamma  was  rather  severe.  'Hair  went 
'  all  wrong,  by  dint  of  over-dressing  ;  and  hung  on  one's  face 
'  like  a  boy's.  Crown-royal  they  had  put  (as  indeed  was  pro- 
'  per)  on  one's  head  :  hair  was  in  twenty-four  locks  the  size  of 
'  your  arm  :  such  was  the  Queen's  order.  Gown  was  of  cloth- 
'  of-silver,  trimmed  with  Spanish  gold-lace  (rtz/t'^  7in point  d'Es- 
'  pagne  d'or)  ;  train  twelve  yards  long  ; — one  was  like  to  sink 

•  to  the  earth  in  such  equipment.'  Courage,  my  Princess  ! — 
In  fact,  the  Wedding  went  beautifully  off;  with  dances  and 
sublimities,  slow  solemn  Torch -dance  to  conclude  with,  in 
those  unparalleled  upper  rooms  ;  Grand-Aunt  Meiningen  and 
many  other  stars  and  rainbows  witnessing ;  even  the  Margra- 
vine of  Schwedt,  in  her  high  colours,  was  compelled  to  be 
there.  Such  variegated  splendour,  such  a  dancing  of  the  Con- 
stellations ;  sublunary  Berlin,  and  all  the  world,  on  tiptoe  round 
it !  Slow  Torch-dance,  winding  it  up,  melted  into  the  shades  oi 
midnight,  for  this  time  ;  and  there  was  silence  in  Berlin. 

But,  on  the  following  nights,  there  were  Balls  oi  a  less  so- 
lemn character  ;  far  pleasanter  for  dancing  purposes.  It  is  to 
these,  to  one  of  these,  that  we  direct  the  attention  01  all  readers. 
Friday  23d,  there  was  again  Ball  and  Royal  Evening  Party — 

*  Grand  Apartment'  so-called.    Immense  Ball,  '  seven  hundred 

3  Wilhelmina,  L  381 ;  Nicolai,  ii.  881. 


54  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  Bookviil. 

23d  Nov.  1731. 

couples,  all  people  of  condition  :'  there  were  *  Four  Quadrilles,' 
or  dancing  places  in  the  big  sea  of  quality-figures  ;  each  at  its 
due  distance  in  the  grand  suite  of  rooms  :  Wilhelmina  presides 
in  Quadrille  Number  One;  place  assigned  her  was  in  the  room 
called  Picture-Gallery;  Queen  and  all  the  Principalities  were 
with  Wilhelmina,  she  is  to  lead-off  their  quadrille,  and  take 
charge  of  it.  Which  she  did,  with  her  accustomed  fire  and 
elasticity;— and  was  circling  there,  on  the  light  fantastic  toe, 
time  six  in  the  evening,  when  Grumkow,  whom  she  had  been 
dunning  for  his  bargain  about  Friedrich  the  day  before,  came 
up: 

'  I  liked  dancing, '  says  she,  'and  was  taking  advantage  of  my  chances. 
Grumkow  came  up,  and  internipted  me  in  the  middle  of  a  minuet : 
"  £k,  moil  Dieii,  Madame .'"  said  Gnimkow,  "you  seem  to  have  got 
bit  by  the  tarantula  !  Don't  you  see  those  strangers  who  have  just 
come  in  ?"  I  stopt  short ;  and  looking  all  round,  I  noticed  at  last  a 
young  man  dressed  in  gray,  whom  I  did  not  know.  "  Go,  then,  em- 
brace the  Prince-Royal  ;  there  he  is  before  you !"  said  Grumkow.  All 
the  blood  in  my  body  went  topsy-turvy  for  joy.  "O  Heaven,  my 
Brother?"  cried  I:  "But  I  don't  see  him  ;  where  is  he?  In  God's 
name,  let  me  see  him  !"  Grumkow  led  me  to  the  young  man  in  gray. 
Coming  near,  I  recognised  him,  though  with  difficulty:  he  had  grown 
amazingly  stouter  {prodigiensemcntoigraisse),  shortened  about  the  neck ; 
his  face  too  had  much  changed,  and  was  no  longer  so  beautiful  as  it 
liad  been.  I  sprang  upon  him  with  open  arms  [sautai  au  cou) ;  I  was 
in  such  a  state,  I  could  speak  nothing  but  broken  exclamations :  1 
wept,  I  laughed,  like  one  gone  delirious.  In  my  life  I  have  never  felt 
so  lively  a  joy. 

'  The  first  sane  step  was  to  throw  myself  at  the  feet  of  the  King : 
King  said,  "Are  you  content  with  me?  You  see  I  have  kept  my 
word  !"  I  took  my  Brother  by  the  hand  ;  and  entreated  the  King  to 
restore  him  his  friendship.  This  scene  was  so  touching,  it  drew  tears 
from  the  eyes  of  everybody.  I  then  approached  the  Queen.  She  was 
obliged  to  embrace  me,  the  King  being  close  opposite  ;  but  I  remarked 
that  her  joy  was  only  affected.' — Why  then,  O  Princess?  Guess,  if 
you  can,  tlie  female  humours  of  her  Majesty! — 

'  I  turned  to  my  Brother  again  ;  I  gave  him  a  thousand  caresses, 
'  and  said  the  tenderest  things  to  him :  to  all  which  he  remained  cold 
'  as  ice,  and  answered  only  in  mono.syllables.  I  presented  the  Prince 
'  (my  Husband) ;  to  whom  he  did  not  say  one  M'ord.  I  was  astonished 
'  at  this  fashion  of  procedure  !  But  I  laid  the  blame  of  it  on  the  King, 
'  who  was  ol)serving  us,  and  who  I  judged  might  be  intimidating  my 
'  Brother.  But  even  his  countenance  surprised  me :  he  wore  a  proud 
'  air,  and  seemed  to  look  down  on  everybody.' 

A  much-changed  Crown-l'riiicc.      Wiiat  can  l>f  llie  meaning  of  it? 


Chap.  VI.  WILHELMINA'S  WEDDING.  55 

24th  Nov.  1731. 

Neither  King  nor  he  appeared  at  supper :  they  were  supping  elsewhere, 
with  a  select  circle  ;  and  the  whisper  ran  among  us,  Ilis  Majesty  was 
treating  him  with  great  friendliness.  At  which  the  Queen,  contrary  to 
hope,  could  not  conceal  her  secret  pique.  '  In  fact, '  says  Wilhelmina, 
again  too  hard  on  Mamma,  '  she  did  not  love  her  children  except  as 
'  they  served  her  ambitious  views. '  The  fact  that  it  was  I,  and  not  she, 
who  had  achieved  the  Prince's  deliverance,  was  painful  to  her  Majesty : 
alas,  yes,  in  some  degree  ! 

'  Ball  having  recommenced,  Grumkow  whispered  to  me,  "That  the 
'  King  was  pleased  with  my  frank  kind  ways  to  my  Brother ;  and  not 
'  pleased  with  my  Brother's  cold  way  of  returning  it :  Does  he  simulate, 
'  and  mean  still  to  deceive  me  ?  Or  is  that  all  the  thanks  he  has  for 
'  Wilhelmina?  thinks  his  Majesty.  Go  on  with  your  sincerity,  Madam  ; 
'  and  for  God's  sake  admonish  the  Crown-Prince  to  avoid  finessing !" 
'  Crown-Prince,  when  I  did,  in  some  interval  of  the  dance,  report  this 
'  of  Grumkow,  and  say,  Why  so  changed  and  cold,  then.  Brother  oi  my 
'  heart  ?  answered.  That  he  was  still  the  same ;  and  that  he  had  his 
'  reasons  for  what  he  did.'  Wilhelmina  continues;  and  cannot  under 
stand  her  Crown-Prince  at  all : 

'  Next  morning,  by  the  King's  order,  he  paid  me  a  visit.  The 
'  Prince, '  my  Husband,  '  was  polite  enough  to  withdraw,  and  left  me 
'  and  Sonsfeld  alone  with  him.  He  gave  me  a  recital  of  his  misfor- 
'  tunes;  I  communicated  mine  to  him,' — and  how  I  had  at  last  bar- 
gained to  get  him  free  again  by  my  compliance.  '  He  appeared  much 
'  discountenanced  at  this  last  part  of  my  narrative.  He  returned  thanks 
'  for  the  obligations  1  had  laid  on  him, — with  some  caressings,  which 
'  evidently  did  not  proceed  from,  the  heart.  To  break  this  conversa- 
'  lion,  he  started  some  indifferent  topic ;  and,  under  pretence  of  seeing 
'  my  Apartment,  moved  into  the  next  room,  where  the  Prince  my  Hus- 
'  band  was.  Him  he  ran  over  with  his  eyes  from  head  to  foot,  lor  some 
'  time;  then,  after  some  constrained  civilities  to  him,  went  his  way.' 
What  to  make  of  all  this?  '  Madam  Sonsfeld  shrugged  her  shoulders;' 
no  end  of  Madam  Sonsfeld's  astonishment  at  such  a  Crown-Prince. 

Alas,  yes,  poor  Wilhelmina  ;  a  Crown-Prince  got  into  ter- 
rible cognisance  of  facts  since  we  last  met  him  !  Perhaps  al- 
ready sees,  not  only  what  a  Height  of  place  is  cut-out  for  him 
in  this  world,  but  also  in  a  dim  way  what  a  solitude  of  soul,  ii 
he  will  maintain  his  height  ?  Top  of  the  frozen  Schreckhorn  ; 
— have  you  well  considered  such  a  position  !  And  even  the 
way  thither  is  dangerous,  is  terrible  in  this  case.  Be  not  too 
hard  upon  your  Crown-Prince.  For  it  is  certain  he  loves  you 
to  the  last  ! 

Captain  Dickens,  who  alone  of  all  the  Excellencies  was  not 
at  the  Wedding, — and  never  had  believed  it  would  be  a  wed- 


56  CROWN-PRINCE   RETRIEVED.  B-oUVllI. 

24th  Nov.  1731. 

ding,  but  only  a  rumour  to  bring  England  round, — duly  chro- 
nicles this  happy  reappearance  of  the  Prince-Royal  :  '  about 
'  six,  yesterday  evening,  as  the  company  was  dancing,  —  to 
'  the  great  joy  and  surprise  of  the  whole  Court ;' — and  adds  : 
'  This  morning  the  Prince  came  to  the  public  Parade  ;  where 
'  crowds  of  people  of  all  ranks  flocked  to  see  his  Royal  High- 

•  ness,  and  gave  the  most  open  demonstrations  of  pleasure.'-* 

Wilhelmina,  these  noisy  tumults,  not  all  of  them  delight- 
ful, once  done,  gets  out  of  the  perplexed  hurlyburly,  home  to- 
wards still  Baireuth,  shortly  after  Newyear.^  '  Berlin  was  be- 
'  come  as  odious  to  me  as  it  had  once  been  dear.  I  flattered 
'  myself  that,  renouncing  grandeurs,  I  might  lead  a  soft  and 
'  tranquil  life  in  my  new  Home,  and  begin  a  happier  year  than 
'  the  one  that  had  just  ended.'  Mamma  was  still  perverse  ;  but 
on  the  edge  of  departure  Wilhelmina  contrived  to  get  a  word 
of  her  Father,  and  privately  open  her  heart  to  him.  Poor  Fa- 
ther, after  all  that  has  come  and  gone  : 

'  My  discourse  produced  its  effect ;  he  melted  into  tears,  could  not 

*  answer  me  for  sobs;  he  explained  his  thoughts  by  his  embracings  of 
'  me.  Making  an  effort,  at  length,  he  said:  "I  am  in  despair  that  I 
'  did  not  know  thee.  They  had  told  me  such  horrible  tales,  I  hated 
'  thee  as  much  as  I  now  love  thee.  If  I  had  addressed  myself  direct  to 
'  thee,  I  should  have  escaped  much  trouble,  and  thou  too.  But  they 
'  hindered  me  from  speaking;  said  thou  wert  ill-natured  as  the  Devil, 
'  and  wouldst  drive  me  to  extremities  I  wanted  to  avoid.  Thy  Mother, 
'  by  her  intriguings,  is  in  part  the  cause  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  family; 
'  I  have  been  deceived  and  duped  on  every  side.  But  my  hands  are 
'  tied  ;  and  though  my  heart  is  torn  in  pieces,  I  must  leave  these  ini- 
'  quities  unpunished  !" ' — The  Queen's  intentions  were  always  good, 
urged  Wilhelmina.  "Let  us  not  enter  into  that  detail,"  answered  he: 
"  what  is  past  is  past;  I  will  try  to  forget  it;"  and  assured  Wilhelmina 
that  she  was  the  dearest  to  him  of  the  family,  and  that  he  would  do 
great  things  for  her  still, — only  part  of  which  came  to  effect  in  the 
sequel.  "  I  am  too  sad  of  heart  to  take  leave  of  you,"  concluded  he: 
"  embrace  your  Ilu.sband  on  my  part;  I  am  so  overcome  that  I  must 
"  not  see  him.""    And  so  they  rolled  away. 

Crown -Prince  was  back  to  Ciistrin  again,  many  weeks 
before.  Back  to  Ciistrin  ;  but  under  totally  changed  omens  : 
his  history,  after  that  first  emergence  in  Wilhelmina's  dance, 
'  23d  November  about  six  P.M.,'  and  appearance  at  Parade  on 
the  morrow  (.Saturday  morning),  had  been  as  follows.   Monday 

<  Despatch,  2.ilh  Nov.  1731.  ^  nth  Jan.  1732  (Wilhehnina,  ii.  2). 

"  Wilhelmina,  ii.  4;  who  dates  iilh  January  1732. 


Chap.  VI.  WILHELMINA'S  WEDDING.  57 

29th  Feb.  1732. 

November  26th,  there  was  again  grand  Ball,  and  the  Prince 
there,  not  in  gray  this  time.  Ne.xt  day,  the  Old  Dessauer  and 
all  the  higher  Officers  in  Berlin  petitioned,  "Let  us  have  him 
in  the  Army  again,  your  Majesty !"  Majesty  consented  :  and  so, 
Friday  30th,  there  was  grand  dinner  at  Seckendorf 's,  Crown- 
Prince  there,  in  soldier's  uniform  again  ;  a  completely  pardoned 
youth.  His  uniform  is  of  the  Goltz  Regiment,  Infantry:  Goltz 
Regiment,  which  lies  at  Ruppin, — at  and  about,  in  that  moory 
Country  to  the  Northeast,  some  thirty  or  forty  miles  from  Ber- 
lin ; — whither  his  destination  now  is. 

Crown-Prince  had  to  resume  his  Kammer  work  at  Ctistrin, 
and  see  the  Buildings  at  Carzig,  for  a  three  months  longer,  till 
some  arrangements  in  the  Regiment  Goltz  were  perfected,  and 
finishing  improvements  given  to  it.  But  'on  the  last  day  of 
February'  (29th,  1732  being  leap-year),  his  Royal  Highness's 
Commission  to  be  Colonel  Commandant  of  said  Regiment  is 
made  out ;  and  he  proceeds,  in  discharge  of  the  same,  to  Rup- 
pin, where  his  men  lie.  And  so  puts-off  the  pike-gray  coat, 
and  puts-on  the  military  blue  one," — never  to  quit  it  again,  as 
turned  out. 

Ruppin  is  a  little  Town,  in  that  northwest  Fehrbellin  re- 
gion :  Regiment  Goltz  had  lain  in  detached  quarters  hitherto  ; 
but  is  now  to  lie  at  Ruppin,  the  first  Battalion  of  it  there,  and 
the  rest  within  reach.  Here,  in  Ruppin  itself,  or  ultimately  at 
Reinsberg  in  the  neighbourhood,  was  Friedrich's  abode,  for  the 
ne.xt  eight  years.  Habitual  residence  :  with  transient  excur- 
sions, chiefly  to  Berlin  in  Carnival  time,  or  on  other  great  oc- 
casions, and  always  strictly  on  leave  ;  his  employment  being 
that  of  Colonel  of  Foot,  a  thing  requiring  continual  vigilance 
and  industry  in  that  Country.  Least  of  all  to  be  neglected,  in 
any  point,  by  one  in  his  circumstances.  He  did  his  military 
duties  to  a  perfection  satisfactory  even  to  Papa  ;  and  achieved 
on  his  own  score  many  other  duties  and  improvements,  tor 
which  Papa  had  less  value.  These  eight  years,  it  is  always  un- 
derstood, were  among  the  most  important  of  his  lire  to  him. 
^  Preuss,  i.  63. 


BOOK  IX. 

LAST  STAGE  OF  FRIEDRICH'S  APPRENTICESHIP 
LIFE   IN  RUPPIN. 

1732-1736. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRINCESS  ELIZABETH  CHRISTINA  OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 

We  described  the  Crown-Prince  as  intent  to  comply,  espe- 
cially in  all  visible  external  particulars,  with  Papa's  will  and 
pleasure  ; — rto  distinguish  himself  by  real  excellence  in  Com- 
mandantship  of  the  Regiment  Goltz,  first  of  all.  But  before 
ever  getting  into  that,  there  has  another  point  risen,  on  which 
obedience,  equally  essential,  may  be  still  more  difficult. 

Ever  since  the  grand  Catastrophe  went  off  without  taking 
Friedrich's  head  along  with  it,  and  there  began  to  be  hopes  of 
a  pacific  settlement,  question  has  been,  Whom  shall  the  Crown- 
Prince  marry  ?  And  the  debates  about  it  in  the  Royal  breast 
and  in  Tobacco-Parliament,  and  rumours  about  it  in  the  world 
at  large,  have  been  manifold  and  continual.  In  the  Schulen- 
burg  Letters  we  saw  the  Crown-Prince  himself  much  interested, 
and  eagerly  inquisitive  on  that  head.  As  was  natural :  but  it 
is  not  in  the  Crown-Prince's  mind,  it  is  in  the  Tobacco-Parlia- 
ment, and  the  Royal  breast  as  influenced  there,  that  the  thing 
must  be  decided.      Who  in  the  world  will  it  be,  then  ? 

Crown-Prince  himself  hears  now  of  this  party,  now  of  that. 
England  is  quite  over,  and  the  Princess  Amelia  sunk  below  the 
horizon.  Friedrich  himself  appears  a  little  piqued  that  Hotham 
carried  his  nose  so  high  ;  that  the  English  would  not,  in  those 
lifc-and-dcath  circumstances,  abate  the  least  from  their  '  Both 
marriages  or  none,' — thinks  they  should  have  saved  Wilhel- 
mina,  and  taken  his  word  of  honour  for  the  rest.      England 


Chap.  I.      PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.         59 

Feb.  1732. 

is  now  out  of  his  head  ; — all  romance  is  too  sorrowfully  swept 
out  :  and  instead  of  the  '  sacred  air-cities  of  hope'  in  this 
high  section  of  his  history,  the  young  man  is  looking  into  the 
'mean  clay  hamlets  of  reality,'  with  an  eye  well  recognising 
them  for  real.  With  an  eye  and  heart  already  tempered  to 
the  due  hardness  for  them.  Not  a  fortunate  result,  though  it 
was  an  inevitable  one.  We  saw  him  flirting  with  the  beautiful 
wedded  Wreech  ;  talking  to  Lieutenant-General  Schulenburg 
about  marriage,  in  a  way  which  shook  the  pipeclay  of  that 
virtuous  man.  He  knows  he  would  not  get  his  choice,  if  he 
had  one  ;  strives  not  to  care.  Nor  does  he,  in  fact,  much 
care  ;  the  romance  being  all  out  of  it.  He  looks  mainly  to 
outward  advantages  ;  to  personal  appearance,  temper,  good 
manners  ;  to  '  religious  principle,'  sometimes  rather  in  the 
reverse  way  (fearing  an  overplus  rather) ; — but  always  to  like- 
lihood of  moneys  by  the  match,  as  a  very  direct  item.  Ready 
command  of  money,  he  feels,  will  be  extremely  desirable  in 
a  Wife  ;  desirable  and  almost  indispensable,  in  present  strait- 
ened circumstances.  These  are  the  notions  of  this  ill-situated 
Coelebs. 

The  parties  proposed  first  and  last,  and  rumoured  of  in 
Newspapers  and  the  idle  brains  of  men,  have  been  very  many, 
— no  limit  to  their  numbers  ;  it  may  be  anybody  :  an  intending 
purchaser,  though  but  possessed  of  sixpence,  is  in  a  sense  pro- 
prietor of  the  whole  Fair  !  Through  Schulenburg  we  heard 
his  own  account  of  them,  last  Autumn  ; — but  the  far  noblest 
of  the  lot  was  hai'dly  glanced  at,  or  not  at  all,  on  that  occa- 
sion. The  Kaiser's  eldest  Daughter,  sole  heiress  of  Austria 
and  these  vast  Pragmatic-Sanction  operations  ;  Archduchess 
Maria  Theresa  herself, — it  is  affirmed  to  have  been  Prince 
Eugene's  often-expressed  wish.  That  the  Crown-Prince  of 
Prussia  should  wed  the  future  Empress.  1  Which  would  in- 
deed have  saved  immense  confusions  to  mankind  !  Nay  she 
alone  of  Princesses,  beautiful,  magnanimous,  brave,  was  the 
mate  for  such  a  Prince, — had  the  Good  Fairies  been  consulted, 
which  seldom  happens  : — and  Romance  itself  might  have  be- 
come Reality  in  that  case  ;  with  high  results  to  the  very  soul 
of  this  young  Prince  !  Wishes  are  free  :  and  wise  Eugene 
will  have  been  heard,  perhaps  often,  to  express  this  wish;  but 

1  Hormayr,  Allgciiichie  Geschichte  der  Jieuesteu  Zeit  (Wien,  1817),  i.  13  ;  cited  in 
Preuss,  i.  71. 


6o  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

Feb.  1732. 

that  must  have  been  all.  Alas,  the  preliminaries,  political, 
especially  religious,  are  at  once  indispensable  and  impossible  : 
we  have  to  dismiss  that  day-dream.  A  Papal-Protestant  Con- 
troversy still  exists  among  mankind  ;  and  this  is  one  penalty 
they  pay  for  not  having  settled  it  sooner.  The  Imperial  Court 
cannot  afford  its  Archduchess  on  the  terms  possible  in  that 
quarter. 

What  the  Imperial  Court  can  do  is,  to  recommend  a  Niecfe 
of  theirs,  insignificant  young  Princess,  Elizabeth  Christina  of 
Brunswick-Bevern,  who  is  Niece  to  the  Empress  ;  and  may 
be  made  useful  in  this  way,  to  herself  and  us,  think  the  Im- 
perial Majesties  ; — will  be  a  new  tie  upon  the  Prussians  and 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and  keep  the  Alliance  still  surer  for 
our  Archduchess  in  times  coming,  think  their  Majesties.  She, 
it  is  insinuated  by  Seckendorf  in  Tobacco-Parliament ;  ought 
not  she.  Daughter  of  your  Majesty's  esteemed  friend, — mo- 
dest-minded, innocent  young  Princess,  with  a  Brother  already 
betrothed  in  your  Majesty's  House, — to  be  the  Lady  ?  It  is 
probable  she  will. 

Did  we  inform  the  reader  once  about  Kaiser  Karl's  young 
marriage  adventures  ;  and  may  we,  to  remind  him,  mention 
them  a  second  time  ?  How  Imperial  Majesty,  some  five-and- 
twenty  years  ago,  then  only  King  of  Spain,  asked  Princess 
Caroline  of  Anspach,  who  was  very  poor,  and  an  orphan  in 
the  world.  Who  at  once  refused,  declining  to  think  of  chang- 
ing her  religion  on  such  a  score  ; — and  now  governs  England, 
telegraphing  with  Walpole,  as  Queen  there  instead.  How 
Karl,  now  Imperial  Majesty,  then  King  of  Spain,  next  applied 
to  Brunswick-Wolfenbiittcl ;  and  met  with  a  much  better  re- 
ception there.  Applied  to  old  Anton  Ulrich,  reigning  Duke, 
who  writes  big  Novels,  and  does  other  foolish  goodnatured 
things  ; — who  persuaded  his  Granddaughter  that  a  change  to 
Catholicism  was  nothing  in  such  a  case,  that  he  himself  should 
not  care  in  the  least  to  change.  How  the  Granddaughter 
changed  accordingly,  went  to  Barcelona,  and  was  wedded  ; — 
and  had  to  dun  old  Grandpapa,  "Why  don't  you  change, 
then  ?"  Who  did  change  thereupon  ;  thinking  to  himself, 
"  Plague  on  it,  I  must,  then  !"  the  foolish  old  Herr.  He  is 
dead  ;  and  his  Novels,  in  six  volumes  quarto,  are  all  dead  : 
and  the  Granddaughter  is  Kaiserinn,  on  those  terms,  a  serene 
monotonous  well-iavoured  Lady,  diligent  in  her  Catholic  exer- 


Chap.  I.      PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-REVERN.  6i 

Feb.  1732. 

cises  ;  of  whom  I  never  heard  any  evil,  good  rather,  in  her 
eminent  serene  position.  Pity  perhaps  that  she  had  recom- 
mended her  Niece  for  this  young  Prussian  gentleman  ;  whom 
it  by  no  means  did  '  attach  to  the  Family'  so  very  careful 
about  him  at  Vienna  !  But  if  there  lay  a  sin,  and  a  punish- 
ment following  on  it,  here  or  elsewhere,  in  her  Imperial  posi- 
tion, surely  it  is  to  be  charged  on  foolish  old  Anton  Ulrich  ; 
not  on  her,  poor  Lady,  who  had  never  coveted  such  height, 
nor  durst  for  her  soul  take  the  leap  thitherward,  till  the  serene 
old  literary  gentleman  showed  her  how  easy  it  was. 

Well,  old  Anton  Ulrich  is  long  since  dead,^  and  his  reli- 
gious accounts  are  all  settled  beyond  cavil ;  and  only  the  sad 
duty  devolves  on  me  of  explaining  a  little  what  and  who  his 
rather  insipid  offspring  are,  so  far  as  related  to  readers  of  this 
History.  Anton  Ulrich  left  two  sons  ;  the  elder  of  whom  was 
Duke,  and  the  younger  had  an  Apanage,  Blankenburg  by 
name.  Only  this  younger  had  children, — serene  Kaiserinn 
that  now  is,  one  of  them.  The  elder  died  childless,^  precisely 
a  few  months  before  the  times  we  are  now  got  to  ;  reigning 
Duke  of  Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel,'*  all  but  certain  Apanages, 
and  does  not  concern  us  farther.  To  that  supreme  dignity 
the  younger  has  now  come,  and  his  Apanage  of  Blankenburg 
and  children  with  him  ; — so  that  there  is  now  only  one  out- 
standing Apanage  (Bevern,  not  known  to  us  yet) ;  which  also 
will  perhaps  get  reunited,  if  we  cared  for  it.  Ludwig  Rudolf 
is  the  name  of  this  new  sovereign  Duke  of  Brunswick- Wolfen- 
biittel,  or  Duke  in  chief ;  age  now  sixty ;  has  a  shining,  bus- 
tling, somewhat  irregular  Duchess,  says  Wilhelmina  ;  and  a 
nose — or  rather  almost  no  nose,  for  sad  reasons  !^  Other  quali- 
ties or  accidents  I  know  not  of  him, — except  that  he  is  Father 
of  the  Vienna  Kaiscrimi ;  Grandfather  of  the  Princess  whom 
Seckendorf  suggests  for  our  Friedrich  of  Prussia. 

In  Ludwig  Rudolf's  insipid  offspring  our  readers  are  unex- 
pectedly somewhat  interested ;  let  readers  patiently  attend, 
therefore.  He  had  three  Daughters,  never  any  son.  Two  of 
his  Daughters,  eldest  and  youngest,  are  alive  still ;  the  middle 

2  1714,  age  70.     Hiibner,  t.  190.  ■'  1731,  Michaelis,  i.  132. 

*  '  W cU-iodi/is'  (Hutted  Camp  of  the  Welfs),  according  to  Etymology.  '  Bruns- 
wick,' aj;aiii,  is  Sraaa's-Wick  ;  '  Uraun'  (Brown)  being  an  old  militant  VVelf  in  those 
parts,  who  built  some  lodge  lor  himself,  as  a  convenience  there, — Year  SSo,  say  the 
uncertain  old  Books.     Hiibner,  t.  149 ;  Michaelis,  &c. 

j  Wilhelmina,  ii.  izi. 


62  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         Book IX. 

Feb.  1732. 

one  had  a  sad  fate  long  ago.  She  married,  in  171 1,  Alexius 
the  Czarowitz  of  Peter  the  Great  :  foolish  Czarowitz,  miserable 
and  making  others  miserable,  broke  her  heart  by  ill  conduct, 
ill  usage,  in  four  years  ;  so  that  she  died  ;  leaving  him  only  a 
poor  small  Peter  II.,  who  is  now  dead  too,  and  that  matter 
ended  all  but  the  memory  of  it.  Some  accounts  bear,  that  she 
did  not  die  ;  that  she  only  pretended  it,  and  ran  and  left  her 
intolerable  Czarowitz.  That  she  wedded,  at  Paris,  in  deep 
obscurity,  an  Officer  just  setting-out  for  Louisiana ;  lived  many 
years  thei'e  as  a  thrifty  soldier's  wife  ;  returned  to  Paris  with 
her  Officer  reduced  to  half-pay  ;  and  told  him,- — or  told  some 
select  Official  person  after  him,  under  sevenfold  oath,  being 
then  a  widow  and  necessitous, — her  sublime  secret.  Sub- 
lime secret,  which  came  thus  to  be  known  to  a  supremely 
select  circle  at  Paris  ;  and  was  published  in  Books,  where  one 
still  reads  it.  No  vestige  of  truth  in  it, — except  that  perhaps 
a  necessitous  soldier's  widow  at  Paris,  considering  of  ways 
and  means,  found  that  she  had  some  trace  of  likeness  to  the 
Pictures  of  this  Princess,  and  had  heard  her  tragic  story. 

Ludwig  Rudolf's  second  Daughter  is  dead  long  years  ago ; 
nor  has  this  fable  as  yet  risen  from  her  dust.  Of  Ludwig 
Rudolf's  other  two  Daughters,  we  have  said  that  one,  the 
eldest,  was  the  Kaiserinn  ;  Empress  Elizabeth  Christina,  age 
now  precisely  forty  ;  with  two  beautiful  Daughters,  sublime 
Maria  Theresa  the  elder  of  them,  and  no  son  that  would  live. 
Which  last  little  circumstance  has  caused  the  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion, and  tormented  universal  Nature  for  so  many  years  back  ! 
Ludwig  Rudolf  has  a  youngest  Daughter,  also  married,  and  a 
Mother  in  Germany, — to  this  day  conspicuously  so  ; — of  whom 
next,  or  rather  of  her  Husband  and  Family-circle,  we  must 
say  a  word. 

Her  Husband  is  no  other  than  the  esteemed  Friend  of 
Friedrich  Wilhehn;  Duke  of  Brunswick-Bcvern,  by  title;  who, 
as  a  junior  branch,  lives  on  the  Apanage  of  Bevern,  as  his  Fa- 
ther did  ;  but  is  sure  now  to  inherit  the  sovereignty  and  be 
Duke  of  Brunswick-Wolfenbiittcl  at  large,  he  or  his  Sons,  were 
the  present  incumbent,  Ludwig  Rudolf,  once  out.  Present  in- 
cumbent, we  have  just  intimated,  is  his  Father-in-law  ;  but  it 
is  not  on  that  ground  that  he  looks  to  inlierit.  He  is  Nephew 
of  old  Anton  Uhich,  Son  of  a  younger  Brother  (who  was  also 
'  Bevern'  in  vXnton's  time);  and  is  the  evident  Heir-male  ;  old 


PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 


^\3 


Chap.  I. 
Feb.  1732. 

Anton  being  already  fallen  into  the  distaff,  with  nothing  but 
three  Granddaughters.  Anton's  heir  will  now  be  this  Nephew : 
Nephew  has  wedded  one  of  the  Granddaughters,  youngest  of 
the  Three,  youngest  Daughter  of  Ludwig  Rudolf,  Sovereign 
Duke  that  now  is;  which  Lady,  by  the  family  she  brought  him, 
if  no  otherwise,  is  memorable  or  mentionable  here,  and  may 
be  called  a  Mother  in  Germany. ^ 

Father  Bevern  her  Husband,  Ferdinand  Albert  the  name 
of  him,  is  now  just  fifty,  only  ten  years  younger  than  his  se- 
rene Father-in-law  Ludwig  Rudolf : — whom,  I  may  as  well  say 
here,  he  does  at  last  succeed,  three  years  hence  (1735),  and 
becomes  Duke  of  Brunswick  in  General,  according  to  hope  ; 
but  only  for  a  few  months,  having  himself  died  that  same  year. 
Poor  Duke  ;  rather  a  good  man,  by  all  the  accounts  I  could 
hear  ;  though  not  of  qualities  that  shone.  He  is  at  present 
'  Duke  of  Brunswick-Bevern,' — such  his  actual  nomenclature 
in  those  ever-fluctuating  Sibyl's-leaves  of  German  History- 
r>ooks,  Wilheimina's  and  the  others;  —  expectant  Duke  of 
Brunswick  in  General  ;  much  a  friend  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm. 
A  kind  of  Austrian  soldier  he  was  formerly,  and  will  again  be 


*  Anton  Ulricii  (1633-1714),  Duke  in  Chief; 
that  is,  Duke  of  Brunswick- Wt'^-«(''/if//t/. 

August  Wil-  Ludwig  Rudolf,  the  younger 
HELM,  elder  Son  (1671,  1731,  1735),  apanaged 
Son  and  Heir  in  Blankonburg ;  DukeofBruns- 
(1662,  1714,  w'xck  -  Blaukoiburg ;  became 
1731);  had  no  Woljenbilttel,  1731  ;  died,  ist 
Children.  March  1735.     No  Son:    so  that 

now     the     Bevern     succeeded. 

Three  Daughters  : 


Elizabeth 
Christina,  the 
Kaiserinn 
(1691,  1708, 
1750). 


Charlotte   Chris-        Antoinette 


tina  (1694,  1711, 
1715),  Ale.xius  of 
Russia's  ;  had  a 
fabulous  end. 


Amelia 
(1695,  1712, 
1762)  ;  Be- 
vern's  Wife, 
—a  _"  Mo- 
ther in  Ger- 
many." 


Ferdinand  Albert  (1636- 
1687),  his  younger  Brother 
apanaged  in  Bevern;  that  is, 
Duke  of  Brunswick-i>Vj'«-r«. 

Ferdinand  Albert,  eldest 
Son  (an  elder  had  perished, 
1704,  on  the  Schellenberg 
under  ftlarlborough),  fol- 
lowed in  Bevern  (1680, 1687- 
1704,  1735);  Kaiser's  soldier, 
Friedrich  Wilhelm's  friend  ; 
married  his  Cousin,  Antoin- 
ette AmeHa  ("  Mother  in 
Germany,"  as  we  call  her). 
Duke  in  Chief,  ist  March 
i73S>  on  Ludwig  Rudolfs 
decease ;  died  himself,  3d 
September  same  year. 


Born  1713, 
Karl  the  Heir 
(to  marry  our 
Friedrich's 
Sister). 


1714,  An-       1713,  8th 
tonUlrich      Novem- 
( Russia  ;        ber,  Eliz- 
tragedy  of      abeth 
Czar  I  wan).    Christina 
( Crown- 
Prince's). 


1718,  Lud-  1721,  Ferdi-  1722,  1724, 
wig  Ernst  nand  (Chat-  1725,  1732, 
(Holland,  ham's      and      Four      oth- 

1787).  England's)         ers  ;      Boys 

of  the  Seven-  the  young- 
Years  War.  estTwo,who 
were  both 
killed  in 
Friedrich's 
Wars. 


64  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

Feb.  1732. 

for  brief  times  ;  General-Feldmarschall  so-styled  ;  but  is  not 
notable  in  War,  nor  otherwise  at  all,  except  for  the  offspring 
he  had  by  this  serene  Spouse  of  his.  Insipid  offspring,  the 
impatient  reader  says  ;  but  permits  me  to  enumerate  one  or 
two  of  them  : 

1°.  Karl,  eldest  Son  ;  who  is  sure  to  be  Brunswick  in  General ;  who 
is  betrothed  to  Princess  Cliarlotte  of  Pioissia,  — '  a  satirical  creature, 
she,  fonder  of  my  Prince  than  of  him,'  Wilhelmina  thinks.  The  wed- 
ding nevertheless  took  effect.  Bnmswick  in  General  duly  fell  in,  first 
to  the  Father;  then,  in  a  few  months  more,  to  Karl  with  his  Charlotte: 
and  from  them  proceeded,  in  due  time,  another  Karl,  of  whom  we  shall 
hear  in  this  History; — and  of  whom  all  the  world  heard  much  in  the 
French  Revolution  Wars;  in  1792,  and  still  more  tragically  afterwards. 
Shot,  to  death  or  worse,  at  the  Battle  of  Jena,  October  1806;  'battle 
lost  before  it  was  begun,' — such  the  strategic  history  they  give  of  it.  He 
peremptorily  ordered  the  French  Revolution  to  suppress  itself;  and  that 
was  the  answer  the  French  Revolution  made  him.  From  this  Karl, 
what  new  Queens  Caroline  of  England  and  portentous  Dukes  of  Bruns- 
wick, sent  upon  their  travels  through  the  anarchic  world,  profitable  only 
to  Newspapers,  we  need  not  say ! — 

2°.  Anton  Ulrich;  named  after  his  august  Great-Grandfather;  does 
not  write  novels  like  him.  At  present  a  young  gentleman  of  eighteen; 
goes  into  Russia  before  long,  hoping  to  beget  Czars ;  which  issues  dread- 
fully for  himself  and  the  potential  Czars  he  begot.  The  reader  has  heard 
of  a  potential  "Czar  Iwan, "  violently  done  to  death  in  his  room,  one 
dim  moonlight  night  of  1764,  in  tlie  Fortress  of  Schliisselburg,  middle 
of  Lake  Ladoga;  misty  moon  looking  down  on  the  stone  battlements,  on 
the  melancholy  waters,  and  saying  nothing. — But  let  us  not  anticipate. 

3°  Elizabeth  Christina ;  to  us  more  important  than  any  of  them. 
Namesake  of  the  Kaiserinn,  her  august  Aunt;  age  now  seventeen;  in- 
sipid fine-coinplexioned  young  lady,  who  is  talked  of  for  the  Bride  of 
our  Crown-Prince.  Of  whom  the  reader  will  hear  more.  Crown-Prince 
fears  she  is  '  too  religious,' — and  will  have  '■cagots'  about  her  (solemn 
persons  in  black,  highly  unconscious  how  little  wisdom  they  have),  who 
may  be  troublesome. 

4°.  A  merry  young  Boy,  now  ten,  called  Ferdinand ;  M'ith  whom 
England  within  the  next  thirty  years  will  ring,  for  some  time,  loud 
enough  :  the  great  "  Prince  Ferdinand"  himself, — under  whom  the  Mar- 
quis of  Granby  and  others  became  great ;  Chatham  superintending  it. 
This  really  was  a  respectable  gentleman,  and  did  considerable  things, 
— a  Trisinegistus  in  comparison  with  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  whom 
he  succeeded.  A  cheerful,  singularly-polite,  modest,  well-conditioned 
man  withal.  To  be  slightly  better  known  to  us,  if  we  live.  He  at  pre- 
.scnt  is  a  Boy  of  ten,  chasing  the  thistle's  beard. 

5".  Three  other  sons,  all  soldiers,  two  01  them  younger  than  Fer- 
dinand; whose  names  were  in  the  gazettes  down  to  a  late  period ;— 


Chap.T.     TRINCESS   OF  RRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  65 

Feb.  1733. 

whom  we  shall  ignore  in  tliis  place.  The  last  of  them  was  marched  out 
of  Holland,  \\here  he  had  long  l)een  Commander-in-chief  on  rather 
Tory  principles,  in  the  troubles  of  1787.  Others  of  them  we  shall  sec 
storming  forward  on  occasion,  valiantly  meeting  death  in  the  field  of 
fight,  all  conspicuously  brave  of  character ;  but  this  shall  be  enough  of 
them  at  present. 

It  is  of  these  that  Ludwig  Rudolf's  youngest  daughter,  the 
serene  Ferdinand  Albert's  wife,  is  Mother  in  Germany;  highly 
conspicuous  in  their  day.  If  the  question  is  put,  it  must  be 
owned  they  are  all  rather  of  the  insipid  type.  Nothing  but  a 
kind  of  albuminous  simplicity  noticeable  in  them  ;  no  wit,  ori- 
ginality, brightness  in  the  way  of  uttered  intellect.  If  it  is 
asked,  How  came  they  to  the  least  distinction  in  this  world  ? — 
the  answer  is  not  immediately  apparent.  But  indeed  they  are 
Welf  of  the  Welfs,  in  this  respect  as  in  others.  One  asks, 
with  increased  wonder,  noticing  in  the  Welfs  generally  nothing 
but  the  same  albuminous  simplicity,  and  poverty  rather  than 
opulence  of  uttered  intellect,  or  of  qualities  that  shine,  How 
the  Welfs  came  to  play  such  a  part,  for  the  last  thousand  years, 
and  still  to  be  at  it,  in  conspicuous  places  ? 

Reader,  I  have  observed  that  uttered  intellect  is  not  what 
permanently  makes  way,  but  ////uttered.  Wit,  logical  brilliancy, 
spiritual  effulgency,  true  or  false, — how  precious  to  idle  man- 
kind, and  to  the  Newspapers  and  History-Books,  even  when 
it  is  false  :  Avhile,  again.  Nature  and  Practical  Fact  care  next 
to  nothing  for  it  in  comparison,  even  when  it  is  true  !  Two 
silent  qualities  you  will  notice  in  these  Welfs,  modern  and 
ancient  ;  which  Nature  much  values  :  First,  consummate  hu- 
man Courage  ;  a  noble,  perfect,  and  as  it  were  unconscious 
superiority  to  fear.  And  then  secondly,  much  weight  of  mind, 
a  noble  not  too  conscious  Sense  of  what  is  Right  and  Not 
Right,  I  have  found  in  some  of  them  ; — which  means  mostly 
weight,  or  good  gravitation,  good  observance  of  the  perpen- 
dicular ;  and  is  called  justice,  veracity,  high-honour,  and  other 
such  names.  These  are  fine  qualities  indeed,  especially  with 
an  '  albuminous  simplicity'  as  vehicle  to  them.  If  the  Welfs 
had  not  much  articulate  intellect,  let  us  guess  they  made  a 
good  use,  not  a  bad  or  indifferent,  as  is  commoner,  of  what 
they  had. 


VOL.  III. 


66  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         Hook  ix. 

Feb.  1732. 

Who  his  Majesty's  Choice  is  ;  and  what  the  Crown-Frince 
thinks  of  if. 

Princess  Elizabeth  Christina,  the  insipid  Brunswick  speci- 
men, backed  by  Seckendorf  and  Vienna,  proves  on  considera- 
tion the  desirable  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm  in  this  matter.  But 
his  Son's  notions,  who  as  yet  knows  her  only  by  rumour,  do 
not  go  that  way.  Insipidity,  triviality  ;  the  fear  of  '  cagotage' 
and  frightful  fellows  in  black  supremely  unconscious  what 
blockheads  they  are,  haunts  him  a  good  deal.  And  as  for  any 
money  coming, — her  sublime  Aunt  the  Kaiserinn  never  had 
much  ready-money  ;  one's  resources  on  that  side  are  likely  to 
be  exiguous.  He  would  prefer  the  Princess  of  Mecklenburg, 
Semi-Russian  Catharine  or  Anna,  of  whom  we  have  heard  ; 
would  prefer  the  Princess  of  Eisenach  (whose  name  he  does 
not  know  rightly)  ;  thinks  there  are  many  Princesses  prefer- 
able. Most  of  all  he  would  prefer,  what  is  well  known  of  him 
in  Tobacco-Parliament,  but  known  to  be  impossible,  this  long 
W'hile  back,  to  go  upon  a  round  of  travel,  —  as  for  instance 
the  Prince  of  Lorraine  is  now  doing, — and  look  about  him  a 
little. 

These  candid  considerations  the  Crown-Prince  earnestly 
suggests  to  Grumkow,  and  the  secret  committee  of  Tobacco- 
Parliament  ;  earnestly  again  and  again,  in  his  Correspondence 
with  that  gentleman,  which  goes  on  very  brisk  at  present. 
'  Much  of  it  lost,'  we  hear  ; — but  enough,  and  to  spare,  is 
saved  !  Not  a  beautiful  correspondence  :  the  tone  of  it  shal- 
low, hard  of  heart ;  tragically  ihppant,  especially  on  the  Crown- 
Prince's  part  ;  now  and  then  even  a  touch  of  the  hypocritical 
from  him,  slight  touch  and  not  with  will  :  alas,  what  can  the 
poor  young  man  do  ?  Grumkow, — whose  ground,  I  think,  is 
never  quite  so  secure  since  that  Nosti  business, — professes 
ardent  attachment  to  the  real  interests  of  the  Prince;  and 
docs  solidly  advise  him  of  what  is  feasible,  what  not,  in  head- 
quarters :  very  exemplary  '  attachment  ;'  credible  to  what 
length,  the  Prince  well  enough  knows.  And  so  the  Corre- 
spondence is  unbcautiful ;  not  very  descriptive  even, — for  poor 
P'riedrich  is  considerably  under  mask,  while  he  writes  to  that 
address  ;  and  of  Grumkow  himself  we  want  no  more  'descrip- 
tion ;'  and  is,  in  fact,  on  its  own  score,  an  avoidable  article 
rather  than  otherwise  ;  though  perhaps  the  reader,  for  a  poor 


Chap.  I.     PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  67 

Feb.  1732. 

involved  Crown-Prince's  sake,  will  wish  an  exact  Excerpt  or 
two  before  we  quite  dismiss  it. 

Towards  turning-off  the  Brunswick  speculation,  or  turn- 
ing-on  the  Mecklenburg  or  Eisenach  or  any  other  in  its  stead, 
the  Correspondence  naturally  avails  nothing.  Seckendorf  has 
his  orders  from  Vienna  :  Grumkow  has  his  pension,  —  his 
creambowl  duly  set, — for  helping  Seckendorf.  Though  angels 
pleaded,  not  in  a  tone  of  tragic  flippancy,  but  with  the  voice 
of  breaking  hearts,  it  would  be  to  no  purpose.  The  Imperial 
Majesties  have  ordered,  Marry  him  to  Brunswick,  '  bind  him 
the  better  to  our  House  in  time  coming  ;'  nay  the  Royal  mind 
at  Potsdam  gravitates,  of  itself,  that  way,  after  the  first  hint  is 
given.  The  Imperial  will  has  become  the  Paternal  one  ;  no 
answer  but  obedience.  What  Grumkow  can  do  will  be,  if  pos- 
sible, to  lead  or  drive  the  Crown-Prince  into  obeying  smoothly, 
or  without  breaking  of  harness  again.  Which,  accordingly,  is 
pretty  much  the  sum  of  his  part  in  this  unlovely  Correspond- 
ence :  the  geeho-ing  of  an  expert  wagoner,  who  has  got  a  fiery 
young  Arab  thoroughly  tied  into  his  dastard  sandcart,  and  has 
to  drive  him  by  voice,  or  at  most  by  slight  c7-ack  of  whip  ;  and 
does  it.  Can  we  hope,  a  select  specimen  or  two  of  these  Docu- 
ments, not  on  Grumkow's  part,  or  for  Grumkow's  unlovely  sake, 
may  now  be  acceptable  to  the  reader  ?  A  Letter  or  two  picked 
from  that  large  stock,  in  a  legible  state,  will  show  us  Father  and 
Son,  and  how  that  tragic  matter  went  on,  better  than  descrip- 
tion could. 

Papa's  Letters  to  the  Crown-Prince  during  that  final  Ciis- 
trin  period,  when  Carzig  and  Himmelstadt  were  going  on,  and 
there  was  such  progress  in  Economics,  are  all  of  hopeful  rug- 
gedly affectionate  tenor  ;  and  there  are  a  good  few  of  them  : 
style  curiously  rugged,  intricate,  headlong  ;  and  a  strong  sub- 
stance of  sense  and  worth  tortuously  visible  everywhere.  Let- 
ters so  delightful  to  the  poor  retrieved  Crown-Prince  then  and 
there  ;  and  which  are  still  almost  pleasant  reading  to  third- 
parties,  once  you  introduce  grammar  and  spelling.  This  is  one 
exact  specimen  ;  most  important  to  the  Prince  and  us.  Sud- 
denly, one  night,  by  estafette,  his  Majesty,  meaning  nothing 
but  kindness,  and  grateful  to  Seckendorf  and  Tobacco-Parlia- 
ment for  such  an  idea,  proposes, — in  these  terms  (merely  re- 
duced to  English  and  the  common  spelling)  ; 


68  APPRENTICESHIP,  LAST  STAGE.       n. -k  ix. 

4lh  Feb.  1732. 

'  To  the  Cfown-Prince  at  Ciistrin  (from  Papa). 

'Potsdam,  4th  February  1732. 

'  My  dear  Son  Fritz, — I  am  very  glad  you  need  no  more  physic. 
'  But  you  must  have  a  care  of  yourself,  some  days  yet,  for  the  severe 
'  weather ;  M'hich  gives  me  and  evei"ybody  colds  ;  so  pray  be  on  your 
'  guard  [nehmet  Etich  hiibsch  in  Acht). 

'  You  know,  my  dear  Son,  that  when  my  children  are  obedient,  I 
'  love  them  much :  so,  when  you  were  at  Berlin,  I  from  my  heart  for- 
'  gave  you  everything ;  and  from  that  Berlin  time,  since  I  saw  you,  have 
'  thought  of  nothing  but  of  your  well-being  and  how  to  establish  you, 
'  — not  in  the  Army  only,  but  also  with  a  right  Stepdaughter,  and  so 
'  see  you  married  in  my  lifetime.  You  may  be  well  persuaded  I  have 
'  had  the  Princesses  of  Germany  taken  survey  of,  so  far  as  possible,  and 
'  examined  \ij  trusty  people,  what  their  conduct  is,  their  education  and 
'  so  on :  and  so  a  Princess  has  been  found,  the  Eldest  one  of  Bevern,  who 
'  is  well  brought-up,  modest  and  retiring,  as  women  ought  to  be. 

'  You  will  without  delay  {cito)  \\'rite  me  your  mind  on  this.  I  have 
'  purchased  the  Von  Katsch  House;  the  Feldmarschall,'  old  Wartens- 
leben,  poor  Katte's  grandfather,  'as  Governor'  of  Berlin,  'will  get  that 
'  to  live  in :  and  his  Government  House'  I  will  have  made-new  for  you, 
'  and  furnish  it  all ;  and  give  you  enough  to  keep  house  yourself  there ; 
'  and  will  command  you  into  the  Army,  April  coming'  (which  is  quite 
a  subordinate  story,  your  Majesty!). 

'  The  Princess  is  not  ugly,  nor  beautiful.  You  must  mention  it  to 
'  no  mortal; — write  indeed  to  Mamma  {dcr  Mania)  that  I  have  written 
'  to  you.  And  when  you  shall  have  a  Son,  I  will  let  you  go  on  your 
'  Travels, — wedding,  however,  cannot  be  before  winter  next.  Menn- 
'  while  I  will  try  and  contrive  opportunity  that  you  see  one  anothei^,  a 
'  few  times,  in  all  honour,  yet  so  that  you  get  acquainted  with  her.  .She 
'  is  a  god-fearing  creature  (gotlesfiirchdgcs  AIciisc/i),  M'hicli  is  all  in  all ; 
'  will  suit  herself  to  you'  (be  coniportable  to  you)  '  as  she  does  to  the 
'  Parents-in-law. 

'  God  give  his  blessing  to  it ;  and  bless  You  and  your  Posterity,  and 
*  keep  Thee  as  a  good  Christian.  And  have  God  always  before  your 
'  eyes; — and  don't  believe  that  damnable  Particular  i<t\\<i.'C  (Predestina- 
tion); 'and  be  obedient  and  faithful:  so  shall  it,  here  in  Time  and 
'  there  in  Eternity,  go  M-ell  with  thee; — and  whoever  wishes  that  from 
'  the  heart,  let  him  say  A'"en. 

'  Your  true  Father  to  the  death, 

'Frikdricu  Wii.iif.i.m. 

'  I'inc  enoiiRli  old  House,  or  Pal.nce,  built  by  the  Great  F.lcctor ;  given  by  him  to 
Graf  Kcldmarschall  von  Scliombcrg,  the  '  Duke  Schomberg'  who  was  killed  in  the 
Hattle  of  the  Hoyne :  'same  House,  opj)osite  the  Arsenal,  which  belongs  now  (1855) 
'to  his  Royal  Highness  Prince  Friednch  Wilhelm  of  Prussia.'  (Preuss,  i.  73;  and 
(Huvrci  de  Fn'dc'ric,  xxvi.  12  n. ) 


Chap.  I.     PRINCESS  OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  69 

nth  Feb.  1732. 

'  When  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  come.s,  I  will  have  thee  come.  I  think 
'  thy  Bride  will  be  here  then.     Adieu;  God  be  with  you.'" 

This  important  Missive  reached  Ciistrin,  by  estafette,  that 
same  midnight,  4th-5th  February  ;  when  Wolden,  '  Hofmar- 
schall  of  the  Prince's  Court'  (titular  Goldstick  there,  but  with 
abundance  of  real  functions  laid  on  him),  had  the  honour  to 
awaken  the  Crown-Prince  into  the  joy  of  reading.  Crown- 
Prince  instantly  dispatched,  by  another  estafette,  the  requisite 
responses  to  Papa  and  Mamma, — of  which  Wolden  does  not 
know  the  contents  at  all,  not  he,  the  obsequious  Goldstick  ; — 
but  doubtless  they  mean  "  Yes,"  Crown-Prince  appearing  so 
overjoyed  at  this  splendid  evidence  of  Papa's  love,  as  the  Gold- 
stick  could  perceive.'-' 

What  the  Prince's  actual  amount  of  joy  was,  we  shall  learn 
better  from  the  following  three  successive  utterances  of  his,  con- 
fidentially dispatched  to  Grumkow  in  the  intermediate  days, 
before  Berlin  or  this  '  Duke  of  Lorraine'  (whom  our  readers 
and  the  Crown-Prince  are  to  wait  upon),  with  actual  sight  of 
Papa  and  the  Intended,  came  in  course.  Grumkow's  Letters 
to  the  Crown-Prince  in  this  important  interval  are  not  extant, 
nor  if  they  were  could  we  stand  them  ;  from  the  Prince's  Ans- 
wers it  will  be  sufficiently  apparent  what  the  tenor  of  them 
was.  Utterance  Jifsiis  about  a  week  after  that  of  the  estafette 
at  midnight : 

7"^  General  Feldtnarschall  von  Grumkow,  at  Potsdam  (from  the 
Crown-Prince). 

'Ciistrin,  nth  February  1732. 

'  My  dear  General  and  Friend, — I  was  charmed  to  learn  by  your 
'  Letter  that  my  affairs  are  on  so  good  a  footing'  (Papa  so  well  satisfied 
with  my  professions  of  obedience) ;  '  and  you  may  depend  on  it  I  am 
'  docile  to  follow  your  advice.  I  will  lend  myself  to  whatever  is  pos- 
'  sible  for  me;  and  provided  I  can  secure  the  King's  favour  by  my 
'  obedience,  I  will  do  all  that  is  within  my  power. 

'  Nevertheless,  in  making  my  bargain  with  the  Duke  of  Severn, 
'  manage  that  the  Corptis  delicti''  (my  Intended)  '  be  brought  up  under 
'  her  Grandmother'  (Duchess  of  Brimswick-Wolfenbuttel,  Ludwig  Ru- 
dolfs Spouse,  an  airy  coquettish  Lady, — let  her  be  the  tutoress  and 

8  Qiuvres  de  Frederic,  xxvii.  part  3d,  p.  55. 

9  Woldens  Letter  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  'sth  February  1732:'  in  Preuss,  ii.  part 
2d  (or  Urkuiidenbucfi),  p.  206.  Mamma's  answer  to  the  message  brought  her  by  this 
return  estafette,  a  mere  formal  Very-weii,  written  from  the  fingers  outward,  exists 
(Giuvres,  x.\vi.  65);  the  rest  have  happily  vanished. 


70  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  IX. 

nth  Feb.  1732. 
model  of  my  Intended,  O  General).  'For  I  should  prefer  lieing  made 
'a' — what  shall  we  say?  by  a  light  wife,  —  'or  to  serve  under  the 
'  haughty  fontange^"  of  my  Spouse'  (as  Ludwig  Rudolf  does,  by  all 
accounts),  '  than  to  have  a  blockhead  who  would  drive  me  mad  by  her 
'  ineptitudes,  and  whom  I  should  be  ashamed  to  produce. 

'  I  beg  you  labour  at  this  affair.  When  one  hates  romance  hero- 
'  ines  as  heartily  as  I  do,  one  dreads  those  "  virtues"  of  the  ferocious 
'  type'  [/cs  ver/iis  faroiichcs,  so  terribly  aware  tliat  they  are  virtuous)  ; 
'and  I  had  rather  marry  the  greatest' — (unnameable)  —  'in  Berlin, 
'  than  a  devotee  with  half-a-dozen  ghastly  hypocrites  {cagots)  at  her 
'  beck.  If  it  were  still  vibglich''  (possible,  in  German)  '  to  make  her 
'  Calvinist'  {Rcfonnie  ;  our  Court-Creed,  which  might  have  an  allaying 
tendency,  and  at  least  would  make  her  go  with  the  stream)?  'But  I 
'  doubt  that : — I  will  insist,  however,  that  her  Grandmother  have  the 
'  training  of  her.  What  you  can  do  to  help  in  this,  my  dear  Friend, 
'  I  am  persuaded  you  will  do. 

'  It  afflicted  me  a  little  that  the  King  still  has  doubts  of  me,  while 
'  I  am  obeying  in  such  a  matter,  diametrically  opposite  to  my  own 
'  ideas.  In  what  way  shall  I  offer  stronger  proofs  ?  I  may  give  my- 
'  self  to  the  Devil,  it  will  be  to  no  purpose ;  nothing  but  the  old  song 
'  over  again,  doubt  on  doubt. — Don't  imagine  I  am  going  to  disoblige 
'  the  Duke,  the  Duchess  or  the  Daughter,  I  beseech  you !  I  know  too 
'  well  what  is  due  to  them,  and  too  much  respect  their  merits,  not  to 
'  observe  the  strictest  rules  of  what  is  proper, — even  if  I  hated  their 
'  progeny  and  them  like  the  pestilence. 

'  I  hope  to  speak  to  you  with  open  heart  at  Berlin.' 'You  may 

'  think,  too,  how  I  shall  be  embarrassed,  having  to  do  the  Amoroso 
'  perhaps  without  being  it,  and  to  take  an  appetite  for  mute  ugliness, 
'  — for  I  don't  much  trust  Count  Seckendorf's  taste  in  this  article,' — in 
spite  of  his  testimonies  in  Tobacco-Parliament  and  elsewhere.  '  Mon- 
'  sieur !  Once  more,  get  this  Princess  to  learn  by  heart  the  Ecole  des 
'  Mans  and  the  Ecole  des  Femiiies  ;  that  will  do  her  much  more  good 
'  than  True  Christianity  by  the  late  Mr.  Arndt !"  If,  besides,  she 
'  would  learn  steadiness  of  humour  {toujours  daiiser  siir  tin  pied),  learn 
'  music;  and,  nota  bene,  become  rather  too  free  than  too  virtuous, — ah 
'  then,  my  dear  General,  then  I  should  fc?l  some  liking  for  her,  and  a 
'  Colin  marrying  a  Pliyllis,  the  couple  would  be  in  accordance :  but  if 

'  she  is  stupid,  naturally  I  renounce  the  Devil  and  her.' 'It  is  said 

*  she  has  a  Sister,  who  at  least  has  common  sense.  Why  take  the 
'  eldest,  if  so?  To  the  King  it  must  be  all  one.  There  is  also  a 
'  Princess  Christina  Marie  of  Eisenach'  (real  name  being  Christina 
Wilhehnina,  but  no  matter),  '  who  would  be  quite  my  fit,  and  whom  I 
'  should  like  to  try  for.  In  fine,  I  mean  to  come  soon  into  your  Coun- 
'  tries ;'^  and  perhaps  will  say  like  Caasar,   Veni^  vidi,  vici.'  '■*  * 

'"  Species  of  top-knot ;  so  named  from  Fontange,  an  unfortunate-female  of  Louis 
Fourtccntli's,  who  invented  the  ornament. 

"  Joliann  Arndt  ('  late'  tliis  long  while  hack),  p'om  wahrcu  Christenthnni,  Mag- 
deburg, lOio.  ''^  Did  coire,  26th  February,  as  we  shall  see. 


Chap.  I.     PRINCESS  OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  71 

1  itli  Feb.  1732. 

Paragraph  of  tragic  compliments  to  Grumkow  we  omit. 
Letter  ends  in  this  way  : 

'  Your  Raireuth  News  is  very  interesting  ;  I  liope,  in  September 
'  next'  (time  of  a  grand  proljlem  coming  there  for  Wilhelmina),  '  my 
'  Sister  will  recover  her  first  health.  If  I  go  travelling,  I  hope  to  have 
'  the  consolation  of  seeing  her  for  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks;  1  love 
'  her  more  than  my  life ;  and  for  all  my  obediences  to  the  King,  surely 
'  I  shall  deserve  that  recompense.  The  diversions  for  the  Duke  of 
'  Lorraine  are  very  well  schemed ;  but' — but  what  mortal  can  now  care 
aljout  them  ?     Close,  and  seal.  '^ 

As  to  this  Duke  of  Lorraine  just  coming,  he  is  Franz  Ste- 
phan,  a  pleasant  young  man  of  twenty-five,  son  of  that  excel- 
lent Duke  Leopold  Joseph,  whom  young  Lyttelton  of  Hagley 
was  so  taken  with,  while  touring  in  those  parts  in  the  Congress- 
of-Soissons  time.  Excellent  Duke  Leopold  Joseph  is  since 
dead  ;  and  this  Franz  has  succeeded  to  him, — what  succession 
there  was  ;  for  Lorraine  as  a  Dukedom  has  its  neck  under  the 
foot  of  France  this  great  while,  and  is  evidently  not  long  for 
this  world.  Old  Fleury,  men  say,  has  his  eye  upon  it.  And 
in  fact  if  was,  as  we  shall  see,  eaten-up  by  Fleury  within  four- 
years  time  ;  and  this  Franz  proved  the  last  of  all  the  Dukes 
there.  Let  readers  notice  him  :  a  man  of  high  destiny  other- 
wise, of  whom  we  are  to  hear  much.  For  ten  years  past  he  has 
lived  about  Vienna,  being  a  born  Cousin  of  that  House  (Grand- 
mother was  Kaiser  Leopold's  own  Sister) ;  and  it  is  understood, 
nay  it  is  privately  settled  he  is  to  marry  the  transcendent  Arch- 
duchess, peerless  Maria  Theresa  herself ;  and  is  to  reap,  he, 
the  whole  harvest  of  that  Pragmatic  Sanction  sown  with  such 
travail  of  the  Universe  at  large.  May  be  King  of  the  Romans 
(which  means  successor  to  the  Kaisership)  any  day;  and  actual 
Kaiser  one  day. 

We  may  as  well  say  here,  he  did  at  length  achieve  these 
dignities,  though  not  quite  in  the  time  or  on  the  terms  pro- 
posed. King  of  the  Romans  old  Kaiser  Karl  never  could 
quite  resolve  to  make  him, — having  always  hopes  of  male  pro- 
geny yet  ;  which  never  came.  For  his  peerless  Bride  he 
waited  six  years  still  (owing  to  accidents),  'attachment  mutual 
all  the  while  ;'  did  then  wed,  1738,  and  was  the  happiest  of 
men  and  expectant  Kaisers  : — but  found,  at  length,  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction  to  have  been  a  strange  sowing  of  dragon's- 

"  FOrster,  iii.  160-162;  CF.uvrcs  de  Frederic,  xvi.  37-39. 


72  APPRENTICESHIP.   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

Feb.  1733. 

teeth,  and  the  first  harvest  reapable  from  it  a  world  of  armed 
men  ! — For  the  present  he  is  on  a  grand  Tour,  for  instruction 
and  other  objects  ;  has  been  in  England  last  ;  and  is  now  get- 
ting homewards  again,  to  Vienna,  across  Germany ;  conciliat- 
ing the  Courts  as  he  goes.  A  pacific  friendly  eupeptic  young 
man  ;  Crown-Prince  Friedrich,  they  say,  took  much  to  him  in 
Berlin  ;  did  not  quite  swear  eternal  friendship  ;  but  kept -up 
some  correspondence  for  a  while,  and  '  once  sends  him  a  pre- 
sent of  salmon.' — But  to  proceed  with  the  utterances  to  Grum- 
kow. 

Utterance  second  is  probably  of  prior  date  ;  but  introducible 
here,  being  an  accidental  Fragment,  with  the  date  lost  : 

To  the  Feldmarschall  von  Grumkow  (from  the  Crown-Prince  ; 
exact  date  lost). 

'  *  '■  As  to  what  you  tell  me  of  the  Princess  of  Mecklenburg,'  for 
whom  they  want  a  Brandenburg  Prince,  — '  could  not  /marry  her?  Let 
'  her  come  into  this  Country,  and  think  no  more  of  Russia :  she  would 
'  have  a  dowry  of  two  or  three  millions  of  roubles, — only  fancy  how  I 
'  could  live  with  that !  I  think  that  project  might  succeed.  The  Prin- 
'  cess  is  Lutheran;  perhaps  she  objects  to  go  into  the  Greek  Church? 

' 1  find  none  of  these  advantages  in  this  Princess  of  Bevern;  who, 

'  as  many  people,  even  of  the  Duke's  Court,  say,  is  not  at  all  beautiful, 
'  speaks  almost  nothing,  and  is  given  to  pouting  (faisaitt  la  JdcheL'). 
'  The  good  Kaiserinn  has  so  little  herself,  that  the  sums  she  could 
'  afford  her  Niece  would  be  very  moderate.  ''* 

'  Given  to  pouting,'  too  !  No,  certainly  ;  your  Insipidity  of 
Brunswick,  without  prosjiects  of  ready-money ;  dangerous  for 
cagoiagej  '  not  a  word  to  say  for  herself  in  company,  and  given 
to  pouting  :'   I  do  not  reckon  her  the  eligible  article  ! — 

Seckendorf,  Schulenburg,  Grumkow  and  all  hands  are  busy 
in  this  matter  :  geeho-ing  the  Crown-Prince  towards  the  mark 
set  before  him.  With  or  without  explosion,  arrive  there  he 
must  ;  other  goal  for  him  is  none  ! — In  the  mean  while,  it  ap- 
pears, illustrious  Franz  of  Lorraine,  coming  on,  amid  the  proper 
demonstrations,  through  Magdeburg  and  the  Prussian  Towns, 
has  caught  some  slight  illness  and  been  obliged  to  pause  ;  so 
that  I'cilin  cannot  have  tlie  happiness  of  seeing  him  quite  so 
soon  as  it  expected.      The  Iiigh  guests  invited  to  meet  Duke 

"  Kiaginciit  yivcii  in  Seckcndor/s  Leben,  iii.  2.(ij  a. 


Ciuip.  I.     PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  73 

19th  Feb.  1732. 

Franz,  especially  the  high  Brunsvvicks,  are  already  there.  High 
Brunswicks,  Bevern  with  Duchess,  and  still  more  important, 
with  Son  and  with  Daughter  : — insipid  Corpus  delicii  herself 
has  appeared  on  the  scene  ;  and  Grumkow,  we  find,  has  been 
writing  some  description  of  her  to  the  Crown-Prince.  Descrip- 
tion of  an  unfavoui-able  nature  ;  below  the  truth,  not  above  it, 
to  avert  disappointment,  nay  to  create  some  gleam  of  inverse 
joy,  when  the  actual  meeting  occurs.  That  is  his  art  in  driv- 
ing the  fiery  little  Arab  ignominiously  yoked  to  him  ;  and  it  is 
clear  he  has  overdone  it,  for  once.  This  is  Friedrich's  third 
utterance  to  him  ;  much  the  most  emphatic  there  is  : 

To  the  General  Feldmarschall  von  Grumkow, 

'  Ciistnn,  igth  Feb.  1732. 

'  Judge,  my  dear  General,  if  I  can  have  been  much  charmed  with 
'  the  description  you  give  of  the  abominable  object  of  my  desires !  For 
'  the  love  of  God,  disabuse  the  King  in  regard  to  her'  (show  him  that 
she  is  a  fool,  then) ;  '  and  let  him  remember  well  that  fools  commonly 
'  are  the  most  obstinate  of  creatures. 

'  .Some  months  ago  he  wrote  a  Letter  to  Wolden, '  the  obsequious 
Goldstick,  '  of  his  giving  me  the  choice  of  several  Princesses :  I  hope 
'  he  will  not  give  himself  the  lie  in  that.  I  refer  you  entirely  to  the 
'  Letter,  which  Schulenburg  will  have  delivered,' — little  Schulenburg 
called  here,  in  passing  your  way;  all  hands  busy.  'For  there  is  no  hope 
'  of  wealth,  no  reasoning,  nor  chance  of  fortune  that  could  change  my 
'  sentiment  as  expressed  there'  (namely,  that  I  will  not  have  her,  what- 
ever become  of  me);  'and  miserable  for  miserable,  it  is  all  one!  Let 
'  the  King  but  think  that  it  is  not  for  himself  that  he  is  marrying  me, 
'  but  for  ;;/t'self ;  nay  he  too  will  have  a  thousand  chagrins,  to  see  two 
'  persons  hating  one  another,  and  the  miserablest  marriage  in  the  world; 
'  — «^o  hear  their  mutual  complaints,  which  will  be  to  him  so  many  re- 
'  proaches  for  having  fashioned  the  instnunent  of  our  yoke.  As  a  good 
'  Christian,  let  him  consider.  If  it  is  well  done  to  wish  to  force  people ; 
'  to  cause  divorces,  and  to 'be  the  occasion  of  all  the  sins  that  an  ill- 
'  assorted  marriage  leads  us  to  commit  !  I  am  determined  to  front  every- 
'  thing  in  the  world  sooner :  and  since  things  are  so,  you  may  in  some 
'  good  way  apprise  the  Duke'  of  Bevern  '  that,  happen  what  may,  I 
'  never  will  have  her. 

'  I  have  been  unfortunate  {malheiireitx)  all  my  life ;  and  I  think  it 
'  is  my  destiny  to  continue  so.  One  must  be  patient,  and  take  the  time 
'  as  it  comes.  Perhaps  a  sudden  tract  of  good  fortune,  on  the  back  of 
'  all  the  chagrins  I  have  made  profession  of  ever  since  I  entered  this 
'  world,  would  have  made  me  too  proud.  In  a  word,  happen  what  will, 
'  I  have  nothing  to  reproach  myself  with.      I  have  suffered  sufficiently 


74  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  IX. 

19th  Feb.  1732. 
'  for  an  exaggerated  crime'  (that  of  "  attempting  to  desert;" — Heaven.s !) 
—  'and  I  will  not  engage  myself  to  extend  my  mi.series  [chagrins)  into 
'  future  times.  I  have  still  resources : — a  pistol-shot  can  deliver  me 
'  from  my  sorrows  and  my  life :  and  I  think  a  merciful  God  would  not 
'  damn  me  for  that;  but,  taking  pity  on  me,  would,  in  exchange  for  a 
'  life  of  wretchedness,  grant  me  salvation.  This  is  whitherward  despair 
'  can  lead  a  young  person,  whose  blood  is  not  so  quiescent  as  if  he  were 
'  seventy.  I  have  a  feeling  of  myself,  Monsieur;  and  perceive  that,  when 
'  one  hates  the  methods  of  force  as  much  as  I,  our  boiling  blood  will 
'  carry  us  always  towards  extremities. 

*  *  'If  there  are  honest  people  in  the  world,  they  must  think 
'  how  to  save  me  from  one  of  the  most  perilous  passages  I  have  ever 
'  been  in.  I  waste  myself  in  gloomy  ideas ;  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able 
'  to  hide  my  grief,  on  coming  to  Berlin.  This  is  the  sad  state  I  am 
'  in ; — but  it  will  never  make  me  change  from  being,' — surely  to  an  ex- 
cessive degree,  the  illustrious  Grumkow's  most  &c.  &c. 

'Frideric' 

'  I  have  received  a  Letter  from  the  King;  all  agog  [bien  coiffe)  about 
'  the  Princess.  I  think  I  may  still  finish  the  week  here.^^  When  his 
'  first  fire  of  approbation  is  spent,  you  might,  praising  her  all  the  while, 
'  lead  him  to  notice  her  faults.  ATon  Dieii,  has  he  not  already  seen 
'  what  an  ill-assorted  marriage  comes  to, — my  Sister  of  Anspach  and 
'  her  Husband,  who  hate  one  another  like  the  fire  !  He  has  a  thousand 
'  vexations  from  it  every  day.  *  *  And  what  aim  has  the  King  ?  If  it 
'  is  to  assure  himself  of  me,  that  is  not  the  way.  Madam  of  Eisenach 
'  might  do  it;  but  a  fool  not  (point  line  bete); — on  the  contrary,  it  is 
'  morally  impossible  to  love  the  cause  of  our  misery.  The  King  is  rea- 
'  sonable;  and  I  am  persuaded  he  will  understand  this  himself" 

Very  passionate  pleading  ;  but  it  might  as  well  address  it- 
self to  the  cast-winds.  Have  east-winds  a  heart,  that  they  should 
feel  pity  ?  yarni-bleii,  Herr  Feldzeugmeister, — only  take  care 
he  don't  overset  things  again  ! 

Grumkow,  in  these  same  hours,  is  writing  a  Letter  to  the 
Prince,  which  we  still  have,^'''  How  charmed  his  Majesty  is  at 
such  obedience  ;  '  shed  tears  of  joy,'  writes  Grumkow,  '  and 
said  it  was  the  happiest  day  of  his  life.'  Judge  Grumkow's 
feelings  soon  after,  on  this  furious  recalcitration  breaking  out! 
Grumkow's  Answer,  which  also  wc  still  have,^*^  is  truculence 
itself  in  a  polite  form  : — horrorstruck  as  a  Christian  at  the  sui- 
cide notion,  at  the — in  fact  at  the  whole  matter  ;  and  begs,  as 
a  humble  individual,  not  wishful  of  violent  death  and  destruc- 

'•'  26th,  did  arrive  in  I'erlin:  Prciiss  (in  CEuvres,  xxvii.  part  3d,  p.  5811.). 

'K  Uiuvrcsde  FrhUric,  xvi.  41,  42. 

'7  lb.  xvi.  43.  '*  lb.  pp.  44-46. 


Chap.  I.     PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  75 

a6th  Feb.  1732. 

tion  upon  self  and  family,  to  wash  his  poor  hands  of  it  alto- 
gether. Dangerous  for  the  like  of  him  ;  '  interfering  between 
Royal  Father  and  Royal  Son  of  such  opposite  humours,  would 
break  the  neck  of  any  man,'  thinks  Grumkow  ;  and  sums-up 
with  this  pithy  reminiscence  :  '  I  remember  always  what  the 
'  King  said  to  me  at  Wusterhausen,  when  your  Royal  High- 
•  ness  lay  prisoner  in  the  Castle  of  Ciistrin,  and  I  wished  to 
'  take  your  part  :  ' '  Nein,  Gmmkow,  deiiket  an  diese  S telle,  Got  I 
'  gel/e  dassich  nichtwahr  rede,  abermeiti  Sohii  stirbt  nichteines 
'  7iaiiirlichett  Todes;  itnd  Gott  gcbe  dass  cr  nicht  tinter  Hcnkers 
'  lidnde  komme.  No,  Grumkow,  think  of  what  I  now  tell  you  : 
'  God  grant  it  do  not  come  true, — but  my  Son  won't  die  a 
'  natural  death  ;  God  grant  he  do  not  come  into  the  Hang- 
'  man's  hands  yet  !"  I  shuddered  at  these  words,  and  the  King 
'  repeated  them  twice  to  me  :  that  is  true,  or  may  I  never  see 
'  God's  face,  or  have  part  in  the  merits  of  our  Lord.' — The 
Crown-Prince's  '  pleadings'  may  fitly  terminate  here. 

Duke  of  Lorraine  arrives  in  Potsdam  and  in  Berlin. 

Saturday  23d  February  1732,  his  Serene  Highness  of  Lor- 
raine did  at  length  come  to  hand.  Arrived  in  Potsdam  that 
day;  where  the  two  Majesties,  with  the  Serene  Beverns,  with 
the  Prince  Alexander  of  Wiirtemberg,  and  the  other  high  guests, 
had  been  some  time  in  expectation.  Suitable  persons  invited 
for  the  occasion  :  Bevern,  a  titular  Austrian  Feldmarschall  ; 
Prince  Alexander  of  Wiirtemberg,  an  actual  one  (poor  old  Eber- 
hard  Ludwig's  Cousin,  and  likely  to  be  Heir  there  soon) ;  h-igh 
quasi-Austrian  Serenities  ; — not  to  mention  Schulenburg  and 
others  officially  related  to  Austria,  or  acquainted  with  it.  No- 
thing could  be  more  distinguished  than  the  welcome  of  Duke 
Franz  ;  and  the  things  he  saw  and  did,  during  his  three-weeks 
visit,  are  wonderful  to  Fassmann  and  the  extinct  Gazetteers. 
Saw  the  Potsdam  Giants  do  their  ' exercitia,'  transcendent  in 
perfection  ;  had  a  boar-hunt  ;  '  did  divine-service  in  the  Pots- 
dam Catholic  Church  ;' — went  by  himself  to  Spandau,  on  the 
Tuesday  (26th),  where  all  the  guns  broke  forth,  and  dinner  was 
ready :  King,  Queen  and  Party  having  made-off  for  Berlin,  in 
the  interim,  to  be  ready  for  his  advent  there  '  in  the  evening 
about  five.'  Majesties  wait  at  Berlin,  with  their  Party, — among 
whom,   say  the  old  Newspapers,   'is  his  Royal  Highness  the 


76  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.  Bock  IX. 

26th  Feb.  1732. 

Crown-Prince  :'  Crown-Prince  just  come  in  from  Ciistrin;  just 
blessed  with  the  first  sight  of  his  Charmer,  whom  he  finds  per- 
ceptibly less  detestable  than  he  expected. 

Serene  Highness  of  Lorraine  arrived  punctually  at  five,  with 
outburst  of  all  the  artilleries  and  hospitalities  ;  balls,  soirees, 
excrcitia  of  the  Kleist  Regiment,  of  the  Gens-d' Amies  ;  dinners 
with  Grumkow,  dinners  with  Seckendorf,  evening  party  with 
the  Margravine  Philip  (Margravine  in  high  colours)  ;  —  one 
scenic  miracle  succeeding  another,  for  above  a  fortnight  to 
come. 

The  very  first  spectacle  his  Highness  saw,  a  private  one, 
and  of  no  intense  interest  to  him,  we  shall  mention  here  for 
our  own  behoof.  '  An  hour  after  his  arrival  the  Duke  was  car- 
'  ried  away  to  his  Excellency  Herr  Creutz  the  Finance-Minis- 
'  ter's  ;  to  attend  a  wedding  there,  along  with  his  Majesty. 
'  Wedding  of  Excellency  Creutz's  only  daughter  to  the  Herr 
'  Hofjdgermeister  \ors.  Hacke.' — Hofjdgernieister  (Master  of  the 
Hunt),  and  more  specifically  Captain  Hacke,  of  the  Potsdam 
Guard  or  Giant  regiment,  much  and  deservedly  a  favourite  with 
his  Majesty.  Majesty  has  known,  a  long  while,  the  merits 
military  and  other  of  this  Hacke  ;  a  valiant  expert  exact  man, 
of  good  stature,  good  service  among  the  Giants  and  otherwise, 
though  not  himself  gigantic  ;  age  now  turned  of  thirty; — and 
unluckily  little  but  his  pay  to  depend  on.  Majesty,  by  way  of 
increment  to  Hacke,  small  increment  on  the  pecuniary  side, 
has  lately  made  him  '  Master  of  the  Hunt  ;'  will,  before  long, 
make  him  Adjutant-General,  and  his  right-hand  man  in  Army 
matters,  were  he  only  rich  ; — has,  in  the  mean  while,  made  this 
excellent  match  for  him  ;  which  supplies  that  defect.  Majesty 
was  the  making  of  Creutz  himself;  who  is  grown  very  rich, 
and  has  but  one  Daughter  :  "  Let  Hacke  have  her  !"  his  Ma- 
jesty advised  ; — and  snatches-off  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  to  see  it 
done.19 

Did  the  reader  ever  hear  of  Finance-Minister  Creutz,  once 
a  poor  Regiment's  Auditor,  when  his  Majesty,  as  yet  Crown- 
Prince,  found  talent  in  him  ?  Can  readers  fish-up  from  their 
memory,  twenty  years  back,  anything  of  a  terrific  Spectre  walk- 
ing in  the  Berlin  Palace,  for  certain  nights,  during  that  '  Stral- 
sund  Expedition'  or  famed  Swedish-War  time,  to  the  terror  of 
mankind  ?     Terrific  Spectre,  thought  to  be  in  Swedish  pay, — 

'i*  F.issmanii,  p.  430 


Chap.  I.     PRINCESS   OF  BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.  ']^ 

loth  March  17^2. 

properly  a  spy  Scullion,  in  a  small  concern  of  Grumkowtwj'//j- 
Creutz  ?-'^  This  is  the  same  Creutz  ;  of  whom  we  have  never 
spoken  more,  nor  shall  again,  now  that  his  rich  Daughter  is 
well  married  to  Hacke,  a  favourite  of  his  Majesty's  and  ours. 
It  was  the  Duke's  first  sight  in  Berlin  ;  February  26th  ;  pro- 
logue to  the  flood  of  scenic  wonders  there. 

But  perhaps  the  wonderfulest  thing,  had  he  quite  under- 
stood it,  was  that  of  the  loth  March,  which  he  was  invited  to. 
Last  obligation  laid  upon  the  Crown-Prince,  '  to  bind  him  to 
the  House  of  Austria,'  that  evening.  Of  which  take  this  ac- 
count, external  and  internal,  from  authentic  Documents  in  our 
hand. 

Betrothal  of  the  Crown- Prhue  to  the  Brunsicick  Charmer, 
Niece  of  Imperial  Majesty,  Monday  Evening,  10th  March 
1732. 

Document _/?;-j-/  is  of  an  internal  nature,  from  the  Prince's 
own  hand,  written  to  his  Sister  four  days  before  : 

'  To  the  Princess  Wilhelmina  at  Baireiitli. 

'Berlin,  6th  March  1732. 

'  My  dearest  Sister, — Next  Monday  comes  my  Betrothal,  which  will 
'  be  done  just  as  yours  was.  The  Person  in  question  is  neither  beau- 
'  tiful  nor  ugly,  not  wanting  for  sense,  but  very  ill  brought-np,  timid,  and 
'  totally  behind  in  manners  and  social  behaviour  (manieres  die  savoir- 
'  z'ivre) :  that  is  the  candid  portrait  of  this  Princess.  You  may  judge 
'  by  that,  dearest  Sister,  if  I  find  her  to  my  taste  or  not.  The  greatest 
'  merit  she  has  is  that  she  has  procured  me  the  liberty  of  writing  to  you; 
'  which  is  the  one  solacement  I  have  in  your  alxsence. 

'You  never  can  believe,  my  adorable  Sister,  how  concerned  I  am 
'  about  your  happiness ;  all  my  wishes  centre  there,  and  every  moment 
'  of  my  life  I  form  such  M'ishes.  You  may  see  by  this  that  I  preserve 
'  still  that  sincere  friendship  which  has  united  our  hearts  from  our  ten- 
'  derest  years; — recognise  at  least,  my  dear  Sister,  that  you  did  me  a 
'  sensible  wrong  when  you  suspected  me  of  fickleness  towards  ypu,  and 
'  believed  false  reports  of  my  listening  to  talebearers ;  me,  who  love 
'  only  you,  and  whom  neither  absence  nor  lying  rumours  could  change 
'  in  respect  of  you.  At  least  don't  again  believe  such  things  on  my 
'  score,  and  never  mistrust  me  till  you  have  had  clear  proof^ — or  till 
'  God  has  forsaken  me,  and  I  have  lost  my  wits.  And  being  persuaded 
'  that  such  miseries  are  not  in  store  to  overwhelm  me,  I  here  repeat 
'  how  much  I  love  you,  and  with  what  respect  and  sincere  veneration, 
'-*  Antea,  vol.  i.  pp.  312-314 ;  Wilhelmina. 


78  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  I x. 

loth  March  1732. 
'  — I  am  and  shall  be  till  death,  my  dearest  Sister, — Your  most  humble 
'  and  faithful  Brother  and  Valet,  Friderich.'-' 

That  was  on  the  Thursday;  Betrothal  is  on  the  Monday 
following.  Document  second  is  from  poor  old  Fassmann,  and 
quite  of  external  nature  ;  which  we  much  abridge  : 

'  Monday  evening,  all  creatures  are  in  gala,  and  the  Royal  Apart- 
*  ments  upstairs  are  brilliantly  alight;  Duke  of  Lorraine  with  the  other 
'  high  strangers  are  requested  to  take  their  place  up  there,  and  wait  for 
'  a  short  while.  Pnissian  Majesty,  Queen  and  Crown-Prince  with  him, 
'  proceeds  then,  in  a  solemn  official  manner,  to  the  Durchlaucht  of 
'  Bevem's  Apartment,  in  a  lower  floor  of  the  Palace;  where  the  Bevem 
'  Party,  Duke,  Duchess,  Son  and  intended  Charmer  are.  Prussian  Ma- 
'  jesty  asks  the  Durchlaucht  and  Spouse,  "  Whether  the  Marriage,  some 
'  time  treated  of,  between  that  their  Princess  here  present,  and  this  his 
'  Crown-Prince  likewise  here,  is  really  a  thing  to  their  mind  ?"  Serene 
'  Spouses  answer,  to  the  effect,  "Yea,  surely,  very  much!"  Upon 
'  which  they  all  solemnly  ascend  to  the  Royal  Apartments  upstairs' 
(where  we  have  seen  Wilhelmina  dancing  before  now),  '  whei'e  Lorraine, 
'  Wiirtemberg  and  the  other  sublimities  are  in  \\aiting.  Lorraine  and  the 
'  sublimities  form  a  semicircle;  v.itli  the  two  ]\Lajesties,  and  pair  of  young 
'  creatures,  in  the  centre.  You  young  creatures,  you  are  of  one  intention 
'  with  your  parents  in  this  matter?  Alas,  there  is  no  doubt  of  it.  Pledge 
'  yourselves,  then,  by  exchange  of  rings  !  said  his  Majesty  with  due  busi- 
'  ness  brevity.  The  rings  are  exchanged:  Majesty  embraces  the  two 
'  young  creatures  with  great  tenderness;'  as  do  Queen  and  Serenities; 
and  then  all  the  world  takes  to  embracing  and  congratulating;  and  so 
llie  Betrothal  is  a  finished  thing.  Bassoons  and  violins,  striking  up, 
w  hirl  it  off  in  universal  dancing, — in  '  supper  of  above  Two  hundred  and 
sixty  persons, '  princely  or  otherwise  sublime  in  rank,  'with  spouses  and 
noble  ladies  there'  in  the  due  proportion.  "^ 

Here  is  fraction  of  another  Note  from  the  Crown-Prince  to 
his  Sister  at  IJaireuth,  a  fortnight  after  that  event  : 

Ihrlin,  T.i^th  March  1732  (To  Princess  Wilhelmina). — *  *  'God 
'  be  praised  that  you  are  better,  dearest  Sister  !  For  nobody  can  love 
'  you  more  tenderly  than  I  do. — As  to  the  Princess  of  Bcvern'  (my  Be- 
trothe^,  '  the  Queen'  (Mamma,  whom  you  have  been  consulting  on  these 
etiquettes)  'bids  me  answer,  That  you  need  not  style  her  "Highness," 
'  and  that  you  may  \vrite  to  her  quite  as  to  an  indifferent  Princess.  As  to 
'  "  kissing  of  the  Jiands,"  I  assure  you  I  have  not  kissed  them,  nor  will 
'  kiss  them;  they  are  not  pretty  enough  to  tempt  one  that  way.  Cod 
'  long  preserve  you  in  perfect  health !  And  you,  preserve  for  me  always 
'  the  honour  of  your  good  graces;  and  believe,  my  charming  Sister, 

*'  CEuvres  dc  Fn'tUric,  xxvii.  part  ist,  p.  5. 
2'^  Fassmann,  pp.  432,  433. 


Cha,,.  ir.         SMALL   INCIDENTS  AT   RUPPIN.  79 

24th  March  1732. 

'  that  never  brother  in  the  world  loved  with  such  tenderness  a  sister 
'  so  charming  as  mine;  in  short,  believe,  dear  Sister,  that  without 
'  compliments,  and  in  literal  truth,  I  am  yours  wholly  {tout  a  votis) : 
'  Friderich.'23 

This  is  the  Betrothal  of  the  Crown-Prince  to  an  Insipidity 
of  Brunswick,  Insipidity's  private  feelings,  perhaps  of  a  lan- 
guidly glad  sort,  are  not  known  to  us;  Crown-Prince's  we  have 
in  part  seen.  He  has  decided  to  accept  his  fate  without  a 
murmur  farther.  Against  his  poor  Bride  or  her  qualities  not 
a  word  more.  In  the  Schloss  of  Berlin,  amid  such  tempests 
of  female  gossip  (Mamma  still  secretly  corresponding  with  Eng- 
land), he  has  to  be  very  reserved,  on  this  head  especially. 
It  is  understood  he  did  not,  in  his  heart,  nearly  so  much  dis- 
like the  insipid  Princess  as  he  wished  Papa  to  think  he  did. 

Duke  Franz  of  Lorraine  went  off  above  a  week  ago,  on  the 
Saturday  following  the  Betrothal  ;  an  amiable  serene  young 
gentleman,  well  liked  by  the  Crown-Prince  and  everybody. 
'  He  avoided  the  Saxon  Court,  though  passing  near  it,'  on  his 
way  to  old  Kur-Mainz  ;  'which  is  a  sign,'  thinks  Fassmann, 
'  that  mutual  matters  are  on  a  weak  footing  in  that  quarter  ;' 
— Pragmatic  Sanction  never  accepted  there,  and  plenty  of  in- 
tricacies existing.  Crown-Prince  Friedrich  may  now  go  to 
Ruppin  and  the  Regiment  Goltz  ;  his  business  and  destinies 
being  now  all  reduced  to  a  steady  condition  ; — steady  sky, 
rather  leaden,  instead  of  the  tempestuous  thunder-and-lightning 
weather  which  there  heretofore  was.  Leaden  sky,  he,  if  left 
well  to  himself,  will  perhaps  brighten  a  little.  Study  will  be 
possible  to  him  ;  improvement  of  his  own  faculties,  at  any 
rate.  It  is  much  his  determination.  Outwardly,  besides  drill- 
ing the  Regiment  Goltz,  he  will  have  a  steady  correspondence 
to  keep  up  with  his  Brunswick  Charmer  ;  —  let  him  see  that 
he  be  not  slack  in  that. 

CHAPTER  II. 

SMALL  INCIDENTS  AT  RUPPIN. 

Friedrich,  after  some  farther  pause  in  Berlin,  till  things 
were  got  ready  for  him,  went  to  Ruppin.  This  is  in  the  Spring 
of  1732  '}  and  he  continued  to  have  his  residence  there  till 

23  Fassmann,  xxvii.  part  ist,  p.  5. 

'  Still  in  Berlin,  6th  March;  dates  from  Naue}i  (ya.  \\v^  Ruppin  neighbourhood) 
for  the  first  time,  25th  April  1732,  among  his  Letters  yet  extant:  Preuss,  (Euvres  de 
Frederic,  xxvii.  part  ist,  p.  4 ;  xvi.  49. 


8o  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE,        Book  ix. 

April  1732. 

August  1736.  Four  important  years  of  young  life  ;  of  which 
we  must  endeavour  to  give,  in  some  intelligible  condition, 
what  traces  go  hovering  about  in  such  records  as  there  are. 

Ruppin,  where  lies  the  main  part  of  the  Regiment  Goltz, 
and  where  the  Crown-Prince  Colonel  of  it  dwells,  is  a  quiet 
dull  little  Town,  in  that  northwestern  region  ;  inhabitants, 
grown  at  this  day  to  be  10,000,  are  perhaps  guessable  then 
at  2,000.  Regiment  Goltz  daily  rolls  its  drums  in  Ruppin  : 
Town  otherwise  lifeless  enough,  except  on  market-days  :  and 
the  grandest  event  ever  known  in  it,  this  removal  of  the  Crown- 
Prince  thither, — which  is  doubtless  much  a  theme,  and  proud 
temporary  miracle,  to  Ruppin  at  present.  Of  society  there 
or  in  the  neighbourhood,  for  such  a  resident,  we  hear 
nothing. 

Quiet  Ruppin  stands  in  grassy  flat  country,  much  of  which 
is  natural  moor,  and  less  of  it  reclaimed  at  that  time  than 
now.  The  environs,  except  that  they  are  a  bit  of  the  Earth, 
and  have  a  bit  of  the  sky  over  them,  do  not  set  up  for  loveli- 
ness. Natural  woods  abound  in  that  region,  also  peatbogs 
not  yet  drained  ;  and  fishy  lakes  and  meres,  of  a  dark  com- 
plexion :  plenteous  cattle  there  are,  pigs  among  them  ; — thick- 
soled  husbandmen  inarticulately  toiling  and  moiling.  Some 
glass-furnaces,  a  royal  establishment,  are  the  only  manufac- 
tures we  hear  of.  Not  a  picturesque  country  ;  but  a  quiet  and 
innocent,  where  work  is  cut  out,  and  one  hopes  to  be  well  left 
alone  after  doing  it.  This  Crown-Prince  has  been  in  far  less 
desirable  localities. 

lie  had  a  reasonable  house,  two  houses  made  into  one  for 
him,  in  the  place.  He  laid-out  for  himself  a  garden  in  the 
outskirts,  with  what  they  call  a  "temple"  in  it, — some  more 
or  less  ornamental  garden-house,- — from  which  I  have  read  of 
his  '  letting-off  rockets'  in  a  summer  twilight.  Rockets  to 
amuse  a  small  dinner-party,  I  should  guess, — dinner  of  Offi- 
cers, such  as  he  had  weekly  or  twice  a  week.  On  stiller  even- 
ings we  can  fancy  him  there  in  solitude  ;  reading  meditative, 
or  musically  fluting  ;  —  looking  out  upon  the  silent  death  of 
Day  :  how  the  summer  gloaming  steals  over  the  moorlands, 
and  over  all  lands  ;  shutting-up  the  toil  of  mortals  ;  their  very 
flocks  and  herds  collapsing  into  silence,  and  the  big  Skies  and 
endless  Times  overarching  him   and  them.     With  thoughts 


Chnp.il.       SMALL  INCIDENTS  AT  RUrPIN.  8r 

April  1732. 

perhaps  sombr^  enough  now  and  then,  but  profitable  if  he 
face  them  piously. 

His  Father's  affection  is  returning  ;  would  so  fain  return 
if  it  durst.  But  the  heart  of  Papa  has  been  sadly  torn-up  : 
it  is  too  good  news  to  be  quite  believed,  that  he  has  a  son 
grown  wise,  and  doing  son-like  !  Rumour  also  is  very  busy, 
rumour  and  the  Tobacco-Parliament  for  or  against ;  a  little 
rumour  is  capable  of  stirring-up  great  storms  in  the  suspicious 
paternal  mind.  All  along  during  Friedrich's  abode  at  Rup- 
pin,  this  is  a  constantly  recurring  weather-symptom  ;  very 
grievous  now  and  then  ;  not  to  be  guarded  against  by  any 
precaution  ; — though  steady  persistence  in  the  proper  precau- 
tion will  abate  it,  and  as  good  as  remove  it,  in  course  of  time. 
Already  Friedrich  Wilhelm  begins  to  understand  that  "there 
is  much  in  this  Fritz," — who  knows  how  much,  though  of  a 
different  type  from  Papa's  ? — and  that  it  will  be  better  if  he 
and  Papa,  so  discrepant  in  type,  and  ticklishly  related  other- 
wise, live  not  too  constantly  together  as  heretofore.  Which 
is  emphatically  the  Crown-Prince's  notion  too. 

I  perceive  he  read  a  great  deal  at  Ruppin  :  what  Books  I 
know  not  specially  :  but  judge  them  to  be  of  more  serious 
solid  quality  than  formerly ;  and  that  his  reading  is  now  gene- 
rally a  kind  of  studying  as  well.  Not  the  express  Sciences 
or  Technologies  ;  not  these,  in  any  sort, — except  the  military, 
and  that  an  express  exception.  These  he  never  cared  for,  or 
regarded  as  the  noble  knowledges  for  a  king  or  man.  History 
and  Moral  Speculation  ;  what  mankind  have  done  and  been 
in  this  world  (so  far  as  "  History"  will  give  one  any  glimpse 
of  that),  and  what  the  wisest  men,  poetical  or  other,  have 
thought  about  mankind  and  their  world :  this  is  what  he  evid- 
ently had  the  appetite  for ;  appetite  insatiable,  which  lasted 
with  him  to  the  very  end  of  his  days.  Fontenelle,  Rollin, 
Voltaire,  all  the  then  French  lights,  and  gradually  others  that 
lay  deeper  in  the  firmament : — what  suppers  of  the  gods  one 
may  privately  have  at  Ruppin,  without  expense  of  wine  !  Such 
an  opportunity  for  reading  he  had  never  had  before. 

In  his  soldier  business  he  is  punctual,  assiduous  ;  having 
an  interest  to  shine  that  way.  And  is,  in  fact,  approvable  as 
a  practical  officer  and  soldier,  by  the  strictest  judge  then  living. 
Reads  on  soldiering  withal ;  studious  to  know  the  rationale  of 
it,  the  ancient  and  modern  methods  of  it,  the  essential  from 

VOL.  in.  G 


82  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

April  1732. 

the  unessential  in  it ;  to  understand-  it  thoroii^hly, — which  he 
got  to  do.  One  already  hears  of  conferences,  correspondences, 
with  the  Old  Dessauer  on  this  head  :  '  Account  of  the  Siege 
of  Stralsund,'  with  plans,  with  didactic  commentaries,  dravvn- 
up  by  that  gunpowder  Sage  for  behoof  of  the  Crown-Prince, 
did  actually  exist,  though  I  know  not  what  has  become  of  it. 
Now  and  afterwards  this  Crown-Prince  must  have  been  a  great 
military  reader.  From  Caesar's  Commentai-ies,  and  earlier, 
to  the  Chevalier  Folard,  and  the  Marquis  Feuqui^re  f  from 
Epaminondas  at  Leuctra  to  Charles  XII.  at  Pultawa,  all  man- 
ner of  Military  Histories,  we  perceive,  are  at  his  finger-ends  ; 
and  he  has  penetrated  into  the  essential  heart  of  each,  and 
learnt  what  it  had  to  teach  him.  Something  of  this,  how 
much  we  know  not,  began  at  Ruppin  ;  and  it  did  not  end 
again. 

On  the  whole,  Friedrich  is  prepared  to  distinguish  himself 
henceforth  by  strictly  conforming,  in  all  outward  particulars 
possible,  to  the  paternal  will,  and  becoming  the  most  obedient 
of  sons.  Partly  from  policy  and  necessity,  partly  also  from 
loyalty  ;  for  he  loves  his  rugged  Father,  and  begins  to  per- 
ceive that  there  is  more  sense  in  his  peremptory  notions  than 
at  first  appeared.  The  young  man  is  himself  rather  wild,  as 
we  have  seen,  with  plenty  of  youthful  petulance  and  longings 
after  forbidden  fruit.  And  then  he  lives  in  an  element  of 
gossip;  his  whole  life  enveloped  in  a  vast  Dionysius'-Ear, 
every  word  and  action  liable  to  be  debated  in  Tobacco-Parlia- 
ment. He  is  very  scarce  of  money,  too,  Papa's  allowance 
being  extremely  moderate,  'not  above  6,000  thalers  (900/.),* 
says  Scckcndorf  once.^  There  will  be  contradictions  enough 
to  settle  :  caution,  silence,  every  kind  of  prudence  will  be 
much  recommendable. 

In  all  outward  particulars  the  Crown-Prince  will  conform  ; 
in  the  inward,  he  will  exercise  a  judgment,  and  if  he  cannot 
•conform,  will  at  least  be  careful  to  hide.  To  do  his  Com- 
mandant duties  at  Ruppin,  and  avoid  offences,  is  much  his 
determination.  We  observe  he  takes  great  charge  of  his  men's 
health  ;  has  the  Regiment  Goltz  in  a  shiningly  exact  condi- 

_'  Mhnoires  sur  la  Cucrrc  (specially  on  the  Wars  of  Louis  XIV.,  in  which  Feu- 
qiil&rc  had  himself  shone):  a  new  t!ook  at  this  time  (Amsterdam,  1731  ;  first  coi)iJ>h-te 
edition  is,  Paris,  1770,  4  vols.  4to) ;  at  Ruppin,  and  afterwards,  a  chief  favourite  with 
Friedrich. 

'^  FOrsicr,  iii.  114  (Scckcndorf  to  Prince  Eugene). 


Chap.  II.        SMALL   INCIDENTS  AT  RUPPIN.  83 

April  1732. 

tioii  at  the  grand  reviews ;— is  very  industrious  now  and  after- 
wards to  get  tall  recruits,  as  a  dainty  to  Papa.  Knows  that 
nothing  in  Nature  is  so  sure  of  conciliating  that  strange  old 
gentleman  ;  corresponds,  accordingly,  in  distant  quarters  ;  lays 
out,  now  and  afterwards,  sums  far  too  heavy  for  his  means 
upon  tall  recruits  for  Papa.  But  it  is  good  to  conciliate  in 
that  quarter,  by  every  method,  and  at  every  expense  ; — Argus 
of  Tobacco-Parhamcnt  still  watching  one  there  ;  and  Rumour 
needing  to  be  industriously  dealt  with,  difficult  to  keep  down. 

Such,  so  far  as  we  can  gather,  is  the  general  figure  of  Fried- 
rich's  life  at  Ruppin.  Specific  facts  of  it,  anecdotes  about  it, 
are  few  in  those  dim  Books  ;  arc  uncertain  as  to  truth,  and 
without  importance  whether  true  or  not.  For  all  his  gravity 
and  Colonelship,  it  would  appear  the  old  spirit  of  frolic  has 
not  cjuitted  him.  Here  are  two  small  incidents,  pointing  that 
way  ;  which  stand  on  record  ;  credible  enough,  though  vague 
and  without  importance  otherwise.  Incident  fwst  is  to  the 
following  feeble  effect ;  indisputable  though  extremely  unmo- 
mentous  :  Regiment  Goltz,  it  appears,  used  to  have  gold  trim- 
mings ;  the  Colonel  Crown-Prince  petitioned  that  they  might 
be  of  silver,  which  he  liked  better.  Papa  answers,  Yes.  Re- 
giment Goltz  gets  its  new  regimentals  done  in  silver;  the  Colo- 
nel proposes  they  shall  solemnly  btirn  their  old  regimentals. 
And  they  do  it,  the  Officers  of  them,  sub  dio,  perhaps  in  the 
Prince's  garden,  stripping  successively  in  the  '  Temple'  there, 
with  such  degree  of  genial  humour,  loud  laughter,  or  at  least 
boisterous  mock-solemnity,  as  may  be  in  them.  This  is  a  true 
incident  of  the  Prince's  historj^  though  a  small  one. 

Incident  second  is  of  slightly  more  significance  ;  and  inti- 
mates, not  being  quite  alone  in  its  kind,  a  questionable  habit 
or  method  the  Crown-Prince  must  have  had  of  dealing  with 
Clerical  Persons  hereabouts  when  they  proved  troublesome. 
Here  are  no  fewer  than  three  such  Persons,  or  Parsons,  of 
the  Ruppin  Country,  who  got  mischief  by  him.  How  the  first 
gave  offence  shall  be  seen,  and  how  he  was  punished :  offences 
of  the  second  and  the  third  we  can  only  guess  to  ha.ve  been 
perhaps  pulpit-rebukes  of  said  punishments  :  perhaps  general 
preaching  against  military  levities,  want  of  piety,  nay  open 
sinfulness,  in  thoughtless  young  men  with  cockades.  Whereby 
the  thoughtless  young  men  were  again  driven  to  think  of  noc- 
turnal charivari  ?     We  will  give  the  story  in  Ur.  Biisching's 


84  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  IX. 

April  1732. 

own  words,  who  looks  before  and  after  to  great  distances,  in  a 
way  worth  attending  to.  The  Herr  Doctor,  an  endless  Collec- 
tor and  Compiler  on  all  manner  of  subjects,  is  very  authentic 
always,  and  does  not  want  for  natural  sense  :  but  he  is  also 
very  crude, — and  here  and  there  not  far  from  stupid,  such  his 
continual  haste,  and  slobbery  manner  of  working-up  those 
Hundred  and  odd  Volumes  of  his  :* 

'  The  sanguine-choleric  temperament  of  Friedrich, '  says  this  Doc- 
tor, 'drove  him,  in  his  youth,  to  sensual  enjoyments  and  wild  amuse- 
'  ments  of  different  kinds ;  in  his  middle  age,  to  fiery  enterprises ;  and 
'  in  his  old  years  to  decisions  and  actions  of  a  rigorous  and  vehement 
'  nature ;  yet  so  that  the  primary  form  of  utterance,  as  seen  in  his 
'  youth,  never  altogether  ceased  with  him.  There  are  people  still 
'  among  us  (1788)  who  have  had,  in  their  own  experience,  knowledge 
'  of  his  youthful  pranks ;  and  yet  more  are  living,  who  know  that  he 
'  himself,  at  table,  would  gaily  recount  what  merry  strokes  were  done 
'  by  him,  or  by  his  order,  in  those  young  years.  To  give  an  instance 
'  or  two. 

'  While  he  was  at  Neu-Ruppin  as  Colonel  of  the  Infantry  Regiment 
'  there,  the  Chaplain  of  it  sometimes  waited  upon  him  about  the  time 
'  of  dinner, — having  been  used  to  dine  occasionally  with  the  former 
'  Colonel.  The  Crown-Prince,  however,  put  him  always  off,  did  not 
'  ask  him  to  dinner ;  spoke  contemptuously  of  him  in  presence  of  the 
'  Officers.  The  Chaplain  was  so  inconsiderate,  he  took  to  girding  at  the 
'  CrowTi-Prince  in  his  Sermons.  "  Once  on  a  time,"  preached  he,  one 
'  day,  "  there  was  Herod  who  had  Herodias  to  dance  before  him ;  and 
'  he, — he  gave  her  John  the  Baptist's  head  for  her  pains !'"  This  Hei-od, 
Biisching  says,  was  understood  to  mean,  and  meant,  the  Crown-Prince  ; 
Herodias,  the  merry  corps  of  Officers  who  made  sport  for  him ;  yohn 
the  Baptist's  head  was  no  other  than  the  Chaplain  not  invited  to  dinner ! 
'  To  punish  him  for  such  a  sally,  the  Crown  -  Prince  with  the  young 
'  Officers  of  his  Regiment  went,  one  night,  to  the  Chaplain's  house,' 
somewhere  hard  by,  with  cow's-grass  adjoining  to  it,  as  we  see :  and 
'  first,  they  knocked-in  the  windows  of  his  sleeping-room  upon  him' 
(///«0('-windows,  glass  not  entirely  broken,  we  may  hope) ;  '  next  there 
'were  crackers'  {ScJnudrmcr,  'enthusiasts,'  so  to  speak!)  'thrown-in 
*  upon  him;  and  thereby  the  Chaplain,  and  his  poor  Wife,'  more  or 
less  in  an  interesting  condition,  poor  woman,  '  were  driven  out  into  the 
'  court-yard,  and  at  last  into  the  dung-heap  there;' — and  so  left,  with 
their  Head  on  a  Charger  to  that  terrible  extent  I 

That  is  BUsching's  version  of  the  story;  no  doubt  substan- 
tially correct ;  of  which  there  are  traces  in  other  quarters, — 

^  See  his  Aiitoblogiapliy,  which  forms  Bcytriigc,  B,  vi.  (the  biggest  and  last 
Volume). 


Chnp.  II.         SMALL  INCIDENTS  AT  RUPPIN.  85 

April  1732. 

for  it  went  farther  than  Ruppin  ;  and  the  Crown-Prince  had 
like  to  have  got  into  trouble  from  it.  "  Here  is  piety  !"  said 
Rumour,  carrying  it  to  Tobacco-Parliamenb.  The  Crown- 
Prince  plaintively  assures  Grumkow  that  it  was  the  Officers, 
and  that  they  got  punished  for  it.    A  likely  story,  the  Prince's  ! 

'  When  King  Friedrich,  in  Ins  old  days,  recounted  this  after  dinner, 
'  in  his  merry  tone,  he  was  well  pleased  that  the  guests,  and  even  the 
'  pages  and  valets  behind  his  back,  laughed  aloud  at  it.'  Not  a  pious 
old  King,  Doctor,  still  less  an  orthodox  one !  The  Doctor  continues : 
'  In  a  like  style,  at  Nauen,  where  part  of  his  regiment  lay,  he  had, — 
'  by  means  ef  Herr  von  der  Groben,  his  First-Lieutenant,'  much  a 
comrade  of  his,  as  we  otherwise  perceive, — '  the  Diaconus  of  Nauen 
'  and  his  Wife  hunted  out  of  bed,  and  thrown  into  terror  of  their  lives, 
'  one  night :' — offence  of  the  Diaconus  not  specified.  '  Nay  he  himself 
'  once  pitched  his  goldheaded  stick  through  Salpius  the  Church  Inspec- 
'  tor's  window, ' — offence  again  not  specified,  or  perhaps  merely  for  a 
little  artillery  practice? — 'and  the  throw  was  so  dextrous  that  it  merely 
'  made  a  round  hole  in  the  glass :  stick  was  lying  on  the  floor ;  and  th^ 
'  Prince,'  on  some  excuse  or  other,  'sent  for  it  next  morning.'  '  Mar- 
'  graf  Heinrich  of  Schwedt,'  continues  the  Doctor,  very  trustworthy  on 
points  of  fact,  'was  a  diligent  helper  in  such  operations.  Kaiserling, ' 
whom  we  shall  hear  of,  'First-Lieutenant  von  der  Groben,'  these  were 
prime  hands;  'Lieutenant  Buddenbrock'  (old  Feldmarschall's  son) 
'  used,  in  his  old  days,  when  himself  grown  high  in  rank  and  dining 
'  with  the  King,  to  be  appealed  to  as  witness  for  the  truth  of  these 
'  stories.'* 

These  are  the  two  Incidents  at  Ruppin,  in  such  light  as 
they  have.  And  these  are  all.  Opulent  History  yields  from 
a  ton  of  broken  nails  these  two  brass  farthings,  and  shuts  her 
pocket  on  us  again.  A  Crown-Prince  given  to  frolic,  among 
other  things  ;  though  aware  that  gravity  would  beseem  him 
better.  Much  gay  bantering  humour  in  him,  cracklings,  radia- 
tions,— which  he  is  bound  to  keep  well  under  cover,  in  present 
circumstances. 

5  Biisching,  Beytra^e  zu  der  Lebensgesckichte  denk7i>iirdiger  Personen,  v.  19-21. 
Vol.  v., — wholly  occupied  with  Friedrich  II.  Kiitg  of  Prussia  (Halle,  1788), — is  ac- 
cessible in  French  and  other  languages ;  many  details,  and  (as  Biisching's  wont  is) 
few  or  none  not  authentic,  are  to  be  found  in  it ;  a  very  great  secret  spleen  against 
Friedrich  is  also  traceable, — for  which  the  Doctor  may  have  had  his  reasons,  not 
obligatory  upon  readers  of  the  Doctor.  The  truth  is,  Friedrich  never  took  the  least 
special  notice  of  him  :  merely  employed  and  promoted  him,  when  expedient  for  both 
parties  ;  and  he  really  was  a  man  of  considerable  worth,  in  an  extremely  crude  form. 


86  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

Feb. -April  1732. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SALZDURGERS. 

For  three  j'cars  past  there  has  been  much  rumour  over 
Germany,  of  a  strange  affair  going  on  in  the  remote  Austrian 
quarter,  down  in  Salzburg  and  its  fabulous  Tyrolese  valleys. 
Salzburg,  city  and  territory,  has  an  Archbishop,  not  theoretic- 
ally Austrian,  but  sovereign  Prince  so-styled  ;  it  is  from  him 
and  his  orthodoxies,  and  pranks  with  his  sovereign  crosier,  that 
the  noise  originates.  Strange  rumour  of  a  body  of  the  popula- 
tion discovered  to  be  Protestant  among  the  remote  Mountains, 
and  getting  miserably  ill-used,  by  the  Right  Reverend  Father 
in  those  parts.  Which  rumour,  of  a  singular,  romantic,  reli- 
gious interest  for  the  general  Protestant  world,  proves  to  be  but 
too  well  founded.  It  has  come  forth  in  the  form  of  practical 
complaint  to  the  Corpus  Eva}igelicontm  at  the  Diet,  without 
result  from  the  Corpus  ;  complaint  to  various  persons  ;  —  in 
fine,  to  his  Majest}*  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  with  result. 

With  result  at  last;  actual  'Emigration  of  the  Salzburgers:' 
and  Germany, -^in  these  very  days  while  the  Crown-Prince  is 
at  Berlin  betrothing  himself,  and  Franz  of  Lorraine  witnessing 
the  exercitia  and  wonders  there, — sees  a  singular  phenomenon 
of  a  touching  idyllic  nature  going  on  ;  and  has  not  yet  quite 
forgotten  it  in  our  days.  Salzburg  Emigration  was  all  in  mo- 
tion, flowing  steadily  onwards,  by  various  routes,  towards  Ber- 
lin, at  the  time  the  Betrothal  took  place;  and  seven  weeks  after 
that  event,  when  the  Crown-Prince  had  gone  to  Ruppin,  and 
again  could  only  hear  of  it,  the  first  Instalment  of  Emigrants 
arrived  bodily  at  the  Gates  of  Berlin,  '  30th  April,  at  four  in 
the  afternoon  ;'  Majesty  himself  and  all  the  world  going  out  to 
witness  it,  with  something  of  a  poetic,  almost  of  a  psalmist 
feeling,  as  well  as  with  a  practical  on  the  part  of  his  Majesty. 
First  Instalment  this  ;  copiously  followed  by  others,  all  that 
year  ;  and  flowing  on,  in  smaller  rills  and  drippings,  for  several 
years  more,  till  it  got  completed.  A  notable  phenomenon,  full 
of  lively  picturesque  and  other  interest  to  Brandenburg  and 
Germany  ; — which  was  not  forgotten  by  the  Crown-Prince  in 
coming  years,  as  we  shall  transiently  find  ;  nay  which  all  Ger- 
many still  remembers,  and  even  occasionally  sings.  Of  which 
this  is  in  brief  the  history. 


Chap.  III.  THE  SALZBURGERS,  ^7 

Feb. -April  1732. 

The  Salzburg  Country,  northeastern  slope  of  the  Tyrol 
(Donau  draining  that  side  of  it,  Etschor  Adige  the  Italian  side), 
is  celebrated  by  the  Tourist  for  its  airy  beauty,  rocky  moun- 
tains, smooth  green  valleys,  and  swift-rushing  streams  ;  perhaps 
some  readers  have  wandered  to  Bad-Gastein,  or  Ischl,  in  these 
nomadic  summers  ;  have  looked  into  Salzburg,  Berchtesgaden, 
and  the  Bavarian-Austrian  boundary-lands  ;  seen  the  wooden- 
clock  makings,  salt-works,  toy-manufactures,  of  those  simple 
people  in  their  slouch-hats  ;  and  can  bear  some  testimony  to  the 
phenomena  of  Nature  there.  Salzburg  is  the  Archbishop's  City, 
metropolis  of  his  bit  of  sovereignty  that  then  was.^  A  romantic 
City,  far  off  among  its  beautiful  Mountains,  shadowing  itself  in 
the  Salza  River,  which  rushes  down  into  the  Inn,  into  the  Donau, 
now  becoming  great  with  the  tribute  of  so  many  valleys.  Salz- 
burg we  have  not  known  hitherto  except  as  the  fabulous  rest- 
ing-place of  Kaiser  Barbarossa :  but  we  are  now  slightly  to  see 
it  in  a  practical  light  ;  and  mark  how  the  memory  of  Fricdrich 
Wilhelm  makes  an  incidental  lodgment  for  itself  there. 

It  is  well  known  there  was  extensive  Protestantism  once  in 
those  countries.  Prior  to  the  Thirty-Years  War,  the  fair  chance 
was,  Austria  too  would  all  become  Protestant ;  an  extensive 
minority  among  all  ranks  of  men  in  Austria  too,  definable  as 
the  serious  intelligence  of  mankind  in  those  countries,  having 
clearly  adopted  it,  whom  the  others  were  sure  to  follow.  In  all 
ranks  of  men  ;  only  not  in  the  highest  rank,  which  was  pleased 
rather  to  continue  Official  and  Papal.  Highest  rank  had  its 
Thirty-Years  War,  '  its  sleek  Fathers  Lammerlein  and  Hyacinth 
'  in  Jesuit  serge,  its  terrible  Fathers  Wallenstein  in  chain-arm- 
'  our  ;'  and,  by  working  late  and  early  then  and  afterwards,  did 
manage  at  length  to  trample-out  Protestantism, — theyknowwith 
what  advantage  by  this  time.  Trample-out  Protestantism  ;  or 
drive  it  into  remote  nooks,  where  under  sad  conditions  it  might 
protract  an  unnoticed  existence.  In  the  Imperial  Free-Towns, 
Ulm,  Augsburg,  and  the  like.  Protestantism  continued,  and  un- 
der hard  conditions  contrives  to  continue:  but  in  the  country 

'  Tolemble  description  of  it  in  the  Cnron  Riesbcck's  Travels  through  Germany 
(London,  1787,  Translation  by  Maty,  3  vols.  8vo),  i.  124-222; — whose  details  other- 
wise, on  this  Emigration  business,  are  of  no  authenticity  or  value.  A  kind  of  Play- 
actor and  miscellaneous  Newspaper-man  in  that  time  (not  so  opulent  to  his  class  as 
ours  is} ;  who  takes  the  title  of  '  Baron'  on  this  occasion  of  coming-out  with  a  Book 
01  Imaginary  '  Travels'  Had  personally  lived,  practising  the  miscellaneous  arts, 
about  Lintz  and  Salzburg, — and  may  be  heard  on  the  look  of  the  Country,  if  on  little 
else. 


88  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

Feb.-April  1732. 

parts,  except  in  unnoticed  nooks,  it  is  extinct.  Salzburg  Country 
is  one  of  those  nooks  ;  an  extensive  Crypto-Protestantism  lodg- 
ing, under  the  simple  slouch-hats,  in  the  remote  valleys  there. 
Protestantism  peaceably  kept  concealed,  hurting  nobody ;  whole- 
somely forwarding  the  wooden-clock  manufacture,  and  arable 
or  grazier  husbandries,  of  those  poor  people.  More  harmless 
sons  of  Adam,  probably,  did  not  breathe  the  vital  air,  than  those 
dissentient  Salzburgers  ;  generation  after  generation  of  them 
giving  offence  to  no  creature. 

Successive  Archbishops  had  known  of  this  Crypto-Protes- 
tantism, and  in  remote  periods  had  made  occasional  slight  at- 
tempts upon  it  ;  but  none  at  all  for  a  long  time  past.  All 
attempts  that  way,  as  ineffectual  for  any  purpose  but  stirring- 
up  strife,  had  been  discontinued  for  many  generations  ;2  and 
the  Crypto-Protestantism  was  again  become  a  mythical  romantic 
object,  ignored  by  Official  persons.  However,  in  1727,  there 
came  a  new  Archbishop,  one  "  Firmian,"  Count  Firmian  by 
secular  quality,  of  a  strict  lean  character,  zealous  rather  than 
wise  ;  who  had  brought  his  orthodoxies  with  him  in  a  rigid  and 
very  lean  form. 

Right  Reverend  Firmian  had  not  been  long  in  Salzburg  till 
he  smelt-out  the  Crypto-Protestantism,  and  determined  to  haul 
it  forth  from  the  mythical  condition  into  the  practical;  and  in 
fact,  to  see  his  law-beagles  there  worry  it  to  death  as  they  ought. 
Hence  the  rumours  that  had  risen  over  Germany,  in  1729: 
Law-terriers  penetrating  into  human  cottages  in  those  remote 
Salzburg  valleys,  smelling-out  some  German  Bible  or  devout 
Book,  making  lists  of  Bible-reading  cottagers  ;  haling  them  to 
the  Right  Reverend  Father-in-God  ;  thence  to  prison,  since 
they  would  not  undertake  to  cease  reading.  With  fine,  with 
confiscation,  tribulation :  for  the  peaceable  Salzburgers,  respect- 
ful creatures,  doffing  their  slouch-hats  almost  to  mankind  in 
general,  were  entirely  obstinate  in  that  matter  of  the  Bible. 
"  Cannot,  your  Reverence  ;  must  not,  dare  not  !"  and  went  to 
prison  or  whithersoever  rather  ;  a  wide  cry  rising,  Let  us  sell 
our  possessions  and  leave  Salzburg  then,  according  to  Treaty 
of  Westphalia,  Article  so-and-so.  "Treaty  of  Westphalia  ? 
Leave  Salzburg?"  shrieked  the  Right  Reverend  Father:  "Are 
we  getting  into  open  mutiny,  then?  Open  extensive  mutiny!" 
shrieked  he.   Borrowed  a  couple  of  Austrian  regiments, — Kaiser 

'  IJilchholz,  i.  148-151 


Chap.  iir.  THE  SALZBURGERS.  89 

Feb. -April  1732. 

and  we  always  on  the  plcasantcst  terms  ; — and  marched  the 
most  refractory  of  his  Salzburgers  over  the  frontiers  (retaining 
their  properties  and  famihes) ;  whereupon  noise  rose  louder 
and  louder. 

Refractory  Salzburgers  sent  Deputies  to  the  Diet ;  appealed, 
complained  to  the  Corpus  Evangelicorntn,  Treaty  of  Westphalia 
in  hand, — without  result.  Corpus,  having  verified  matters,  com- 
plained to  the  Kaiser,  to  the  Right  Reverend  Father.  The 
Kaiser,  intent  on  getting  his  Pragmatic  Sanction  through  the 
Diet,  and  anxious  to  offend  nobody  at  present,  gave  good  words ; 
but  did  nothing:  the  Right  Reverend  Father  answered  a  Let- 
ter or  two  from  the  Corpus ;  then  said  at  last.  He  wished  to 
close  the  Correspondence,  had  the  honour  to  be, — and  ans- 
wered no  farther,  when  written  to.  Corpus  was  without  result. 
So  it  lasted  through  1730;  rumour,  which  rose  in  1729,  wax- 
ing ever  louder  into  practicable  or  impracticable  shape,  through 
that  next  year  ;  tribulation  increasing  in  .Salzburg  ;  and  noise 
among  mankind.  In  the  end  of  1730,  the  Salzburgers  sent  Two 
Deputies  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm  at  Berlin  ;  solid-hearted,  thick- 
soled  men,  able  to  answer  for  themselves,  and  give  real  account 
of  Salzburg  and  the  phenomena  :  this  brought  matters  into  a 
practicable  state. 

"  Are  you  actual  Protestants,  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia 
applicable  to  you  ?  Not  mere  fanatic  mystics,  as  Right  Re- 
verend Firmian  asserts  ;  protectible  by  no  Treaty?"  That  was 
Friedrich  Wilhelm's  first  question  ;  and  he  set  his  two  chief 
Berlin  Clergymen,  learned  Roloff  one  of  them,  a  divine  of  much 
fame,  to  catechise  the  two  Salzburg  Deputies,  and  report  upon 
the  point.  Their  Report,  dated  Berlin,  30th  November  1730, 
with  specimens  of  the  main  questions,  I  have  read  ;■"'  and  can 
fully  certify,  along  with  Roloff  and  friend.  That  here  are  ortho- 
dox Protestants,  apparently  of  very  pious  peaceable  nature, 
suffering  hard  wrong ; — orthodox  beyond  doubt,  and  covered  by 
the  Treaty  of  Westphalia,  Whereupon  his  Majesty  dismisses 
them  with  assurance,  "  Return,  and  say  there  shall  be  help  !" 
—and  straightway  lays  hand  on  the  business,  strong  swift 
steady  hand  as  usual,  with  a  view  that  way. 

Salzburg  being  now  a  clear  case,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  writes 
to  the  Kaiser  ;  to  the  King  of  England,  King  of  Denmark ; — 
orders  preparations  to  be  made  in  Preussen,  vacant  messuages 

"  Fassmann,  pp,  446-448. 


90  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

Feb. -April  1732. 

to  be  surveyed,  moneys  to  be  laid  up  ; — bids  his  man  at  the 
Regensburg  Diet  signify.  That  unless  this  thing  is  rectified, 
his  Prussian  Majesty  will  see  himself  necessitated  to  take  effec- 
tual steps  :  '  reprisals'  the  first  step,  according  to  the  old  me- 
thod of  his  Prussian  Majesty.  Rumour  of  the  Salzburg  Pro- 
testants rises  higher  and  higher.  Kaiser  intent  on  conciliating 
every  Corpus,  Evangelical  and  other,  for  his  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion's sake,  admonishes  Right  Reverend  Firmian  ;  intimates  at 
last  to  him.  That  he  will  actually  have  to  let  those  poor  people 
emigrate  if  they  demand  it ;  Treaty  of  Westphalia  being  express. 
In  the  end  of  1731  it  has  come  thus  far. 

"Emigrate,  says  your  Imperial  Majesty?  Well,  they  shall 
emigrate,"  answers  Firmian;  "the  s^ooner  the  better  !"  And 
straightway,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  marches,  in  convenient  divi- 
sions, some  Nine  hundred  of  them  over  the  frontiers:  "Go 
about  your  business,  then  ;  emigrate — to  the  Old  One,  if  you 
like!" — "And  our  properties,  our  goods  and  chattels?"  ask 
they. — "  Be  thankful  you  have  kept  your  skins.  Emigrate,  I 
say  !"  And  the  poor  Nine  hundred  had  to  go  out,  in  the  rigour 
of  winter,  '  hoary  old  men  among  them,  and  women  coming 
near  their  time  ;'  and  seek  quarters  in  the  wide  world  mostly 
unknown  to  them.  Trulj^  Firmian  is  an  orthodox  Herr  ;  ac- 
quainted with  the  laws  of  fair  usage  and  the  time  of  day.  The 
sleeping  Barbarossa  does  not  awaken  upon  him  within  the  Hill 
here : — but  in  the  Roncalic  Fields,  long  ago,  I  should  not  have 
liked  to  stand  in  his  shoes  ! 

Friedrich  Wilhelm,  on  this  procedure  at  Salzburg,  intimates 
to  his  Halberstadt  and  Minden  Cathohc  gentlemen.  That  their 
Establishments  must  be  locked  up,  and  incomings  suspended; 
that  they  can  apply  to  the  Right  Reverend  Firmian  upon  it ; — 
and  bids  his  man  at  Regensburg  signify  to  the  Diet  that  such 
is  the  course  adopted  here.  Right  Reverend  Firmian  has  to 
hold  his  hand  ;  finds  both  that  there  shall  be  Emigration,  and 
that  it  must  go  forward  on  human  terms,  not  inhuman  ;  and 
that  in  fact  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  will  have  to  guide  it,  not 
he  henceforth.  Those  poor  ousted  Salzburgers  cower  into  the 
Bavarian  cities,  till  the  weather  mend,  and  his  Prussian  Ma- 
jesty's arrangements  be  complete  for  their  brethren  and  them. 

His  Prussian  Majesty  has  been  maturing  his  plans,  all  this 
while; — gathering  moneys,  getting  lands  ready.  We  saw  him 
hanging  Schlubhut  in  the  autumn  of  1731,  who  had  peculated 


Jhap.  HI.  THE  SALZBURGERS.  91 

Feb. -April  1732. 

from  said  moneys;  and  surveying  Preussen,  under  storms  of 
thunder  and  rain  on  one  occasion.  Preussen  is  to  be  the  place 
for  these  people  ;  Tilsit  and  Memel  region,  same  where  the  big 
Fight  of  Tannenberg  and  ruin  of  the  Teutsch  Ritters  took 
place  :  in  that  fine  fertile  Country  there  are  homes  got  ready 
for  this  Emigration  out  of  Salzburg. 

Long  ago,  at  the  beginning  of  this  Historj^  did  not  the 
reader  hear  of  a  pestilence  in  Prussian  Lithuania  ?  Pestilence 
in  old  King  Friedrich's  time;  for  which  the  then  Crown-Prince, 
now  Majesty  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  vainly  solicited  help  from  the 
Treasury,  and  only  brought  about  partial  change  of  Ministry 
and  no  help.  '  Fifty-two  Towns'  were  more  or  less  entirely 
depopulated;  hundreds  of  thousands  of  fertile  acres  fell  to  waste 
again,  the  hands  that  had  ploughed  them  being  swept  away. 
The  new  Majesty,  so  soon  as  ever  the  Swedish  War  was  got 
rid  of,  took  this  matter  diligently  in  hand  ;  built-up  the  fifty- 
two  ruined  Towns;  issued  Proclamations  once  and  again  (Years 
1719,  1721),  to  the  Wetterau,  to  Switzerland,  Saxony,  Schwa- 
ben  ;*  inviting  Colonists  to  come,  and,  on  favourable  terms,  till 
and  reap  there.  His  terms  are  favourable,  well-considered  ; 
and  are  honestly  kept.  He  has  a  fixed  set  of  terms  for  Colo- 
nists: their  road-expenses  thither,  so  much  a  day  allowed  each 
travelling  soul;  homesteads,  ploughing  implements,  cattle,  land, 
await  them  at  their  journey's  end  ;  their  rent  and  services,  ac- 
curately specified,  are  light  not  heavy  ;  and  '  immunities'  from 
this  and  that  are  granted  them,  for  certain  years,  till  they  get 
well  nestled.  Excellent  arrangements :  and  his  Majesty  has, 
in  fact,  got  about  20,000  families  in  that  way.  And  still  there 
is  room  for  thousands  more.  So  that  if  the  tyrannous  Firmian 
took  to  tribulating  Salzburg  in  that  manner.  Heaven  had  pro- 
vided remedies  and  a  Prussian  Majesty.  Heaven  is  very  opu- 
lent; has  alchemy  to  change  the  ugliest  substances  into  beau- 
tifulest.  Privately  to  his  Majesty,  for  months  back,  this  Salzburg 
Emigration  is  a  most  manageable  matter.  Manage  well,  it  will 
be  a  godsend  to  his  Majesty,  and  fit,  as  by  preestablished  har- 
mony, into  the  ancient  Prussian  sorrow  ;  and  '  two  afflictions 
Avell  put  together  shall  become  a  consolation,'  as  the  proverb 
promises !  Go  along  then.  Right  Reverend  Firmian,  with  your 
Emigration  there:  only  no  foul-play  in  it, — or  Halberstadt 
and  Minden  get  locked: — for  the  rest  of  the  matter  we  will 
undertake. 

*  Buchholz,  i.  14S. 


92  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.  Book  ix, 

Feb. -April  1732. 

And  SO,  February  2d,  1732,  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  Procla- 
mation^  flew  abroad  over  the  world  ;  brief  and  business-like, 
cheering  to  all  but  Firmian  ; — to  this  purport  :  '  Come,  ye  poor 
'  Salzburgers,  there  are  homes  provided  for  you.  Apply  at 
'  Regensburg,  at  Halle  :  Commissaries  are  appointed  ;  will 
'  take  charge  of  your  long  march  and  you.  Be  kind,  all  Chris- 
'  tian  German  Princes  :  do  not  hinder  them  and  me.'  And  in 
a  few  days  farther,  still  early  in  February  (for  the  matter  is  all 
ready  before  proclaiming),  an  actual  Prussian  Commissary 
hangs  out  his  announcements  and  officialities  at  Donauworth, 
old  City  known  to  us,  within  reach  of  the  Salzburg  Boundaries  ; 
collects,  in  a  week  or  two,  his  first  lot  of  Emigrants,  near  a 
thousand  strong  ;  and  fairly  takes  the  road  with  them. 

A  long  road  and  a  strange  :  I  think,  above  five  hundred 
miles  before  we  get  to  Halle,  within  Prussian  land  ;  and  then 
seven  hundred  more  to  our  place  there,  in  the  utmost  East. 
Men,  women,  infants  and  hoary  grandfathers  are  here  ; — most 
of  their  property  sold, — still  on  ruinous  conditions,  think  of  it, 
your  Majesty.  Their  poor  bits  of  preciosities  and  heirlooms 
they  have  with  them  ;  made  up  in  succinct  bundles,  stowed  on 
ticketed  baggage-wains  ;  '  some  have  their  own  poor  cart  and 
'  horse,  to  carry  the  too  old  and  the  too  young,  those  that  can- 
'  not  walk.'  A  pilgrimage  like  that  of  the  Children  of  Israel: 
such  a  pilgrim  caravan  as  was  seldom  heard  of  in  our  Western 
Countries.  Those  poor  succinct  bundles,  the  making  of  them 
up  and  stowing  of  them  ;  the  pangs  of  simple  hearts,  in  those 
remote  native  valleys  ;  the  tears  that  were  not  seen,  the  cries 
that  were  addressed  to  God  only:  and  then  at  last  the  actual 
turning-out  of  the  poor  caravan,  in  silently  practical  condition, 
staff  in  hand,  no  audible  complaint  heard  from  it ;  ready  to 
march  ;  practically  marching  here  : — which  of  us  can  think  of 
it  without  emotion,  sad,  and  yet  in  a  sort  blessed  ! 

Every  Emigrant  man  has  four  groschen  a  day  (fourpence 
odd)  allowed  him  for  road  expenses,  every  woman  three  gro- 
schen, every  child  two  :  and  regularity  itself,  in  the  shape  of 
Prussian  Commissaries,  presides  over  it.  Such  marching  of 
the  Salzburgers  ;  host  after  host  of  them,  by  various  routes, 
from  February  onwards  ;  above  Seven  thousand  of  them  this 
year,  and  Ten  thousand  more  that  gradually  followed, — was 
heard  of  at  all  German  firesides,  and  in  all  European  lands. 

•>  Copy  of  it  in  Mauvillon,  February  1732,  ii.  311. 


Cimp.  in.  THE  SALZBURGERS.  93 

Feb. -April  1732. 

A  phenomenon  much  filling  the  general  ear  and  imagination  ; 
especially  at  the  first  emergence  of  it.  We  will  give  from  poor 
old  authentic  Fassmann,  as  if  caught-up  by  some  sudden  photo- 
graph apparatus,  a  rude  but  undeniable  glimpse  or  two  into 
the  actuality  of  this  business  :  the  reader  will  in  that  way  suf- 
ficiently conceive  it  for  himself. 

Glimpseyfrj/  is  of  an  Emigrant  Party  arriving,  in  the  cold 
February  days  of  1732,  at  Nordlingen,  Protestant  Free-Town 
in  Bavaria  :  Three  hundred  of  them  ;  first  section,  I  think,  of 
those  Nine  hundred  who  were  packed  away  unceremoniously 
by  Firmian  last  winter,  and  have  been  wandering  about  Ba- 
varia, lodging  'in  Kaufbeuern'  and  various  preliminary  Towns, 
till  the  Prussian  arrangements  became  definite.  Prussian  Com- 
missaries are,  by  this  time,  got  to  Donauworth ;  but  these  poor 
Salzburgers  are  ahead  of  them,  wandering  under  the  voluntary- 
principle  as  yet.  Nordlingen,  in  Bavaria,  is  an  old  Imperial 
Free-Town ;  Protestantism  not  suppressed  there,  as  it  has  been 
all  round  ;  scene  of  some  memorable  fighting  in  the  Thirty- 
Years  War,  especially  of  a  bad  defeat  to  the  Swedes  and  Bern- 
hard  of  Weimar,  the  worst  they  had  in  the  course  of  that  bad 
business.  The  Salzburgers  are  in  number  Three  hundred  and 
thirty-one;  time,  'first  days  of  February  1732,  weather  very 
cold  and  raw.*  The  charitable  Protestant  Town  has  been  ex- 
pecting such  an  advent: 

'Two  chief  Clergymen,  and  the  Schoolmaster  and  Scholars,  with 
'  some  hundreds  of  citizens  and  many  young  people,  went  out  to  meet 
'  them  ;  there,  in  the  open  field,  stood  the  Salzburgers,  with  their  wives 
'  and  their  little  ones,  with  their  bullock-carts  and  baggage-wains,'  pil- 
griming  towards  unknown  parts  of  the  Earth.      '  "Come  in,  ye  blessed 

*  of  the  Lord  !  Why  stand  ye  without  ?"  said  the  Parson  solemnly,  by 
'  way  of  welcome  ;  and  addressed  a  Discourse  to  them,'  devout  and  yet 
human,  true  every  word  of  it,  enough  to  draw  tears  from  any  Fassmann 
that  were  there;  —  Fassmann  and  we  not  far  from  weeping  without 
words.     '  Thereupon  they  ranked  themselves  two  and  two,  and  marched 

*  into  the  Town,'  straight  to  the  Church,  I  conjecture,  Town  all  out  to 
participate  ;  'and  there  the  two  reverend  gentlemen  successively  ad- 
'  dressed  them  again,  from  appropriate  texts :  Text  of  the  first  reverend 
'  gentleman  was.  And  every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren, 
'  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my 
'  flame's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundredfold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting 
'  life.'^    Text  of  the  second  was,  Notu  the  Lord  hail  said  unto  Abraham, 

*  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  frovi  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  Jather's 

0  Matthew  .xi.\.  29. 


94  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.  Book  ix. 

Feb. -April  1732. 
'  house,  unto  a  land  that  I  will  sJlo'm  thee.^^  Excellent  texts;  well  han- 
dled, let  us  hope, — especially  with  brevity.  'After  which  the  strangers 
'  were  distributed,  some  into  public-houses,  others  taken  home  by  the 
'  citizens  to  lodge. 

'  Out  of  the  Spital  there  was  distributed  to  each  person,  for  the  first 
'  three  days,  a  half-pound  of  flesh-meat,  bread,  and  a  measure  of  beer. 
'  The  remaining  days  they  got  in  money  six  ci-eiitzers  (two  pence)  each, 
'  and  bi-ead.  On  Sunday,  at  the  Church-doors  there  was  a  collection : 
'  no  less  than  eight  hundred  ,i,'//M'«'  (80/. ;  population,  say,  three  thou- 
sand) 'for  this  object.  At  Sermon  they  were  put  into  the  central  part 
'  of  the  Church, '  all  Nordlingen  lovingly  encompassing  them  ;  '  and 
'  were  taught  in  two  sermons, '  texts  not  given,  '  IV/iat  the  true  Church 
'  is  built  of,  and  then  Of  true  Faith,  and  what  love  a  Christian  ought  to 
'  have  •'  Nordlingen  copiously  shedding  tears  the  while  l(i'iele  Thrdneu 
vergossen),  as  it  well  might.  '  Going  to  Church,  and  coming  from  it, 
'  each  Landlord  walked  ahead  of  his  party;  party  followed  two  and 
'  two.  On  other  days,  there  was  much  catechising  of  them  at  different 
'  parts  of  the  Town;' — orthodox  enough,  you  see,  nothing  of  superstition 
or  fanaticism  in  the  poor  people; — '  they  made  a  good  testimony  of  their 
'  Evangelical  truth. 

'  The  Baggage-wagons  which  they  had  with  them,  ten  in  number, 
'  upon  which  some  of  their  old  people  sat,  were  brought  into  the  Town. 
'  The  Baggage  was  unloaded,  and  the  packages,  Two  hundred  and 
'  eighty-one  of  them  in  all'  (for  Fassmann  is  Photography  itself),  '  were 
'  locked  in  the  Zoll-Haus.  Over  and  above  what  they  got  from  the 
'  Spital,  the  Church-collection  and  the  Town-chest,  Citizens  were  liberal; 
'  daily  sent  them  food,  or  daily  had  them  by  fours  and  fives  to  their 
'  own  houses  to  meat. '  And  so  let  them  wait  for  the  Prussian  Commis- 
sary, who  is  just  at  hand  :  '  they  would  not  part  from  one  another,  these 
'  Three  hundred  and  thirty-one,'  says  Fassmann,  '  though  their  reunion 
'  was  but  of  that  accidental  nature. '" 

Glimpse  second:  not  dated;  perhaps  some  ten  days  later; 
and  a  Prussian  Commissary  with  this  party  : 

'  On  their  getting  to  the  Anspach  Territoiy,  there  was  so  incredible 
'  a  joy  at  the  arrival  of  these  exiled  Brothers  in  the  Faith  {Glanbens- 
'  Briider)  that  in  all  places,  almost  in  the  smallest  hamlets,  the  bells 
'  were  seta-tolling;  and  nothing  was  heard  biit  a  peal  of  welcome  from 
'  far  and  near.'  Prussian  Commissary,  when  about  cjuitting  Anspach, 
asked  leave  to  pass  .through  Bamberg;  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  too  ortho- 
dox a  gentleman,  declined  ;  so  the  Commissary  had  to  go  by  Niirnberg 
and  Baireuth.  Ask  not  if  his  welcome  was  good  in  those  Protestant 
places.  '  At  Erlangen,  fifteen  miles  from  Niirnberg,  where  are  French 
'  Protestants  and  a  Dowager  Margravine  of  Baireuth,' — Widow  of  Wil- 
hclmina's  Father-in-law's  predecessor  (if  the  reader  can  count  that)  ; 

7  Gen,  xii.  i.  u  Fassmann,  pp.  439,  440. 


Chap.  HI.  THE  SALZBURGERS.  95 

Feb. -April  1732. 

daughter  of  Weissenfels  who  was  for  marrying  Wilhebniiia  not  long 
since! — 'at  Erlangen,  the  Serene  Dowager  snatched-up  fifty  of  them 
'  into  her  own  House  for  Christian  refection  ;  and  Burghers  of  means 
'  had  twelve,  fifteen  and  even  eighteen  of  them,  following  such  example 
'  set.  Nay  certain  French  Citizens,  prosperous  and  childless,  besieged 
'  the  Prussian  Commissary  to  allow  them  a  few  Salzburg  children  for 
'  adoption  ;  especially  one  Frenchman  was  extremely  urgent  and  spe- 
'  cific :  but  the  Commissary,  not  having  any  order,  was  obliged  to  re- 
'  fuse.'^  These  must  have  been  interesting  days  for  the  two  young 
Margravines  ;  forwarding  Papa's  poor  pilgrims  in  that  manner. 

'At  Baireuth,'  other  side  ofNiirnberg,  'it  was  towards  Good  Friday 
when  the  Pilgrims  under  their  Commissarius  arrived.     They  were 
lodged  in  the  villages  about,  but  came  copiously  into  the  Town  ;  came 
all  in  a  body  to  Church  on  Good  Friday ;  and  at  coming  out,  were 
one  and  all  carried  off  to  dinner,   a  very  scramble  arising  among  the 
Townsfolk  to  get  hold  of  Pilgrims  and  dine  them.     Vast  numbers 
were  carried  to  the  Schloss  ;'  one  figures  Wilhelmina  among  them, 
figures  the  Hereditary  Prince  and  old  Margraf:   their  treatment  there 
was  '  beyond  belief, '  says  Fassmann  ;   '  not  only  dinner  of  the  amplest 
'  quality  and  quantity,  but  much  money  added  and  other  gifts.'     From 
Baireuth  the  route  is  towards  Gera  and  Thiiringen,  circling  the  Bam- 
berg Territory:  readers  remember  Gera,   where  the  Gera  Bond  was 
made? — 'At  Gera,  a  commercial  gentleman  dined  the  whole  party  in 
'  his  own  premises,  and  his  wife  gave  four  groschen  to  each  individual 
'  of  them ;  other  two  persons,  brothers  in  the  place,   doing  the  like. 
'  One  of  the  poor  pilgrim   women  had  been  brought  to  bed  on  the 
'  journey,   a  day  or  two  before :    the  Commissarius  lodged  her  in  his 
'  own  inn,  for  greater  safety ;  Commissarius  returning  to  his  inn,  finds 
'  she  is  off,  nobody  at  first  can  tell  him  whither :    a  lady  of  quality 
'  [vornekme  Dame)  iias  quietly  sent  her  carriage  for  the  poor  pilgrim 
'  sister,  and  has  her  in  the  right  softest  keeping.      No  end  to  people's 
'  kindness:    many  wept  aloud,  sobbing  out,   "Is  this  all  the  help  we 
'can  give?"     Commissarius  said,   "There  will  others  come  shortly; 
'  them  also  you  can  help." ' 

In  this  manner  march  these  Pilgrims.  'From  Donau- 
'  worth,  by  Anspach,  Niirnberg,  Baireuth,  through  Gera,  Zeitz, 
'  Weissenfels,  to  Halle,'  where  they  are  on  Prussian  ground, 
and  within  few  days  of  Berlin.  Other  Towns,  not  upon  the  first 
straight  route  to  Berlin,  demand  to  have  a  share  in  these  grand 
things  ;  share  is  willingly  conceded  :  thus  the  Pilgrims,  what 
has  its  obvious  advantages,  march  by  a  good  variety  of  routes. 
Through  Augsburg,  Ulm  (instead  of  Donauworth),  thence  to 
Frankfurt ;  from  Frankfurt  some  direct  to  Leipzig  :  some 
through  Cassel,  Hanover,  Brunswick,  by  Halberstadt  and  Mag- 

"  Fassmann,  p.  441. 


96  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.  Book  IX. 

Feb. -April  1732. 

deburg  instead  of  Halle.  Starting  all  at  Salzburg,  landing  all 
at  Berlin  ;  their  routes  spread  over  the  Map  of  Germany  in  the 
intermediate  space. 

'  Weissenfels  Town  and  Duke  distinguished  themselves  by  liberality  : 
'  especially  the  Duke  did ;' — poor  old  drinking  Duke ;  very  Protestant 
all  these  Saxon  Princes,  except  the  Apostate  or  Pseudo- Apostate  the 
Physically  Strong,  for  sad  political  reasons.  'In  Weissenfels  Town, 
'  while  the  Pilgrim  procession  walked,  a  certain  rude  foreign  fellow, 
'  flax-pedlar  by  trade,'"  by  creed  Papist  or  worse,  said  floutingly,  "The 
'  Archbishop  ought  to  have  flung  you  all  into  the  river,  you — !"  Upon 
'  which  a  menial  servant  of  the  Duke's  suddenly  broke  in  upon  him  in 
'  the  way  of  actuality,  the  whole  crowd  blazing  into  flame ;  and  the 
'  pedlar  would  certainly  have  got  irreparable  damage,  had  not  the 
'  Townguard  instantly  hooked  him  away.' 

April  2ist,  1732,  the  first  actual  body,  a  good  nine  hun- 
dred strong,^^  got  to  Halle  ;  where  they  were  received  with  de- 
vout jubilee,  psalm-singing,  spiritual  and  corporeal  refection, 
as  at  Nordlingen  and  the  other  stages  ;  '  Archidiaconus  Franke' 
being  prominent  in  it, — I  have  no  doubt,   a  connexion  of  that 
" chien  de  Franke,"  whom  Wilhelmina  used  to  know.      They 
were  lodged  in  the  Waisenhaus  (old  Franke's  Orphan-house)  ; 
Official  List  of  them  was  drawn-up  here,  with  the  fit  specificality ; 
and,  after  three  days,  they  took  the  road  again  for  Berlin.  Use- 
ful Buchholz,  then  a  very  little  boy,  remembers  the  arrival  of  a 
Body  of  these  Salzburgers,  not  this  but  a  later  one  in  August, 
which  passed  through  his  native  Village,  Pritzwalk  in  the  Prieg- 
nitz  :  How  village  and  village  authorities  were  all  awake,  with 
opened  stores  and  hearts ;  how  his  Father,  the  Village  Parson, 
preached  at  five  in  the  afternoon.      The  same  Buchholz,  com- 
ing afterwards  to  College  at  Halle,  had  the  pleasure  of  disco- 
vering two  of  the  Commissaries,   two  of  the  three,  who  had 
mainly  superintended  in  this    Salzburg  Pilgrimage.      Let  the 
reader  also  take  a  glance  at  them,  as  specimens  worth  notice  : 
Commissarius  First :   '  Ilerr  von  Reck  was  a  nobleman  from  the 
Hanover  Country;  of  very  great  piety;  who,  after  his  Commission 
was  done,  settled  at  Halle;  and  lived  there,  without  servant,  in  pri- 
vacy, from  the  small  means  he  had  ; — seeking  his  sole  satisfaction  in 
attendance  on  the  Theological  and  Ascetic  College-Lectures,  where  I 
used  to  see  him  constantly  in  my  student  time.' 

Commissaiins  Second :  '  Ilerr  Gobel  was  a  medical  man  by  profes- 
'  sion;  and  had  the  regular  degree  oi  Doctor;  but  was  in  no  necessity 

^0  ' IlechcUriigcr,    H.iwkcr  Oi   fl.nx-combs  or  heckles;— \^  oftenest  a  Slavonic 
Austrian  (I  am  tolj).  "  Uuchholz,  i.  156. 


Chap.  III.  THE  SALZBURGERS.  97 

Fob. -April  1732. 

'  to  apply  his  talents  to  the  gaining  of  bread.  His  zeal  for  religion  had 
'  moved  him  to  undertake  this  Commission.  Both  these  gentlemen  1 
'  have  often  seen  in  my  youth,'  but  do  not  tell  you  what  they  were  like 
farther;   'and  both  their  Christian-names  have  escaped  me.' 

A  third  Conimissarius  was  of  Preussen,  and  had  religious-literary 
tendencies.  I  suppose  these  Three  served  gratis; — volunteers;  but  no 
doubt  under  oath,  and  tied  by  strict  enough  Prussian  law.  Physician, 
Chaplain,  Road-guide,  here  they  are,  probably  of  supreme  quality, 
ready  to  our  hand.  '- 

Buchholz,  after  'his  student  time,' became  a  poor  Country- 
Schoolmaster,  and  then  a  poor  Country-Parson,  in  his  native 
Altmark.  His  poor  Book  is  of  innocent,  clear,  faithful  nature, 
with  some  vein  of  •  unconscious  geniahty'  in  it  here  and  there  ; 
— a  Book  by  no  means  so  destitute  of  human  worth  as  some 
that  have  superseded  it.  This  was  posthumous,  this  '  Neivest 
Hisiofy,'  and  has  a  Li/e  of  the  Author  prefixed.  He  has  four 
previous  Volumes  on  the  *  Ancient  Hislory  of  Bf'aiidenbiirg,' 
which  are  not  known  to  me. — About  the  Year  1745,  there  were 
Four  poor  Schoolmasters  in  that  region  (two  at  Havelberg,  one 
at  Seehausen,  one  at  Werben),  of  extremely  studious  turn  ; 
who,  in  spite  of  the  Elbe  which  ran  between,  used  to  meet  on 
stated  nights,  for  colloquy,  for  interchange  of  Books  and  the 
like.  One  of  them,  the  Werben  one,  was  this  Buchholz  ;  an- 
other, Seehausen,  was  the  Winckelmann  so  celebrated  in  after 
years.  A  third,  one  of  the  Havelberg  pair,  '  went  into  Meck- 
'  lenburg  in  a  year  or  two,  as  Tutor  to  Karl  Ludwig  the  Prince 
'  of  Strelitz's  children,' — whom  also  mark.  For  the  youngest 
of  these  Strelitz  children  was  no  other  than  the  actual  "  Old 
Queen  Charlotte"  (ours  and  George  ni.'s),  just  ready  for  him 
with  her  Hornbooks  about  that  time  :  Let  the  poor  man  have 
what  honour  he  can  from  that  circumstance  !  '  Prince  Karl 
Ludwig,'  rather  a  foolish-looking  creature,  we  may  fall  in  with 
personally  by  and  by. 

It  was  the  30th  April  1732,  seven  weeks  and  a  day  since 
Crown-Prince  Friedi'ich's  Betrothal,  that  this  first  body  of  Salz- 
burg Emigrants,  nine  hundred  strong,  arrived  at  Berlin  ;  '  lour 
in  the  afternoon,  at  the  Brand-enburg  Gate  ;'  Official  persons, 
nay  Majesty  himself,  or  perhaps  both  Majesties,  waiting  there 
to  receive  thein.  Yes,  ye  poor  footsore  mortals,  there  is  the 
dread  King  himself ;  stoutish  short  figure  in  blue  uniform  and 

•'  Buchholz,  Neueste  Prcnuisck-Brandcnhuygischc  Ccschichte  (Eeilin,  1775 
2  vols.  4to),  i.  15511. 

VOL.   III.  H 


98  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Book  I x. 

Feb.-April  1732. 

white  wig,  straw-coloured  waistcoat,  and  white  gaiters;  stands 
uncommonly  firm  on  his  feet  ;  reddish,  bhie-reddish  face,  with 
eyes  that  pierce  through  a  man  :  look  upon  him,  and  yet  live  if 
you  arc  true  men.   His  Majesty's  reception  of  these  poor  people 
could  not  but  be  good  ;  nothing  now  wanting  in  the  formal 
kind.      But  better  far,  in  all  the  essentialities  of  it,  there  had 
not  been  hitherto,  nor  was  henceforth,  the  least  flaw.     This 
Salzburg  Pilgrimage  has  found  for  itself,  and  will  find,  regula- 
tion, guidance,  ever  a  stepping-stone  at  the  needful  p  ace  ;  a 
paved  road,  so  far  as  human  regularity  and  punctuality  could 
pave  one.      That  is  his  Majesty's  shining  merit.      '  Next  Sun- 
'  day,  after  sermon,  they'  (this  first  lot  of  Salzburgers)  '  were 
'  publicly  catechised  in  church  ;  and  all  the  world  could  hear 
'  their  pertinent  answers,  given  often  in  the  very  Scripture  texts, 
'  or  express  words  of  Luther.' 

His  Majesty  more  than  once  took  survey  of  these  Pilgrim- 
age Divisions,  when  they  got  to  Berlin.  A  pleasant  sight,  if 
there  were  leisure  otherwise.  On  various  occasions,  too,  her 
Majesty  had  large  parties  of  them  over  to  Monbijou,  to  supper 
there  in  the  fine  gardens  ;  and  'gave  them  Bibles,'  among 
other  gifts,  if  in  want  of  Bibles  through  Firmian's  industry.  Her 
Majesty  was  Charity  itself.  Charity  and  Grace  combined,  among 
these  Pilgrims.  On  one  occasion  she  picked-out  a  handsome 
young  lass  among  them,  and  had  Painter  Pesne  over  to  take 
her  portrait.  Handsome  lass,  by  Pesne,  in  her  Tyrolese  Hat, 
shone  thenceforth  on  the  walls  of  Monbijou  ;  and  fashion  there- 
upon took-up  the  Tyrolese  Hat,  'which  has  been  much  v.-orn 
'  since  bythe  beautiful  part  of  the  Creation,'  saysBuchholz ;  'but 
'  how  many  changes  they  have  introduced  in  it  no  pen  can  trace.' 
At  Berlin  the  Commissarius  ceased  ;  and  there  was  usually 
given  the  Pilgrims  a  Candidatus  Theologirc,  who  was  to  con- 
duct them  the  rest  of  the  way,  and  be  their  Clergyman  when 
once  settled.  Five  hundred  long  miles  still.  Some  were  shipped 
at  Stettin  ;  mostly  they  marched,  stage  after  stage, — four  gro- 
schen  a  day.  At  the  farther  end  they  found  all  ready;  tight 
cottages,  tillable  fields,  all  implements  furnished,  and  stock, — 
even  to  *  Fcdervich,'  or  Chanticleer  with  a  modicum  of  Hens. 
Old  neighbours,  and  such  as  liked  each  other,  were  put  toge- 
ther :  fields  grew  green  again,  desolate  scrubs  and  scrags  yield- 
ing to  grass  and  corn.  Wooden  clocks  even  came  to  view, — 
for  Bcrchtesgadcn  neighbours  also  emigrated  ;  and  Swiss  came, 


Chap.  III.  THE   SALZBURGERS.  99 

Fcb.-April  1732. 

and  Bavarians  and  French  : — and  old  trades  were  revived  in 
those  new  localities. 

Something  beautifully  real-idyllic  in  all  this,  surely: — Yet 
do  not  fancy  that  it  all  went  on  like  clockwork  ;  that  there  were 
not  jarrings  at  every  step,  as  is  the  way  in  things  real.  Of  the 
Prussian  Minister  chiefly  concerned  in  settling  this  new  Colony 
I  have  heard  one  saying,  forced  out  of  him  in  some  pressure  : 
"  There  must  be  somebody  for  a  scolding-stock  and  scape-goat ; 
I  will  be  it,  then  !"  And  then  the  Salzburg  Officials,  what  a  hu- 
mour they  were  in  !  No  Letters  allowed  from  those  poor  Emi- 
grants; the  wickedest  rumours  circulated  about  them  :  "All  cut 
to  pieces  by  inroad  of  the  Poles  ;"  "  Pressed  for  soldiers  by  the 
Prussian  drill-sergeant ;"  "All  flung  into  the  Lakes  and  stagnant 
waters  there ;  drowned  to  the  last  individual  ;"  and  so  on.  Truth 
nevertheless  did  slowly  pierce  through.  And  the  "Grossc  Wirih," 
our  idyllic-real  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  was  wanting  in  nothing.  Lists 
of  their  unjust  losses  in  Salzburg  were,  on  his  Majesty's  order, 
made  out  and  authenticated,  by  the  many  who  had  suffered  in 
that  way  there, — forced  to  sell  at  a  day's  notice,  and  the  like  : 
— with  these  his  Majesty  was  dihgent  in  the  Imperial  Court ; 
and  did  get  what  hum.an  industry  could  of  compensation,  apart 
but  not  the  whole.  Contradictory  noises  had  to  abate.  In  the 
end,  sound  purpose,  built  on  fact  and  the  Laws  of  Nature,  car- 
ried it ;  lies,  vituperations,  rumours  and  delusion  sank  to  zero; 
and  the  true  result  remained.  In  1738,  the  Salzburg  Emigrant 
Community  in  Preussen  held,  in  all  their  Churches,  a  Day  of 
Thanksgiving  ;  and  admitted  piously  that  Heaven's  blessing, 
of  a  truth,  had  been  upon  this  King  and  them.  There  we 
leave  them,  a  useful  solid  population  ever  since  in  those  parts  ; 
increased  by  this  time  we  know  not  how  many  fold. 

It  cost  Friedrich  Wilhelm  enormous  sums,  say  the  Old  His- 
tories ;  probably  'ten  to?:s  of  gold,' — that  is  to  say,  ten  Hun- 
dred-thousand Thalers  ;  almost  150,000/.,  no  less!  But  he 
lived  to  see  it  amply  repaid,  even  in  his  own  time  ;  how  much 
more  amply  since  ; — being  a  man  skilful  in  investments  to  a 
high  degree  indeed.  Fancy  150,000/.  invested  there,  in  the 
Bank  of  Nature  herself;  and  a  Hundred-millions  invested,  say 
at  Balaclava,  in  the  Bank  of  Newspaper  rumour  :  and  the  re- 
spective rates  of  interest  they  will  yield,  a  million  years  hence  ! 
This  was  the  most  idyllic  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  feats,  and  a 
very  real  one  the  while. 


loo  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.      Book  ix. 

Feb.-April  1732. 

We  have  only  to  add  or  repeat,  that  Salzburgers  to  the 
number  of  about  7,000  souls  arrived  at  their  place  this  first 
year  ;  and  in  the  year  or  two  following,  less  noted  by  the  pub- 
lic, but  faring  steadily  fonvard  upon  their  four  groschen  a  day, 
10,000  more.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  would  have  gladly  taken  the 
whole  ;  'but  George  II.  took  a  certain  number,'  say  the  Prus- 
sian Books  (George  II.,  or  pious  Trustees  instead  of  him),  'and 
settled  them  at  Ebenezer  in  Virginia,' — read,  Ebenezer  in 
Georgia,  where  General  Oglethorpe  was  busy  founding  a  Co- 
lony.i^  There  at  Ebenezer  I  calculate  they  might  go  ahead, 
too,  after  the  questionable  fashion  of  that  country,  and  increase 
and  swell  ; — but  have  never  heard  of  them  since. 

Salzburg  Emigration  was  a  very  real  transaction  on  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm's  part ;  but  it  proved  idyllic  too,  and  made  a 
great  impression  on  the  German  mind.  Readers  know  of  a 
Book  caXled  Herjuann  and  Dorothea  ?  It  is  written  by  the  great 
Goethe,  and  still  worth  reading.  The  great  Goethe  had  heard, 
when  still  very  little,  much  talk  among  the  elders  about  this 
Salzburg  Pilgrimage  ;  and  how  strange  a  thing  it  was,  twenty 
years  ago  and  more.^^  In  middle  life  he  threw  it  into  Hexa- 
meters, into  the  region  of  the  air  ;  'and  did  that  unreal  Shadow 
of  it ;  a  pleasant  work  in  its  way,  since  he  was  not  inclined  foj 
more. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PRUSSIAN  MAJESTY  VISITS  THE  KAISER. 

Majesty  seeing  all  these  matters  well  in  train, — Salzburgers 
under  way,  Crown-Prince  betrothed  according  to  his  Majesty's 
and  the  Kaiser's  (not  to  her  Majesty's,  and  high-flying  little 
George  of  England  my  Brother  the  Comedian's)  mind  and 
will, — begins  to  think  seriously  of  another  enterprise,  half 
business  half  pleasure,  which  has  been  hovering  in  his  mind 
for  some  time.  "Visit  to  my  Daughter  at  Baireuth,"  he  calls 
it  publicly  ;  but  it  means  intrinsically  Excursion  into  Bohmen, 
to  have  a  word  with  the  Kaiser,  and  see  his  Imperial  Majesty 
in  the  body  for  once.  Too  remarkable  a  thing  to  be  omitted 
by  us  here.  ■ 

>'  Petition  to  P.nrli.imcnt,  loth  (ai^^t)  May  1733,  l)y  Ogletlioipe  and  liis  TTii5;tees, 
for  10,000/.  to  carry  over  these  Salzburgers  ;  which  was  granted  ;  'J'indal's  RaJ'hi 
(London,  1769),  xx.  184. 

'•  1749  was  Goethe's  birth-year. 


Chap. IV.         MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  loi 

May  1732. 

Crown-Prince  docs  not  accompany  on  this  occasion  ;  Crown- 
Prince  is  with  his  Regiment  all  this  while  ;  busy  minding  his 
own  affairs  in  the  Ruppin  quarter  ; — only  hears,  with  more 
or  less  interest,  of  these  Salzburg-Pilgrim  movements,  of  this 
Excursion  into  Bohmen.  Here  are  certain  scraps  of  Letters  ; 
which,  if  once  made  legible,  will  assist  readers  to  conceive  his 
situation  and  employments  there.  Letters  otherwise  of  no 
importance  ;  but  worth  reading  on  that  score.  The  fi7-st  (or 
rather  first  three,  which  we  huddle  into  one)  is  from  '  Nauen,' 
few  miles  off  Ruppin  ;  where  one  of  our  Battalions  lies  ;  re- 
quiring frequent  visits  there  : 


I.  To  Gmmkow,  at  Berlin  (from  the  Crown-Prince). 

'Nauen,  25th  April  1732. 

'Monsieur  my  dearest  Friend, — I  send  you  a  big  mass  of  papers, 
'  which  a  certain  gentleman  named  Plotz  has  transmitted  me.  In  faith, 
'  I  know  not  in  the  least  what  it  is :  I  pray  you  present  it'  (to  his  Ma- 
jesty, or  in  the  proper  quarter),   '  and  make  me  rid  of  it. 

'Tomon-ow  I  go  to  Potsdam'  (  a  drive  of  forty  miles  southward), 
'  to  see  the  exercise,  and  if  we  do  it  here  according  to  pattern.  Nate 
'  Besen  kchren  gut'  (New  brooms  sweep  clean,  in  Germaft) ;  '  I  shall 
'  liave  to  illustrate  my  new  character'  of  Colonel ;  '  and  show  that  I  am 
'  i-in  tiichtiger  Officier  (a  right  Officer).  Be  what  I  may,  I  shall  to  you 
'  always  be,'  &c.  &c. 

A^aiien,  jth  May  ij-^i.  '  ^'  *  Thousand  thanks  for  informing  me 
'  how  everything  goes-on  in  the  world.  Tilings  far  from  agreeable, 
'  tliose  leagues'  (imaginary,  in  Tobacco-Parliament)  '  suspected  to  be 
'  forming  against  our  House  !  But  if  the  Kaiser  don't  abandon  us  ;'  '  if 
'  God  second  the  valour  of  80,000  men  resolved  to  spend  their  life,' — 
'  let  us  hope  there  will  nothing  bad  happen. 

'  Meanwhile,  till  events  arrive,  I  make  a  pretty  stir  here  {/)ie  tre- 
'  mousse  ici  d' importance),  to  bring  my  Regiment  to  its  requisite  perfec- 
'  tion,  and  I  hope  I  shall  succeed.  The  other  day  I  drank  your  dear 
'  health,  Monsieur ;  and  I  wait  only  the  news  from  my  Cattle-stall  that 
'  the  Calf  I  am  fattening  there  is  ready  for  sending  to  you.  I  unite 
'  Mars  and  Housekeeping,  you  see.  Send  me  your  Secretary's  name, 
'  that  I  may  address  your  Letters  that  way, ' — our  Correspondence  need- 
ing to  be  secret  in  certain  quarters.  ''  *  'With  a'  truly  infinite  esteem  : 
• — 'Frederic' 

Xatieit,  loth  J\Iay  1732.  '  You  will  see  by  this  that  I  am  exact  to 
'  follow  your  instruction;  and  that  the  Sc/iulz  of  Tremmen'  (Village  in 
the  Brandenburg  quarter,  with  a  Schidz  or  Mayor  to  be  depended  on), 


I02  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Cook  ix. 

May  1732. 
'  becomes  for  the  present  the  mainspring  of  our  correspondence.  I 
'  return  you  all  the  things  {pieces)  you  had  the  goodness  to  communi- 
'  cate  to  me, — except  Charles  Douze,^  which  attaches  me  infinitely. 
'  The  particulars  hitherto  unknown  which  he  reports ;  the  greatness  of 
'  that  Prince's  actions,  and  the  perverse  singularity  {bizarrerie)  of  his 
'  fortune :  all  this,  joined  to  the  lively,  brilliant  and  charming  way  the 
'  Author  has  of  telling  it,  renders  this  Book  interesting  to  the  supreme 
'  degree.  *  ■■'  *  I  send  you  a  fragment  of  my  correspondence  with  the 
'  most  illustrious  Sieur  Crochet,'  some  Fiench  Envoy  or  Emissary,  I 
conclude :  '  you  perceive  we  go  on  very  sweetly  together,  and  are  in 
'  a  high  strain.  I  am  sorry  I  burnt  one  of  his  Letters,  wherein  he  as- 
'  sured  me  he  would  in  the  Versailles  Antechamber  itself  speak  of  me 
'  to  the  King,  and  that  my  name  had  actually  been  mentioned  at  the 
'  King's  Levee.  It  certainly  is  not  my  ambition  to  choose  this  illustri- 
'  ous  mortal  to  publish  my  renown;  on  the  contrary,  I  should  think 
'  it  soiled  by  such  a  mouth,  and  prostituted  if  he  were  the  publisher. 
'  But  enough  of  the  Crochet :  the  kindest  thing  we  can  do  for  so  con- 
'  temptible  an  object  is  to  say  nothing  of  him  at  all.'- — '■'  '■•' 

Letter  second  is  to  Jagermeister  Hacke,  Captain  of  the 
Potsdam  Guard  ;  who  stands  in  great  nearness  to  the  King's 
Majesty  ;  and,  in  fact,  is  fast  becoming  his  factotum  in  Army- 
details.  We,  with  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  Majesty  in  person, 
saw  his  marriage  to  the  Excellency  Creutz's  Friiulein  Daughter 
not  long  since  ;  who  we  trust  has  made  him  happy  ; — rich  he 
is  at  any  rate,  and  will  be  Adjutant-General  before  long ;  power- 
ful in  such  intricacies  as  this  that  the  Prince  has  fallen  into. 

The  Letter  has  its  obscurities  ;  tm-ns  earnestly  on  Recruits 
tall  and  short";  nor  have  idle  Editors  helped  us,  by  the  least 
hint  towards  '  reading'  it  with  more  than  the  eyes.  Old  Des- 
sauer  at  this  time  is  Commandant  at  Magdeburg  ;  Budden- 
brock,  perhaps  now  passing  by  Ruppin,  we  know  for  a  high 
old  General,  fit  to  carry  messages  from  Majesty, — or,  likelier, 
it  may  be  Lieutenant  Buddenbrock,  his  Son,  merely  returning 
to  Ruppin  1  Wc  can  guess,  that  the  flattering  Dcssauer  has 
sent  his  Majesty  Five  gigantic  men  from  the  Magdeburg  regi- 
ments, and  that  Friedrich  is  ordered  to  hustle  out  Thirty  of 
insignificant  stature  from  his  own,  by  way  of  counter-gift  to 
the  Dcssauer  ; — which  Friedrich  does  instantly,  but  cannot, 
for  his  life,  see  hov/  (being  totally  cashless)  he  is  to  replace 
them  with  better,  or  replace  them  at  all ! 

•  Voltaire's  new  Book  ;  lately  come  out,  '  Bale,  1731.' 
'  CEuvres  de  Frederic,  xvi.  49,  51. 


Ch:K,.  IV.        MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  103 

July  1732. 

2.   To  Captain  Hacke,  of  the  Potsdam  Guard. 

'Ruppin,  15th  July  1732. 

^  Meiii  Goit,  whal  a  piece  of  news  Buddenbrock  has  brought  me! 
'  I  am  to  get  nothing  out  of  Brandenburg,  my  dear  Ilacke?  Thirty 
'  men  I  had  to  shift  out  of  my  company  in  consequence'  (of  Budden- 
brock's  order) ;  '  and  where  am  I  now  to  get  other  thirly?  I  would 
'  gLidly  give  the  King  tall  men,  as  the  Dessauer  at  Magdeburg  does  ; 
'  but  I  have  no  money ;  and  I  don't  get,  or  set  up  tor  getting,  six  men 
'  for  one'  (thirty  short  for  five  tall),  '  as  he  does.  So  true  is  that  Scrip- 
'  ture :  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given ;  and  from  him  that  hath  not 
'  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath. 

'  Small  art,  that  the  Prince  of  Dessau's  and  the  Magdeburg  Regi- 
'  meats  are  fine,  when  they  have  money  at  command,  and  thirty  men 
' g7-atis  over  and  above!  I,  poor  devil,  have  nothing;  nor  shall  have, 
'  all  my  days.  Prithee,  dear  Hacke  [bitte  Ihn,  licber  Hacke),  think  of 
'  all  that :  and  if  I  have  no  money  allowed,  I  must  bring  Asmus^  alone 
*  as  Recruit  next  year;  and  my  Regiment  will  to  a  certainty  be  rubbish 
'  {Kroop).     Once  I  had  learned  a  German  Proverb — 

"  V'ersprechen  iind haltcn  (To  promise  and  to  keep) 
Ziemt  ixjohl  yiingen  imd  Alien  (Is  pretty  for  young  and  for  old) !" 

'I  depend  alone  on  you  [I/m),  dear  Hacke;  unless  you  help,  there 
'  is  a  bad  outlook.  Today  I  have  knocked  again'  (written  to  Papa  for 
money) ;  '  and  ii  that  does  not  help,  it  is  over.  If  I  could  get  any 
'  money  to  borrow,  it  would  do;  but  I  need  not  think  of  that.  Help 
'  me,  then,  dear  Ilacke !  I  assure  you  I  will  ever  remember  it ;  who, 
'  at  all  limes,  am  my  dear  Ilerr  Captain's  devoted  {ganz  ergebjiier) 
'  servant  and  friend,  Friderich.'* 

To  which  r.dd  only  this  Note,  two  days  later,  to  Secken- 
dorf;  indicating  that  the  process  of  'borrowing'  has  already, 
in  some  form,  begun, — process  which  will  have  to  continue, 
and  to  develop  itself; — and  that  his  Majesty,  as  Seckendorf 
well  knows,  is  resolved  upon  his  Bohemian  journey  : 

3 .   To  the  Geiiei'al  Feldzeugmeistcr  Graf  von  Scchendorf 

'  Ruppin,  17th  July  1732. 

'My  very  dear  General, — I  have  written  to  the  King,  that  I  owed 
'  you  2,125  thalcrs  for  the  Recruits;  of  which  he  says  there  are  600 
'  paid:  there  remain,  therefore,  1,525,  which  he  will  pay  you  directly. 

'  The  King  is  going  to  Prague :  I  shall  not  be  of  the  party'  (as  you 
will).  'To  say  truth,  I  am  not  very  sorry;  for  it  would  infallibly  give 
'  rise  to  foolish  rumours  in  the  world.  At  the  same  time,  I  should  have 
'  much  wished  to  see  the  Emperor,  Empress,  and  Prince  of  Lorraine, 

3  Recruit  unknown  to  me. 

■•  In  German:  GLuvres,  xxvii.  part  3d,  p.  177. 


I04  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

July  1732. 
'  for  whom  I  have  a  quite  particular  esteem.  I  beg  you,  Monsieur,  to 
*  assure  him  of  it; — and  to  assure  yourself  that  I  shall  always  be, — 
'  with  a  great  deal  of  consideration,  j\/onsiei<j;  vion  trh-cher  General,'' 

&C.  'FRED]gRIC.' 

And  now  for  the  Bohemian  Journey,  "Visit  at  Kladrup" 
as  they  call  it ; — Ruppin  being  left  in  this  assiduous  and  whole- 
some, if  rather  hampered  condition. 

Kaiser  Karl  and  his  Empress,  in  this  summer  of  1732, 
were  at  Karlsbad,  taking  the  waters  for  a  few  weeks.  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm,  who  had  long,  for  various  reasons,  wished  to 
see  his  Kaiser  face  to  face,  thought  this  would  be  a  good  op- 
portunity. The  Kaiser  himself,  knowing  how  it  stood  with 
the  Jiilich-and-Berg  and  other  questions,  was  not  anxious  for 
such  an  interview  :  still  less  were  his  official  people  ;  among 
whom  the  very  ceremonial  for  such  a  thing  was  matter  of  ab- 
struse difficulty.  Seckendorf  accordingly  had  been  instructed 
to  hunt  wide,  and  throw-in  discouragements,  so  far  as  possible  ; 
• — which  he  did,  but  without  effect.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  had 
set  his  heart  upon  the  thing  ;  wished  to  behold  for  once  a 
Head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  Supreme  of  Christen- 
dom ; — also  to  see  a  little,  with  his  own  eyes,  into  certain 
matters  Imperial. 

And  so,  since  an  express  visit  to  Karlsbad  might  give  rise 
to  newspaper  rumours,  and  will  not  suit,  it  is  settled,  there 
shall  be  an  accidental  intersection  of  routes,  as  the  Kaiser 
travels  homeward, — say  in  some  quiet  Bohemian  Schloss  or 
Hunting-seat  of  the  Kaiser's  own,  whither  the  King  may  come 
incognito  ;  and  thus,  with  a  minimum  of  noise,  may  the  need- 
ful passage  of  hospitality  be  done.  Easy  all  of  this  :  only 
the  Vienna  Ministers  are  dreadfully  in  doubt  about  the  cere- 
monial, Whether  ihc  Imperial  hand  can  be  given  (I  forget  if 
for  kissing  or  for  shaking)  ? — nay  at  last  they  manfully  declare 
that  it  cannot  be  given  ;  and  wish  his  Prussian  Majesty  to 
understand  that  it  must  be  refused.^  ''Res  suinince  coiisequen- 
iice,"  say  they;  and  shake  solemnly  their  bigwigs. — Nonsense 
{Narrcnposseii)  !  answers  the  Prussian  Majesty :  You,  Secken- 
dorf, settle  about  quarters,  reasonable  food,  reasonable  lodg- 
ing ;  and  I  will  do  the  ceremonial. 

Seckendorf, — worth  glancing  into,   for   biographical  pur- 

5  FiJrster,  i.  328. 


Chip. IV.         MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  105 

17th  July  173:;. 

poses,  in  this  place, — has  written  to  his  Court  :  That  as  to 
the  victual  department,  his  Majesty  goes  upon  good  common 
meat  ;  flesh,  to  which  may  be  added  all  manner  of  river-fish 
and  crabs  :  sound  old  Rhenish  is  his  drink,  with  supplements 
of  brown  and  of  white  beer.  Dinner-table  to  be  spread  always 
in  some  airy  place,  garden-house,  tent,  big  clean  barn, — Ma- 
jesty likes  air,  of  all  things  ; — will  sleep,  too,  in  a  clean  barn 
or  garden-house  :  better  anything  than  being  stifled,  thinks 
his  Majesty.  Who,  for  the  rest,  does  not  like  mounting  stairs.'' 
These  are  the  regulations  ;  and  we  need  not  doubt  they  were 
complied  with. 

Sunday  27th  July  1732,  accordingly,  his  Majesty,  with 
five  or  six  carriages,  quits  Berlin,  before  the  sun  is  up,  as  is 
his  wont  :  eastward,  by  the  road  for  Frankfurt-on-Oder  ;  "in- 
tends to  look  at  Schulenburg's  regiment,"  which  lies  in  those 
parts, —  Schulenburg's  regiment  for  one  thing:  the  rest  is 
secret  from  the  profane  vulgar.  Schulenburg's  regiment  (drawn- 
up  for  Church,  I  should  suppose)  is  soon  looked  at ;  Schulen- 
burg  himself,  by  preappointment,  joins  the  travelling  party, 
which  now  consists  of  the  King  and  Eight  : — known  figures, 
seven,  Buddenbrock,  Schulenburg,  Waldau,  Derschau,  Secken- 
dorf,  Grumkow,  Captain  Hacke  of  the  Potsdam  Guard  ;  and 
for  eighth  the  Dutch  Ambassador,  Ginkel,  an  accomplished 
knowing  kind  of  man,  whom  also  my  readers  have  occasion- 
ally seen.  Their  conversation,  road-colloquy,  could  it  interest 
any  modern  reader?  It  has  gone  all  to  dusk  ;  we  can  know 
only  that  it  was  human,  solid,  for  most  part,  and  had  much 
tobacco  intermingled.  They  were  all  of  the  Calvinistic  per- 
suasion, of  the  military  profession  ;  knew  that  life  is  very  seri- 
ous, that  speech  without  cause  is  much  to  be  avoided.  They 
travelled  swiftly,  dined  in  airy  places  :  they  are  a  fact,  they 
and  their  summer  dust-cloud  there,  whirling  through  the  va- 
cancy of  that  dim  Time  ;  and  have  an  interest  for  us,  though 
an  unimportant  one. 

The  first  night  they  got  to  Griinberg  ;  a  pleasant  Town, 
of  vineyards  and  of  looms,  across  the  Silesian  frontier.  They 
are  now  turning  more  southeastward  ;  they  sleep  here,  in  the 
Kaiser's  territory,  welcomed  by  some  Official  persons  ;  who 

**  Seckendorf's  Report  (in  Forster,  i.  330). 


io6  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Rook  ix. 

28lh  July  1732. 

signify  that  the  overjoyed  Imperial  Majesty  has,  as  was  ex- 
tremely natural,  paid  the  bill  everywhere.  On  the  morrow, 
before  the  shuttles  awaken,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  is  gone  again  ; 
towards  the  Glogau  region,  intending  for  Liegnitz  that  night. 
Coursing  rapidly  through  the  green  Silesian  Lowlands,  blue 
Giant  Mountains  {^Ricsengebirge)  beginning  to  rise  on  the 
southwestward  far  away.  Dines,  at  noon,  under  a  splendid 
tent,  in  a  country  place  called  Polkwitz,7  with  country  No- 
bility (sorrow  on  them,  and  yet  thanks  to  them)  come  to  do 
reverence.     At  night  he  gets  to  Liegnitz. 

Here  is  Liegnitz,  then.  Here  are  the  Katzbach  and  the 
Blackwater  {Schiuarzwasser),  famed  in  v/ar,  your  Majesty  ; 
here  they  coalesce  ;  gray  ashlar  houses  (not  without  inhabit- 
ants unknown  to  us)  looking  on.  Here  are  the  venerable  walls 
and  streets  of  Liegnitz  ;  and  the  Castle  which  defied  Baty 
Khan  and  his  Tartars,  five  hundred  years  ago.^ — Oh,  your 
Majesty,  this  Liegnitz,  with  its  princely  Castle,  and  Vi^ide  rich 
Territory,  the  bulk  of  the  Silesian  Lowland,  whose  is  it  if  right 
were  done  ?  Hm,  his  Majesty  knows  full  well ;  in  Secken- 
dorf's  presence,  and  going  on  such  an  errand,  we  must  not 
speak  of  certain  things.  But  the  undisputed  truth  is,  Duke 
Friedrich  II.,  come  of  the  Sovereign  Piasts,  made  that  Erbver- 
briidening,  and  his  Grandson's  Grandson  died  childless  :  so 
the  heirship  fell  to  us,  as  the  biggest  wig  in  the  most  benighted 
Chancery  would  have  to  grant ; — only  the  Kaiser  will  not,  never 
Avould  ;  the  Kaiser  plants  his  armed  self  on  Schlesien,  and 
will  hear  no  pleading.  Jiigerndorf  too,  which  we  purchased 
with  our  own  money — No  more  of  that  ;  it  is  too  miserable  ! 
Very  impossible  too,  while  we  have  Berg  and  Jiilich  in  the 
wind  ! — 

At  Liegnitz,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  '  reviews  the  garrison,  ca- 
valry and  infantry,'  before  starting  ;  then  off  for  Glatz,  some 
sixty  miles  before  we  can  dine.  The  goal  is  towards  Bohemia, 
all  this  while  ;  and  his  Majesty,  had  he  liked  the  mountain- 
passes,  and  unlevel  ways  of  the  Giant  Mountains,  might  have 
found  a  shorter  road  and  a  much  more  picturesque  one.  Road 
abounding  in  gloomy  valleys,  intricate  rock-labyrinths,  haunts 
of  .S[)rite  Riibczahl,  sources  of  the  Elbe  and  I  know  not  what. 
Majesty  likes  level  roads,  and  interesting  rock-labyrinths  built 

7  '  n.ilkowitz,'  s.-iy  Pijlliiitz  (ii.  407)  and  Forstcr;  whicli  is  not  the  correct  n;imc. 

8  1241,  the  Invasion,  and  Battle  here,  of  this  unexpected  Barbarian. 


Chap.  IV.         MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  107 

aSth  July  1732. 

by  man  rather  than  by  Nature.  Majesty  makes  a  wide  sweep 
round  to  the  east  of  all  that;  leaves  the  Giant  Mountains,  and 
their  intricacies,  as  a  blue  Sierra  far  on  his  right, — had  rather 
see  Glatz  Fortress  than  the  caverns  of  the  Elbe  ;  and  will 
cross  into  Bohemia,  where  the  Hills  are  fallen  lowest.  At 
Glatz  during  dinner,  numerous  Nobilities  are  again  in  waiting. 
Glatz  is  in  Jagerndorf  region:  Jagerndorf,  which  we  purchased 
with  our  own  money,  is  and  remains  ours,  in  spite  of  the  mis- 
haps of  the  Thirty-Years  War  ; — on/s,  the  darkest  Chancery 
would  be  obliged  to  say,  from  under  the  immensest  wig  !  Pa- 
tience, your  Majesty  ;  Time  brings  roses  ! — 

From  Glatz,  after  viewing  the  works,  drilling  the  guard  a 
little,  not  to  speak  of  dining,  and  dispatching  the  Nobilities, 
his  Majesty  takes  the  road  again  ;  turns  now  abruptly  west- 
ward, across  the  Hills  at  their  lowest  point ;  into  Bohemia, 
which  is  close  at  hand.  Lewin,  Nachod,  these  are  the  Bohe- 
mian villages,  with  their  remnant  of  Czechs  ;  not  a  prosperous 
population  to  look  upon :  but  it  is  the  Kaiser's  own  Kingdom  : 
"  King  of  Bohemia"  one  of  his  Titles  ever  since  Sigismund 
Siiper-Grainmaticain' s  time.  And  here  now,  at  the  meeting 
of  the  waters  {Elbe  one  of  them,  a  brawling  mountain-stream) 
is  Jaromierz,  respectable  little  Town,  with  an  Imperial  Offici- 
ality in  it, — where  the  Official  Gentlemen  meet  us  all  in  gala, 
"Thrice  welcome  to  this  Kingdom,  your  Majesty  !"— and  sig- 
nify that  they  are  to  wait  upon  us  henceforth,  while  we  do  the 
Kaiser's  Kingdom  of  Bohemia  that  honour. 

It  is  Tuesday  night  29th  July,  this  first  night  in  Bohemia. 
The  Official  Gentlemen  lead  his  Majesty  to  superb  rooms, 
new-hung  with^  crimson  velvet,  and  the  due  gold  fringes  and 
tresses, — very  grand  indeed  ;  but  probably  not  so  airy  as  we 
wish.  "  This  is  the  way  the  Kaiser  lodges  in  his  journeys  ; 
and  your  Majesty  is  to  be  served  like  him."  The  goal  of  our 
journey  is  now  within  few  miles.  Wednesday  30th  July  173.?, 
his  Majesty  awakens  again,  within  these  crimson-velvet  hang- 
ings with  the  gold  tresses  and  fringes,  not  so  airy  as  he  could 
wish  ;  dispatches  Grumkow  to  the  Kaiser,  who  is  not  many 
miles  off,  to  signify  what  honour  we  would  do  ourselves. 

It  was  on  Saturday  last  that  the  Kaiser  and  Kaiserinn, 
returning  from  Karlsbad,  illuminated  Prag  with  their  serene 
presence  ;  '  attended  high-mass,  vespers,'  and  a  good  deal  of 
other  worship,  as  the  meagre  old  Newspapers  report  for  us, 


io8  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Rook  ix. 

31st  July  1732. 

on  that  and  the  Sunday  following.  And  then,  '  on  Monday, 
at  six  in  the  morning,'  both  the  Majesties  left  Prag,  for  a  place 
called  Chlumetz,  southwestward  thirty  miles  off,  in  the  Elbe 
region,  where  they  have  a  pretty  Hunting  Castle  ;  Kaiser  in- 
tending '  sylvan  sport  for  a  few  days,'  says  the  old  rag  of  a 
Newspaper,  'and  then  to  return  to  Prag.'  It  is  here  that 
Grumkow,  after  a  pleasant  morning's  drive  of  thirty  miles  with 
the  sun  on  his  back,  finds  Kaiser  Karl  VI.;  and  makes  his 
announcements,  and  diplomatic  inquiries  what  next. 

Had  Friedrich  Wilhelm  been  in  Potsdam  or  Wusterhausen, 
and  heard  that  Kaiser  Karl  was  within  thirty  miles  of  him, 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  would  have  cried,  with  open  arms.  Come, 
come  !  But  the  Imperial  Majesty  is  otherwise  hampered;  has 
his  rhadamanthine  Aulic  Councillors,  in  vast  amplitude  of  wig, 
sternly  engaged  in  study  of  the  etiquettes  :  they  have  settled 
that  the  meeting  cannot  be  in  Chlumetz  ;  lest  it  might  lead  to 
night's  lodgings,  and  to  intricacies.  "  Let  it  be  at  Kladrup," 
say  the  Ample-wigged  ;  Kladrup,  an  Imperial  Stud,  or  Horse- 
Farm,  half-a-dozen  miles  from  this  ;  where  there  is  room  for 
nothing  more  than  dinner.  There  let  the  meeting  be,  tomor- 
row at  a  set  hour  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  we  will  take  pre- 
cautions for  the  etiquettes.  So  it  is  settled,  and  Grumkow 
returns  with  the  decision  in  a  complimentary  form. 

Through  Konigsgriitz,  down  the  right  bank  of  the  Upper 
Elbe,  on  the  morrow  morning,  Thursday  31st  July  1732,  Fried- 
rich Wilhelm  rushes  on  towards  Kladrup  ;  finds  that  little 
village,  with  the  Horse-edifices,  looking  snug  enough  in  the 
valley  of  Elbe  ; — alights,  welcomed  by  Prince  Eugenio  von 
Savoyc,  with  word  that  the  Kaiser  is  not  come,  but  steadily 
expected  soon.  Prince  Eugenio  von  Savoye  :  Ach  Gott,  it  is 
another  thing,  your  Highness,  than  when  we  met  in  the  Flan- 
ders Wars,  long  since ; — at  Malplaquct  that  morning,  when  your 
Highness  had  been  to  Brussels,  visiting  your  Lady  Mother  in 
case  of  the  worst !  Slightly  grayer  your  Highness  is  grown  ; 
I  too  am  nothing  like  so  nimble  ;  the  great  Duke,  poor  man, 
is  dead! — Prince  Eugenio  von  Savoye,  we  need  not  doubt,  took 
snuff,  and  answered  in  a  sprightly  appropriate  manner. 

Kladrup  is  a  Country  House  as  well  as  a  Horse-Farm  :  a 
square  court  is  the  interior,  as  I  gather  ;  the  Horse-buildings 
at  a  reverent  distance  forming  the  fourth  side.      In  the  centre 


Chap.  IV.        MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  109 

31st  July  1732. 

of  this  court, — see  what  a  contrivance  the  Aulic  Councillors 
have  hit  upon, — there  is  a  wooden  stand  built,  with  three 
staircases  leading  up  to  it,  one  for  each  person,  and  three  gal- 
leries leading  off  from  it  into  suites  of  rooms  :  no  question  of 
precedence  here,  where  each  of  you  has  his  own  staircase  and 
own  gallery  to  his  apartment  !  Friedrich  Wilhelm  looks  down 
like  a  rhinoceros  on  all  those  cobwebberies.  No  sooner  are 
the  Kaiser's  carriage-wheels  heard  within  the  court,  than  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm  rushes  down,  by  what  staircase  is  readiest  ;  for- 
ward to  the  very  carriage-door  ;  and  flings  his  arms  about  the 
Kaiser,  embracing  and  embraced,  like  mere  human  friends 
glad  to  see  one  another.  On  these  terms,  they  mount  the 
wooden  stand.  Majesty  of  Prussia,  Kaiser,  Kaiserinn,  each  by 
his  own  staircase  ;  see,  for  a  space  of  two  hours,  the  Kaiser's 
foals  and  horses  led  about, — which  at  least  fiUs-up  any  gap  in 
conversation  that  may  threaten  to  occur.  The  Kaiser,  a  little 
man  of  high  and  humane  air,  is  not  bright  in  talk  ;  the  Em- 
press, a  Brunswick  Princess  of  fine  carriage.  Granddaughter 
of  old  Anton  Ulrich  who  wrote  the  Novels,  is  likewise  of  mute 
humour  in  public  life  :  but  old  Nord-Teutschland,  cradle  of 
one's  existence  ;  Brunswick  reminiscences  ;  news  of  your  Im- 
perial Majesty's  serene  Father,  serene  Sister,  Brother-in-law 
the  Feldmarschall,  and  Insipid  Niece  whom  we  have  had 
the  satisfaction  to  betroth  lately,  —  furnish  small-talk  where 
needful. 

Dinner  being  near,  you  go  by  your  own  gallery  to  dress. 
From  the  drawing-room,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  leads  out  the  Kai- 
serinn ;  the  Kaiser,  as  Head  of  the  world,  walks  first,  though 
without  any  lady.  How  they  drank  the  healths,  gave  and 
received  the  ewers  and  towels,  is  written  duly  in  the  old 
Books,  but  was  as  indifferent  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm  as  it  is  to 
us  ;  what  their  conversation  was,  let  no  man  presume  to  ask. 
Dullish,  we  should  apprehend, — and  perhaps  better  \os\.  to  us  ? 
But  where  there  are  tongues,  there  are  topics  :  the  Loom  of 
Time  wags  always,  and  with  it  the  tongues  of  men.  Kaiser 
and  Kaiserinn  have  both  been  in  Karlsbad  lately  ;  Kaiser  and 
Kaiserinn  both  have  sailed  to  Spain,  in  old  days,  and  been  in 
sieges  and  things  memorable :  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  solid  Squire 
W^estern  of  the  North,  does  not  want  for  topics,  and  talks  as 
a  solid  rustic  gentleman  will.  Native  politeness  he  knows  on 
occasion  ;  to  etiquette,  so  far  as  concerns  his  own  pretensions, 


no  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

ist-pth  Aug.  1732. 

he  feels  callous  altogether, — dimly  sensible  that  the  Eighteenth 
Century  is  setting  in,  and  that  solid  musketeers  and  not  gold- 
sticks  are  now  the  important  thing.  "I  felt  mad  to  see  him 
so  humiliate  himself,"  said  Grumkovv  afterwards  to  Wilhel- 
mina,  "femageais  dans  ma  peati :"  why  not  ? 

Dinner  lasted  two  hours  ;  the  Empress  rising,  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  leads  her  to  her  room  ;  then  retires  to  his  own,  and 
'  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour'  is  visited  there  by  the  Kaiser ;  '  who 
conducts  him,'  in  so  many  minutes  exact  by  the  watch,  '  back 
to  the  Empress,' — for  a  sip  of  coffee,  as  one  hopes  ;  which 
may  wind-up  the  Interview  well.  The  sun  is  still  a  good  space 
from  setting,  when  Friedrich  Wilhelm.,  after  cordial  adieus, 
neglectful  of  etiquette,  is  rolling  rapidly  towards  Nimburg, 
thirty  miles  off  on  the  Pi-ag  Highway;  and  Kaiser  Karl  with 
his  Spouse  move  deliberately  towards  Chlumetz  to  hunt  again. 
In  Nimburg  Friedrich  Wilhelm  sleeps,  that  night ; — Imperial 
Majesties,  in  a  much-tumbled  world,  of  wild  horses,  ceremonial 
ewers,  and  Eugenios  of  Savoy  and  Malplaquet,  probably  peo- 
pling his  dreams.  If  it  please  Heaven,  there  may  be  another 
private  meeting,  a  day  or  two  hence. 

Nimburg,  ah  your  Majesty,  Son  Fritz  will  have  a  night  in 
Nimburg  too  ; — riding  slowly  thither  amid  the  wrecks  of  Kolin 
Battle,  not  to  sleep  well ; — but  that  happily  is  hidden  from  your 
Majesty.  Kolin,  Czaslau  (Chotusitz),  Elbe  Teinitz, — here  in 
this  Kladrup  region,  your  Majesty  is  driving  amid  poor  Villages 
which  will  be  very  famous  by  and  by.  And  Prag  itself  will  be 
doubly  famed  in  war,  if  your  Majesty  knew  it,  and  the  Zisca- 
berg  be  of  bloodier  memory  than  the  Weissenberg  itself! — Plis 
Majesty,  the  morrow's  sun  having  risen  upon  Nimburg,  rolls 
into  Prag  successfully  about  eleven  a.m.,  Hill  of  Zisca  not  dis- 
turbing him  ;  goes  to  the  Klein-Seite  Quarter,  where  an  Aulic 
Councillor  with  fine  Palace  is  ready ;  all  the  cannon  thunder- 
ing from  the  v/alls  at  his  Majesty's  advent ;  and  Prince  Eu- 
genio,  the  ever-present,  being  there  to  receive  his  Majesty, — 
and  in  fact  to  invite  him  to  dinner  this  day  at  half-past  twelve. 
It  is  Friday  ist  of  August  1732. 

By  a  singular  chance,  there  is  preserved  for  us  in  Fass- 
mann's  Book,  what  we  may  call  an  Excerpt  from  the  old  Morn- 
ing Post  of  Prag,  bringing  that  extinct  Day  into  clear  light 
again;  recalling  the  vanished  Dinner-Party  from  the  realms  of 
Hades,  as  a  thing  that  once  actually  was.     The  List  of  the 


Chap.  IV.        MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  in 

ist-9tli  Aug.  1732. 

Dinner-guests  is  given  complete  ;  vanished  ghosts,  whom,  in 
studying  the  old  History-Books,  you  can,  with  a  kind  of  inter- 
est, fish-up  into  visibility  at  will.  There  is  Prince  Eugenio  von 
Savoye  at  the  bottom  of  the  tabic,  in  the  Count-Thun  Palace 
where  he  lodges  ;  there  bodily,  the  little  man,  in  gold-laccd 
coat  of  unknown  cut  ;  the  eyes  and  the  temper  bright  and  rapid, 
as  usual,  or  more  ;  nose  not  unprovided  with  snuff,  and  lips  in 
consequence  rather  open.  Be  seated,  your  Majesty,  high  gen- 
tlemen all. 

A  big  chair-of-state  stands  for  his  Majesty  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  table  :  his  Majesty  will  none  of  it ;  sits  down  close  by 
Prince  Eugene  at  the  very  bottom,  and  opposite  Prince  Alex- 
ander of  Wiirtemberg,  whom  we  had  at  Berlin  latel)-,  a  Gene- 
ral of  note  in  the  Turkish  and  other  wars  :  here  probably  there 
will  be  better  talk  ;  and  the  big  chair  may  preside  over  us  in 
vacancy.  Which  it  does.  Prince  Alexander,  Imperial  General 
against  the  Turks,  and  Heir-Apparent  of  Wiirtemberg  withal, 
can  speak  of  many  things, — hardly  much  of  his  serene  Cousin 
the  reigning  Duke  ;  whose  health  is  in  a  too  interesting  state, 
the  good  though  unlucky  man.  Of  the  Gravenitz  sitting  now 
in  limbo,  or  travelling  about  disowned,  toitjoitrs  tin  lavement 
a  ses  troiisses,  let  there  be  deep  silence.  But  the  Prince  Alex- 
ander can  answer  abundantly  on  other  heads.  He  comes  to 
his  inheritance  a  few  months  hence;  actual  reigning  Duke,  the 
poor  serene  Cousin  having  died  :  and  perhaps  we  shall  meet 
him  transiently  again. 

He  is  Ancestor  of  the  Czars  of  Russia,  this  Prince  Alexander, 
who  is  now  dining  here  in  the  body,  along  with  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm  and  Prince  Eugene  :  Paul  of  Russia,  unbeautiful  Paul, 
married  the  second  time,  from  Miimpelgard  (what  the  French 
call  Montbeiliard,  in  Alsace),  a  serene  Granddaughter  of  his, 
from  whom  come  the  Czars, — thanks  to  her  or  not.  Prince 
Alexander  is  Ancestor  withal  of  our  present  "  Kings  of  Wiir- 
temberg," if  that  mean  anything  :  Father  (what  will  mean  some- 
thing) to  the  serene  Duke,  still  in  swaddling-clothes,^  who  will 
be  son-in-lavv'  to  Princess  Wilhelmina  of  Baireuth  (could  your 
Majesty  foresee  it) ;  and  will  do  strange  pranks  in  the  world, 
upon  poet  Schiller  and  others.  Him  too,  and  Brothers  of  his, 
were  they  born  and  become  of  size,  we  shall  meet.  A  notice- 
able man,  and  not  without  sense,  this  Prince  Alexander  ;  who 

^  Born  2isi:  Jaiuira-y  1732;  Karl  Eugcn  the  name  of  him  (Michaclis,  iii.  i;o). 


112  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         Book  IX. 

ist-9th  Aug.  1732. 

is  now  of  a  surety  eating  with  us, — as  we  find  by  the  extinct 
Morning Posi  in  Fassmann's  old  Book. 

Of  the  other  eating  figures,  Stahrembergs,  Sternbergs,  Kin- 
sky  Ambassador  to  England,  Kinsky  Ambassador  to  France, 
high  Austrian  dignitaries,  we  shall  say  nothing  ; — who  would 
listen  to  us  ?  Hardly  can  the  Hof-Kanzler  Count  von  Sinzen- 
dorf,  supreme  of  Aulic  men,  who  holds  the  rudder  of  Austrian 
State-Policy,  and  probably  feels  himself  loaded  with  importance 
beyond  most  mortals  now  eating  here  or  elsewhere, — gain  the 
smallest  recognition  from  oblivious  English  readers  of  our  time. 
It  is  certain  he  eats  here  on  this  occasion  ;  and  to  his  Majesty 
he  does  not  want  for  importance.  His  Majesty,  intent  on  Jiilich 
and  Berg  and  other  high  matters,  spends  many  hours  next  day, 
in  earnest  private  dialogue  with  him.  We  mention  farther, 
with  satisfaction,  that  Grumkow  and  Ordnance-Master  Secken- 
dorf  are  both  on  the  list,  and  all  our  Prussian  party,  down  to 
Hacke  of  the  Potsdam  grenadiers,  friend  Schulenburg  visibly 
eating  among  the  others.  Also  that  the  dinner  was  glorious 
{herrlich),  and  ended  about  five.^°  After  which  his  Majesty 
went  to  two  evening  parties,  of  a  high  order,  in  the  Hradschin 
Quarter  or  elsewhere  ;  cards  in  the  one  (unless  you  liked  to 
dance,  or  grin  idle  talk  from  you),  and  supper  in  the  other. 

His  Majesty  amused  himself  for  four  other  days  in  Prag,  in- 
terspersing long  earnest  dialogues  with  Sinzendorf,  with  whom 
he  spent  the  greater  part  of  Saturday,^^— results  as  to  Jiilich 
and  Berg  of  a  rather  cloudy  nature.  On  Saturday  came  the 
Kaiser,  too,  and  Kaiserinn,  to  their  high  House,  the  Schloss  in 
Prag  ;  and  there  occurred,  in  the  incognito  form,  '  as  if  by  ac- 
cident,' three  visits  or  counter-visits,  two  of  them  of  some  length. 
The  King  went  dashing  about ;  saw,  deliberately  or  in  glimpses, 
all  manner  of  things,  —  from  'the  Military  Hospital'  to  'the 
Tongue  of  St.  Nepomuk'  again.  Nepomuk,  an  imaginary  Saint 
of  those  parts  ;  pitched  into  the  Moldau,  as  is  fancied  and 
fabled,  by  wicked  King  Wenzcl  (King  and  Deposed- Kaiser, 
whom  we  have  heard  of),  for  speaking  and  refusing  to  speak  ; 
Nepomuk  is  now  become  the  Patron  of  Bridges,  in  conse- 
quence ;  stands  tliere  in  bronze  on  the  Bridge  of  Prag  ;  and 
still  shows  a  dried  Tongue  in  the  world  :'-  this  latter,  we  ex- 
jiressly  find,  his  Majesty  saw. 

'"  Fassm.nnn,  p.  474.  "  Piilliiitz,  ii.  4:1. 

'■■'  Die  J.ix<'>i</f  Tiiiii  heiligen  yohaiin  1'OH  Nc^oiuuk,  von  D,  Otto  Abel  (Reilin, 
1855) ;  an  acute  bit  of  Historical  Criticism. 


Chap.  IV.         MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  113 

ist-gtli  Aug.  1732. 

On  Sunday,  his  Majesty,  nothing  of  a  straitlaced  man,  at- 
tended divine  or  quasi-divine  worship  in  the  Cathedral  Church, 
— where  high  Prince  Bishops  dehvered  palliwns,  did  histrion- 
isms  ;  '  manifested  the  Absiirditdt  of  Papistry'  more  or  less. 
Coming  out  of  the  Church,  he  was  induced  to  step  in  and  see 
the  rooms  of  the  Schloss,  or  Imperial  Palace.  In  one  of  the 
rooms,  as  if  by  accident,  the  Kaiser  was  found  lounging  : — 
"  Extremely  delighted  to  see  your  Majesty !" — and  they  had  the 
first  of  their  long  or  considerable  dialogues  together  ;  purport 
has  not  transpired.  The  second  considerable  dialogue  was  on 
the  morrow,  when  Imperial  Majesty,  as  if  by  accident,  found 
himself  in  the  Count-Nostitz  Palace,  where  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
lodges.  Delighted  to  be  so  fortunate  again  !  Hope  your  Ma- 
jesty likes  Prag  ?  Eternal  friendship,  Oh  ja  : — and  as  to  JiiHch 
and  Berg  ?     Particulars  have  not  transpired. 

Prag  is  a  place  full  of  sights  :  his  Majesty,  dashing  about 
in  all  quarters,  has  a  busy  time ;  affairs  of  state  (Jiilich  and  Berg 
principally)  alternating  with  what  we  now  call  the  lions.  Zisca's 
drum,  for  instance,  in  the  Arsenal  here  ?  Would  your  Majesty 
wish  to  see  Zisca's  own  skin,  which  he  bequeathed  to  be  a  drum 
when  he  had  done  Avith  it  ?  "  Nare?ipossai /" — for  indeed  the 
thing  is  fabulous,  though  in  character  with  Zisca,  Or  the  Courw- 
cil-Chamber  window,  out  of  which  'the  Three  Prag  Projectiles 
fell  into  the  Night  of  things,'  as  a  modern  Historian  expresses 
it  ?  Three  Official  Gentlemen,  flung  out  one  morning, ^^  70 
feet,  but  fell  on  "  sewerage,"  and  did  not  die,  but  set  the  whole 
world  on  fire  ?  That  is  too  certain,  as  his  Majesty  knows  : 
that  brought  the  crowning  of  the  Winter-King,  Battle  of  the 
Weissenberg,  Thirty-Years  War  ;  and  lost  us  Jagerndorf  and 
much  else. 

Or  Wallenstein's  Palace, — did  your  Majesty  look  at  that  ? 
A  thing  worth  glancing  at,  on  the  score  of  History  and  even 
of  Natural-History.  That  I'ugged  son  of  steel  and  gunpowder 
could  not  endure  the  least  noise  in  his  sleeping-room  or  even 
sitting-room, — a  difficulty  in  the  soldiering  way  of  life  ; — and 
had,  if  I  remember,  one  hundred  and  thirty  houses  torn  away 
in  Prag,  and  sentries  posted  all  round  in  the  distance,  to  se- 
cure silence  for  his  much-meditating  indignant  soul.  And  yon- 
der is  the  Weissenberg,  conspicuous  in  the  western  suburban 
region  :  and  here  in  the  eastern,  close  by,  is  the  Ziscaberg  ; — 

"  13th  (23d)  May  1618  (Kohler,  p.  507). 
VOL.   III.  I 


114  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

ist-glh  Aug.  1732. 

O  Heaven,  your  Majesty,  on  this  Zisca-Hill  will  be  a  new 
"  Battle  of  Prag,"  which  will  throw  the  Weissenberg  into 
eclipse;  and  there  is  awful  fighting  coming  on  in  these  parts 
again  ! — 

The  third  of  the  considerable  dialogues  in  Prag  was  on  this 
same  Monday  night  ;  when  his  Majesty  went  to  wait  upon  the 
Kaiserinn,  and  the  Kaiser  soon  accidentally  joined  them.  Pre- 
cious gracious  words  passed  ; — on  Berg  and  Jiilich  nothing  par- 
ticular, that  we  hear  ; — and  the  High  Personages,  with  assur- 
ances of  everlasting  friendship,  said  adieu  ;  and  met  no  more 
in  this  world.  On  his  toilet-table  Friedrich  Wilhelm  found  a 
gold  Tobacco-box,  sent  by  the  highest  Lady  extant ;  gold  To- 
bacco-box, item  gold  Tobacco-stopper  or  Pipe-picker :  such  the 
parting  gifts  of  her  Imperial  Majesty.  Very  precious  indeed, 
and  grateful  to  the  honest  heart; — yet  testifying  too  (as  was 
afterwards  suggested  to  the  royal  mind)  what  these  high  people 
think  of  a  rustic  Orson  King  ;  and  how  they  fling  their  nose 
into  the  air  over  his  Tabagies  and  him. 

On  the  morrow  morning  early,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  rolls 
away  again  homewards,  by  Karlsbad,  by  Baireuth  ;  all  the  can- 
non of  Prag  saying  thrice,  Good  speed  to  him.  "  He  has  had 
"  a  glorious  time,"  said  the  Berlin  Court-lady  to  Queen  Sophie 
one  evening,  "  no  end  of  kindness  from  the  Imperial  Majesties: 
"  but  has  he  brought  Berg  and  Jiilich  in  his  pocket .''" — Alas, 
not  a  fragment  of  them  ;  nor  of  any  solid  thing  whatever,  ex- 
cept it  be  the  gold  Tobacco-box  ;  and  the  confirmation  of  our 
claims  on  East-Friesland  (cheap  liberty  to  let  us  vindicate  them 
if  we  can),  if  you  reckon  that  a  solid  thing.  These  two  Im- 
perial gifts,  such  as  they  are,  he  has  consciously  brought  back 
with  him  ; — and  perhaps,  though  as  yet  unconsciously,  a  third 
gift  of  much  more  value,  once  it  is  developed  into  clearness  : 
some  dim  trace  of  insight  into  the  no-meaning  of  these  high 
people  ;  and  how  they  consider  11s  as  mere  Orsons  and  wild 
Bisons,  whom  they  will  do  the  honour  to  consume  as  provision, 
if  we  behave  well ! 

The  great  King  Friedrich,  now  Crown-Prince  at  Ruppin, 
writing  of  this  Journey  long  afterwards, — hastily,  incorrectly, 
as  his  wont  is,  in  regard  to  all  manner  of  minute  outward  par- 
ticulars ;  and  somewhat  maltreating,  or  at  least  misplacing, 
even  the  inward  meaning,  which  was  well  known  to  him  zvith- 
w^/ investigation,  but  which  he  is  at  no  trouble  to  dateiox\\xm.- 


Chap.  IV.        MAJESTY  VISITS  THE   KAISER.  115 

i;,t-9th  Aug.  1732. 

self,   and  has  dated  at  random, — says,  in  his  thin  rapid  way, 
with  much  polished  bitterness  : 

'  His'  (King  Friedrich  Wilhelm'.s)  'experience  on  this  occasion  served 
'  to  prove  that  good-faith  and  the  virtues,  so  contrary  to  the  corruption 
'  of  the  age,  do  not  succeed  in  it.  Pohticians  have  banished  sincerity 
'  {la  candeur)  into  private  Hfe  :  they  look  upon  themselves  as  raised  quite 
'  above  the  laws  which  they  enjoin  on  other  people ;  and  give  way  with- 
'  out  reserve  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  depraved  mind. 

'  The  guaranty  ol  Jiilich  and  Berg,  which  Seckendorf  had  iormally 
'  promised  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  went-off  in  smoke;  and  the 
'  Imperial  Ministers  were  in  a  disposition  so  opposed  to  Prussia,  the 
'  King  saw  clearly'  (not  for  some  years  yet)  '  that  if  there  was  a  Court 
'  in  Europe  intending  to  cross  his  interests,  it  was  certainly  that  of  Vienna. 
'  This  Visit  of  his  to  the  Emperor  was  like  that  of  Solon  to  Croesus' 
(Solon  not  recognisable,  in  the  grenadier  costume,  amid  the  tobacco- 
smoke,  and  dim  accompaniments?) — 'and  he  returned  to  Berlin,  rich 
'  still  in  his  own  virtue.  The  most  punctilious  censors  could  find  no 
'  fault  in  his  conduct,  except  a  probity  carried  to  excess.  The  Interview 
'  ended  as  those  of  Kings  often  do :  it  cooled'  (not  for  some  time  yet), 
'  or,  to  say  better,  it  extinguished  the  friendship  there  had  been  between 
'  the  two  Courts.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  left  Prag  full  of  contempt'  (dimly, 
altogether  unconsciously,  tending  to  have  some  contempt,  and  in  the 
end  to  be  full  of  it)  '  for  the  deceitfulness  and  pride  ol  the  Imperial  Court : 
'  and  the  Emperor's  Ministers  disdained  a  Sovereign  who  looked  with- 
'  out  interest  on  frivolous  ceremonials  and  precedences.  Him  they 
'  considered  too  ambitious  in  aiming  at  the  Berg-and -Jiilich  succession: 
'  them  he  regarded'  (came  to  regard)  'as  a  pack  of  knaves,  who  had 
'  broken  their  word,  and  were  not  punished  for  it. ' 

Very  bitter,  your  Majesty ;  and,  in  all  but  the  dates,  true 
enough.  But  what  a  drop  of  concentrated  absinth  follows 
next,  by  way  of  finish, — which  might  itself  have  corrected  the 
dating  ! 

'  In  spite  of  so  many  subjects  of  discontent,  the  King  wedded  bis 
'  Eldest  Son'  (my  not  too  fortunate  self),  'out  of  complaisance  to  the 
'Vienna  Court,  with  a  Princess  of  Brunswick -Bevern,  Niece  to  the 
'  Empress:' — bitter  fact ;  necessitating  change  of  date  in  the  paragraphs 
just  written.'* 

Friedrich  Wilhelm,  good  soul,  cherishes  the  Imperial  gifts, 
Tobacco-box  included  ; — claps  the  Arms  of  East-Friesland  on 
his  escutcheon  ;  will  take  possession  of  Friesland,  if  the  pre- 
sent Duke  die  heirless,  let  George  of  England  say  what  he  will. 
And  so  he  rolls  homeward,  by  way  of  Baireuth.      He  staid  but 

'*  CEnvres  de  Frederic  {Memoires  de  Brnndeboiirg),  i.  162,  163. 


ii6  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

9th  Aug.  1732. 

a  short  while  in  Karlsbad  ;  has  warned  his  Wilhelmina  that  he 
will  be  at  Baireuth  on  the  9th  of  the  month. ^^ 

Wilhelmina  is  very  poorly;  "  near  her  time,"  as  wives  say  ; 
rusticating  in  '  the  Hermitage,'  a  Country-House  in  the  vicinity 
of  Baireuth  ;  Husband  and  Father-in-law  gone  away,  towards 
the  Bohemian  frontier,  to  hunt  boars.  O,  the  bustle  and  the 
bother  that  high  Lady  had  ;  getting  her  little  Country-House 
stretched  out  to  the  due  pitch  to  accommodate  everybody, — 
especially  her  foolish  Sister  of  Anspach  and  foolish  Brother-in- 
law  and  suite, — with  whom,  by  negligence  of  servants  and 
otherwise,  there  had  like  to  have  risen  incurable  quarrel  on  the 
matter.  But  the  dextrous  young  Wife,  gladdest,  busiest  and 
weakliest  of  hopeful  creatures,  contrived  to  manage  everything, 
like  a  Female  Fieldmarshal,  as  she  was.  Papa  was  delighted ; 
bullied  the  foolish  Anspach  people, — or  would  have  done  so, 
had  not  I  intervened,  that  the  matter  might  die.  Papa  was 
gracious,  happy ;  very  anxious  about  me  in  my  interesting  state. 
"  Thou  hast  lodged  me  to  perfection,  good  Wilhelmina.  Here 
"  I  find  my  wooden  stools,  tubs  to  wash  in  ;  all  things  as  if  I 
"  were  at  Potsdam  : — a  good  girl  ;  and  thou  must  take  care  of 
"  thyself,  my  child  (j)tem  Kind)." 

At  dinner,  his  Majesty,  dreading  no  ill,  but  intent  only  on 
the  practical,  got  into  a  quiet,  but  to  me  most  dreadful,  lecture 
to  the  old  Margraf  (my  Father-in-law)  upon  debt  and  money 
and  arrears  :  How  he,  the  Margraf,  was  cheated  at  every  turn, 
and  led-about  by  the  nose,  and  kept  weltering  in  debt :  how 
he  should  let  the  young  Margraf  go  into  the  Offices,  to  super- 
vise, and  withal  to  learn  tax-matters  and  economics  betimes. 
How  he  (Fricdrich  Wilhelm)  would  send  him  a  fellow  from 
Berlin  who  understood  such  things,  and  would  drill  his  scoun- 
drels for  him  !  To  which  the  old  Margraf,  somewhat  flushed 
in  the  face,  made  some  embarrassed  assent,  knowing  it  in  fact 
to  be  true  ;  and  accepted  the  Berlin  man  : — but  he  made  me 
(his  poor  Daughter-in-law)  smart  for  it  afterwards  :  "  Not  quite 
dead  j'^'/.  Madam  ;  you  will  have  to  wait  a  little  !" — and  other 
foolish  speech  ;  which  required  to  be  tenipered-down  again  by 
a  judicious  female  mind. 

Grumkow  himself  was  pleasant  on  this  occasion  ;  told  us 
of  Kladrup,  the  Prag  etiquettes  ;  and  how  he  was  like  to  go 

i'»  \Vilhelmiiia,  ii.  55. 


Chap.  V.   (;H0ST  OF  DOUBLE-MARRIAGE  RISES.      117 

14th  Aug.  1732. 

mad  seeing  his  Majesty  so  humiliate  himself.  Fraulein  Grum- 
kow,  a  niece  of  his,  belonging  to  the  Austrian  Court,  who  is 
over  here  with  the  rest,  a  satirical  intriguing  baggage,  she,  I 
privately  perceive,  has  made  a  conquest  of  my  foolish  Brother- 
in-law,  the  Anspach  Margraf  here  ; — and  there  will  be  jealousies, 
and  a  cat-and-dog  life  over  yonder,  worse  than  ever  !  Tush, 
why  should  we  talk  ? — These  are  the  phenomena  at  Baireuth  ; 
Husband  and  Father-in-law  having  quitted  their  boat-hunt  and 
hurried  home. 

After  three  days,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  rolled  away  again  ; 
lodged,  once  more,  at  Meuselwitz,  with  abstruse  Seckendorf,  and 
his  good  old  Wife,  who  do  the  hospitalities  well  when  they  must, 
in  spite  of  the  single  candle  once  visible.  On  the  morrow  after 
which,  14th  August  1732,  his  Majesty  is  off  again,  '  at  four  in 
the  morning,'  towards  Leipzig,  intending  to  be  home  that  night, 
though  it  is  a  long  drive.  At  Leipzig,  not  to  waste  time,  he 
declines  entering  the  Town  ;  positively  will  not,  though  the 
cannon-salvos  are  booming  all  round; — 'breakfasts  in  the 
'  suburbs,  with  a  certain  Horse-dealer  [Ross-Handle?-)  now  de- 
'  ceased  :'  a  respectable  Centaur,  capable,  no  doubt,  of  bargain- 
ing a  little  about  cavalry  mountings,  while  one  eats,  with  appe- 
tite and  at  one's  ease.  Which  done.  Majesty  darts-ofif  again, 
the  cannon-salvos  booming-out  a  second  time  ; — and  by  assidu- 
ous driving  gets  home  to  Potsdam  about  eight  at  night.  And 
so  has  happily  ended  this  Journey  to  Kladrup."^ 


CHAPTER  V. 

GHOST  OF  THE  DOUBLE-MARRIAGE  RISES  ;    TO  NO  PURPOSE. 

We  little  expected  to  see  the  "Double-Marriage"  start-up 
into  vitality  again,  at  this  advanced  stage  ;  or,  of  all  men, 
Seckendorf,  after  riding  25,000  miles  to  kill  the  Double-Mar- 
riage, engaged  in  resuscitating  it  !  But  so  it  is  :  by  endless 
intriguing,  matchless  in  History  or  Romance,  the  Austrian 
Court  had,  at  such  expense  to  the  parties  and  to  itself,  achieved 
the  first  problem  of  stifling  the  harmless  Double-Marriage  ; 
and  now,  the  wind  having  changed,  it  is  actually  trying  its 
hand  the  opposite  way. 

"5  Fassmann,  pp.  474-479;  Wilheliiiiiia,  ii.  46-55;  Pijllnitz,  ii.  407-412;  F5rster,  i. 
328-334- 


Ii8  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Bookix. 

Oct.  1732. 

Wind  is  changed  :  consummate  Robinson  has  managed  to 
do  his  thrice-salutary  '  Treaty  of  Vienna  ;'^  to  clout-up  all  dif- 
ferences between  the  Sea-Powers  and  the  Kaiser,  and  restore 
the  old  Law  of  Nature, — Kaiser  to  fight  the  French, Sea-Powers 
to  feed  and  pay  him  while  engaged  in  that  necessary  job.  And 
now  it  would  be  gratifying  to  the  Kaiser,  if  there  remained,  on 
this  side  of  the  matter,  no  rent  anywhere,  if  between  his  chief 
Sea  ally  and  his  chief  Land  one,  the  Britannic  Majesty  and  the 
Prussian,  there  prevailed  a  complete  understanding,  with  no 
grudge  left. 

The  honour  of  this  fine  resuscitation  project  is  ascribed 
to  Robinson  by  the  Vienna  people  ;  "  Robinson's  suggestion," 
they  always  say :  how  far  it  was,  or  whether  at  all  it  was  or 
not,  nobody  at  present  knows.  Guess  rather,  if  necessary,  it 
had  been  the  Kaiser's  own  !  Robinson,  as  the  thing  pro- 
ceeds, is  instructed  from  St.  James's  to  '  look  on  and  not  inter- 
fere ;'^  Prince  Eugene,  too,  we  can  observe,  is  privately  against 
it,  though  officially  urgent,  and  doing  his  best.  Who  knows, 
• — or  need  know  ? 

Enough  that  High  Heads  are  set  upon  it  ;  that  the  diplo- 
matic wigs  are  all  wagging  with  it,  from  about  the  beginning 
of  October  1732  ;  and  rumours  are  rife  and  eager,  occasionally 
spurting-out  into  the  Newspapers  :  Double- Marriage  after  all, 
hint  the  old  Rumours  :  Double- Marriage  somehow  or  other  ; 
Crown-Prince  to  have  his  English  Princess,  Prince  Fred  of 
England  to  console  the  Brunswick  one  for  loss  of  her  Crown- 
Prince  ;  or  else  Prince  Karl  of  Brunswick  to  —  And  half-a-dozen 
other  ways  ;  which  Rumour  cannot  settle  to  its  satisfaction. 
The  whispers  upon  it,  from  Hanover,  from  Vienna,  at  Berlin, 
and  from  the  Diplomatic  world  in  general,  occasionally  whistling 
through  the  Newspapers,  are  manifold  and  incessant, — not 
worthy  of  the  least  attention  from  us  here.^  What  is  certain 
is,  Seckcndorf,  in  the  end  of  October,  is  corresponding  on  it 
with  Prince  Eugene ;  has  got  instructions  to  propose  the  matter 
in  Tobacco- Parliament  ;  and  does  not  like  it  at  all.  Grum- 
•kow,  who  perhaps  has  seen  dangerous  clouds  threatening  to 
mount  upon  him,  and  never  been  quite  himself  again  in  the 
Royal  Mind  since  that  questionable  A'osii  business,  dissuades 

'   ifith  Maicli  1731,  the  ('«/7  of  it  (accession  of  the  Dutcli,  of  Sl).^ill,  &c.)not  quite 
Coilcd-iii)  till  20th  {''cbniary  1732:  .ScliiJll,  i.  218-222. 

'■'  JJcsp.-itchcs,  in  State-P.iper  Office.  3  FOrster,  iii.  iii,  120,  108,  113,  122. 


Chap.v.  GHOST  OF  DOUBLE-MARRIAGE  RISES.      119 

5th  Dec.  1732. 

earnestly,  constantly.  "  Nothing  but  mischief  will  come  of 
such  a  proposal,"  says  Grumkow  steadily  ;  and  for  his  own 
share  absolutely  declines  concern  in  it. 

But  Prince  Eugene's  orders  are  express  ;  remonstrances, 
cunctations  only  strengthen  the  determination  of  the  High 
Heads  or  Head  :  Forward  with  this  beautiful  scheme  !  Seck- 
endorf,  puckered  into  dangerous  anxieties,  but  summoning 
all  his  cunning,  has  at  length,  after  six-weeks  hesitation,  to 
open  it,  as  if  casually,  in  some  favourable  hour,  to  his  Prus- 
sian Majesty.  December  5th,  1732,  as  we  compute  ; — a  kind 
of  epoch  in  his  Majesty's  life.  Prussian  Majesty  stares  wide- 
eyed  ;  the  breath  as  if  struck-out  of  him  ;  repeats,  "  JUlich  and 
Berg  absolutely  secured,  say  you  ?  But — hm,  na  !" — and  has 
not  yet  taken-in  the  unspeakable  dimensions  of  the  occui-rence. 
"What.?  Imperial  Majesty  will  make  me  break  my  word  be- 
fore all  the  world  ?  Imperial  Majesty  has  been  whirling  me 
about,  face  now  to  the  east,  face  straightway  round  to  the  west : 
Imperial  Majesty  does  not  feel  that  I  am  a  man  and  king  at 
all ;  takes  me  for  a  mere  machine,  to  be  seesawed  and  whirled 
hither  and  thither,  like  a  rotatory  Clothes-horse,  to  dry  his 
Imperial  Majesty's  linen  upon.      Tausend  Himmel — .'' — " 

The  full  dimensions  of  all  this  did  not  rise  clear  upon  the 
intellect  of  Prussian  Majesty, — a  slow  intellect,  but  a  true  and 
deep,  with  terrible  earthquakes  and  poetic  fires  lying  under  it, 
— not  at  once,  or  for  months,  perhaps  years  to  come.  But 
they  had  begun  to  dawn  upon  him  painfully  here ;  they  rose 
gradually  into  perfect  clearness  :  all  things  seen  at  last  as 
what  they  were  ; — with  huge  submarine  earthquake  for  con- 
sequence, and  total  change  of  mind  towards  Imperial  Majesty 
and  the  drying  of  his  Pragmatic  linen,  in  Friedrich  Wilhelm. 
Amiable  Orson,  true  to  the  heart ;  amiable,  though  terrible 
when  too  much  put-upon  ! 

This  dawning  process  went  on  for  above  two  years  to  come, 
painfully,  reluctandy,  with  explosions,  even  with  tears.  But 
here,  directly  on  the  back  of  Seckendorf's  proposal,  and  re- 
corded from  a  sure  hand,  is  what  we  inay  call  the  peep-of-day 
in  that  matter :  First  Session  of  Tobacco-Parliament,  close  after 
that  event.  Event  is  on  the  5th  December  1732  ;  Tobacco 
Session  is  of  the  6th;  —  glimpse  of  it  is  given  by  Speaker 
Grumkow  himself;  authentic  to  the  bone. 


120  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        P-ookiX. 

6th  Dec.  1732. 

Session  of  Tobacco-Parliament ,  6th  December  1732. 

Grumkow,  shattered  into  'headache'  by  this  Session,  writes 
Report  of  it  to  Seckendorf  before  going  to  bed.  Look,  reader, 
into  one  of  the  strangest  Political  Establishments  ;  and  how  a 
strange  Majesty  comports  himself  there,  directly  after  such  pro- 
posal from  Vienna  to  marry  with  England  still  ! — '  Schwerin' 
is  incidentally  in  from  Frankfurt-on-Oder,  where  his  Regiment 
and  business  usually  lie  :  the  other  Honourable  Members  we 
sufficiently  know.  Majesty  has  been  a  little  out  of  health  lately ; 
perceptibly  worse  the  last  two  days.  '  Syberg'  is  a  Gold-cook 
(Alchemical  gentleman,  of  very  high  professions),  came  to 
Berlin  some  time  ago  ;  whom  his  Majesty,  after  due  investi- 
gation, took  the  liberty  to  hang.^  Readers  can  now  under- 
stand what  Speaker  Grumkow  writes,  and  dispatches  by  his 
lackey,  in  such  haste  : 

'  I  never  saw  such  a  scene  as  this  evening.  Derschau,  Schwerin, 
'  Buddenbrock,  Rochow,  Flanz  were  present.     We  had  been  about  an 

*  hour  in  the  Red  Room'  (languidly  doing  our  tobacco  off  and  on), 
'  when  he'  (the  King)  '  had  us  shifted  into  the  Little  Room :  drove-out 
'  the  servants;  and  cried,  looking  fixedly  at  me:  "  No,  I  cannot  endure 
'  it  any  longer !  Es  stosset  mir  das  Hej-z  ab, "  cried  he,  breaking  into 
'  GeiTnan:  "  It  crushes  the  heart  out  of  me;  to  make  me  do  a  bit  of 
'  scoundrelism,  me,  me!  No,  I  say;  no,  never!  Those  damned  intrigues; 
'  may  the  Devil  take  them !" — 

'  Ego  (Grumkow).  "  Of  course,  I  know  of  nothing.  But  I  do  not 
'  comprehend  your  IMajesty's  inquietude,  coming  thus  on  the  sudden, 

*  after  our  common  indifferent  mood. " 

^  King.  "  What,  make  me  a  villain  !  I  will  tell  it  right  out.  Cer- 
'  tain  damned  scoundrels  have  been  about  betraying  me.  People  that 
'  should  have  known  me  better  have  been  trying  to  lead  me  into  a  dis- 
'  honourable  scrape" — ('Here  I   called-in  the  hounds,  yc  ro/npis  les 

*  ckiens,'  reports  Grumkow,  'for  he  was  going  to  blab  eveiything ;  I 
'  interrupted,  saying): 

' -Ego.  "  But,  your  Majesty,  what  is  it  ruffles  you  so?  I  know  not 
'  what  you  talk  of.     Your  Majesty  has  honourable  people  about  you ; 

*  and  the  man  who  lets  himself  be  emjjloyed  in  things  against  your 
'  Majesty  must  be  a  traitor." 

^  King.    "  Yes,  Ja,  ja.     I  will  do  things  that  will  surprise  them. 

'And,  in  short,  a  torrent  of  exclamations:  wliich  I  strove  to  soften 
'  by  all  manner  of  incidents  and  contrivances;  succeeding  at  last,' — 
by  dexterity  and  lime  (but,  at  this  point,  tlic  light  is  now  blown  out,  and 

••  I'Oister,  iii.  126. 


Chap.v.    GHOST  OF  DOUBLE-MARRIAGE  RISES.     121 

6th  Dec.  1732. 

we  see  no  more) : — 'so  tliat  he  grew  (|uitc  calm  again,  and  the  rest  of 

'  the  evening  passed  gently  enough. 

'  Well,  you  see  what  the  effect  of  your  fine  Proposal  is,  which  you 
'  said  he  would  like!  I  can  tell  you,  it  is  the  most  detestable  incident 
'  that  could  have  turned  up.  I  know,  you  had  your  orders :  but  you 
'  may  believe  and  depend  on  it,  he  has  got  his  heart  driven  rabid  by  the 

*  business,  and  says,   "Who  knows  now  whether  that  villain  Syberg" 
'  Gold-cook,  that  was  hanged  the  other  day,   "  was  not  set-on  by  some 

*  people  to  poison  me  ?"     In  a  word,  he  was  like  a  madman. 

'What  struck  me  most  was  when  he  repeated,  "Only  think! 
'  Think  !  Who  would  have  expected  it  of  people  that  should  have 
'  known  me;  and  whom  I  know,  and  have  known,  better  than  they 
'  fancy  !"  ' — Pleasant  passage  for  Seckendorf  to  chew  the  cud  upon, 
through  the  night-watches  ! 

'  In  fine,  as  I  was  somewhat  confused;  and  anxious,  above  all,  to 
'  keep  him  from  exploding  with  the  secret,  I  cannot  remember  every- 
'  thing.  But  Derschau,  who  was  more  at  his  ease,  will  be  able  to  give 
'  you  a  full  account.  He'  (the  King)  'said  more  than  once:  "  This 
'  was  his  sickness;  the  thing  that  ailed  him,  this:  it  gnawed  his  heart, 
'  and  would  be  the  death  of  him  !"  He  certainly  did  not  affect;  he  was 
'  in  a  verycon\'ulsive  condition.' — {Jariii-Mcu,  here  is  a  piece  of  work, 
Herr  Seckendorf!) — '  Adieu,  I  have  a  headache.'  Whereupon  to  bed. 
— '  Grumkow.'^ 

This  Hansard  Report  went -off  direct  to  Prince  Eugene  ; 
and  ought  to  have  been  a  warning  to  the  high  Vienna  heads 
and  him.  But  they  persisted  not  the  less  to  please  Robinson 
or  themselves  ;  considering  his  Prussian  Majesty  to  be,  in 
fact,  a  mere  rotatory  Clothes-horse  for  drying  the  Imperial 
linen  on  ;  and  to  have  no  intellect  at  all,  because  he  was  with- 
out guile,  and  had  no  vulpinism  at  all.  In  which  they  were 
very  much  mistaken  indeed.  History  is  proud  to  report  that 
the  guileless  Prussian  Majesty,  steadily  attending  to  his  own 
affairs  in  a  wise  manner,  though  hoodwinked  and  led-about 
by  Black-Artists  as  he  had  been,  turned-out  when  Fact  and 
Nature  subsequently  pronounced  upon  it,  to  have  had  more 
intellect  than  the  whole  of  them  together, — to  have  been, 
in  a  manner,  the  only  one  of  them  that  had  any  real  '  in- 
tellect,' or  insight  into  Fact  and  Nature,  at  all.  Consum- 
mate Black-art  Diplomacies  overnetting  the  Universe,  went 
entirely  to  water,  running  down  the  gutters  to  the  last  drop  ; 
and  a  prosperous  Drilled  Prussia,  compact,  organic  in  every 
part,  from  diligent  plough-sock  to  shining  bayonet  and  iron 
ramrod,  remained  standing.      "A  full  Treasury  and  200,000 

*  Forster,  iii.  135,  136. 


122  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

6th  Dec.  1732. 

"  well-drilled  men  would  be  the  one  guarantee  to  your  Prag- 
"  matic  Sanction,"  Prince  Eugene  had  said.  But  that  bit  of 
insight  was  not  accepted  at  Vienna  ;  Black-art,  and  Diplo- 
matic spider-webs  from  pole  to  pole,  being  thought  the  prefer- 
able method. 

Enough,  Seckendorf  was  ordered  to  manipulate  and  soothe- 
down  the  Prussian  Majesty,  as  surely  \vould  be  easy  ;  to  con- 
tinue his  galvanic  operations  on  the  Double-Match,  or  produce 
a  rotation  in  the  purposes  of  the  royal  breast.  Which  he  di- 
ligently strove  to  do,  when  once  admitted  to  speech  again  ; — 
Grumkow  steadily  declining  to  meddle,  and  only  Queen  So- 
phie, as  we  can  fancy,  auguring  joyfully  of  it.  Seckendorf, 
admitted  to  speech  the  third  day  after  that  explosive  Session, 
snuffles  his  softest,  his  cunningest ;  —  continues  to  ride  dili- 
gently, the  concluding  portion  (such  it  proved)  of  his  25,000 
miles  with  the  Prussian  Majesty  up  and  down  through  winter 
and  spring ;  but  makes  not  the  least  progress,  the  reverse 
rather. 

Their  dialogues  and  arguings  on  the  matter,  here  and  else- 
where, are  lost  in  air  ;  or  gone  wholly  to  a  single  point  unex- 
pectedly preserved  for  us.  One  day,  riding  through  some  village, 
Priort  some  say  his  Majesty  calls  it,  some  give  another  name, 
— advocate  Seckendorf,  in  the  fervour  of  pleading  and  arguing, 
said  some  word,  which  went  like  a  sudden  flash  of  lightning 
through  the  dark  places  of  his  Majesty's  mind,  and  never  would 
go  out  of  it  again  while  he  lived  after.  In  passionate  moments, 
his  Majesty  spoke  of  it  sometimes,  a  clangorous  pathos  in  his 
tones,  as  of  a  thing  hideous,  horrible,  never  to  be  forgotten,'which 
had  killed  him, — death  from  a  friend's  hand.  "  It  was  the 
"  17th  of  April  1 733,*^  riding  through  Priort,  a  man  said  some- 
"  thing  to  me  :  it  was  as  if  you  had  turned  a  dagger  about  in 
"  my  heart.  That  man  was  he  that  killed  me  ;  there  and 
'  then  I  got  my  death  !" 

A  strange,  passion  in  that  utterance  :  the  deep  dumb  soul 
of  his  Majesty,  of  dumb-poetic  nature,  suddenly  brought  to  a 
fatal  clearness  about  certain  things.  "  Oh  Kaiser,  Kaiser  of 
the  Holy  Roman  lunpire  ;  and  this  is  your  return  for  my  loyal 
faith  in  you  ?      I  had  nearly  killed  my  Fritz,  my  Wilhclmina, 

*  AH  tlic  Hooks  (Forster,  il.  142,  for  one)  mention  this  utterance  of  his  Majesty, 
on  wliat  occasion  we  shall  see  farther  on  ;  and  give  the  Jate  '  1732,"  not  1733  :  but  ex- 
rnpt  as  amentlcil  above,  it  refuses  to  have  any  sense  visible  at  this  distance.  The 
Vill.ige  ol  I'riort  is  in  the  Potsdam  region. 


Chap.  VI.         GREAT  THINGS   FOR  POLAND.  123 

jotlijau.  1733. 

broken  my  Feekin's  heart  and  my  own,  and  reduced  the  world 
to  ruins  for  your  sake.  And  because  I  was  of  faith  more  than 
human,  you  took  me  for  a  dog  ?  Oh  Kaiser,  Kaiser  !" — Poor 
Friedrich  Wiihehn,  he  spoke  of  this  often,  in  excited  mo- 
ments, in  his  later  years  ;  the  tears  running  down  his  cheeks, 
and  the  whole  man  melted  into  tragic  emotion  :  but  if  Fritz 
were  there,  the  precious  Fritz  whom  he  had  almost  killed  for 
their  sake,  he  would  say,  flashing  out  into  proud  rage,  "There 
is  one  that  will  avenge  me,  though  ;  that  one  !  Da  steht  Eincr, 
dcr  mich  riichen  wird  /"^  Yes,  your  Majesty  ;  perhaps  that 
one.  And  it  will  be  seen  whether  you  were  a  rotatory  Clothes- 
horse  to  dry  their  Pragmatic  linen  upon,  or  something  differ- 
ent a  good  deal. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

KING  AUGUST  MEDITATING  GREAT  THINGS  FOR  POLAND. 

In  the  Newyear's  days  of  i  733,  the  topic  among  diplomatic 
gentlemen,  which  set  many  big  wigs  wagging,  and  even  tremu- 
lously came  out  in  the  gray  leaves  of  gazetteers  and  garreteers 
of  the  period,  was  a  royal  drama,  dimly  supposed  to  be  getting 
itself  up  in  Poland  at  this  time.  Nothing  known  about  it  for 
certain ;  much  guessed.  "  Something  in  the  rumour !"  nods  this 
wig;  "Nothing!"  wags  that,  slightly  oscillating;  and  gazetteers, 
v/ho  would  earn  their  wages,  and  have  a  peck  of  coals  apiece 
to  glad  them  in  the  cold  weather,  had  to  watch  with  all  eager- 
ness the  movements  of  King  August,  our  poor  old  friend,  the 
Dilapidated-Strong,  who  is  in  Saxony  at  present  ;  but  bound 
for  Warsaw  shortly, — just  about  lifting  the  curtain  on  import- 
ant events,  it  is  thought  and  not  thought.  Here  are  the  cer- 
tainties of  it,  now  clear  enough,  so  far  as  they  deserve  a  glance 
from  us. 

January  loth,  1733,  August  the  Dilapidated-Strong  of  Po- 
land has  been  in  Saxony,  looking  after  his  poor  Electorate  a 
little  ;  and  is  on  the  road  from  Dresden  homewards  again  ; — 
will  cross  a  corner  of  the  Prussian  Dominions,  as  his  wont  is 
on  such  occasions.  Prussian  Majesty,  if  not  appearing  in  per- 
son, will  as  usual,  by  some  Official  of  rank,  send  a  polite  Well, 
speed-you  as  the  brother  Majesty  passes.    This  time,  however- 

"^  Forster,  ii.  153. 


124  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

nth  Jan.  1733. 

it  was  more  than  politeness  ;  the  Polish  Majesty  having,  as 
was  thought,  such  intricate  affairs  in  the  wind.  Let  Grumkow, 
the  fittest  man  in  all  ways,  go,  and  do  the  greeting  to  his  old 
Patroon  :  greeting,  or  whatever  else  may  be  needed. 

Patroon  left  Dresden, — '  having  just  opened  the  Carnival' 
or  fashionable  Season  there,  opened  and  nothing  more, — Janu- 
ary loth,  1733  ;^  being  in  haste  home  for  a  Polish  Diet  close 
at  hand.  On  which  same  day  Grumkow,  we  suppose,  drives 
forth  from  Berlin,  to  intersect  him,  in  the  Neumark,  about 
Crossen  ;  and  have  a  friendly  word  again,  in  those  localities, 
over  jolly  wine.  Intersection  took  place  duly; — there  was 
exuberant  joy  on  the  part  of  the  Patroon  ;  and  such  a  dinner 
and  night  of  drinking,  as  has  seldom  been.  Abstruse  things 
lie  close  ahead  of  August  the  Dilapidated-Strong,  iinportant  to 
Prussia,  and  for  which  Prussia  is  important ;  let  Grumkow  try 
if  he  can  fish  the  matter  into  clearness  out  of  these  wine-cups. 
And  then  August,  on  his  side,  wishes  to  know  what  the  Kaiser 
said  at  Kladrup  lately ;  there  is  much  to  be  fished  into  clearness. 

Many  are  the  times  August  the  Strong  has  made  this  jour- 
ney; many  are  the  carousals,  on  such  and  other  occasions,! 
Grumkow  and  he  have  had.  But  there  comes  an  end  to  all 
things.  This  was  their  last  meeting,  over  flowing  liquor  or 
otherwise,  in  the  world.  Satirical  History  says,  they  drank  all 
night,  endeavouring  to  pump  one  another,  and  with  such  en- 
thusiasm that  they  never  recovered  it ;  drank  themselves  to 
death  at  Crossen  on  that  occasion.^  It  is  certain  August  died 
within  three  weeks  ;  and  people  said  of  Grumkow,  who  lived 
six  years  longer,  he  was  never  well  after  this  bout.  Is  it  worth 
any  human  creature's  while  to  look  into  the  plans  of  this  pre- 
cious pair  of  individuals  ?  Without  the  least  expense  of  drink- 
ing, the  secrets  they  were  pumping  out  of  each  other  are  now 
accessible  enough, — if  it  were  of  importance  now.  One  glance 
I  may  perhaps  commend  to  the  reader,  out  of  these  multi- 
farious Notebooks  in  my  possession  : 

'  August,  by  change  of  his  religion,  and  other  sad  operations,  got 
'  to  be  what  they  called  the  King  of  Poland,  thirty-five  years  ago;  but, 
'  though  looking  glorious  to  the  idle  public,  it  has  been  a  crown  of 
'  stinging-nettles  to  the  jioor  man, — a  sedan-chair  ninning  on  rapidly, 
'  with  the  bottom  Inoken  out !  To  say  nothing  of  the  scourgings  he 
'  got,  and  poor  .Saxony  along  with  him,  from  Charles  XIL,  on  account 

'  Fassmann,  Lelvit  J''>ieiirich  August! des  Grossot,  p.  994. 
■■I  Uiuvri's  lie  Frfdiric  {^Mimoires  de  lirajidebourg),  i.  163. 


Chap.  Vt.  GREAT  THINGS   FOR  POLAND.  125 

nth  Jan.  1733. 
of  this  Sovereignty  so-called,  what  has  the  thing  itself  been  to  him? 
In  Poland,  for  these  thirty-five  years,  the  individual  who  had  least  of 
his  real  will  done  in  public  matters  has  been,  with  infinite  manage- 
ment, and  display  of  such  goodhumour  as  at  least  deserves  credit,  the . 
nominal  Sovereign  Majesty  of  Poland.  Anarchic  Grandees  have  been 
kings  over  him  ;  ambitious,  contentious,  unmanageable ; — veiy  fanati- 
cal too,  and  never  persuaded  that  August's  Apostasy  was  more  than 
a  sham  one,  not  even  when  he  made  his  Prince  apostatise  too.  Their 
Sovereignty  has  been  a  mere  peck  of  troubles,  disgraces  and  vexations  : 
for  those  thirty-five  years,  an  ever-boiling  pot  of  mutiny,  contradiction, 
insolence,  hardly  tolerable  even  to  such  nerves  as  August's. 

'  August,  for  a  long  time  back,  has  been  thinking  of  schemes  to 
clap  some  lid  upon  all  that.  To  make  the  Sovereignty  hereditary  in 
his  Plouse:  that,  with  the  good  Saxon  troops  we  have,  would  be  a 
remedy; — and  in  fact  it  is  the  only  remedy.  John  Casimir  (who  ab- 
dicated long  ago,  in  the  Great  Elector's  time,  and  went  to  Paris, — 
much  charmed  with  Ninon  de  I'Enclos  there)  told  the  Polish  Diets, 
With  their /?7'£';-«;«  veto,  and  "right  of  confederation"  and  rebellion, 
they  would  bring  the  country  down  under  the  feet  of  mankind,  and 
reduce  their  Republic  to  zero  one  day,  if  they  persisted.  They  have 
not  failed  to  persist.  With  some  hereditary  King  over  it,  and  a  re- 
gulated Saxony  to  lean  upon:  truly  might  it  not  be  a  change  to  the 
better?  To  the  worse,  it  could  hardly  be,  thinks  August  the  Strong; 
and  goes  intent  upon  that  method,  this  long  while  back; — and  at 
length  hopes  now,  in  few  days  longer,  at  the  Diet  just  assembling,  to 
see  fruits  appear,  and  the  thing  actually  begin. 

'  The  difficulties  truly  are  many ;  internal  and  external : — but  there 
are  calculated  methods,  too.  For  the  internal :  Get-up,  by  bribery, 
persuasion,  some  visible  minority  to  countenance  you ;  M'ith  these 
manoeuvre  in  the  Diets ;  on  the  back  of  these,  the  30,000  Saxon  troops. 
But  then  what  will  the  neighbouring  Kings  say?  The  neighbouring 
Kings,  with  their  big-mouthed  manifestos,  pities  for  an  oppressed 
Republic,  overwhelming  forces,  and  invitations  to  "confederate"  and 
revolt :  without  their  tolerance  first  had,  nothing  can  be  done.  That 
is  the  external  difficulty.  For  which  too  there  is  a  remedy.  Cut-off 
sufficient  outlying  slices  of  Poland ;  fling  these  to  the  neighbouring 
Kings  to  produce  consent :  Partition  of  Poland,  in  fact ;  large  sections 
of  its  Territory  sliced  away :  that  will  be  the  method,  thinks  King 
August. 

'  Neighbouring  Kings,  Kaiser,  Prassia,  Russia,  to  them  it  is  not 
giievous  that  Poland  should  remain  in  perennial  anarchy,  in  perennial 
impotence ;  the  reverse  rather :  a  dead  horse,  or  a  dying,  in  the  next 
stall, — he  at  least  will  not  kick  upon  us,  think  the  neighbouring 
Kings.  And  yet, — under  another  similitude, — you  do  not  like  your 
next-door  neighbour  to  be  always  on  the  point  of  catching  fire  ;  smoke 
issuing,  thicker  or  thinner,  through  the  slates  of  his  roof,  as  a  per- 
ennial phenomenon?    August  will  conciliate  the  neighbouring  Kings. 


126  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         rooUix. 

nth  Jan.  1733. 
'  Russia,  l)ig-clieeked  Anne  Czarina  there,  shall  have  not  only  Courland 
'  peaceably  henceforth,  but  the  Ukraine,  Lithuania,  and  other  large  out- 
'  lying  slices;  that  surely  will  conciliate  Russia.  To  Austria,  on  its 
^ '  Hungarian  border,  let  us  give  the  Country  of  Zips ; — nay  there  are 
'  other  sops  we  have  for  Austria.  Pragmatic  Sanction,  hitherto  refused 
'  as  contrary  to  plain  rights  of  ours, — that,  if  conceded  to  a  spectre- 
'  hunting  Kaiser?  To  Friedrich  Wilhelm  we  could  give  West-Preussen ; 
'  West-Preussen  torn-away  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  leaving  a 
'  hiatus  in  the  very  continuity  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm  :  would  not  that 
'  conciliate  hirn?  Of  all  enemies  or  friends,  Friedrich  W^ilhelm,  close 
'  at  hand  with  80,000  men  capable  of  fighting  at  a  week's  notice,  is  by 
'  far  the  most  important. 

'  These  are  August's  plans :  West-Preussen  for  the  nearest  Neigh- 
'  bour ;  Zips  for  Austria ;  Ukraine,  Lithuania,  and  appendages  for  the 
'  Russian  Czarina:  handsome  Sections  to  be  sliced  off,  and  flung  to 
'  good  neighbours;  as  it  were,  all  the  outlying  limbs  and  wings  of  the 
'  Polish  Territory  sliced  off;  compact  body  to  remain,  and  become,  by 
'  means  of  August  and  Saxon  troops,  a  Kingdom  with  government,  not 
'  an  imaginary  Republic  without  government  any  longer.  In  fapt,  it 
'  was  the  "  Partition  of  Poland,"  such  as  took  effect  forty  years  after, 
'  and  has  kept  the  Newspapers  weeping  ever  since.  Partition  of  Poland, 
'  — minus  the  compact  interior  held  under  government,  by  a  King  with 
'  Saxon  troops  or  otherwise.  Compact  interior,  in  that  effective  par- 
'  tition,  forty  years  after,  was  left  as  anarchic  as  ever ;  and  had  to  be 
'again  partitioned,  and  cut-away  altogether, — with  new  torrents  of 
'  loud  tears  from  the  Newspapers,  refusing  to  be  comforted  to  this  day. 

'  It  is  not  said  that  Friedrich  Wilhelm  had  the  least  intention  of 
'  countenancing  August  in  these  dangerous  operations,  still  less  of 
'  going  shares  with  August ;  but  he  wished  much,  through  Grumkow, 
'  to  have  some  glimpse  into  the  dim  program  of  them ;  and  August 
'  wished  much  to  know  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  and  Grumkow's  humour 
'  towards  them.  Grumkow  and  August  drank  copiously,  or  copiously 
'  pressed  drink  on  one  another,  all  night  (iith-i2tli  January  1733,  as  I 
'  compute;  some  say  at  Crossen,  some  say  at  Fraucndorf  a  royal  do- 
'  main  near  by),  with  the  view  of  mutually  fishing-out  those  secrets; — • 
'  and  killed  one  another  in  the  business,  as  is  rumoured.' 

What  were  Grumkow's  news  at  home-coming,  I  did  not 
licar  ;  but  he  continues  very  low  and  shaky  ; — refuses,  almost 
with  horror,  to  have  the  least  hand  in  Seckendorf  s  mad  pro- 
ject of  resuscitating  the  English  Double-Marriage,  and  break- 
ing-oft  the  Brunswick  one,  at  the  eleventh  hour  and  afterword 
pledged.  Seckendorf  himself  continues  to  dislike  and  dissuade  : 
but  the  High  Heads  at  Vienna  are  bent  on  it  ;  and  command 
new  strenuous  attempts; — literally  at  the  last  moment;  which 
is  now  come. 


Chap.vn.         CROWN-PRINCE'S   MARRIAGE.  127 

Jail.  1733- 

CHAPTER  VIJ. 
crown-prince's  marriage. 

Since  November  last,  Wilhelmina  is  on  visit  at  Berlin, — 
first  visit  since  her  marriage  ; — she  stays  there  for  almost  ten 
months  ;  not  under  the  happiest  auspices,  poor  child.  Mamma's 
reception  of  her,  just  off  the  long  winter  journey,  and  exten- 
uated with  fatigues  and  sickly  chagrins,  was  of  the  most  cut- 
ting cruelty  :  "  What  do  you  want  here  ?  What  is  a  mendicant 
like  you  come  hither  for  ?"  And  next  night,  when  Papa  him- 
self came  home,  it  was  little  better.  "Ha,  ha,"  said  he,  "here 
you  are  ;  I  am  glad  to  see  you."  Then  holding-up  a  light,  to 
take  view  of  me:  "  How  changed  you  are  !"  said  he  :  "  What 
is  little  Frederika"  (my  little  Baby  at  Baireuth)  "doing?"  And 
on  my  answering,  continued  :  "I  am  sorry  for  you,  on  my 
"  word.  You  have  not  bread  to  eat ;  and  but  for  me  you 
"  might  go  begging.  I  am  a  poor  man  myself,  not  able  to 
"  give  you  much  ;  but  I  will  do  what  I  can.  I  will  give  you 
"  now  and  then  a  twenty  or  a  thirty  shillings  {par  dix  ou  doiize 
"florins),  as  my  affairs  permit  :  it  will  always  be  something 
"  to  assuage  your  want.  And  you,  Madam,"  said  he,  turning 
to  the  Queen,  "  You  will  sometimes  give  her  an  old  dress ;  for 
"  the  poor  child  hasn't  a  shift  to  her  back."i  This  rugged 
paternal  banter  was  taken  too  literally  by  Wilhelmina,  in  her 
weak  state  ;  and  she  was  like  '  to  burst  in  her  skin,'  poor 
Princess. 

So  that, — except  her  own  good  Hereditary  Prince,  who  was 
here,  '  over  from  Pasewalk'  and  his  regimental  duties,  waiting 
to  welcome  her  ;  in  whose  true  heart,  full  of  honest  human 
sunshine  towards  her,  she  could  always  find  shelter  and  de- 
fence,— native  Country  and  Court  offer  little  to  the  brave  Wil- 
helmina. Chagrins  enough  are  here :  chagrins  also  were  there. 
At  Baireuth  our  old  Father  Margraf  has  his  crotchets,  his  in- 
firmities and  outbreaks  ;  takes  more  and  more  to  liquor  ;  and 
does  always  keep  us  frightfully  bare  in  money.  No  help  from 
Papa  here,  either,  on  the  finance  side  ;  no  real  hope  anywhere 
(thinks  Seckendorf,  when  we  consult  him),  except  only  in  the 
Margraf 's  death  :  "  old  Margraf  will  soon  drink  himself  dead," 
thinks  Seckendorf;   "and  in  the  mean  while  there  is  Vienna, 

•  Wilhelmina,  ii.  85. 


128  APPRENTICESHIP.   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

Jan.  1733. 

and  a  noble  Kaiserinn  who  knows  her  friends  in  case  of  ex- 
tremity !"  thinks  he.-  Poor  Princess,  in  her  weak  shattered 
state,  she  has  a  heavy  time  of  it  ;  but  there  is  a  tough  spirit 
in  her  ;  bright,  sharp,  hke  a  swift  sabre,  not  to  be  quenched 
in  any  coil ;  but  always  cutting  its  way,  and  emerging  unsub- 
dued. 

One  of  the  blessings  reserved  for  her  here,  which  most  of 
all  concerns  us,  was  the  occasional  sight  of  her  Brother.  Bro- 
ther in  a  day  or  two^  ran  over  from  Ruppin,  on  short  leave, 
and  had  his  first  interview.  Very  kind  and  affectionate;  quite 
the  old  Brother  again ;  and  '  blushed'  when,  at  supper.  Mamma 
and  the  Princesses,  especially  that  wicked  Charlotte  (Papa  not 
present),  tore-up  his  poor  Bride  at  such  a  rate.  "  Has  not  a 
word  to  answer  you,  but  Yes  or  No"  said  they  ;  "  stupid  as  a 
block."  "  But  were  you  ever  at  her  toilette  ?"  said  the  wicked 
Charlotte:  "Out  of  shape,  completely:  considerable  waddings, 
I  promise  you  :  and  then"  —  still  worse  features,  from  that 
wicked  Charlotte,  in  presence  of  the  domestics  here.  Wicked 
Charlotte  ;  who  is  to  be  her  Sister-in-law  soon  ; — and  who  is 
always  flirting  with  my  Husband,  as  if  she  liked  that  better  ! 
— Crown-Prince  retired,  directly  after  supper;  as  did  I,  to  my 
apartment,  where  in  a  minute  or  two  he  joined  me. 

'To  the  question,  How  with  the  King  and  you?  he  answered, 
'  "  That  his  situation  was  changing  every  moment;  that  sometimes  he 
'  was  in  favour,  sometimes  in  disgrace ; — that  his  chief  happiness  con- 
'  sisted  in  absence.  That  he  led  a  soft  and  tranquil  life  with  his  Regi- 
'  ment  at  Ruppin ;  study  and  music  his  principal  occupations ;  he  had 
'  built  himself  a  House  there,  and  laid-out  a  Garden,  where  he  could 
'  read,  and  walk  about."  Then  as  to  his  Bride,  I  begged  him  to  tell 
'  me  candidly  if  the  portrait  the  Queen  and  my  Sister  had  been  making 
'  of  her  was  the  true  one.  "  We  are  alone,"  replied  he,  '  and  I  will 
'  conceal  nothing  from  you.  The  Queen,  by  her  miserable  intrigues, 
'  has  been  the  source  of  our  misfortunes.  Scarcely  were  you  gone 
'  when  she  began  again  with  England ;  wished  to  substitute  our  Sister 
'  Charlotte  for  you ;  would  have  had  me  undertake  to  contradict  the 
'  King's  will  again,  and  flatly  refuse  the  Brunswick  Match ; — which  I 
'  declined.  That  is  the  source  of  her  venom  against  this  poor  Princess. 
'  As  to  the  young  Lady  herself,  I  do  not  hate  her  so  much  as  I  pretend ; 
'  I  affect  complete  dislike,  that  tlic  King  may  value  my  obedience  more. 
'  .She  is  pretty,  a  complexion  lily-and-rose ;  her  features  delicate ;  face 

*  Wilhelmina,  ii.  8i-iii. 

3  '  i8th  November,'  she  says;  which  date  is  wrong,  if  it  were  of  moment  (see 
CEiivres  de  Friddric,  xxvii.  part  ist,  where  their  Correspondence  is). 


ciM)..  vu.  CROWN-PRINCK'S   MAKRIAGP:.  129 

Sill  June  i7.?3. 

'  altogether  of  a  beautiful  jierson.  'i'rue,  she  lias  no  breeding,  and 
'  dresses  very  ill :  but  I  flatter  myself,  when  she  comes  hither,  you  will 
'  have  the  goodness  to  take  her  in  hand.  I  recommend  her  to  you, 
'  my  dear  Sister;  and  beg  your  protection  for  her."  It  is  easy  to  judge, 
'  my  answer  would  be  such  as  he  desired.'' 

For  which  small  glimpse  of  the  fact  itself,  at  first-hand, 
across  a  whirlwind  of  distracted  rumours  new  and  old  about 
the  fact,  let  us  be  thankful  to  Wilhelmina.  Seckendorf's  hope- 
less attempts  to  resuscitate  extinct  English  things,  and  make 
the  Prussian  Majesty  break  his  word,  continue  to  the  very  last ; 
but  are  worth  no  notice  from  us.  Grumkow's  Drinking-bout 
with  the  Dilapidated-Strong  at  Crossen,  which  follows  now  in 
January,  has  been  already  noticed  by  us.  And  the  Dilapi- 
dated-Strong's farewell  ne.xt  morning.  "  Adieu,  dear  Grum- 
kow  ;  I  think  I  shall  not  see  you  again  !"  as  he  rolled-off 
towards  Warsaw  and  the  Diet, — will  require  farther  notice  ; 
but  must  stand-over  till  this  Marriage  be  got  clone.  Of  which 
latter  Event, — Wilhelmina  once  more  kindling  the  old  dark 
Books  into  some  light  for  us, — -the  essential  particulars  are 
briefly  as  follows. 

Monday  8th  June  1733,  the  Crown-Prince  is  again  over 
fromRuppin:  King,  Queen  and  Crown-Prince  are  rendezvoused 
at  Potsdam;  and  they  set-off  with  due  retinues  towards  Wolfen- 
biittel,  towards  Salzdahlum  the  Ducal  Schloss  there  ;  Sister 
Wilhelmina  sending  blessings,  if  she  had  them,  on  a  poor  Bro- 
ther in  such  interesting  circumstances.  Mamma  was  '  plunged 
in  black  melancholy;'  King  not  the  least;  in  the  Crown-Prince 
nothing  particular  to  be  remarked.  They  reached  Salzdahluin, 
Duke  Ludwig  Rudolf  the  Grandfather's  Palace, — one  of  the 
finest  Palaces,  with  Gardens,  with  Antiques,  with  Picture-Gal- 
leries  no-end  ;  a  mile  or  two  from  Wolfenbiittel  ;  built  by  old 
Anton  Ulrich,  and  still  the  ornament  of  those  parts  : — reached 
Salzdahlum,  Wednesday  the  loth  ;  where  Bride,  with  leather. 
Mother,  much  more  Grandfather,  Grandmother,  and  all  the 
sublimities  interested,  are  waiting  in  the  highest  gala  ;  Wed- 
ding to  be  on  Friday  next. 

Friday  morning,  this  incident  fell  out,  notable  and  some- 
what contemptible  :  Seckendorf,  who  is  of  the  retinue,  follow- 
ing his  bad  trade,  visits  his  Majesty  who  is  still  in  bed  : — 
"Pardon,  your  Majesty  :  what  shall  I  say  for  excuse?      Here 

••  Wilhelmina,  ii.  89. 
vol .  III.  K 


I30  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

i2th  June  1733. 

is  a  Letter  just  come  from  A'ienna  ;  in  Prince  Eugene's  hand; 
— Prince  Eugene,  or  a  Higher,  will  say  something,  while  it  is 
still  time  !"  Majesty,  not  in  impatience,  reads  the  little  Prince's 
and  the  Kaiser's  Letter.  "Give-up  this,  we  entreat  you  for 
the  last  time  ;  marry  with  England  after  all !"  Majesty  reads, 
quiet  as  a  lamb ;  lays  the  Letter  under  his  pillow ;  will  himself 
answer 'it  ; — and  does  straightway,  with  much  simple  dignity, 
to  the  effect,  "  For  certain,  Never,  my  always  respected 
Prince  \"°  Seckendorf,  having  thus  shot  his  last  bolt,  does  not 
stay  many  hours  longer  at  Salzdahlum  ;  —  may  as  well  quit 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  altogether,  for  any  good  he  will  henceforth 
do  upon  him.  This  is  the  one  incident  between  the  Arrival  at 
Salzdahlum  and  the  Wedding  there. 

Same  Friday  12th  June  1733,  at  a  more  advanced  hour, 
the  Wedding  itself  took  effect ;  Wedding  which,  in  spite  of  the 
mad  rumours  and  whispers,  in  the  Newspapers,  Diplomatic 
Despatches  and  elsewhere,  went  off,  in  all  respects,  precisely 
as  other  weddings  do;  a  quite  human  Wedding  now  and  after- 
wards. Officiating  Clergyman  was  the  Reverend  Herr  Mosheim : 
readers  know  with  approval  the  Ecclesiastical  Hi'story  of  Mo- 
sheim :  he,  in  the  beautiful  Chapel  of  the  Schloss,  with  Ma- 
jesties and  Brunswick  Sublimities  looking  on,  performed  the 
ceremony  :  and  Crown-Prince  Friedrich  of  Prussia  has  fairly 
wedded  the  Serene  Princess  Elizabeth  Christina  of  Brunswick- 
Bevern,  age  eighteen  coming,  manners  rather  awkward,  com- 
plexion lily-and-rose  ; — and  History  is  right  glad  to  have  done 
with  the  wearisome  affair,  and  know  it  settled  on  any  tolerable 
terms  whatever.  Here  is  a  Note  of  Friedrich's  to  his  dear 
Sister,  which  has  been  preserved  : 

To  Princess  Willielmina  of  Baircicih,  at  Berlin. 

'  Salzdahlum,  Noon,  12th  June  1733. 

'My  dera-  Sister, — A  minute  since,  the  whole  Ceremony  was  got 
'  finished  ;  and  God  be  praised  it  is  over !  I  hope  you  will  lake  it  as 
'  a  mark  of  my  friendship  that  I  give  you  the  fust  ncAvs  of  it. 

'  I  hope  I  shall  have  the  honour  to  see  you  again  soon ;  and  to  as- 
'  sure  you,  my  dear  Sister,  that  I  am  wholly  yours  [font  ti  tw/s).  I 
'  \\v\ic  in  great  haste;  an  1  add  nothing  that  is  merely  formal.   Adieu.* 

'  Flit^^DIiRIC.' 

*  Account  of  the  Interview  by  Seckendorf,  in  FiJrster,  iii.  143-155;  Copy  of  the 
Answer  itself  is  in  the  Slate-Paper  Oflice  here, 
**  QLuvres,  xxvii.  part  1st,  p.  9. 


Chap.  VII.         CROWN-PRINCE'S   MARRIAGE.  131 

i2th-27th  June  1733. 

One  Keyscrling,  the  Prince's  favourite  gentleman,  came 
over  express,  with  this  Letter  and  the  more  private  news ;  Wil- 
helmina  being  full  of  anxieties.  Keyserling  said.  The  Prince 
was  inwardly  'well  content  with  his  lot;  though  he  had  kept- 
'  up  the  old  farce  to  the  last ;  and  pretended  to  be  in  frightful 
'  humour,  on  the  very  morning  ;  bursting-out  upon  his  valets 
'  in  the  King's  presence,  who  reproved  him,  and  looked  rather 
'  pensive,' — recognising,  one  hopes,  what  a  sacrifice  it  was. 
The  Queen's  Majesty,  Keyserling  reported,  '  was  charmed  with 
'  the  style  and  ways  of  the  Brunswick  Court ;  but  could  not 
'  endure  the  Princess-Royal'  (new  Wife),  '  and  treated  the  two 
'  Duchesses  like  dogs  {comnic  des  chieiis).'~  Reverend  Abbot 
I\Iosheim  (such  his  title  ;  Head  Churchman,  theological  chief 
of  Helmstadt  University  in  those  parts,  with  a  couple  of  ex- 
tinct little  Abbacies  near  by,  to  help  his  stipend)  preached  next 
Sunday,  '  On  the  Marriage  of  the  Righteous,' — felicitous  ap- 
propriate Sermon,  said  a  grateful  public  f — and  in  short,  at 
Salzdahlum  all  goes,  if  not  as  merry  as  some  marriage-bells, 
yet  without  jarring  to  the  ear. 

On  Tuesday,  both  the  Majesties  set-out  towards  Potsdam 
again;  'where  his  Majesty,' having  business  waiting,  'arrived 
some  time  before  the  Queen.'  Thither  also,  before  the  week 
ends,  Crown-Prince  Friedrich  with  his  Bride,  and  all  the  Se- 
renities of  Brunswick  escorting,  are  upon  the  road, — duly  de- 
tained by  complimentary  harangues,  tedious  scenic  evolutions 
at  Magdeburg  and  the  intervening  Towns  ; — grand  entrance  of 
the  Princess-Royal  into  Berlin  is  not  till  the  27th,  last  day  of 
the  week  following.  That  was  such  a  day  as  Wilhelmina 
never  saw  ;  no  sleep  the  night  before  ;  no  breakfast  can  one 
taste  :  between  Charlottenburg  and  Berlin,  there  is  a  review  of 
unexampled  splendour  ;  '  above  eighty  carriages  of  us,'  and 
only  a  tent  or  two  against  the  flaming  June  sun  :  think  of  it  ! 
Review  begins  at  four  a.m.; — -poor  W'ilhelmina  thought  she 
would  verily  have  died,  of  heat  and  thirst  and  hunger,  in  the 
crowded  tent,  under  the  flaming  June  sun  ;  before  the  Review 
could  end  itself,  and  march  into  Berlin,  trumpeting  and  salvo- 
ing,  with  the  Princess-Royal  at  the  head  of  it.^ 

Of  v\hich  grand  flaming  day,  and  of  the  unexampled  balls 
and  effulgent  festivities  that  followed,  '  all  Berlin  ruining  itself 

7  Wilhelmina,  ii.  114. 

*  Text,  Psahn  xcii.  12;  'Sermon  printed  in  Mosheim's  Works' 

8  Wilhelmina,  ii.  127-129. 


132  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

25th  June-2d  July  1733. 

in  dresses  and  equipages,'  we  will  say  nothing  farther ;  but  give 
only,  what  may  still  have  some  significance  for  readers,  Wilhel- 
mina's  Portrait  of  the  Princess-Royal  on  their  first  meeting, 
which  had  taken  place  at  Potsdam  two  days  before.  The  Prin- 
cess-Royal had  arrived  at  Potsdam  too,  on  that  occasion,  aci'oss 
a  grand  Review ;  Majesty  himself  riding  out,  Majesty  and 
Crown-Prince,  who  had  preceded  her  a  little,  to  usher-in  the 
poor  young  creature  ; — Thursday  June  25th  1733  • 

'  The  King  led  her  into  the  Queen's  Apartment ;  then  seeing,  after 
'  she  had  saluted  us  all,  that  she  was  much  heated  and  dispowdered 
'  [dcpoiidi-cc),  he  bade  my  Brother  take  her  to  her  own  room.  I  followed 
'  them  thither.  My  Brother  said  to  her,  introducing  me:  "This  is  a 
'  Sister  I  adore,  and  am  obliged  to  beyond  measure.  She  has  had  the 
'  goodness  to  promise  me  that  she  will  take  care  of  you,  and  help  you 
'  with  her  good  counsel;  I  wish  you  to  respect  her  beyond  even  the  King 
'  and  Queen,  and  not  to  take  the  least  step  without  her  advice:  do  you 
'  understand  ?"  I  embraced  the  Princess-Royal,  and  gave  her  every 
'  assurance  of  my  attachment;  but  she  remained  like  a  statue,  not  ans- 
'  wering  a  word.  Her  people  not  being  come,  I  repowdered  her  myself, 
•  '  and  readjusted  her  dress  a  little,  without  the  least  sign  of  thanks  from 
'  her,  or  any  answer  to  all  my  caressings.  My  Brother  got  impatient  at 
'  last;  and  said  aloud:  "Devil's  in  the  blockhead  {Pcstc  soit  de  la  Mtc): 
'  thank  my  Sister,  then  !"  She  made  me  a  curtsy,  on  the  model  of  that 
'  of  Agnes  in  the  Ecole  des  Femmes.  I  took  her  back  to  the  Queen's 
'  Apartment;  little  edified  by  such  a  display  of  talent. 

'  The  Princess-Royal  is  tall;  her  figure  is  not  fine:  stooping  slightly, 
'  or  hanging  forward,  as  she  walks  or  stands,  which  gives  her  an  awk- 
'  ward  air.  Her  complexion  is  of  dazzling  whiteness,  heightened  i)y  the 
'  liveliest  colours:  her  eyes  are  pale  blue,  and  not  of  much  promise  for 
'  spiritual  gifts.  Mouth  small;  features  generally  small, — dainty  {inig- 
'  nous)  rather  than  beautiful: — and  the  countenance  altogether  is  so 
'  innocent  and  infantine,  you  would  think  this  head  belonged  to  a  child 
'  of  twelve.  Her  hair  is  blond,  plentiful,  curling  in  natural  locks. 
'  Teeth  are  unhappily  very  bad,  black  and  ill-set;  which  are  a  disfigure- 
'  nient  in  this  fine  face.  She  has  no  manners,  nor  the  least  vestige  of 
'  tact;  has  much  difficulty  in  speaking,  and  making  herself  understood: 
'  for  most  part  you  are  obliged  to  guess  what  she  means;  which  is  very 
'  cmV)arrassing.  '"* 

The  Berlin  gaieties, — for  Karl,  Mcir-Apparcnt  of  Bruns- 
wick, brother  to  this  Princess-Royal,  wedded  his  Charlotte, 
too,  about  a  week  hence,^^ — did  not  end,  and  the  serene  Guests 
disappear,  till  far  on  in  July.  After  which  an  Inspection  with 
Papa  ;   and  then  Fricdrich  got  back  to  Ruppin  and  his  old  way 

'"  ^\'illu■llnilla,  ii.  iiy-i2i.  "   2d  July  1733. 


Chap.vir.         CROWN-PRINCE'S   MARRIAGE.  133 

July-Scpt.  1733. 

of  life  there.  Intrinsically  the  old  studious,  quietly  diligent  way 
of  life  ;  varied  by  more  frequent  excursions  to  Berlin  ; — where 
as  yet  the  Princess-Royal  usually  resides,  till  some  tit  residence 
be  got  ready  in  the  Ruppin  Country  for  a  wedded  Crown-Prince 
and  her. 

The  young  Wife  had  an  honest  guileless  heart;  if  little  arti- 
culate intellect,  considerable  inarticulate  sense  ;  did  not  fail  to 
learn  tact,  perpendicular  attitude,  speech  enough  ; — and  I  hope 
kept  well  clear  of  pouting  {/aire  lafdclide),  a  much  more  dan- 
gerous rock  for  her.  With  the  gay  temper  of  eighteen,  and  her 
native  loyalty  of  mind,  she  seems  to  have  shaped  herself  suc- 
cessfully to  the  Prince's  taste  ;  and  growing  yearly  gracefuler 
and  better-looking,  was  an  ornament  and  pleasant  addition  to 
his  Ruppin  existence.  These  first  seven  years,  spent  at  Ber- 
lin or  in  the  Ruppin  cjuarter,  she  always  regarded  as  the  flower 
of  her  life.  12 

Papa,  according  to  promise,  has  faithfully  pi'ovided  a  Crown- 
Prince  Palace  at  Berlin  ;  all  trimmed  and  furnished,  for  occa- 
sional residences  there  ;  the  late  '  Government  House'  (origin- 
ally Schomberg  House),  new-built, — which  is,  to  this  day,  one 
of  the  distinguished  Palaces  of  Berlin.  Princess-Royal  had 
Schonhausen  given  her  ;  a  pleasant  Royal  Mansion  some  miles 
out  of  Berlin,  on  the  Ruppin  side.  Furthermore,  the  Prince- 
Royal,  being  now  a  wedded  man,  has,  as  is  customary  in 
such  case,  a  special  A7nt  (Government  District)  set  apart  for 
his  support  ;  the  "Amt  of  Ruppin,"  where  his  business  lies. 
What  the  exact  revenues  of  Ruppin  are,  is  not  communicated  ; 
but  we  can  justly  fear  they  were  far  too  frugal, — and  excused 
the  underhand  borrowing,  which  is  evident  enough  as  a  pain- 
ful shadow  in  the  Prince's  life  henceforth.  He  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  wasteful ;  but  he  borrows  all  round,  under  seven- 
fold secrecy,  from  benevolent  Courts,  from  Austria,  Russia,  Eng- 
land :  and  the  only  pleasant  certainty  we  notice  in  such  painful 
business  is,  that,  on  his  Accession,  he  pays  with  exactitude, — 
sends  his  Uncle  George  of  England,  for  example,  the  complete 
amount  in  rouleaus  of  new  coin,  by  the  first  courier  that 
goes.i^ 

A  thought  too  frugal,  his  Prussian  Majesty:  but  he  means 
to  be  kind,  bountiful ;  and  occasionally  launches-out  into  hand- 

■'i  Biisching  (Autobiography,  Beytrcige,  vi.)  heard  her  say  so,  in  advanced  years. 
'^  Despatch  (of  adjacent  date)  in  the  State-Paper  Office  here. 


134  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.         Book  ix. 

July-Sept.  1733. 

some  munificence.  This  very  Autumn,  hearing  that  the  Crown- 
Prince  and  his  Princess  fancied  Reinsberg,  an  old  Castle  in 
their  Amt  Ruppin,  some  miles  north  of  them, — his  Majesty, 
without  word  spoken,  straightway  purchased  Reinsberg,  Schloss 
and  Territory,  from  the  owner  ;  gave  it  to  his  Crown -Prince, 
and  gave  him  money  to  new-build  it  according  to  his  mind.^* 
Which  the  Crown-Prince  did  with  much  interest,  under  very 
wise  architectural  advice,  for  the  next  three  years  ;  then  went 
into  it,  to  reside  ; — yet  did  not  cease  new-building,  improving, 
artistically  adorning,  till  it  became  in  all  points  the  image  of 
his  taste. 

A  really  handsome  princely  kind  of  residence,  that  of  Reins- 
berg : — got-up  with  a  thrift  that  most  of  all  astonishes  us.  In 
which  improved  locality  we  shall  by  and  by  look  in  upon  him 
again.  For  the  present  we  must  to  Warsaw,  where  tragedies 
and  troubles  are  in  the  wind,  which  turn  out  to  be  not  quite 
without  importance  to  the  Crown-Prince  and  us. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

KING  AUGUST  DIES  ;    AND  POLAND  TAKES  FIRE. 

Meanwhile,  over  at  Warsaw,  there  has  an  Event  fallen 
out.  Friedrich,  writing  rapidly  from  vague  reminiscence,  as 
he  often  does,  records  it  as  '  during  the  marriage  festivities  ;'^ 
but  it  was  four  good  months  earlier.  Event  we  must  now  look 
at  for  a  moment. 

In  the  end  of  January  last,  we  left  Gnmikow  in  a  low  and 
hypochondriacal  state,  much  shaken  by  that  drinking-bout  at 
Crossen,  when  the  Polish  Majesty  and  he  were  so  anxious  to 
pump  one  another,  by  copious  priming  with  Hungary  wine. 
About  a  fortnight  after,  in  the  first  days  of  February  following 
(day  is  not  given),  Grumkow  reported  something  curious.  '  In 
'  my  presence,'  says  Wilhclmina,  '  and  that  of  forty  persons,'  for 
the  thing  was  much  talked  about,  '  Grumkow  said  to  the  King 
'  one  morning  :  "  Ah  Sire,  I  am  in  despair  ;  the  poor  Patroon  is 
'  dead  !  I  was  lying  broad  awake,  last  night :  all  on  a  sudden, 
'  the  curtains  of  my  bed  (lew  asunder  :  I  saw  him  ;  he  was  in 
'  a  shroud  :  he  gazed  fixedly  at  me  :  I  tried  to  start  up,  being 
'  dreadfully  taken-;  but  the  phantom  disappeared."  '   Here  was 

'*  2;^d  Oct.  1733 — i6th  March  1734  (Freuss,  i.  75). 
'  (.Eiivres  \Mem.  de  Brartdebourg),  \.  163. 


Chap.  VIII.  KING  AUGUST   DIES.  135 

ist  Feb.-5lh  Oct.  1733. 

an  illustrious  ghost-story  for  Berlin,  in  a  day  or  two  when  the 
Courier  came.  '  Died  at  the  very  time  of  the  phantom;  Death 
and  phantom  were  the  same  night,'  say  Wilhelmina  and  the 
miraculous  Berlin  public, — but  do  not  say  luJiat  night  for  either 
of  them  it  was. 2  By  help  of  which  latter  circumstance  the  phan- 
tom becomes  reasonably  unmiraculous  again,  in  a  nervous 
system  tremulous  from  drink.  '  They  had  been  sad  at  part- 
'  ing,'  Wilhelmina  says,  'having  drunk  immensities  of  Hun- 
'  gary  w-ine  ;  the  Patroon  almost  weeping  over  his  Grumkow : 
'  "  Adieu,  my  dear  Grumkow,"  said  he  ;  "  I  shall  never  see 
•  you  more  !"  ' 

Miraculous  or  not,  the  catastrophe  is  true :  August,  the  once 
Physically  Strong,  lies  dead  ; — and  there  will  be  no  Partition 
of  Poland  for  the  present.  He  had  the  Diet  ready  to  assemble  ; 
waiting  for  him,  at  Warsaw;  and  good  trains  laid  in  the  Diet, 
capable  of  fortunate  explosion  under  a  good  engineer.  En- 
gineer, alas !  The  Grumkow  drinking-bout  had  awakened  that 
old  sore  in  his  foot :  he  came  to  Warsaw,  eager  enough  for  busi- 
ness ;  but  with  his  stock  of  strength  all  out,  and  Death  now 
close  upon  him.  The  Diet  met,  26th-27th  January  ;  engineer 
all  alert  about  the  good  trains  laid,  and  the  fortunate  explod- 
ing of  them  ;  when,  almost  on  the  morrow, — "Inflammation 
has  come  on  !"  said  the  Doctors,  and  were  futile  to  help  far- 
ther. The  strong  body,  and  its  life,  was  done  ;  and  nothing 
remained  but  to  call-in  the  Archbishop,  with  his  extreme  unc- 
tions and  soul-apparatus. 

August  made  no  moaning  or  recalcitrating  ;  took,  on  the 
prescribed  terms,  the  inevitable  that  had  come.  Has  been  a 
very  great  sinner,  he  confesses  to  the  Archbishop  :  "I  have 
not  at  present  strength  to  name  my  many  and  great  sins  to 
your  Reverence,"  said  he  ;  "I  hope  for  mercy  on  the" — on  the 
usual  rash  terms.  Terms  perhaps  known  to  August  to  be 
rash  ;  to  have  been  frightfully  rash  ;  but  what  can  he  now  do  ? 
Archbishop  thereupon  gives  absolution  of  his  sins;  Archbishop 
does, — a  baddish,  unlikely  kind  of  man,  as  August  well  knows. 
August  '  laid  his  hand  on  his  eyes,'  during  such  sad  absolution- 
mummery;  and  in  that  posture  had  breathed  his  last,  before 
it  was  well  over.''     Unhappy  soul ;  who  shall  judge  him  ? — 

2  Wilhelmina,  ii.  98.     Event  happened,  ist  February;  news  of  it  came  to  Berlin, 
4lh  February:  Fassmann  (p.  485);  Buchholz ;  &c. 

3  'Sunday  ist  February  1733,  quarter  past  4  a.m.'  (Fassmann,  I.eben  Frederici 
Aiigusti  Koni^s  in  Poklcii,  pp.  994-997). 


136  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Hookix. 

ist  Feb.-5lli  Oct.  1733. 

transcendent  King  of  edacious  Flunkies  ;  not  without  fine  quali- 
ties, which  he  turned  to  such  a  use  amid  the  temptations  of 
this  world  ! 

Poland  has  to  find  a  new  King. 

His  death  brought  vast  miseries  on  Poland  ;  kindled  fool- 
ish Europe  generally  into  fighting,  and  gave  our  Crown-Prince 
his  first  actual  sight  and  experience  of  the  facts  of  War.  For 
which  reason,  hardly  for  another,  the  thing  having  otherwise 
little  memorability  at  present,  let  us  give  some  brief  synopsis 
of  it,  the  briefer  the  better.  Here,  excerpted  from  multifarious 
old  Notebooks,  arc  some  main  heads  of  the  affair  : 

'  On  the  disappearance  of  August  the  Strong,  his  plans  of  Partition- 
ing Poland  disappeared  too,  and  his  fine  trains  in  the  Diet  abolished 
themselves.  The  Diet  had  now  nothing  to  do,  but  proclaim  the  com- 
ing Election,  giving  a  date  to  it ;  and  go  home  to  consider  a  little 
whom  they  would  elect.*  A  question  weighty  to  Poland.  And  not 
likely  to  be  settled  by  Poland  alone  or  chiefly;  the  sublime  Republic, 
with  liberum  veto,  and  Diets  capable  only  of  anarchic  noise,  having 
now  reached  such  a  stage  that  its  Neighbours  everywhere  stood  upon 
its  skirts;  asking,  "Whitherward,  then,  with  your  anarchy?  Not  this 
way; — we  say,  that  way  !" — and  were  apt  to  get  to  battle  about  it, 
before  such  a  thing  could  be  settled.  A  house,  in  your  street,  with 
perpetual  smoke  coming  through  the  slates  of  it,  is  not  a  pleasant 
house  to  be  neighbour  to  !  One  honest  interest  the  neighbours  have, 
in  an  Election  Crisis  there,  That  the  house  do  not  get  on  fire,  and 
kindle  them.  Dishonest  interests,  in  the  way  of  theft  and  otherwise, 
they  may  have  without  limit. 

'  The  poor  house,  during  last  Election  Crisis,- — when  August  the 
Strong  -was  flung  out,  and  Stanislaus  brought  in;  Crisis  presided  over 
by  Charles  XII.,  with  Czar  Peter  and  others  hanging  on  the  outskirts, 
as  Opposition  party, — fairly  got  into  flame ;•''  but  was  quenched  down 
•again  by  that  stout  Swede;  and  his  Stanislaus,  a  native  Pole,  was  left 
peaceably  as  King  for  the  years  then  running.  Years  ran;  and  Stanis- 
laus was  thrown  out,  Charles  himself  being  thrown  out;  and  had  to 
make  way  for  August  the  Strong  again: — an  ejected  Stanislaus:  King 
only  in  title;  known  to  most  readers  of  this  time." 

*  '  I nttnegnum  proclaimed,'  nth  February ;  Preliminary  Diet  to  meet  21st  April_ ; 
— meets  :  settles,  before  May  is  done,  that  the  Election  shall  be^n  25th  August :  it 
must  end  in  six  weeks  thereafter,  by  law  of  the  land. 

^  Description  of  it  in  Kohlcr,  Mu>izbelustipiiit;c)t,  vi.  228-230. 

••  Stanislaus  Lcsczin.sky,  '  VVoywode  of  I'osen,'  born  1677  :  King  of  Poland, 
Charles  XII.  superintending,  1704  (age  then  27);  driven  out  1709,  went  to  Charles 
XII.  at  Bender;  to  Zweibriick,  1714;  thence,  on  Chatles's  death,  to  Weissenburg 
(Alsace,  or  Str.islmrg  Country):  Daughter  married  to  Louis  XV.,  1725.  Age  now 
56.-  Iliihncr,  t.  07;  J/hioirc  lic  Stanislas  J,  Roi  rff /Wtf'.fw^  (English  Tr.tnslation, 
London,  174 1).  I'l'-  90-11:6;  &c. 


Chap.  Vlir.  KING  AUGUST   DIES.  137 

1st  Feb.-5lh  Oct.  1733. 

'  Poor  man,  he  has  been  living  in  Zweibriick,  in  \Vei.ssenburg  and 
such  places,  in  that  Debateable  French-German  region, — which  the 
French  are  more  and  more  getting  stolen  to  themselves,  in  late  cen- 
turies:— generally  on  the  outskirts  of  France  he  lives;  having  now 
connexions  of  the  highest  quality  with  France.  He  has  had  fine  Coun- 
try-houses in  that  Zweibriick  (  Tu<o-Budgc,  Deux-Ponts)  region  ;  had 
always  the  ghost  of  a  Court  there;  plenty  of  money,  —  a  sinecure 
Country -gentleman  life; — and  no  complaints  have  been  heard  from 
him.  Charles  XIL,  as  proprietor  of  Ueux-Ponts,  had  first  of  all  sent 
him  into  those  parts  for  refuge;  and  in  general,  easy  days  have  been 
the  lot  of  Stanislaus  there. 

'  Nor  has  History  spoken  of  him  since,  except  on  one  small  occa- 
sion: when  the  French  Politician  Gentlemen,  at  a  certain  crisis  of 
tlieir  game,  chose  a  Daughter  of  his  to  be  Wife  for  young  Louis  XV., 
and  bring  royal  progeny,  of  which  they  were  scarce.  This  was  in 
1724-5;  Due  de  Bourbon,  and  other  Politicians  male  and  female,  find- 
ing that  the  best  move.  A  thing  wonderful  to  the  then  Gazetteers, 
for  nine  days;  but  not  now  worth  much  talk.  The  good  young  Lady, 
it  is  well  known,  a  very  pious  creature,  and  sore  tried  in  her  new  sta- 
tion, did  bring  royal  progeny  enough, — and  might  as  well  have  held 
her  hand,  had  she  foreseen  what  would  become  of  them,  poor  souls ! 
This  was  a  great  event  for  Stanislaus,  the  sinecure  Country-gentleman, 
in  his  French-German  rustication.  One  other  thing  I  have  read  of 
him,  infinitely  smaller,  out  of  those  ten  years:  in  Zweibriick  Countiy, 
or  somewhere  in  that  French-German  region,  he  "built  a  pleasure- 
cottage,"  conceivable  to  the  mind,  "and  called  it  SchitJiflick  (Shoe- 
Patch),"' — a  name  that  touches  one's  fancy  on  behalf  of  the  innocent 
soul.  Other  fact  I  will  not  remember  of  him.  He  is  now  to  quit 
Shoe-Patch  and  his  pleasant  Weissenburg  Castle;  to  come  on  the 
public  stage  again,  poor  man;  and  suffer  a  second  season  of  mischances 
and  disgraces  still  worse  than  the  first.  As  we  shall  see  presently; — 
a  new  Polish  Election  Crisis  having  come  ! — 

'  What  individual  the  Polish  Grandees  would  have  chosen  for  King 
'  if  entirely  left  alone  to  do  it?  is  a  question  not  important;  and  indeed 
'  was  never  asked,  in  this  or  in  late  Elections.  Not  the  individual  who 
'  could  have  been  a  King  among  them  w^ere  they,  for  a  long  time  back, 
'  in  the  habit  of  seeking  after;  not  him,  but  another  and  indeed  reverse 
'kind  of  individual, — the  one  in  whom  there  \xy  raoiX  nourishment, 
'  nourishment  of  any  kind,  even  of  the  cash  kind,  for  a  practical  Polish 
'  Grandee.  So  that  the  question  was  no  longer  of  the  least  importance, 
'  to  Poland  or  the  Universe;  and  in  point  of  fact,  the  frugal  Destinies 
*  had  ceased  to  have  it  put,  in  that  quarter.  Not  Grandees  of  Poland; 
'but  Intrusive  Neighbours,  carrying  Grandees  of  Poland  "in  their 
'  breeches-pocket"  (as  our  phrase  is),  were  the  voting  parlies.   To  that 

7  Biisching,  Erdbeschreibiin^,  v.  1194. 


138  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.         Book  IX. 

ist  Feb.-5th  Oct.  1733. 
*  pass  it  was  come.  Under  such  stern  penalty  had  Poland  and  its 
'  Grandees  fallen,  by  dint  of  false  voting:  the  frugal  Destinies  had  ceased 
'  to  ask  about  their  vote;  and  they  were  become  machines  for  voting 
'  with,  or  pistols  for  lighting  with,  by  bad  Neighbours  who  cared  to 
'  vote  !  Nor  did  the  frugal  Destinies  consider  that  the  proper  method, 
'  either;  but  had,  as  we  shall  see,  determined  to  abolish  that  too,  in 
'  about  forty  years  more.' 

Of  the  Candidates  ;  of  the  Conditions.     How  the 
Elation  went. 

It  was  under  such  omens  'that  the  Polish  Election  of 
1733  had  to  transact  itself.  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  as  next 
Neighbours,  were  the  chief  voting  parties,  if  they  cared  to  in- 
trude ; — which  Austria  and  Russia  were  clear  for  doing;  Prussia 
not  clear,  or  not  beyond  the  indispensable  or  evidently  profit- 
able. Seckendorf,  and  one  Lovvenwolde  the  Russian  Ambas- 
sador at  Berlin,  had,  some  time  ago,  in  foresight  of  this  event, 
done  their  utmost  to  bring  Friedrich  VVilhelm  into  cooperation, 
— offering  fine  baits,  '  Berg  and  Jiilich'  again,  among  others  ; 
— but  nothing  definite  came  of  it  :  peaceable,  reasonably  safe 
Election  in  Poland,  other  interest  Friedrich  WilJielm  has  not 
in  the  matter  ;  and  compliance,  not  cooperation,  is  what  can 
be  expected  of  him  by  the  Kaiser  and  Czarina.  Cooperating 
or  even  complying,  these  Three  could  have  settled  it ;  and  would, 
— had  no  other  Neighbour  interfered.  But  other  neighbours 
can  interfere  ;  any  neighbour  that  has  money  to  spend,  or  likes 
to  bully  in  such  a  matter  !  And  that  proved  to  be  the  case, 
in  this  unlucky  instance. 

Austria  and  Russia,  with  Prussia  complying,  had, — a  year 
ago,  before  the  late  August's  decease,  his  life  seeming  then  an 
extremely  uncertain  one,  and  foresight  being  always  good, — 
privately  come  to  an  understanding,^  in  case  of  a  Polish  Elec- 
tion : 

'  1°.  That  France  was  to  have  no  hand  in  it  whatever, — 
'  no  tool  of  France  to  be  King  ;  or,  as  they  more  politely  ex- 
'  pressed  it,  having  their  eye  upon  Stanislaus,  No  Piast  or  na- 
'  tive  Pole  could  be  eligible. 

'  2'\   That  neither  could  August's  Son,    the  new  August, 

*  31st  December  1731,  'Treaty  of  LOweawolde'  (wliith  never  got  completed  or 
became  valid) :  SchOll,  ii.  223. 


Chap.  VIII.  KINCx  AUGUST  DIES.  139 

ist  Feb. -5th  Oct.  1733. 

'  who  would  then  be  Kurfiirst  of  Saxony,  be  admitted  King  of 
'  Poland.- — And,  on  the  whole, 

'  3°.  That  an  Emanuel  Prince  of  Portugal  would  be  the 
'  eligible  man.'  Emanuel  of  Portugal,  King  of  Portugal's  Bro- 
ther ;  a  gentleman  without  employment,  as  his  very  Title  tells 
us  :  gentleman  never  heard  of  before  or  since,  in  those  parts 
or  elsewhere  ;  but  doubtless  of  the  due  harmless  quality,  as  Por- 
tugal itself  was  :  he  is  to  be  the  Polish  King, — vote  these  In- 
trusive Neighbours.  What  the  vote  of  Poland  itself  may  be, 
the  Destinies  do  not,  of  late,  ask  ;  finding  it  a  superfluous  ques- 
tion. 

So  had  the  Three  Neighbours  settled  this  matter  :  —  or 
rather,  I  should  say,  so  had  Two  of  them  ;  for  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm  wanted,  now  or  afterwards,  nothing  in  this  Election,  but 
that  it  should  not  take  fire  and  kindle  him.  Two  of  the  Neigh- 
bours :  and  of  these  two,  perhaps  we  might  guess  the  Kaiser 
was  the  principal  contriver  and  suggester  ;  France  and  Saxony 
being  both  hateful  to  him, — obstinate  refusers  of  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  to  say  nothing  more.  What  the  Czarina,  Anne  with 
the  big  cheek,  specially  wanted,  I  do  not  Itarn, — unless  it  were 
peaceable  hold  of  Courland  ;  or  perhaps  merely  to  produce 
herself  in  these  parts,  as  a  kind  of  regulating  Pallas,  along  with 
the  Jupiter  Kaiser  of  Western  Eui-ope  ; — which  might  have 
effects  by  and  by. 

Emanuel  of  Portugal  was  not  elected,  nor  so  niuch  as 
spoken  of  in  the  Diet.  Nor  did  one  of  these  Three  Regula- 
tions take  effect ;  but  much  the  contrary, — other  Neighbours 
having  the  power  to  interfere.  France  saw  good  to  interfere, 
a  rather  distant  neighbour  :  Austria,  Russia,  could  not  endure 
the  French  vote  at  all  ;  and  so  the  whole  world  got  on  fire  by 
the  business. 

France  is  not  a  near  Neighbour  ;  but  it  has  a  Stanislaus 
much  concerned,  who  is  eminently  under  the  protection  of 
France  : — who  may  be  called  the  "  Father  of  France,"  in  a 
sense,  or  even  the  "  Grandfather  ;"  his  Daughter  being  Mother 
of  a  young  creature  they  call  Dauphin,  or  "  Child  of  France." 
Fleury  and  the  French  Court  decide  that  Stanislaus,  Grand- 
father of  France,  was  once  King  of  Poland  :  that  it  will  be- 
hove, for  various  reasons,  he  be  King  again.  Some  say,  old 
Fleury  did  not  care  for  Stanislaus  ;  merely  wanted  a  quarrel 
with  the  Kaiser, — having  got  himself  in  readiness,  '  with  Lor- 


I40  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         Book IX. 

25tli  Aug.  1733. 

vainc  in  his  eye  ;'  and  seein<j  the  Kaiser  not  ready.  It  is  like- 
lier the  hot  young  spirits,  Belleisle  and  otliers,  controlled  old 
Fleury  into  it.  At  all  events,  Stanislaus  is  summoned  from 
his  rustication  ;  the  French  Ambassador  at  Warsaw  gets  his 
instructions.  French  Ambassador  opens  himself  largely,  at 
Warsaw,  by  eloquent  speech,  by  copious  money,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Stanislaus  ;  finds  large  audience,  enthusiastic  receptiv- 
ity;— and  readers  will  now  understand  the  following  chrono- 
logical phenomena  of  the  Polish  Election  : 

'August  z^th,  1733.  This  day  the  Polish  Election  begins.  So  has 
the  Preliminary  Diet  (kind  of  Polish  Caucus)  ordered  it; — Preliminary 
Diet  itself  a  veiy  stormy  matter;  minority  like  to  be  "thrown  out  of 
window,"  to  be  "shot  through  the  head, "on  some  occasions.'  Actual 
Election  begins;  continues  sub  dio,  "in  the  Field  of  Wola,"  in  a  very 
tempestuous  fashion ;  bound  to  conclude  within  six  weeks.  Kaiser 
has  his  troops  assembled  over  the  border,  in  Silesia,  "  to  protect  the 
freedom  of  election;"  Czarina  has  30,000  under  Marshal  Lacy,  lying 
on  the  edge  of  Lithuania,  bent  on  a  like  object;  will  increase  them  to 
50,000,  as  the  plot  thickens. 

'  .So  that  Emanuel  of  Portugal  is  not  heard  of;  and  French  inter- 
ference is,  with  a  vengeance, — and  Stanislaus,  a  born  Piast,  is  over- 
whelmingly the  favourite.  Intolerable  to  Austria,  to  Russia;  the  reverse 
to  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  who  privately  thinks  him  the  right  man.  And 
Kurfiirst  August  of  Saxony  is  the  other  Candidate, — with  troops  of 
his  own  in  the  distance,  but  without  support  in  Poland;  and  depend- 
ing wholly  on  the  Kaiser  and  Czarina  for  his  chance.  And  our  "three 
settled  points"  are  gone  to  water  in  this  manner  ! 

'  August  seeing  there  was  not  the  least  hope  in  Poland's  own  vote, 
judiciously  went  to  the  Kaiser  first  of  all:  "Imperial  Majesty,  I  will 
accept  your  Pragmatic  Sanction  root  and  branch,  swallow  it  whole; 
make  me  King  of  Poland  !" — "  Done  !"  answers  Imperial  Majesty;'" 
l;rings  the  Czarina  over,  by  good  offers  of  August's  and  his; — and  now 
there  is  an  effective  Opposition  Candidate  in  the  field,  with  strength 
of  his  own,  and  good  backing  close  at  hand.  Austrian,  Russian  Am- 
bassadors at  Warsaw  lift  up  their  voice,  like  the  French  one ;  open 
their  purse,  and  bestir  themselves;  but  with  no  success  in  the  Field 
of  Wola,  except  to  the  stirring-up  of  noise  and  tumult  there.  They 
must  look  to  other  fields  for  success.  The  voice  of  Wola  and  of  Po- 
land, if  it  had  now  a  voice,  is  enthusiastic  for  Stanislaus. 

"■  September  qth.  A  couple  of  ciuiet  -  looking  Merchants  arrive  in 
Warsaw, — one  of  whom  is  Stanislaus  in  person.  Newspapers  say  he 
is  in  the  P'rench  Fleet  of  War,  which  is  sailing  minatory  towards  these 
Coasts:  and  there  is  in  truth  a  (Gentleman  in  Stanislaus's  clothes  on 

"  History  of  Stanistaus  (cited  above),  p.  136. 
'"  i6tli  July  1733:  Treaty  in  SchOU,  ii.  224-231, 


Chap.viii.  KING  AUGUST   DIES.  141 

Sth  Oct.  T733. 
board  there; — to  make  the  Newspapers  belii-i'c.  Stanislaus  himself 
drove  through  BerHn,  a  day  or  two  ago;  gave  the  sentry  a  ducat  at 
the  Gate,  to  be  speedy  witli  the  Passports, — whom  Friedrich  Wilhehn 
affected  to  put  under  arrest  for  such  negligent  speed.  And  so,  on  the 
loth  of  the  month,  Stanislaus  being  now  rested  and  trimmed,  makes 
his  appearance  on  the  Field  of  Wola  itself;  and  captivates  all  hearts 
by  the  kind  look  of  him.  So  that,  on  the  second  day  after,  12th  Sep- 
tember 1733,  he  is,  as  it  were,  unanimously  elected;  with  acclama- 
tion, with  enthusiasm;  and  sees  himself  actual  King  of  Poland, — if 
France  send  proper  backing  to  continue  him  there.  As,  sui^ely,  she 
will  not  fail  ? — But  there  are  alarming  news  that  the  Russians  are 
advancing:  Marshal  Lacy  with  30,000;  and  reinforcements  in  the 
rear  of  him. 

'  September  ^zd.  Russians  advancing  more  and  more,  no  French 
help  arrived  yet,  and  the  enthusiastic  Polish  Chivalry  being  good  for 
nothing  against  regular  musketry, — King  Stanislaus  finds  that  he  will 
have  to  quit  Warsaw,  and  seek  covert  somewhere.  Quits  Warsaw  this 
day;  gets  covert  in  Dantzig.  And,  in  fact,  from  this  22d  of  .September, 
day  of  the  autumnal  equinox,  1733,  is  a  fugitive,  blockaded,  besieged 
Stanislaus:  an  Imaginary  King  thenceforth.  His  real  Kingship  had 
lasted  precisely  ten  days. 

'  October  -i^d.  Lacy  and  his  Russians  arrive  in  the  suburbs  of  War- 
saw, intent  upon  "protecting  freedom  of  election. "  Bridges  being 
broken,  they  do  not  yet  cross  the  River,  but  invite  the  free  electors  to 
come  across,  and  vote:  "A  real  King  is  very  necessary, — Stanislaus 
being  an  imaginary  one,  brought-in  by  compulsion,  by  threats  of  fling- 
ing people  out  of  window,  and  the  like."  The  free  electors  do  not 
cross.  Whereupon  a  small  handful,  now  free  enough,  and  not  to  be 
thrown  out  of  window,  whom  Lacy  had  about  him,  proceed  to  elect 
August  of  Saxony:  he,  on  the  5th  of  October,  still  one  day  within  the 
legal  six  weeks,  is  chosen  and  declared  the  real  King: — "  twelve  sena- 
tors and  about  six  hundred  gentlemen"  voting  for  him  there,  free  they 
in  Lacy's  quarters,  the  rest  of  Poland  having  lain  under  compulsion 
when  voting  for  Stanislaus.  That  is  the  Polish  Election,  so  far  as 
Poland  can  settle  it.  We  said  the  Destinies  had  ceased,  some  time 
since,  to  ask  Poland  for  its  vote;  it  is  other  people  who  have  now  got 
the  real  power  of  voting.  But  that  is  the  correct  state  of  the  poll  at 
Warsaw,  if  important  to  anybody. ' 

August  is  crowned  in  Cracow  before  long  ;  "August  III.," 
whom  we  shall  meet  again  in  important  circumstances.  Lncy 
and  his  Russians  have  voted  for  August;  able,  they,  to  dis- 
{""crse  all  manner  of  enthusiastic  Polish  Chivalry;  which  indeed, 
we  observe,  usually  stands  but  one  volley  from  the  Russian 
musketry;  and  flies  elsewhither,  to  burn  and  plunder  its  own 
domestic  enemies.      Far  and  wide,  robbery  and  arson  are  pre- 


143  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

5tl'  Oct.  1733. 

valent  in  Poland  ;  Stanislaus  lying  under  covert  in  Dantzig, — • 
an  imaginary  King  ever  since  the  equinox,  but  well  trusting 
that  the  French  will  give  him  a  plumper  vote.  French  War- 
fleet  is  surely  under  way  hither. 

Poland  on  Fire ;  Dantzig  stands  Siege. 

These  are  the  news  our  Crown-Prince  hears  at  Ruppin,  in 
the  first  months  of  his  wedded  life  there.  With  what  interest 
we  may  fancy.  Brandenburg  is  next  neighbour  ;  and  these 
Polish  troubles  reach  far  enough  ; — the  ever-smoking  house 
having  taken  fire  ;  and  all  the  street  threatening  to  get  on 
blaze.  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  nearesf  neighbour,  stands  anxious 
to  quench,  carefully  sweeping  the  hot  coals  across  again  from 
his  own  borders  ;  and  will  not  interfere  on  one  or  the  other 
side,  for  any  persuasion. 

Dantzig,  strong  in  confidence  of  French  help,  refuses  to 
give-up  Stanislaus  when  summoned  ;  will  stand  siege  rather. 
Stands  siege,  furious  lengthy  siege, — with  enthusiastic  de- 
fence; 'a  Lady  of  Rank  firing- off  the  first  gun,' against  the 
Russian  batteries.  Of  the  Siege  of  Dantzig,  which  made  the 
next  Spring  and  Summer  loud  for  mankind  (February- — June 
1734),  we  shall  say  nothing, — our  own  poor  field,  which 
also  grows  loud  enough,  lying  far  away  from  Dantzig, — ex- 
cept : 

First,  That  no  French  help  came,  or  as  good  as  none ;  the 
minatory  War-fleet  having  landed  a  poor  1,500  men,  headed 
by  the  Comte  de  Plelo,  who  had  volunteered  along  with  them  ; 
that  they  attempted  one  onslaught  on  the  Russian  lines,  and 
that  Plelo  was  shot,  and  the  rest  were  blown  to  miscellaneous 
ruin,  and  had  to  disappear,  not  once  getting  into  Dantzig. 
Secondly,  That  the  Saxons,  under  Weissenfels,  our  poor  old 
friend,  with  proper  siege-artillery,  though  not  with  enough,  did, 
by  effort  (end  of  May),  get  upon  the  scene  ;  in  which  this  is 
to  be  remarked,  that  Weissenfels's  siege -artillery  'came  by 
post  ;'  two  big  mortars  expressly  passing  through  Berlin,  marked 
as  part  of  the  Duke  of  Weissenfels's  Luggage.  And  thirdly. 
That  Miinnich,  who  had  succeeded  Lacy  as  Besieging  General, 
and  was  in  hot  haste,  and  had  not  artillery  enough,  made  un- 
heard-of assaults  (2,000  men,  some  say  4,000,  lost  in  one 
night-attack  upon  a  post  they  call  the  Hagclbcrg  ;   rash  attack, 


Chap.  IX.  SHADOW-HUNT   HAS   CAUGHT   FIRE.        143 

14th  Oct.  1733. 

much  blamed  by  military  men)  i^^ — but  nevertheless,  having 
now  (by  Russian  Fleet,  middle  of  June)  got  siege -artillery 
enough,  advances  irrepressibly  day  by  day. 

So  that  at  length,  things  being  now  desperate,  Stanislaus, 
disguised  as  a  cattle-dealer,  privately  quitted  Dantzig,  night  of 
27th  June  1734  ;  got  across  the  intricate  mud-and-water  diffi- 
culties of  the  Weichsel  and  its  mouths,  flying  perilously  towards 
Preussen  and  Friedrich  Wilhclm's  protection. i"^  Whereby  the 
Siege  of  Dantzig  ended  in  chamade,  and  levying  of  penalties  ; 
penalties  severe  to  a  degree,  though  Friedrich  Wilhelm  inter- 
ceded what  he  could.  And  with  the  Siege  of  Dantzig,  the  blaz- 
ing Polish  Election  went  out  in  like  manner  ;^^ — having  already 
kindled,  in  quarters  faraway  from  it,  conflagrations  quite  other- 
wise interesting  to  us.      Whitherward  we  now  hasten. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

kaiser's  shauovv-hunt  has  caught  hire. 

Franz  of  Lorraine,  the  young  favourite  of  Fortune,  whom 
we  once  saw  at  Berlin  on  an  interesting  occasion,  was  about 
this  time  to  have  married  his  Imperial  Archduchess  ;  Kaiser's 
consent  to  be  formally  demanded  and  given  ;  nothing  but  joy 
and  splendour  looked  for  in  the  Court  of  Vienna  at  present. 
Nothing  to  prevent  it, — had  there  been  no  Polish  Election  ; 
had  not  the  Kaiser,  in  his  Shadow-Hunt  (coursing  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction  chiefly,  as  he  has  done  these  twenty  years 
past),  gone  rashly  into  that  combustible  foreign  element.  But 
so  it  is :  this  was  the  fatal  limit.  The  poor  Kaiser's  Shadow- 
Hunt,  going  scot-free  this  long  while,  and  merely  tormenting 
other  people,  has,  at  this  point,  by  contact  with  inflammable 
Poland,  unexpectedly  itself  caught  fire  ;  goes  now  plunging, 
all  in  mad  flame,  over  precipices  one  knows  not  how  deep  : 
and  there  will  be  a  lamentable  singeing  and  smashing  before 
the  Kaiser  get  out  of  this,  if  he  ever  get  !  Kaiser  Karl,  from 
this  point,  plunges  down  and  down,  all  his  days  ;  and  except 
in  that  Shadow  of  a  Pragmatic  Sanction,  if  he  can  still  save 

"  CEuvres  de  Frederic,  xxvii.  part  2d,  p.  31. 
''■*  Narrative  by  himself,  in  History,  pp.  235-248. 

'3  Clear  account,  especially  of  Siege,  in  Mannstein  (pp.  71-83),  who  was  there  as 
■Miinnich's  Aide-de-Camp. 


144  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.         n..,kix. 

j.tili  Oct.  1733. 

that,  has  no  comfort  left.      Marriages  are  not  the  thing  to  be 
thought  of  at  present  ! — 

Scarcely  had  the  news  of  August's  Election,  and  Stanis- 
laus's flight  to  Dantzig,  reached  France,  when  France,  all  in 
a  state  of  readiness,  informed  the  Kaiser,  ready  for  nothing, 
his  force  lying  in  Silesia,  doing  the  Election  functions  on  the 
Polish  borders  there,  "That  he  the  Kaiser  had,  by  such  treat- 
ment of  the  Grandfather  of  France  and  the  Polish  Kingdom 
fairly  fallen  to  him,  insulted  the  most  Christian  Majesty;  that 
in  consequence  the  most  Christian  Majesty  did  hereby  declare 
War  against  the  said  Kaiser," — and  in  fact  had,  that  very 
day  (14th  of  October  1733),  begun  it.  Had  marched  over 
into  Lorraine,  namely,  secured  Lorraine  against  accidents  ; 
and,  more  specially,  gone  across  from  Strasburg  to  the  Ger- 
man side  of  the  Rhine,  and  laid  siege  to  Kehl.  Kehl  For- 
tress ;  a  dilapidated  outpost  of  the  Reich  there,  which  cannot 
resist  many  hours.  Plere  is  news  for  the  Kaiser,  with  his  few 
troops  all  on  the  Polish  borders  ;  minding  his  neighbours' 
business,  or  chasing  Pragmatic  Sanction,  in  those  inflammable 
localities. 

Pacific  Fleury,  it  must  be  owned,  if  he  wanted  a  quarrel 
with  the  Kaiser,  could  not  have  managed  it  on  more  advant- 
ageous terms.  Generals,  a  Due  de  Berwick,  a  Noailles,  Belle- 
isle;  generals,  troops,  artillery,  munitions,  nothing  is  wanting 
to  Fleury;  to  the  Kaiser  all  things.  It  is  surmised,  the  French 
had  their  eye  on  Lorraine,  not  on  Stanislaus,  from  the  first. 
For  many  centuries,  especially  for  these  last  two, — ever  since 
that  Siege  of  Metz,  which  we  once  saw,  under  Kaiser  Karl  V. 
and  Albert  Alcibiades, — France  has  been  wrenching  and  screw- 
ing at  this  Lorraine,  wriggling  it  off  bit  by  bit;  till  now,  as  \vc 
perceived  on  Lyttelton  junior  of  Haglcy's  visit,  Lorraine  seems 
all  lying  unscrewed  ;  and  France,  by  any  good  opportunity, 
could  stick  it  in  her  pocket.  Such  opportunity  sly  Fleury  con- 
trived, they  say; — or  more  likely  it  might  be  Bellcisle  and  the 
other  adventurous  spirits  that  urged  it  on  pacific  Fleury; — but, 
at  all  events,  he  has  got  it.  Dilapidated  Kehl  yields  straight- 
way:^ Sardinia,  Spain,  declare  alliance  with  Fleury;  and  not 
Lorraine  only,  and  the  Swabian  Provinces,  but  Italy  itself  lies 

'29th  October  1733.  Mi'iiioltrs  du  Mnrcchnl  de  Ber-ivick  (in  Pctitot's  Collection, 
P.-iris,  1828),  ii.  303. 


Cl.ip.  i>t.     SHADOW-HUNT   HAS   CAUGHT  FIRE.     145 

141I1  Oct.  1733. 

at  his  discretion, — owing  to  your  treatment  of  the  Grandfather 

of  France,  and  these  Pohsh  Elective  methods. 

The  astonished  Kaiser  rushes  forward  to  fling  himself  into 
the  arms  of  the  Sea-Powers,  his  one  resource  left  :  "  Help  ! 
moneys,  subsidies,  ye  Sea-Powers !"  But  the  Sea-Powers  stand 
obtuse,  arms  not  open  at  all,  hands  buttoning  their  pockets  : 
"Sorry  we  cannot,  your  Imperial  Majesty.  Fleury  engages  not 
to  touch  the  Netherlands,  the  Barrier  Treaty ;  Polish  Elections 
are  not  our  concern  !"  and  callously  decline.  The  Kaiser's 
astonishment  is  extreme  ;  his  big  heart  swelling  even  with  a 
martyr-feeling;  and  he  passionately  appeals:  "Ungrateful, 
blind  Sea-Powers  !  No  money  to  fight  France,  say  you  ?  Are 
the  Laws  of  Nature  fallen  void  ?"  Imperial  astonishment,  sub- 
lime martyr-feeling,  passionate  appeals  to  the  Laws  of  Nature, 
avail  nothing  with  the  blind  Sea-Powers  :  "  No  money  in  us," 
answer  they:  "we  will  help  you  to  negotiate." — "Negotiate!" 
answers  he  ;  and  will  have  to  pay  his  own  Election  broken- 
glass,  with  a  sublime  martyr-feeling,  without  money  from  the 
Sea-Powers. 

Fleury  has  got  the  Sardinian  Majesty ;  '  Sardinian  door- 
keeper of  the  Alps,'  who  opens  them  now  this  way,  now  that, 
for  a  consideration  :  "A  slice  of  the  Milanese,  your  Majesty ;" 
bargains  Fleury.  Fleury  has  got  the  Spanish  Majesty  (our 
violent  old  friend  the  Termagant  of  Spain)  persuaded  to  join  : 
"Your  infant  Carlos  made  Duke  of  Parma  and  Piacenza,  with 
such  difficulty:  what  is  that?  Naples  itself,  crown  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  lies  in  the  wind  for  Carlos  ; — and  your  junior  infant, 
great  Madam,  has  he  no  need  of  apanages?"  The  Termagant 
of  Spain,  "offended  by  Pragmatic  Sanction"  (she  says),  is  ready 
on  those  terms  ;  the  Sardinian  Majesty  is  ready:  and  Fleury, 
this  same  October,  with  an  overwhelming  force,  Spaniards  and 
Sardinians  to  join,  invades  Italy ;  great  Marshal  Villars  himself 
taking  the  command.  Marshal  Villars,  an  extremely  eminent 
old  military  gentleman, — somewhat  of  a  friend,  or  husband  of 
a  lady-friend,  to  M.  de  Voltaire,  for  one  thing; — and  capable 
of  slicing  Italy  to  pieces  at  a  fine  rate,  in  the  condition  it 
was  in. 

Never  had  Kaiser  such  a  bill  of  broken-glass  to  pay  for 
meddling  in  neighbours'  elections  before.  The  year  was  not 
yet  ended,  when  Villars  and  the  Sardinian  Majesty  had  done 
their   stroke   on  Lombardy;  taken  Milan  Citadel,    taken   Piz- 

VOL.  III.  L 


146  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  IX. 

14th  Oct.-23d  Dec.  1733. 

zighetone,  the  Milanese  in  whole,  and  appropriated  it ;  swept 
the  poor  unprepared  Kaiser  clear  out  of  those  parts.  Baby 
Carlos  and  the  Spaniards  are  to  do  the  Two  Sicilies,  Naples 
or  the  land  one  to  begin  with,  were  the  Winter  gone.  For  the 
present,  Louis  XV.  'sings  Tc  Deum  at  Paris,  23d  December 
1733'^ — ^  merry  Christmas  there.  Villars,  now  above  four- 
score, soon  died  of  those  fatigues ;  various  Marshals,  Broglio, 
Coigny,  Noailles,  succeeding  him,  some  of  whom  are  slightly 
notable  to  us  ;  and  there  was  one  Maillebois,  still  a  subor- 
dinate under  them,  whose  name  also  may  reappear  in  this 
History. 

Subsequent  Course  of  the  War,  hi  the  Italian  Fa?-t  of  if. 

The  French-Austrian  War,  which  had  now  broken  out, 
lasted  a  couple  of  years  ;  the  Kaiser  steadily  losing,  though 
he  did  his  utmost  ;  not  so  much  a  War,  on  his  part,  as  a 
Being  Beaten  and  Being  Stript.  The  Scene  was  Italy  and  the 
Upper- Rhine  Country  of  Germany;  Italy  the  deciding  scene; 
where,  except  as  it  bears  on  Germany,  our  interest  is  nothing, 
as  indeed  in  Germany  too  it  is  not  much.  The  principal 
events,  on  both  stages,  are  chronologically  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows ; — beginning  with  Italy  : 

'■March  icjt/i,  1734.  Baby  Carlos  willi  a  Duke  of  Montemar  for 
General,  a  difficult  impetuous  gentleman,  very  haughty  to  the  French 
allies  and  others,  lands  in  Naples  Territory ;  intending  to  seize  the 
Two  Sicilies,  according  to  bargain.  They  find  the  Kaiser  quite  un- 
prepared, and  their  enterprise  extremely  feasible. 

^  May  \oth.  Baby  Carlos, — whom  we  ought  to  call  Don  Carlos, 
who  is  now  eighteen  gone,  and  able  to  ride  the  great  horse, — makes 
Iriumjihant  entry  into  Naples,  having  easily  swept  the  road  clear; 
styles  liimself  "  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies"  (Papa  having  surrendered 
him  his  "right"  there);  whom  Naples,  in  all  ranks  of  it,  willingly 
homages  as  such.  Wrecks  of  Kaiser's  forces  intrench  themselves, 
rather  strongly,  at  a  place  called  Bitonto,  in  Apulia,  not  far  off. 

'  May  ii^lh.  Montemar,  in  an  impetuous  manner,  storms  them 
there : — which  feat  procures  for  him  the  title,  Duke  of  Bitonto ;  and 
finishes-off  the  First  of  the  Sicilies.  And  indeed,  we  may  say,  finishes 
Both  the  Sicilies:  our  poor  Kaiser  having  no  considerable  force  in 
either,  nor  means  of  sending  any;  the  Sea-Powers  having  buttoned 
their  pockets,  and  the  Comljined  Fleet  of  France  and  Spain  l)eing  on 
the  waters  there. 

*  Pastes  dit  Rcgncde  Louis  A'K (Paris,  17C6),  1.  248. 


Chap.  IX.      SHADOW-HUNT   HAS   CAUGHT   FHIE.     147 

r4th  Oct. -23d  Pec.  1733. 

'  We  need  only  add,  on  tliis  head,  that,  for  ten  months  more,  Baby 
Carlos  and  Montemar  went  about  besieging,  Gaeta,  Messina,  Syracuse; 
and  making  triumphal  entries; — and  that,  on  the  30th  ot  June  1735, 
Baby  Carlos  had  himself  fairly  crowned  at  Palermo  c^  "King  of  the 
Two  Sicilies"  de  facto ;  in  which  eminent  jDOst  he  and  his  continue, 
not  with  much  success,  to  this  day. 

'  That  will  suffice  for  the  Two  Sicilies.  As  to  Lombardy  again, 
now  that  Villars  is  out  of  it,  and  the  Coignys  and  Broglios  have 
succeeded : 

"■  yime  z^ih,  1734.  Kaiser,  rallying  desperately  for  recovery  of  the 
Milanese,  has  sent  an  Army  thither,  Graf  von  Mercy  leader  of  it : 
Battle  of  Parma  between  the  French  and  it  (29th  June); — totally  lost 
by  the  Kaiser's  people,  after  furious  fighting;  Graf  von  Mercy  himself 
killed  in  the  action.  Graf  von  Mercy,  and  what  comes  nearer  us,  a 
Prince  of  Culmbach,  amiable  Uncle  of  our  Wilhelmina's  Husband,  a 
brave  man  and  Austrian  Soldier,  who  was  much  regretted  by  Wil- 
helmina  and  the  rest ;  his  death  and  obsequies  making  a  melancholy 
Court  of  Baireuth  in  this  agitated  year.  The  Kaiser,  doing  his  utmost, 
is  beaten  at  every  point. 

^  September  iK^th.  Surprisal  of  the  Secchia.  Kaiser's  people  rally, 
— under  a  General  Graf  von  Konigseck  worth  noting  by  us,  — and 
after  some  manoeuvering,  in  the  Guastalla-Modena  region,  on  the 
Secchia  and  Po  rivers  there,  dextrously  steal  across  the  Secchia  that 
night  (15th  September),  cutting-off  the  small  guard-party  at  the  ford 
of  the  Secchia,  then  wading  silently;  and  burst-in  upon  the  French 
Camp  in  a  truly  alarming  manner.*  So  that  Broglio,  in  command 
there,  had  to  gallop  with  only  one  boot  on,  some  say  "  in  his  shirt," 
— till  he  got  some  force  rallied,  and  managed  to  retreat  more  Parthian- 
like  upon  his  brother  Marechal's  Division.  Artillery,  war-chest,  secret 
correspondence,  ' '  King  of  Sardinia's  tent, "  and  much  cheering  plunder 
beside  Broglio's  odd  boot,  were  the  consequences;  the  Kaiser's  one 
success  in  this  War;  abolished,  unluckily,  in  four  days! — The  Broglio 
who  here  gallops  is  the  second  French  Marechal  of  the  name,  son  of 
the  first ;  a  militaiy  gentleman  whom  we  shall  but  too  often  meet  in 
subsequent  stages.  A  son  of  this  one's,  a  third  Marechal  Broglio, 
present  at  the  Secchia  that  bad  night,  is  the  famous  War-god  of  the 
Bastille  time,  fifty-five  years  hence, — unfortunate  old  War-god,  the 
Titans  being  all  up  about  him.  As  to  Broglio  with  the  one  boot,  it 
is  but  a  triumph  over  him  till — 

'  Septevtber  i<jth.  Battle  of  Guastalla,  that  day.  Battle  lost  by  the 
Kaiser's  people,  after  eight-hours  hot  fighting;  who  are  then  obliged 
to  hurry  across  the  Secchia  again ; — and  in  fact  do  not  succeed  in 
fighting  any  more  in  that  quarter,  this  year  or  afterwards.  For,  next 
year  (1735),  Montemar  is  so  advanced  with  the  Two  Sicilies,  he  can 
assist  in  these  Northern  operations ;  and  Noailles,  a  better  Marechal, 

3  Pastes  de  Louis  XV,  i.  278. 

••  Hormayr,  xx.  84 ;  Fastes,  as  it  is  liable  to  do,  misdates. 


148  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.         F.ookiX. 

14th  Oct. -23d  Dec.  1733. 
'  replaces  the  Broglio  and  Coigny  there ;  who,  with  learned  strategic 
'  movements,  sieges,  threatenings  of  siege,  sweeps  the  wrecks  of  Austria, 
'  to  a  satisfactoiy  degree,  into  the  Tyrol,  without  fighting,  or  event 
*  mentionable  thenceforth. 

'  This  is  the  Kaiser's  War  of  two  Campaigns,  in  the  Italian,  which 
'  was  the  decisive,  part  of  it :  a  continual  Being  Beaten,  as  the  reader 
'  sees;  a  Being  Stript,  till  one  was  nearly  bare  in  that  quarter.' 

Course  of  the  IVar,  in  the  German  Part  of  it. 

In  Germany  the  mentionable  events  are  still  fewer  ;  and 
indeed,  but  for  one  small  circumstance  binding  on  us,  we  might 
skip  them  altogether.  For  there  is  nothing  comfortable  in  it 
to  the  human  memory  otherwise. 

Mar^chal  Due  de  Berwick,  a  cautious  considerable  General 
(Marlborough's  Nephew,  on  what  terms  is  known  to  readers), 
having  taken  Kehl  and  plundered  the  Swabian  outskirts  last 
Winter,  had  extensive  plans  of  operating  in  the  heart  of  Ger- 
many, and  ruining  the  Kaiser  there.  But  first  he  needs,  and 
the  Kaiser  is  aware  of  it,  a  •  basis  on  the  Rhine  ;'  free  bridge 
over  the  Rhine,  not  by  Strasburg  and  Kehl  alone  :  and  for 
this  reason,  he  will  have  to  besiege  and  capture  Philipsburg 
first  of  all.  Strong  Town  of  Philipsburg,  well  down  towards 
Speyer-and-Heidelberg  quarter  on  the  German  side  of  the 
Rhine  v''  here  will  be  our  bridge.  Lorraine  is  already  occu- 
pied, since  the  first  day  of  the  War  ;  Trarbach,  strong-place 
of  the  Moselle  and  Electorate  of  Trier,  cannot  be  difficult  to 
get.  Thus  were  the  Rhine  Country,  on  the  French  side,  se- 
cure to  France  ;  and  so  Berwick  calculates  he  will  have  a 
basis  on  the  Rhine,  from  which  to  shoot  forth  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  Kaiser. 

Berwick  besieged  Philipsburg  accordingly  (Summer  and 
Autumn) ;  Kaiser  doing  his  feeble  best  to  hinder  :  at  the  Siege, 
Berwick  lost  his  life,  but  Philipsburg  surrendered  to  his  suc- 
cessor, all  the  same  ; — Kaiser  striving  to  hinder  ;  but  in  a 
most  paralysed  manner,  and  to  no  purpose  whatever.  And — 
and  this  properly  ivas  the  German  War  ;  the  sum  of  all  done 
in  it  during  those  two  years. 

Seizure  of  Nanci  (that  is,  of  Lorraine),  seizure  of  Kehl  we 
already  heard  of;  then,  prior  to  Philipsburg,  there  was  siege 
or  seizure  of  Trarbach  by  the  Frcncli  ;  and,  posterior  to  it, 

*   ]M;ip  :it  p.  170. 


Cluip.  X.     PRINCE  (iOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.        149 

Feb. -J  line  17,;). 

seizure  of  Worms  Ijy  them  ;  and  by  tlie  Germans  there  was 
'  burning  of  a  magazine  in  Speyer  by  bombs.'  And,  in  brief, 
on  both  sides,  there  was  marching  and  manceuvering  under 
various  generals  (our  old  rusty  Seckendorf  one  of  them),  till 
the  end  of  1735,  when  the  Italian  decision  arrived,  and  Truce 
and  Peace  along  with  it ;  but  there  was  no  other  action  worth 
naming,  even  in  the  Newspapers  as  a  wonder  of  nine  days. 
The  Siege  of  Philipsburg,  and  what  hung  flickering  round 
that  operation,  before  and  after,  was  the  sum-total  of  the  Ger- 
man War. 

Philipsburg,  key  of  the  Rhine  in  those  parts,  has  had  many 
sieges  ;  nor  would  this  one  merit  the  least  history  from  us, 
were  it  not  for  one  circumstance :  That  our  Crown-Prince  was 
of  the  Opposing  Army,  and  made  his  first  experience  of  arms 
there.  A  Siege  of  Philipsburg  slightly  memorable  to  us,  on 
that  one  account.  What  Friedrich  did  there,  which  in  the 
military  way  was  as  good  as  nothing  ;  what  he  saw  and  expe- 
rienced there,  which,  with  some  '  eighty  Princes  of  the  Reich,' 
a  Prince  Eugene  for  General,  and  three  months  under  canvas 
on  the  field,  may  have  been  something  :  this,  in  outhne,  by 
such  obscure  indications  as  remain,  we  would  fain  make  con- 
ceivable to  the  reader.  Indications,  in  the  History-Books,  we 
have  as  good  as  none  ;  but  must  gather  what  there  is  from 
IVilhelmiiia  and  the  Crown-Prince's  Letters, — much  studying 
to  be  brief,  were  it  possible ! 

CHAPTER  X. 

CROWN-PRINCE  GOES  TO  THE  RHINE   CAMPAIGN. 

The  Kaiser, — with  Kehl  snatched  from  him,  the  Rhine 
open,  and  Louis  XV.  singing  Te  Deinn  in  the  Christmas  time 
for  what  Villars  in  Italy  had  done, — applied,  in  passionate 
haste,  to  the  Reich.  The  Reich,  though  Fleury  tried  to  cajole 
it,  and  apologise  for  taking  Kehl  from  it,  declares  for  the  Kai- 
ser's quarrel;  War  against  France  on  his  behalf;^ — it  was  in 
this  way  that  Friedrich  Wilhelm  and  our  Crown-Prince  came 
to  be  concerned  in  the  Rhine  Campaign.  The  Kaiser  will 
have  a  Reich' s-Kxx\^•^  (were  it  good  for  much,  as  is  not  likely) 
to  join  to  his  own  Austrian  one.      And  if  Prince  Eugene,  who 

'   13th  March  1734  (Buchholz,  i.  131). 


ISO  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

Feb. -June  1734. 

is  Reich' s-Feldmarschall,  one  of  the  tivo  Feldmarschalls,  get 
the  Generalship  as  men  hope,  it  is  not  doubted  but  there  will 
be  great  work  on  the  Rhine,  this  Summer  of  1734. 

Unhappily  the  Reich's-Armj^  raised  from  multifarious  con- 
tingents, and  guided  and  provided  for  by  many  heads,  is  usually 
good  for  little.  Not  to  say  that  old  Kur-Pfalz,  with  an  eye  to 
French  help  in  the  Berg-and-Jiilich  matter  ;  old  Kur-Pfalz, 
and  the  Bavarian  set  [Knr-Baiern  and  K2ir-K'6ln,  Bavaria  and 
Cologne,  who  are  Brothers,  and  of  old  cousinship  to  Kur-Pfalz), 
—  quite  refuse  their  contingents  ;  protest  in  the  Diet,  and 
openly  have  French  leanings.  These  are  bad  omens  for  the 
Reich's-Army.  And  in  regard  to  the  Reich's-Feldmarschall 
Office,  there  also  is  a  difficulty.  The  Reich,  as  we  hinted, 
keeps  two  supreme  Feldmarschalls  ;  one  Catholic,  one  Pro- 
testant, for  equilibrium's  sake  ;  illustrious  Prince  Eugenio  von 
Savoye  is  the  Catholic ; — but  as  to  the  Protestant,  it  is  a  diffi- 
culty worth  observing  for  a  moment. 

Old  Duke  Eberhard  Ludwig  of  Wiirtemberg,  the  unfortu- 
nate old  gentleman  bewitched  by  the  Gravenitz  "  Deliver  us 
from  evil,"  used  to  be  the  Reich's-Feldmarschall  of  Protestant 
persuasion  ; — Commander-in-Chief  for  the  Reich,  when  it  tried 
fighting.  Old  Eberhard  had  been  at  Blenheim,  and  had 
marched  up  and  down  :  I  never  heard  he  was  much  of  a 
General  ;  perhaps  good  enough  for  the  Reich,  whose  troops 
were  always  bad.  But  now  that  poor  Duke,  as  we  intimated 
once  or  more,  is  dead  ;  there  must  be,  of  Protestant  type,  a 
new  Reich's-Feldmarschall  had.  One  Catholic,  unequalled 
among  Captains,  we  already  have  ;  but  where  is  the  Protestant, 
Duke  Eberhard  being  dead  ? 

Duke  Eberhard's  successor  in  Wiirtemberg,  Karl  Alexan- 
der by  name,  whom  we  once  dined  with  at  Prag  on  the  Klad- 
rup  journey,  he,  a  General  of  some  worth,  would  be  a  natural 
person.  Unluckily  Duke  Karl  Alexander  had,  while  an  Aus- 
trian Officer  and  without  outlooks  upon  Protestant  Wiirtem- 
berg, gone  over  to  Papacy,  and  is  now  Catholic.  "Two  Ca- 
tholic Feldmarschalls  !"  cries  the  Corpus  Evangclicorum ; 
"  that  will  never  do  !" 

Well,  on  the  other  or  Protestant  side  there  appear  two 
Candidates  ;  one  of  them  not  much  expected  by  the  reader  : 
no  other  than  Ferdinand  Duke  of  lirunswick-Bevern,  our 
Crown-Prince's  Father-in-law  ;  whom  we  knew  to  be  a  worthy 


Chap.  X.    PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.        151 

Feb. -June  1734. 

man,  but  did  not  know  to  be  much  of  a  soldier,  or  capable  of 
these  ambitious  views.  He  is  Candidate  First.  Then  there 
is  a  Second,  much  more  entitled  :  our  gunpowder  friend  the 
Old  Dessauer;  who,  to  say  nothing  of  his  soldier  qualities,  has 
promises  from  the  Kaiser, — he  surely  were  the  man,  if  it  did 
not  hurt  other  people's  feelings.  But  it  surely  does  and  will. 
There  is  Ferdinand  of  Bevern  applying  upon  the  score  of  old 
promises  too.  How  can  people's  feelings  be  saved  ?  Protest- 
ants these  two  last  :  but  they  cannot  both  have  it  ;  and  what 
will  Wiirtemberg  say  to  either  of  them  ?  The  Reich  was  in 
very  great  affliction  about  this  preliminary  matter.  But  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm  steps  in  with  a  healing  recipe  :  "  Let  there  be 
Four  Reich's-Feldmarschalls,"  said  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ;  "Two 
Protestant  and  two  Catholic  :  won't  that  do  ?"^ — Excellent  ! 
answers  the  Reich  :  and  there  are  Four  Feldmarschalls  for 
the  time  being  ;  no  lack  of  commanders  to  the  Reich's-Army. 
Brunswick-Bevern  tried  it  first  ;  but  only  till  Prince  Eugene 
were  ready,  and  indeed  he  had  of  himself  come  to  nothing 
before  that  date.  Prince  Eugene  next  ;  then  Karl  Alexander 
next  ;  and  in  fact  they  all  might  have  had  a  stroke  at  com- 
manding, and  at  coming  to  nothing  or  little, — only  the  Old 
Dessauer  sulked  at  the  office  in  this  its  fourfold  state,  and 
never  would  fairly  have  it,  till,  by  decease  of  occupants,  it  came 
to  be  twofold  again.  This  glimpse  into  the  distracted  effete 
interior  of  the  poor  old  Reich  and  its  Politics,  with  friends 
of  ours  concerned  there,  let  it  be  welcome  to  the  reader.^ 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  was  without  concern  in  this  War,  or  in 
what  had  led  to  it.  Practical  share  in  the  Polish  Election 
(after  that  preliminary  theoretic  program  of  the  Kaiser's  and 
Czarina's  went  to  smoke)  Friedrich  Wilhelm  steadily  refused 
to  take  :  though  considerable  offers  were  made  him  on  both 
sides, — offer  of  West  Preussen  (Polish  part  of  Prussia,  which 
once  was  known  to  us)  on  the  French  side.^  But  his  primary 
fixed  resolution  was  to  stand  out  of  the  quarrel  ;  and  he  abides 
by  that  ;  suppresses  "any  wishes  of  his  own  in  regard  to  the 
Polish  Election  ; — keeps  ward  on  his  own  frontiers,  with  good 
military  besom  in  hand,  to  sweep  it  out  again  if  it  intruded 
there.  "What  King  you  like,  in  God's  name;  only  don't 
come  over  my  threshold  with  his  brabbles  and  him  !" 

2  LeoJ>oldi  von  Anhalt-Dessaie  Lcboi  (by  RanITt),  p.  127  ;  Buchliolz,  i.  131. 

3  By  De  la  Chetardie,  French  Ambassador  at  Berlin  (Buchholz,  i.  130*. 


152  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

Feb. -June  1734. 

But  seeing  the  Kaiser  got  into  actual  French  War,  with 
the  Reich  consenting,  he  is  bound,  by  Treaty  of  old  date 
(date  older  than  Wusterliausen,  though  it  -was  confirmed  on 
that  famous  occasion),  '  To  assist  the  Kaiser  with  ten  thousand 
men  ;'  and  this  engagement  he  intends  amply  to  fulfil.  No 
sooner,  therefore,  had  the  Reich  given  sure  signs  of  assenting 
('Reich's  assent'  is  the  condition  of  the  ten  thousand),  than 
FriedrichWilhelm's  orders  were  out,  "  Be  in  readiness  !"  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm,  by  the  time  of  the  Reich's  actual  assent,  or  De- 
claration of  War  on  the  Kaiser's  behalf,  has  but  to  lift  his 
finger  :  squadrons  and  battalions,  out  of  Pommern,  out  of 
Magdeburg,  out  of  Preussen,  to  the  due  amount,  will  get  on 
march  whitherward  you  bid,  and  be  with  you  there  at  the  day 
you  indicate,  almost  at  the  hour.  Captains,  not  of  an  ima- 
ginary nature,  these  are  always  busy ;  and  the  King  himself  is 
busy  over  them.  From  big  guns  and  wagon-horses  down  to 
gun-flints  and  gaiter-straps,  all  is  marked  in  registers  ;  nothing 
is  wanting,  nothing  out  of  its  place  at  any  time,  in  Friedrich 
Wilhelm's  Army. 

From  an  early  period,  the  French  intentions  upon  Philips- 
burg  might  be  foreseen  or  guessed  :  and  in  the  end  of  March, 
Mardchal  Berwick,  '  in  three  divisions,'  fairly  appears  in  that 
quarter  ;  his  purpose  evident.  So  that  the  Reich's-Army,  were 
it  in  the  least  ready,  ought  to  rendezvous,  and  reinforce  the 
handful  of  Austrians  there.  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  part  of  the 
Reich's-Army  does  accordingly  straightway  get  on  march  ; 
leaves  Berlin,  after  the  due  reviewing,  '  8th  April  \^  eight  regi- 
ments of  it,  thi-ee  of  Horse  and  five  of  Foot,  Goltz  Foot-regi- 
ment one  of  them  ; — a  General  Roder,  unexceptionable  General, 
to  command  in  chief ; — and  will  arrive,  though  the  farthest  off, 
•first  of  all  the  Reich's  -  Contingents  ;'  7th  of  June,  namely. 
The  march,  straight  south,  must  be  some  four  hundred  miles. 

Besides  the  Official  Generals,  certain  high  military  digni- 
taries, Schulenburg,  Bredow,  Majesty  himself  at  their  head, 
propose  to  go  as  volunteers  ; — especially  the  Crown- Prince, 
whose  eagerness  is  very  great,  has  got  liberty  to  go.  "As 
volunteer"  he  too  :  as  Colonel  of  Goltz,  it  might  have  had  its 
unsuitabilitics,  in  etiquette  and  otherwise.  Few  volunteers  are 
more  interested  than  the  Crown-Prince.  Watching  the  great 
War-theatre  uncurtain  itself  in  this  manner,  from  Dantzig  down 

■'    F.ihMii.niii,  p,  /105. 


Chap.  X.    PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMTAIGN.        153 

23(1  Feb.-8th  April  J 73.1. 

to  Naples  ;  and  what  his  own  share  in  it  shall  be  :  this,  much 
more  than  his  Marriage,  I  suppose,  has  occupied  his  thoughts 
since  that  event.  Here  out  of  Ruppin,  dating  six  or  seven 
weeks  before  the  march  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  is  a  small  sign, 
one  among  many,  of  his  outlooks  in  this  matter.  Small  Note 
to  his  Cousin,  Margraf  Heinrich,  the  ill-behaved  Margraf,  much 
his  comrade,  who  is  always  falling  into  scrapes  ;  and  whom  he 
has  just,  not  without  difficulty,  got  delivered  out  of  something 
of  the  kind.^  He  writes  in  German  and  in  the  intimate  style 
of  Thou  : 

^  Riipp'ui,  zyi  Fd'i'iiary  1734.  My  dear  Brother, — I  can  with  plea- 
'  sure  answer  that  the  King  hath  spoken  of  thee  altogether  favourably 
'  to  me'  (scrape  now  abolished,  for  the  time): — 'and  I  think  it  would 
'  not  have  an  ill  effect,  wert  thou  to  apply  for  leave  to  go  with  the  Ten 
'  Thousand  whom  he  is  sending  to  the  Rhine,  and  do  the  Campaign 
'  with  them  as  volunteer.  I  am  myself  going  with  that  Corps;  so  I 
'  doubt  not  the  King  would  allow  thee. 

'  I  take  the  freedom  to  send  herewith  a  few  bottles  of  Champagne ; 
'  and  wish'  all  manner  of  good  things.  'Friedrich.'" 

This  Margraf  Heinrich  goes  ;  also  his  elder  Brother,  Mar- 
graf Friedrich  Wilhelm, — who  long  persecuted  Wilhelmina  with 
his  hopes  ;  and  who  is  now  about  getting  Sophie  Dorothee,  a 
junior  Princess,  much  better  than  he  merits  :  Betrothal  is  the 
week  after  these  Ten  Thousand  march  ;"  he  thirty,  she  fifteen. 
He  too  will  go  ;  as  will  the  other  pair  of  Cousin  Margraves, — 
Karl,  who  was  once  our  neighbour  in  Ciistrin  ;  and  the  Younger 
Friedrich  Wilhelm,  whose  fate  lies  at  Prag  if  he  knew  it.  Ma- 
jesty himself  will  go  as  volunteer.  Are  not  great  things  to  be 
done,  with  Eugene  for  General? — To  understand  the  insigni- 
ficant Siege  of  Philipsburg,  sum-total  of  the  Rhine  Campaign, 
which  filled  the  Crown-Prince's  and  so  many  other  minds  brim- 
ful that  Summer,  and  is  now  wholly  out  of  every  mind,  the 
following  Excerpt  may  be  admissible  : 

'  The  unlucky  little  Tov/n  of  Philipsburg,  key  of  the  Rhine  in  that 
'  quarter,  fortified  under  difficulties  by  old  Bishops  of  Speyer,  who  some- 
'  times  re?'ided  there,'  has  been  dismantled  and  refortified,  has  had  its 
'  Rhine-bridge  torn  down  and  set  up  again;  been  garrisoned  now  by  this 
'  party,  now  by  that,  who  had  "right  of  garrison  there;"  nay  France 
'  has  sometimes  had  "the  right  of  garrison;" — and  the  poor  little  Town 

■5  (Euvrcs  lU  FrcKKvWJt'ic,  .  p.irt  2  J,  pp.  8,  9. 

0  lb.  x.wii.  p.irt  2cl,  p.  10. 

7  i6th  April  1734  (lb.  part  ist,  p;  i.t  n). 

p  ICuhler,  MiiHsOcliisii^iiit^vti,  vi.  x6_). 


154  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

Feb. -June  1734. 
'  has  suffered  much,  and  been  tumbled  sadly  about  in  the  Succession- 
'  Wars  and  perpetual  controversies  between  France  and  Germany  in 
'  that  quarter.  In  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  it  has  a  "flying-bridge" 
'  (of  I  know  not  what  structure),  with  fortified  "bridge-head  {iete-de- 
^  pont),"  on  the  western  or  Franceward  side  of  the  River.  Town's  bul- 
'  warks,  and  complex  engineering  defences,  are  of  good  strength,  all 
'  put  in  repair  for  this  occasion :  Reich  and  Kaiser  have  an  effective 
'  garrison  there,  and  a  commandant  deterinined  on  defence  to  the  utter- 
'  most:  what  the  imfortunate  Inhabitants,  perhaps  a  thousand  or  so  in 
'  number,  thought  or  did  under  such  a  visitation  of  ruin  and  bombshells, 
'  History  gives  not  the  least  hint  anywhere.  "Quite  used  to  it !"  thinks 
'  History,  and  attends  to  other  points. 

'  The  Rhine  Valley  here  is  not  of  great  breadth :  eastward  the 
'  heights  rise  to  be  mountainous  in  not  many  miles.  Byway  of  defence 
'  to  this  Valley,  in  the  Eugene -Marlborough  Wars,  there  was,  about 
'  forty  miles  southward,  or  higher  up  the  River  than  Philipsburg,  a 
'  military  line  or  chain  of  posts;  going  from  Stollhofen,  a  boggy  hamlet 
'  on  the  Rhine,  with  cunning  indentations,  and  learned  concatenation 
'  of  bog  and  bluff,  up  into  the  inaccessibilities, — Lines  of  StolUiofen,  the 
'  name  of  it, — which  well-devised  barrier  did  good  service  for  certain 
'  years.  It  was  not  till,  I  think,  the  fourth  year  of  their  existence,  year 
'  1707,  that  Villars,  the  same  Villars  who  is  nos^  in  Italy,  "stormed 
'  the  Lines  of  Stollhofen;"  which  made  him  famous  that  year. 

'  The  Lines  of  Stollhofen  have  now,  in  1734,  fallen  flat  again;  but 
'  Eugene  remembers  them,  and,  I  could  guess,  it  was  he  who  suggests 
'  a  similar  expedient.  At  all  events,  there  is  a  similar  expedient  fallen 
'  upon:  Lines  of  Ettlii}ge)i  this  time;  one-half  nearer  Philipsburg;  run- 
'  ning  from  Miihlburg  on  the  Rhine-brink  up  to  Ettlingen  in  the  Hills.* 
'  Nearer,  by  twenty  miles;  and,  I  guess,  much  more  slightly  done.  W^e 
'  .shall  see  these  Lines  of  Ettlingen,  one  point  of  them,  for  a  moment: 
'  — and  they  would  not  be  worth  mentioning  at  all,  except  that  in  care- 
'  less  Books  they  too  are  called  Lines  o[  Stollhofen,^  a.n(i  the  ingenuous 
'  reader  is  sent  wandering  on  his  map  to  no  purpose.' 

'  Lines  of  Ettlingen'  they  are  ;  related,  as  now  said,  to  the 
Stollhofen  set.  Duke  Ferdinand  of  Rrunswick-Bevern,  one  of 
the  Four  Feldmarschalls,  has  some  ineffectual  handful  of  Im- 
perial troops  dotted  about,  within  these  Lines  and  on  the  skirts 
of  Philipsburg ; — -eagerly  waiting  till  the  Reich's-Ai-my  gather  to 
him  ;  otherwise  he  must  come  to  nothing.  Will  at  any  rate,  I 
should  think,  be  happy  to  resign  in  favour  of  Prince  Eugene, 
were  that  little  hero  once  on  the  ground. 

On  Mayday,   Marcchal  Berwick,   who  has  been  awake  in 

•  Mnp  .Tt  p.  170. 

"  Williclmiiia  (ii.  206),  for  insUince  ;  who,  or  whose  PihUcr,  ctlls  them  'Lines  of 
Stokoff'  even. 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       155 

4th-7th  June  1734. 

this  quarter,  'in  three  divisions,'  for  a  month  past, — very  im- 
patient till  Belleisle  with  the  first  division  should  have  taken 
Trarbach,  and  made  the  Western  interior  parts  secure, — did 
actually  cross  the  Rhine,  with  his  second  division,  •  at  Fort 
Louis,'  well  up  the  River,  well  south  of  Philipsburg  ;  intending 
to  attack  the  Lines  of  Ettlingen,  and  so  get  in  upon  the  Town. 
There  is  a  third  division,  about  to  lay  pontoons  for  itself  a 
good  way  farther  down,  which  will  attack  the  Lines  simulta- 
neously from  within, — that  is  to  say,  shall  come  upon  the  back 
of  poor  Bevern  and  his  defensive  handful  of  troops,  and  astonish 
him  there.  All  prospers  to  Berwick  in  this  matter  :  Noailles 
his  lieutenant  (not  yet  gone  to  Italy  till  next  year),  with  whom 
is  Maurice  Comte  do  Saxe  (afterwards  Mardchal  de  Saxe),  an 
excellent  observant  Officer,  marches  up  to  Ettlingen,  May  3d  ; 
bivouacks  '  at  the  base  of  the  mountain*  (no  great  things  of  a 
mountain) ;  ascends  the  same  in  two  columns,  horse  and  foot, 
by  the  first  sunlight  next  morning  ;  forms  on  a  little  plain  on 
the  top ;  issues  through  a  thin  wood, — and  actually  beholds  those 
same  Lines  of  Ettlingen,  the  outmost  eastern  end  of  them  :  a 
somewhat  inconsiderable  matter,  after  all  !  Here  is  Noailles's 
own  account  : 

'  These  retrenchments,  made  in  Turk  fashion,  consisted  of  big  trees 
'  set  zigzag  {en  khiquicr),  twisted  together  by  the  branches;  the  whole 
'  about  five  fathoms  thick.  Inside  of  it  were  a  small  forlorn  of  Aus- 
'  trians:  these  steadily  await  our  grenadiers,  and  do  not  give  their  vol- 
'  ley  till  we  are  close.  Our  grenadiers  receive  their  volley;  clear  the 
'  intertwisted  trees,  after  receiving  a  second  volley  (total  loss  seventy- 
'  five  killed  and  wounded);  and — the  enemy  quits  his  post;  and  the 
'  Lines  of  Ettlingen  arc  stormed  !''"  This  is  not  like  storming  the  Lines 
of  Stollhofen;  a  thing  to  make  Noailles  famous  in  the  Newspapers  for 
a  year.  But  it  was  a  useful  small  feat,  and  well  enough  performed  on 
his  part.  The  truth  is,  Berwick  was  about  attacking  the  Lines  simul- 
taneously on  the  other  or  Miihlburg  end  of  them  (had  not  Noailles,  now 
victorious,  galloped  to  forbid);  and  what  was  far  more  considerable, 
those  other  French,  to  the  northward,  "upon  pontoons,"  are  fairly 
across;  like  to  be  upon  the  back  of  Duke  Ferdinand  and  his  handful  of 
defenders.  Duke  Ferdinand  perceives  that  he  is  come  to  nothing;  hastily 
collects  his  people  from  their  various  posts;  retreats  with  them  that  same 
night,  unpursued,  to  Heilbronn;  and  gives-up  the  command  to  Prince 
Eugene,  who  is  just  arrived  there, — who  took  quietly  two  pinches  of  snuff 
on  hearing  this  news  of  Ettlingen,  and  said,  "  No  matter,  after  all!" 

Berwick  now  forms  the  Siege,  at  his  discretion  ;  invests 

'"  Noailles,  Memoires  (in  Petitot's  Collection),  iii.  207. 


136  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Book  I x. 

4tli-jtli  June  1734. 

Philipsburg,  13th  May  ;^^  be^^Mns  firing,  night  of  the  3d-4th 
June ; — Eugene  waiting  at  Heilbronn  till  the  Reich's-Army  come 
up.  The  Prussian  Ten  Thousand  do  come,  all  in  order,  on 
the  7th  :  the  rest  by  degrees,  all  later,  and  all  not  quite  in 
order.  Eugene,  the  Prussians  having  joined  him,  moves  down 
towards  Philipsburg  and  its  cannonading  ;  encamps  close  to 
rearward  of  the  besieging  French.  "  Camp  of  Wiesenthal" 
they  call  it;  Village  of  Wiesenthal  with  bogs,  on  the  left,  being 
his  head-quarters ;  Village  of  Waghausel,  down  near  the  River, 
a  five-miles  distance,  being  his  limit  on  the  right.  Berwick,  in 
front,  industriously  battering  Philipsburg  into  the  River,  has 
thrown-up  strong  lines  behind  him,  strongly  manned,  to  defend 
himself  from  Eugene  ;  across  the  River,  Berwick  has  one 
Bridge,  and  at  the  farther  end  one  battery  with  which  he  plays 
upon  the  rear  of  Philipsburg.  He  is  much  criticised  by  unoc- 
cupied people,  "  Eugene's  attack  will  ruin  us  on  those  terms  !" 
• — and  much  incommoded  by  overflowings  of  the  Rhine;  Rhine 
swoln  by  melting  of  the  mountain-snows,  as  is  usual  there. 
Which  inundations  Berwick  had  well  foreseen,  though  the  War- 
minister  at  Paris  would  not :  "  Haste  !"  answered  the  War- 
minister  always  :  "  We  shall  be  in  right  time.  I  tell  you  there 
have  fallen  no  snows  this  winter  :  how  can  inundation  be  ?" — 
"Depends  on  the  heat,"  said  Berwick;  "there  are  snows 
enough  always  in  stock  up  there  !" 

And  so  it  proves,  though  the  War-minister  would  not  be- 
lieve ;  and  Berwick  has  to  take  the  inundations,  and  to  take 
the  circumstances  ; — and  to  try  if,  by  his  own  continual  best 
exertions,  he  can  but  get  Philipsburg  into  the  bargain.  On  the 
1 2th  of  June,  visiting  his  posts,  as  he  daily  does,  the  first  thing, 
Berwick  slept  out  of  the  trenches,  anxious  for  clear  view  of 
something  ;  stept  upon  '  the  crest  of  the  sap,'  a  place  exposed 
to  both  French  and  Austrian  batteries,  and  which  had  been 
forbidden  to  the  soldiers, — and  there,  as  he  anxiously  scanned 
matters  through  his  glass,  a  cannon-ball,  unknown  whether 
French  or  Austrian,  shivered  away  the  head  of  Berwick  ;  left 
others  to  deal  with  the  criticisms,  and  the  inundations,  and  the 
operations  big  or  little,  at  Philipsburg  and  elsewhere  1  Siege 
went  on,  better  or  worse,  under  the  next  in  command  ;  '  Paris 
in  great  anxiety,'  say  the  Books. 

It  is  a  hot  siege,  a  stiff  defence  ;   Prince  Eugene  looks  on, 

"  Berwick,  ii.  312;  23CI,  says  Noailles'b  Editor  (iii.  210). 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.        157 

Z9th  Juno  T734. 

but  does  not  attack  in  the  way  apprehended.  Southward  in 
Italy,  we  hear  there  is  marching,  strategying  in  the  Parma 
Country  ;  Graf  von  Mercy  likely  to  come  to  an  action  before 
long.  Northward,  Dantzig  by  this  time  is  all  wrapt  in  fire- 
whirlwinds  ;  its  sallyings  and  outer  defences  all  driven  in  ; 
mere  torrents  of  Russian  bombs  raining  on  it  day  and  night  ; 
P>cnch  auxiliaries,  snapt-up  at  landing,  are  on  board  Russian 
ships  ;  and  poor  Stanislaus  and  '  the  Lady  of  Quality  who  shot 
the  first  gun'  have  a  bad  outlook  there.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  month,  the  Berlin  volunteer  Generals,  our  Crown:Pi-ince 
and  his  Margraves  among  them,  are  getting  on  the  road  for 
Philipsburg  ; — and  that  is  properly  the  one  point  we  are  con- 
cerned with.     Which  took  eftect  in  manner  following. 

Tuesday  evening  29th  June,  there  is  Ball  at  Monbijou  ; 
the  Crown-Prince  and  others  busy  dancing  there,  as  if  nothing 
special  lay  ahead.  Nevertheless,  at  three  in  the  morning  he 
has  changed  his  ball-dress  for  a  better,  he  and  certain  more  ; 
and  is  rushing  southward,  with  his  volunteer  Generals  and  Mar- 
graves, full  speed,  saluted  by  the  rising  sun,  towards  Philips- 
burg and  the  Seat  of  War.  And  the  same  night,  King  Stanislaus, 
if  any  of  us  cared  for  him,  is  on  flight  from  Dantzig,  •  disguised 
as  a  cattle-dealer  ;'  got  out  on  the  night  of  Sunday  last,  Town 
under  such  a  rain  of  bombshells  being  palpably  too  hot  for 
him  :  got  out,  but  cannot  get  across  the  muddy  intricacies  of 
the  Weichsel  ;  lies  painfully  squatted  up  and  down,  in  obscure 
alehouses,  in  that  Stygian  Mud-Delta, — a  matter  of  life  and 
death  to  get  across,  and  not  a  boat  to  be  had,  such  the  vigil- 
ance of  the  Russian.  Dantzig  is  capitulating,  dreadful  penal- 
ties exacted,  all  the  heavier  as  no  Stanislaus  is  to  be  found  in 
it  ;  and  search  all  the  keener  rises  in  the  Delta  after  him. 
Through  perils  and  adventures  of  the  sort  usual  on  such  occa- 
sions,^- Stanislaus  does  get  across  ;  and  in  time  does  reach 
Prcussen  ;  where,  by  Friedrich  Wilhclm's  order,  safe  opulent 
asylum  is  afforded  him,  till  the  Fates  (when  this  War  ends) 
determine  what  is  to  become  of  the  poor  Imaginary  Majesty. 
We  leave  him,  squatted  in  the  intricacies  of  the  Mud-Delta, 
to  follow  our  Crown-Prince,  who  in  the  same  hour  is  rushing 
far  elsewhither. 

'*  Credible  modest  detail  of  them,  in  a  Letter  horn  Stanislaus  Yiim^iM  {Histoiy 
of  Stanislaus,  already  cited,  pp.  235-248). 


IS8  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

2d  July  1734. 

Margraves,  Generals  and  he,  in  their  small  string  of  car- 
riages, go  on,  by  extra-post,  day  and  night ;  no  rest  till  they 
get  to  Hof,  in  the  Culmbach  neighbourhood,  a  good  two  hun- 
dred miles  off, — near  Wilhelmina,  and  more  than  halfway  to 
Philipsburg.  Majesty  Friedrich  Wilhelm  is  himself  to  follow 
in  about  a  week  :  he  has  given  strict  order  against  waste  of 
time  :  "  Not  to  part  company  ;  go  together,  and  not  by  An- 
spach  or  Baireuth," — though  they  lie  almost  straight  for  you. 

This  latter  was  a  sore  clause  to  Friedrich,  who  had  counted 
all  along  on  seeing  his  dear  faithful  Wilhelmina,  as  he  passed  : 
therefore,  as  the  Papa's  Orders,  dangerous  penalty  lying  in 
them,  cannot  be  literally  disobeyed,  the  question  rises.  How 
see  Wilhelmina  and  not  Baireuth  "i  Wilhelmina,  weak  as  she 
is  and  unfit  for  travelling,  will  have  to  meet  him  in  some  neu- 
tral place,  suitablest  for  both.  After  various  shiftings,  it  has 
been  settled  between  them  that  Berneck,  a  little  town  twelve 
miles  from  Baireuth  on  the  Hof  road,  will  do;  and  that  Friday, 
probably  early,  will  be  the  day.  Wilhelmina,  accordingly,  is 
on  the  road  that  morning,  early  enough  ;  Husband  with  her, 
and  ceremonial  attendants,  in  honour  of  such  a  Brother;  morn- 
ing is  of  sultry  windless  sort ;  day  hotter  and  hotter  ; — at  Ber- 
neck is  no  Crown-Prince,  in  the  House  appointed  for  him  ;  hour 
after  hour,  Wilhelmina  waits  there  in  vain.  The  truth  is,  one 
of  the  smallest  accidents  has  happened  :  the  Generals  '  lost  a 
wheel  at  Gera  yesterday  ;'  were  left  behind  there  with  their 
smiths,  have  not  yet  appeared  ;  and  the  insoluble  question 
among  Friedrich  and  the  Margraves  is,  "  We  dare  not  go  on 
without  them,  then  ?  We  dare; — dare  we?"  Question  like  to 
drive  Friedrich  mad,  while  the  hours,  at  any  rate,  are  slipping 
on  !  Here  are  Three  Letters  of  Friedrich,  legible  at  last  ; 
which,  with  Wilhelmina's  account  from  the  other  side,  repre- 
sent a  small  entirely  human  scene  in  this  French-Austrian  War, 
— nearly  all  of  human  we  have  found  in  the  beggarly  affair  : 

I.    To  Pi'incess  Wilhelmina,  at  Baireutli,  or  on  the  road  to 
Berneck. 

'Hof,  2d  July'  (not  long  after  4  A.M.)  '1734. 
'  My  dear  Sister, — Here  am  I  within  six  leagues'  (say  eight  or  move, 
twenty-live  miles  English)  'of  a  Sister  whom  I  love;  and  I  have  to 
'  decide  that  it  will  be  impossil^le  to  see  her,  after  alll' — Does  decide 
so,  accordingly,  for  reasons  known  to  us. 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAI'GN.        159 

2d  July  1734. 

'  I  have  never  so  lamented  the  misfortune  of  not  depending  on  my- 
self as  at  this  moment!  The  King  being  but  very  sour-sweet  on  my 
score,  I  dare  not  risk  the  least  thing:  Monday  come  a  week,  when  he 
arrives  himself,  I  should  have  a  pretty  scene  {serais  joliment  traiie)  in 
the  Camp,  if  I  were  found  to  have  disobeyed  orders. 

*  *  '  The  Queen  commands  me  to  give  you  a  thousand  regards  from 
her.  She  appeared  much  affected  at  your  illness;  but  for  the  rest,  I 
could  not  warrant  you  how  sincere  it  was;  for  she  is  totally  changed, 
and  I  have  quite  lost  reckoning  of  her  [li'y  connais  ricii).  That  goes 
so  far  that  she  has  done  me  hurt  with  the  King,  all  she  could :  how- 
ever, that  is  over  now.  As  to  Sophie'  (young  Sister  just  betrothed  to 
the  eldest  Margraf  whom  you  know),  '  she  also  is  no  longer  the  same ; 
for  she  approves  all  that  the  Queen  says  or  does;  and  she  is  charmed 
with  her  big  clown  {gros  nigaud)  of  a  Bridegroom. 

'The  King  is  more  difficult  than  ever:  he  is  content  with  nothing, 
so  as  to  have  lost  whatsoever  could  be  called  gratitude  for  all  pleasures 
one  can  do  him,' — marrying  against  one's  will,  and  the  like.  '  As  to 
his  health,  it  is  one  day  better,  another  worse;  but  the  legs,  they  are 
always  swelled.  Judge  M'hat  my  joy  must  be  to  get  out  of  that  turpitude, 
— for  the  King  will  only  stay  a  fortnight,  at  most,  in  the  Camp. 

'Adieu,  my  adorable  Sister:  I  am  so  tired,  I  cannot  stir;  having 
left  on  Tuesday  night,  or  rather  Wednesday  morning  at  three  o'clock, 
from  a  Ball  at  Monbijou,  and  arrived  here  this  Friday  morning  at 
four.  I  recommend  myself  to  your  gracious  remembrance;  and  am, 
for  my  own  part,  till  death,  dearest  Sister,' — Your — 

'Friedrich.'" 

This  is  Letter  First  ;  written  Friday  morning,  on  the  edge 
of  getting  into  bed,  after  such  fatigue  ;  and  it  has,  as  natural 
in  that  mood,  given-up  the  matter  in  despair.  It  did  not  meet 
Wilhelmina  on  the  road  ;  and  she  had  left  Baireuth  ; — where 
it  met  her,  I  do  not  know  ;  probably  at  home,  on  her  return, 
when  all  was  over.  Let  Wilhelmina  now  speak  her  own  lively 
experiences  of  that  same  Friday  : 

'  I  got  to  Bemeck  at  ten.  The  heat  was  excessive ;  I  found  myself 
'  quite  worn-out  with  the  little  journey  I  had  done.  I  alighted  at  the 
'  House  which  had  been  got  ready  for  my  Brother.  We  waited  for 
'  him,  and  in  vain  waited,  till  three  in  the  afternoon.  At  three  we  lost 
'  patience ;  had  dinner  served  without  him.  Whilst  we  were  at  table, 
'  there  came  on  a  frightful  thunderstorm.  I  have  witnessed  nothing  so 
'  terrible :  the  thunder  roared  and  reverberated  among  the  rocky  cliffs 
'  which  begirdle  Berneck ;  and  it  seemed' as  if  the  world  was  going  to 
'  perish  :  a  deluge  of  rain  succeeded  the  thunder. 

'  It  was  four  o'clock ;  and  I  could  not  understand  what  had  become 
'  of  my  Brother.      I  had  sent  out  several  persons  on  horseback  to  get 

13  CEuvrcs  de  Fridiric,  xxvii,  part  ist,  p.  13. 


i6o  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        i5ooi<  ix. 

zd  July  17341 
'  tiilin^s  of  him,  and  none  of  them  came  back.  At  length,  in  spite  of 
'  all  my  prayers,  the  Hereditary  Prince'  (my  excellent  Husband)  'him- 
'  self  would  go  in  search.  I  remained  waiting  till  nine  at  night,  and 
'  nobody  returned.  I  was  in  cruel  agitations :  these  cataracts  of  rain 
'  are  very  dangerous  in  the  mountain  countries;  the  roads  get  suddenly 
'  overflowed,  and  there  often  happen  misfortunes.  I  thought  for  certain, 
'  there  had  one  happened  to  my  Brother  or  to  the  Hereditary  Prince.' 
Such  a  2d  of  July  to  poor  Wilhelmina! 

'  At  last,  about  nine,  somebody  brought  word  that  my  Brother  had 
'  changed  his  route,  and  was  gone  to  Culmbach'  (a  House  of  ours, 
lying  westward,  known  to  readers) ;  '  there  to  stay  over  night.  I  was 
'  for  setting  out  thither, — Culmbach  is  twenty  miles  from  Berneck  ;  but 
'  the  roads  are  frightful,'  White  Mayn,  still  a  young  River,  dashing 
through  the  rock-labyrinths  there,  'and  full  of  precipices : — everybody 
'  rose  in  opposition,  and,  whether  I  would  or  not,  they  put  me  into  the 
'  carriage  for  Himmelkron'  (partly  on  the  road  thither),  '  which  is  only 
'  about  ten  miles  off.  We  had  like  to  have  got  drowned  on  the  road ; 
'  the  waters  Avere  so  swoln'  (White  Mayn  and  its  angry  brooks),  '  the 
'  horses  could  not  cross  but  by  swimming. 

'  I  arrived  at  last,  about  one  in  the  morning.  I  instantly  threw 
'  myself  on  a  bed.  I  was  like  to  die  with  weariness;  and  in  mortal 
'  terrors  that  something  had  happened  to  my  Brother  or  the  Hereditary 
'  Prince.  This  latter  relieved  me  on  his  ovrn  score ;  he  arrived  at  last, 
'  about  four  o'clock, — had  still  no  news  farther  of  my  Brother.  I  was 
'  beginning  to  doze  a  little,  when  they  came  to  warn  me  that  "M.  von 
'  Knobelsdorf  wished  to  speak  with  me  from  the  Prince-Royal."  I 
darted  out  of  bed,  and  ran  to  him.  He,'  handing  me  a  Letter,  'brought 
'  word  that'— 

But  let  us  now  give  Letter  Second,  which  has  turned  up 
lately,  and  which  curiously  completes  the  picture  here.  Fried- 
rich,  on  rising  refreshed  with  sleep  at  Hof,  had  taken  a  cheer- 
fuler  view  ;  and  the  Generals  still  lagging  rearward,  he  thinks 
it  possible  to  see  Wilhelmina  after  all.  Possible  ;  and  yet  so 
very  dangerous, — perhaps  not  possible  ?  Here  is  a  second 
Letter  written  from  Miinchberg,  some  fifteen  miles  farther  on, 
at  an  after  period  of  the  same  Friday  :  purport  still  of  a  per- 
plexed nature,  "  I  will,  and  I  dare  not ;"— practical  outcome,  of 
itself  uncertain,  is  scattered  now  by  torrents  and  thunder- 
storms. This  is  the  Letter,  which  Knobelsdorf  now  hands  to 
Wilhelmina  at  that  untimely  hour  of  Saturday  : 

2.    To  Princess  Wilhelmina  (by  Knobelsdorf). 

'  Miinchberg,  2d  July  1734. 
'My  dearest  Sister, — I  am  in  despair  that  I  cannot  satisfy  my  im- 
'  patience  and  my  duty,  —  to  throw  myself  at  your  feet  this  day.     But 


Ch.p,  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       i6i 

3d  July  1734. 

'  alas,  clear  Sister,  it  docs  not  depend  on  me :  we  poor  Princes, '  the 
Margraves  and  I,  'are  obliged  to  wait  here  till  our  Generals'  (Bredow, 
Schulenbairg  and  Company)  '  come  up ;  we  dare  not  go  along  without 
'  them.  They  broke  a  wheel  in  Cera'  (iifty  miles  behind  us) ;  'hearing 
'  nofiJiing  of  them  since,  we  are  absolutely  forced  to  wait  here.  Judge 
'  in  what  a  mood  I  am,  and  what  sorrow  must  be  mine !  Express  order 
'  not  to  go  by  Baireuth  or  Anspach :  —  forbear,  dear  Sister,  to  torment 
'  me  on  things  not  dependhig  on  myself  at  all. 

'  I  waver  between  hope  and  fear  of  paying  my  court  to  you.  I 
'  hope  it  might  still  be  at  Berneck,'  this  evening,  — '  if  you  could  con- 
'  trive  a  road  into  the  Nihnberg  Highway  again;  avoiding  Baireuth: 
'  otherwise  I  dare  not  go.  The  Bearer,  who  is  Captain  KnobelsdorC 
(excellent  judicious  man,  old  acquaintance  from  the  Ciistrin  time,  who 
attends  upon  us,  actual  Captain  once,  but  now  titular  merely,  given  to 
architecture  and  the  fine  arts'^),  '  will  apprise  you  of  every  particular : 
'  let  Knobelsdorf  settle  something  that  may  be  possible.  This  is  how 
'  1  stand  at  present ;  and  instead  of  having  to  expect  some  favour  from 
'  the  King'  (after  what  I  have  done  by  his  order),  '  I  get  nothing  but 
'  chagrin.  But  what  is  cruder  upon  me  than  all,  is  that  you  are  ill. 
'  God,  in  his  grace,  be  pleased  to  help  you,  and  restoie  the  precious 
'  health  which  I  so  much  wish  you !'  *  * 

'Friedrich.''* 

Judicious  Knobelsdorf  settles  that  the  meeting  is  to  be  this 
very  moi-ning  at  eight  ;  Wilhelmina  (whose  memory  a  lltfle 
fails  her  in  the  insignificant  points)  does  not  tell  us  where  : 
but,  by  faint  indications,  I  perceive  it  was  in  the  Lake-House, 
pleasant  Pavilion  in  the  ancient  artificial  Lake,  or  big  orna- 
mental Fishpond,  called  Brandenburger  IVciher,  a  couple  of 
miles  to  the  north  of  Baireuth  :  there  Friedrich  is  to  stop, — 
keeping  the  Paternal  Order  from  the  teeth  outwards  in  this 
manner.  Eight  o'clock  :  so  that  Wilhelmina  is  obliged  at 
once  to  get  upon  the  road  again, — poor  Princess,  after  such 
a  day  and  night.  Her  description  of  the  Interview  is  very 
good  : 

'  My  Brother  overwhelmed  me  with  caresses ;  but  found  me  in  so 
'  pitiable  a  state,  he  could  not  restrain  his  tears.  I  was  not  able  to 
'  stand  on  my  limbs;  and  felt  like  to  faint  every  moment,  so  \\'eak  was 
'  I.  He  tok!  me  the  King  was  much  angered  at  the  IMargraf  (my  Fa- 
ther-in-Law)  'for  not  letting  his  Son  make  the  Campaign,' — concern- 
ing which  point,  said  Son,  my  Husband,  being  Heir- Apparent,  there 
had  been  much  arguing  in  Court  and  Country,  here  at  Baireuth,  and 

l''  Seyfarth  (Anonymous),  Lebens-  iind  Regierinigs-Geschichte  Friedrichs  des 
A adern  (Leipzig,  1786),  ii.  200.  (Euvres  de  Frederic,  vii.  33.  Preuss,  Friedrich 
tiiit  seincn  Veriuaiidioi  (Berlin,  1838),  pp.  8,  17. 

'5  CEnvres  de  Frederic,  .\xvii,  part  1st,  p.  15. 
VOL.  III.  M 


i62  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

3d  July  1734. 
endless  anxiety  on  my  poor  part,  lest  he  should  get  killed  in  the  Wars. 
'  I  told  him  all  the  Margraf's  reasons;  and  added,  that  surely  they  were 
'good,  in  respect  of  my  dear  Husband.  "Well,"  said  he,  "  let  him 
'  quit  soldiering,  then,  and  give  back  his  regiment  to  the  King.  But 
'  for  the  rest,  quiet  yourself  as  to  the  fears  you  may  have  about  him  if 
'  he  do  go;  for  I  know,  by  certain  information,  that  there  will  be  no 
'  blood  spilt." — "They  are  at  the  Siege  of  Philipsburg,  however." — 
'  "Yes,"  said  my  Brother;  "but  there  will  not  be  a  battle  risked  to 
'  hinder  it." 

'  The  Hereditary  Prince, '  my  Husband,  '  came  in  while  we  were 
'  talking  so;  and  earnestly  entreated  my  Brother  to  get  him  away  from 
'  Baireuth.  They  went  to  a  window,  and  talked  a  long  time  together. 
'  In  the  end,  my  Brother  told  me  he  would  write  a  very  obliging  Letter 
'  to  the  Margraf,  and  give  him  such  reasons  in  favour  of  the  Campaign, 
'  that  he  doubted  not  it  would  turn  the  scale.  "We  will  stay  together," 
'  said  he,  addressing  the  Hereditary  Prince;  "  and  I  shall  be  charmed 
'  to  have  my  dear  Brother  always  beside  me."  He  wrote  the  Letter; 
'  gave  it  to  Baron  Stein'  (Chamberlain  or  Goldstick  of  ours),  'to  deliver 
'  to  the  Margraf.  He  promised  to  obtain  the  King's  express  leave  to 
'  stop  at  Baireuth  on  his  return; — after  which  he  went  away.  It  was 
'  the  last  time  I  saw  him  on  the  old  footing  with  me :  he  has  much 
'  changed  since  then  ! — We  returned  to  Baireuth ;  where  I  was  so  ill 
'  that,  for  three  days,  they  did  not  think  I  should  get  over  it.  ''^ 

Crown-Prince  dashes  off,  southwestward,  through  cross 
country,  into  the  Niirnberg  Road  again  ;  gets  to  Niirnberg 
that  same  Saturday  night  ;  and  there,  among  other  Letters, 
writes  the  following  ;  which  will  wind-up  this  little  Incident 
for  us,  still  in  a  human  manner  : 

3.  To  Princess  WilJielnnna  at  Ba'u'euiJi. 

'Niirnberg,  3d  July  1734. 
'  My  dearest  [tris-chcrc)  Sister, — It  would  be  impossible  to  quit  tli;., 
'  place  without  signifying,  dearest  Sister,  my  lively  gratitude  for  all  the 
'  marks  of  favour  you  showed  me  in  the  VVeihcrhans'  (House  on  the 
Lake,  today).  '  The  highest  of  all  that  it  was  possible  to  do,  was  that 
'  of  procuring  me  the  satisfaction  of  paying  my  court  to  you.  I  beg 
*  millions  of  pardons  for  so  putting  you  about,  dearest  Sister ;  but  I 
'  could  not  help  it;  for  you  know  my  sad  circumstances  well  enougli. 
'  In  my  great  joy,  I  forgot  to  give  you  the  Enclosed.  I  entreat  you, 
'  write  me  often  news  of  your  health  !  Question  the  Doctors;  and' — 
and  in  ^-rlain  contingencies,  the  Crown  -  Prince  '  would  recommend 
'  goat's-milk'  for  his  jioor  Sister.  Had  already,  what  was  noted  of  him 
in  after  life,  a  tendency  to  give  medical  advice,  in  cases  interesting  to 
him  ? — 

""  Wilholinina,  ii,  200-202. 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       163 

7tli  July  1734. 

'  Adieu,  my  incomparable  and  dear  Sister.      I  am  always  the  same 
'  to  you,  and  will  remain  so  till  my  death. — Friedrich.'" 

Generals  with  their  wheel  mended,  Margraves,  Prince  and 
now  the  Camp  Equipage  too,  are  all  at  Niirnberg  ;  and  start 
on  the  morrow  ;  hardly  a  hundred  miles  now  to  be  done, — 
but  on  slower  terms,  owing  to  the  Equipage.  Heilbronn, 
place  of  arms  or  central  stronghold  of  the  Reich's-Army,  they 
reach  on  Monday  :  about  Eppingen,  next  night,  if  the  wind 
is  westerly,  one  may  hear  the  cannon, — not  without  interest. 
It  was  Wednesday  forenoon,  7th  July  1734,  on  some  hill-top 
coming  down  from  Eppingen  side,  that  the  Prince  first  saw 
Philipsburg  Siege,  blotting  the  Rhine  Valley  yonder  with  its 
fire  and  counter-fire  ;  and  the  Tents  of  Eugene  stretching  on 
this  side  :  first  view  he  ever  had  of  the  actualities  of  war. 
His  account  to  Papa  is  so  distinct  and  good,  we  look  through 
it  almost  as  at  first-hand  for  a  moment  : 

'  Camp  at  Wiesenthal,  Wednesday,  7th  July  1734. 

'  Most  All-gracious  Father,  *  *  We  left  Niirnberg'  (nothing  said  of 
our  Baireuth  affair),  '4th  early,  and  did  not  s'.op  till  Heilbronn;  where, 
'  along  with  the  Equipage,  I  arrived  on  the  5th.  Yesterday  I  came 
'  with  the  Equipage  to  Eppingen'  (twenty  miles,  a  slow  march,  giving 
the  fourgons  time);  'and  this  morning  we  came  to  the  Camp  at  Wie- 
'  senthal.  I  have  dined  with  General  Roder'  (our  Prassian  Commander); 
'  and,  after  dinner,  rode  with  Prince  Eugene  while  giving  the  parole.  I 
'  handed  him  my  All-gracious  Father's  Letter,  which  much  rejoiced 
'  him.  After  the  parole,  I  went  to  see  the  relieving  of  our  outposts' 
(change  of  sentries  there),   'and  view  the  French  retrenchment. 

'  We,'  your  Majesty's  Contingent,  'are  throwing-up  three  redoubts: 
'  at  one  of  them  today,  three  musketeers  have  been  miserably  shot' 
(gcschossen,  wounded,  not  quite  killed);  'two  are  of  Roder's,  and  one 
'  is  of  Finkenstein's  regiment. 

'  Tomorrow  I  will  ride  to  a  village  which  is  on  our  right  wing ; 
'  Waghausel  is  the  name  oi  it''*  (some  five  miles  off,  north  of  us,  near 
by  the  Rhine) :  '  there  is  a  steeple  there,  from  which  one  can  see  the 
'  French  Camp ;  from  this  point  I  will  ride  down,  between  the  two 
'  Lines, '  French  and  ours,   '  to  see  what  they  are  like. 

'  There  are  quantities  of  hurdles  and  fascines  being  made ;  which, 
'  as  I  hear,  are  to  be  employed  in  one  of  two  different  plans.  The  fust 
'  plan  is,  To  attack  the  French  retrenchment  generally;  the  ditch  which 
'  is  before  it,  and  the  morass  which  lies  on  our  left  wing,  to  be  made 
'  passable  with  these  fascines.  The  other  plan  is.  To  amuse  the  Enemy 
'  by  a  false  attack,  and  throw  succour  into  the  Town. — One  thing  is 

17  CE^tvres  de  Frederic,  x.wii.  pairt  1st,  p.  57.  "^  Biisching,  v.  1152. 


l64  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Booh  ix. 

8lh  July  1734. 

'  certain,  in  a  few  days  we  shall  have  a  stroke  of  work  here.  Happen 
'  what  may,  my  All -gracious  Father  may  be  assured  that'  &c.,  'and 
'  that  I  will  do  nothing  unworthy  of  him.  Friedrich.''" 

Neither  of  those  fine  plans  took  effect  ;  nor  did  anything 
take  effect,  as  we  shall  see.  But  in  regard  to  that  '  survey 
'  from  the  steeple  of  Waghausel,  and  ride  home  again  between 
'  the  Lines,' — in  regard  to  that,  here  is  an  authentic  fraction 
of  anecdote,  curiously  fitting  in,  which  should  not  be  omitted. 
A  certain  Herr  von  Suhm,  Saxon  Minister  at  Berlin,  occasion- 
ally mentioned  here,  stood  in  much  Correspondence  with 
the  Crown-Prince  in  the  years  now  following  :  Correspondence 
which  was  all  published  at  the  due  distance  of  time  ;  Suhm 
having,  at  his  decease,  left  the  Prince's  Letters  carefully  as- 
sorted with  that  view,  and  furnished  with  a  Prefatory  '  Cha- 
racter of  the  Prince-Royal  {Poj'traii  du  Prince-Royal,  par  M. 
de  Sic/un).'  Of  which  Preface  this  is  a  small  paragraph,  re- 
lating to  the  Siege  of  Philipsburg  ;  offering  us  a  momentary 
glance  into  one  fibre  of  the  futile  War  now  going  on  there. 
Of  Suhm,  and  how  exact  he  was,  we  shall  know  a  little  by 
and  by.  Of  '  Prince  von  Lichtenstein,'  an  Austrian  man  and 
soldier  of  much  distinction  afterwards,  we  have  only  to  say 
that  he  came  to  Berlin  next  year  on  Diplomatic  business,  and 
that  probably  enough  he  had  been  eyewitness  to  the  little  fact, 
— fact  credible  perhaps  without  much  proving.  One  rather 
regretted  there  was  no  date  to  it,  no  detail  to  give  it  where- 
about and  fixity  in  our  conception  ;  that  the  poor  little  Anec- 
dote, though  indubitable,  had  to  hang  vaguely  in  the  air.  Now, 
however,  the  above  dated  Letter  does,  by  accident,  date  Suhm's 
Anecdote  too;  date  'July  8'  as  good  as  certain  for  it;  the 
Siege  itself  having  ended  (July  18)  in  ten  days  more.  Herr 
von  Suhm  writes  (not  for  publication  till  after  Friedrich's  death 
and  his  own) : 

'  It  was  remarlced  in  tl\e  Rhine  Campaign  of  1734,  that  this  Prince 
'  lias  a  great  deal  of  intrepidity  {hcaucoiip  dc  valciir).  On  one  occasion, 
'  among  others'  (to  all  appearance,  this  very  daj',  'July  8,'  riding  home 
from  Waghausel  between  the  lines),  '  when  he  had  gone  to  reconnoitre 
'  the  Lines  of  Philipsburg,  with  a  good  many  people  about  him, — pass- 
'  ing,  on  his  return,  along  a  strip  of  very  thin  wood,  the  cannon-shot 
'  from  the  Lines  accompanied  him  incessantly,  and  crashed  down  several 
'  trees  at  his  side;  during  all  whicli  he  walked  his  horse  along  at  the 
'  old  pace,  precisely  as  if  nothing  were  happening,  nor  in  his  hand  upon 

'5  CEuvres,  xxvii.  part  3U,  p.  79, 


Chip.  X.    PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       165 

15th  Jiily-isth  Aug.  1734. 

'  the  bridle  was  there  the  least  trace  of  motion  perceptible.  Those  \^  ho 
'  gave  attention  to  the  matter  remarked,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  did 
'  not  discontinue  speaking  very  tranquilly  to  some  Generals  who  accom- 
'  panied  him;  and  who  admired  his  bearing,  in  a  kind  of  danger  with 
'  -which  he  had  not  yet  had  occasion  to  familiarise  himself.  It  is  from 
'  the  Prince  von  Lichtenstein  that  I  have  this  anecdote.'"" 

On  the  15th  arrived  his  Majesty  in  person,  with  the  Old 
Dessauer,  Buddenbrock,  Derschau  and  a  select  suite  ;  in  hopes 
of  witnessing  remarkable  feats  of  war,  now  that  the  crisis  of 
Philipsburg  was  coming  on.  Many  Princes  were  assembled 
there,  in  the  like  hope  :  Prince  of  Orange  (honeymoon  well 
ended^i),  a  vivacious  light  gentleman,  slightly  crooked  in  the 
back  ;  Princes  of  Baden,  Darmstadt,  Waldeck  :  all  manner  of 
Princes  and  distinguished  personages.  Fourscore  Princes  of 
them  by  tale,  the  eyes  of  Europe  being  turned  on  this  matter, 
and  on  old  Eugene's  guidance  of  it.  Prince  Fred  of  England, 
even  he  had  a  notion  of  coming  to  learn  war. 

It  was  about  this  time,  not  many  weeks  ago,  that  Fred, 
now  falling  into  much  discrepancy  with  his  Father,  and  at  a 
loss  for  a  career  to  himself,  appeared  on  a  sudden  in  the  Ante- 
chamber at  St.  James's,  one  day;  and  solemnly  demanded  an 
interview  with  his  Majesty.  Which  his  indignant  Majesty, 
after  some  conference  with  Walpole,  decided  to  grant.  Prince 
Fred,  when  admitted,  made  three  demands:  1°.  To  be  allowed 
to  go  upon  the  Rhine  Campaign,  by  way  of  a  temporary  career 
for  himself;  2°.  That  he  might  have  something  definite  to  live 
upon,  a  fixed  revenue  being  suitable  in  his  circumstances  ; 
3".  That,  after  those  sad  Prussian  disappointments,  some  suit- 
able Consort  might  be  chosen  for  him, — heart  and  household 
lying  in  such  waste  condition.  Poor  Fred,  who  of  us  knows 
what  of  sense  might  be  in  these  demands  ?  Few  creatures 
moi'e  absurdly  situated  are  to  be  found  in  this  world.  To  go 
where  his  equals  were,  and  learn  soldiering  a  little,  might  really 
have  been  useful.  Paternal  Majesty  received  Fred  and  his 
Three  Demands  with  fulminating  look  ;  answered,  to  the  first 
two,  nothing  ;  to  the  third,  about  a  Consort,  "Yes,  you  shall  ; 
but  be  respectful  to  the  Queen;  —  and  now  off  with  you; 
away  !"-- 

2U  CorrcspondiDtce  de  Frederic  II  avec  M.  de  Sukm  (Berlin,  1787);  Avant- 
prnpos,  p.  xviii.  (written  28th  April  1740).  The  Correspondance  is  all  in  CEuvrcs  de 
Frederic  (xvi.  247-408) ;  but  the  Suhm  Preface  not. 

'^'  Had  wedded  Princess  Anne,  George  II. 's  eldest,  25th  (14th')  March  1734;  to 
the  joy  of  self  and  mankind,  in  England  here.  2'  Co.xe's  Walpole,  \.  322. 


i66  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.       Book  ix. 

iSth  July-i5th  Aug.  1734. 

Poor  Fred,  he  has  a  circle  of  hungry  Parliamenteers  about 
him  ;  young  Pitt,  a  Cornet  of  Horse,  young  Lyttelton  of  Hag- 
ley,  our  old  Soissons  friend,  not  to  mention  others  of  worse 
type  ;  to  whom  this  royal  Young  Gentleman,  with  his  vanities, 
ambitions,  inexperiences,  plentiful  inflammabilities,  is  impor- 
tant for  exploding  Walpole.  He  may  have,  and  with  great 
justice  I  should  think,  the  dim  consciousness  of  talents  for 
doing  something  better  than  '  write  madrigals'  in  this  world  : 
infinitude  of  wishes  and  appetites  he  clearly  has; — he  is  full 
of  inflammable  materials,  poor  youth.  And  he  is  the  Fireship 
those  older  hands  make  use  of  for  blowing  Walpole  and  Com- 
pany out  of  their  anchorage.  What  a  school  of  virtue  for  a 
young  gentleman  ;  —  and  for  the  elder  ones  concerned  with 
him  !  He  did  not  get  to  the  Rhine  Campaign  ;  nor  indeed 
ever  to  anything,  except  to  writing  madrigals,  and  being  very 
futile,  dissolute  and  miserable  with  what  of  talent  Nature  had 
given  him.  Let  us  pity  the  poor  constitutional  Prince.  Our 
Fritz  was  only  in  danger  of  losing  his  life  ;  but  what  is  that, 
to  losing  your  sanity,  personal  identity  almost,  and  becoming 
Parliamentary  Fireship  to  his  Majesty's  Opposition  ? 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  stayed  a  month  campaigning  here ;  gra- 
ciously declined  Prince  Eugene's  invitation  to  lodge  in  Head 
Quarters,  under  a  roof  and  within  built  walls ;  preferred  a  tent 
among  his  own  people,  and  took  the  common  hardships, — 
with  great  hurt  to  his  weak  health,  as  was  afterwards  found. 

In  these  weeks,  the  big  Czarina,  who  has  set  a  price  ( i  oo,  ooo 
rubles,  say  15,000/.)  upon  the  head  of  poor  Stanislaus,  hears 
that  his  Prussian  Majesty  protects  him  ;  and  thereupon  signi- 
fies, in  high  terms.  That  she,  by  her  Feldmarschall  Miinnich, 
will  come  across  the  frontiers  and  seize  the  said  Stanislaus. 
To  which  his  Prussian  Majesty  answers  positively,  though  in 
proper  Diplomatic  tone,  "  Madam,  I  will  in  no  wise  permit 
it !"  Perhaps  his  Majesty's  remarkablest  transaction,  here  on 
the  Rhine,  was  this' concerning  Stanislaus.  For  Seckcndorf 
the  Fcldzcugmcister  was  here  also,  on  military  function,  not 
forgetful  of  the  Diplomacies  ;  who  busily  assailed  his  Majesty, 
on  the  Kaiser's  part,  in  the  same  direction  :  "  Give  up  Stanis- 
laus, your  Mn^esty!  How  ridiculous  [liichcrlich)  to  be  per- 
haps ruined  for  Stanislaus  !"  But  without  the  least  effect,  now 
or  afterwards. 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       167 

15th  July-i5th  Aug.  173+. 

Poor  Stanislaus,  in  the  beginning  of  July,  got  across  into 
Preussen,  as  we  intimated ;  and  there  he  continued,  safe  against 
any  amount  of  rubles  and  Feldmarschalls,  entreaties  and  me- 
naces. At  Angerburg,  on  the  Prussian  frontier,  he  found  a 
steadfast  veteran,  Lieutenant-General  von  Katte,  Commandant 
in  those  parts  (Father  of  a  certain  poor  Lieutenant,  whom  we 
tragically  knew  of  long  ago!) — which  veteran  gentleman  re- 
ceived the  Fugitive  Majesty, ^^  with  welcome  in  the  King's 
name,  and  assurances  of  an  honourable  asylum  till  the  times 
and  roads  should  clear  again  for  his  fugitive  Majesty.  Fugi- 
tive Majesty,  for  whom  the  roads  and  times  were  very  dark  at 
present,  went  to  Marienwerder  ;  talked  of  going  '  to  Pillau,  for 
a  sea-passage,'  of  going  to  various  places  ;  went  finally  to  Ko- 
nigsberg,  and  there, — with  a  considerable  Polish  Suite  of  Fu- 
gitives, very  moneyless,  and  very  expensive,  most  of  them,  who 
had  accumulated  about  him, ^ — set-up  his  abode.  Therefor 
almost  two  years,  in  fact  tiU  this  War  ended,  the  Fugitive  Polish 
Majesty  continued  ;  Friedrich  Wilhelm  punctually  protecting 
him,  and  even  paying  him  a  small  Pension  (50/.  a  month), — 
France,  the  least  it  could  do  for  the  Grandfather  of  France, 
allowing  a  much  larger  one  ;  larger,  though  still  inadequate. 
France  has  left  its  Grandfather  strangely  in  the  lurch  here  ; 
with  '  100,000  rubles  on  his  head.'  But.  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
knows  the  sacred  rites,  and  will  do  them  ;  continues  deaf  as 
a  doorpost  alike  to  the  menaces  and  the  entreaties  of  Kaiser 
and  Czarina  ;  strictly  intimating  to  Miinnich  what  the  Laws  of 
Neutrality  are,  and  that  they  must  be  observed.  Which,  by 
his  Majesty's  good  arrangements,  Miinnich,  willing  enough  to 
the  contrary  had  it  been  feasible,  found  himself  obliged  to  com- 
ply with.  Prussian  Majesty,  like  a  King  and  a  gentleman, 
would  listen  to  no  terms  about  dismissing  or  delivering-up,  or 
otherwise  failing  in  the  sacred  rites  to  Stanislaus ;  but  honour- 
ably kept  him  there  till  the  times  and  routes  cleared  them- 
selves again. ^■t  A  plain  piece  of  duty  ;  punctually  done  :  the 
beginning  o-  it  falls  here  in  the  Camp  at  Philipsburg,  July- 
August  1734  ;  in  May  1736  we  shall  see  some  glimpse  of  the 
end  ! — 

His  Prussian  Majesty  in  Camp  at  Philipsburg,  —  so  dis- 
tinguished a  volunteer,  doing  us  the  honour  to  encamp  here, 

23  MilHair-Lexikon,  ii.  254.  ^<  Forster,  ii.  132,  134-136. 


i68  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Bookix. 

15th  Aug.  1734. 

— 'was  asked  to  all  the  Councils-of-War  that  were  held,'  say 
the  Books.  And  he  did  attend,  the  Crown-Prince  and  he,  on 
important  occasions :  but,  alas,  there  was,  so  to  speak,  no- 
thing to  be  consulted  of.  Fascines  and  hurdles  lay  useless  ; 
no  attempt  was  made  to  relieve  Philipsburg.  On  the  third 
day  after  his  Majesty's  arrival,  July  iSth,  Philipsburg,  after  a 
stiff  defence  of  six  weeks,  growing  hopeless  of  relief,  had  to 
surrender  ; — French  then  proceeded  to  repair  Philipsburg,  no 
attempt  on  Eugene's  part  to  molest  them  there.  If  they  try 
ulterior  operations  on  this  side  the  River,  he  counter-tries  ; 
and  that  is  all. 

•  Our  Crown-Prince,  somewhat  of  a  judge  in  after  years,  is 
maturely  of  opinion,  That  the  French  Lines  were  by  no  means 
inexpugnable  ;  that  the  French  Army  might  have  been  ruined 
under  an  attack  of  the  proper  kind.-^  Their  position  was  bad  ; 
no  room  to  unfold  themselves  for  fight,  except  with  the  Town's 
cannon  playing  on  them  all  the  while  ;  only  one  Bridge  to  get 
across  by,  in  case  of  coming  to  the  worse  :  defeat  of  them  pro- 
bable, and  ruin  to  them  inevitable  in  case  of  defeat.  But  Prince 
Eugene,  with  an  Army  little  to  his  mind  (Reich's-Contingents 
not  to  be  depended  on,  thought  Eugene),  durst  not  venture  : 
"  Seventeen  victorious  Battles,  and  if  we  should  be  defeated 
in  the  eighteenth  and  last  ?" 

It  is  probable  theOldDessauer,  had  he  beenGenerahssimo, 
with  this  same  Army, — in  which,  even  in  the  Reich's  part  of  it, 
we  know  Ten  Thousand  of  an  effective  character, — would  have 
done  some  stroke  upon  the  French ;  but  Prince  Eugene  would 
not  try.  Much  dimmed  from  his  former  self  this  old  hero;  age 
now  73; — a  good  deal  wearied  with  the  long  march  through 
Time.  And  this  very  Summer,  his  Brother's  Son,  the  last 
male  of  his  House,  had  suddenly  died  of  inflammatory  fever  ; 
left  the  old  man  very  mournful  :  "Alone,  alone,  at  the  end  of 
one's  long  march  ;  laurels  have  no  fruit,  then  ?"  He  stood 
cautious,  on  the  defensive;  and  in  this  capacity  is  admitted  to 
have  shown  skilful  management. 

But  Philipsljurg  being  taken,  there  is  no  longer  the  least 
event  to  be  spoken  of;  the  Campaign  passed  into  a  series  of 
advancings,  retreatings,  facings,  and  then  right-about  facings, 
— painful  manocuverings,  on  both  sides  of  the  Rhine  and  of 
the  Ncckar, — without   result  farther   to  the  French,   without 

85  CEnxircs  dc  Fri'djric,  i,  167, 


Chap.x.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       169 

15th  Aug.  1734. 

memorability  to  either  side.  About  the  middle  of  August, 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  went  away; — health  much  hurt  by  his 
month  under  canvas,  amid  Rhine  inundations,  and  mere  dis- 
tressing phenomena.  Crown-Prince  Friedrich  and  a  select 
party  escorted  his  Majesty  to  Mainz,  where  was  a  Dinner  of 
unusual  sublimity  by  the  Kurfiirst  there  ;~^ — Dinner  done,  his 
Majesty  stept  on  board  'the  Electoral  Yacht;'  and  in  this  fine 
hospitable  vehicle  went  sweeping  through  the  Binger  Loch, 
rapidly  down  towards  Wesel ;  and  the  Crown-Prince  and  party 
returned  to  their  Camp,  which  is  upon  the  Neckaratthis  time. 
Camp  shifts  about,  and  Crown-Prince  in  it :  to  Heidelberg, 
to  Waiblingen,  Weinheim ;  close  to  Mainz  at  one  time :  but  it 
is  not  worth  following  :  nor  in  Friedrich's  own  Letters,  or  in 
other  documents,  is  there,  on  the  best  examination,  anything 
considerable  to  be  gleaned  respecting  his  procedures  there. 
He  hears  of  the  ill-success  in  Italy,  Battle  of  Parma  at  the  due 
date,  with  the  natural  feelings ;  speaks  with  a  sorrowful  gaiety, 
of  the  muddy  fatigues,  futilities  here  on  the  Rhine; — has  the 
sense,  however,  not  to  blame  his  superiors  unreasonably.  Here, 
from  one  of  his  Letters  to  Colonel  Camas,  is  a  passage  worth 
quoting  for  the  credit  of  the  writer.  With  Camas,  a  distin- 
guished Prussian  Frenchman,  whom  we  mentioned  elsewhere, 
still  more  with  Madam  Camas  in  time  coming,  he  corresponded 
much,  often  in  a  fine  filial  manner  : 

'  The  present  Campaign  is  a  school,  M^here  profit  may  be  reaped  from 
'  observing  the  confusion  and  disorder  which  reigns  in  this  Army :  it 
*  has  been  a  field  very  barren  in  laurels;  and  those  who  have  been  used, 
'  all  their  life,  to  gather  such,  and  on  Seventeen  distingfiiished  occasions 
'  have  done  so,  can  get  none  this  time.'  Next  year,  we  all  hope  to  be 
on  the  Moselle,  and  to  find  that  a  fraitfuler  field.  *  *  *  'j  am  afraid, 
'  dear  Camas,  you  think  I  am  going  to  put  on  the  cothurnus;  to  set-up 
'  for  a  small  Eugene,  and,  pronouncing  witli  a  doctoral  tone  what  each 
'  should  have  done  and  not  have  done,  condemn  and  blame  to  right 
'  and  left.  No,  my  dear  Camas ;  far  from  carrying  my  arrogance  to 
'  that  point,  I  admire  the  conduct  of  our  Chief,  and  do  not  disapprove 
'  that  of  his  worthy  Adversary;  and  far  from  forgetting  the  esteem 
'  and  consideration  due  to  persons  who,  scarred  with  wounds,  have  by 
'  years  and  long  service  gained  a  consummate  experience,  I  shall  hear 
'  them  more  willingly  than  ever  as  my  teachers,  and  tiy  to  learn  from 
'  them  how  to  arrive  at  honour,  and  what  is  the  shortest  road  into  tlie 
'  secret  of  this  Profession. '" 

'^  15th  August  (Fassmann,  p.  511). 

2"  'Camp  at  Heidelberg,  iilh  September  1734'  {(Euvrcs,  xvi.  131). 


I70  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        r.ook  ix. 

15th  Aug.  1734. 

This  other,  to  Lieutenant  Groben,  three  weeks  earlier  in 
date,  shows  us  a  different  aspect  ;  which  is  at  least  equally 
authentic;  and  maybe  worth  taking  with  us.  Groben  is  Lieu- 
tenant,— I  suppose  still  oi'  the  Regiment  Goltz,  though  he  is 
left  there  behind  ; — at  any  rate,   he  is  much  a  familiar  with 


the  Prince  at  Ruppin  ;  was  ringleader,  it  is  thought,  in  those 
midnight  pranks  upon  parsons,  and  the  other  escapades  there  ;"S 
a  merry  man,  eight  years  older  than  the  Prince, — with  whom 
it  is  clear  enough  he  stands  on  a  very  free  footing.  Philips- 
burg  was  lost  a  month  ago ;  French  are  busy  repairing  it ;  and 
manoeuvering,  with  no  effect,  to  get  into  the  interior  of  Ger- 

■■is  Busching,  v.  zo. 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.        171 

17th  Aug.  1734. 

many  a  little.  Weinheim  is  a  little  Town  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Neckar,  a  dozen  miles  or  so  from  Mannheim  ; — out  of 
which,  and  into  which,  the  Prussian  Corps  goes  shifting  from 
time  to  time,  as  Prince  Eugene  and  the  French  manoeuvre  to 
no  purpose  in  that  Rhine-Neckar  Country.  '  Hefdek  Terem- 
tetcm,'  it  appears,  is  a  bit  of  Hungarian  swearing  ;  should  be 
Ordek  teremtete ;  and  means  "The  Devil  made  you!" 

'Weinheim,  17th  August  1734. 

'  Herdek  Tcremtetetn  !  "Went  with  them,  got  hanged  with  themj''^^" 
'  said  the  Bielefeld  Innkeeper  !  So  will  it  be  with  me,  poor  devil;  for 
'  I  go  dawdling  about  with  this  Army  here;  and  the  French  will  have 
'  the  better  of  us.  We  want  to  be  over  the  Neckar  again'  (to  the  South 
or  Philipsburg  side),  '  and  the  rogues  won't  let  us.  What  most  pro- 
'  vokes  me  in  the  matter  is,  that  while  we  are  here  in  such  a  wilderness 
'  01  trouble,  doing  our  utmost,  by  military  labours  and  endurances,  to 
'  make  ourselves  heroic,  thou  sittest,  thou  devil,  at  home  ! 

'  Due  de  Bouillon  has  lost  his  equipage ;  our  Hussars  took  it  at 
'  I^andau'  (other  side  the  Rhine,  a  while  ago).  '  Here  we  stand  in 
'  mud  to  the  ears ;  fifteen  of  the  Regiment  Alt-Baden  have  sunk  alto- 
'  gether  in  the  mud.  Mud  comes  of  a  waterspout,  or  sudden  cataract 
'  ot  rain,  there  was  in  these  Heidelberg  Countries  ;  two  villages, 
'  Fuhrenheim  and  Sandhausen,  it  swam  away,  every  stick  oi  them 
'  [ganz  tend  gar). 

'  Captain  von  Stojentin,  of  Regiment  Flans,'  one  o-  our  eight  Regi- 
ments here,  '  has  got  wounded  in  the  head,  in  an  affair  of  honour ;  he 
'  is  still  alive,  and  it  is  hoped  he  will  get  through  it. 

*  The  Drill-Demon  has  now  got  into  the  Ivaiser's  people  too:  Prince 
'  Eugene  is  grown  heavier  with  his  drills  than  we  ourselves.  He  is  often 
'  three  hours  at  it; — and  the  Kaiser's  people  curse  us  for  the  same,  at 
'  a  frightful  rate.  Adieu.  If  the  Devil  don't  get  thee,  he  ought.  There- 
'  iorc  vale.^"  Friedrich.' 

No  laurels  to  be  gained  here  ;  but  plenty  of  mud,  and  la- 
borious hardship, — met,  as  we  perceive,  with  youthiul  stoicism, 
of  the  derisive,  and  perhaps  of  better  forms.  Friedrich  is  twenty- 
two  and  some  months,  when  he  makes  his  first  Campaign.  The 
general  physiognomy  of  his  behaviour  in  it  we  have  to  guess 
from  these  few  indications.  No  doubt  he  profited  by  it,  on 
the  military  side  ;  and  would  study  with  quite  new  light  and 
vivacity  after  such  contact  with  the  fact  studied  of.  Very  di- 
dactic to  witness  even  'the  confusions  of  this  Army,'  and  what 
comes  of  them  to  Armies !  For  the  rest,  the  society  of  Eugene, 

^  '  Mitgegatigen,  vtiigehangcn :'  Letter  is  in  German. 
""  CEiivrcs  dc  I'ridcric,  xxvii.  part  3cl,  p.  181. 


172  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

July  Sept.  1734. 

Lichtenstein,  and  so  many  Princes  of  the  Reich,  and  Chiefs 
of  existing  mankind,  could  not  but  be  entertaining  to  the  young 
man ;  and  silently,  if  he  wished  to  read  the  actual  Time,  as 
sure  enough  he,  with  human  and  with  royal  eagerness,  did 
wish, — they  were  here  as  the  alphabet  of  it  to  him :  important 
for  years  coming.  Nay  it  is  not  doubted,  the  insight  he  here 
got  into  the  condition  of  the  Austrian  Army  and  its  manage- 
ment,— 'Army  left  seven  days  without  bread,' for  one  instance, 
— gave  him  afterwards  the  highly  important  notion,  that  such 
Army  could  be  beaten  if  necessary! — 

Wilhelmina  says,  his  chief  comrade  was  Margraf  Heinrich; 
• — the  ///  Margraf ;  who  was  cut  by  Friedrich,  in  after  years, 
for  some  unknown  bad  behaviour.  Margraf  Heinrich  'led  him 
into  all  manner  of  excesses,'  says  Wilhelmina, — probably  in 
the  language  of  exaggeration.  He  himself  tells  her,  in  one  of 
his  Letters,  a  day  or  two  before  Papa's  departure;  'The  Camp 
'  is  soon  to  be  close  on  Mainz,  nothing  but  the  Rhine  between 
'  Mainz  and  our  right  wing  where  my  place  is ;  and  so  soon  as 
'  Serenissimus  goes'  {Le  S^renissiine,  so  he  irreverently  names 
Papa),  '  I  mean  to  be  across  for  some  sport, '^1 — no  doubt  the 
111  Margraf  with  me  !  With  the  Elder  Margraf,  little  Sophie's 
Betrothed,  whom  he  called  '  big  clown'  in  a  Letter  we  read, 
he  is  at  this  date  in  open  quarrel, — '  broiiille  d.  tonte  ontrance 
'  with  the  mad  Son-in-law,  who  is  the  wildest  wild-beast  of  all 
'  this  Camp. '-^2 

Wilhelmina's  Husband  had  come,  in  the  beginning  of  Au- 
gust ;  but  was  not  so  happy  as  he  expected.  Considerably  cut- 
out by  the  111  Heinrich.  Here  is  a  small  adventure  they  had; 
mentioned  by  Friedrich,  and  copiously  recorded  by  Wilhelmina: 
adventure  on  some  River, — which  we  could  guess,  ir  it  were 
worth  guessing,  to  have  been  the  Ncckar,  not  the  Rhine.  French 
had  a  fortified  post  on  the  farther  side  of  this  River ;  Crown- 
Prince,  111  Margraf,  and  Wilhelmina's  Husband  were  quietly 
looking  about  them,  riding  up  the  other  side  :  Wilhelmina's 
Husband  decided  to  take  a  pencil-drawing  of  the  French  post, 
and  paused  for  that  object.  Drawing  was  proceeding  unmo- 
lested, when  his  loolish  Baireuth  Hussar,  having  an  excellent 
rifle  {arquebuse  7-ayde)  with  him,  took  it  into  his  head  to  have 
a  shot  at  the  French  sentries  at  long  range.  His  shot  hit  no- 
thing ;  but  it  awakened  the  French  animosity,  as  was  natural' 

•■"  G'.HvrfS  de  rridi'ric,  ;(xvii,  part  jst,  p.  jj  (lotli  Aug,).  ^*  Jb. 


Chap.x.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHIiNE  CAMPAIGN.        173 

July-Sept.  1734. 

the  French  began  dihgently  firing ;  and  might  easily  have 
done  mischief.  My  Husband,  volleying-out  some  rebuke  upon 
the  blockhead  of  a  Hussar,  finished  his  drawing,  in  spite  of 
the  French  bullets;  then  rode  up  to  the  Crown-Prince  and  111 
Margraf,  who  had  got  their  share  of  what  was  going,  and  were 
in  no  good  humour  with  him.  Ill  Margraf  rounded  things  into 
the  Crown-Prince's  ear,  in  an  unmannerly  way,  with  glances  at 
my  Husband  ; — -who  understood  it  well  enough  ;  and  promptly 
coerced  such  ill-bred  procedures,  intimating,  in  a  polite  im- 
pressive way,  that  they  would  be  dangerous  if  persisted  in. 
Which  reduced  the  III  Margraf  to  a  spiteful  but  silent  condi- 
tion. No  other  harm  was  done  at  that  time  ;  the  French 
bullets  all  went  awry,  or  '  even  fell  short,  being  sucked-in  by 
the  river,'  thinks  Wilhelmina.^^ 

A  more  important  feature  of  the  Crown-Prince's  life  in 
these  latter  weeks  is  the  news  he  gets  of  his  Father.  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  after  quitting  the  Electoral  Yacht,  did  his  reviewing 
at  Wesel,  at  Bielefeld,  all  his  reviewing  in  those  Rhine  and 
Weser  Countries  ;  then  turned  aside  to  pay  a  promised  visit 
to  Ginkel  the  Berlin  Dutch  Ambassador,  who  has  a  fine  House 
in  those  parts  ;  and  there  his  Majesty  has  fallen  seriously  ill. 
Obliged  to  pause  at  Ginkel's,  and  then  at  his  own  Schloss  of 
Moyland,  for  some  time  ;  does  not  reach  Potsdam  till  the  14th 
September,  and  then  in  a  weak,  worsening,  and  altogether  dan- 
gerous condition,  which  lasts  for  months  to  come.^^  Wrecks 
of  gout,  they  say,  and  of  all  manner  of  nosological  mischief; 
falling  to  dropsy.  Case  desperate,  think  all  the  Newspapers, 
in  a  cautious  form;  which  is  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  own  opinion 
pretty  much,  and  that  of  those  better  informed.  Here  are 
thoughts  for  a  Crown-Prince  ;  well-affected  to  his  Father,  yet 
suffering  much  from  him  which  is  grievous.  To  bystanders, 
one  now  makes  a  different  figure  :  "  A  Crown-Prince,  who 
may  be  King  one  of  these  days, — whom  a  little  adulation  were 
well  spent  upon  !"  From  within  and  from  without  come  agi- 
tating influences  ;  thoughts  which  must  be  rigorously  repressed, 
and  which  are  not  wholly  repressible.  The  soldiering  Crown- 
Prince,  from  about  the  end  of  September,  for  the  last  week  or 
two  of  this  Campaign,  is  secretly  no  longer  quite  the  same  to 
himself  or  to  others. 

33  Wllhelmina,  ii.  208,  209;  CEiivres  de  Frederic,  xxvli.  pari  ist,  p.  19. 
^^  Fassmann,  pp.  512-533:  September  1734-Janiiary  1735. 


174  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Hook  ix. 

July-Sept.  1734. 

Glimpse  of  Lieutenant  Chasot,  and  of  other  Acqtiisitions. 

We  have  still  two  little  points  to  specify,  or  to  bring  up 
from  the  rearward  whither  they  are  fallen,  in  regard  to  this 
Campaign.  After  which  the  wearisome  Campaign  shall  ter- 
minate ;  Crown-Prince  leading  his  Ten  Thousand  to  Frank- 
furt, towards  their  winter-quarters  in  Westphalia  ;  and  then 
himself  running  across  from  Frankfurt  (October  5th),  to  see 
Wilhelmina  for  a  day  or  two  on  the  way  homewards  : — with 
much  pleasure  to  all  parties,  my  readers  and  me  included  ! 

First  point  is.  That,  some  time  in  this  Campaign,  probably 
towards  the  end  of  it,  the  Crown-Prince,  Old  Dessauer  and 
some  others  with  them,  'procured  passports,'  went  across,  and 
'saw  the  French  Camp,'  and  what  new  phenomena  were  in  it 
for  them.  Where,  when,  how,  or  with  what  impression  left 
on  either  side,  we  do  not  learn.  It  was  not  much  of  a  Camp 
for  military  admiration,  this  of  the  French. ^5  There  were  old 
soldiers  of  distinction  in  it  here  and  there  ;  a  few  young  sol- 
diers diligently  studious  of  their  art ;  and  a  great  many  young 
fops  of  high  birth  and  high  ways,  strutting  about  'in  red- 
heeled  shoes,'  with  '  Commissions  got  from  Court'  for  this 
War,  and  nothing  of  the  soldier  but  the  epaulettes  and  plum- 
ages,— apt  to  be  '  insolent'  among  their  poorer  comrades. 
From  all  parties,  young  and  old,  even  from  that  insolent  red- 
heel  party,  nothing  but  the  highest  finish  of  politeness  could 
be  visible  on  this  particular  occasion.  Doubtless  all  passed 
in  the  usual  satisfactory  manner  ;  and  the  Crown-Prince  got 
his  pleasant  excursion,  and  materials,  more  or  less,  for  after 
thought  and  comparison.  But  as  there  is  nothing  whatever 
of  it  on  record  for  us  but  the  bare  fact,  we  leave  it  to  the 
reader's  imagination, — fact  being  indubitable,  and  details  not 
inconceivable  to  lively  readers.  Among  the  French  dignitaries 
doing  the  honours  of  their  Camp  on  this  occasion,  he  was 
struck  by  the  General's  Adjutant,  a  "  Count  dc  Rottembourg" 
(properly  voi  Rothetibitrg,  of  German  birth,  kinsman  to  the 
Rothenburg  whom  we  have  seen  as  French  Ambassador  at 
Berlin  long  since) ;  a  promising  young  soldier  ;  whom  he  did 
not  lose  sight  of  again,  but  acquired  in  due  time  to  his  own 
service,  and  found  to  be  Oi  eminent  worth  there.      A  Count 

55  Mi<iiwires  de  Noailks  (passim). 


Chap.  X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       175 

July-Sept.  1734. 

von  Schmettau,  two  Brothers  von  Schmettau,  here  in  the  Aus- 
trian service  ;  superior  men,  Prussian  by  birth,  and  very  fit 
to  be  acquired  by  and  by  ;  these  the  Crown-Prince  had  already 
noticed  in  this  Rhine  Campaign, — having  always  his  eyes  open 
to  phenomena  of  that  kind. 

The  second  little  point  is  of  date  perhaps  two  months  an- 
terior to  that  of  the  French  Camp  ;  and  is  marked  sufficiently 
in  this  Excerpt  from  our  confused  Manuscripts  : 

Before  quitting  Philipsburg,  there  befel  one  slight  adventure,  which, 
though  it  seemed  to  be  nothing,  is  worth  recording  here.  One  day, 
date  not  given,  a  young  French  Officer,  of  ingenuous  prepossessing  look, 
though  much  flurried  at  the  moment,  came  across  as  involuntary  de- 
serter; flying  from  a  great  peril  in  his  own  camp.  The  name  of  him  is 
Chasot,  Lieutenant  of  such  and  such  a  Regiment:  "Take  me  to  Prince 
Eugene  !"  he  entreats,  which  is  done.  Peril  was  this :  A  high  young 
gentleman,  one  of  those  fops  in  red  lieels,  ignorant,  and  capable  of  in- 
solence to  a  poorer  comrade  of  studious  turn,  had  fixed  a  duel  upon 
Chasot.  Chasot  ran  him  through,  in  fair  duel;  dead,  and  is  thought  to 
have  desei-ved  it.  "  But  Due  de  Boufllers  is  his  kinsman:  run,  or  you 
are  lost!"  cried  everybody.  The  Officers  of  his  Regiment  hastily  redacted 
some  certificate  for  Chasot,  hastily  signed  it;  and  Chasot  ran,  scarcely 
waiting  to  pack  his  baggage. 

"  Will  not  your  Serene  Highness  protect  me?" — "  Certainly!"  said 
Eugene; — gave  Chasot  a  lodging  among  his  own  people;  and  appointed 
one  of  them,  Herr  Brender  by  name,  to  show  him  about,  and  teach  him 
the  nature  of  his  new  quarters.  Chasot,  a  brisk,  ingenuous  young  fel- 
low, soon  became  a  favourite ;  eager  to  be  useful  where  possible ;  and 
very  pleasant  in  discourse,  said  everybody. 

By  and  by, — still  at  Philipsburg,  as  would  seem,  though  it  is  not 
said, — the  Crown -Prince  heard  of  Chasot;  asked  Brender  to  bring  him 
over.  Here  is  Chasot's  own  account :  through  which,  as  through  a 
small  eylet-hole,  we  peep  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  direct  into 
the  Crown-Prince's  Campaign-life  on  this  occasion: 

'  Next  morning,  at  ten  o'clock  the  appointed  hour,  Brender  having 
'  ordered  out  one  of  his  horses  for  me,  I  accompanied  him  to  the  Prince; 
'  who  received  us  in  his  Tent, — behind  which  he  had,  hollowed  out  to 
'  the  depth  of  three  or  four  feet,  a  large  Dining-room,  with  windows, 
'  and  a  roof, '  I  hope  of  good  height,  '  thatched  with  strav,^  His  Royal 
'  Highness,  after  two-hours  conversation,  in  which  he  had  put  a  hundred 
'  questions  to  me'  (a  Prince  desirous  of  knowing  the  facts),  '  dismissed 
'  us;  and  at  parting,  bade  me  return  often  to  him  in  the  evenings. 

'  It  was  in  this  Dining-room,  at  the  end  of  a  great  dinner,  the  day 
'  after  next,  that  the  Prusbiau  guard  introduced  a  Trumpet  trom  Mon- 
'  sieur  d'Asfeld'  (French  Commander-in-Chief  since  Berwick's  deati;), 


176  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        nookiX. 

4th  Oct.  1734. 
'  with  my  three  horses,  sent  over  from  the  French  Army.  Prince  Eugene, 
'  who  was  present,  and  in  good  humour,  said,  "We  must  sell  those 
'  horses,  they  don't  speak  German;  Brender  will  take  care  to  mount  you 
'  some  way  or  other."  Prince  Lichtenstein  immediately  put  a  price 
'  on  my  horses;  and  they  were  sold  on  the  spot  at  three  times  their 
'  worth.  The  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  of  this  Dinner'  (slightly  crook- 
backed  witty  gentleman,  English  honeymoon  well  over),  'said  to  me 
'  in  a  half- whisper,  "  Monsieur,  there  is  nothing  like  selling  horses  to 
'  people  who  have  dined  w'ell. " 

'  After  this  sale,  I  found  myself  richer  than  I  had  ever  been  in  my 
'  life.  The  Prince  Royal  sent  me,  almost  daily,  a  groom  and  led  horse, 
'  that  I  might  come  to  him,  and  sometimes  follow  him  in  his  excursions. 
'  At  last,  he  had  it  proposed  to  me,  by  M.  de  Brender,  and  even  by 
'  Prince  Eugene,  to  accompany  him  to  Berlin.'  Which,  of  course,  I 
did;  taking  Ruppin  first.  'I  arrived  at  Berlin  from  Ruppin,  in  1734, 
'  two  days  after  the  marriage  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Margraf  of  Schwedt' 
(111  Margraf's  elder  Brother,  wildest  wild-beast  of  this  Camp)  '  with  the 
'  Princess  Sophie,' — that  is  to  say,  12th  of  November;  Marriage  having 
been  on  the  loth,  as  the  Books  teach  us.  Chasot  remembers  that,  on 
the  14th,  'the  Crown-Prince  gave,  in  his  Berlin  mansion,  a  dinner  to 
'  all  the  Royal  Family,'  iu  honour  of  that  auspicious  wedding. ^'^ 

Thus  is  Chasot  established  with  the  Crown-Prince.  He 
will  turn-up  fighting  well  in  subsequent  parts  of  this  History; 
and  again  duelling  fatally,  though  nothing  of  a  quarrelsome 
man,  as  he  asserts. 

Crown- Princes  Visit  to  Baireuth  on  the  Way  home. 

October  4th,  the  Crown-Prince  has  parted  with  Prince  Eu- 
gene,— not  to  meet  again  in  this  world  ;  '  an  old  hero  gone  to 
the  shadow  of  himself,'  says  the  Crown-Prince  f" — and  is  giv- 
ing his  Prussian  War-Captains  a  farewell  dinner  at  Franfurt- 
on-Mayn  ;  having  himself  led  the  Ten  Thousand  so  far,  towards 
Winter-quarters,  and  handing  them  over  now  to  their  usual 
commanders.  They  are  to  winter  in  Westphalia,  these  Ten 
Thousand,  in  the  Paderborn-Miinster  Country  ;  where  they  are 
nothing  like  welcome  to  the  Ruling  Powers  ;  nor  are  intended 
to  be  so, — Kur-Koln  (proprietor  there)  and  his  Brother  of  Ba- 
varia having  openly  French  leanings.  The  Prussian  Ten  Thou- 
sand will  have  to  help  themselves  to  the  essential,  therefore, 
without  welcome  ; — and  things  are  not  pleasant.   And  the  Rul- 

*•  Kurd  von  Schliizer,  Chasot  (Berlin,  1856),  pp.  20-22.     A  pleasant  little  Book; 
tolerably  accurate,  and  of  very  readable  guality. 
i>7  (Jiuvrcs  [Mt'iii.  <ie  Drandcbourg),  i.  1C7. 


Chap.X.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       177 

5th  Oct.  1734. 

ing  Powers,  by  protocolling,  still  more  the  Commonalty  if  it 
try  at  mobbing,'*^  can  only  make  them  worse.  Indeed  it  is 
said  the  Ten  Thousand,  though  their  bearing  was  so  perfect 
otherwise,  generally  behaved  rather  ill  in  their  marches  over 
Germany,  during  this  War, — and  always  worst,  it  was  remarked 
by  observant  persons,  in  the  countries  (Bamberg  and  Wiirz- 
burg,  for  instance)  where  their  officers  had  in  past  years  been 
in  recruiting  troubles.  Whereby  observant  persons  explained 
the  phenomenon  to  themselves.  But  we  omit  all  that ;  our 
concern  lying  elsewhere.  '  Directly  after  dinner  at  Frankfurt,' 
the  Crown-Prince  drives  off,  rapidly  as  his  wont  is,  towards 
Baireuth.  He  arrives  there  on  the  morrow  ;  '  October  5th,' 
says  Wilhelmina, — who  again  illuminates  him  to  us,  though 
with  oblique  lights,  for  an  instant. 

Wilhelmina  was  in  low  spirits  : — weak  health  ;  add  funeral 
of  the  Prince  of  Culmbach  (killed  in  the  Battle  of  Parma),  ill- 
ness of  Papa,  and  other  sombre  events  : — and  was  by  no  means 
content  with  the  Crown-Prince,  on  this  occasion.  Strangely 
altered  since  we  met  him  in  July  last!  It  may  be,  the  Crown- 
Prince,  looking,  with  an  airy  buoyancy  of  mind,  towards  a  cer- 
tain Event  probably  near,  has  got  his  young  head  inflated  a 
little,  and  carries  himself  with  a  height  new  to  this  beloved 
Sister  ; — but  probably  the  sad  humour  of  the  Princess  herself 
has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it.  Alas,  the  contrast  between  a 
heart  knowing  secretly  its  own  bitterness,  and  a  friend's  heart 
conscious  of  joy  and  triumph,  is  harsh  and  shocking  to  the 
former  of  the  two  !  Here  is  the  Princess's  account;  with  the 
subtrahend,  twenty-five  or  seventy-five  per  cent,  7iot  deducted 
from  it  : 

'  My  Brother  arrived,  the  5th  of  October.  He  seemed  to  me  pul- 
'  out  {dccontenancc) ;  and  to  break-off  conversation  with  me,  he  said  he 
'  had  to  write  to  the  King  and  Queen.  I  ordered  him  pen  and  paper. 
'  He  wrote  in  my  room  ;  and  spent  more  than  a  good  hour  in  writing 
'  a  couple  of  Letters,  of  a  line  or  two  each.  He  then  had  all  the  Court, 
'  one  after  the  other,  introduced  to  him ;  said  nothing  to  any  of  them, 
'  looked  merely  with  a  mocking  air  at  them ;  after  which  we  went  to 
'  dinner. 

'  Here  his  whole  conversation  consisted  in  quizzing   {h(rlupinei) 

'  whatever  he  saw ;  and  repeating  to  me,  above  a  hundred  times  over, 

'  the  words  "little  Prince,"  "little  Court."     I  was  shocked  ;  ar.  I  •  -'uM 

*  not  understand  how  he  had  changed  so  suddenly  towards  me.     The 

s»  '  2Sth  March  1735'  (Fas?mann,  p.  547);  Buchholz,  i.  136. 

VOL.  in.  N 


178  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

5th  Oct.  1734. 
'  etiquette  of  all  Courts  in  the  Empire  is,  that  nobody  vvho  has  not  at 
*  the  least  the  rank  of  Captain  can  sit  at  a  Prince's  table :  my  Brother 
'put  a  Lieutenant  there,  who  was  in  his  suite;  saying  to  me,  "A 
'  King's  Lieutenants  are  as  good  as  a  Margraf 's  Ministers. "  I  swal- 
'  lowed  this  incivility,  and  showed  no  sign. 

'After  dinner,  being  alone  with  me,  he  said,' — turning  up  the  flip- 
pant side  of  his  thoughts,  truly,  in  a  questionable  way: — '  -'Our  Sire 
'  is  going  to  end  [lire  a  sa  fin) ;  he  will  not  live-out  this  month.  I 
'  know  I  have  made  you  great  promises ;  but  I  am  not  in  a  condition 
'  to  keep  them.  I  will  give  you  up  the  Half  of  the  sum  which  the  late 
'  King"  (our  Grandfather)  "lent  you;''  I  think  you  will  have  every 
'  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  that."  I  answered,  That  my  regard  for 
'  him  had  never  been  of  an  interested  nature ;  that  I  would  never  ask 
'  anything  of  him,  but  the  continuance  of  his  friendship ;  and  did  not 
'  wish  one  sou,  if  it  would  in  the  least  inconvenience  him.  "  No,  no," 
'  said  he,  "you  shall  have  those  100,000  thalers;  I  have  destined  them 
'  for  you. — People  will  be  much  surprised,"  continued  he,  "to  see  me 
'  act  quite  differently  from  what  they  had  expected.  They  imagine  I 
'  am  going  to  lavish  all  my  treasures,  and  that  money  will  become  as 
'  common  as  pebbles  at  Berlin :  but  they  will  find  I  know  better.  I 
'  mean  to  increase  my  Army,  and  to  leave  all  other  things  on  the  old 
'  footing.  I  will  have  every  consideration  for  the  Queen  my  Mother, 
'  and  will  sate  her  (rassasierai)  with  honours ;  but  I  do  not  mean  that 
'  she  shall  meddle  in  my  affairs;  and  if  she  try  it,  she  will  find  so."  ' 
What  a  speech ;  what  an  outbreak  of  candour  in  the  young  man,  pre- 
occupied with  his  own  great  thoughts  and  difficulties, — to  the  exclusion 
of  any  other  person's! 

'  I  fell  from  the  clouds,  on  hearing  all  that ;  and  knew  not  if  I  was 
'  sleeping  or  waking.  He  then  questioned  me  on  the  affairs  of  this 
'  Country.  I  gave  him  the  detail  of  them.  He  said  to  me:  "When 
'  your  goose  [boiet)  of  a  Father-in-law  dies,  I  advise  you  to  break-up 
'  the  whole  Court,  and  reduce  yourselves  to  the  footing  of  a  private 
'  gentleman's  establishment,  in  order  to  pay  your  debts.  In  real  tnith, 
'  you  have  no  need  of  so  many  people ;  and  you  must  try  also  to  re- 
'  duce  the  wages  of  those  whom  you  cannot  help  keeping.  You  have 
'  been  accustomed  to  live  at  Berlin  with  a  table  of  four  dishes;  that  is 
'  all  you  want  here:  and  I  will  invite  you  now  and  then  to  Berlin; 
'  \\hich  M'ill  spare  table  and  housekeeping." 

'  For  a  long  while  my  heart  had  been  getting  big;  I  could  not  re- 
'  strain  my  tears,  at  hearing  all  these  indignities.  "  Why  do  you  cry?" 
'  said  he:  "Ah,  ah,  you  are  in  low  spirits,  I  see.  We  must  dissipate 
'  that  dark  humour.  The  music  waits  us;  I  will  drive  that  fit  out  of 
'  you  by  an  air  or  two  on  the  flute."  He  gave  me  his  hand,  and  led 
'  nie  into  the  other  room.  I  sat  down  to  the  harpsichord ;  which  I 
'  inundated  (iiioiidai)  with  my  tears.      Marwitz'  (my  artful  Demoiselle 

'•  SuprJi,  vol.  ii.  pp.  228-225. 


Chap.x.     PRINCE  GOES  TO  RHINE  CAMPAIGN.       179 

1 2th  Oct.  1734. 

d'Atours,  perhaps  loo  artful  in  time  coming)   'placed  herself  opposite 

'  mc,  so  as  to  hide  from  the  others  what  disorder  I  was  in.'*" 

For  the  last  two  days  of  the  visit,  Wilhelmina  admits  her 
Brother  was  a  little  kinder.  But  on  the  fourth  day  there  came, 
by  estafette,  a  Letter  from  the  Queen,  conjuring  him  to  return 
without  delay,  the  King  growing  worse  and  worse.  Wilhel- 
mina, who  loved  her  Father,  and  whose  outlooks  in  case  of  his 
decease  appeared  to  be  so  little  flattering,  was  overwhelmed 
with  sorrow.  Of  her  Brother,  however,  she  strove  to  forget  that 
strange  outbreak  of  candour  ;  and  parted  with  him  as  if  all 
were  mended  between  them  again.  Nay,  the  day  after  his  de- 
parture, there  goes  a  beautifully  affectionate  Letter  to  him  ; 
which  we  could  give,  if  there  were  room  :*^  '  the  happiest  time 
'  I  ever  in  my  life  had  ;'  '  my  heart  so  full  of  gratitude  and 
'  so  sensibly  touched  ;'  '  every  one  repeating  the  words  "  dear 
'  Brother"  and  "  charming  Prince-Royal  :"  ' — a  Letter  in  very 
lively  contrast  to  what  we  have  just  been  reading.  A  Prince- 
Royal  not  without  charm,  in  spite  of  the  hard  practicalities  he 
is  meditating,  obliged  to  meditate  ! — 

As  to  the  outbreak  of  candour,  offensive  to  Wilhelmina  and 
us,  we  suppose  her  report  of  it  to  be  in  substance  true,  though 
of  exaggerated,  perhaps  perverted  tone  ;  and  it  is  worth  the 
reader's  notice,  with  these  deductions.  The  truth  is,  our  charm- 
ing Princess  is  always  liable  to  a  certain  subtrahend.  In  1744, 
wlicn  she  wrote  those  Memoires,  '  in  a  Summerhouse  at  Bair- 
cuth,'  her  Brother  and  she,  owing  mainly  to  go-betweens  act- 
ing on  the  susceptible  female  heart,  were  again  in  temporary 
quarrel  (the  longest  and  worst  they  ever  had),  and  hardly  on 
speaking  terms  ;  which  of  itself  made  her  heart  very  heavy; — 
not  to  say  that  Marwitz,  the  too  artful  Demoiselle,  seemed  to 
have  stolen  her  Husband's  affections  from  the  poor  Princess, 
and  made  the  world  look  all  a  little  grim  to  her.  These  cir- 
cumstances have  given  their  colour  to  parts  of  her  Narrative, 
and  are  not  to  be  forgotten  by  readers. 

The  Crown-Prince, — who  goes  by  Dessau,  lodging  for  a 
night  with  the  Old  Dessauer,  and  writes  affectionately  to  his 
Sister  from  that  place,  their  Letters  crossing  on  the  road, — 
gets  home  on  the  12th  to  Potsdam.  October  12th,  1734.  he 
has  ended  his  Rhine  Campaign,  in  that  manner  ; — and  sees  his 
poor  Father,  with  a  great  many  other  feehngs  besides  those  ex- 
pressed in  the  dialogue  at  Baireuth. 

■t"  Wilhelmina,  ii.  216-218.  ■"  CEnvres,  x.xvii.  part  ist,  p.  23. 


i8o  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST   STAGE.       Book  ix. 

Sept. -Oct.  1734. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

IN  PAPA*S  sick-room;    PRUSSIAN  INSPECTIONS:    END  OF  WAR. 

It  appears,  Friedrich  met  a  cordial  reception  in  the  sick- 
room at  Potsdam  ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  levities  to  Wilhelmina, 
was  struck  to  the  heart  by  what  he  saw  there.  For  months  to 
come,  he  seems  to  be  continually  running  between  Potsdam 
and  Ruppin,  eager  to  minister  to  his  sick  Father,  when  military 
leave  is  procurable.  Other  fact  about  him,  other  aspect  of  him, 
in  those  months,  is  not  on  record  for  us. 

Of  his  young  Madam,  or  Princess -Royal,  peaceably  resi- 
dent at  Berlin  or  at  Schonhausen,  and  doing  the  vacant  offi- 
cialities, formal  visitings  and  the  like,  we  hear  nothing  ;  of 
Queen  Sophie  and  the  others,  nothing  :  anxious,  all  of  them, 
no  doubt,  about  the  event  at  Potsdam,  and  otherwise  silent  to 
us.  His  Majesty's  illness  comes  and  goes  ;  now  hope,  and 
again  almost  none.  Margraf  of  Schwedt  and  his  young  Bride, 
we  already  know,  were  married  in  November  ;  and  Lieutenant 
Chasot  (two  days  old  in  Berlin)  told  us,  there  was  Dinner  by 
the  Crown-Prince  to  all  the  Royal  Family  on  that  occasion  ; — 
poor  JMajcsty  out  at  Potsdam  languishing  in  the  background, 
meanwhile. 

His  Carnival  the  Crown-Prince  passes  naturally  at  Berlin. 
Wc  find  he  takes  a  good  deal  to  the  French  Ambassador,  one 
Marquis  de  la  Chdtardie  ;  a  showy  restless  character,  of  fame 
in  the  Gazettes  of  that  time ;  who  did  much  intriguing  at  Peters- 
burg some  years  hence,  first  in  a  signally  triumphant  way,  and 
then  in  a  signally  untriumphant;  and  is  not  now  worth  any 
knowledge  but  a  transient  accidental  one.  Chdtardie  came 
hither  about  Stanislaus  and  his  affairs  ;  tried  hard,  but  in  vain, 
to  tempt  I'^ricdrich  Wilhclm  into  interference  ; — is  naturally 
anxious  to  captivate  the  Crown- Prince,  in  present  circum- 
stances. 

Friedrich  Wilhclm  lay  at  Potsdam,  between  death  and  life, 
for  almost  four  months  to  come  ;  the  Newspapers  speculating 
much  on  his  situation  ;  political  people  extremely  anxious  what 
would  become  of  him, — or  in  fact,  when  he  would  die  ;  for 
that  was  considered  the  likely  issue.  Fassmann  gives  dolor- 
ous clippings  from  the  Ley  den  Gazette,  all  in  a  blubber  of  tears, 


Chap. XI.  IN  PAPA'S  SICK-ROOM.  i8i 

Sept. -Oct.  1734. 

according  to  the  then  fashion,  but  full  of  impertinent  curiosity 
withal.  And  from  the  Seckendorf  private  Papers  there  are  Ex- 
tracts of  a  still  more  inquisitive  and  notable  character  :  Seck- 
endorf and  the  Kaiser  having  an  intense  interest  in  this  pain- 
ful occurrence. 

Seckendorf  is  not  now  himself  at  Berlin  ;  but  running  much 
about,  on  other  errands  ;  can  only  see  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  if 
at  all,  in  a  passing  way.  And  even  this  will  soon  cease  ; — and 
in  fact,  to  us  it  is  by  far  the  most  excellent  result  of  this  French- 
Austrian  War,  that  it  carries  Seckendorf  clear  away;  who  now 
quits  Berlin  and  the  Diplomatic  line,  and  obligingly  goes  out 
of  our  sight  henceforth.  The  old  Ordnance-Master,  as  an  Im- 
perial General  of  rank,  is  needed  now  for  War-Service,  if  he 
has  any  skill  that  way.  In  those  late  months,  he  was  duly  in 
attendance  at  Philipsburg  and  the  Rhine-Campaign,  in  a  subal- 
tern torpid  capacity,  like  Brunswick- Bevern  and  the  others  ; 
ready  for  work,  had  there  been  any :  but  next  season,  he  ex- 
pects to  have  a  Division  of  his  own,  and  to  do  something  con- 
siderable.— In  regard  to  Berlin  and  the  Diplomacies,  he  has 
appointed  a  Nephew  of  his,  a  Seckendorf  Junior,  to  take  his 
place  there  ;  to  keep  the  old  machinery  in  gear,  if  nothing 
more  ;  and  furnish  copious  reports  during  the  present  crisis. 
These  Reports  of  Seckendorf  Junior, — full  of  eavesdroppings, 
got  from  a  Kammennohr  (Nigger  Lackey),  who  waits  in  the 
sick-room  at  Potsdam,  and  is  sensible  to  bribes, — have  been 
printed  ;  and  we  mean  to  glance  slightly  into  them.  But  as  to 
Seckendorf  Senior,  readers  can  entei-tain  the  fixed  hope  that 
they  have  at  length  done  with  him  ;  that,  in  these  our  premises, 
we  shall  never  see  him  again  ; — nay  shall  see  him,  on  extrane- 
ous dim  fields,  far  enough  away,  smarting  and  suffering,  till 
even  we  are  almost  sorry  for  the  old  knave  ! — 

Friedrich  Wilhelm's  own  prevailing  opinion  is,  that  he  can- 
not recover.  His  bodily  sufferings  are  great :  dropsically  swollen, 
sometimes  like  to  be  choked  :  no  bed  that  he  can  bear  to  lie 
on  ; — oftenest  rolls  about  in  a  Bath-chair  ;  very  heavy-ladea 
indeed  ;  and  I  think  of  tenderer  humour  than  in  former  sick- 
nesses. To  the  Old  Dessauer  he  writes,  ievv  days  after  getting 
home  to  Potsdam  :  '  I  am  ready  to  quit  4he  world,  as  Your 
'  Dilection  knows,  and  has  various  times  heard  me  say. 
'  One  ship  sails  faster,  another  slower  ;  but  they  come  all  to 
'  one  haven.     Let  it  be  with  me,  then,  as  the  Most  High  has 


1 82  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.         Book  IX. 

Sept.-Oct.  1734. 

'  determined  for  me.'^  He  has  settled  his  affairs,  Fassmann 
says,  so  far  as  possible  ;  settled  the  order  of  his  funeral,  How 
he  is  to  be  buried,  in  the  Garrison  Church  of  Potsdam,  with- 
out pomp  or  fuss,  like  a  Prussian  Soldier  ;  and  what  regiment 
or  i-egiments  it  is  that  are  to  do  the  triple  volley  over  him,  by 
way  of  finis  and  long  farewell.  His  soul's  interests  too, — we 
need  not  doubt  he  is  in  deep  conference,  in  deep  consideration 
about  these  ;  though  nothing  is  said  on  that  point.  A  serious 
man  always,  much  feeling  what  immense  facts  hewas  surrounded 
with  ;  and  here  is  now  the  summing-up  of  all  facts.  Occasion- 
ally, again,  he  has  hopes  ;  orders  up  '  two  hundred  of  his  Pots- 
dam Giants  to  march  through  the  sick-room,'  since  he  cannot 
get  out  to  them  ;  or  old  Generals,  Buddenbrock,  Waldau,  come 
and  take  their  pipe  there,  in  reminiscence  of  a  Tabagie.  Here, 
direct  from  the  fountain-head,  or  Nigger  Lackey  bribed  by 
Seckendorf  Junior,  is  a  notice  or  two  : 

'■Potsdam,  September  30///,  1734.  Yesterday,  for  half  an  hour,  the 
'  King  could  get  no  breath :  he  keeps  them  continually  rolling  him 
'about'  in  his  Bath-chair,  'over  the  room,  and  cries:  " Ltift,  Luft 
'  (Air,  air) !" 

'  October  td.  The  King  is  not  going  to  die  just  yet ;  but  will 
'  scarcely  see  Christmas.  He  gets-on  his  clothes ;  argues  with  the 
'  Doctors,  is  impatient  ;  won't  have  people  speak  of  his  illAess  ; — is 
'  quite  black  in  the  face;  drinks  nothing  but  MoW  (which  we  suppose 
to  be  small  bitter  beer),   'takes  physic,  writes  in  bed.' 

'  October  ^th.  The  Nigger  tells  me  things  are  better.  The  King 
'  begins  to  bring-up  phlegm  ;  drinks  a  great  deal  of  oatmeal-water' 
{Ha/er^riitzrwasser,  comfortable  to  the  sick) ;  'says  to  the  Nigger  :  "Pray 
'  diligently,  all  of  you;  perhaps  I  shall  not  die!"  ' 

October  5  th  :  this  is  the  day  the  Crown-Prince  arrives  at 
Baireuth  ;  to  be  called  away  by  express  four  days  after.  How 
valuable,  at  Vienna  or  elsewhere,  our  dark  friend  the  Lackey's 
medical  opinion  is,  may  be  gathered  from  this  other  Entry, 
three  weeks  farther  on, — enough  to  suffice  us  on  that  head  : 

'The  Nigger  tells  me  he  has  a  bad  opinion  of  the  King's  health. 
'  If  you  roll  the  King  a  little  fast  in  his  Bath-chair,  you  hear  the  water 
'  jumble  in  his  l)ody. ' — with  astonishment!  'King  gets  into  passions; 
'  has  beaten  the  page^'  (may  we  hope,  our  dark  friend  among  the  rest?), 
'  .so  that  it  was  feared  apoplexy  would  take  him.' 

>  Orlich,  Cfschkhte  der  Schlesischen  Krie^e  (licilin,  iS.(i),  i.   i.|.     'From  tlie 
Ije!>:.aii  Archives;  date,  2i.st  SeiJtcmbcr  1734.' 


Chap.  XI.  IN   PAPA'S   SICK-ROOM.  183 

Sept.-Oct.  1734. 

This  will  suffice  for  the  physiological  part ;  let  us  now  hear 
our  poor  friend  on  the  Crown-Prince  and  his  arrival  : 

'  October  11th.  Return  of  the  Prince-Royal  to  Potsdam;  tender  re- 
'  ception. — October  zist.  Things  look  ill  in  Potsdam.  The  other  leg 
'  is  now  also  begun  running ;  and  above  a  quart  (iiiaas)  ot  water  has 
'  come  from  it.  Without  a  miracle,  the  King  cannot  live,' — thinks  our 
dark  friend.  'The  Prince-Royal  is  truly  affected  (veritablenient attendri) 
'  at  the  King's  situation;  has  his  eyes  full  of  water,  has  wept  the  eyes 
'  out  of  Ills  head :  has  schemed  in  all  ways  to  contrive  a  commodious 
'bed  for  the  King;  wouldn't  go  away  from  Potsdam.  King  lorced 
'him  away;  he  is  to  return  Saturday  afternoon.  The  Prince-Royal 
'  lias  been  heard  to  say,  "  If  the  King  will  let  me  live  in  my  own  way, 
'  I  would  give  an  arm  to  lengthen  his  life  for  twenty  years. "  King  al- 
'  ways  calls  him  Fritzchen.  But  Fritzchen, '  thinks  Seckendorf  Junior, 
'  knows  nothing  about  business.  The  King  is  aware  of  it ;  and  said  in 
'  the  face  of  him  one  day :  "  If  thou  begin  at  the  wrong  end  with  things, 
'  and  all  go  topsy-turvy  after  I  am  gone,  I  will  laugh  at  thee  out  of  my 
'  grave!"  '^ — 

So  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ;  labouring  amid  the  mortal  quick- 
sands ;  looking  into  the  Inevitable,  in  various  moods.  But  the 
memorablest  speech  he  made  to  Fritzchen  or  to  anybody  at 
present,  was  that  covert  one  about  the  Kaiser  and  Seckendorf, 
and  the  sudden  flash  of  insight  he  got,  from  some  word  of 
Seckendorf 's,  into  what  they  had  been  meaning  with  him  all 
along.  Riding  through  the  Village  of  Priort,  in  debate  about 
Vienna  politics  of  a  strange  nature,  Seckendorf  said  some- 
thing, which  illuminated  his  Majesty,  dark  for  so  many  years, 
and  showed  him  where  he  was.  A  ghastly  horror  of  a  country, 
yawning  indisputable  there  ;  revealed  to  one  as  if  by  mo- 
mentary lightning,  in  that  manner  !  This  is  a  speech  which 
all  the  Ambassadors  report,  and  which  was  already  mentioned 
by  us, — in  reference  to  that  opprobrious  Proposal  about  the 
Crown-Prince's  Marriage,  "  Marry  with  England,  after  all  ; 
never  mind  breaking  your  word  1"  Here  is  the  manner  of  it, 
with  time  and  place  : 

'Sunday  last,'  Sunday  17th  October  1734,  reports  Seckendon 
Junior,  through  the  Nigger  or  some  better  witness,  '  the  King  said  to 
'  the  Prince-Royal  :  "My  dear  Son,  I  tell  thee  I  got  my  death  at 
'  Priort.  I  entreat  thee,  above  all  things  in  the  world,  don't  trust 
'  those  people  (denen  Leitten),  however  many  promises  they  make. 
'  That  day,  it  was  April  17th,  1733,  there  was  a  man  said  something 
'  to  me:  it  was  as  ii  you  had  turned  a  dagger  round  in  my  heart."  '^ — 

'  Seckendori  {Baron),  Journal  Secret ;  cited  in  Forster,  ii.  142.  •*  lb. 


1 84  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        Book  ix. 

Jan.  1735. 

Figure  that,  spoken  from  amid  tlie  dark  sick  whirlpools,  the 
mortal  quicksands,  in  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  voice,  clangorously 
plaintive  ;  what  a  wild  sincerity,  almost  pathos,  is  in  it  ;  and 
whether  Fritzchen,  with  his  eyes  all  bewept  even  for  what  Papa 
had  suftered  in  that  matter,  felt  lively  gratitudes  to  the  House 
of  Austria  at  this  moment ! — - 

It  was  four  months  after,  '21st  January  1735,'^  when  the 
King  first  got  back  to  Berlin,  to  enlighten  the  eyes  of  the  Car- 
nival a  little,  as  his  wont  had  been.  The  crisis  of  his  Majesty's 
illness  is  over,  present  danger  gone  ;  and  the  Carnival  people, 
not  without  some  real  gladness,  though  probably  with  less 
than  they  pretend,  can  report  him  well  again.  Which  is  far 
from  being  the  fact,  if  they  knew  it.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  is  on 
his  feet  again  ;  but  he  never  more  was  well.  Nor  has  he  for- 
gotten that  word  at  Priort,  '  like  the  turning  of  a  dagger  in 
one's  heart  ;'  —  and  indeed  gets  himself  continually  reminded 
of  it  by  practical  commentaries  from  the  Vienna  Quarter. 

In  April,  Prince  Lichtenstein  arrives  on  Embassy  with 
tjiree  requests  or  demands  from  Vienna  :  '1°.  That,  besides 
'  the  Ten  Thousand  due  by  Treaty,  his  Majesty  would  send 
'  his  Reich's- Contingent,' — not  comprehended  in  those  Ten 
Thousand,  thinks  the  Kaiser.  '  2°.  That  he  would  have  the 
'  goodness  to  dismiss  ]\Iarquis  de  la  Chdtardie  the  French  Am- 
'  bassador,  as  a  plainly  superfluous  person  at  a  well-affected 
'  German  Court  in  present  circumstances  ;' — person  excessively 
dangerous,  should  the  present  Majesty  die,  Crown-Prince  being 
so  fond  of  that  Ch^tardie.  '  3".  That  his  Prussian  Majesty 
'  do  give-up  the  false  Polish  Majesty  Stanislaus,  and  no  longer 
'  harbour  him  in  East  Preussen  or  elsewhere.'  The  whole  of 
which  demands  his  Prussian  Majesty  refuses  ;  the  latter  two 
especially,  as  something  notably  high  on  the  Kaiser's  part,  or 
on  any  mortal's,  to  a  free  Sovereign  and  Gentleman.  Prince 
Lichtenstein  is  eloquent,  conciliatory  ;  but  it  avails  not.  He 
has  to  go  home  empty-handed  ; — manages  to  leave  with  Herr 
von  .Suhm,  who  took  care  of  it  for  us,  that  Anecdote  of  the 
Crown-Prince's  behaviour  under  cannon-shot  from  Philipsburg 
last  year  ;  and  does  nothing  else  recordable,  in  Berlin. 

The  Crown-Prince's  hopes  were  set,  with  all  eagerness,  on 
getting  to  the  Rhine- Campaign  next  ensuing;    nor  did   the 
King  refuse,  for  a  long  while,   but  still  less  did  he  consent  ; 
■'  I'assmann,  p.  533. 


Chap.  XI.  PRUSSIAN   INSPECTIONS.  iSs 

April  1735. 

and  in  the  end  there  came  nothing  of  it.  From  an  early  pe- 
riod of  the  year,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  sees  too  well  what  kind 
of  campaigning  the  Kaiser  will  now  make  ;  at  a  certain  Wed- 
ding-dinner where  his  Majesty  was, — precisely  a  fortnight  after 
his  Majesty's  arrival  in  Berlin, — Seckendorf  Junior  has  got,  by 
eavesdropping,  this  utterance  of  his  Majesty's:  "The  Kaiser 
"  has  not  a  groschen  of  money.  His  Army  in  Lombardy  is 
"  gone  to  Twenty-four  Thousand  men,  will  have  to  retire  into 
"  the  Mountains.  Next  campaign"  (just  coming)  "  he  will 
"  lose  Mantua  and  the  Tyrol.  God's  righteous  judgment  it  is : 
"  a  War  like  this  !  Comes  of  flinging  old  principles  overboard, 
"  — of  meddling  in  business  that  was  none  of  yours  ;"  and 
more,  of  a  plangent  alarming  nature.^ 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  sends  back  his  Ten  Thousand,  according 
to  contract ;  sends,  over  and  above,  a  beautiful  stock  of  '  copper 
pontoons'  to  help  the  Imperial  Majesty  in  that  River  Country, 
says  Fassmann  ;  —  sends  also  a  supernumerary  Troop  of  Hus- 
sars, who  are  worth  mentioning,  '  Six-score  horse  of  Hussar 
type,'  under  one  Captain  Ziethen,  a  taciturn,  much-enduring, 
much -observing  man,  whom  we  shall  see  again  :  these  are  to 
be  diligently  helpful,  as  is  natural  ;  but  they  are  also,  for  their 
own  behoof,  to  be  diligently  observant,  and  learn  the  Austrian 
Hussar  methods,  which  his  Majesty  last  year  saw  to  be  much 
superior.  Nobody  that  knows  Ziethen  doubts  but  he  learnt  ; 
Hussar-Colonel  Baronay,  his  Austrian  teacher  here,  became  too 
well  convinced  of  it  when  they  met  on  a  future  occasion.''  All 
this  his  Majesty  did  for  the  ensuing  campaign  :  but  as  to  the 
Crown-Prince's  going  thither,  after  repeated  requests  on  his 
part,  it  is  at  last  signified  to  him,  deep  in  the  season,  that  it 
cannot  be  :  "  Won't  answer  for  a  Crown-Prince  to  be  sharer 
in  such  a  Campaign  ; — be  patient,  my  good  Fritzchen,  I  will 
find  other  work  for  thee."''  Fritzchen  is  sent  into  Preussen, 
to  do  the  Reviewings  and  Inspections  there  ;  Papa  not  being 
able  for  them  this  season  ;  and  strict  manifold  Inspection,  in 
those  parts,  being  more  than  usually  necessary,  owing  to  the 
Russian-Polish  troubles.  On  this  errand,  which  is  clearly  a 
promotion,  though  in  present  circumstances  not  a  welcome  one 

*  Forsler,  ii.  144  (and  date  it  fronv  MiiU-air-Lexikoii,  ii.  54). 

6  Life  0/ Ziethen  (veridical  but  inexact,  by  the  Fraii  von  Blunienthal,  a  kins- 
woman of  his;  English  Translation,  very  ill  printed,  Berlin,  1803),  p.  54. 

7  Friedrich's  Letter,  .5th  September  1735 ;  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  Answer  next  day 
(iTLHvrcs  dc  Frederic,  .vxvii.  part  3d,  93-95). 


i86  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST   STAGE.         Book  IX. 

April-Sept.  1735. 

for  the  Crown-Prince,  he  sets  out  without  delay  ;  and  passes 
there  the  equinoctial  and  autumnal  season,  in  a  much  more 
useful  way  than  he  could  have  done  in  the  Rhine-Campaign. 

In  the  Rhine-jMoselle  Country  and  elsewhere  the  poor  Kaiser 
does  exert  himself  to  make  a  Campaign  of  it ;  but  without  the 
least  success.  Having  not  a  groschen  of  money,  how  could  he 
succeed  ?  Noailles,  as  foreseen,  manoeuvres  him,  hitch  after 
hitch,  out  of  Italy  ;  French  are  greatly  superior,  more  especi- 
ally when  Montemar,  having  once  got  Carlos  crowned  in  Naples 
and  put  secure,  comes  to  assist  the  French  ;  Kaiser  has  to  lean 
for  shelter  on  the  Tyrol  Alps,  as  predicted.  Italy,  all  but 
some  sieging  of  strong  places,  may  be  considered  as  lost  for 
the  present. 

Nor  on  the  Rhine  did  things  go  better.  Old  Eugene,  '  the 
shadow  of  himself,'  had  no  more  effect  this  year  than  last  : 
nor,  though  Lacy  and  Ten  Thousand  Russians  came  as  allies, 
Poland  being  all  settled  now,  could  the  least  good  be  done. 
Reich's-Feldmarschall  Karl  Alexander  ofWiirtemberg  did  'burn 
a  Magazine'  (probably  of  hay  among  better  provender),  by  his 
bomb-shells,  on  one  occasion.  Also  the  Prussian  Ten  Thou- 
sand,—  Old  Dessauer  leading  them,  General  Roder  having 
fallen  ill, — burnt  something  :  an  Islet  in  the  Rhine,  if  I  recol- 
lect, 'Islet  of  Lorch  near  Bingen,'  where  the  French  had  a 
post ;  which  and  whom  the  Old  Dessauer  burnt  away.  And 
then  Seckendorf,  at  the  head  of  Thirty  Thousand,  he,  after  long 
delays,  marched  to  Trarbach  in  the  interior  Jvloselle  Country ; 
and  got  into  some  explosive  sputter  of  battle  with  Belleisle, 
one  afternoon, — some  say,  rather  beating  Belleisle  ;  but  a  good 
judge  says,  it  was  a  mutual  flurry  and  terror  they  threw  one 
another  into.^  Seckendorf  meant  to  try  again  on  the  morrow  : 
but  there  came  an  estafette  that  night  :  '  Preliminaries  signed 
(Vienna,  3d  October  1735); — try  no  farther  I'^  And  this  was 
the  second  Rhine-Campaign,  and  the  end  of  the  Kaiser's  French 
War.  The  Sea-Powers,  steadily  refusing  money,  diligently  run 
about,  offering  terms  of  arbitration  ;  and  the  Kaiser,  beaten  at 
every  point,  and  i-educcd  to  his  last  groschen,  is  obliged  to 
comply.      Pie  will  have  a  pretty  bill  to  pay  for  his    Polish- 

*  (Euvres  lir  FrdUric,  i.  iC8. 

"  '  Cessation  is  to  be,  5th  Novcmlier  for  (jenuany,  15th  for  Italy  ;  Preliminaries' 
were,  Vienna,  '  3d  October'  1735  (Schbll,  ii.  2.15). 


Chap.  XI.  PRUSSIAN   INSPECTIONS.  187 

Sept. -Oct.  1735. 

Election  frolic,  were  the  settlement  done !  Fleury  is  pacific,  full 
of  bland  candour  to  the  Sea-Powers  ;  the  Kaiser,  after  long 
higgling  upon  articles,  will  have  to  accept  the  bill. 

The  Crown- Prince,  meanwhile,  has  a  successful  journey 
into  Preussen  ;  sees  new  interesting  scenes,  Salzburg  Emi- 
grants, exiled  Polish  Majesties  ;  inspects  the  soldiering,  the 
schooling,  the  tax-gathering,  the  domain-farming,  with  a  per- 
spicacity, a  dexterity  and  completeness  that  much  pleases 
Papa.  Fractions  of  the  Reports  sent  home  exist  for  us  :  let 
the  reader  take  a  glance  of  one  only  ;  the  first  of  the  series  ; 
dated  Mariemverder  (just  across  the  Weichsel,  fairly  out  of 
Polish  Preussen  and  into  our  own),  27th  September  1735, 
and  addressed  to  the  '  Most  All-gracious  King  and  Father  ;' 
— abridged  for  the  reader's  behoof : 

*  *  'In  Polish  Preussen,  lately  the  Seat  ofWar,  things  look  hide- 
'  ously  waste ;  one  sees  nothing  but  women  and  a  few  children ;  it  is 
'  said  the  people  are  mostly  running  away,' — owing  to  the  Russian- 
Polish  procedures  there,  in  consequence  of  the  blessed  Election  they 
have  had.  King  August,  whom  your  Majesty  is  not  in  love  with,  has 
prevailed  at  this  rate  of  expense.  King  Stanislaus,  protected  by  your 
Majesty  in  .spite  of  Kaisers  and  Czarinas,  waits  in  Konigsberg,  till  the 
Peace,  now  supposed  to  be  coming,  say  what  is  to  become  of  him  : 
once  in  Konigsberg,  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  to  see  him.  '  A  detach- 
'  ment  of  five-and-twenty  Saxon  Dragoons  of  the  Regiment  Arnstedt, 
'  marching  towards  Dantzig,  met  me :  their  horses  were  in  tolerable 
'  case;  but  some  are  piebald,  some  sorrel,  and  some  brown  among 
'  them,'  which  will  be  shocking  to  your  Majesty,  'and  the  people  did 
'  not  look  well.'   *    * 

'Got  hither  to  Marienwerder,  last  night:  have  inspected  the  two 
'  Companies  which  are  here,  that  is  to  say,  Lieutenant-Col.  Meier's 
'  and  Rittmeister  Hans's-  In  very  good  trim,  both  of  them  ;  and  though 
'  neither  the  men  nor  their  horses  are  of  extraordinary  size,  they  are 
'  handsome  well -drilled  fellows,  and  a  fine  set  of  stiff- built  horses 
'  {gedrungenen  Pferden).  The  fellows  sit  them  like  pictures  (rciten  zaie 
'  die  Puppen) ;  I  saw  them  do  their  wheelings.  Meier  has  some  fine 
'  recruits ;  in  particular  two ;' — nor  has  the  Rittmeister  been  wanting 
in  that  respect.  '  Young  horses'  too  are  coming  well  on,  sleek  of  skin. 
In  short,  all  is  right  on  the  military  side.'" 

Civil  business,  too,  of  all  kinds,  the  Crown-Prince  looked 
into,  with  a  sharp  intelligent  eye; — gave  praise,  gave  censure 
in  the  right  place  ;  put  various  things  on  a  straight  footing, 

'"  CTluvres  dc  Frederic,  xxvii.  p;irt  3d,  p.  07. 


i88  APPRENTICESHIP,   LAST  STAGE.        r.ook  ix. 

Sept.-Oct.  1735. 

which  were  awry  when  he  found  them.  In  fact,  it  is  Papa's 
second  self ;  looks  into  the  bottom  of  all  things  quite  as  Papa 
would  have  done,  and  is  fatal  to  mendacities,  practical  or  vocal, 
wherever  he  meets  them.  What  a  joy  to  Papa  :  "  Here,  after 
all,  is  one  that  can  replace  me,  in  case  of  accident.  This  Ap- 
prentice of  mine,  after  all,  he  has  fairly  learned  the  Art ;  and 
will  continue  it  when  I  am  gone !" — 

Yes,  your  Majesty,  it  is  a  Prince-Royal  wise  to  recognise 
your  Majesty's  rough  wisdom,  on  all  manner  of  points  ;  will  not 
be  a  'D^vii's-friend,  I  think,  any  more  than  your  Majesty  was. 
Here  truly  are  rare  talents  ;  like  your  Majesty  and  unlike  ; — ■ 
and  has  a  steady  swiftness  in  him,  as  of  an  eagle,  over  and 
above  !  Such  powers  of  practical  judgment,  of  skilful  action, 
are  rare  in  one's  twenty-third  year.  And  still  rarer,  have  readers 
noted  what  a  power  of  holding  his  peace  this  young  man  has? 
Fruit  of  his  sufferings,  of  the  hard  life  he  has  had.  Most  im- 
portant power  ;  under  which  all  other  useful  ones  will  more 
and  more  ripen  for  him.  This  Prince  already  knows  his  own 
mind,  on  a  good  many  points  ;  privately,  amid  the  world's  vague 
clamour  jargoning  round  him  to  no  purpose,  he  is  capable  of 
having  his  mind  made  up  into  definite  Yes  and  No, — so  as  will 
surprise  us  one  day. 

Friedrich  Wilhelm,  we  perceive, ^^  was  in  a  high  degree  con- 
tent with  this  performance  of  the  Prussian  Mission  :  a  very 
great  comfort  to  his  sick  mind,  in  those  months  and  afterwards. 
Here  are  talents,  here  are  qualities, — visibly  the  Friedrich- 
Wilhelm  stuff  throughout,  but  cast  in  an  infinitely  improved 
type  : — what  a  blessing  we  did  not  cut  off  that  young  Head,  at 
the  Kaiser's  dictation,  in  former  years  ! — 

At  Konigsberg,  as  we  learn  in  a  dim  indirect  manner,  the 
Crown-Prince  sees  King  Stanislaus  twice  or  thrice, — not  form- 
ally, lest  there  be  political  offence  taken,  but  incidentally  at  the 
houses  of  third-parties  ; — and  is  much  pleased  with  the  old 
gentleman  ;  who  is  of  cultivated  good-natured  ways,  and  has 
surely  many  curious  things,  from  Charles  XII.  downwards,  to 
tell  a  young  man.^"^  Stanislaus  has  abundance  of  useless  re- 
fugee Polish  Magnates  about  him,  with  their  useless  crowds  of 
servants,  and  no  money  in  pocket  ;  Konigsberg  all  on  flutter, 
with  their  draperies  and  them,  *  like  a  little  Warsaw  :'  so  that 

"  His  Letter,  241)1  Oct.  1735.     ((Iiin>rcs  dn  l''r(di!ric,  xxvii.  p.irt  3d,  p.  99.) 
'*  Came  8th  October,  went  21st  {(Eiivn-s  ile  Fn'UMc,  .xxvii.  part  3d,  p.  98). 


Chap.xi.  PRUSSIAN   INSPECTIONS.  189 

Oct.  1735. 

Stanislaus's  big  French  pension,  moderate  Prussian  monthly 
allowance,  and  all  resources,  are  inadequate  ;  and,  in  fact,  in 
the  end,  these  Magnates  had  to  vanish,  many  of  them,  without 
settling  their  accounts  in  Konigsberg.^'^  For  the  present  they 
wait  here,  Stanislaus  and  they,  till  Fleury  and  the  Kaiser,  shak- 
ing the  urn  of  doom  in  abstruse  treaty  after  battle,  decide  what 
is  to  become  of  them. 

Friedrich  returned  to  Dantzig  :  saw  that  famous  City,  and 
late  scene  of  War  ;  tracing  with  lively  interest  the  footsteps  of 
Miinnich  and  his  Siege  operations, — some  of  which  are  much 
blamed  by  judges,  and  by  this  young  Soldier  among  the  rest. 
There  is  a  pretty  Letter  of  his  from  Dantzig,  turning  mainly 
on  those  points.  Letter  written  to  his  young  Brother-in-law, 
Karl  of  Brunswick,  who  is  now  become  Duke  there  ;  Grand- 
father and  Father  both  dead  ;i^  and  has  just  been  blessed  with 
an  Heir,  to  boot.  Congratulation  on  the  birth  of  this  Heir  is 
the  formal  purport  of  the  Letter,  though  it  runs  ever  and  anon 
into  a  military  strain.  Here  are  some  sentences  in  a  condensed 
form  : 

^Dantzig,  i^^th  October  1735.  *  *  Thank  my  dear  Sister  for  her 
'  services.  I  am  charmed  that  she  has  made  you  papa  with  so  good  a 
'  grace.  I  fear  you  won't  stop  there;  but  will  go  on  peopling  the  world, ' 
— one  knows  not  to  what  extent, — 'with  your  amiable  race.  Would 
'  have  written  sooner;  but  I  am  just  returning  from  the  depths  of  the 
'  barbarous  Countries;  and  having  been  charged  with  innumerable  com- 
'  missions  which  I  did  not  understand  too  well,  had  no  good  possibility 
'  to  think  or  to  write. 

'  I  have  viewed  all  the  Russian  labours  in  these  parts;  have  had  the 
'  assault  on  the  Ilagelsberg  narrated  to  me;  been  on  the  grounds; — 
'  and  own  I  had  a  better  opinion  of  Marshal  Miinnich  than  to  think  him 
'  capable  of  so  distracted  an  enterprise. "  '"  ^•'  Adieu,  my  dear  Brother. 
'  My  compliments  to  the  amiable  young  Mother.  Tell  her,  I  beg  you, 
'  that  her  proof- essays  are  masterpieces  [coups  d'essai  sont  dcs  coups  de 
'  inaitre).''  ~"  *-    '  Your  most' &c.  —  'FRiiDfiRic' 

The  Brunswick  Masterpiece,  achieved  on  this  occasion, 
grew  to  be  a  man  and  Duke,  famous  enough  in  the  News- 
papers in  time  coming  :  Champagne,  1792;  Jena,  1 806 ;  George 

"  History  of  Stanislaus. 

l-i  Grandfather,  ist  March  1735;  Father  (who  lost  the  Lines  0/ Ettlin«en\^tc\y 
in  our  sight),  3d  September  1735.     Supra,  p.  63. 

15  CEuvrcs  de  Frederic,  .xxvii.  part  2d,  p.  31.     Pressed  for  time,  and  in  want  of 

'battering-cannon,  he  attempted  to  seize  this  Hagelsberg,  one  of  the  outlying  defences 

of  Dantzig,  by  nocturnal  storm  :  lost  two  thousand  men  ;  and  retired,  without  doing 

'  v/hat  was  flatly  impossible,'  thinks  the  Crown-Prince.   See  Mannstein,  pp.  77-79,  for 

an  accoimt  of  it. 


190  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.         Book  IX. 

Jan. -April  1736. 

IV.'s  Queen  Caroline  ;  these  and  other  distracted  phenomena 
(pretty  much  blotting-out  the  earlier  better  sort),  still  keep  him 
hanging  painfully  in  men's  memory.  From  his  birth,  now  in 
this  Prussian  Journey  of  our  Crown-Prince,  to  his  death-stroke 
on  the  Field  of  Jena,  what  a  Seventy-one  years  ! — 

Fleury  and  the  Kaiser,  though  it  is  long  before  the  s'gna- 
ture  and  last  finish  can  take  place,  are  come  to  terms  of  settle- 
ment, at  the  Crown-Prince's  return  ;  and  it  is  known,  in  poli- 
tical circles,  what  the  Kaiser's  Polish-Election  damages  will 
probably  amount  to.  Here  are,  in  substance,  the  only  condi- 
tions that  could  be  got  for  him  : 

'  1°.  Baby  Carlos,  crowned  in  Naples,  cannot  be  pulled  out  again: 
Naples,  the  Two  Sicilies,  are  gone  without  return.  That  is  the  first 
loss;  please  Heaven  it  be  the  worst!  On  the  other  hand,  Baby  Carlos 
will,  as  some  faint  compensation,  surrender  to  your  Imperial  Majesty 
his  Parma  and  Piacenza  apanages;  and  you  shall  get  back  your  Lom- 
bardy, — all  but  a  scantling  which  we  fling  to  the  Sardinian  Majesty; 
who  is  a  good  deal  huffed,  having  had  possession  of  the  Milanese  these 
two  years  past,  in  terms  of  his  bargain  with  Fleury.  Pacific  Fleury 
says  to  him:  "  Bargain  cannot  be  kept,  your  Majesty;  please  to  quit 
the  Milanese  again,  and  put-up  with  this  scantling." 

'2°.  The  Crown  of  Poland,  August  III.  has  got  it,  by  Russian  bom- 
bardings  and  other  measures:  Crown  shall  stay  with  August, — all  the 
rather  as  there  would  be  no  dispossessing  him,  at  this  stage.  He  was 
your  Imperial  Majesty's  Candidate;  let  him  be  the  winner  there,  for 
your  Imperial  Majesty's  comfort. 

'  3°.  And  then  as  to  poor  Stanislaus?  Well,  let  Stanislaus  be  Titular 
Majesty  of  Poland  for  life ; — which  indeed  will  do  little  for  him  : — 
but  in  addition,  we  propose.  That,  the  Dukedom  of  Lorraine  being 
now  in  our  hands,  Majesty  Stanislaus  have  the  life-rent  of  Lorraine  to 
subsist  upon;  and — and  that  Lorraine  fall  to  us  of  France  on  his  de- 
cease!—  "Lorraine?"  exclaim  the  Kaiser,  and  the  Reich,  and  the 
Kaiser's  intended  Son-in-law  Franz  Duke  of  Lorraine.  There  is  in- 
deed a  loss  and  a  disgrace;  a  heavy  item  in  the  Election  damages  ! 

'4°.  As  to  Duke  Franz,  there  is  a  remedy.  The  old  Duke  of 
Florence,  last  of  the  Medici,  is  about  to  die  childless :  let  the  now 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  your  Imperial  Majesty's  intended  Son-in-law,  have 
Florence  instead. — And  so  it  had  to  be  settled.  "Lorraine?  To 
Stanislaus,  to  France?"  exclaimed  the  poor  Kaiser,  still  more  the 
poor  Reich,  and  jioor  Duke  Franz.  This  was  the  bitterest  cut  01  all; 
but  there  was  no  getting  p.ast  it.  This  too  had  to  l)e  allowed,  this 
item  for  the  Election  breakages  in  Poland.  And  so  France,  after 
nibbling  for  several  centuries,  swallows  Lorraine  whole.  Duke  Franz 
attempted  to  stand  out;  remonstrated  much,  with  Kaiser  and  Hoirath, 


Ch.n.  XI.  END    OF  WAR.  191 

J.iii. -April  1736. 

'  fit  Vienna,  on  this  unheard-of  projxjsal:  l)ut  they  tol'l  him  it  was  ir- 
'  remediable;  told  him  at  last  (one  Bartenstein,  a  famed  Aulic  Official, 
'told  him),  "No  Lorraine,  no  Archduchess,  your  Serenity!" — and 
'  Franz  had  to  comply.  Lorraine  is  gone;  cunning  Fleury  has  swallowed 
'  it  whole.  "  That  was  what  he  meant  in  picking  this  quarrel  !"  said 
'  Teutschland  mournfully.  Fleury  was  very  pacific,  candid  in  aspect 
'  to  the  Sea-Powers  and  others;  and  did  not  crow  aiflictively,  did  not 
'  say  what  he  had  meant. 

'  5".  One  immense  consolation  for  the  Kaiser,  if  for  no  other,  is : 
'  France  guarantees  the  Pragmatic  Sanction, — though  with  very  great 
'  difficulty;  spending  a  couple  of  years,  chiefly  on  this  latter  point  as  was 
'  thought.'"     How  it  kept  said  guarantee,  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel.' 

And  these  were  the  damages  the  poor  Kaiser  had  to  pay 
for  meddling  in  Polish  Elections  ;  for  galloping  thither  in  chase 
of  his  Shadows.  No  such  account  of  broken  windows  was 
ever  presented  to  a  man  before.  This  may  be  considered  as 
the  consummation  of  the  Kaiser's  Shadow-Hunt ;  or  at  least 
its  igniting  and  exploding  point.  His  Duel  with  the  Terma- 
gant has  at  last  ended;  in  total  defeat  to  him  on  every  point. 
Shadow-Hunt  does  not  end ;  though  it  is  now  mostly  vanished  ; 
exploded  in  fire.  Shadow-Hunt  is  now  gone  all  to  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  as  it  were  :  that  now  is  the  one  thing  left  in  Nature 
for  a  Kaiser  ;  and  that  he  will  love,  and  chase,  as  the  sum- 
mary of  all  things.  From  this  point  he  steachly  goes  down, 
and  at  a  rapid  rate  ; — getting  into  disastrous  Turk  Wars,  with 
as  little  preparation  for  War  or  Fact  as  a  life-long  Hunt  of 
Shadows  presupposes  ;  Eugene  gone  Irom  him,  and  nothing 
but  Si^okendorfs  to  manage  for  him  ; — and  sinks  to  a  low  pitch 
indeed.  We  will  leave  him  here  ;  shall  hope  to  see  but  little 
more  of  him. 

In  the  summer  of  1736,  in  consequence  of  these  arrange- 
'  ments, — which  were  completed  so  far,  though  difficulties  on 
Pragmatic  Sanction  and  other  points  retarded  the  final  signa- 
ture for  many  months  longer, — the  Titular  Majesty  Stanislaus 
girt  hiiTiself  together  for  departure  towards  his  new  Dominion 
or  Life-rent ;  quitted  Konigsberg  ;  traversed  Prussian  Poland, 
safe  this  time,  '  under  escort  of  Lieutenant-General  von  Katte' 
(our  poor  Katte  of  Clistrin's  Father)  '  and  fifty  cuirassiers  ;' 
reached  Berlin  in  the  middle  ot'  May,  under  fiowerier  aspects 
than  usual.  He  travelled  under  the  title  01  '  Count'  Something, 
and  alighted  at  the  French  Ambassador's  in  Berlin  :  but  Fried- 

16  Treaty  on  it  not  signed  till  i8th  November  1738  (Scholl,  ii.  246). 


192  yVPPRENTICESHIP,    LAST   STAGE.       "nookix. 

May  1736. 

rich  V/ilhelm  treated  him  hlce  a  real  Majesty,  almost  like  a  real 
Brother  ;  had  him  over  to  the  Palace  ;  rushed  out  to  meet  him 
there,  I  forget  how  many  steps  beyond  the  proper  limits  ;  and 
was  hospitality  itself  and  munificence  itself ; — and,  in  fact,  that 
night  and  all  the  other  nights,  '  they  smoked  above  thirty  pipes 
together,'  for  one  item.  May  21st,  1736,^7  Ex-Majesty  Stanis- 
laus went  on  his  way  again  ;  towards  France, — towards  Meu- 
don,  a  quiet  Royal  House  in  France, — till  Lun^ville,  Nanci, 
and  their  Lorraine  Palaces  are  quite  ready.  There,  in  these 
latter,  he  at  length  does  find  resting-place,  poor  innocent  insipid 
mortal,  after  such  tossings  to  and  fro  :  and  M.  de  Voltaire,  and 
others  of  mark,  having  sometimes  enlivened  the  insipid  Court 
there,  Titular  King  Stanislaus  has  still  a  kind  of  remembrance 
among  mankind. 

Of  his  Prussian  Majesty  we  said  that,  though  the  Berlin 
populations  reported  him  well  again,  it  was  not  so.  The  truth 
is,  his  Majesty  was  never  well  again.  From  this  point,  age 
only  forty-seven,  he  continues  broken  in  bodily  constitution  ; 
clogged  more  and  more  with  physical  impediments  ;  and  his 
History,  personal  and  political  withal,  is  as  that  of  an  old  man, 
finishing  his  day.  To  the  last  he  pulls  steadily,  neglecting  no 
business,  suffering  nothing  to  go  wrong.  Building  operations 
go  on  at  Berlin  ;  pushed  more  than  ever,  in  these  years,  by  the 
rigorous  Derschau,  who  has  got  that  in  charge.  No  man  of 
money  or  rank  in  Berlin  but  Derschau  is  upon  him,  with 
heavier  and  heavier  compulsion  to  build  :  which  is  felt  to  be 
tyrannous  ;  and  occasions  an  ever-deepening  grumble  among 
the  moneyed  classes.  At  Potsdam  his  Majesty  himself  is  the 
Builder;  and  gives  the  Houses  away  to  persons  of  merit.^^ 

Nor  is  the  Army  less  an  object,  perhaps  almost  more.  Nay, 
at  one  time,  old  Kur-I'falz  being  reckoned  in  a  dying  condition, 
Fricdrich  Wilhelm  is  about  ranking  his  men,  prepared  to  fight 
for  his  rights  in  Jiilich  and  Berg  ;  Kaiser  having  openly  gone 
over,  and  joined  with  France  against  his  Majesty  in  that  mat- 
ter. Howcvei',  the  old  Kur-Pfalz  did  not  die,  and  there  came 
nothing  of  fight  in  Friedrich  Wilhclm's  time.     But  his  History, 

"  FOrster  fi.  227),  following  loose  Pijllnilz  (ii.  47S>,  dates  it  1735:  .1  moie  con- 
.siden.ijle  error,  if  looked  inl",  than  is  usual  in  llcrr  Foister ;  who  is  not  an  ill-in- 
formcl  nor  inexact  man  ; — 0:  lUgh,  i'.!.is,  in  respect  of  method  (that  is  to  say,  ivant  of 
vi.<.ihlj  method,  indication,  i,r  hnmnn  arrangement),  probably  the  most  confused  of 
i  i.  .'ic  Germans!  '■*  PoUnitz,  ii.  469. 


Chap.  XL  END   OF  WAR.  193 

May  173C. 

on  the  political  side,  is  henceforth  mainly  a  commentary  to  him 
on  that  "  word"  he  heard  in  Priort,  "which  was  as  if  you  had 
turned  a  dagger  in  my  heart  !"  With  the  Kaiser  he  is  fallen 
out :  there  arise  unfriendly  passages  between  them,  sometimes 
sarcastic  on  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  part,  in  reference  to  this  very 
War  now  ended.  Thus,  when  complaint  rose  about  the  Prus- 
sian misbehaviours  on  their  late  marches  (misbehaviours  not- 
able in  Countries  where  their  recruiting  operations  had  been 
troubled),  the  Kaiser  took  a  high  severe  tone,  not  assuaging, 
rather  aggravating  the  matter  ;  and,  for  his  own  share,  winded- 
up  by  a  strict  prohibition  of  Prussian  recruiting  in  any  and 
every  part  of  the  Imperial  Dominions.  Which  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm  took  extremely  ill.  This  is  from  a  letter  of  his  to  the 
Crown-Prince,  and  after  the  first  gust  of  wrath  had  spent  itself: 
'  It  is  a  clear  disadvantage,  this  prohibition  of  recruiting  in  the 
'  Kaiser's  Countries.  That  is  our  thanks  for  the  Ten  Thou- 
'  sand  men  sent  him,  and  for  all  the  deference  I  have  shown 
'  the  Kaiser  at  all  times  ;  and  by  this  you  may  see  that  it  would 
'  be  of  no  use  if  one  even  sacrificed  oneself  to  him.  So  long 
'  as  they  need  us,  they  continue  to  flatter ;  but  no  sooner  is  the 
'  strait  thought  to  be  over,  and  help  not  wanted,  than  they  pull- 
'  off  the  mask,  and  have  not  the  least  acknowledgment.  The 
'  considerations  that  will  occur  to  you  on  this  matter  may  put  it 
'  in  your  power  to  be  prepared  against  similar  occasions  in  lime 
'  coming.''^ 

Thus,  again,  in  regard  to  the  winter-quarters  oftheZiethen 
Hussars.  Prussian  Majesty,  we  recollect,  had  sent  a  Super- 
numerary Squadron  to  the  last  Campaign  on  the  Rhine.  They 
were  learning  their  business,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  knew ;  but  also 
were  fighting  for  the  Kaiser, — that  was  what  the  Kaiser  knew 
about  them.  Somewhat  to  his  surprise,  in  the  course  of  next 
year,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  received,  from  the  Vienna  War-Office, 
a  httle  Bill  of  10,284  florins  (1,028/.  8s.)  charged  to /n'm  for  the 
winter-quarters  of  these  Hussars.  He  at  once  paid  the  little 
Bill,  with  only  this  observation  :  '  Heartily  glad  that  I  can  help 
'  the  Imperial  yEranum  with  that  1,028/.  8s.  With  the  sin- 
'  cerest  wishes  for  hundred-thousandfold  increase  to  it  in  said 
'  ALvarinm;  otherwise  it  won't  go  very  far  !"-'^ 

At  a  later  period,  in  the  course  of  his  disastrous  Turk  War, 

'9  6th  February  1736  :  Giuvres  de  Predcric,  xxvii.  part  3d,  p.  10?. 
'^  Letter  to  Seckendorf  (5£>«/<;r) :  FOrster,  ii.  150. 

VOL.  in.  o 


194  APPRENTICESHIP,    LAST  STAGE.        Uookix. 

May  173O. 

the  Kaiser,  famishing  for  money,  set  about  borrowing  a  million 
gulden  (100,000/.)  from  the  Banking  House  Splittgerber  and 
Daun  at  Berlin.  Splittgerber  and  Daun  had  not  the  money, 
could  not  raise  it  :  "  Advance  us  that  sum,  in  their  name,  your 
Majesty,"  proposes  the  Vienna  Court  :  "  There  shall  be  three- 
per-cent  bonus,  interest  six  per  cent,  and  security  beyond  all 
question  !"  To  which  fine  offer  his  Majesty  answers,  address- 
ing Seckendorf  Junior  :  '  Touching  the  proposal  of  my  giving 
'  the  Bankers  Splittgerber  and  Daun  a  lift,  with  a  million  gul- 
'  den,  to  assist  in  that  loan  of  theirs, — said  proposal,  as  I  am 
'  not  a  merchant  accustomed  to  deal  in  profits  and  percentages, 
'  cannot  in  that  form  take  effect.  Out  of  old  friendship,  how- 
'  ever,  I  am,  on  Theirt?  Imperial  Majesty's  request,  extremely 
'  ready  to  pay  down,  once  and  away  {a  fond  perdu),  a  couple  of 
'  million  gulden,  provided  the  Imperial  Majesty  will  grant  me 
'  the  condiiions  known  to  your  Uncle'  {fulfilment  of  that  now 
oldish  Ji.ilich-and-Berg  promise,  namely!),  'which  artfair.  In 
'  such  case  the  thing  shall  be  rapidly  completed  !'-^ 

In  a  word,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  falls-out  with  the  Kaiser  more 
and  more  ;  experiences  more  and  more  what  a  Kaiser  this  has 
been  towards  him.  Queen  Sophie  has  fallen  silent  in  the 
History  Books  ;  both  the  Majesties  may  look  remorsefully,  but 
perhaps  best  in  silence,  over  the  breakages  and  wrecks  this 
Kaiser  has  brought  upon  them.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  does  not 
meanly  hate  the  Kaiser  :  good  man,  he  sometimes  pities  him  ; 
sometimes,  we  perceive,  has  a  touch  of  authentic  contempt  for 
him.  But  his  thoughts,  in  that  quarter,  premature  old  age  ag- 
gravating them,  are  generally  of  a  tragic  nature,  not  to  be 
spoken  without  tears  ;  and  the  tears  have  a  flash  at  the  bottom 
of  them,  when  he  looks  round  on  Fritz  and  says,  "  There  is 
one,  though,  that  will  avenge  me  !"  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  to  the 
last  a  broad  strong  phenomenon,  keeps  wending  downward, 
homeward,  from  this  point ;  the  Kaiser  too,  we  perceive,  is  ra- 
pidly consummating  his  enormous  Spectre- Hunts  and  Duels 
with  Termagants,  and  before  long  will  be  at  rest.  We  have 
well-nigh  done  with  both  these  Majesties. 

The  Crown-Prince,  by  his  judicious  obedient  procedures  in 
these  Four  Years  at  Ruppin,  at  a  distance  from  Papa,  has,  as 
it  were,  completed  his  Apprenticeship ;  and,  especially  by  this 

^'  Forstcr,  ii.  151  (without  <i(>ie  there). 


Chap.  XI.  END   OF  WAR.  195 

May  I73f3. 

last  Inspection-Journey  into  Preussen,  may  be  said  to  have  de- 
livered his  Proof-Essay  with  a  distinguished  success.  He  is 
now  out  of  his  Apprenticeship  ;  entitled  to  take-up  his  Inden- 
tures, whenever  need  shall  be.  The  rugged  old  Master  cannot 
but  declare  him  competent,  qualified  to  try  his  own  hand  without 
supervision  : — after  all  those  unheard-of  confusions,  like  to  set 
the  shop  on  fire  at  one  time,  it  is  a  blessedly  successful  Ap- 
prenticeship !  Let  him  now,  theoretically  at  least,  in  the  realms 
of  Art,  Literature,  Spiritual  Improvement,  do  his  WanderjaJire, 
over  at  Reinsberg,  still  in  the  old  region, — still  well  apart  from 
Papa,  who  agrees  best  not  in  immediate  contact  ;  —  and  be 
happy  in  the  new  Domesticities,  and  larger  opportunities,  pro- 
vided for  him  there  ;  till  a  certain  time  come,  which  none  of 
us  are  in  haste  for. 


BOOK  X. 

AT  REINSBERG. 
1736-1740. 

CHAPTER  I. 

MANSION  OF  KF.INSEERG. 

On  the  Crown-Prince's  Marriage,  three  years  ago,  when  the 
Anit  or  Government-District  Riippin,  with  its  incomings,  was 
assigned  to  him  for  revenue,  we  heard  withal  of  a  residence 
getting  ready.  Hint  had  fallen  from  the  Prince,  thaf  Reins- 
berg,  an  old  Country-seat,  standing  with  its  Domain  round  it 
in  that  little  Territory  of  Ruppin,  and  probably  purchaseable 
as  was  understood,  might  be  pleasant,  were  it  once  his  and 
well  put  in  repair.  Which  hint  the  kind  paternal  Majesty  in- 
stantly proceeded  to  act  upon.  He  straightway  gave  orders 
for  the  purchase  of  Reinsberg  ;  concluded  said  purchase,  on 
fair  terms,  after  some  months  bargaining  ■} — and  set  his  best 
Architect,  one  Kemeter,  to  work,  in  concert  with  the  Crown- 
Prince,  to  new-build  and  enlarge  the  decayed  Schloss  of  Reins- 
berg into  such  a  Mansion  as  the  young  Royal  Highness  and 
his  Wife  would  like. 

Kemeter  has  been  busy,  all  this  while  ;  a  solid,  elegant, 
yet  frugal  builder  :  and  now  the  main  body  of  the  Mansion  is 
complete,  or  nearly  so,  the  wings  and  adjuncts  going  steadily 
forward  ;  Mansion  so  far  ready  that  the  Royal  Highnesses  can 
take-up  their  abode  in  it.  Which  they  do,  this  Autumn,  1736  ; 
and  fairly  commence  Joint  Housekeeping,  in  a  permanent  man- 
ner. Hitherto  it  has  been  intermittent  only  :  hitherto  the 
Crown-Princess  has  resided  in  their  Berlin  Mansion,  or  in  her 
own  Country-house  at  Schonhausen  ;  Husband  not  habitually 

'  231I  October  1733,  order  given,— i6th  March  1734,  purcliase  completeJ  (Preuss, 
i-  75 ). 


Chap.  1.  MANSION  OF  REINSBERG.  197 

Otli  Aug.  1730.  O 

with  her,  except  when  on  leave  of  absence  from  Ruppin,  in 
Carnival  time  or  for  shorter  periods.  At  Ruppin  his  life  has 
been  rather  that  of  a  bachelor,  or  husband  abroad  on  business, 
up  to  this  time.  But  now  at  Reinsberg  they  do  kindle  the 
sacred  hearth  together;  '6111  August  1736'  the  date  of  that 
important  event.  They  have  got  their  Court  about  them,  dames 
and  cavaliers  more  than  we  expected ;  they  have  arranged  the 
furnitures  of  their  existence  here  on  fit  scale,  and  set-up  their 
Lares  and  Penates  on  a  thrifty  footing.  Majesty  and  Queen 
come  out  on  a  visit  to  them  next  month  ;" — raising  the  sacred 
hearth  into  its  first  considerable  blaze,  and  crowning  the  ope- 
ration in  a  human  manner. 

And  so  there  has  a  new  epoch  arisen  for  the  Crown-Prince 
and  his  Consort.  A  new  and  much-improved  one.  It  lasted 
into  the  fourth  year  ;  rather  improving  all  the  way  :  and  only 
Kingship,  which,  if  a  higher  sphere,  was  a  far  less  pleasant 
one,  put  an  end  to  it.  Friedrich's  happiest  time  was  this  at 
Reinsberg  ;  the  little  Four  Years  of  Hope,  Composure,  realis- 
able Idealism  :  an  actual  snatch  of  something  like  the  Idyllic, 
appointed  him  in  a  life-pilgrimage  consisting  otherwise  of  real- 
isms oftenest  contradictory  enough,  and  sometimes  of  very 
grim  complexion.  He  is  master  of  his  work,  he  is  adjusted  to 
the  practical  conditions  set  him  ;  conditions  once  complied 
with,  daily  work  done,  he  lives  to  the  Muses,  to  the  spiritual 
improvements,  to  the  social  enjoyments  ;  and  has,  though  not 
without  flaws  of  ill -weather, — from  the  Tobacco -Parliament 
perhaps  rather  less  than  formerly,  and  from  the  Finance- 
quarter  perhaps  rather  more, — a  sunny  time.  His  innocent 
insipidity  of  a  Wife,  too,  appears  to  have  been  happy.  She 
had  the  charm  of  youth,  of  good  looks  ;  a  wholesome  perfect 
loyalty  of  character  withal  ;  and  did  not  '  take  to  pouting,'  as 
was  once  apprehended  of  her,  but  pleasantly  gave  and  received 
of  what  was  going.  This  poor  Crown- Princess,  afterwards 
Queen,  has  been  heard,  in  her  old  age,  reverting,  in  a  touching 
transient  way,  to  the  glad  days  she  had  at  Reinsberg.  Com- 
plaint openly  was  never  heard  from  her,  in  any  kind  of  days  ; 
but  these  doubtless  were  the  best  of  her  life. 

Reinsberg,  we  said,  is  in  the  A/nf  Ruppin  ;  naturally  under 
the  Crown-Prince's  government  at  present  :  the  little  Town  or 
Village  of  Reinsberg  stands  about  ten  miles  north  of  the  Town 

"  4th  September  1736  (Preuss,  i.  75). 


198  AT  REINSBERG,  Book  x. 

*  Aug.  1736. 

Ruppin  ; — not  quite  a  third-part  as  big  as  Ruppin  is  in  our 
time,  and  much  more  pleasantly  situated.  The  country  about 
is  of  comfortable,  not  unpicturesque  character  ;  to  be  distin- 
guished almost  as  beautiful,  in  that  region  of  sand  and  moor. 
Lakes  abound  in  it  ;  tilled  fields;  heights  called  "  hills  ;"  and 
wood  of  fair  growth,- — one  reads  of  '  beech-avenues,'  of  'high 
linden-avenues  :'  —  a  country  rather  of  the  ornamented  sort, 
before  the  Prince  with  his  improvements  settled  there.  Many 
lakes  and  lakelets  in  it,  as  usual  hereabouts  ;  the  loitering 
waters  straggle,  all  over  that  region,  into  meshes  of  lakes. 
Reinsberg  itself,  Village  and  Schloss,  stands  on  ihe  edge  of  a 
pleasant  Lake,  last  of  a  mesh  of  such  :  the  summary,  or  out- 
fall, of  which,  already  here  a  good  strong  brook  or  stream,  is 
called  the  Rhein,  Rhyn  or  Rein  ;  and  gives  name  to  the  little 
place.  We  heard  of  the  Rein  at  Ruppin  :  it  is  there  counted 
as  a  kind  of  river  ;  still  more,  twenty  miles  farther  down, 
where  it  falls  into  the  Havel,  on  its  way  to  the  Elbe.  The 
waters,  I  think,  are  drab-coloured,  not  peat-brown :  and  here, 
at  the  source,  or  outfall  from  that  mesh  of  lakes,  where  Reins- 
berg is,  the  country  seems  to  be  about  the  best  ; — sufficient,  in 
picturesqueness  and  otherwise,  to  satisfy  a  reasonable  man. 

The  little  Town  is  very  old;  but,  till  the  Crown-Prince 
settled  there,  had  no  peculiar  vitality  in  it.  I  think  there  are 
now  some  potteries,  glass-manufactories  :  Friedrich  Wilhelm, 
just  while  the  Crown-Prince  was  removing  thither,  settled  a 
first  Glass-work  there;  which  took  good  root,  and  rose  to  emi- 
nence in  the  crystal,  Bohemian-crystal,  white-glass,  cut-glass, 
and  other  commoner  lines,  in  the  Crown-Prince's  time."' 

Reinsberg  stands  on  the  east  or  southeast  side  of  its  pretty 
Lake  :  Lake  is  called  "  the  Grinerick  Sec"  (as  all  those  remote 
Lakes  have  their  names) ;  Mansion  is  between  the  Town  and 
Lake.  A  Mansion  fronting,  wc  may  say,  four  ways  ;  for  it  is 
of  quadrangular  form,  with  a  wet  moat  from  the  Lake  begird- 
ling  it,  and  has  a  spacious  court  for  interior:  but  the  principal 
entrance  is  from  the  Town  side  ;  for  the  rest,  the  Building  is 
ashlar  on  all  sides,  front  and  rear.  Stands  there,  handsomely 
al:)utting  on  the  Lake  with  two  Towers,  a  Tower  at  each  angle, 
which  it  has  on  that  lakeward  side  ;  and  looks,  over  Reins- 
berg, and  its  steeple  rising  amid  friendly  umbrage  which  hides 

'  Beuhrcihung  des  I.nstschlosscs  &^c.  zii  Rciiishcrg  (Berlin,  178S):  Author,  .-» 
'  I/icutenaiit  Henucrt,'  thoroughly  acquainted  with  his  subject. 


ci.np.  I.  MANSION   OF  REINSBERG.  199 

Aug.  1736. 

the  housetops,  towards  the  rising  sun.  Townward  there  is 
room  for  a  spacious  esplanade  ;  and  then  for  the  stables,  out- 
buildings, well  masked  ;  which  still  farther  shut-off  the  Town. 
To  this  day,  Reinsberg  stands  with  the  air  of  a  solid  respect- 
able Edifice  ;  still  massive,  rain-tight,  though  long  since  de- 
serted by  the  Princeships, — by  Friedrich  nearly  six-score  years 
ago,  and  nearly  three-score  by  Prince  Henri,  a  Brother  of 
Friedrich's,  who  afterwards  had  it.  Last  accounts  I  got  were, 
of  talk  there  had  risen  of  planting  an  extensive  Normal-School 
there  ;  which  promising  plan  had  been  laid  aside  again  for 
the  time. 

The  old  Schloss,  residence  of  the  Bredows  and  other  feudal 
people  for  a  long  while,  had  good  solid  masonry  in  it,  and 
around  it  orchards,   potherb  gardens  ;  which  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm's  Architects  took  good  care  to  extend  and  improve,  not 
to  throw  a^ay  :  the  result  of  their  art  is  what  we  see,  a  beau- 
tiful  Country-House,  what  might  be  called  a  Country-Palace 
with  all  its  adjuncts  ; — and  at  a  rate  of  expense  which  would 
fill  English  readers,  of  this  time,  with  amazement.      Much  is 
admirable  to  us  as  we  study  Reinsberg,  what  it  had  been,  what 
it  became,  and  how  it  was  made;  but  nothing  more  so  than  the 
small  modicum  of  money  it  cost.     To  our  wondering  thought, 
it  seems  as  if  the  shilling,  in  those  parts,  were  equal  to  the 
guinea  in  these  ;  and  the  reason,  if  we  ask  it,  is  by  no  means 
flattering  altogether.    "  Change  in  the  value  of  money?"    Alas, 
reader,  no ;  that  is  not  above  the  fourth  part  of  the  phenome- 
non.    Three-fourths  of  the  phenomenon  are  change  in  the 
methods  of  administering  money, —difference  between  man- 
aging it  with  wisdom^  and  veracity  on  both  sides,  and  managing 
it  with  unwisdom  and  mendacity  on  both  sides.    Which  is  very 
great  indeed  ;  and  infinitely  sadder  than  any  one,  in  these 
times,' will  believe  !  —  But  we  cannot  dwell  on  this  considera- 
tion.   Let  the  reader  take  it  with  him,  as  a  constant  accompani- 
ment in  whatever  work  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  or  of  Friedrich 
his  Son's,  he  now  or  at  any  other  time  may  be  contemplating. 
Impious  waste,  which  means  disorder  and  dishonesty,  and  loss 
of  much  other  than  money  to  all  parties, — disgusting  aspect 
of  human  creatures,  master  and  servant,  working  together  as 
if  they  were  not  human, — ^will  be  spared  him  in  those  foreign 
departments  ;  and  in  an  English  heart  thoughts  v.-ill  arise,  per- 
haps, of  a  -wholesome  tendency,  though  very  sad,  as  times  are. 


200  AT  REINSBERG.  nook  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

ll  would  but  weary  the  reader  to  describe  this  Crown-Prince 
Mansion  ;  which,  by  desperate  study  of  our  abstruse  materials, 
it  is  possible  to  do  with  auctioneer  minuteness.  There  are  en- 
graved Views  of  Reinsberg  and  its  Environs  ;  which  used  to 
lie  conspicuous  in  the  portfolios  of  collectors, — which  I  have 
not  seen.^  Of  the  House  itself,  engraved  Frontages  {Fagades), 
Groundplans,  are  more  accessible  ;  and  along  with  them,  de- 
scriptions which  are  little  descriptive, — wearisomely  detailed, 
and  as  it  were  dark  by  excess  of  light  (auctioneer  light)  thrown 
on  them.  The  reader  sees,  in  general,  a  fine  symmetrical 
Block  of  Buildings,  standing  in  rectangular  shape,  in  the  above 
locality: — about  two  hundred  English  feet,  each,  the  two  longer 
sides  measure,  the  Townward  and  the  Lakeward,  on  their  outer 
front  :  about  a  hundred  and  thirty,  each,  the  two  shorter  ;  or 
a  hundred  and  fifty,  taking-in  their  Towers  just  spoken  of. 
The  fourth  or  Lakeward  side,  however,  which  is  one  of  the 
longer  pair,  consists  mainly  of  *  Colonnade  ;'  spacious  Colon- 
nade '  with  vases  and  statues  ;'  catching-up  the  outskirts  of 
said  Towers,  and  handsomely  uniting  everything. 

Beyond  doubt,  a  dignified,  substantial  pile  of  stonework  ; 
all  of  good  proportions.  Architecture  everywhere  of  cheerfully 
serious,  solidly  graceful  character  ;  all  of  sterling  ashlar  ;  the 
due  risalites  (projecting  spaces)  with  their  attics  and  statues 
atop,  the  due  architraves,  cornices  and  corbels, — in  short  the 
due  opulence  of  ornament  being  introduced,  and  only  the  due. 
Genuine  sculptors,  genuine  painters,  artists  have  been  busy ;  and 
in  fact  all  the  suitable  fine  arts,  and  all  the  necessary  solid  ones, 
have  worked  together,  with  a  noticeable  fidelity,  comfortable 
to  the  very  beholder  to  this  day.  General  height  is  about  forty 
feet  ;  two  stories  of  ample  proportions  :  the  Towers  overlook- 
ing them  are  sixty  feet  in  height.  Extent  of  outer  frontage,  if 
you  go  all  round,  and  omit  the  Colonnade,  will  be  five  hun- 
tlred  feet  and  more  :  this,  with  the  rearward  face,  is  a  thousand 
feet  of  room  frontage  : — fancy  the  extent  of  lodging  space. 
I'or  '  all  the  kitchens  and  appurtenances  are  underground ;'  the 
'  left  front'  (which  is  a  new  part  of  the  Edifice)  rising  comfort- 
ably over  these.  Windows  I  did  not  count  ;  but  they  must  go 
high  up  into  the  Hundreds.  No  end  to  lodging  space.  Nay  in  a 
tictached  side-edifice  subsequently  built,  called  Cavalier  House, 
I  read  of  there  being,  for  one  item,  'fifty  lodging  rooms,'  and 

^  Sec  Hcmicrt,  just  cited,  fui'  tlic  titles  of  thcni, 


Chap.  I.  MANSION   OF  REINSBERG.  201 

Aug.  1736. 

for  another  'a  theatre.'  And  if  an  English  Duke  of  Trumps 
were  to  look  at  the  bills  for  all  that, — his  astonishment  would 
be  extreme,  and  perhaps  in  a  degree  painful  and  salutary  to 
him. 

In  one  of  these  Towers  the  Crown-Prince  has  his  Library  : 
a  beautiful  apartment  ;  nothing  wanting  to  it  that  the  arts  could 
furnish,  '  ceiling  done  by  Pesne'  with  allegorical  geniuses  and 
what  not  ;  looks  out  on  mere  sky,  mere  earth  and  Avater  in  an 
ornamental  state  :  silent  as  in  Elysium.  It  is  there  we  are  to 
fancy  the  Correspondence  written,  the  Poetries  and  literary  in- 
dustries going  on.  There,  or  stepping  down  for  a  turn  in  the 
open  air,  or  sauntering  meditatively  under  the  Colonnade  with 
its  statues  and  vases  (where  weather  is  no  object),  one  com- 
mands the  Lake,  with  its  little  tufted  Islands,  '  Remus  Island' 
much  famed  among  them,  and  '  high  beech-woods'  on  the  far- 
ther side.  The  Lake  is  very  pretty,  all  say  ;  lying  between  you 
and  the  sunset ; — with  perhaps  some  other  lakelet,  or  solitary 
l)Ool  in  the  wilderness,  many  miles  away,  'revealing  itself  as  a 
cup  of  molten  gold,'  at  that  interesting  moment.  What  the 
Book-Collection  was,  in  the  interior,  I  know  not  except  by  mere 
guess. 

The  Crown-Princess's  Apartment,  too,  which  remained  un- 
altered at  the  last  accounts  had  of  it,^  is  very  fine  ; — take  the 
anteroom  for  specimen  :  '  This  fine  room,'  some  twenty  feet 
height  of  ceiling,  '  has  six  windows  ;  three  of  them,  in  the  main 
'  front,  looking  towards  the  Town,  the  other  three  towards  the 
'  Interior  Court.  The  light  from  these  windows  is  heightened 
'  by  mirrors  covering  all  the  piers  {Schiifie,  interspaces  of  the 
'  walls),  to  an  uncommonly  splendid  pitch  ;  and  shows  the 
'  painting  of  the  ceiling,  which  again  is  by  the  famous  Pesne, 
'  to  much  perfection.  The  Artist  himself,  too,  has  managed 
'  to  lay-on  his  colours  there  so  softly,  and  Avith  such  delicate 
'  skill,  that  the  light-beams  seem  to  prolong  themselves  in  the 
'  painted  clouds  and  air,  as  if  it  were  the  real  sky  you  had  over- 
'  head.'  There  in  that  cloud-region  '  Mars  is  being  disarmed 
'  by  the  Love-Goddesses,  and  they  are  sporting  with  his  wea- 
'  pons.  He  stretches  out  his  arm  towards  the  Goddess,  who 
'  looks  upon  him  with  fond  glances.  Cupids  are  spreading-out 
'  a  draping.'  That  is  Pesne's  luxurious  performance  in  the 
ceiling. — '  Weapon-festoons,  in  basso-relievo,    gilt,  adorn  the 

5  From  Hennert,  namely,  in  1778. 


202  '  AT  REINSBERG.  Dook  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

'  walls  of  this  room  ;  and  two  Pictures,  also  by  Pesne,  which 
'  represent,  in  life  size,  the  late  King  and  Queen'  (our  good 
friends  Friedrich  Wilhelm  and  his  Sophie),  '  are  worthy  ofat- 
'  tention.  Over  each  of  the  doors,  you  find  in  low-relief  the 
'  Profiles  of  Hannibal,  Pompey,  Scipio,  Caesar,  introduced  as 
'  Medallions.' 

All  this  is  very  fine  :  but  all  this  is  little  to  another  ceiling, 
in  some  big  Saloon  elsewhere.  Music-saloon,  I  think  :  Black 
Night,  making  off,  with  all  her  sickly  dews,  at  one  end  of  the 
ceiling  ;  and  at  the  other  end,  the  Steeds  of  Phoebus  bursting 
forth,  and  the  glittering  shafts  of  Day, — with  Cupids,  Love- 
goddesses,  War-gods,  not  omitting  Bacchus  and  his  vines,  all 
getting  beautifully  awake  in  consequence.  A  very  fine  room 
indeed  ; — used  as  a  Music-Saloon,  or  I  know  not  what, — and 
the  ceiling  of  it  almost  an  ideal,  say  the  connoisseurs. 

Endless  gardens,  pavilions,  grottos,  hermitages,  orangeries, 
artificial  ruins,  parks  and  pleasances  surround  this  favoured 
spot  and  its  Schloss  ;  nothing  wanting  in  it  that  a  Prince's  es- 
tablishment needs, — except  indeed  it  be  hounds,  for  which  this 
Prince  never  had  the  least  demand. 

Except  the  old  Ruppin  duties,  which  imply  continual  jour- 
neyings  thither,  distance  only  a  morning's  ride  ;  except  these, 
and  occasional  commissions  from  Papa,  Friedrich  is  left  mas- 
ter of  his  time  and  pursuits  in  this  new  Mansion.  There  are 
visits  to  Potsdam,  periodical  appearances  at  Berlin  ;  some 
Correspondence  to  keep  the  Tobacco-Parliament  in  tune.  But 
Fried  rich's  taste  is  for  the  Literatures,  Philosophies  :  a  young 
Prince  bent  seriously  to  cultivate  his  mind  ;  to  attain  some 
clear  knowledge  of  this  world,  so  all-important  to  him.  And 
he  does  seriously  read,  study  and  reflect  a  good  deal ;  his  main 
recreations,  seemingly,  are  Music,  and  the  converse  of  well-in- 
formed friendly  men.  In  Music  we  find  him  particularly  rich. 
Daily,  at  a  fixed  hour  of  the  afternoon,  there  is  concert  held  ; 
the  I'cader  has  seen  in  what  kind  of  room  ':  and  if  the  Artists 
entertained  here  for  that  function  were  enumerated  (high  names, 
not  yet  forgotten  in  the  Musical  world),  it  would  still  more  as- 
tonish readers.  I  count  them  to  the  number  of  Twenty  or 
Nineteen  ;  and  mention  only  that  '  the  two  Brothers  Graun' 
and  'the  two  Brothers  Benda'  were  of  the  lot;  suppressing 
four  other  Fiddlers  of  eminence,  and  'a  Pianist  who  is  known 


Chap. I.  MANSION   OF  REINS15ERG.  203 

Aug.  1736. 

to  everybody.'^  The  Prince  has  a  fine  sensibility  to  Music  : 
does  himself,  with  thrilling  adagios  on  the  flute,  join  in  these 
harmonious  acts  ;  and,  no  doubt,  if  rightly  vigilant  against  the 
Nonsenses,  gets  profit,  now  and  henceforth,  from  this  part  of 
his  resources. 

He  has  visits,  calls  to  make,  on  distinguished  persons  within 
reach  ;  he  has  much  Correspondence,  of  a  Literary  or  Social 
nature.  For  instance,  there  is  Suhm  the  Saxon  Envoy  trans- 
lating Wolf's  Philosophy  into  French  for  him  ;  sending  it  in 
fascicles  ;  with  endless  Letters  to  and  from,  upon  it, — which 
were  then  highly  interesting,  but  are  now  dead  to  every  readei*. 
The  Crown-Prince  has  got  a  Post-Office  established  at  Reins- 
berg  ;  leathern  functionary  of  some  sort  comes  lumbering 
round,  southward,  'from  the  Mecklenburg  quarter  twice  a  week, 
and  goes  by  Fehrbellin,'  for  the  benefit  of  his  Correspondences. 
Of  his  calls  in  the  neighbourhood,  we  mean  to  show  the  reader 
one  sample,  before  long  ;  and  only  one. 

There  are  Lists  given  us  of  the  Prince's  '  Court'  at  Reins- 
berg  ;  and  one  reads,  and  again  reads,  the  dreariest  unmemor- 
able  accounts  of  them  ;  but  cannot,  with  all  one's  industry, 
attain  any  definite  understanding  of  what  they  were  employed 
in,  day  after  day,  at  Reinsberg  : — still  more  are  their  salaries 
and  maintenance  a  mystery  to  us,  in  that  frugal  establishment. 
There  is  Wolden  for  Hofmarschall,  our  old  Ciistrin  friend  ; 
there  is  Colonel  Senning,  old  Marlborough  Colonel  with  the 
wooden  leg,  who  taught  Friedrich  his  drillings  and  artillery- 
practices  in  boyhood,  a  fine  sagacious  old  gentleman  this  latter. 
There  is  a  M.  Jordan,  Ex -Preacher,  an  ingenious  Prussian- 
Frenchman,  still  young,  who  acts  as  '  Reader  and  Librarian ;' 
of  whom  we  shall  hear  a  good  deal  more.  '  Intendant'  is  Cap- 
tain (Ex-Captain)  Knobelsdorf  ;  a  very  sensible  accomplished 
man,  whom  we  saw  once  at  Baireuth  ;  who  has  been  to  Italy 
since,  and  is  now  returned  with  beautiful  talents  for  Architec- 
ture :  it  is  he  that  now  undertakes  the  completing  of  Reins- 
berg," which  he  will  skilfully  accomplish  in  the  course  of  the 
next  three  years.  Twenty  Musicians  on  wind  or  string ;  Painters, 
Antoine  Pesne  but  one  of  them  ;  Sculptors,  Glume  and  others 
of  eminence  ;  and  Hof-Cavaliers,  to  we  know  not  what  extent  : 
— How  was  such  a  Court  kept  up,  in  hai-monious  free  dignity, 
and  no  halt  in  its  finances,  or  mean  pinch  of  any  kind  visible  ? 

'■'  Hennert,  p.  21.  1  Ih.  p.  29. 


204  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

The  Prince  did  get  in  debt;  but  not  deep,  and  it  was  mainly 
for  the  tall  recruits  he  had  to  purchase.  His  money-accounts 
are  by  no  means  fully  known  to  me  :  but  I  should  question  if 
his  expenditure  (such  is  my  guess)  ever  reached  3,000/.  a  year  ; 
and  am  obliged  to  reflect  more  and  more,  as  the  ancient  Cato 
did,  what  an  admirable  revenue  frugality  is  ! 

Many  of  the  Cavaliers,  I  find,  for  one  thing,  were  of  the 
Regiment  Goltz  ;  that  was  one  evident  economy.  '  Rittmeistcr 
von  Chasot,'  as  the  Books  call  him  :  readers  saw  that  Chasot 
llying  to  Prince  Eugene,  and  know  him  since  the  Siege  of 
Philipsburg.  He  is  not  yet  Rittmeister,  or  Captain  of  Horse, 
as  he  became  ;  but  is  of  the  Ruppin  Garrison  ;  Hof-Cavalier ; 
'  attended  Friedrich  on  his  late  Prussian  journey ;'  and  is  much 
a  favourite,  when  he  can  be  spared  from  Ruppin.  Captain 
Wylich,  afterwards  a  General  of  mark  ;  the  Lieutenant  Bud- 
denbrock  who  did  the  parson-charivari  at  Ruppin,  but  is  now 
reformed  from  those  practices  :  all  these  are  of  Goltz.  Colonel 
Keyserling,  not  of  Goltz,  nor  in  active  military  duty  here,  is  a 
friend  of  very  old  standing  ;  was  officially  named  as  '  Com- 
panion' to  the  Prince,  a  long  while  back  ;  and  got  into  trouble 
on  his  account  in  the  disastrous  Ante-Ciistrin  or  Flight  Epoch  : 
one  of  the  Prince's  first  acts,  when  he  got  pardoned  after  Ciis- 
trin,  was  to  beg  for  the  pardon  of  this  Keyserling  ;  and  now 
he  has  him  here,  and  is  very  fond  of  him.  A  Courlander,  of 
good  family,  this  Keyserling  ;  of  good  gifts  too, — which,  it  was 
once  thought,  would  be  practically  sublime  ;  for  he  carried  off 
all  manner  of  college  prizes,  and  was  the  Admirable-Crichton 
of  Konigsberg  University  and  the  Graduates  there.  But  in  the 
end  they  proved  to  be  gifts  of  the  vocal  sort  rather  :  and  have 
led  only  to  what  we  see.  A  man,  I  should  guess,  rather  of 
buoyant  vivacity  than  of  depth  or  strength  in  intellect  or  other- 
wise. Excessively  buoyant,  ingenious;  full  of  wit,  kindly  exu- 
berance ;  a  loyal -hearted,  gay-tempered  man,  and  much  a 
favourite  in  society  as  well  as  with  the  Prince.  If  we  were  to 
dwell  on  Reinsbcrg,  Keyserling  would  come  prominently  for- 
ward. 

Major  von  Stille,  ultimately  Major- General  von  Stillc,  I 
should  also  mention  :  near  twenty  years  older  than  the  Prince; 
a  wise  thoughtful  soldier  (went,  by  permission,  to  the  Siege  of 
Dantzig  lately,  to  improve  himself) ;  a  man  capable  of  rugged 
service,  when  the  time  comes.   His  military  writings  were  once 


Chap.  I.  MANSION   OF    REINSBERC;.  205 

Aug.  17^6. 

in  considerable  esteem  with  professional  men  ;  and  still  impress 
a  lay  reader  with  favourable  notions  towards  Stille,  as  a  man 
of  real  worth  and  sense.*' 

Of  Monsieur  Jordan  and  the  Literary  Set. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  Chaplain  in  the  Establishment  :  a 
Reverend  '  M.  Deschamps  ;'  who  preaches  to  them  all, — in 
French  no  doubt.  Friedrich  never  hears  Deschamps  :  Fried- 
rich  is  always  over  at  Ruppin  on  Sundays  ;  and  thei'e  '  him- 
self reads  a  sermon  to  the  Garrison,'  as  part  of  the  day's  duties. 
Reads  finely,  in  a  melodious  feelin>?  manner,  says  Formey,  who 
can  judge  :  'even  in  his  old  days,  he  would  incidentally,'  when 
some  Emeritus  Parson,  like  Formey,  chanced  to  be  with  him, 
'  roll  out  choice  passages  from  Bossuet,  from  Massillon,'  in  a 
voice  and  with  a  look,  which  would  have  been  perfection  in  the 
pulpit,  thinks  Formey.'-' 

M.  Jordan,  though  he  was  called  '  Lecteitr  (Reader),'  did 
not  read  to  him,  I  can  perceive  ;  but  took  charge  of  the  Books  ; 
busied  himself  honestly  to  be  useful  in  all  manner  of  literary 
or  quasi-literary  ways.  He  was,  as  his  name  indicates,  from 
the  French -refugee  department:  a  recent  acquisition,  much 
valued  at  Reinsberg.  As  he  makes  a  figure  afterwards,  we 
had  better  mark  him  a  little. 

Jordan's  parents  were  wealthy  religious  persons,  in  trade 
at  Berlin ;  this  Jordan  (Charles  Etienne,  age  now  thirty-six)  was 
their  eldest  son.  It  seems  they  had  destined  him  from  birth, 
consulting  their  own  pious  feelings  merely,  to  be  a  Preacher  of 
the  Gospel ;  the  other  sons,  all  of  them  reckoned  clever  too, 
were  brought-up  to  secular  employments.  And  preach  he,  this 
poor  Charles  Etienne,  accordingly  did  ;  what  best  Gospel  he 
had  ;  in  an  honest  manner,  all  say, — though  never  with  other 
than  a  kind  of  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Nature,  forced  out  of 
her  course.  He  had  wedded,  been  clergyman  in  two  succes- 
sive country  places  ;  when  his  wife  died,  leaving  him  one  little 
daughter,  and  a  heart  much  overset  by  that  event.  Friends, 
wealthy  Brothers  probably,  had  pushed  him  out  into  the  free 
air,  in  these  circumstances  :   "  Take  a  Tour ;  Holland,  Eng- 

**  Cain/'a^HL-s  du  Roi  dc  Prussc ; — a  posthumous  Book  ;  anterior  to  the  Seven- 
Years  War. 

3  Souvejiirs  d'un  Citoyeu  (2de  edition,  Paris,  1797),  i.  37. 


2o6  AT  REINSBERG.  p.ookX. 

Aug.  1736. 

land  ;  feel  the  winds  blowing,  see  the  sun  shining,  as  in  times 
past  :  it  will  do  you  good  !" 

Jordan,  in  the  course  of  his  Tour,  came  to  composure  on 
several  points.  He  found  that,  by  frugality,  by  wise  manage- 
ment of  some  peculium  already  his,  his  little  Daughter  and  he 
might  have  quietness  at  Berlin,  and  the  necessary  food  and  rai- 
ment;— and,  on  the  whole,  that  he  would  altogether  cease 
preaching,  and  settle  down  there,  among  his  Books,  in  a  frugal 
manner.  Which  he  did  ; — and  was  living  so,  when  the  Prince, 
searching  for  that  kind  of  person,  got  tidings  of  him.  And  here 
he  is  at  Reinsberg  ;  bustling  about,  in  a  brisk,  modestly  frank 
and  cheerful  manner  :  well  liked  by  everybody ;  by  his  Master 
very  well  and  ever  better,  who  grew  into  real  regard,  esteem 
and  even  friendship  for  him,  and  has  much  Correspondence, 
of  a  freer  kind  than  is  common  to  him,  with  little  Jordan,  so 
long  as  they  lived  together.  Jordan's  death,  ten  years  hence, 
was  probably  the  one  considerable  pain  he  had  ever  given  his 
neighbours,  in  this  the  ultimate  section  of  his  life. 

I  find  him  described,  at  Reinsberg,  as  a  small  nimble  figure, 
of  Southern-French  aspect ;  black,  uncommonly  bright  eyes  ; 
and  a  general  aspect  of  adroitness,  modesty,  sense,  sincei'ity ; 
good  prognostics,  which  on  acquaintance  with  the  man  were 
pleasantly  fulfilled. 

For  the  sake  of  these  considerations,  I  fished-out,  from  the 
Old-Book  Catalogues  and  sea  of  forgetfulness,  some  of  the  poor 
Books  he  wrote  ;  especially  a  Voyage  Littcrah'c}^  Journal  of 
that  first  Sanitary  Excursion  or  Tour  he  took,  to  get  the  clouds 
blown  from  his  mind.  K  Literary  Fby(7^^  which  av/akens  a  kind 
of  tragic  feeling  ;  being  itself  dead,  and  treating  of  matters 
which  are  all  gone  dead.  So  many  immortal  writers,  Dutch 
chiefly,  whom  Jordan  is  enabled  to  report  as  having  effloresced, 
or  being  soon  to  effloresce,  in  such  and  such  forms,  of  Books 
important  to  the  learned:  leafy,  blossomy  Forest  of  Literature, 
waving  glorious  in  the  then  sunlight  to  Jordan; — and  it  lies  all 
now,  to  Jordan  and  us,  not  withered  only,  but  abolished;  com- 
pressed into  a  film  of  indiscriminate /t'^A  Consider  what  that 
peat  is  made  of,  O  celebrated  or  uncelebrated  reader,  and  take 
a  moral  from  Jordan's  Book !  Other  merit,  except  indeed  clear- 
ness and  commendable  brevity,  the  Voyage  Liitt'raire  or  other 

'"  Ilistoiri!  (Tun  Wiyage  Littcrnirc  fait,  en  MDCCXXXiir,  en  France,  en  Angle- 
ierrc  et  en  HoUande  (zde  Edition,  h  La  Haye,  1736). 


Chap.  I.  MANSION   OF  REINSBERG.  207 

Aug.  1736. 

little  Books  of  Jordan's  have  not  now.  A  few  of  his  Letters  to 
Friedrich,  which  exist,  are  the  only  writings  with  the  least  life 
left  in  them,  and  this  an  accidental  life,  not  momentous  to 
him  or  us.  Dryasdust  informs  me,  '  Ahb6  Jordan,  alone  of 
'  the  Crown -Prince's  cavaliers,  sleeps  in  the  Town  of  Reins- 
'  berg,  not  in  the  Schloss:'  and  if  I  ask.  Why? — there  is  no 
answer.  Probably  his  poor  little  Daughterkin  was  beside  him 
there? — 

We  have  to  say  of  Friedrich's  Associates,  that  generally 
they  were  of  intelligent  type,  each  of  them  master  of  something 
or  other,  and  capable  of  rational  discourse  upon  that  at  least. 
Integrity,  loyalty  of  character,  was  indispensable  ;  good  hum- 
our, wit  if  it  could  be  had,  were  much  in  request.  There  was 
•  no  man  of  shining  distinction  there ;  but  they  were  the  best 
that  could  be  had,  and  that  is  saying  all.  Friedrich  cannot  be 
said,  cither  as  Prince  or  as  King,  to  have  been  superlatively 
successful  in  his  choice  of  associates.  With  one  single  excep- 
tion, to  be  noticed  shortly,  there  is  not  one  of  them  whom  we 
should  now  remember  except  for  Friedrich's  sake  ; — uniformly 
they  are  men  whom  it  is  now  a  weariness  to  hear  of,  except  in 
a  cursory  manner.  One  man  of  shining  parts  he  had,  and  one 
only ;  no  man  ever  of  really  high  and  great  mind.  The  latter 
sort  are  not  so  easy  to  get;  rarely  producible  on  the  soil  of 
this  Earth !  Nor  is  it  certain  how  Friedrich  might  have  man- 
aged with  one  of  this  sort,  or  he  with  Friedrich ; — though  Fried- 
rich unquestionably  would  have  tried,  had  the  chance  offered. 
For  he  loved  intellect  as  few  men  on  the  throne,  or  off  it,  ever 
did ;  and  the  little  he  could  gather  of  it  round  him  often  seems 
to  me  a  fact  tragical  rather  than  otherwise. 

With  the  outer  Berlin  social  world,  acting  and  reacting, 
Friedrich  has  his  connexions,  which  obscurely  emerge  on  us 
now  and  then.  Literary  Eminences,  who  are  generally  of  Theo- 
logical vesture ;  any  follower  of  Philosophy,  especially  if  he  be 
of  refined  manners  withal,  or  known  in  fashionable  life,  is  sure 
to  attract  him;  and  gains  ample  recognition  at  Reinsberg  or 
on  Town-visits.  But  the  Berlin  Theological  or  Literary  world 
at  that  time,  still  more  the  BerUn  Social,  like  a  sunk  extinct 
object,  continues  very  dim  in  those  old  records ;  and  to  say 
truth,  what  features  we  have  of  it  do  not  invite  to  miraculous 
efforts  for  farther  acquaintance.     Venerable  Beausobre,  with 


2o8  AT  REINSBERG,  Book  X. 

Aug.  1736. 

his  History  of  the  Mnnichenns}'^  and  other  learned  things, — we 
heard  of  him  long  since,  in  Toland  and  the  Republican  Queen's 
time,  as  a  light  of  the  world.  He  is  now  fourscore,  grown 
white  as  snow ;  very  serene,  polite,  with  a  smack  of  French 
noblesse  in  him,  perhaps  a  smack  of  affectation  traceable  too. 
The  Crown-Prince,  on  one  of  his  Berlin  visits,  wished  to  see 
this  Beausobi-e;  got  a  meeting  appointed,  in  somebody's  rooms 
'in  the  French  College,'  and  waited  for  the  venerable  man. 
Venerable  man  entered,  loftily  serene  as  a  martyr  Preacher  of 
the  Word,  something  of  an  ancient  Seigneur  de  Beausobre  in 
him,  too ;  for  the  rest,  soft  as  sunset,  and  really  with  fine  radi- 
ances, in  a  somewhat  twisted  state,  in  that  good  old  mind  of 
his.  "What  have  you  been  reading  lately,  M.  de  Beausobre?" 
said  the  Prince,  to  begin  conversation.  "Ah,  Monseigneur,  I 
"  have  just  risen  from  reading  the  sublimest  piece  of  writing 
"  that  exists." — "And  what?"  "The  exordium  of  St.  John's 
"  Gospel:  In  the  Beginning  was  the  Wo7-d;  and  the  Word  was 
"  with  God,  and  the  Word  was — "  Which  somewhat  took  the 
Prince  by  surprise,  as  Formey  reports  ;  though  he  rallied 
straightway,  and  got  good  conversation  out  of  the  old  gentle- 
man. To  whom,  we  perceive,  he  writes  once  or  twice,^- — a 
copy  of  his  own  verses  to  correct,  on  one  occasion, — and  is 
very  respectful  and  considerate. 

Formey  tells  us  of  another  French  sage,  personally  known 
to  the  Prince  since  Boyhood  ;  for  he  used  to  be  about  the 
Palace,  doing  something.  This  is  one  La  Croze ;  Professor  of, 
I  think,  "Philosophy"  in  the  French  College:  sublime  mon- 
ster of  Erudition,  at  that  time;  forgotten  now,  I  fear,  by  every- 
body. Swag-bellied,  short  of  wind ;  liable  to  rages,  to  utterances 
of  a  coarse  nature;  a  decidedly  ugly,  monstrous  and  rather 
stupid  kind  of  man.  Know  twenty  languages,  in  a  coarse  in- 
exact way.  Attempted  deep  kinds  of  discourse,  in  the  lecture- 
room  and  elsewhere;  but  usually  broke-off  into  endless  welters 
of  anecdote,  not  always  of  cleanly  nature ;  and  after  every  two 
or  three  words,  a  desperate  sigh,  not  for  sorrow,  but  on  account 
of  flabbiness  and  fat.     Formey  gives  a  portraiture  of  him  ;  not 

"  Ilisioire  critique  de  Maniciu'e  ct  dii  Manicheisme :  wrote  also  Remnrgties 
&'c.  siir  le  Nouveau  Testainent,  which  were  once  famous  ;  Hisioire  de  la  R informa- 
tion ;  &c.  &c.  He  is  Heausobre  Senior;  there  were  two  Sons  (one  of  them  born  in 
second  wedlock,  after  Papa  was  70),  who  were  likewise  given  to  writing.  —  See 
Formey,  Souvenirs  li'iin  Citoyen,  i.  33-39. 

'*  (Euvrcs  de  Fri'dcric,  x\i.  121-12^.  Dates  are  .ill  of  1737  ;  the  last  of  Be.ausobre's 
years. 


Chap.  I.  MANSION  OF   REINSBERG.  209 

Aug.  1736. 

worth  copying  farther.  The  same  Formey,  standing  one  day 
somewhere  on  the  streets  of  Berhn,  was  himself,  he  cannot 
doubt,  seen  by  the  Crown-Prince  in  passing;  'who  asked  M. 
Jordan,  who  that  was,'  and  got  answer: — is  not  that  a  comfort- 
able fact  ?  Nothing  farther  came  of  it ; — respectable  Ex-Parson 
P^ormey,  though  ever  ready  with  his  pen,  being  indeed  of  very 
vapid  nature,  not  wanted  at  Rcinsberg,  as  we  can  guess. 

There  is  M.  Achard,  too,  another  Preacher,  supreme  of  his 
sort,  in  the  then  Berlin  circles ;  to  whom  or  from  whom  a  Let- 
ter or  two  exist.  Letters  worthless,  if  it  were  not  for  one  dim 
indication :  That,  on  inquiry,  the  Crown-Prince  had  been  con- 
sulting this  supreme  Achard  on  the  difficulties  of  Orthodoxy  ■}'^ 
and  had  given  him  texts,  or  a  text,  to  preach  from.  Supreme 
Achard  did  not  abolish  the  difficulties  for  his  incj^uiring  Prince, 
■ — who  complains  respectfully  that  'his  faith  is  weak,'  and 
leaves  us  dark  as  to  particulars.  This  Achard  passage  is  al- 
most the  only  hint  we  have  of  what  might  have  been  an  im- 
portant chapter:  Friedrich's  Religious  History  at  Reinsberg. 
The  expression  '  weak  faith'  I  take  to  be  meant  not  in  mockery, 
but  in  ingenuous  regret  and  solicitude;  much  painful  fermenta- 
tion, probably,  on  the  religious  question  in  those  Reinsberg 
years !  But  the  old  '  Gnadewwahr  business,  the  Free-Grace 
controversy,  had  taught  him  to  be  cautious  as  to  what  he  ut- 
tered on  those  points.  The  fermentation,  therefore,  had  to 
go  on  under  cover  ;  what  the  result  of  it  was,  is  notorious 
enough  ;  though  the  steps  of  the  process  are  not  in  any  point 
known. 

Enough  now  of  such  details.  Outwardly  or  inwardly,  there 
is  no  History,  or  almost  none,  to  be  had  of  this  Reinsberg 
Period;  the  extensive  records  of  it  consisting,  as  usual,  mainly 
of  chaotic  nugatory  matter,  opaque  to  the  mind  of  readers.  There 
is  copious  correspondence  of  the  Crown-Prince,  with  at  least 
dates  to  it  for  most  part :  but  this,  which  should  be  the  main 
resource,  proves  likewise  a  poor  one ;  the  Crown-Prince's  Let- 
ters, now  or  afterwards,  being  almost  never  of  a  deep  or  inti- 
mate quality ;  and  seldom  turning  on  events  or  facts  at  all,  and 
then  not  always  on  facts  interesting,  on  facts  clearly  apprehen- 
sible to  us  in  that  extinct  element. 

The  Thing,  we  know  always,  is  there ;  but  vision  of  the 
Thing  is  only  to  be  had  faintly,  intermittently.      Dim  inane 

'2  LEuvres  de  Frederic,  .\vi.  pp.  112-117:  date,  March-June  1736. 
VOL.   III.  P 


2IO  AT  REINSBERG.  BookX. 

Aug.  1736. 

twilight,  with  here  and  there  a  transient  spark  falling  some- 
whither in  it ; — you  do  at  last,  by  desperate  persistence,  get  to 
discern  outlines,  features: — "The  Thing  cannot  always  have 
been  No-thing,"  you  reflect !  Outlines,  features  : — and  perhaps, 
after  all,  those  are  mostly  what  the  reader  wants  on  this  occa- 
sion. 

CHAPTER   II. 

OF  VOLTAIRE  AND  THE   LITERARY  CORRESPONDENCES. 

One  of  Friedrich's  grand  purposes  at  Reinsbei'g,  to  himself 
privately  the  grandest  there,  which  he  follows  Avith  constant 
loyalty  and  ardour,  is  that  of  scaling  the  heights  of  the  Muses' 
Hill  withal;  of  attaining  mastership,  discipleship,  in  Art  and 
Philosophy  ;—^  of  in  candour  let  us  call  it,  what  it  truly  was, 
that  of  enlightening  and  fortifying  himself  with  clear  know- 
ledge, clear  belief,  on  all  sides;  and  acquiring  some  spiritual 
panoply  in  which  to  front  the  coming  practicalities  of  life.  This, 
he  feels  well,  will  be  a  noble  use  of  his  seclusion  in  those  still 
places ;  and  it  must  be  owned,  he  struggles  and  endeavours 
towards  this,  with  great  perseverance,  by  all  the  methods  in 
his  power,  here,  or  wherever  afterwards  he  might  be. 

Here  at  Reinsberg,  one  of  his  readiest  methods,  his  plea- 
santest  if  not  his  usefulest,  is  that  of  getting  into  correspond- 
ence with  the  chief  spirits  of  his  time.  Which  accordingly  he 
forthwith  sets  about,  after  getting  into  Reinsberg,  and  con- 
tinues, as  we  shall  see,  with  much  assiduity.  Rollin,  FontencUc, 
and  other  French  lights  of  the  then  firmament, — his  Letters  to 
them  exist;  and  could  be  given  in  some  quantity:  but  it  is 
better  not.  They  are  intrinsically  the  common  Letters  on  such 
occasions:  "O  sublime  demigod  of  literature,  how  small  arc 
princely  distinctions  to  such  a  glory  as  thine  ;  thou  who  en- 
terest  within  the  veil  of  the  temple,  and  issuest  with  thy  face 
shining!" — To  which  the  response  is:  "  Hm,  think  you  so, 
most  happy,  gracious,  illustrious  Prince,  with  every  convenience 
round  you,  and  such  prospects  ahead  ?  Well,  thank  you,  at 
any  rate, — and,  as  the  Irish  say,  more  power  to  your  Honour's 
Glory!"  This  really  is  nearly  all  that  said  Sets  of  Letters  con- 
tain ;  and  except  perhaps  the  Voltaire  Set,  none  of  them  give 
symptoms  of  much  capacity  to  contain  more. 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE   AND    CORRESPONDENCES.      211 

Aug.  1736. 

Certainly  there  was  no  want  of  Literary  Men  discernible 
from  Reinsberg  at  that  time  ;  and  the  young  Prince  corre- 
sponds with  a  good  many  of  them  ;  temporal  potentate  sa- 
luting spiritual,  from  the  distance, — in  a  way  highly  interest- 
ing to  the  then  parties,  but  now  without  interest,  except  of 
the  reflex  kind,  to  any  creature.  A  very  cold  and  empty  por- 
tion, this,  of  the  Friedrich  Correspondence ;  standing  there  to 
testify  what  his  admiration  was  for  literary  talent,  or  the  great 
reputation  of  such  ;  but  in  itself  uninstructive  utterly,  and  of 
freezing  influence  on  the  now  living  mind.  Most  of  those 
French  lights  of  the  then  firmament  arc  gone  out.  Forgotten 
altogether ;  or  recognised,  like  Rollin  and  others,  for  polished 
dullards,  university  bigwigs,  and  longwinded  commonplace 
persons,  deserving  nothing  but  oblivion.  To  Montesquieu, — 
not  yet  called  "  Baron  de  Montesquieu"  with  Esprit  des  Lois, 
but  "  M.  de  Secondat"  with  (Anonymous)  Lettres  Persaites, 
and  already  known  to  the  world  for  a  person  of  sharp  audaci- 
ous eyesight, — it  does  not  appear  that  Friedrich  addressed 
any  Letter,  now  or  afterwards.  No  notice  of  Montesquieu  ; 
nor  of  some  others,  the  absence  of  whom  is  a  little  unex- 
pected. Probably  it  was  want  of  knowledge  mainly;  for  his 
appetite  was  not  fastidious  at  this  time.  And  certainly  he  did 
hit  the  centre  of  the  mark,  and  get  into  the  very  kernel  of 
French  literature,  when,  in  1736,  hardly  yet  established  in 
his  new  quarters,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  shining  figure 
known  to  us  as  "  Arouet  Junior"  long  since,  and  now  called 
M.  de  Voltaire ;  which  latter  is  still  a  name  notable  in  Fried- 
rich's  History  and  that  of  i\Lankind.  Friedrich's  first  Letter, 
challenging  Voltaire  to  correspondence,  dates  itself  8th  August 
1736;  and  Voltaire's  Answer, — the  Reinsberg  Household  still 
only  in  its  second  month, — was  probably  the  brightest  event 
which  had  yet  befallen  there. 

On  various  accounts  it  will  behove  us  to  look  a  good  deal 
more  strictly  into  this  Voltaire;  and,  as  his  relations  to  Fried- 
rich and  to  the  world  are  so  multiplex,  endeavour  to  disengage 
the  real  likeness  of  the  man  from  the  circumambient  noise 
and  confusion  which  in  his  instance  continue  very  great. 
'  Voltaire  was  the  spiritual  complement  of  Friedrich,'  says 
Sauerteig  once  :  '  what  little  of  lasting  their  poor  Century 
'  produced  lies  mainly  in  these  Two.  A  very  somnambulat- 
•  ing  Century!     But  what  little  it  did,  we  must  call  Friedrich; 


212  AT    REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

'what  little  it  ihoiigJit,  Voltaire.  Other  fruit  we  have  not 
'  from  it  to  speak  of,  at  this  day.  Voltaire,  and  what  can  be 
'  faithfully  done  on  the  Voltaire  Creed  ;  "  Realised  Voltair- 
'  ism;" — admit  it,  reader,  not  in  a  too  triumphant  humour, — 
'  is  not  that  pretty  much  the  net  historical  product  of  the 
'  Eighteenth  Century?  The  rest  of  its  history  either  pure 
'  somnambulism  ;  or  a  mere  Controversy,  to  the  effect,  "Re- 
'  alised  Voltairism  ?  How  soon  shall  it  be  realised,  then  ? 
'  Not  at  once,  surely!"  So  that  Friedrich  and  Voltaire  are 
'  related,  not  by  accident  only.  They  are,  they  for  want  of 
'  better,  the  two  Original  Men  of  their  Century ;  the  chief  and 
'  in  a  sense  the  sole  products  of  their  Century.  They  alone 
'  remain  to  us  as  still  living  results  from  it, — such  as  they 
'  are.  And  the  rest,  truly,  ought  to  depart  and  vanish  (as 
'  they  are  now  doing) ;  being  mere  ephemera  ;  contemporary 
'  eaters,  scramblers  for  provender,  talkers  of  acceptable  hear- 
'  say;  and  related  merely  to  the  butteries  and  wiggeries  of  their 
'  time,  and  not  related  to  the  Perennialities  at  all,  as  these 
'  Two  were.' — With  more  of  the  like  sort  from  Sauerteig. 

M.  de  Voltaire,  who  used  to  be  M.  Fran§ois-Marie  Arouet, 
was  at  this  time  about  forty,^  and  had  gone  through  various 
fortunes  ;  a  man,  now  and  henceforth,  in  a  high  degree  con- 
spicuous, and  questionable  to  his  fellow-creatures.  Clear  know- 
ledge of  him  ought,  at  this  stage,  to  be  common ;  but  unex- 
pectedly it  is  not.  What  endless  writing  and  biographying 
there  has  been  about  this  man;  in  which  one  still  reads,  with 
a  kind  of  lazy  satisfaction,  due  to  the  subject,  and  to  the  French 
genius  in  that  department  !  But  the  man  himself,  and  his  en- 
vironment and  practical  aspects,  what  the  actual  physiognomy 
of  his  life  and  of  him  can  have  been,  is  dark  from  beginning 
to  ending  ;  and  much  is  left  in  an  ambiguous  undecipherable 
condition  to  us.  A  proper  History  of  Voltaire,  in  which  should 
be  discoverable,  luminous  to  human  creatures,  what  he  was, 
what  element  he  lived  in,  what  work  he  did  :  this  is  still  a 
problem  for  the  genius  of  France  ! — 

His  Father's  name  is  known  to  us  ;  the  name  of  his  Fa- 
ther's profession,  too,  but  not  clearly  the  nature  of  it;  still  less 
his  Father's  character,  economic  circumstances,  physiognomy 

'  IJorn  zoth  February  1694;  the  younger  of  two  hons  :  Father,  '  Fraurois  Arouet, 
'  a  Notary  of  the  Chatclet,  ultimately  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber  of  Accounts  ;' 
Mother,  '  Marguerite  d'Aunuut,  of  a  noble  family  of  Poitou.' 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE   AND    CORRESPONDENCES.      213 

Aug.  173C. 

spiritual  or  social :  not  the  least  possibility  granted  you  of  form- 
ing an  image,  however  faint,  of  that  notable  man  and  house- 
hold, which  distinguished  itself  to  all  the  earth  by  producing 
little  Franqois  into  the  light  of  this  sun.  Of  Madame  Arouet, 
who,  or  what,  or  how  she  was,  nothing  whatever  is  known.  A 
human  reader,  pestered  continually  with  the  Madame-Denises, 
Abbd-Mignots  and  enigmatic  nieces  and  nephews,  would  have 
wished  to  know,  at  least,  what  children,  besides  Francois,  Ma- 
dame Arouet  had  :  once  for  all,  How  many  children  ?  Name 
them,  with  year  of  birth,  year  of  death,  according  to  the  church- 
registers  :  they  all,  at  any  rate,  had  that  degree  of  history! 
No;  even  that  has  not  been  done.  Beneficent  correspondents 
of  my  own  make  answer,  after  some  research,  No  register  of 
the  Arouets  anywhere  to  be  had.  The  very  name  Voltaire, 
if  you  ask  whence  came  it  ?  there  is  no  answer,  or  worse  than 
none. — The  fit  "History"  of  this  man,  which  might  be  one  of 
the  shining  Epics  of  his  Century,  and  the  lucid  summary  and 
soul  of  any  History  France  then  had,  but  which  would  require 
almost  a  French  demigod  to  do  it,  is  still  a  great  way  off,  if 
on  the  road  at  all!  For  present  purposes,  we  select  what  fol- 
lows from  a  well-known  hand  : 

'  Youth  ofVoltai?-e  (1694-1725). — French  Biographers  have  left  the 
'  Arouet  Household  very  dark  for  us ;  meanwhile  we  can  perceive,  or 
'  guess,  that  it  was  moderately  well  in  economic  respects  ;  that  Francois 
'  was  the  second  of  the  Two  Sons;  and  that  old  Arouet,  a  steady,  prac- 
'  tical  and  perhaps  rather  sharp-tempered  old  gentleman,  of  official  legal 
'  habits  and  position,  "Notary  of  the  Chatelet"  and  something  else, 
'  had  destined  him  for  the  Law  Profession ;  as  was  natural  enough  to 
'  a  son  of  M.  Arouet,  who'  had  himself  succeeded  well  in  Law,  and 
'  could  there,  best  of  all,  open  roads  for  a  clever  second  son.  Fran9ois 
'  accordingly  sat  "in  chambers,"  as  we  call  it;  and  his  fellow-clerks 
'  much  loved  him, — thp  most  amusing  fellow  in  the  world.  Sat  in 
'  chambers,  even  became  an  advocate;  but  did  not  in  the  least  take  to 
'  advocateship  ; — took  to  poetry,  and  other  airy  dangerous  courses,  spe- 
'  culative,  practical ;  causing  family  explosions  and  rebukes,  which  were 
'  without  effect  on  him.  A  young  fool,  bent  on  sportful  pursuits  in- 
'  stead  of  serious ;  more  and  more  shuddering  at  Law.  To  the  surprise 
'  and  indignation  of  ]\L  Arouet  Senior.  Law,  with  its  wigs  and  sheep- 
'  skins,  pointing  towards  high  honoui'S  and  deep  flesh-pots,  had  no 
'  charms  for  the  young  fool ;  he  could  not  be  made  to  like  Law. 

'  Whereupon  arose  explosions,  as  we  hint ;  family  explosions  on  the 
'  part  of  M.  Arouet  Senior;  such  that  friends  had  to  interfere,  and  it 
'  was  uncertain  what  would  come  of  it.      One  judicious  friend,    "  M. 


214  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

Aug.  1736. 
'  Caumartin, "  took  the  young  fellow  home  to  his  house  in  the  country 
'  for  a  time ; — and  there,  incidentally,  brought  him  acquainted  with  old 
'  gentlemen  deep  in  the  traditions  of  Henri  Quatre  and  the  cognate 
'  topics;  which  much  inflamed  the  young  fellow,  and  produced  big 
'  schemes  in  the  head  of  him. 

'  M.  Arouet  Senior  stood  strong  for  Law;  but  it  was  becoming 
'  daily  more  impossible.  Madrigals,  dramas  (not  without  actresses), 
'  satirical  wit,  airy  verse,  and  all  manner  of  adventurous  speculation, 
'  were  what  this  young  man  went  upon ;  and  was  getting  more  and 
'  more  loved  for ;  introduced,  even,  to  the  superior  circles,  and  recog- 
'  nised  there  as  one  of  the  brightest  young  fellows  ever  seen.  Which 
'  tended,  of  course,  to  confirm  him  in  his  folly,  and  open  other  out- 
'  looks  and  harbours  of  refuge  than  the  paternal  one. 

'  Such  things,  strange  to  M.  Arouet  Senior,  were  in  vogue  then ; 
'  wicked  Regent  d'Orleans  having  succeeded  sublime  Louis  XIV.,  and 
'  set  strange  fashions  to  the  Quality.  Not  likely  to  profit  this  fool 
'  Francois,  thought  M.  Arouet  Senior;  and  was  much  confirmed  in 
'  his  notion,  when  a  rhymed  Lampoon  against  the  Gove^rnment  having 
'  come  out  [Les  fai  vii,  as  they^aTl  "it-),'  and  become  the  rage,  as  a 
'  clever  thing  of  the  kind  will,  it  was  imputed  to  the  brightest  young 
'  fellow  in  France,  M.  Arouet's  Soji.  "Who,  in  fact,  Mas  not  the  Author ; 
'  but  was  not  believed  on  his  denial ;  and  saw  himself,  in  spite  of  his 
'  high  connexions,  ruthlessly  lodged  in  the  Bastille  in  consequence. 
'  "Let  him  sit,"  thought  M.  Arouet  Senior,  "and  come  to  his  senses 
'  there !"  He  sat  for  eighteen  months  (age  still  little  above  twenty) ; 
'  but  privately  employed  his  time,  not  in  repentance,  or  in  serious  legal 
'  studies,  but  in  writing  a  Poem  on  his  Flenri  Quatre.  "  Epic  Poem," 
'  no  less ;  La  Ligiu;  as  he  then  called  it ;  which  it  was  his  hope  the 
'  whole  world  would  one  day  fall  in  love  with ; — as  it  did.  Nay,  in 
'  two  years  more,  he  had  done  a  Play,  (Edipe  the  renowned  name  of 
'  it;  which  "ran  for  forty-eight  nights"  (18th  November  171 8,  the  first 
'  of  them) ;  and  was  enough  to  turn  any  head  of  such  age.  Law  may 
'  be  considered  hopeless,  even  by  M.  Arouet  Senior. 

'Try  him  in  the  Diplomatic  line;  break  these  bad  habits  and  con- 
'  nexions,  thought  M.  Arouet,  at  one  time ;  and  sent  him  to  the  French 
'  Ambassador  in  Holland, — on  good  behavioul^,  as  it  were,  and  by  way 
'  of  temporary  banislimenl.  But  neither  did  this  answer.  On  the  con- 
'  trary,  the  young  fellow  got  into  scrapes  again;  got  into  amatory  in- 
'  trigues, — young  lady  visiting  you  in  men's  clothes,  young  lady's  mother 
'  inveigling,  and  I  know  not  what ; — so  tliat  the  Ambassador  was  glad 
'  to  send  him  home  again  unmarried  ;  marked,  as  it  were,  "  Glass,  with 
'  care !"  And  the  young  lady's  mother  jHinled  his  Letters,  not  the  least 
'  worth  reading : — and  the  old  M.  Arouet  seems  now  to  have  flung-up 
'  Ills  head ;  to  have  settled  .some  small  allowance  on  him,  with  peremp- 

-  '  I  liavc  seen  (/'«/  i'?0'  t'l's  ignominy  occur,  '  I  have  seen'  that  other, — to  the 
■iniount  of  a  do/en  or  two; — 'and  am  not  yd  twenty.'  Copy  of  it,  and  guess  as  to 
authorship,  in  (Kuvres  dc  I'oUairc,  i.  321. 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.     215 

Aug.  1736. 

'  tory  iio-hopc  of  more,  and  said,  "Go  your  own  way,  Ihen,  foolish 
'junior:  the  elder  shall  be  my  son."  M.  Arouet  disappears  at  thi.s 
'  point,  or  nearly  so,  from  the  history  of  his  son  Fran(;ois ;  and  I  think 
■  must  have  died  in  not  many  years.  Poor  old  M.  Arouet  closed  his 
'  old  eyes  without  the  least  conception  what  a  prodigious  ever-memor- 
'  able  thing  he  had  done  unknowingly,  in  sending  this  Fran9ois  into 
'  the  world,  to  kindle  such  universal  "dry  dungheap  of  a  rotten  world," 
'  and  set  it  blazing !  Fran9ois,  his  Father's  synonym,  came  to  be  re- 
'  presentative  of  the  family,  after  all ;  the  elder  Brother  also  having 
'  died  before  long.  E.xcept  certain  confused  niece-and-nephew  person- 
'  ages,  progeny  of  the  sisters,  Francois  has  no  more  trouble  or  solace- 
'  ment  from  the  paternal  household.  Fran9ois  meanwhile  is  his  Father's 
'  synonym,  and  signs  Arouet  Junior,  "Francois  Arouet  1.  j.  {le  jaiui')." 
'  "  All  of  us  Princes,  then,  or  Poets!"  said  he,  one  night  at  supper, 
'  looking  to  right  and  left :  the  brightest  fellow  in  the  world,  well  fit 
'  to  be  Phoebus  Apollo  of  such  circles ;  and  great  things  now  ahead  of 
'  him.  Dissolute  Regent  d'Orleans,  politest,  most  debauched  of  men, 
'  and  very  witty,  holds  the  helm ;  near  him  Dubois  the  Devil's  Cardinal, 
'  and  so  many  bright  spirits.  All  the  Luciferous  Spiritualism  there  is 
'  in  France  is  lifting  anchor,  under  these  auspices,  joyfully  towards  new 
'  latitudes  and  Isles  of  the  Blest.  What  may  not  Fran5ois  hope  to  be- 
'  come?  "flmph!"  answers  M.  Arouet  Senior,  steadily,  so  long  as 
'  he  lives.  Here  are  one  or  two  subsequent  phases,  epochs  or  turning- 
'  points,  of  the  young  gentleman's  career. 

^  Phasis  First  (1725-1728). — The  accomplished  Due  de  SuUi  (Year 
'  1725,  day  not  recorded),  is  giving  in  his  hotel  a  dinner,  such  as  u.sual ; 
'  and  a  bright  witty  company  is  assembled ; — the  brightest  young  fel- 
'  low  in  France  sure  to  be  there ;  and  with  his  electric  coruscations  il- 
'  luminating  everything,  and  keeping  the  table  in  a  roar.  To  the 
'  delight  of  most ;  not  to  that  of  a  certain  splenetic  ill-given  Due  de 
'  Rohan;  grandee  of  high  rank,  great  haughtiness,  and  very  ill-behavi- 
'  our  in  the  world ;  who  feels  impatient  at  the  notice  taken  of  a  mere 
'  civic  individual,  Arouet  Junior.  "  Quel  est  done  cc  jeune  homme  qui 
'■  park  si  haiit,  Who  is  this  young  man  that  talks  so  loud,  then?"  ex- 
'  claims  the  proud  splenetic  Duke.  "  Monseigneur, "  flashes  the  young 
'  man  back  upon  him  in  an  electric  manner,  "It  is  one  who  does  not 
'  drag  a  big  name  about  with  him ;  but  who  secures  respect  for  the 
'  name  he  has !"  Figure  that,  in  the  penetrating  grandly  clangorous 
'  voice  {voix  sombre  et  7>iajestueuse),  and  the  momentary  flash  of  eyes 
'  that  attended  it.  Due  de  Rohan  rose,  in  a  sulphurous  frame  of 
'  mind ;  and  went  his  ways.  What  date?  You  ask  the  idle  French 
'  Biographer  in  vain ; — see  only,  after  more  and  more  inspection,  that 
'  the  incident  is  trae ;  and  with  labour  date  it,  summer  of  the  Year 
'  1725.  Treaty  of  Utrecht  itself,  though  all  the  Newspapers  and  Own 
'  Correspondents  were  so  interested  in  it,  was  perhaps  but  a  foolish 
'  matter  to  date  in  comparison ! 


2i6  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

Aug.  1736. 

'  About  a  week  after,  M.  Arouet  Junior  was  again  dining  with  the 
Due  de  Sulli,  and  a  fine  company  as  before.  A  servant  whispers 
him,  That  somebody  has  called,  and  wants  him  below.  "Cannot 
come,"  answers  Arouet;  "how  can  I,  so  engaged?"  Servant  returns 
after  a  minute  or  two:  "Pardon,  Monsieur;  I  am  to  say,  it  is  to  do 
an  act  of  beneficence  that  you  are  wanted  below !"  Arouet  lays  down 
his  knife  and  fork;  descends  instantly  to  see  what  act  it  is.  A  car- 
riage is  in  the  court,  and  hackney-coach  near  it:  "Would  Monsieur 
have  the  extreme  goodness  to  come  to  the  door  of  the  carriage,  in  a 
case  of  necessity?"  At  the  door  of  the  carriage,  hands  seize  the 
collar  of  him,  hold  him  as  in  a  vice;  diabolic  visage  of  Due  de  Rohan 
is  visible  inside,  who  utters,  looking  to  the  hackney-coach,  some 
"  Voila,  Now  then!"  Whereupon  the  hackney-coach  opens,  gives 
out  three  porters,  or  hired  bullies,  with  the  due  implements :  scanda- 
lous actuality  of  horsewhipping  descends  on  the  back  of  poor  Arouet, 
who  shrieks  and  execrates  to  no  pui"pose,  nobody  being  near.  "  That 
will  do, "  says  Rohan  at  last,  and  the  gallant  ducal  party  drive  off ; 
young  Arouet,  with  torn  frills  and  deranged  hair,  rushing  up -stairs 
again,  in  such  a  mood  as  is  ea.sy  to  fancy.  Everybody  is  sorry,  in- 
consolable, everybody  shocked  ;  nobody  volunteers  to  help  in  aveng- 
ing. "  Monseigneur  de  Sulli,  is  not  such  atrocity  done  to  one  of 
your  guests,  an  insult  to  yourself?"  asks  Arouet.  "  Well,  yes  perhaps, 
but" — Monseigneur  de  .Sulli  shrugs  his  shoulders,  and  proposes  no- 
thing. Arouet  withdrew,  of  course  in  a  most  blazing  condition,  to 
consider  what  he  could,  on  his  own  strength,  do  in  this  conjuncture. 

'  His  Biogi'apher  Duvernet  says,  he  decided  on  doing  two  things  : 
learning  English  and  the  small-sword  exercise.^  He  retired  to  the 
country  for  six  months,  and  perfected  himself  in  these  two  branches. 
Being  perfect,  he  challenged  Due  de  Rohan  in  the  proper  manner ; 
applying  ingenious  compulsives  withal,  to  secure  acceptance  of  the 
challenge.  Rohan  accepted,  not  without  some  difficulty,  and  com- 
pulsion at  the  Theatre  or  otherwise : — accepted,  but  withal  confessed 
to  his  wife.  The  result  was,  no  measuring  of  swords  took  place ; 
and  Rohan  only  blighted  by  public  opinion,  or  incapable  of  farther 
blight  that  way,  went  at  large;  a  convenient  Lcttre  de  Cachet  having 
put  Arouet  again  in  the  Bastille.  Where  for  six  months  Arouet 
lodged  a  second  time,  the  innocent  not  the  gviilty ;  making,  we  can 
well  suppose,  innumerable  reflections  on  the  phenomena  of  human 
life.  Imprisonment  once  over,  he  hastily  quitted  for  England  ;  shaking 
the  dust  of  ungrateful  France  off  his  feet, — resolved  to  change  his  un- 
happy name,  for  one  thing. 

s  La  I'ic  cic  J'oltnire,  par  M**  (;i  Geneve,  1786),  pp.  55-57  ;  or  pp.  60-63,  in  his 
secotui  (nrm  of  the  I'.ook.  The  '  M**'  is  an  Abbe  Duvernet  ;  of  no  great  mark  other- 
wise. He  got  into  RevoKition  trouble  afterwards,  but  escaped  with  his  head;  and 
republished  his  Book,  swollen-out  somewhat  by  new  'Anecdotes'  and  republican 
bluster,  in  this  .second  instance;  signing  himself  T.  J.  D.  V- -- (Paris,  1797).  A 
vague  l)ut  not  dark  or  mendacious  little  Book  ;  with  traces  of  real  eyesight  in  it,- -by 
one  who  had  personally  known  Voltaire,  or  at  least  seen  and  heard  him. 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.     217 

Aug.  1736. 

'  Smelfungiis,  denouncing  tlie  torpid  fatuity  of  Voltaire's  Iiiogra- 
phers,  says  he  never  met  with  one  Frenchman,  even  of  the  Literary 
classes,  who  could  tell  him  whence  this  name  Voltaire  originated. 
"  A  petite  terre,  small  family  estate,"  they  said;  and  sent  him  hunting 
through  Topographies,  far  and  wide,  to  no  purpose.  Others  answered 
"  Volterra  in  Italy,  some  connexion  with  Volterra, "  —  and  seemed 
even  to  know  that  this  was  but  fatuity.  "  In  ever-talking,  ever-print- 
ing Paris,  is  it  as  in  Timbuctoo,  then,  which  neither  prints  nor  has 
anything  to  print  ?"  exclaims  poor  Smelfungus !  He  tells  us  at  last, 
the  name  Voltaire  is  a  mere  Anagram  oi  Arotiet  I.  j. — you  try  it; 
A.R.o.u.E.T.L.j.  =v.o.L.T.A.l.R.E;  and  perceive  at  once,  with  obli- 
gations to  Smelfungus,  that  he  has  settled  this  small  matter  for  you, 
and  that  you  can  be  silent  upon  it  forever  thenceforth. 

'  The  anagram  Voltaire,  gloomily  settled  in  the  Bastille  in  this 
manner,  can  be  reckoned  a  very  famous  Mide-sounding  outer  result 
of  the  Rohan  impertinence  and  blackguardism ;  but  it  is  not  wortli 
naming  beside  the  inner  intrinsic  result,  of  banishing  Voltaire  to 
England  at  this  point  of  his  course.  England  was  full  of  Constitution- 
ality and  Freethinking;  Tolands,  Collinses,  Wollastons,  Bolingbrokes, 
still  living;  very  free  indeed.  England,  one  is  astonished  to  see,  has 
its  royal-republican  ways  of  doing;  something  Roman  in  it,  from  Peer- 
age down  to  Plebs ;  strange  and  curious  to  the  eye  of  M.  de  Voltaire. 
Sciences  flourishing;  Newton  still  alive,  white  with  fourscore  years, 
the  venerable  hoary  man;  Locke's  Gospel  of  Common  Sense  in  full 
vogue,  or  even  done  into  verse,  by  incomparable  Mr.  Pope,  for  the 
cultivated  upper  classes.  In  science,  in  religion,  in  politics,  what  a 
surprising  "liberty"  allowed  or  taken !  Never  was  a  freer  turn  of 
thinking.  And  (what  to  M.  de  Voltaire  is  a  pleasant  feature)  it  is 
Freethinking  with  ruffles  to  its  shirt  and  rings  on  its  fingers ; — never 
yet,  the  least,  dreaming  of  the  shirtless  or  sansculottic  state  that  lies 
ahead  for  it !  That  is  the  palmy  condition  of  English  Liberty,  when 
M.  de  Voltaire  arrives  there. 

'  In  a  man  just  out  of  the  Bastille  on  those  terms,  there  is  a  mind 
driven  by  hard  suffering  into  seriousness,  and  provoked  by  indignant 
comparisons  and  remem!)rances.  As  if  you  had  elaborately  ploughed 
and  pulverised  the  mind  of  this  Voltaire  to  receive  with  its  utmost 
avidity,  and  strength  of  fertility,  whatever  seed  England  may  have 
for  it.  That  was  a  notable  conjuncture  of  a  man  with  circumstances. 
The  question.  Is  this  man  to  grow-up  a  Court  Poet ;  to  do  legitimate 
dramas,  lampoons,  witty  verses,  and  wild  spiritual  and  practical 
magnificences,  the  like  never  seen ;  Princes  and  Princesses  recognising 
him  as  plainly  divine,  and  keeping  him  tied  by  enchantments  to  that 
poor  trade  as  his  task  in  life?  is  answered  in  the  negative.  No:  and 
it  is  not  quite  to  decorate  and  comfort  your  "  diy  dnngheap"  of  a 
world,  or  the  fortunate  cocks  that  scratch  on  it,  that  the  man  Voltaire 
is  here ;  but  to  shoot  lightnings  into  it,  and  set  it  ablaze  one  day ! 
That  was  an  important  alternative;  truly  of  world -importance  to  the 


5f8  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1736. 
'  poor  generations  that  now  are ;  and  it  was  settled,  in  good  part,  by 
'  this  voyage  to  England,  as  one  may  surmise.  Such  is  sometimes  the 
'  use  of  a  dissolute  Rohan  in  this  world  ;  for  the  gods  make  implements 
'  of  all  manner  of  things. 

'  M.  de  Voltaire  (for  we  now  drop  the  Arouet  altogether,  and  never 
'  hear  of  it  more)  came  to  England — when?  Quitted  England — when? 
'  .Sorrow  on  all  fatuous  Biographers,  who  spend  their  time  not  in  lay- 
'  ing  permanent  foundation-stones,  but  in  fencing  with  the  wind ! — I  at 
'  last  find  indisputably,  it  was  in  1726  that  he  came  to  England:''  and 
'  he  himself  tells  us  that  he  quitted  it  'in  172^.'  Spent,  therefore, 
'  some  two  years  there  in  all, — last  year  of  George  I.'s  reign,  and  first 
'  of  George  II.  's.  But  mere  inanity  and  darkness  visible  reign,  in  all 
'  his  Biographies,  over  this  period  of  his  life,  which  was  above  all  others 
'  worth  investigating :  seek  not  to  know  it ;  no  man  has  inquired  into 
'  it,  probably  no  competent  man  now  ever  will.  By  hints  in  certain 
'  Letters  of  the  period,  we  learn  that  he  lodged,  or  at  one  time  lodged, 
'in  "Maiden  Lane,  Covent  Garden;"  one  of  those  old  Houses  that 
'  yet  stand  in  Maiden  Lane :  for  which  small  fact  let  us  be  thankful. 
'  His  own  Letters  of  the  period  are  dated  now  and  then  from  "  Wands- 
'  worth."  Allusions  there  are  to  Bolingbroke;  but  the  Wandsworth  is 
'  not  Bolingbroke's  mansion,  which  stood  in  Battersea  ;  the  Wandsworth 
'  was  one  Edward  Fawkener's  ;  a  man  somewhat  admirable  to  young 
'  Voltaire,  but  extinct  now,  or  nearly  so,  in  hixman  memory.  He  had 
'  been  a  Turkey  Merchant,  it  would  seem,  and  nevertheless  was  ad- 
'  mitted  to  speak  his  word  in  intellectual,  even  in  political  circles ; 
'  which  was  wbriderruT  to  young  Voltaire.  This  P'awkener,  I  think, 
'  became  Sir  Edward  Fawkener,  and  some  kind  of  "  Secretary  to  the 
'  Duke  of  Cumberland  :" — I  judge  it  to  be  the  same  Fawkener;  a  man 
'  highly  unmemorable  now,  were  it  not  for  the  young  Frenchman  he 
'  was  hospitable  to.  Fawkener's  and  Bolingbroke's  are  perhaps  the 
'  only  names  that  turn-up  in  Voltaire's  Letters  of  this  English  Period : 
'  over  which  generally  there  reigns,  in  the  French  Biographies,  inane 
'  darkness,  with  an  intimation,  half  involuntary,  that  it  s/ioiihi  have 
'  been  made  luminous,  and  would  if  perfectly  easy. 

'  We  know,  from  other  sources,  that  he  had  acquaintance  with 
'  many  men  in  England,  with  all  manner  of  important  men  :  Notes  to 
'  I'ope  in  Voltaire-English,  visit  of  Voltaire  to  Congreve,  Notes  even 
'  to  such  as  Lady  Sundon  in  the  interior  of  the  Palace,  are  known  of. 
'  The  brightest  young  fellow  in  the  world  did  not  want  for  introduc- 
'  lions  to  the  highest  quarters,  in  that  time  of  political  alliance,  and 
'  extensive  private  acquaintance,  between  his  Country  and  ours.  And 
'  all  this  he  was  the  man  to  improve,  both  in  the  trivial  and  the  deep 
'  sense.  His  bow  to  the  divine  Princess  Caroline  and  suite,  could  it 
'  fail  in  graceful  reverence  or  what  else  was  needed?  Dextrous  right 
'  words  in  the  right  places,  winged  with  espn'l  so-called  :   that  was  the 

■•  Got  out  of  the  Bastilli;,  witli  orders  to  leave  Fmnce,  '29th  April"  of  that  year 
((/iuvresdc  V'dltaire,  i.  40 n.)- 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRE.SPONDENCES.     219 

Aug.  1736. 
man'.s  supreme  talent,  in  which  he  had  no  match,  to  the  last.   A  most 
brilliant,   swift,   far-glancing  young   man,   disposed  to  make  himself 
generally  agreeable.      For  the  rest,  his  wonder,  we  can  see,  was  kept 
awake;  wonder  readily  inclining,  in  his  circumstances,  towards  admir- 
ation.     The  stereotype  figure  of  the  linglishman,   always  the  same, 
which  turns-up  in  Voltaire's  IForks,   is  worth  noting  in  this  respect. 
A  ragged  surly  kind  of  fellow,   much-enduring,   not  intrinsically  b.id  ; 
splenetic  without  complaint,  standing  oddly  inexpugnable  in  that  na- 
tural stoicism  of  his ;  taciturn,  yet  with  strange  flashes  of  speech  in 
him  now  and  then,  something  which  goes  beyond  laughter  and  articu-  / 
late  logic,   and  is  the  taciturn  eli.xir  of  these  two,   what  they  call  * 
"  humour"  in  their  dialect :   this  is  pretty  much  the  rei'crsc  of  Voltaire's 
own  self,   and  therefore  all  the  welcomer  to  him ;  delineated  always^ 
with  a  kind  of  mockery,   but  with  evident  love.      What  excellences 
are  in  England,  thought  Voltaire;  no  Bastille  in  it,   for  one  thing! 
Newton's  Philosophy  annihilated  the  vortexes  of  Descartes  for  him ; 
Locke's  Toleration  is  very  grand  (especially  if  all  is  uircertain,  and 
yoii  are  in  the  minority) ;  then  Collins,  Wollaston  and  Company, — 
no  vile  Jesuits  here,  strong  in  their  mendacious  malodorous  stupidity, 
despicablest  yet  most  dangerous  of  creatures,   to  check  freedom  of 
thought !     Illustrious  Mr.  Pope,   of  the  Essay  on  Matt,   surely  he  is 
admirable ;    as    are  Pericles  Bolingbroke,   and  many  others.      Even 
Bolingbroke's  high-lackered  brass  is  gold  to  this  young  French  friend 
of  his. — Through  all  which  admirations  and  exaggerations  the  pro- 
gress of  the  young  man,  toward  certain  very  serious  attainments  and 
achievements,  is  conceivable  enough. 

'  One  other  man,  who  ought  to  be  mentioned  in  the  Biographies, 
I  find  Voltaire  to  have  made  acquaintance  with,  in  England  :  a  Ger- 
man M.  Fabrice,  one  of  several  Brothers  called  Fabrice  or  Fabricius, 
— concerning  whom,  how  he  had  been  at  Bender,  and  how  Voltaire 
picked  Charles  Douze  from  the  memory  of  him,  there  was  already 
mention.  The  same  Fabrice  who  held  poor  George  I.  in  his  arms 
v.-hile  they  drove,  galloping,  to  Osnabriick,  that  night,  in  extremis: 
■ — not  needing  mention  again.      The  following  is  more  to  the  point. 

'  Voltaire,  among  his  multifarious  studies  while  in  England,  did  not 
forget  that  of  economics  :  his  Poem  La  Ligite, — surreptitiously  printed, 
three  years  since,  under  that  title  (one  Desfontaines,  a  hungry  Ex- 
Jesuit,  the  perpetrator), 5 — he  now  took  in  hand  for  his  own  benefit; 
washed  it  clean  of  its  blots ;  christened  it  I/enriade,  under  which  name 
it  is  still  known  over  all  the  world ; — and  printed  it ;  published  it 
here,  by  subscription,  in  172.6;  one  of  the  first  things  he  undertook. 
Very  splendid  subscription ;  headed  by  Princess  Caroline,  and  much 
favoured  by  the  opulent  of  quality.  Which  yielded  an  unknown  but 
very  considerable  sum  of  thousands  sterling,  and  grounded  not  only 
the  world-renown  but  the  domestic  finance  of  M.  de  Voltaire.      For 

5  1723,  Vie,  par  T.  J.  D.  V.  (th.it  is,  'M**'  in  the  second  ionw),  p.  59. 


220  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

Aug.  1736. 
'  the  fame  of  the  "new  epic,"  as  \.\\\^  Ilenriade  was  called,  soon  spread 
'  into  all  lands.  And  such  fame,  and  other  agencies  on  his  behalf, 
'  having  opened  the  way  home  for  Voltaire,  he  took  this  .sum  of  Thou- 
'  sands  Sterling  along  with  him  ;  laid  it  out  judiciously  in  some  city 
'  lottery,  or  profitable  scrip  then  going  at  Pari.s,  which  at  once  doubled 
'  the  amount :  after  which  he  invested  it  in  Corn-trade,  Army  Clothing, 
'  Barbary-trade,  Commissariat  Bacon-trade,  all  manner  of  well-chosen 
'  trades, — being  one  of  the  .shrewdest  financiers  on  record; — and  never 
'  from  that  day  wanted  abundance  of  money,  for  one  thing.  Which  he 
'  judged  to  be  extremely  expedient  for  a  literary  man,  especially  in 
'  times  of  Jesuit  and  other  tribulation.  "  You  have  only  to  watch,"  he 
'  would  say,  "what  scrips,  public  loans,  investments  in  the  field  of  agio, 
'  are  offered  ;  if  you  e.xert  any  judgment,  it  is  easy  to  gain  there  :  do  not 
'  the  stupidest  of  mortals  gain  there,  by  intensely  attending  to  it  ?" 

'  Voltaire  got  almost  nothing  by  his  Books,  which  he  generally  had 
'  to  disavow,  and  denounce  as  surreptitious  supposititious  scandals, 
'  when  some  .sharp-set  Bookseller,  in  whose  way  he  had  laid  the  sa- 
'  voury  article  as  bait,  chose  to  risk  his  ears  for  the  profit  of  .snatching 
'  and  publishing  it.  Next  to  nothing  by  his  Books ;  but  by  his  fine 
'  finance-talent  otherwise,  he  had  become  possessed  of  ample  moneys. 
'  Which  were  so  cunningly  disposed,  too,  that  he  had  resources  in  every 
'  Country ;  and  no  conceivable  combination  of  confiscating  Jesuits  and 
'  dark  fanatic  Official  Persons  could  throw  him  out  of  a  livelihood, 
'  whithersoever  he  might  be  forced  to  run.  A  man  that  looks  facts  in 
'  the  face ;  which  is  creditable  of  him.  The  vulgar  call  it  avarice  and 
'  the  like,  as  their  way  is :  but  M.  de  Voltaire  is  convinced  that  effects 
'  will  follow  causes ;  and  that  it  well  beseems  a  lonely  Ishmaelite,  hunt- 
'  ing  his  way  through  the  howling  wildernesses  and  confused  ravenous 
'  populations  of  this  world,  to  have  money  in  his  pocket.  He  died 
'  with  a  revenue  of  some  7,000/.  a  year,  probably  as  good  as  20,000/. 
'  at  present ;  the  richest  literaiy  man  ever  heard  of  hitherto,  as  well  as 
'  the  remarkablest  in  some  other  respects.  But  we  have  to  mark  the 
'  second  phasis  of  his  life'  (in  which  Friedrich  now  sees  him),  '  and 
'  how  it  grew  out  of  this  first  one. 

'  Phasis  Sirond  {i-]z%-i'jiT,). — Returning  home  as  if  quietly  triumph- 
'  ant,  with  such  a  talent  in  him,  and  such  a  sanction  put  upon  it  and 
'  him  by  a  neighbouring  Nation,  and  by  all  the  world,  Voltaire  was 
*  warmly  received,  in  his  old  aristocratic  circles,  by  cultivated  France 
'  generally;  and  now  in  1728,  in  his  thirty-second  year,  might  begin  to 
'  have  definite  outlooks  of  a  sufficiently  royal  kind,  in  Literature  and 
'  otherwise.  Nor  is  he  slow,  far  from  it,  to  advance,  to  concpier  and 
'  enjoy.  He  writes  successful  literature,  falls  in  love  with  women  of 
'  quality;  encourages  the  indigent  and  humble;  eclipses,  and  in  case  of 
'  need  tramples  down,  the  too  proud.  He  elegises  poor  Adrienne  Le- 
'  couvrcur,  the  yVctress, — our  poor  friend  the  Comte  de  Saxe's  female 
'  friend;   who  loyally  em])tied  out  her  whole  jiurse  for  him,   30,000/  in 


ctKip.  II.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.      221 

Aug.  1736. 

'  one  sum,  that  he  might  try  fur  Courland,  and  whether  he  could  fall 
'  in  love  with  her  of  the  Swollen  Cheek  there;  which  proved  impos- 
'  sible.  Elegi.ses  Adrienne,  we  say,  and  even  buries  her  under  cloud 
'  of  night :  ready  to  protect  unfortunate-females  of  merit.  Especially 
'  theatrical  females;  having  much  to  do  in  the  theatre,  which  we  per- 
'  ceive  to  be  the  pulpit  or  real  preaching-place  of  cultivated  France  in 
'  those  years.  All  manner  of  verse,  all  manner  of  prose,  he  dashes-off 
'  with  surprising  speed  and  grace :  showers  of  light  spray  for  the  mo- 
'  ment ;  and  always  some  current  of  graver  enterprise,  Siicle  de  Loitis 
'  Quatorze  or  the  like,  going  on  beneath  it.  For  he  is  a  most  diligent, 
'  swift,  unresting  man ;  and  studies  and  learns  amazingly  in  such  a 
'  rackety  existence.  Victorious  enough  in  some  senses;  defeat,  in  Litera- 
'  ture,  never  visited  him.  His  Plays,  coming  thick  on  the  heels  of  one 
'  another,  rapid  brilliant  pieces,  are  brilliantly  received  by  the  unofficial 
'  world;  and  ought  to  dethrone  dull  Crebillon,  and  the  sleepy  potentates 
'  of  Poetry  that  now  are.  Which  in  fact  is  their  result  with  the  public; 
'  but  not  yet  in  the  highest  courtly  places ; — a  defect  much  to  be  con- 
'  demned  and  lamented. 

'  Numerous  enemies  arise,  as  is  natural,  of  an  envious  venomous 
'  description;  this  is  another  ever-widening  shadow  in  the  sunshine.  In 
'  fact  we  perceive  he  has,  besides  the  inner  obstacles  and  griefs,  two 
'  classes  of  outward  ones:  There  are  Lions  on  his  path  and  also  Dogs. 
'  Lions  are  the  Ex-Bishop  of  Mirepoix,  and  certain  other  dark  Holy 
'  Fathers,  or  potei?t  orthodox  Official  Persons.  These,  though  Voltaire 
'  does  not  yet  declare  his  heterodoxy  (which,  indeed,  is  but  the  ortho- 
'  doxy  of  the  cultivated  private  circles),  perceive  well  enough,  even  by 
'  the  Ileiiriade,  and  its  talk  of  "tolerance,"  horror  of  "fanaticism"  and 
'  the  like,  what  this  one's  \ioxy  is;  and  how  dangerous  he,  not  a  mere 
'  mute  man  of  quality,  but  a  talking  spirit  with  winged  words,  may  be; 
'  — and  they  much  annoy  and  terrify  him,  by  their  roaring  in  the  dist- 
'  ance.  Which  roaring  cannot,  of  course,  convince;  and  since  it  is  not 
'  permitted  to  kill,  can  only  provoke  a  talking  spirit  into  still  deeper 
'  strains  of  heterodoxy  for  his  own  private  behoof  These  are  the  Lions 
'  on  his  path :  beasts  conscious  to  themselves  of  good  intentions ;  but 
'  manifesting  from  Voltaire's  point  of  view,  it  must  be  owned,  a  physi- 
'  ognomy  unlovely  to  a  degree.  "Light  is  superior  to  darkness,  I 
'  should  think,"  meditates  Voltaire;  "power  of  thought  to  the  want  of 
'  power!  The  Ajic  de  Mirepoix  (Ass  oT Mirepoix),"  pretending  to  use 
'  me  in  this  manner,  is  it  other,  in  the  court  of  Rhadamanthus,  than 
'  transcendent  Stupidity,  with  transcendent  Insolence  superadded?"  Vol- 
'  taire  grows  more  and  more  heterodox;  and  is  ripening  towards  dan- 
*  gerous  utterances,  though  he  strives  to  hold  in. 

'  The  Dogs  ujjon  his  path,  again,  are  all  the  disloyal  envious  per- 

6  Poor  joke  of  Voltaire's,  continually  applied  to  this  Bishop,  or  E.\-Bishop, — who 
was  thought,  generally,  a  rather  tenebrific  man  for  appointment  to  the  Fetiille  dcs 
Bcjufices  (charge  of  nominating  Bishops,  keeping  King's  conscience,  &c.):  and  who, 
in  that  capacity,  signed  himself  ^wf.  (by  no  means  'Ane,'  but  'Ancien,  Whilom' )c/t' 
Mirepoix, — to  the  enragement  of  Voltaire  often  enough. 


222  AT    REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

Aug.  1736. 
'  sons  of  the  Writing  Class,  whom  his  success  has  offended;  and,  more 
'  generally,  all  the  dishonest  hungry  persons  who  can  gain  a  morsel 
'  by  biting  him :  and  their  name  is  legion.  It  must  be  owned,  about 
'  as  ugly  a  Doggery  {'■^ infdine  Canaille"  he  might  well  reckon  them)  as 
'  has,  before  or  since,  infested  the  path  of  a  man.  They  are  not  hired 
'  and  set  on,  as  angry  suspicion  might  suggest ;  but  they  are  covertly 
'  somewhat  patronised  by  the  Mirepoix,  or  orthodox  Official  class. 
'  Scandalous  Ex-Jesuit  Desfontaines,  Thersites  Freron, — these  are  but 
'  types  of  an  endless  Doggery;  whose  names  and  works  should  be  blotted 
'  out;  whose  one  claim  to  memory  is,  that  the  riding  man  so  often 
'  angrily  sprang  down,  and  tried  horsewhipping. them  into  silence.  A 
'  vain  attempt.  The  individual  hound  flies  howling,  abjectly  petition- 
'  ing  and  promising;  but  the  rest  bark  all  with  new  comfort,  and  even 
'  he  starts  again  straightway.  It  is  bad  travelling  in  those  woods,  with 
'  such  Lions  and  such  Dogs.  And  then  the  sparsely  scattered  Human 
'  Creatures  (so  we  may  call  them  in  contrast,  persons  of  Quality  for 
'  most  part)  are  not  always  what  they  should  be.  The  grand  mansions 
'  you  arrive  at,  in  this  waste-howling  solitude,  prove  sometimes  essen- 
'  tially  Robber-towers; — and  there  maybe  Ai-mida  Palaces,  and  divine- 
'  looking  Armidas,  where  your  ultimate  fate  is  still  worse. 

"  Que  Ic  iiioiide  est  rempli  iTejichajitctirs,  je  11c  dis  ricn  cT cnchniitcrcsscs  ''' 

To  think  of  it,  the  solitary  Ishmaelite  journeying,  never  so  well  mounted, 
through  such  a  wilderness:  with  lions,  dogs,  human  robbers  and  Ar- 
midas all  about  him;  himself  lonely,  friendless  under  the  stars: — one 
could  pity  him  withal,  though  that  is  not  the  feeling  he  solicits;  nor 
gets  hitherto,  even  at  this  impartial  distance. 

'  One  of  the  beautiful  creatures  of  Quality, — we  hope,  not  an  Ar- 
mida, — who  came  athwart  Voltaire,  in  these  times,  was  a  Madame  du 
Chatelet;  distinguished  from  all  the  others  by  a  love  of  mathematics 
and  the  pure  sciences,  were  it  nothing  else.  She  was  still  young,  under 
thirty;  the  literary  man  still  under  forty.  With  her  Husband,  to  whom 
she  had  brought  a  child,  or  couple  of  children,  there  was  no  formal 
quarrel ;  but  they  were  living  apart,  neither  much  heeding  the  other, 
as  was  by  no  means  a  case  without  example  at  that  time;  Monsieur 
soldiering,  and  philandering  about,  in  garrison  or  elsewhere;  Madame, 
in  a  like  humour,  doing  the  best  for  herself  in  the  high  circle  of  society, 
to  which  he  and  she  belonged.  Most  wearisome  barren  circles  to  a 
person  of  thought,  as  both  she  and  M.  de  Voltaire  emphatically  ad- 
mitted to  one  another,  on  first  making  acquaintance.  But  is  there 
no  help  ? 

'  Madame  liad  tried  the  pure  sciences  and  philosophies,  in  Books: 
but  how  much  more  charming,  when  tlicy  come  to  you  as  a  Human 
I'hilosopher ;  handsome,  magnanimous,  and  the  wittiest  man  in  the 
world  !  Young  Madame  was  not  regularly  beautiful;  but  she  was  very 
piquant,  radiant,  adventurous;  understood  other  things  than  the  ]iurc 
sciences,  and  could  be  abundantly  coquettish  and  engaging.      I  have 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.      223 

Aug.  1736. 

'known  her  scuttle-off,  on  an  evening,  witli  a  couple  of  adventui'ou.s 
'  young  wives  of  Quality,  to  the  remote  lodging  of  the  witty  M.  de  Vol- 
'  taire,  and  make  his  dim  evening  radiant  to  him.'  Then  again,  in 
'  public  crowds,  I  have  seen  them;  obliged  to  dismount  to  the  peril  of 
'  Madame's  diamonds,  there  being  a  jam  of  carriages,  and  no  getting 
'  forward  for  half  the  day.  In  short,  they  are  becoming  more  and  more 
'  intimate,  to  the  extremest  degree;  and,  scorning  the  world,  thank 
'  Heaven  that  they  are  mutually  indispensable.  Cannot  we  get  away 
'  from  this  scurvy  wasp's-nest  of  a  Paris,  thought  they,  and  live  to  our- 
'  selves  and  our  books  ? 

'  Madame  was  of  high  quality,  one  of  the  Breteuils ;  but  was  poor 
'  in  comparison,  and  her  Husband  the  like.  An  old  Chateau  of  theirs, 
'  named  Cirey,  stands  in  a  pleasant  enough  little  valley  in  Champagne; 
'  but  so  dilapidated,  gaunt  and  vacant,  nobody  can  live  in  it.  Vol- 
'  taire,  who  is  by  this  time  a  man  of  ample  moneys,  furnishes  the  rc- 
'  quisite  cash;  Madame  and  he,  in  aweet  .symphony,  concert  the  plans: 
'  Cirey  is  repaired,  at  least  parts  of  it  are,  into  a  boudoir  of  the  gods, 
'  regardless  of  expense ;  nothing  ever  seen  so  tasteful,  so  magnificent ; 
'  and  the  two  withdraw  thither  to  study,  in  peace,  what  sciences,  pure 
'  and  other,  they  have  a  mind  to.  They  are  recognised  as  lovers,  by 
'  the  Parisian  public,  with  little  audible  censure  from  anybody  there, 
'  — with  none  at  all  from  the  easy  Husband ;  who  occasionally  even 
'  visits  Cirey,  if  he  be  passing  that  way;  and  is  content  to  take  matters 
'  as  he  finds  them,  without  looking  below  the  surface."  For  the  Ten 
'  Commandments  are  at  a  singular  pa.ss  in  cultivated  France  at  this 
'  epoch.  Such  illicit-idyllic  form  of  life  has  been  the  form  of  Voltaire's 
'  since  1735,' — for  some  three  years  now,  when  Friedrich  and  we  first 
make  acquaintance  with  him.  '  It  lasted  above  a  dozen  years  more : 
'  an  illicit  marriage  after  its  sort,  and  subject  only  to  the  liabilities  of 
'  such.  Perhaps  we  may  look  in  upon  the  Cirey  Ilousehold,  ourselves, 
'  at  some  future  time;  and' — This  Editor  hopes  not ! 

'  Madame  admits  that  for  the  first  ten  years  it  was,  on  the  whole, 
'sublime;  a  perfect  Eden  on  Earth,  though  stormy  now  and  then." 
'  After  ten  years,  it  began  to  grow  decidedly  dimmer;  and  in  the  course 
'  of  few  years  more,  it  became  undeniably  evident  that  M.  de  Voltaire 
'  "did  not  love  me  as  formerly:" — in  fact,  if  Madame  could  have  seen 
'  it,  M.  de  Voltaire  was  growing  old,  losing  his  teeth,  and  the  like;  and 
'  did  not  care  for  anything  as  formerly  !  Which  was  a  dreadful  discovery, 
'  and  gave  rise  to  results  by  and  by. 

7  One  of  Voltaire's  Letters. 

8  See  (whoever  is  curious)  Madame  de  Grafigny,  \'ie  Privee  de  Voltaire  et  de 
Madame  d:i  Chatelet  (Paris,  1820).  A  si.x  months  of  actual  Letters  written  by  poor 
Grafigny,  while  sheltering  at  Cirey,  Winter  and  Spring  1738-1739;  straitened  there 
in  various  respects,— extremely  ill-off  for  fuel,  among  other  things.  Rugged  prac- 
tical Letters,  shadowing-out  to  us,  unconsciously  oftenest,  and  like  a  very  mirror,  the 
splendid  and  the  sordid,  the  seamy  side  and  the  smooth,  of  Life  at  Cirey,  in  her  ex- 
perience of  it.      Published,  fourscore  years  after,  under  the  above  title. 

y  Lettrcs  Inedites  de  Madatne  la  Marquise  du  Ckasielet;  auxqnelles  on  a  joint 
7i)ie  Dissertation  {Slc.  of  hers):  Paris,  1806. 


224  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

'  In  this  retreat  at  Cirey,  varied  with  flying  visits  to  Paris,  and  kept 
awake  by  multifarious  Correspondences,  the  quantity  of  Literature 
done  by  the  two  was  great  and  miscellaneous.  By  Madame,  chiefly 
in  the  region  of  the  pure  sciences,  in  Newtonian  Dissertations,  com- 
petitions for  Prizes,  and  the  like :  really  sound  and  ingenious  Pieces, 
entirely  forgotten  long  since.  By  Voltaire,  in  serious  Tragedies,  His- 
tories, in  light  Sketches  and  deep  Dissertations : — mockery  getting 
ever  wilder  with  him;  the  satirical  vein,  in  prose  and  verse,  amazingly 
copious,  and  growing  more  and  more  heterodox,  as  we  can  perceive. 
Plis  troubles  from  the  ecclesiastical  or  Lion  kind  in  the  Literary  forest, 
still  more  from  the  rabid  Doggery  in  it,  are  manifold,  incessant.  And 
it  is  pleasantly  notable, — during  these  first  ten  years, — with  what  des- 
perate intensity,  vigilance  and  fierceness,  Madame  watches  over  all  his 
interests  and  liabilities  and  casualties  great  and  small;  leaping  with 
her  whole  force  into  M.  de  Voltaire's  scale  of  the  balance,  careless  of 
antecedences  and  consequences  alike;  flying,  with  the  spirit  of  an  angry 
brood-hen,  at  the  face  of  mastiffs,  in  defence  of  any  feather  that  is  M. 
de  Voltaire's.  To  which  Voltaire  replies,  as  he  well  may,  with  elo- 
quent gratitude;  with  Verses  to  the  divine  Emilie,  with  Gifts  to  her, 
verses  and  gifts  the  prettiest  in  the  world; — and  industriously  celebrates 
the  divine  Emilie  to  herself  and  all  third  parties. 

'  An  ardent,  aerial,  gracefully  predominant,  and  in  the  end  some- 
what termagant  female  figure,  this  divine  Emilie.  Pier  temper,  radiant 
rather  than  bland,  was  none  of  the  patientest  on  occasion ;  nor  was 
M.  de  Voltaire  the  least  of  a  Job,  if  you  came  athwart  him  the  wrong 
way.  I  have  heard,  their  domestic  symphony  was  liable  to  furious 
flaws, — let  us  hope  at  great  distances  apart: — that  "plates,"  in  pre- 
sence of  the  lackeys,  actual  crockery  or  metal,  have  been  known  to 
fly  from  end  to  end  of  the  dinner-table;  nay  they  mention  "knives" 
(though  only  in  the  way  of  oratorical  action);  and  Voltaire  has  been 
heard  to  exclaim,  the  sombre  and  majestic  voice  of  him  risen  to  a  very 
high  pitch :  ' '  A^t-  iiic  rcgardez  taut  de  ces  yeitx  /lagards  et  ioiic/ies,  Don't 
fix  those  haggard  sidelong  eyes  on  me  in  that  way !" — mere  shrillness 
of  pale  rage  presiding  over  the  scene.  But  we  hope  it  was  only  once 
in  the  quarter,  or  seldomer:  after  which  the  element  \\ould  bo  clearer 
for  some  time.  A  lonesome  literary  man,  who  has  got  a  Brood  Phrenix 
to  preside  over  him,  and  fly  at  the  face  of  gods  and  men  for  him  in 
that  manner,  ought  to  be  grateful. 

'  Perhaps  we  shall  one  day  glance,  personally,  as  it  were,  into  Cirey 
with  our  readers;' — Not  with  this  Editor  or  his!  '  It  will  turn  out 
beyond  the  reader's  expectation.  Tolerable  illicit  resting-place,  so 
far  as  the  illicit  can  be  tolerable,  for  a  lonesome  Man  of  Letters,  who 
goes  into  the  illicit.  Helpfulness,  affection,  or  the  flattering  image  of 
such,  are  byncj  means  wanting:  sc)ualis  of  infirm  temper  are  not  more 
frequent  than  in  the  most  licit  establishments  of  a  similar  sort.  Ma- 
dame, alxnit  tills  lime,  has  a  swift  Palfrey,  "AV^.s/^'Wc/ (Nightingale)" 
the  name  of  him ;  and  gallops  fairy-like  through  the  winding  valleys; 


cii.p.  IF.    VOLTAIRK  AND   C()RRp:SPONDENCES.      225 

Aug.  lyjC. 

'  being  an  ardent  rider,  and  well-looking  on  horseback.  Voltaire'.s  study 
'  is  inlaid  with — the  Grafigny  knows  all  what: — mere  chlna^TiIcs,  gift 
'  sculptures,  marble  slabs,  and  the  supreme  of  taste  and  expense:  study 
'  fit  for  the  Phoibus  Apgllo  of  France,  so  far  as  Madame  could  contrive 
'  it.  Takes  coffee  with  Madame,  in  the  Gallery,  about  noon.  And  his 
'  bedroom,  I  expressly  discern,'"  looks  out  upon  a  nmning  brook,  the 
*  murmur  of  which  is  pleasant  to  one.' 

Enough,  enough.  We  can  perceive  what  kind  of  Voltaire 
it  was  to  whom  the  Crown-Prince  now  addressed  himself;  and 
how  luminous  an  object,  shining  afar  out  of  the  solitudes  of 
Champagne  upon  the  ardent  young  man,  still  so  capable  of 
admiration.  Model  Epic,  Hcnriade j  model  History,  Charles 
Douse ;  sublime  Tragedies,  Cesar,  Alzire  and  others,  which 
readers  still  know  though  with  less  enthusiasm,  are  blooming 
fresh  in  Friedrich's  memory  and  heart  ;  such  Literature  as 
man  never  saw  before  ;  and  in  the  background  Friedrich  has 
inarticulately  a  feeling  as  if,  in  this  man,  there  were  something 
grander  than  all  Literatures  :  a  Reform  of  human  Thought  it- 
self; a  new  "Gospel,"  good-tidings  or  God's-Message,  by  this 
man  ; — whkh  Friedrich  does  not  suspect,  as  the  world  with 
horror  does,  to  be  a  new  Ba'spel,  or  Devil's-Message  of  bad- 
tidings  !  A  sublime  enough  Voltaire  ;  radiant  enough,  over  at 
Cirey  yonder.  To  all  lands,  a  visible  Phoebus  Apollo,  climb- 
ing the  eastern  steeps;  Vv'ith  arrows  of  celestial  "new  light"  in 
his  quiver  ;  capable  of  stretching  many  a  big  foul  Python, 
belly  uppermost,  in  its  native  mud,  and  ridding  the  poor  world 
of  her  Nightmares  and  Mud-Serpents  in  some  measure,  we  may 
hope  ! — 

And  so  there  begins,  from  this  point,  a  livelyCon-espond- 
ence  between  Friedrich  and  Voltaire  ;  which,  with  some  inter- 
ruptions of  a  notable  sort,  continued  during  their  mutuaFLTfe; 
and  is  a  conspicuous  feature  in  the  Biographies  of  both.  The 
world  talked  much  ofit,  and  still  talks  ;  and  has  now  at  last 
got  it  all  collected,  and  elucidated  into  a  dimly  legible  form 
for  studious  readers. i*^  It  is  by  no  means  the  diabolically 
wicked  Correspondence  it  was  thought  to  be  ;  the  reverse,  in- 
deed, on  both  sides  ; — but  it  has  unfortunately  become  a  very 
dull  one,  to  the  actual  generation  of  mankind.  Not  without 
intrinsic  merit  ;   on   the   contrary  (if  you   read  intensely,   and 

>"  Ldtersof  I'oltairs. 

"  'P\ew6i,,  iJ£itvres  (ie  Freifefic  (xy.\.  x.\ii.  xxili.,   Kcrllii,   105 j>;  wlio  supersedes 
the  la^y  French  Editor.s  in  this  matter. 

VOU  HI.  Q 


226  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1736. 

bring  the  extinct  alive  again),  it  sparkles  notably  with  epis- 
tqlary  grace  and  vivacity ;  and,  on  any  terms,  it  has  stTTT'pass- 
ages  of  biographical  and  other  interest :  but  the  substance  of 
it,  then  so  new  and  shining,  has  fallen  absolutely  common- 
place, the  property  of  all  the  world,  since  then  ;  and  is  now 
very  wearisome  to  the  reader.  No  doctrine  or  opinion  in  it 
that  you  have  not  heard,  with  clear  belief  or  clear  disbelief,  a 
hundred  times,  and  could  wish  rather  not  to  hear  again.  The 
common  fate  of  philosophical  originalities  in  this  world.  As 
a  Biographical  Document,  it  is  worth  a  very  strict  perusal,  if 
you  are  interested  that  way  in  either  Friedrich  or  Voltaire  : 
tinely  significant  hints  and  traits,  though  often  almost  evan- 
escent, so  slight  are  they,  abound  in  this  Correspondence  ; 
frankness,  veracity  under  graceful  forms,  being  the  rule  of  it, 
strange  to  say!  As  an  illustration  of  Two  memorable  Charac- 
ters, and  of  their  Century ;  showing  on  what  terms  the  sage 
Plato  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  and  his  Tyrant  Dionysius 
correspond,  and  what  their  manners  are  to  one  another,  it 
may  long  have  a  kind  of  interest  to  mankind:  otherwise  it  has 
not  much  left. 

In  Friedrich's  History  it  was,  no  doubt,  an  important  fact, 
that  there  lived  a  Voltaire  along  with  him,  twenty  years  his 
senior.  With  another  Theory  of  the  Universe  than  the  Vol- 
taire one,  how  much  other  had  Friedrich  too  been  !  But  the 
Theory  called  by  Voltaire's  name  was  not  properly  of  Vol- 
taire's creating,  but  only  of  his  uttering  and  publishing  ;  it 
lay  ready  for  everybody's  finding,  and  could  not  well  have 
been  altogether  missed  by  such  a  one  as  Friedrich.  So  that 
perhaps  we  exaggerate  the  effects  of  A'oltaire  on  him,  though 
undoubtedly  they  were  considerable.  Considerable  ;  but  not 
derived  from  this  express  correspondence,  which  seldom  turns 
on  didactic  points  at  all ;  derived  rather  from  Voltaire's  Printed 
]Vorks,  where  they  lay  derivable  to  all  the  world.  Certain 
enough  it  is,  Voltaire  was  at  this  time,  and  continued  all  his 
days,  Friedrich's  chief  Thinker  in  the  world  ;  unofficially,  the 
chief  Preacher,  Prophet  and  Priest  of  this  Working  King  ; — 
no  better  off  for  a  spiritual  Trismegistus  was  poor  Friedrich  in 
the  world !  On  the  ])ractical  side,  Friedrich  soon  outgrew  him, 
— perhaps  had  already  outgrown,  having  far  more  veracity  of 
character,  and  an  intellect  far  better. .built Jrx, the  silent  parts 
of  it,"  and  trained  too  by  hard  experiences  to  know  shadow 


Chap.  ir.    VOLTAIRE  AND  CORRESPONDENCES.     227 

8th  Aug.  1736. 

from  substance ; — outgrew  him,  and  gradually  learned  to  look 
down  upon  him,  occasionally  with  much  contempt,  in  re^axd 
to  the  practical.  But  in  all  changes  of  humour  towards  Vol- 
taire, Friedrich,  we  observe,  considers  him  as  plainly  supreme 
in  speculative  intellect  ;  and  has  no  doubt  but,  for  thinking 
and  speaking,  Nature  never  made  such  another.  Which  may 
be  taken  as  a  notable  feature  of  Friedrich's  History  ;  and  gives 
rise  to  passages  between  Voltaire  arid  him,  which  will  make 
much  noise  in  time  coming. 

Here,  meanwhile,  faithfully  presented  though  in  condensed 
form,  is  the  starting  of  the  Correspondence  :  First  Letter  of  it, 
.md  first  Response.  Two  Pieces  which  were  once  bright  as 
the  summer  sunrise  on  both  sides,  but  are  now  fallen  very 
dim  ;  and  have  much  needed  condensation,  and  abridgment 
by  omission  of  the  unessential, — so  lengthy  are  they,  so  extinct 
and  almost  dreary  to  us  !  Sublime  'Wolf  and  his  'Philosophy,' 
how  he  was  hunted  out  of  Halle  with  it,  long  since;  and  now 
shines  from  Marburg,  his  'Philosophy'  and  he  supreme  among 
mankind  :  this,  and  other  extinct  points,  the  reader's  fancy  will 
endeavour  to  rekindle  in  some  slight  measure  :     ♦ 

To  AT.  de  Voltaire,  at  Circy  (From  the  Crown-Prince). 

'Berlin,  8th  Axigvist  1736. 

'Monsieur, — Altliough  T  Iiavc  not  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  you 
*  jiersonally,  you  are  not  the  less  known  to  me  through  your  Works. 
'  They  are  treasures  of  the  mind,  if  I  may  so  express  myself;  and  they 
'  reveal  to  the  reader  new  beauties  at  every  fresh  perusal.  I  think  I 
'  have  recognised  in  them  the  character  of  their  ingenious  Author,  who 
'  does  honour  to  our  age  and  to  human  nature.  If  ever  the  dispute  on 
'  the  comparative  merits  of  the  Moderns  and  the  Ancients  should  be  re- 
'  vived,  the  modern  great  men  will  owe  it  to  you,  and  to  you  only,  that 
'  the  scale  is  turned  in  their  favour.  With  the  excellent  quality  of  Poet 
'  you  join  innumerable  others  more  or  less  related  to  it.  Never  did  Poet 
'  before  put  Metaphysics  into  rhythmic  cadence:  to  you  the  honour  was 
'  reserved  of  doing  it  first. 

'  This  taste  for  Philosophy  manifested  in  your  writings,  induces  me 
'  to  send  you  a  translated  Copy  of  the  Accusation  and  D'efence  of  M. 
'  IVolf,  the  most  celebrated  Philosopher  of  our  days  ;  who,  for  having 
'  carried  light  into  the  darkest  places  of  Metaphysics,  is  cruelly  accused 
'  of  irreligion  and  atheism.  Such  is  the  destiny  of  great  men ;  their 
'  superfbr  genfus  exposes  tliem  to  the  poisoned  airows  of  calumny  and 
'  envy.  I  am'  about  getting  a  Translation  made  of  the  Treatise  on  God, 
'  the  ^Oul,  and  the  Wdrld,' — Translation  done  by  an  Excellency  Suhm, 


228  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Stii  Aug.  1736. 
as  has  been  hinted,  —  'from  the  pen  of  the  same  Author.  I  will 
'  send  it  you  when  it  is  finished;  and  I  am  sure  that  the  force  of  evid- 
'  ence  in  all  his  propositions,  and  their  close  geometrical  sequence,  will 
'  strike  you. 

'  The  kindness  and  assistance  you  afford  to  all  who  devote  them- 
'  selves  to  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  makes  me  hope  that  you  will  not  ex- 
'  elude  me  from  the  number  of  those  whom  you  find  worthy  of  your 
'  instructions: — it  is  so  I  would  call  your  intercourse  by  Correspondence 
'  of  Letters ;  which  cannot  be  other  than  profitable  to  every  thinking 
{    '  being.   *  ''•' 

*  *  '  beauties  without  number  in  your  works.  Your  Hcnriadc 
'  delights  me.  The  tragedy  of  Cesar  shows  us  sustained  characters;  the 
'  sentiments  in  it  are  magnificent  and  grand,  and  one  feels  that  Brutus 
'  is  either  a  Roman,  or  else  an  Englishman  {on  nn  Roiiiain  on  tin  Aiig- 
'  lais).      Your  Alzirc,  to  the  graces  of  novelty  adds'   *  * 

'  Monsieur,  there  is  nothing  I  wish  so  much  as  to  possess  all  your 

/  'Writings,'   even  those  not  printed   hitherto.      'Pray,    Monsieur,    do 

\    '  communicate  them  to  me  without  reserve.      If  there  be  amongst  j'our 

'''  '  Manuscripts  any  that  you  wish  to  conceal  from  the  eyes  of  the  public, 

'  I  engage  to  keep  them  in  the  profoundest  secrecy.      I  am  unluckily 

'  aware,  that  the  faith  of  Princes  is  an  object  of  little  respect  in  our 

'  days;  nevertheless  I  hope  you  will  make  an  exception  from  the  gene- 

'  ral  rule  in  my  favour.     I  should  think  myself  richer  in  the  possession 

f '  of  your  Works  than  in  that  of  all  the  transient  goods  of  Fortune. 

These  the  same  chance  grants  and  takes  away:  your  Works  one  can 

'  make  one's  own  by  means  of  memory,  so  that  they  last  us  whilst  it 

'  lasts.      Knowing  how  weak  my  oAvn  memory  is,  I  am  in  the  highest 

'  degree  select  in  what  I  trust  to  it. 

'  If  Poetry  were  what  it  was  before  your  appearance,  a  strumming 
'  of  wearisome  idyls,  insipid  eclogues,  tuneful  nothings,  I  should  re- 
'  nounce  it  forever :'  but  in  your  hands  it  becomes  ennobled ;  a  melo- 
dious '  course  of  morals;  worthy  of  the  admiration  and  the  study  of 
'  cultivated  minds  {di-s  homctes  gens).  You' — in  fine,  '  you  inspire  the 
'  ambition  to  follow  in  your  footsteps.  Put  I,  how  often  have  I  said 
'  to  myself:  '■'■  Malheureiix,  throw  down  a  burden  which  is  above  thy 
'  strength !     One  cannot  imitate  Voltaire,  without  being  Voltaire !" 

'  It  is  in  such  moments  that  I  have  felt  how  small  are  those  ad- 
'  vantageS-Of  birth,  those  vapours  of  grandeur,  with  which  vanity  woulid""'' 
'  solace  us !  They  amount  to  little,  properly  to  nothing  {pour  viiciix 
'  dire,  a  rien).  Nature,  when  she  pleases,  forms  a  great  soul,  endowed 
'  with  faculties  that  can  advance  the  Arts  and  Sciences;  and  it  is  the 
'  part  of  Princes  to  recompense  his  noble  toils.  Ah,  would  Glory  but 
'  make  use  of  me  to  crown  your  successes  !  My  only  fear  M'ould  be, 
'  lest  this  Country,  little  fertile  in  laurels,  jMoved  unable  to  furnish 
'  enough  of  them. 

'  If  my  destiny  refuse  me  the  happiness  of  being  able  to  possess  you, 
'  niny  I,  at  least,  hope  one  day  to  see  the  man  whom  I  have  admired 


Chap.  ir.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.     229 

26th  Aug.  17)6. 

'  bO  long  now  from  afar;  and  to  assure  you,  by  word  of  mouth,  that  I 
'  am, — With  all  the  esteem  and  consideration  due  to  tho.se  who,  follow- 
'  ing  the  torch  of  truth  for  guide,  consecrate  their  labours  to  the  Public, 
'  — Monsieur,  your  affectionate  friend, 

'  pRiiDiLRic,  p.  R.  of  Prussia. ''2 

By  what  route  or  conveyance  this  Letter  went,  I  cannot 
say.  In  general,  it  is  to  be  observed,  these  Friedrich- Voltaire 
Letters, — liable  perhaps  to  be  considered  contraband  at  both 
ends  of  their  course, — do  not  go  by  the  Post ;  but  by  French- 
Prussian  Ministers,  by  Hamburg  Merchants,  and  other  safe 
subterranean  channels.  Voltaire,  with  enthusiasm,  and  no  doubt 
promptly,  answers  within  three  weeks  : 

To  the  CrowH-Priiice,  at  Rcinsbcrg  (From  Voltaire). 

'  Cirey,  26th  August  1736. 

'  Monseigneur, — A  man  must  be  void  of  all  feeling  who  were  not 
infinitely  moved  by  the  Letter  which  your  Royal  Highness  has  deigned 
to  honour  me  with.  My  self-love  is  only  too  much  flattered  by  it:  but 
my  love  of  Mankind,  which  I  have  always  nourished  in  my  heart,  and 
which,  I  venture  to  say,  forms  the  basis  of  my  character,  has  given  me 
a  very  much  purer  pleasure, — to  see  that  there  is,  now  in  the  world;, 
a  Prince  who  thinksHs'a  hian;  a  Philosopher  Prince,  who  will  make 
men  happy. 

'  Permit  me  to  say,  there  is  not  a  man  on  the  earth  but  owes  thanks 
for  the  care  you  take  to  cultivate  by  sound  philosophy  a  soul  that  is 
born  for  command.  Good  kings  there  never  were  except  those  that 
had  begun  by  seeking  to  instruct  themselves ;  by  knowing  good  men 
from  bad;  by  loving  what  was  true,  by  detesting  persecution  and  super- 
stition. No  Prince,  persisting  in  such  thoughts,  but  might  bring  back 
the  golden  age  into  his  Countries !  And  why  do  so  few  Princes  seek 
this  glory  ?  You  feel  it,  Monseigneur,  it  is  because  they  all  think  more 
of  their  Royalty  than  of  Mankind.  Precisely  the  reverse  is  your  case: 
— and,  unless,  one  day,  the  tumult  of  business  and  the  wickedness  of 
men  alter  so  divine  a  character,  you  will  be  worshipped  by  your.  Peo- 
ple, and  loved  by  the  whole  world.  Philosophers,  worthy  of  the  name, 
will  flock  to  your  States;  thinkers  wilL crowd  round  that  throne,  as 
the  sTolTuIesf  artrsans'db  to  the  city  where  their  art  is  in  request.  The 
illustrious  Queen  Christina  quitted  her  kingdom  to  go  in  search  of  the 
Arts;  reign  you,  Monseigneur,  and  the  Arts  will  come  to  seek  you. 

^"Kfay  you  only  never  be  di.sgusted  with  the  Sciences  by  the  quar- 
rels of  their  Cultivators  !  A  race  of  men  no  better  than  Courtiers ; 
often  enough  as  greedy,  intriguing,  false  and  cruel  as  these,'  and  still 
more  ridiculous  in  the  mischief  they  do.      '  And  how  .sad  for  mankind 

'*  (JEiivrci  lit'  Frederic,  .\xi.  6. 


230  AT   REINSBERC;.  Book  X. 

26th  Aug.  1736. 
that  the  very  Interpreters  of  Heaven's  commandments,  the  Theolo- 
gians, I  mean,  are  sometimes  the  most  dangerous  of  all !  Professed 
messengers  of  the  Divinity,  yet  men  sometimes  of  obscure  ideas  and 
pernicious  behaviour;  their  soul  blown-out  with  mere  darkness;  full  of 
gall  and  pride,  in  proportion  as  it  is  empty  of  truths.  Every  thinking 
being  who  is  not  of  their  opinion  is  an  Atheist ;  and  every  King  who 
does  not  favour  them  will  be  damned.  Dangerous  to  the  very  throne; 
and  yet  intrinsically  insignificant:'  best  way  is,  leave  their  big  talk  and 

them  alone;  speedy  collapse  will  follow.    »   *   * 

'  I  cannot  sufficiently  thank  your  Royal  Highness  for  the  gift  of  that 
little  Book  about  Monsieur  Wolf.  I  respect  Metaphysical  ideas;  rays 
of  lightning  they  are  in  the  midst  of  deep  night.  More,  I  think,  is 
not  to  be  hoped  from  Metaphysics.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  the 
First-principles  of  things  will  ever  be  known.  The  mice  that  nestle  in 
some  little  holes  of  an  immense  Building,  know  not  whether  it  is  eter- 
nal, or  who  the  Architect,  or  why  he  built  it.  Such  mice  are  we ; 
and  the  Divine  Architect  who  built  the  Universe  has  never,  that  I 
know  of,  told  his  secret  to  one  of  us.  If  anybody  could  pretend  to 
guess  correctly,  it  is  M.  Wolf. '    Beautiful  in  your  Royal  Highness  to 

protect  such  a  man.    And  how  beautiful  it  will  be,  to  send  me  his  chief 

Book,  as  you  have  the  kindness  to  promise!  '  The  Heir  of  a  Monarchy, 
from  his  palace,  attending  to  the  wants  of  a  recluse  far  off!  Condescend 
to  afford  me  the  pleasure  of  that  Book,  Monseigneur.    *    * 

'  What  your  Royal  Highness  thinks  of  poetry  is  jjjst:  verses  that  do 
not  teach  men  new  and  touching  truths,  do  not  deserve  to  be  read.' 

As  to  my  own  poor  verses — But,  after  all,  'that  Henriade  is  the  writing 
of  an  Honest  Man:  fit,  in  that  sense,  that  it  find  grace  with  a  Philo- 
sopher Prince. 

'  I  will  obey  your  commands  as  to  sending  those  unpublished  Pieces. 
Youshall  be  my  public,  Monseigneur;  your  criticisms  will  be  my  re- 
ward: it  is  a  price  few  Sovereigns  can  pay.  I  am  sure  of  your  secrecy: 
your  virtue  and  your  intellect  must  be  in  proportion.  I  should  indeed 
consider  it  a  precious  happiness  to  come  and  pay  my  court  to  your 
Royal  Highness  !  One  travels  to  Rome  to  see  paintings  and  ruins : 
a  Prince  such  as  you  is  a  much  more  singular  object ;  worthier  of  a 
long  journey!  But  the  friendship'  (divine  Emilia's)  'which  keeps  me 
in  this  retirement  does  not  permit  my  leaving  it.  No  doubt  you  think 
with  Julian,  that  great  and  much-calumniated  man,  who  said,  "Friends 
should  always  be  preferred  to  Kings." 

'  In  whatever  corner  of  the  world  I  may  end  my  life,  be  assured, 
Monseigneur,  my  wishes  will  continually  be  for  you, — that  is  to  say, 
for  a  whole  People's  happiness.  My  heart  will  rank  itself  among  your 
subjects;  „your  glory  will  ever  be  dear  to  me.  I  shall  wish,  May  you 
always  be  like  yourself,  and  may  other  Kings  be  like  you ! — I  am, 
M'ith  profound  respect,  your  Royal  Highness's  most  humble 

'  Vm-TAIRE.''' 
13  Ui^mrcs  de  Frederic,  .\xi.  10. 


Chap.  It.    VOLTAIRE  AND   CORRESPONDENCES.      231 

Aug.  1736. 

The  Correspondence,  once  kindled,  went  on  apace  ;  and 
soon  burst  forth,  finding  nourishment  all  round,  into  a  shining 
little  household  fire,  pleasant  to  the  hands  and  hearts  of  both 
parties.  Consent  of  opinions  on  important  matters  is  not 
wanting;  nor  13  emphasis  in  declaring  the  same.  The  mutual 
atliniration,  which  is  high,- — high  and  intrinsic  on  Friedrich's 
side.;  and  on  Voltaire's,  high  if  in  part  (tu'trinsic, — by  no  means 
wants  for  emphasis  of  statement  :  superlatives,  tempered  by 
the  best  art,  pass  and  repass.  Friedrich,  reading  Voltaire's 
immortal  Manuscripts,  confesses  with  a  blush,  before  long, 
that  he  himself  is  a  poor  Apprentice  that  way.  Voltaire,  at 
sight  of  the  Princely  Productions,  is  full  of  admiration,  of  en- 
couragement ;  docs  a  little  in  correcting,  solecisms  of  gram- 
mar chiefly ;  a  little,  by  no  means  much.  But  it  is  a  growing 
branch  of  employment  ;  now  and  henceforth  almost  the  one 
reality  of  function  Voltaire  can  find  for  himself  in  this  beau- 
tiful Correspondence.  For,  "  Oh  what  a  Crown-Prince,  ripen- 
ing forward  to  be  the  delight  of  human  nature,  and  realise  the 
dream  of  sages,  Philosophy  upon  the  Throne  !"  And  on  the 
other  side,  "Oh  what  a  Phoebus  Apollo,  mounting  the  eastern 
sky,  chasing  the  Nightmares, — sowing  the  Earth  with  Orient 
pearl,  to  begin  with  !"• — In  which  fine  duet,  it  must  be  said, 
the  Prince  is  perceptibly  the  truer  singer ;  singing  within  com- 
pass, and  from  the  heart ;  while  the  Phoebus  shows  himself 
acquainted  with  art,  and  warbles  in  seductive  c[uavers,  now  and 
then  beyond  the  pitch  of  his  voice.  We  must  own  also.  Fried- 
rich  proves  little  seducible ;  shows  himself  laudably  indifferent 
to  such  siren-singing  ; — perhaps  more  used  to  flattery,"  and 
knowing  by  experience  how  little  meal  is  to  be  made  of  chaff. 
Voltaire,  in  an  ungrateful  France,  naturally  plumes  himself  a 
good  deal  on  such  recognition  by  a  Foreign  Risijig  Sun  ;  and, 
of  the  two,  though  so  many  years  the  elder,  is  much  more  like 
losing  head  a  little. 

Elegant  gifts  are  dispatched  to  Cirey;  gold-amber  trinkets 
for  Madame,  perhaps  an  amber  inkholder  for  Monsieur:  price- 
less at  Cirey  as  the  gifts  of  the  very  gods.  By  and  by,  a  mes- 
senger goes  express :  the  witty  Colonel  Keyserling,  witty  but 
experienced,  whom  we  once  named  at  Reinsberg ;  he  is  to  go 
and  see  with  his  eyes,  since  his  Master  cannot.  What  a  mes- 
senger there;  ambassador  from  star  to  star!  Keyserling's  i-e- 
port  at  Reinsberg  is  not  given ;  but  we  have  Grafigny's,  which 
is  probably  the  more  impartial.     Keyserling's  embassy  was  in 


23  2  AT   RE  INS  BERG.  nook  x. 

Aug.  173^. 

the  end  of  next  year  ;^'  and  there  is  plenty  of  airy  writing  about 
it  and  him,  in  these  Letters. 

Friedrich  has  translated  the  name  Keyserllng  (diminutive 
oi Kaiser)  into  "  Cassarion;" — and  I  should  have  said,  he  plays 
much  upon  names  and  also  upon  things,  at  Rcinsberg,  in  that 
style ;  and  has  a  good  deal  of  airy  symbolism,  and  cloudwork 
ingeniously  painted  round  the  solidities  of  his  life  there.  Espe- 
cially a  "Bayard  Order,"  as  he  calls  it:  Twelve  of  his  select- 
est  Friends  made  into  a  Chivalry  Brotherhood,  the  names  of 
whom  are  all  changed,  "  Ca^sarion"  one  of  them;  with  dainty 
devices,  and  mimetic  procedures  of  the  due  sort.  Which  are 
not  wholly  mummery;  but  have  a  spice  of  reality,  to  flavour 
them  to  a  serious  young  heart.  For  the  selection  was  rigorous, 
superior  merit  and  behaviour  a  strict  condition  ;  and  indeed 
several  of  these  Bayard  Chevaliers  proved  notable  practical 
Champions  in  time  coming  ; — for  example  Captain  Fouquet, 
of  whom  we  have  heard  before,  in  the  dark  Ciistrin  days.  This 
is  a  mentionable  feature  of  the  Reinsberg  life,  and  of  the  young 
Prince's  character  there :  pleasant  to  know  of,  from  this  dist- 
ance; but  not  now  worth  knowing  more  in  detail. 

The  Friedrich- Voltaire  Correspondence  contains  much  in- 
cense; due  whiffs  of  it,  from  Reinsberg  side,  to  the  "divine 
Emilie,"  Voltaire's  quasi  better-half  or  worse-half;  who  re- 
sponds always  in  her  divinest  manner  to  Reinsberg,  eager  for 
more  acquaintance  there.  The  Du  Chatelets  had  a  Lawsuit  in 
Brabant ;  very  inveterate,  perhaps  a  hundred  years  old  or  more ; 
with  the  '  House  of  Ilonsbrouck:'!^  this,  not  to  speak  of  other 
causes,  flights  from  French  peril  and  the  like,  often  brought 
Voltaire  and  his  Dame  into  those  parts  ;  and  gave  rise  to  occa- 
sional hopes  of  meeting  with  Friedrich;  which  could  not  take 
effect.  In  more  practical  style,  Voltaire  solicits  of  him:  "Could 
not  your  Royal  Highness  perhaps  graciously  speak  to  some  of 
those  Judicial  Bigwigs  in  Brabant,  and  flap  them  up  a  little!" 
Which  Friedrich,  I  think,  did,  by  some  good  means.  Happily, 
by  one  means  or  other,  Voltaire  got  the  Lawsuit  ended, —  1 740, 
we  might  guess,  but  the  time  is  not  specified; — and  Friedrich 
had  a  new  claim,  had  there  been  need  of  new,  to  be  regarded 
with  worship  by  Madame.^*'     But  the  proposed  meeting  with 

'*  3d  November  1737  (.is  we  gather  from  ihe  Correspondence). 

'*  Lettres  hifdites  de  I  'oUaire  (  Paris,  1826),  p.  9. 

'"  Record  of  all  this,  left,  like  innumerable  other  things  there,  in  an  intrinsically 
dark  condition,  lies  in  Voltaire's  Letters, — not  much  wortli  hunling-up  into  cl  ear  day- 
light, the  process  being  !-o  difficult  to  a  stranger. 


Chap.  II.    VOLTAIRE   AND   CORRE.SFONDENCES.      233 

Aug.  173c;. 

Madame  could  never  take  effect;  not  even  when  Friedrich's 
hands  were  free.  Nay  I  notice  at  last,  Fricdrich  had  privately 
determined  it  never  should;  Madame  evidently  an  inconveni- 
ent element  to  him.  A  young  man  not  wanting  in  private 
power  of  eyesight ;  and  able  to  distinguish  chaff  from  meal ! 
Voltaire  and  he  will  meet;  meet,  and  also  part;  and  there  will 
be  passages  between  them : — and  the  reader  will  again  hear 
of  this  Correspondence  of  theirs,  where  it  has  a  biographical 
interest.  We  are  to  conceive  it,  at  present,  as  a  principal  light 
of  life  to  the  young  heart  at  Reinsberg;  a  cheerful  new  fire,  al- 
most an  altar-fire,  irradiating  the  common  dusk  for  him  there. 

Of  another  Correspondence,  beautifully  irradiative  for  the 
young  heart,  we  must  say  almost  nothing:  the  Correspondence 
with  Suhm.  Suhm  the  Saxon  Minister,  whom  we  have  occa- 
sionally heard  of,  is  an  old  Friend  of  the  Crown-Prince's,  dear 
and  helpful  to  him :  it  is  he  who  is  now  doing  those  Transla- 
tions of  Wolf,  of  which  Voltaire  lately  saw  specimen  ;  trans- 
lating Wolf  aX.  large,  for  the  young  man's  behoof.  The  young- 
man,  restless  to  know  the  best  Philosophy  going,  had  tried 
reading  of  Wolf's  chief  Book;  found  it  too  abstruse,  in  Wolf's 
German :  wherefore  Suhm  translates  ;  sends  it  to  him  in  limpid 
French ;  fascicle  by  fascicle,  with  commentaries ;  young  man 
doing  his  best  to  understand  and  admire, — gratefully,  not  too 
successfully,  we  can  perceive.  That  is  the  staple  of  the  famous 
Snhni  Corrcsponde]icej  staple  which  nobody  could  now  bear  to 
be  concerned  with. 

Suhm  is  also  helpful  in  finance  difficulties,  which  are  pretty 
frequent ;  works-out  subventions,  loans  under  a  handsome  form, 
from  the  Czarina's  and  other  Courts.  Which  is  an  operation 
of  the  utmost  delicacy;  perilous,  should  it  be  heard  of  at  Pots- 
dam. Whv;refore  Suhm  and  the  Prince  have  a  covert  language 
for  it :  and  affect  still  to  be  speaking  of  '  Publishers'  and  '  new 
Volumes,'  when  they  mean  Lenders  and  Bank-Draughts.  All 
these  loans,  I  will  hope,  were  accurately  paid  one  day,  as  that 
from  George  II.  was,  in  'rouleaus  of  new  gold.'  We  need  not 
doubt  the  wholesome  charm  and  blessing  of  so  intimate  a  Cor- 
respondence to  the  Crown-Prince;  and  indeed  his  real  love  of 
the  amiable  Suhm,  as  Suhm's  of  him,  comes  beautifully  to  light 
in  these  Letters :  but  otherwise  they  are  not  now  to  be  read 
without  weariness,  even  dreariness,  and  have  become  a  biogra- 
phical reminiscence  merely. 


234  AT  REINSBERG.  BookX. 

Aug.  1736. 

Concerning  Graf  von  Manteufel,  a  Jh|rd  Literary  Corre- 
spondent, and  the  only  other  considerable  one,  here,  from  a 
German  Commentator  on  this  matter,  is  a  Clipping  that  will 
suffice : 

'  Manteufel  was  Saxon  by  birth,  long  a  Minister  of  August  the 
Strong,  but  quarrelled  with  August,  owing  to  some  frail  female  it  is 
said,  and  had  withdrawn  to  Berlin  a  few  years  ago.  He  shines  there 
^imong  the  fashionable  philosophical  classes  ;  underhand,  perhaps  does 
a  little  in  tlie  volunteer  political  line  withal;  being  a  very  busy  push- 
ing gentleman.  Tall  of  stature,  "perfectly  handsome  at  the  age  of 
sixty;""'  great  partisan  of  Wolf  and  the  Philosophies,  awake  to  the 
Orthodoxies  too.  Writes  flowing  elegant  French,  in  a  softly  trench- 
ant, somewhat  too  all-knowing  style.  High  manners  traceable  in 
him ;  but  nothing  of  the  noble  loyalty,  natural  politeness  and  pious 
lucency  of  Suhm.  One  of  his  Letters  to  Friedrich  has  this  slightly 
impertinent  passage  ; — Friedrich,  just  getting  settled  in  Reinsberg, 
having  transiently  mentioned  "  the  quantity  of  fair  sex"  that  had  come 
about  him  there : 

'  ^^ Berlin,  idth  August  1736  (To  the  Crown-Prince).  *  *  j  am 
wel'l  persuaded  your  Royal  Highness  will  regulate  all  that  to  perfec- 
tion, and  so  manage  that  your  fair-sex  will  be  channed  to  find  them- 
selves with  you  at  Reinsberg,  and  you  charmed  to  have  them  there. 
But  permit  me,  yoiu"  Royal  Highness,  to  repeat  in  this  place,  what  I 
one  day  took  the  liberty  of  saying  here  at  Berlin:  Nothing  in  the 
world  would  better  suit  the  present  interests  of  your  Royal  Highness 
and  of  us  all,  than  some  Heir  of  your  Royal  Highness's  making! 
Perhaps  the  tranquil  convenience  with  which  your  Royal  Highness 
at  Reinsberg  can  now  attend  to  that  object,  will  be  of  better  effect 
than  all  those  hasty  and  transitory  visits  at  Berlin  were.  At  least  I 
wish  it  with  the  best  of  my  heart.  I  beg  pardon,  Monseigneur,  for 
intruding  thus  into  everything  which  concerns  your  Royal  Highness;" 
— In  truth,  I  am  a  rather  impudent  busybodyish  fellow,  with  super- 
abundant dashing  manner,  speculation,  utterance  ;  and  shall  get  my- 
self ordered  out  of  the  Country,  by  my  present  correspondent,  by  and 
by. — "Being  ever,"  with  the  due  enthusiasm, 

'  "Manteufel."  '"s 

'  To  which  Friedrich "s  Answer  is  of  a  kind  to  put  a  gag  in  the  foul 
'  mouth  of  certain  extraordinary  Pamphleteerings,  that  were  once  very 
'  copious  in  the  world  ;  and,  in  particular,  to  set  at  rest  the  Herr  Dr. 
'  Zimmermann,  and  his  poor  puddle  of  cahnnnies  and  credulities,  got 
'  together  in  that  M'eak  pursuit  of  physiology  under  obscene  circum- 
'  stances ; — 

'7  Formey,  Soiaviiirs  d' iiii  Citoyen,  i.  39-45. 

'«  (Eiivtvs  dc  Fr^dfric,  xxv.  487 ; — Fnedrich's  Answer  i.s,  Reinsberg,  2;j(rt  Sep- 
Icniljer  (lb.  489). 


Chap.  III.     PRINCE   MAKES   A  MORNING   CALL.        235 

Oct. -Nov.  1736. 

'  Which  is  the  one  good  result  I  have  gathered  from  the 
'  Manteufel  Correspondence,'  continues  our  German  friend; 
whom  I  vote  with! — Or  if  the  English  reader  never  saw  those 
Zimmermann  or  other  dog-like  Pamphletcerings  and  surmis- 
ings,  let  this  Excerpt  be  mysterious  and  superfluous  to  the 
thankful  English  reader. 

On  the  whole,  we  conceive  to  ourselves  the  abundant  na- 
ture of  Friedrich's  Correspondence,  literary  and  other  ;  and 
what  kind  of  event  the  transit  of  that  Post  functionary  '  from 
Fehrbellin  northwards,'  with  his  leathern  bags,  '  twice  a-week,' 
may  have  been  at_  E£insJ?.erg.Jn  those  years. 

CHAPTER  III. 

CROWN-PRINCE  MAKES  A  MORNI>!G  CALL. 

Thursday  25th  October  I  736,  the  Crown-Prince,  with  Lieu- 
tenant Buddenbrock  and  an  attendant  or  two,  drove  over  into 
I\Iecklenburg,  to  a  Village  and  serene  Schloss  called  Mirow, 
intending  a  small  act  of  neighbourly  civility  there;  on  which 
perhaps  an  English  reader  of  our  time  will  consent  to  accom- 
pany him.  It  is  but  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  off,  in  a  north- 
erly direction  ;  Reinsberg  being  close  on  the  frontier  there. 
A  pleasant  enough  morning's  -  drive,  with  the  October  sun 
shining  on  the  silent  heaths,  on  the  many-coloured  woods  and 
you. 

Mirow  is  an  Apanage  for  one  of  the  Mecklenburg-Strelitz 
junior  branches :  Mecklenburg-Strelitz  being  itself  a  junior  com- 
pared to  the  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  of  which,  and  its  infatuated 
Duke,  we  have  heard  so  much  in  times  past.  Mirow  and  even 
Strelitz  are  not  in  a  very  shining  state, — but  indeed,  we  shall 
see  them,  as  if  were,  with  eyes.  And  the  English  reader  is  to 
note  especially  those  Mirow  people,  as  perhaps  of  some  small 
interest  to  him,  if  he  knev/  it.  The  Crown-Prince  reports  to 
Papa,  in  a  satirical  vein,  not  ungenially,  and  with  much  more 
ireedoni  than  is  usual  in  those  Reinsberg  letters  of  his: 

'  To  his  Prussian  JSIajcsty  (From  the  Crown-Prince;. 

'  Reinsberg,  26th  October  1736. 
*      *      '  Yesterday  I  went  across  to  Mirow.     To  give  my  Most  All- 
'  gracious  Father  an  idea  of  the  place,  I  cannot  liken  it  to  anything 


236  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Oct.-Nov.  1736. 
'  higlier  lliaii  Gross-Kreulz'  (term  of  comparison  lost  upon  us  ;  say  Gar- 
at,  at  a  venture,  or  the  Clachan  of  Abcrfoyle):  'the  one  house  in  it, 
that  can  be  called  a  house,  is  not  so  good  as  the  Parson's  there.  I 
made  straight  for  the  Schloss  ;  which  is  pretty  much  like  the  Garden- 
house  in  Bornim  :  only  there  is  a  rampart  round  it ;  and  an  old  Tower, 
considerably  in  ruins,  serves  as  a  Gateway  to  the  House. 

'  Coming  on  the  Drawbridge,  I  perceived  an  old  stocking-knitter 
disguised  as  Grenadier,  with  his  cap,  cartridge-box  and  musket  laid 
to  a  side,  that  they  might  not  hinder  him  in  his  knitting-work.  As 
I  advanced,  he  asked,  ' '  Whence  I  came,  and  whitherward  I  was 
going?"  I  answered,  that  "I  came  from  the  Posthouse,  and  was 
going  over  this  Bridge  :"  whereupon  the  Grenadier,  quite  in  a  passion, 
ran  to  the  Tower ;  where  he  opened  a  door  and  called  out  the  Cor- 
poral. The  Corporal  seemed  to  have  hardly  been  out  of  bed ;  and 
in  his  great  haste,  had  not  taken  time  to  put-on  his  shoes,  nor  quite 
button  his  breeches  ;  with  much  flurry  he  asked  us,  "  Where  we  were 
for,  and  how  we  came  to  treat  the  Sentry  in  that  manner?"  Without 
answering  him  at  all,  we  went  our  way  towards  the  Schloss. 

'Never  in  my  life  should  I  have  taken  this  for  a  Schloss,  had  it 
not  been  that  there  were  two  glass  lamps  fixed  at  the  door-posts,  and 
the  figures  of  two  Cranes  standing  in  front  of  them,  by  way  of  Guards. 
We  made-up  to  the  House ;  and  after  knocking  almost  half  an  hour 
to  no  purpose,  there  peered  out  at  last  an  exceedingly  old  woman, 
who  looked  as  if  she  might  have  nursed  the  Prince  ofMirow's  father. 
The  poor  woman,  at  sight  of  strangers,  was  so  terrified,  she  slammed 
the  door  to  in  our  faces.  We  knocked  again ;  and  seeing  there  could 
nothing  be  made  of  it,  we  went  round  to  the  stables;  where  a  fellow 
told  us,  "  The  young  Prince  with  his  Consort  was  gone  to  Neu-Strelitz, 
a  couple  of  miles  off"  (ten  miles  English);  "and  the  Duchess  his 
Mother,  who  lives  here,  had  given  him,  to  make  the  better  figure,  all 
her  people  along  with  him ;  keeping  nobody  but  the  old  woman  to 
herself. " 

'  It  was  still  early ;  so  I  thought  I  could  not  do  better  than  profit 
Ijy  the  opportunity,  and  have  a  look  at  Neu-Strelitz.  We  took  post- 
horses  ;  and  got  thither  about  noon.  Neu-.Strelitz  is  properly  a  Village  ; 
with  only  one  street  in  it,  -where  Chamberlains,  Office-Clerks,  Domes- 
tics all  lodge,  and  where  there  is  an  Inn.  I  cannot  better  describe  it 
to  my  Most  All-gracious  Father  than  by  that  street  in  Gumbinnen 
where  you  go  up  to  the  Townhall, — except  that  no  house  here  is 
whitewashed.  The  Schloss  is  fine,  and  lies  on  a  lake,  Mith  a  liig 
garden;  pretty  much  like  Reinsberg  in  situation. 

'  The  first  question  I  asked  here  was  for  the  Prince  of  Mirow ;  but 
they  told  me  he  liad  just  driven  off  again  to  a  place  called  Kanow ; 
which  is  only  a  couple  of  miles  English  from  Mirow,  where  we  had 
been.  Buddenl)rock,  who  is  acquainted  with  Neu-Strelitz,  got  mc, 
from  a  chamberlain,  something  to  eat ;  and  in  the  mean  while  that 
Bohme  came  in,  who  was  Adjutant  in  my  Most  All-gracious  Father's 


Chap.  in.     PRINCE  MAKES  A  MORNING   CALL.        237 

Oct. -Nov.  1736. 

'  Regiment'  (not  of  Goltz,  bul  King'.s  presumably) :  '  Bulimc  did  nut 
'  know  me  till  I  hinted  to  him  who  I  was.  He  told  me,  " 'I'he  Duke 
'  of  Strelitz  wa.s  an  excellent  seam.ster;"  fit  to  be  Tailor  to  your  Majesty 
'  in  a  manner,  had  not  Fate  been  cruel,  "and  that  he  made  beautiful 
'  dressing-gowns  [cassaqiiiiis)  with  his  needle."  This  made  me  curious 
'  to  see  him  :  so  we  had  ourselves  presented  as  P'oreigners  ;  and  it  went- 
'  oflf  so  well  that  nobody  recognised  me.  I  cannot  better  describe  the 
'  Duke  than  by  saying  he  is  like  old  Stahl'  (famed  old  medical  man  at 
Berlin,  dead  last  year,  physiognomy  not  kno^^^^  to  actual  readers),  'in 
'  a  blonde  Abbe's-periwig.  He  is  extremely  silly  (b/odc) ;  his  Hofrath 
'  Altrock  tells  him,  as  it  were,  eveiything  he  has  to  say.'  About  fifty, 
this  poor  Duke  ;  shrunk  into  needlework,  for  a  quiet  life,  nmid  such 
tumults  from  Schwerin  and  clse\\'here. 

'  Having  taken  leave,  we  drove  right  off  to  Kanow ;  and  got  thither 
'  about  six.  It  is  a  mere  Village;  and  the  Prince's  Pleasure-House 
'  {Ltisthaus)  here  is  nothing  better  than  an  ordinary  Hunting-Lodge, 
'  such  as  any  Forest-keeper  has.  I  alighted  at  the  IMiller's  ;  and  had 
'  myself  announced'  at  the  Lttsthaiis  '  by  his  maid  :  upon  which  the 
'  Major-Domo  (Ilatis-IIofmetster)  came  over  to  the  Mill,  and  compli- 
'  mented  me  ;  with  whom  I  proceeded  to  the  Residenz, ' — that  is,  back 
again  to  Mirow,  'where  tlie  whole  Mirow  Family  were  assembled. 
'  The  Mother  is  a  Princess  of  Schwartzburg,  and  still  the  cleverest  of 
'  them  all,' — still  under  sixty;  good  old  Mother,  intent  that  her  poor 
Son  should  appear  to  advantage,  wlren  visiting  the  more  opulent 
Serenities.  'His  Aunt  also,'  mother's  sister,  'was  there.  The  Lady 
'  Spouse  is  small ;  a  Niece  to  the  Prince  of  Hiklburghausen,  who  is  in 
'  the  Kaiser's  service  :  she  was  in  the  family-way ;  but  {alh'r)  .'^eemed 
'  otherwise  to  be  a  very  good  Princess. 

'  The  first  thing  they  entertained  me  with  was,  the  sad  misfortune 
'  come  upon  their  best  Cook  ;  who,  with  the  cart  that  was  bringing 
'  the  provisions,  had  overset,  and  broken  his  arm  ;  so  that  the  provisions 
'  had  all  gone  to  nothing.  Privately  I  have  had  inquiries  made;  there 
'  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  the  story.  At  last  we  went  to  table ;  and, 
'  sure  enough,  it  looked  as  if  the  Cook  and  his  provisions  had  come  to 
'  some  mishap ;  for  certainly  in  the  Three  Crowns  at  Potsdam'  (worst 
inn,  one  may  guess,  in  the  satirical  vein),  '  there  is  better  eating  than 
'  here. 

'  At  table  there  was  talk  of  nothing  but  of  all  the  German  Princes 
'  who  are  not  right  in  their  wits  (nu/it  rec/it  k/ug),' — as  Mirow  himself, 
your  Majesty  knows,  is  reputed  to  be!  'There  was  Weimar,'  Gotha, 
'  Waldeck,  Hoym,  and  the  whole  lot  of  them,  brought  upon  the  car- 
'  pet : — and  after  our  good  Host  had  got  considerably  drunk,  we  rose, 
'  — and  he  lovingly  promised  me  that  "he  and  his  whole  Family  would 

'  Wilhelmina's  acquaintance  ;  wedded,  not  witliout  difficulty,  to  a  superfluous 
IJaireuth  Sister-in-law  by  Wilhclmina  {Mciiioircs df  Wilhehiiina,  ii.  185-194):  Grand- 
father of  Goethe's  Friend  ; — is  nothing  like  fairly  out  of  his  wits  ;  only  has  a  flea  (as 
we  may  say)  dancing  occasionally  in  the  ear  of  him.  Perhaps  it  is  so  with  the  rest 
of  these  Serenities,  here  fallen  upon  evil  tongues  ? 


238  AT   KEINSBERG.  HookX. 

Ocl.-Nov.  1736. 
'  come  and  visit  Reinsberg. "'  Come  lie  certainly  will ;  but  how  I  shall 
'  get  rid  of  him,  God  knows. 

'  I  most  submissively  beg  pardon  of  my  Most  All-gracious  Father 
'  for  this  long  Letter;  and' — we  will  terminate  here.^ 

Dilapidated  IMirow  and  its  inmates,  portrayed  in  this  sa- 
tirical way,  except  as  a  view  of  Serene  Highnesses  fallen  into 
Sleepy  Hollow,  excites  little  notice  in  the  indolent  mind ;  and 
that  little,  rather  pleasantly  contemptuous  than  really  profit- 
able. But  one  fact  ought  to  kindle  momentary  interest  in  Eng- 
lish readers:  the  young  foolish  Herr,  in  this  dilapidated  place, 
is  no  other  than  our  "  Old  Queen  Charlotte's"  Father  that  is 
to  be, — a  kind  of  Ancestor  of  ours,  though  we  little  guessed  it! 
English  readers  will  scan  him  with  new  curiosity,  when  he- 
pays  that  return  visit  at  Reinsberg.  Which  he  does  within  the 
fortnight. 

'  To  Ill's  Prussian  Majesty  (From  the  Crown-Prince). 

'Reinsberg,  8th  November  1736. 

*  *  'that  my  Most  All-gracious  Father  has  had  the  graciousness 
'  to  send  us  some  Swans.  My  Wife  also  has  been  exceedingly  delighted 
'  at  the  fine  Present  sent  her.'  •  *  *  '  G-eneral  rra2torius,'  Danish 
Envoy,  with  whose  Court  there  is  some  tiff  of  quarrel,  'came  hither 
'  yesterday  to  take  leave  of  us  ;  he  seems  very  unwilling  to  quit 
'  Prussia. 

'  This  morning,  about  three  o'clock,  my  people  woke  me,  with  word 
'  that  there  was  a  Stafette  come  M'ith  Letters,' — from  your  Majesty  or 
Heaven  knows  whom  !  '  I  spring  up  in  all  haste ;  and  opening  the 
'  I^etter, — find  it  is  from  the  Prince  of  Mirow;  who  informs  me  that 
'  "  he  will  be  here  today  at  noon."  I  have  got  all  things  in  readiness 
'  to  receive  him,  as  if  he  were  the  Kaiser  in  person ;  and  I  hope  there 
'  will  be  material  for  some  amusement  to-  my  Most  All-gracious  Father, 
'  by  next  post.' — Next  post  is  half-a-week  hence: 

'  To  /lis  Pnissinn  Majesty  (From  the  Crown-Prince). 

'Reinsberg,  :  1  th  November. 

*  *  'Tlie  I'rincc  of  Mirow's  visit  was  so  curious,  I  must  give  my 
'  Most  All-gracious  Father  a  particular  report  of  it.  In  my  last  I  men- 
'  tioned  how  General  Pnietorius  had  come  to  us:  he  was  in  the  room, 
'  when  I  entered  with  the  Prince  of  Mirow ;  at  sight  of  him  Pratorius 
'  exclaimed,  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  everybod)',  "  Voila  le  Prince 
'  Cajtica  1"'^  Not  one  of  us  could  help  laughing;  and  I  had  my  own 
'  trouble  to  turn  it  so  that  he  did  not  get  angry. 

2  (J'.uvres  de  Fr^'Mric,  xx.v\\.  part  3d,  pp.  104-106. 

'  Nickname  out  of  some  Romance,  fallen  extinct  long  since. 


Chap.  HI.      PRINCE   MAKES   A   MORNING   CALL.       239 

Oct. -Nov.  1736. 

'  Scarcely  was  the  riince  got  in,  when  they  came  to  tell  me,  for  liis 
'  \\orse  luck,  that  Prince  Heinrich,'  the  111  Margraf,  'was  come; — who 
'  accordingly  trotted  him  out,  in  such  a  way  that  we  thought  we  should 
'  all  have  died  with  laughing.  Incessant  praises  were  given  him,  espe- 
'  cially  for  his  fine  clotlies,  his  fine  air,  and  his  uncommon  agility  in 
'  dancing.      And  indeed  I  thought  the  dancing  would  never  end. 

'In  the  afternoon,  to  spoil  his  fine  coat,' — a  contrivance  of  the  111 
Margrafs,  I  should  think,  — '  we  stept  out  to  shoot  at  target  in  the  rain: 
'  he  would  not  speak  of  it,  but  one  could  observe  he  was  in  much 
'  anxiety  about  the  coat.  In  the  evening,  he  got  a  glass  or  two  in  his 
'head,  and  grew  extremely  merry;  said  at  last,  "He  was  sorry  that, 
'  for  divers  state-reasons  and  businesses  of  moment,  he  must  of  neces- 
'  sity  return  home ;" — which,  however,  he  put-ofT  till  about  two  in  the 
'  morning.    I  think,  next  day  he  would  not  remember  very  much  of  it. 

'  Prince  Heinrich  is  gone  to  his  Regiment  again  ;'  Pniitorius  too  is 
off; — and  we  end  with  the  proper  K'cno-tcnc.* 

These  Strelitzers,  we  said,  are  juniors  to  infatuated  Schwerin  ; 
and  poor  Mirow  is  again  junior  to  Strelitz:  plainly  one  of  the 
least  opulent  of  Residences.  At  present,  it  is  Dowager  Apan- 
age ( Withven-Sitz)  to  the  Widow  of  the  late  Strelitz  of  blessed 
memory :  here,  with  her  one  Child,  a  boy  now  grown  to  what 
manhood  we  see,  has  the  Serene  Dowager  lived,  these  twenty- 
eight  years  past;  a  Schwartzburg  by  birth,  '  the  cleverest  head 
among  them  all.'  Twenty-eight  years  in  dilapidated  Mirow : 
so  long  has  that  Tailoring  Duke,  her  eldest  stepson  (child  of  a 
prior  wife)  been  Supreme  Head  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz ;  em- 
ployed with  his  needle,  or  we  know  not  how, — collapsed  plainly 
into  tailoring  at  this  date.  There  was  but  one  other  Son;  this 
clever  Lady's,  twenty  years  junior,^ — "Prince  of  Mirow"  whom 
we  now  see.  Karl  Ludwig  Friedrich  is  the  nq^me  of  this  one; 
age  now  twenty-eight  gone.  He,  ever  since  the  third  month  of 
him,  when  the  poor  Serene  Father  died  ('  May  1 708'),  has  been 
at  Mirow  with  Mamma;  getting  what  education  there  was, — 
not  too  successfully,  as  would  appear.  Eight  years  ago,  '  in 
I  726,'  Mamma  sent  him  off  upon  his  travels;  to  Geneva,  Italy, 
France  :  he  looked  in  upon  Vienna,  too  ;  got  a  Lieutenant- 
Colonelcy  in  the  Kaiser's  Service,  but  did  not  like  it ;  soon  gave 
it  up ;  and  returned  home  to  vegetate,  perhaps  to  seek  a  wife, 
— having  prospects  of  succession  in  Strelitz.  For  the  Serene 
Half-Brother  proves  to  have  no  children  :  were  his  tailoring 
once  finished  in  the  world,   our  Prince  of  Mirow  is  Duke  in 

■•  (Euvres  de  Frederic,  xvii.  part  -^d,  p.  109. 


240  AT  REINSBERG.  Daok  x. 

Oct. -Nov.  173(5. 

Chief.  On  this  basis  he  wedded  last  year:  the  little  Wife  has 
already  brought  him  one  child,  a  Daughter ;  and  has  (as  Fried- 
rich  notices)  another  under  way,  if  it  prosper.  No  lack  of 
Daughters,  nor  of  Sons  by  and  by:  eight  years  hence  came  the 
little  Charlotte, — subsequently  Mother  of  England:  much  to 
her  and  our  astonishment. '^ 

The  poor  man  did  not  live  to  be  Duke  of  Strelitz;  he  died, 
1752,  in  little  Charlotte's  eighth  year;  Tailor  Duke  surviving- 
him  a  few  months.  Little  Charlotte's  Brother  did  then  succeed, 
and  lasted  till  1794  ;  after  whom  a  second  Brother,  father  of 
the  now  Serene  Strelitzes ; — who  also  is  genealogically  notable. 
For  from  him  there  came  another  still  more  famous  Queen  : 
Louisa  of  Prussia  ;  beautiful  to  look  upon,  as  "  Aunt  Char- 
lotte" was  not,  in  a  high  degree ;  and  who  showed  herself  a 
Heroine  in  Napoleon's  time,  as  Aunt  Charlotte  never  was  called 
to  do.  Both  Aunt  and  Niece  were  women  of  sense,  of  probity, 
propriety ;  fairly  beyond  the  average  of  Queens.  And  as  to 
their  early  poverty,  ridiculous  to  this  gold-nugget  generation, 
I  rather  guess  it  may  have  done  them  benefits  which  the  gold- 
nugget  generation,  in  its  Queens  and  otherwise,  stands  far  more 
in  want  of  than  it  thinks. 

But  enough  of  this  Prince  of  Mirow,  whom  Friedrich  has 
accidentally  unearthed  for  us.  Indeed  there  is  no  farther  his- 
tory of  him,  for  or  against.  He  evidently  was  not  thought  to 
have  invented  gunpowder,  by  the  public.  And  yet  who  knows 
but,  in  his  very  simplicity,  there  lay  something  far  beyond  the 
111  Margraf  to  whom  he  was  so  quizzable?  Poor  downpressed 
brother  mortal;  somnambulating  so  pacifically  in  Sleepy  Hol- 
low yonder,  and  making  no  complaint ! 

He  continued,  though  soon  with  less  enthusiasm,  and  in 
the  end  very  rarely,  a  visitor  of  Friedrich's  during  this  Reins- 
berg  time.  Patriotic  English  readers  may  as  well  take  the  few 
remaining  vestiges  too,  before  quite  dismissing  him  to  Sleepy 
Hollow.  Here  they  are,  swept  accurately  together,  from  that 
Correspondence  of  Friedrich  with  Papa : 

' /^t'iiisl>cT!^^,  iSi/i  AWi'emii'r  IJ26-  *  *  report  most  submissively  thai. 
'  the  I'rince  of  Mirow  has  again  been  lieic,  with  his  Motlier,  Wife,  Aunl, 
'  llof'lames,  Cavaliers  and  entire  Ilousehdld  ;  so  that  I  thought  it  was 

■'  Born  (al  Mirow),  19th  May  1744 ;  married  ( London),  8th  Septcmlicr  1761  ;  died, 
jSth  November  i8i8  (Micliacli^,  ii.  445,  446  ;  Hubiier,  1.  195  ;  (lirtel,  pp.  43,  22). 


Chap.  III.     PRINCE  MAKES  A   MORNINCi   CALL.       241 

Oin.-Nov.  1736. 

'  the  Flight  out  of  Kgypl'  (l*!\0(lus  ortlie  jews).  '  I  begin  to  liave  a  feai" 
'  of  those  good  people,  as  they  assured  nie  they  would  have  such  plea- 
'  sure  in  coming  often  !' 

^  KeiiisOerg,  \st  Fcbriiavy  1737.'  Let  us  give  it  in  the  Original  too, 
as  a  specimen  of  German  spelling : 

'  Der  Printz  von  Mihran  ist  vohr  einigen  thageii  hier  geivcssen  unci 
'  haben  wiereinige  Wasser  schwe7-7ner  in  derSeeihm  zii  EJiren  gesniissen, 
'  seine /ran-  ist  viit  einer  thotcn  Printzesin  niedcr  gcKomen. — Dcr  Gene- 
'  ral  schidenburg  ist  Jiciile  Jiicr  gekovimeji  nnd  imrdt  inorgejt^ — That  is 
to  say: 

'  The  Prince  of  Mirow  was  here  a  few  days  ago ;  and  we  let-off,  in 
'  honour  of  him,  a  few  water-rockets  over  the  Lake :  his  Wife  has  been 
'  brought  to  bed  of  a  dead  Princess.  General  Schulenburg'  (with  a 
small  s)  '  came  hither  today ;  and  tomorrow  will'  *  * 

' Peinsbcrg,  z%th  March  1737.  *  *  Prince  von  Mirow  was  here 
'  yesterday;  and  tried  shooting  at  the  popinjay  with  us;  he  cannot  see 
'  rightly,  and  shoots  always  with  help  of  an  opera-glass.' 

^  Knppin,  %oth  October  1737.  The  Prince  of  Mirow  was  with  us 
'  last  Friday ;  and  baljbled  much  in  his  high  way ;  among  other  things, 
'  while-lied  to  us,  that  the  Kaiserinn  gave  him  a  certain  porcelain  snuff- 
'  box  he  was  handling;  but  on  being  questioned  more  tightly,  he  con- 
'  fessed  to  me  he  had  bought  it  in  Vienna.  "^ 

And  so  let  him  somnambulate  yonder,  till  the  two  Oueens, 
like  winged  Psyches,  one  after  the  other,  manage  to  emerge 
from  him. 

Friedrich's  Letters  to  his  Father  are  described  by  some 
Prussian  Editors  as  '  very  attractive,  sehr  anziehende  Bricfe; 
which,  to  a  Foreign  reader,  seems  a  strange  account  of  them. 
Letters  very  hard  to  understand  completely ;  and  rather  insig- 
nificant when  understood.  They  turn  on  Gifts  sent  to  and  sent 
from,  'swans,'  'hams,'  with  the  unspeakable  thanks  for  them; 
on  recruits  of  so  many  inches  ;  on  the  visitors  that  ha>-e  been ; 
they  assure  us  that  'there  is  no  sickness  in  the  regin;ent,'  or 
tell  expressly  how  much : — wholly  small  facts  ;  nothing  of  spe- 
culation, and  of  ceremonial  pipeclay  a  great  deal.  We  know 
already  under  what  nightmare  conditions  Friedrich  wrote  to 
his  Father!  The  attitude  of  the  Crown  Prince,  sincerely  re- 
verent and  filial,  though  obliged  to  appear  ineffably  so,  and  on 
the  whole  struggling  under  such  mountains  of  encumbrance, 
yet  loyally  maintaining  his  equilibrium,  does  at  last  acquire, 

•>  Briefe  an  Vatcr,  p.  71  {caret  in  CEiivrcs)  ;  pp.  85-114. — See  lb.,  6th  November 
1737,  for  faint  trace  of  a  visit ;  and  25th  September  1739,  for  another  still  fainter,  the 
last  there  is. 

VOL.  III.  R 


242  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

July-Dec.  1737. 

in  these  Letters,  silently  a  kind  of  beauty  to  the  best  class  of 
readers.  But  that  is  nearly  their  sole  merit.  By  far  the  most 
human  of  them,  that  on  the  first  visit  to  Mirow,  the  reader  has 
now  seen ;  and  may  thank  us  much  that  we  show  him  no  more 
of  them. 7 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NEWS  OF  THE  DAY. 

While  these  Mirow  visits  are  about  their  best,  and  much 
else  at  Reinsberg  is  in  comfortable  progress,  Friedrich's  first 
year  there  just  ending,  there  come  accounts  from  England  of 
quarrels  broken  out  between  the  Britannic  Majesty  and  his 
Prince  of  Wales.  Discrepancies  risen  now  to  a  height ;  and 
getting  into  the  very  Newspapers  ; — the  Rising  Sun  too  little 
under  the  control  of  the  Setting,  in  that  unquiet  Country! 

Prince  Fred  of  England  did  not  get  to  the  Rhine  Campaign, 
as  we  saw  :  he  got  some  increase  of  Revenue,  a  Household  of 
his  own  ;  and  finally  a  Wife,  as  he  had  requested  :  a  Sachsen- 
Gotha  Princess  ;  who,  peerless  Wilhelmina  being  unattainable, 
was  welcome  to  Prince  Fred.  She  is  in  the  family-way,  this 
summer  1737,  a  very  young  lady  still  ;  result  thought  to  be  due 
— When  ?  Result  being  potential  Heir  to  the  British  Nation, 
there  ought  to  have  been  good  calculation  of  the  time  when  ! 
But  apparently  nobody  had  well  turned  his  attention  that  way. 
Or  if  Fred  and  Spouse  had,  as  is  presumable,  Fred  had  given 
no  notice  to  the  Paternal  Majesty, — "  Let  Paternal  Majesty, 
always  so  cross  to  me,  look-out  for  himself  in  that  matter." 
Certain  it  is,  Fred  and  Spouse,  in  the  beginning  of  August 
1737,  are  out  at  Hampton  Court;  potential  Heir  due  before 
long,  and  no  preparation  made  for  it.  August  nth  in  the 
evening,  out  at  solitary  Hampton  Court ;  the  poor  young  Mo- 
ther's pains  came  on  ;  no  Chancellor  there,  no  Archbishop  to 
see  the  birth, — in  fact,  hardly  the  least  medical  help,  and  of 
political  altogether  none.  Fred,  in  his  fiurry,  or  by  forcthouglit, 
—instead  of  dashing-oft"  expresses,  at  a  gallop  as  of  Epsom,  to 
summon  the  necessary  persons  and  appliances,  yoked  wheeled 
vehicles  and  rolled-ofifto  the  old  unprovided  Palace  of  St. 

7  Friedrich  des  Grosscn  liric/c  an  scitifii  I  'ater  ( ISeilin,  1838).  Reduced  in  size, 
Ijy  suitable  omissions ;  and  properly  spelt ;  but  with  little  other  elucidation  for  a 
stranger :  in  Uiuvres,  ,\xvii.  part  3d,  pp.  1-123  (Berlin,  1856). 


Chap.  IV.  NKWS   OF  THK   DAY,  243 

July-Dec.  1717. 

James's,  London,  wilh  his  poor  Wife  in  person  !  Unwarned, 
unprovided  ;  where  nevertheless  she  was  safely  delivered  that 
same  night, — safely,  as  if  by  miracle.  The  crisis  might  have 
taken  her  on  the  very  highway  ;  never  was  such  an  imprud- 
ence. Owing,  I  will  believe,  to  Fred's  sudden  flurry  in  the  un- 
provided moment, — unprovided,  by  reason  of  prior  desuetudes 
and  discouragements  to  speech,  on  Papa's  side.  A  shade  of 
malice  there  might  also  be.  Papa  doubts  not,  it  was  malice 
aforethought  all  of  it.  "Had  the  potential  Heir  of  the  British 
Nation  gone  to  wreck,  or  been  born  on  the  highway,  from  my 
quarrels  with  this  bad  Fred,  what  a  scrape  had  I  been  in  !" 
thinks  Papa,  and  is  in  a  towering  permanence  of  wrath  ever 
since  ;  the  very  Newspapers  and  coffee-houses  and  populaces 
now  all  getting  vocal  with  it. 

Papa,  as  it  turned  out,  never  more  saw  the  face  of  Fred. 
Judicious  Mamma,  Queen  Caroline,  could  not  help  a  visit,  one 
visit  to  the  poor  young  Mother,  so  soon  as  proper  :  coming 
out  from  the  visit.  Prince  Fred  obsequiously  escorting  her  to 
her  carriage,  found  a  crowd  of  people  and  populace,  in  front 
of  St.  James's  ;  and  there  knelt  down  on  the  street,  in  his  fine 
silk  breeches,  careless  of  the  mud,  to  "beg  a  Mother's  bless- 
ing," and  show  what  a  son  he  was,  he  for  his  part,  in  this  sad 
discrepancy  that  had  risen  !  Mamma  threw  a  silent  glance  on 
him,  containing  volumes  of  mixed  tenor  ;  drove  off;  and  saw 
no  more  of  Fred,  she  either.  I  fear,  this  kneeling  in  the  mud 
tells  against  Prince  Fred  ;  but  in  truth  I  do  not  know,  nor  even 
much  care.^  What  a  noise  in  England  about  nothing  at  all ! 
— What  a  noisy  Country,  your  Prussian  Majesty!  Foolish  'ris- 
ing sun'  not  restrainable  there  by  the  setting  or  shining  one  ; 
opposition  parties  bowling  him  about  among  the  constellations, 
like  a  very  mad  object  ! — 

But  in  a  month  or  two,  there  comes  worse  news  out  of  Eng- 
land ;  falling  heavy  on  the  heart  of  Prussian  Majesty:  news 
that  Queen  Caroline  herself  is  dead.-  Died  as  she  had  lived, 
with  much  constancy  of  mind,  with  a  graceful  modest  courage 
and  endurance  ;  sinking  quietly  under  the  load  of  private  mise- 
ries long  quietly  kept  hidden,  but  now  become  too  heavy,  and 
for  which  the  appointed  rest  was  now  here.  Little  George 
blubbered  a  good  deal ;  fidgeted  and  flustered  a  good  deal  : 

'  Lord  Hervey,  Memoirs  of  George  the  Second,  ii.  362-370,  409. 

'^  'Sunday  evening,  ist  December  (20th  Nov.)  1737.'    lb.  pp.  510-539. 


244  AT  REINSBER(x.  i>,ook  x. 

July-Dec.  1737. 

much  put  about,  poor  foolish  little  soul.  The  dyinpf  Caroline 
recommended  hijii  to  Walpole  ;  advised  his  Majesty  to  marry 
again,  "  Non,  faurai  des  maUresses  (No,  I'll  have  mistresses) !" 
sobbed  his  Majesty  passionately.  ''Ah,  mon  Dieu,  cela  neiii- 
pcche  pas  (that  does  not  hinder) !"  answered  she,  from  long  ex- 
perience of  the  case.  There  is  something  stoically  tragic  in 
the  history  of  Caroline  with  her  flighty  vapouring  little  King  : 
seldom  had  foolish  husband  so  wise  a  wife.  "  Dead  !"  thought 
Friedrich  Wilhelm,  looking  back  through  the  whirlwinds  of 
life,  into  sunny  young  scenes  far  enough  away  :  "  Dead  !" — 
Walpole  continued  to  manage  the  little  King ;  but  not  for  long ; 
England  itself  rising  in  objection.  Jenkins's  Ear,  I  understand, 
is  lying  in  cotton  ;  and  there  arc  mad  inflammable  strata  in 
that  Nation,  capable  of  exploding  at  a  great  rate. 

From  the  Eastern  regions  our  Newspapers  are  very  full  of 
events  :  War  with  the  Turk  going  on  there  ;  Russia  and  Aus- 
tria both  doing  their  best  against  the  Turk.  The  Russians 
had  hardly  finished  their  Polish-Election  fighting,  when  they 
decided  to  have  a  stroke  at  the  Turk, — Turk  always  an  espe- 
cial eye-sorrow  to  them,  since  that  "Treaty  of  the  Pruth,"  and 
Czar  Peter's  sad  rebuff  there  :— Miinnich  marched  direct  out 
of  Poland  through  the  Ukraine,  with  his  eye  on  the  Crimea  and 
furious  business  in  that  quarter.  This  is  his  second  Campaign 
there,  this  of  1737  ;  and  furious  business  has  not  failed.  Last 
year  he  stormed  the  Lines  of  Perecop,  tore  open  the  Crimea  ; 
took  Azoph,  he  or  Lacy  under  him  ;  took  many  things  :  this 
year  he  had  laid  his  plans  for  Oczakow ; — takes  Oczakow, — 
fiery  event,  blazing  in  all  the  Newspapers,  at  Reinsberg  and 
elsewhere.  Concerning  which  will  the  reader  accept  this  con- 
densed testimony  by  an  eye-witness  ? 

'  Oczakow,  iT,lk  July  1737.  Day  before  yesterday,  Feldmarschall 
'  Miinnich  got  to  Oczakow,  as  he  had  planned,' — strong  Turkish  Town 
in  the  nook  between  the  Black  Sea  and  the  estuary  of  the  Dnieper; — 
'  with  intention  to  Ijesicge  it.  Siege-train,  stores  of  every  sort,  which 
'  he  had  set  afloat  upon  the  Dnieper  in  time  enough,  were  to  have  been 
'  ready  for  him  at  Oczakow.  l!ut  the  flotilla  had  been  detained  by 
'  shallows,  by  waterfalls;  not  a  boat  was  come,  nor  could  anybody  say 
'  when  they  were  coming.  Meanwhile  nothing  is  to  be  had  here;  the 
'  very  face  of  the  earth  the  Turks  have  burnt:  not  a  blade  of  grass  for 
'  cavalry  within  eight  miles,  nor  a  stick  of  wood  for  engineers;  not  a 
'  hole  for  covert,  and  the  ground  so  hard  you  cannot  raise  redoubts  on 
'  it:    Munnith  pcrcciNcs  he  nuist  altL'nii)t,  nevci'tliclcss. 


Chap.  IV.  NEWS   OF  THE   DAY.  245 

July-Dec.  1737. 

'  On  his  light,  by  the  seashore,  Miinnich  finds  some  remains  of  gar- 
'  (lens,  palisades ;  scrapes  together  some  vestige  of  shelter  there  (five 
'  thousand,  or  even  ten  thousand  pioneers  working  desperately  all  that 
'  first  night,  iith  July,  M'ith  only  half  success);  and  on  the  morrow 
'  commences  firing  \:'ith  what  artillery  he  has.  Much  out-fired  by  the 
'  Turks  inside; — his  enterprise  as  good  as  desperate,  unless  the  Dnieper 
'  llotilla  come  soon.  July  12th,  all  day  the  firing  continues,  and  all 
'  night;  Turks  extremely  furious:  about  an  hour  before  daybreak,  v/e 
'  notice  burning  in  the  interior,  "  Some  wooden  house  kindled  by  us, 
'  town  got  on  fire  yonder," — and,  praise  to  Heaven,  they  do  not  seem 
'  to  succeed  in  quenching  it  again.  Miinnich  turns  out,  in  various  divi- 
'  sions;  intent  on  trying  something,  had  he  the  least  engineer  furniture; 
'  — hopes  desperately  there  may  be  promise  for  him  in  that  internal 
'  burning  still  visible. 

'  In  the  centre  of  Miinnich's  line  is  one  General  Keith,  a  deliberate 
'  stalwart  Scotch  gentleman,  whom  we  shall  know  better;  Miinnich 
'  himself  is  to  the  right:  Could  not  one  try  it  by  scalade;  keep  the  in- 
'  ternal  burning  free  to  spread,  at  any  rate?  "  Advance  within  musket- 
'  shot,  General  Keith  !"  orders  Miinnich's  Aide-de-Carap  cantering  u]'. 
'  "  I  have  been  this  good  while  within  it,"  answers  Keith,  pointing  to 
'  his  dead  men.  Aide-de-Camp  canters  up  a  second  time:  "  Advance 
'  within  half  musket-shot,  General  Keith,  and  quit  any  covert  you  have!" 
'  Keith  does  so;  sends,  with  his  respects  to  Feldmarschall  Miinnich, 
'  his  remonstrance  against  such  a  waste  of  human  life.  Aide-de-Camp 
'canters  up  a  third  time:  "Feldmarschall  Miinnich  is  for  trying  a 
'  scalade;  hopes  General  Keith  will  do  his  best  to  cooperate  !"  "For 
'  ward,  then  !"  answers  Keith;  advances  close  to  the  glacis;  finds  a 
'  wet  ditch  twelve  feet  broad,  and  has  not  a  stick  of  engineer  furniture. 
'  Keith  waits  there  two  hours;  his  men,  under  fire  all  the  while,  tiying 
'  this  and  that  to  get  across;  Miinnich's  scalade  going  off  ineffectual  in 
'  like  manner: — till  at  length  Keith's  men,  and  all  men,  tire  of  such  a 
'  business,  and  roll  back  in  great  confusion  out  of  shot-range.  Miinnich 
'  gives  himself  up  for  lost.  And  indeed,  says  Mannstein,  had  the  Turks 
'  sallied  out  in  pursuit  at  that  moment,  they  might  have  chased  us  back 
'  to  Russia.  But  the  Turks  did  not  sally.  And  the  internal  conflagra- 
'  tlon  is  not  quenched,  far  from  it; — and  about  nine  a.m.  their  Powder- 
'  Magazine,  conflagration  reaching  it,  roared  aloft  into  the  air,  and 
'  killed  seven  thousand  of  them.'^ 

So  that  Oczakow  was  taken,  sure  enough  ;  terms,  life  only : 
and  every  remaining  Turk  packs -off  from  it,  some  'twenty 
thousand  inhabitants  young  and  old'  for  one  sad  item. — A  very 
blazing  semi-absurd  event,  to  be  read  of  in  Prussian  military 
circles, — where  General  Keith  will  be  better  known  one  day. 
Russian  War  with  the  Turk  :  that  means  withal,  by  old 

3  Mannstein,  pp.  151-156. 


246  AT  REINSBERG.  Uook  x. 

July-Dec.  1737. 

Treaties,  aid  of  thirty  thousand  men  from  the  Kaiser  to  Rus- 
sia. Kaiser,  so  ruined  lately,  how  can  he  send  thirty  thousand, 
and  keep  them  recruited,  in  such  distant  expedition  ?  Kaiser, 
much  meditating,  is  advised  it  will  be  better  to  go  fi-ankly  into 
the  Turk  on  his  own  score,  and  try  for  slices  of  profit  from  him 
in  this  game.  Kaiser  declares  war  against  the  Turk  ;  and  what 
is  still  more  interesting  to  Friedrich  Wilhelm  and  the  Berlin 
Circles,  Seckendorf  is  named  General  of  it.  Feldzeugmeister 
now  Feldmarschall  Seckendorf,  envy  may  say  what  it  will,  he 
has  marched  this  season  into  the  Lower-Donau  Countries, — 
going  to  besiege  Widdin,  they  say, — at  the  head  of  a  big  Army 
(on  paper,  almost  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  light  troops 
and  heavy) — virtually  Commander-in-Chief;  though  nominally 
our  fine  young  friend  Franz  of  Lorraine  bears  the  title  of  Com- 
mander, whom  Seckendorf  is  to  dry-nurse  in  the  way  some- 
times practised.  Going  to  besiege  Widdin,  they  say.  So  has 
the  poor  Kaiser  been  advised.  His  wise  old  Eugene  is  now 
gone  ;■*  I  fear  his  advisers, — -a  youngish  Feldzeugmeister,  Prince 
of  Hildburghausen,  the  chief  favourite  among  them, — are  none 
of  the  wisest.  All  Protestants,  we  observe,  these  favourite  Hild- 
burghausens,  Schmettaus,  Seckendorfs  of  his  ;  and  Vienna  is 
an  orthodox  papal  Court  ; — and  there  is  a  Hofkriegsrath  (Su- 
preme Council  of  War),  which  has  ruined  many  a  General,  pok- 
ing too  meddlesomely  into  his  affairs  !  On  the  whole,  Secken- 
dorf will  have  his  difficulties.  Here  is  a  scene,  on  the  Lower 
Donau,  different  enough  from  that  at  Oczakow,  not  far  from 
contemporaneous  with  it.  The  Austrian  Army  is  at  Kolitz,  a 
march  or  two  beyond  Belgrad  : 

'  h'olilz,  lii  jfiily  \-jT,'j.  This  day,  the  Army  not  being  on  niarcli,  Iml 
'  allowed  to  rest  itself,  Grand  Duke  Franz  went  into  the  M-oods  to  hunt. 
'  Hunting  up  and  down,  he  lost  himself;  did  not  return  at  evening;  and, 
'  as  the  night  closed  in  and  no  Generalissimo  visible,  the  Generalissimo 
'  ad  Latits  (such  the  title  they  had  contrived  for  Seckendorf)  was  in 
'  much  alarm.  (Jeneralissimo  ad  Lotus  ordered  out  his  whole  force  of 
'  drummers,  trumpeters :  To  fling  themselves,  postwise,  deeper  and 
'  deeper  into  the  woods  all  round;  to  drum  there,  and  blow,  in  ever- 
'  widening  circle,  in  prescribed  notes,  and  with  all  energj',  till  the  Grand 
'  Duke  were  found.  Grand  Duke  lieing  found,  .Seckendorf  remonstrated, 
*  rebuked;  a  thought  too  earnestly,  some  say,  his  temper  being  flurried,' 
— voice  snuffling  somewhat  in  alt,  with  lisp  to  help: — '  so  that  the  Grand 
'  Duke  took  offence;  flung-offin  a  huff:  and  always  looked  askance  on 

<  Died  ,30th  April  1736, 


Chap.  IV.  NEWS   OF  THE  DAY.  247 

July-Dcc.  1737. 

'  the  Feldmar.schall  from  that  time;'''' — quitting  him  altogether  before 

long;  and  marching  with  Khevenhiiller,  Wallis,   Iliklliurghausen,  or 

any  of  the  subordinate  Generals  rather.      Probably  Widden  will  not  go 

the  road  of  Oczakow,  nor  the  Austrians  prosper  like  the  Russians,  this 

summer. 

Pollnitz,  in  Tobacco-Parliament,  and  in  certain  Berlin  circles 
foolishly  agape  about  this  new  Feldmarschall,  maintains  al- 
ways, Seckendorf  will  come  to  nothing  ;  which  his  Majesty 
zealously  contradicts,  —  his  Majesty,  and  some  short-sighted 
private  individuals  still  favourable  to  Seckendorf.^  Exactly  one 
week  after  that  singular  drum-and-trumpet  operation  on  Duke 
Franz,  the  Last  of  the  Medici  dies  at  Florence  -^  and  Serene 
Franz,  if  he  knew  it,  is  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  according  to 
bargain  :  a  matter  important  to  himself  chiefly,  and  to  France, 
who,  for  Stanislaus  and  Lorraine's  sake,  has  had  to  pay  him 
some  200,000/.  a-year  during  the  brief  intermediate  state.. 

Of  Berg  and  /i/lic/i  again;  and  of  Luiscius  with  the 
One  Razor. 

These  remote  occurrences  are  of  small  interest  to  his  Prus- 
sian Majesty,  in  comparison  with  the  Pfalz  affair,  the  Cleve- 
Jiilich. succession,  which  lies  so  near  home.  His  Majesty  is 
uncommonly  anxious  to  have  this  matter  settled,  in  peace,  if 
possible.  Kaiser  and  Reich,  with  the  other  Mediating  Powers, 
go  on  mediating  ;  but  when  will  they  decide  ?  This  year  the 
old  Bishop  of  Augsburg,  one  Brother  of  the  older  Kur-Pfalz 
Karl  Philip,  dies  ;  nothing  now  between  us  and  the  event  it- 
self, but  Karl  Philip  alone,  who  is  verging  towards  eighty :  the 
decision,  to  be  peaceable,  ought  to  be  speedy !  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm,  in  January  last,  sent  the  expert  Degenfeld,  once  of  Lon- 
don, to  old  Karl  Philip  ;  and  has  him  still  there,  with  the  most 
conciliatory  offers  :  "  Will  leave  your  Sulzbachs  a  part,  then  ; 
will  be  content  with  part,  instead  of  the  whole,  which  is  mine 
if  there  be  force  in  sealed  parchment  ;  will  do  anything  for 
peace  !"  To  which  the  old  Kur-Pfalz,  foolish  old  creature,  is 
steadily  deaf ;  answers  vaguely,  negatively  always,  in  a  polite 
manner  ;  pushing  his  ^Majesty  upon  extremities  painful  to  think 

5  'S:<t^  Lebensgcschichtc  des  Cra/eti  von  Schiuettau  (by  his  Son:  Berlin,  1806), 
">  PoUnitz,  Metnoireit,  ii.  497-502.  7  9th  July  (Fastes  de  Louis  XV.  p.  304). 


248  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

July-Dec.  1737. 

of.  "We  hate  war  ;  but  cannot  quite  do  without  justice,  your 
Serenity,"  thinks  Friedrich  Wilhelm:  "must  it  be  the  eighty 
thousand  iron  ramrods,  then  ?"  Obstinate  Serenity  continues 
deaf ;  and  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  negotiations,  there  at  Mann- 
heim, over  in  Holland,  and  through  Holland  with  England,  not 
to  speak  of  Kaiser  and  Reich  close  at  hand,  become  very  in- 
tense ;  vehemently  earnest,  about  this  matter,  for  the  next  two 
years.  The  details  of  which,  inexpressibly  uninteresting,  shall 
be  spared  the  reader. 

Summary  is,  these  Mediating  Powers  will  be  of  no  help  to 
his  Majesty;  not  even  the  Dutch  will,  with  whom  he  is  spe- 
cially in  friendship  :  nay,  in  the  third  year  it  becomes  fatally 
manifest,  the  chief  Mediating  Powers,  Kaiser  and  France,  lis- 
tening rather  to  political  convenience,  than  to  the  claims  of 
justice,  go  direct  in  Kur-Pfalz's  favour  ; — by  formal  treaty  of 
their  own,^  France  and  the  Kaiser  settle,  "  That  the  Sulz- 
bachers  shall,  as  a  preliminary,  get  provisional  possession,  on 
the  now  Serenity's  decease  ;  and  shall  continue  undisturbed 
for  two  years,  till  Law  decide  between  his  Prussian  Majesty 
and  them."  Two  years  ;  Law  decide  ; — and  we  know  what 
are  the  7iine-points  in  a  Law-case  !  This,  at  last,  proved  too 
much  for  his  Majesty.  Majesty's  abstruse  dubitations,  medi- 
tations on  such  treatment  by  a  Kaiser  and  others,  did  then,  it 
appears,  gloomily  settle  into  fixed  private  purpose  of  trying  it 
by  the  iron  ramrods,  when  old  Kur-Pfalz  should  die,- — of 
marching  with  eighty  thousand  men  into  the  Cleve  Countries, 
and  so  welcoming  any  Sulzbach  or  other  guests  that  might  ar- 
rive. Happily  old  Kur-Pfalz  did  not  die  in  his  Majesty's  time; 
survived  his  Majesty  several  years  :  so  that  the  matter  fell 
into  other  hands,- — and  was  settled  very  well,  near  a  century 
after. 

Of  certain  wranglings  with  the  little  Town  of  Herstal, — 
Prussian  Town  (part  of  the  Orange  Heritage,  once  King  Pepin's 
Town,  if  that  were  any  matter  now)  in  the  Bishop  of  Liege's 
neighbourhood,  Town  highly  insignificant  otherwise, — we  shall 
say  nothing  here,  as  they  will  fall  to  be  treated,  and  be  settled, 
at  an  after  stage.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  was  much  grieved  by 
the  contumacies  of  that  paltry  little  Herstal;  and  by  the  Bishop 
of  Lidgc's  highflown  procedures  in  countenancing  them  ; — es- 

*  'Versailles,  13111  January  1739'  (Olrioli,  Cescliicltte  der  Schlcsischcn  Kric-£C,  i. 
13);  Mauvillon,  ii.  405-/)46:  6ic. 


Chap.  IV.  NEWS   OF  THE   DAY.  249 

July-Dec.  1737- 

pecially  in  a  recruiting  case  that  had  fallen  out  there,  and 
brought  matters  to  a  head.^  The  Kaiser  too  was  afPiictively 
high  in  countenancing  the  Bishop  ;- — for  which  both  Kaiser  and 
Jlishop  got  due  payment  in  time.  But  his  Prussian  Majesty 
would  not  kindle  the  world  for  such  a  paltriness  ;  and  so  left  it 
hanging  in  a  vexatious  condition.  Such  things,  it  is  remarked, 
weigh  heavier  on  his  now  infirm  Majesty  than  they  were  wont, 
lie  is  more  subject  to  fits  of  Ijypochondria,  to  talk  of  abdicat- 
ing. "All  gone  wrong  !"  he  would  say,  if  any  little  flaw  rose, 
about  I'ecruiting  or  the  like.  "  One  might  go  and  live  at  Venice, 
were  one  rid  of  it  \"^^  And  his  deep-stung  clangorous  growl 
against  the  Kaiser's  treatment  of  him  bursts  out,  from  time  to 
time  ;  though  he  oftenest  pities  the  Kaiser,  too  ;  seeing  him  at 
such  a  pass  with  his  Turk  War  and  otherwise. 

It  was  in  this  Pfalz  busmess  that  Herr  Luiscius,  the  Prus- 
sian Minister  in  Holland,  got  into  trouble  ;  erf  whom  there  is  a 
light  dash  of  outline-portraiture  by  Voltaire,  which  has  made 
him  memorable  to  readers.  This  'fat  King  of  Prussia,'  says 
Voltaire,  was  a  dreadfully  avaricious  fellow,  unbeautiful  to  a  high 
degree  in  his  proceedings  with  mankind  : 

'  He  had  a  MinLster  at  the  Hague  called  Luiscius;  who  certainly  of 
'  all  Ministers  of  Crowned  Heads  was  the  worst  paid.  This  poor  man, 
'  to  warm  himself,  had  made  some  trees  be  felled  in  the  Garden  of 
'  Honslardik,  which  belonged  at  that  time  to  the  House  of  Prussia;  he 
'  thereupon  received  despatches  from  the  King,  intimating  that  a  year 
'  of  his  salary  was  forfeited.  Luiscius,  in  despair,  cut  his  throat  with 
'  probably  the  one  razor  he  had  {seitl  rasoir  qtCil cut);  an  old  valet  came 
'  to  his  assistance,  and  unhappily  saved  his  life.  In  after  years,  I  found 
'  his  Excellency  at  the  Hague;  and  have  occasionally  given  him  an  alms 
'  at  the  door  of  the  Vieille  Com-  (Old  Court),  a  Palace  belonging  to  the 
'  King  of  Prussia,  where  this  poor  Ambassador  had  lived  a  dozen  years. 
'  It  must  be  owned,  Turkey  is  a  republic  in  comparison  to  the  despotism 
'  exercised  by  Friedrich  Wilhelm.'" 

Here  truly  is  a  witty  sketch  ;  consummately  dashed  off,  as 
nobody  but  Voltaire  could  ;  '  round  as  Giotto's  O,'  done  at  one 
stroke.  Of  which  the  prose  facts  are  only  as  follows.  Luiscius, 
Prussian  Resident,  not  distinguished  by  salary  or  otherwise, 
had,  at  one  stage  of  these  negotiations,  been  told,  from  head- 

9  'December  1738'  i.s  crisis  of  the  recruiting  case  {Helden-Geschichtc,  ii.  63); 
'  17th  February  1739,'  Bishop's  highflown  appearance  in  it  (ib.  67) ;  Kaiser's  in  con- 
sequence, '  loth  April  1739.'  "*  Forster  (place  losj). 

n  OF-uvres  de  Voltaire  (J'ie  Privee,  or  what  they  now  call  Mcnwires),  ii.  15. 


2SO  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

July-Dec.  1737. 

quarters,  He  might,  in  casual  extra-official  ways,  if  it  seemed 
furthersome,  give  their  High  Mightinesses  the  hope,  or  notion, 
that  his  Majesty  did  not  intend  actual  war  about  that  Cleve- 
Jiilich  Succession, — being  a  pacific  Majesty,  and  unwilling  to 
involve  his  neighbours  and  mankind.  Luiscius,  instead  of 
casual  hint  delicately  dropped  in  some  good  way,  had  proceeded 
by  direct  declaration  ;  frank  assurance  to  the  High  Mighti- 
nesses, That  there  would  be  no  war.  Which  had  never  been 
quite  his  Majesty's  meaning,  and  pei'haps  was  now  becoming 
rather  the  reverse  of  it.  Disavowal  of  Luiscius  had  to  ensue 
thereupon  ;  who  produced  defensively  his  instruction  from  head- 
quarters ;  but  got  only  rebukes  for  such  heavy-footed  clumsy 
procedure,  so  unlike  Diplomacy  with  its  shoes  of  felt ; — and,  in 
brief,  was  turned  out  of  the  Diplomatic  function,  as  unfit  for 
it  ;  and  appointed  to  manage  certain  Orange  Properties,  frag- 
ments of  the  Orange  Heritage  which  his  Majesty  still  has  in 
those  Countries.  .This  misadventure  sank  heavily  on  the  spirits 
of  Luiscius,  otherwise  none  of  the  strongest-minded  of  men. 
Nor  did  he  prosper  in  managing  the  Orange  Properties  :  on 
the  contrary,  he  again  fell  into  mistakes  ;  got  soundly  rebuked 
for  injudicious  conduct  there, — 'cutting  trees,'  planting  trees, 
or  whatever  it  was  ; — and  this  produced  such  an. effect  on  Luis- 
cius, that  he  made  an  attempt  on  his  own  throat,  distracted 
mortal ;  and  was  only  stopped  by  somebody  rushing  in.  '  It 
'  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  tried  that  feat,'  says  Pdllnitz, 
'  and  been  prevented  ;  nor  was  it  long  till  he  made  a  new 
'  attempt,  which  was  again  frustrated  :  and  always  afterwards 
'  his  relations  kept  him  close  in  view  :'  Majesty  writing  com- 
fortable forgiveness  to  the  perturbed  creature,  and  also  'settling 
a  pension  on  him  ;'  adequate,  we  can  hope,  and  not  excessive ; 
'  which  Luiscius  continued  to  receive,  at  the  Hague,  so  long 
'  as  he  lived.'  These  arc  the  prose  facts  ;  not  definitely  dated 
to  us,  but  perfectly  clear  otherwise. •- 

Voltaire,  in  his  Dutch  excursions,  did  sometimes,  in  after 
years,  lodge  in  that  old  vacant  Palace,  called  Vieille  Cour,  at 
the  Hague  ;  where  he  gracefully  celebrates  the  decayed  for- 
saken state  of  matters  ;  dusky  vast  rooms  with  dim  gilding  ; 
forgotten  libraries  '  veiled  under  the  biggest  spiderwebs  in 
Europe  ;'  for  the  rest,  an  uncommonly  quiet  place,  convenient 

'■•^  Prillnitz,  ii.  495,  496;— the  '  twiu  attempt'  seems  to  h.ive  been  'June  1739'  (Gen- 
tleman's  Magazine,  in  mense,  p.  331). 


Chap.V.  VISIT  AT   LOO.  251 

Slh  July  1738. 

for  a  writing  nian,  besides  costing  nothing.  A  son  of  this  Liiis- 
cius,  a  good  young  lad,  it  also  appears,  was  occasionally 
Voltaire's  amanuensis  there  ;  him  he  did  recommend  zealously 
to  the  new  King  of  Prussia,  who  was  not  deaf  on  the  occasion. 
This,  in  the  fire  of  satirical  wit,  is  what  we  can  transiently  call 
'  giving  alms  to  a  Prussian  Excellency ;' — not  now  excellent, 
but  pensioned  and  cracked;  and  the  reader  perceives,  Luiscius 
had  probably  more  than  one  razor,  had  not  one.  been  enough, 
when  he  did  the  rash  act !  Friedrich  employed  Luiscius  Junior, 
with  no  result  that  we  hear  of  farther  ;  and  seems  to  have 
thought  Luiscius  Senior  an  absurd  fellow,  not  worth  mention- 
ing again  :  '  ran  away  from  the  Cleve  Country'  (probably  some 
madhouse  there)  '  above  a  year  ago,  I  hear  ;  and  what  is  the 
matter  where  such  a  crackbrain  end  P'^'"^ 

CHAPTER  V. 

VISIT  AT   LOO. 

The  Pfalz  question  being  in  such  a  predicament,  and  Luis- 
cius diplomatising  upon  it  in  such  heavy-footed  manner,  his 
Majesty  thinks  a  journey  to  Holland,  to  visit  one's  Kinsfolk 
there,  and  incidentally  speak  a  word  with  the  High  Mightinesses 
upon  Pfalz,  would  not  be  amiss.  Such  journey  is  decided  on ; 
Crown-Prince  to  accompany.  Summer  of  1738  :  a  short  visit, 
quite  without  fuss  ;  to  last  only  three  days  ; — mere  sequel  to 
the  Reviews  held  in  those  adjacent  Cleve  Countries  ;  so  that 
the  Gazetteers  may  take  no  notice.  All  which  was  done  ac- 
cordingly :  Crown-Prince's  first  sight  of  Holland  ;  and  one  of 
the  few  reportable  points  of  his  Rcinsberg  life,  and  not  quite 
without  memorability  to  him  and  us. 

On  the  8th  of  July  1738,  the  Review  Party  got  upon  the 
road  for  Wesel  :  all  through  July,  they  did  their  reviewing  in 
those  Cleve  Countries  ;  and  then  struck  across  for  the  Palace 
of  Loo  in  Geldern,  where  a  Prince  of  Orange  countable  kins- 
man to  his  Prussian  Majesty,  and  a  Princess  still  more  nearly 
connected, — Enghsh  George's  Daughter,  own  niece  to  his 
Prussian  Majesty, — are  in  waiting  for  this  distinguished  hon- 
our. The  Prince  of  Orange  we  have  already  seen,  for  a  mo- 
ment once  ;  at  the  siege  of  Philipsburg  four  years  ago,  when 

•3  Voltaire,  CEicvres  (Letter  to  Friedrich,  7th  October  17.10),  Ixxii.  2G1  ;  and  Fried- 
rich's  answer  (wrong  dated),  ib.  265 ;  Preuss,  .\xii.  33. 


252  AT  REINSBERG.  ijookx. 

8th  July  1738. 

the  sale  of  Chasot's  horses  went  off  so  well.  "  Nothing  hke 
seUing  horses  when  your  company  have  dined  well,"  whispered 
he  to  Chasot,  at  that  time  ;  since  which  date  we  have  heard 
nothing  of  his  Highness. 

He  is  not  a  beautiful  man  ;  he  has  a  crooked  back,  and 
features  conformable  ;  but  is  of  prompt  vivacious  nature,  and 
does  not  want  for  sense  and  good-humour.  Paternal  George,  the 
gossips  say,  warned  his  Princess,  Avhen  this  marriage  was 
talked  of,  "  You  will  find  him  very  ill-looking,  though!"  "And 
if  I  found  him  a  baboon — !"  answered  she  ;  being  so  heartily 
tired  of  St.  James's.  And  in  fact,  for  anything  I  have  heard, 
they  do  well  enough  together.  She  is  George  H.'s  eldest 
Princess  ; — next  elder  to  our  poor  Amelia,  who  was  once  so  in- 
teresting to  us  !  What  the  Crown-Prince  now  thought  of  all 
that,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  the  Books  say,  poor  Amelia  wore  the 
willow,  and  specially  wore  the  Prince's  miniature  on  her  breast 
all  her  days  after,  which  were  many.  Grew  corpulent,  some- 
w^hat  a  huddle  in  appearance  and  equipment,  '  eyelids  like 
uppev-//J>s,'  for  one  item  :  but  when  life  itself  fled,  the  minia- 
ture was  found  in  its  old  place,  resting  on  the  old  heart  after 
some  sixty  years.    O  Time,  O  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Time! — 

His  Majesty's  reception  at  Loo  was  of  the  kind  he  liked, 
— cordial,  honourable,  unceremonious  ;  and  these  were  three 
pleasant  days  he  had.  Pleasant  for  the  Crown-Prince  too  ;  as 
the  whole  Journey  had  rather  been  ;  Papa,  with  covert  satis- 
faction, finding  him  a  wise  creature,  after  all,  and  "  more  seri- 
ous" than  formerly.  "  Hm,  you  don't  know  what  things  are  in 
that  Fritz  !"  his  Majesty  murmured  sometimes,  in  these  later 
years,  with  a  fine  light  in  his  eyes. 

Loo  itself  is  a  beautiful  Palace  :  '  Loo,  close  by  the  Village 
'  Appcldoorn,  is  a  stately  brick  edifice,  built  with  architectural 
'  regularity  ;  has  finely  decorated  rooms,  beautiful  gardens,  and 
'  round  are  superb  alleys  of  oak  and  linden.'^  There  saunters 
pleasantly  our  Crown-Prince,  for  these  three  days  ; — and  one 
glad  incident  I  do  perceive  to  have  befallen  him  there  :  the 
arrival  of  a  Letter  from  Voltaire.  Letter  much  expected,  which 
had  followed  him  from  Wesel  ;  and  which  he  answers  here,  in 
this  brick  Palace,  among  the  superb  avenues  and  gardens.- 

'   I'liisching,  Erdbt'schrcibutig,  viii.  6i^. 

-  (liuvrcs,  xxi.  203,  the  I.t-ltcr,   '  Cuxy,  Jiiiio  1738  ;'   lb.   22.;,   llic  .Aiu«cr  to  it 
'  Loo,  6th  August  1738.' 


Chap.  V.  X'lSIT  AT   LOO.  253 

''ith  Aug.  1738. 

No  doubt  a  glad  incident,  irradiating,  as  with  a  sudden 
sunburst  in  gray  weather,  the  commonplace  of  things.  Here 
is  news  worth  listening  to';  news  as  from  the  empyrean  !  Free 
interchange  of  poetries  and  proses,  of  heroic  sentiments  and 
opinions,  between  the  Unicjue  of  Sages  and  the  Paragon  of 
Crown-Princes  ;  how  charming  to  both  !  Literary  business,  we 
perceive,  is  brisk  on  both  hands  ;  at  Cirey  the  Discoiirs  sur 
rHonwie  ('Sixth  IJiscojirs'  arrives  in  this  packet  at  Loo,  surely 
a  deathless  piece  of  singing);  nor  is  Reinsberg  idle:  Reinsberg 
is  copiously  doing  verse,  such  verse  !  and  in  prose,  very  ear- 
nestly, an  "  Aiiii-Macchiavcl;"  which  soon  afterwards  filled 
all  the  then  world,  though  it  has  now  fallen  so  silent  again. 
And  at  Paris,  as  Voltaire  announces  with  a  flourish,  '  M.  de 
Maupertuis's  excellent  Book,  Figure  de  la  Tcrre,  is  out  -p  M. 
de  Maupertuis,  home  from  the  Polar  regions  and  from  measur- 
ing the  Earth  there  ;  the  sublimest  miracle  in  Paris  society  at 
present.  Might  build,  new-build,  an  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Berlin  for  your  Royal  Highness,  one  day  ?  suggests  Voltaire, 
on  this  occasion  :  and  Friedrich,  as  we  shall  see,  takes  the  hint. 
One  passage  of  the  Crown-Prince's  Answer  is  in  these  terms  ; — 
fixing  this  Loo  Visit  to  its  date  for  us,  at  any  rate  : 

'■Loo  in  IloUand,  dtJi  August  1729-  *  *  -'-  write  from  a  place 
'  where  there  lived  once  a  great  man'  (William  IIL  of  England,  our 
IJutch  William) ;  '  which  is  now  the  Prince  of  Orange's  House.  The 
'  demon  of  Ambition  sheds  its  unhappy  poisons  over  his  days.  He 
'  might  be  the  most  fortunate  of  men ;  and  he  is  devoured  by  chagrins 
'  in  his  beautiful  Palace  here,  in  the  middle  of  his  gardens  and  of  a 
'  brilliant  Court.  It  is  pity  in  truth  ;  for  he  is  a  Prince  with  no  end 
'  of  wit  {iiifiiiiiut'iit  d'esprit)^  and  has  respectable  qualities.'  Not  .Stadt- 
holder,  unluckily ;  that  is  where  the  shoe  pinches ;  the  Dutch  are  on 
the  Republican  tack,  and  will  not  have  a  Stadtholder  at  present.  No 
help  for  it  in  one's  beautiful  gardens  and  avenues  of  oak  and  linden. 

'I  have  talked  a  great  deal  about  Newton  with  the  Princess,' — 
about  Newton ;  never  hinted  at  Amelia ;  not  permissible ! — '  from  New- 
'  ton  we  passed  to  Leibnitz ;  and  from  Leibnitz  to  the  late  Queen  of 
'  England,'  Caroline  lately  gone,  'who,  the  Prince  told  me,  was  of 
'  Clarke's  sentiment'  on  that  important  theological  controversy  now  dead 
to  mankind. x\nd  of  Jenkins  and  his  Ear  did  the  Princess  say  no- 
thing? That  is  now  becoming  a  high  phenomenon  in  England  !  But 
readers  nutst  wait  a  little. 

3  Paris,  1738:  Maupertuis's  'measurement  of  a  degree,'  in  the  utmost  North, 
1736-7  (to  prove  the  Earth  flattened  there).  Vivid  Narrative  ;  somewhat  gesticulative, 
but  duly  brief.  The  only  Book  of  that  great  Maupertuis  which  is  now  readable  to 
human  nature. 


254  AT   REINSBERG.  HookX. 

full  Ang.  1738. 

Pity  that  we  cannot  give  these  two  Letters  in  full ;  that  no 
reader,  almost,  could  be  made  to  understand  them,  or  to  care 
for  them  when  understood.  Such  the  cruelty  of  Time  upon  this 
Voltaire-Fi-iedrich  Correspondence,  and  some  others  ;  which 
were  once  so  rosy,  sunny,  and  are  now  fallen  drearily  extinct, 
— studiable  by  Editors  only  !  In  itself  the  Friedrich-Voltaire 
Correspondence,  we  can  see,  was  charming  ;  very  blossomy  at 
present  :  businesses  increasing;  mutual  admiration  now  risen 
to  a  great  height, — admiration  sincere  on  both  sides,  most  so 
on  the  Prince's,  and  extravagantly  expressed  on  both  sides, 
most  so  on  Voltaire's. 

Crown-Prince  becomes  a  Freemason  ;  and  is  harangued  by 
Mojisieur  de  Bielfeld. 

His  Majesty,  we  said,  had  three  pleasant  days  at  Loo  ; 
discoursing,  as  with  friends,  on  public  matters,  or  even  on 
more  private  matters,  in  a  frank  unconstrained  way.  He  is 
not  to  be  called  "  Majesty"  on  this  occasion  ;  but  the  fact,  at 
Loo,  and  by  the  leading  Mightinesses  of  the  Republic,  who 
come  copiously  to  compliment  him  there,  is  well  remembered. 
Talk  there  was,  with  such  leading  Mightinesses,  about  the 
Jiilich-and-Berg  question,  aim  of  this  Journey:  earnest  enough 
private  talk  with  some  of  them  ;  but  it  availed  nothing  ;  and 
would  not  be  worth  reporting  now  to  any  creature,  if  we  even 
knew  it.  In  fact,  the  Journey  itself  remains  mentionable  chiefly 
by  one  very  trifling  circumstance  ;  and  then  by  another,  not 
important  either,  which  followed  out  of  that.  The  trifling  cir- 
cumstance is, — That  Friedrich,  in  the  course  of  this  Journey, 
became  a  Freemason  :  and  the  unimportant  sequel  was,  That 
he  made  acquaintance  with  one  Bielfeld,  on  the  occasion  ; 
who  afterwards  wrote  a  Book  about  him,  which  was  once  much 
read,  though  never  much  worth  reading,  and  is  still  citable, 
with  precaution,  now  and  then.'*  Trifling  circumstance,  of 
Freemasonry,  as  we  read  in  Bielfeld  and  in  many  Books  after 
him,  befell  in  manner  following. 

Among  the  dinner-guests  at  Loo,  one  of  those  three  days, 
was  a  Prince  of  Lippe-Biickeburg, — Prince  of  small  territory, 
but  of  great  speculation  ;  whose  territory  lies  on  the  Weser, 

■i  Monsieur  !e  Baron  Jc  Bielfeld, /,<'//r<'j  FnmilihTs  ct  Autti-s,  1763;— second 
edition,  2  vols.  Ji  Leidc,  1767,  is  the  one  we  use  here. 


Chap.  V.  VISIT  AT   LOO.  255 

6th  Aug.  1738. 

leading  to  Dutch  connexions  ;  and  whose  speculations  stictch 
over  all  the  Universe,  in  a  high  fantastic  style: — he  was  a 
dinner-guest  ;  and  one  of  the  topics  that  came  up  was  Free- 
masonry ;  a  phantasmal  kind  of  object,  which  had  kindled 
itself,  or  rekindled,  in  those  years,  in  England  first  of  all ;  and 
was  now  hovering  about,  a  good  deal,  in  Germany  and  other 
countries  ;  pretending  to  be  a  new  ligbt  of  Heaven,  and  not 
a  bog-meteor  of  phosphorated  hydrogen,  conspicuous  in  the 
murk  of  things.  Bog-meteor,  foolish  putrescent  will-o'-wisp, 
his  INlajesty  promptly  defined  it  to  be  :  Tomfoolery  and  Kiii- 
dcrspiel,  what  else?  Whereupon  ingenious  Biickeburg,  who 
was  himself  a  Mason,  man  of  forty  by  this  time,  and  had  high 
things  in  him  of  the  Quixotic  type,  ventured  on  defence  ;  and 
was  so  respectful,  eloquent,  dextrous,  ingenious,  he  quite  cap- 
tivated, if  not  his  Majesty,  at  least  the  Crown-Prince,  who  was 
more  enthusiastic  for  high  things.  Crown-Prince,  after  table, 
took  his  Durchlaucht  of  Bi.ickeburg  aside  ;  talked  farther  on 
the  subject,  expressed  his  admiration,  his  conviction,  —  his 
wish  to  be  admitted  into  such  a  Hero  Fraternity.  Nothing 
could  be  welcomer  to  Durchlaucht.  And  so,  in  all  privacy, 
it  was  made-up  between  them,  That  Durchlaucht,  summoning 
as  many  mystic  Brothers  out  of  Hamburg  as  were  needful, 
should  be  in  waiting  with  them,  on  the  Crown-Prince's  road 
homeward, — say  at  Brunswick,  night  before  the  Fair,  where 
we  are  to  be, — and  there  make  the  Crown-Prince  a  Mason. ^ 

This  is  Bielfeld's  account,  repeated  ever  since  ;  substan- 
tially correct,  except  that  the  scene  was  not  Loo  at  all :  dinner 
and  dialogue,  it  now  appears,  took  place  in  Durchlaucht's  own 
neighbourhood,  during  the  Cleve  Review  time  ;  '  probably  at 
Minden,  1 7th  July  ;'  and  all  was  settled  into  fixed  program 
before  Loo  came  in  sight."  Bielfeld's  report  of  the  subsequent 
procedure  at  Brunswick,  as  he  saw  it  and  was  himself  part  of 
it,  is  liable  to  no  mistakes,  at  least  of  the  involuntary  kind  ; 
and  may,  for  anything  we  know,  be  correct  in  every  particular. 

He  says  (veihng  it  under  discreet  asterisks,  which  are  now 
decipherable  enough).  The  Durchlaucht  of  Lippe-Biickeburg 

*  Bielfeld,  i.  14-16;  Preuss,  i.  iii ;  Preuss,  Buck/iir  Jederfiiann,  1.  41. 

6  fEuvtes  de  Frederic,  ,xvi.  201:  Friedrich's  Letter  to  this  Durchlaucht,  'Comte 
de  Schaumbourg-Lippe'he  calls  him;  date,  '  Moyland,  26th  July  1738  :'  Moyland,"  a 
certain  Sc/tloss,  or  habitable  Mansion,  of  his  Majesty's,  few  miles  to  north  of  Mors 
in  the  Cleve  Country;  where  his  Majesty  used  often  to  pause; — and  where  (what 
wiH  be  much  more  remarkable  to  readers)  the  Crown-Prince  and  Voltaire  had  their 
hrst  meeting,  two  years  hence. 


256  AT   REINSP.ERG.  Book  X. 

1 2th  Auk.  '738. 

had  summoned  six  Brethren  of  the  Hamburg  Lodge;  of  whom 
we  mention  only  a  Graf  von  Kieh-nannsegge,  a  Baron  von 
Oberg,  both  from  Hanover,  and  Bielfeld  himself,  a  Merchant's 
Son,  of  Hamburg;  these,  with  '  Kiehnannsegge's  Valet  to  act  as 
Tiler,'  Valet  being  also  a  Mason,  and  the  rule  equality  of  man- 
kind,— were  to  have  the  honour  of  initiating  the  Crown-Prince. 
They  arrived  at  the  Western  Gate  of  Brunswick  on  the  i  ith 
of  August,  as  prearranged  ;  Prussian  Majesty  not  yet  come, 
but  coming  punctually  on  the  morrow.  It  is  Fair-time  ;  all 
manner  of  traders,  pedlars,  showmen  rendezvousing  ;  many 
neighbouring  Nobility  too,  as  was  still  the  habit.  "  Such  a 
bulk  of  light  luggage  ?"  said  the  Custom-house  people  at  the 
Gate; — but  were  pacified  by  slipping  them  a  ducat.  Upon 
which  we  drove  to  '  Korn's  Hotel'  (if  anybody  now  knew  it)  ; 
and  there  patiently  waited.  No  great  things  of  a  Hotel,  says 
]jielfeld  ;  but  can  be  put-up  with  ; — worst  feature  is,  we  dis- 
cover a  Hanover  acquaintance  lodging  close  by,  nothing  but 
a  wooden  partition  between  us  :  How  if  he  should  overhear! — 

Prussian  Majesty  and  suite,  under  universal  cannon  sal- 
vos, arrived,  Sunday  the  12th  ;  to  stay  till  Wednesday  (three 
days)  with  his  august  Son-in-law  and  Daughter  here.  Durch- 
laucht  Lippe  presents  himself  at  Court,  the  rest  of  us  not  ; 
privately  settles  with  the  Prince  :  "  Tuesday  night,  eve  of  his 
Majesty's  departure ;  that  shall  be  the  night :  at  Korn's  Hotel, 
late  enough  !"  And  there,  accordingly,  on  the  appointed  night, 
I4th-i5th  August  1738,  the  light-luggage  trunks  have  yielded 
their  stage-properties  ;  Jachin  and  Boaz  are  set  up,  and  all 
things  are  ready;  Tiler  (Kielmannsegge's  Valet)  watching  with 
drawn  sword  against  the  profane.  As  to  our  Hanover  neigh- 
bour, on  the  other  side  the  partition,  says  Bielfeld,  we  waited 
on  him,  this  day  after  dinner,  successively  paying  our  respects  ; 
successively  pledged  him  in  so  many  bumpers,  he  is  lying 
dead  drunk  hours  ago,  could  not  overhear  a  cannon-battery, 
he.  And  soon  after  midnight,  the  Crown-Prince  glides  in,  a 
Captain  Wartensleben  accompanying,  who  is  also  a  candidate; 
and  the  mysterious  rites  are  accomplished  on  both  of  them, 
on  the  Crown-Prince  first,  without  accident,  and  in  the  usual 
way. 

Bielfeld  could  not  enough  admire  the  demeanour  of  this 
Prince,  his  clearness,  sense,  quiet  brilliancy  ;  and  how  he  was 
so  '  intrepid,'  and  'possessed  himself  so  gracefully  in  the  most 


Chap.  y.  VISIT  AT   LOO.  257 

i5tli  Aug.  17^0. 

critical  instants.'  Extremely  genial  air,  and  so  young,  looks 
younger  even  than  his  years  :  handsome  to  a  degree,  though 
of  short  stature.  Physiognomy,  features,  ciuite  charming  ;  fine 
auburn  hair  {beau  brun),  a  negligent  plenty  of  it  ;  '  his  large 
Ijlue  eyes  have  something  at  once  severe,  sweet  and  gracious.' 
Eligible  Mason  indeed.  Had  better  make  dispatch  at  present, 
lest  Papa  be  getting  on  the  road  before  him  ! — Bielfeld  de- 
livered a  small  address,  composed  beforehand  ;  with  which 
the  Prince  seemed  to  be  content.  And  so,  with  masonic  grip, 
they  made  their  adieus  for  the  present  ;  and  the  Crown-Prince 
and  Wartensleben  were  back  at  their  posts,  ready  for  the  road 
along  with  his  Majesty. 

His  Majesty  came  on  Sunday  ;  goes  on  Wednesday,  home 
now  at  a  stretch  ;  and,  we  hope,  has  had  a  good  time  of  it 
here,  these  three  days.  Daughter  Charlotte  and  her  Serene 
Husband,  well  with  their  subjects,  well  with  one  another,  are 
doing  well ;  have  already  two  little  Children ;  a  Boy  the  elder, 
of  whom  we  have  heard  :  Boy's  name  is  Karl,  age  now  three ; 
sprightly,  reckoned  very  clever,  by  the  fond  parents  ; — who 
has  many  things  to  do  in  the  world,  by  and  by  ;  to  attack  the 
French  Revolution,  and  be  blown  to  pieces  by  it  on  the  Field 
of  Jena,  for  final  thing!  That  is  the  fate  of  little  Karl,  who 
frolics  about  here,  so  sunshiny  and  ingenuous  at  present. 

Karl's  Grandmother,  the  Serene  Dowager  Duchess,  Fried- 
rich's  own  Mother-in-law,  his  Majesty  and  Friedrich  would 
also  of  course  see  here.  Fine  Younger  Sons  of  hers  are  com- 
ing forward  ;  the  reigning  Duke  beautifully  careful  about  the 
furtherance  of  these  Cadets  of  the  House.  Here  is  Prince 
Ferdinand,  for  instance  ;  just  getting  ready  for  the  Grand 
Tour  ;  goes  in  a  month  hence  ■?  a  fine  eupeptic  loyal  young 
fellow  ;  who,  in  a  twenty  years  more,  will  be  Chatham's  Gener- 
alissimo, and  fight  the  French  to  some  purpose.  A  Brother 
of  his,  the  next  elder,  is  now  fighting  the  Turks  for  his  Kaiser  ; 
does  not  like  it  at  all,  under  such  Seckendorfs  and  War-Minis- 
tries as  there  are.  Then,  elder  still,  eldest  of  all  the  Cadets, 
there  is  Anton  Ulrich,  over  at  Petersburg  for  some  years  past, 
with  outlooks  high  enough  :  To  wed  the  Mecklenburg  Princess 

'  Mauvilloii  {Fils,  son  of  him  whoiu  we  cite  otherwise),  Ceschichic  Ferdinands 
Ilerzogs  voti  Brannschiveig-Luneburg  ^Leipzig,  1794),  i.  17-25- 

VOL.  III.  S 


25  8  AT  REINSBERG.  BookX. 

isth  Aug.  1738. 

there  (Daughter  of  the  unutterable  Duke),  and  be  as  good  as 
Czar  of  all  the  Russias  one  day.  Little  to  his  profit,  poor 
soul ! — -These,  historically  ascertainable,  are  the  aspects  of 
the  Brunswick  Court  during  those  three  days  of  Royal  Visit, 
in  Fair-time  ;  and  may  serve  to  date  the  Masonic  Transac- 
tion for  us,  which  the  Crown-Prince  has  just  accomplished  over 
at  Korn's. 

As  for  the  Transaction  itself,  there  is  intrinsically  no  harm 
in  this  initiation,  we  will  hope  :  but  it  behoves  to  be  kept  well 
hidden  from  Papa.  Papa's  good  opinion  of  the  Prince  has 
sensibly  risen,  in  the  course  of  this  Journey,  ".so  rational,  se- 
rious, not  dangling  about  among  the  women  as  formerly  ;" — 
and  what  a  shock  would  this  of  Korn's  Hotel  be,  should  Papa 
hear  of  it !  Poor  Papa,  from  officious  talebearers  he  hears 
many  things  :  is  in  distress  about  Voltaire,  about  Heterodoxies  ; 
— and  summoned  the  Crown-Prince,  by  express,  from  Reins- 
berg,  on  one  occasion  lately,  over  to  Potsdam,  '  to  take  the 
Communion'  there,  by  way  of  case-hardening  against  Voltaire 
and  Heterodoxies  !  Think  of  it,  human  readers  ! — We  will 
add  the  following  stray  particulars,  more  or  less  illustrative  of 
the  Masonic  Transaction  ;  and  so  end  that  trifling  affair. 

The  Captain  Wartensleben,  fellow-recipient  of  the  mys- 
teries at  Brunswick,  is  youngest  son,  by  a  second  marriage, 
of  old  Feldmarschall  Wartensleben,  now  deceased  ;  and  is 
consequently  Uncle,  Half-Uncle,  of  poor  Lieutenant  Katte, 
though  some  years  younger  than  Katte  would  now  have  been. 
Tender  memories  hang  by  Wartensleben,  in  a  silent  way!  He 
is  Captain  in  the  Potsdam  Giants  ;  somewhat  an  intimate,'and 
not  undeservedly  so,  of  the  Crown-Prince  ; — succeeds  Wolden 
as  Hofmarschall  at  Reinsberg,  not  many  months  after  this  ; 
Wolden  having  died  of  an  apoplectic  stroke.  Of  Bielfeld 
comes  a  Book,  slightly  citable  ;  from  no  other  of  the  Brethren, 
or  their  Feat  at  Korn's,  comes  (we  may  say)  anything  what- 
ever. The  Crown-Prince  prosecuted  his  Masonry,  at  Reins- 
berg or  elsewhere,  occasionally,  for  a  year  or  two  ;  but  was 
never  ardent  in  it  ;  and  very  soon  after  his  Accession,  left  off 
altogether  :  "  Child's-play  and  ignis  faiuns  mainly  !"  A  Royal 
Lodge  was  established  at  Berlin,  of  which  the  new  King  con- 
sented to  be  patron;  but  he  never  once  entered  the  place;  and 
only  his  Portrait  (a  welcomely  good  one,  still  to  be  found  there) 
presided  over  the  mysteries  in  that  Establishment.      Harmless 


Chap.  V.  VISIT  AT   LOO.  259 

15th  Aug.  173S. 

'  fire,'  but  too   '  fatuous  ;'   mere  tlamc-circlcs  cut  in  the  air,  for 

infants,  we  know  how  ! — ■ 

With  Lippe-Biickeburg  there  ensued  some  Correspondence, 
high  enough  on  his  Serenity's  side  ;  but  it  soon  languished  on 
the  Prince's  side;  and  in  private  Poetry,  within  a  two  years  of 
this  Brunswick  scene,  we  find  Lippe  used  proverbially  for  a 
type-specimen  of  Fools. ^  A  windy  fantastic  individual  ; — over- 
whelmed in  finance-difficulties  too  !  Lippe  continued  writing ; 
but  '  only  Secretaries  now  answered  him'  from  Berlin.  A  son 
of  his,  son  and  successor,  something  of  a  Quixote  too,  but 
notable  in  Artillery-practice  and  otherwise,  will  turn-up  at  a 
future  stage. 

Nor  is  Bielfeld  with  his  Book  a  thing  of  much  moment  to 
Friedrich  or  to  us.  Bielfeld  too  has  a  light  airy  vein  of  talk  ; 
loves  Voltaire  and  the  Philosophies  in  a  light  way  ; — knows 
the  arts  of  Society,  especially  the  art  of  flattering  ;  and  would 
fain  make  himself  agreeable  to  the  Crown-Prince,  being  anxi- 
ous to  rise  in  the  world.  His  Father  is  a  Hamburg  Merchant, 
Hamburg  'Sealing-wax  Manufacturer,'  not  ill-off  for  money  : 
Son  has  been  at  schools,  high  schools,  under  tutors,  posture- 
masters  ;  swashes  about  on  those  terms,  with  French  esprit 
in  his  mouth,  and  lace-ruffles  at  his  wrists  ;  still  under  thirty; 
showy  enough,  sharp  enough  ;  considerably  a  coxcomb,  as  is 
still  evident.  He  did  transiently  get  about  Friedrich,  as  we 
shall  see  ;  and  hoped  to'  have  sold  his  heart  to  good  purpose 
there  ; — was,  by  and  by,  employed  in  slight  functions  ;  not 
found  fit  for  grave  ones.  In  the  course  of  some  years,  he  got 
a  title  of  Baron  ;  and  sold  his  heart  more  advantageously,  to 
some  rich  Widow  or  Fraulein ;  with  whom  he  retired  to  Saxony, 
and  there  lived  on  an  Estate  he  had  purchased,  a  stranger  to 
Prussia  thenceforth. 

His  Book  {Lettres Familieres  et  Autres,  all  turning  on  Fried- 
rich), which  came  out  in  1763,  at  the  height  of  Friedrich's 
fame,  and  was  much  read,  is  still  freely  cited  by  Historians  as 
an  Authority.  But  the  reading  of  a  few  pages  sufficiently  in- 
timates that  these  '  Letters'  never  can  have  gone  through  a 
terrestrial  Post-office ;  that  they  are  an  afterthought,  composed 
from  vague  memory  and  imagination,  in  that  fine  Saxon  rc- 

8  "  Taciturne,  Catpn,  ayec  m?s  bons  parents, 
Aussi  fou  que  la  Lippe  avec  las  jeunes  gens." 

(Eitvres,  xi.  80  (Discvnrs  sur  la  Faiessete,  written  1740). 


26o  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

15th  Aug.  1738. 

treat; — a  sorrowful  ghost-like  '  Travels  of  Aiiacliarsis,'  instead 
of  living  words  by  an  eye-witness !  Not  to  be  cited  '  freely'  at 
all,  but  sparingly  and  under  conditions.  They  abound  in  small 
errors,  in  misdates,  mistakes;  small  fictions  even,  and  impos- 
sible pretensions:  —  foolish  mortal,  to  write  down  his  bit  of 
knowledge  in  that  form  !  For  the  man,  in  spite  of  his  lace- 
ruffles  and  gesticulations,  has  brisk  eyesight  of  a  superficial 
kind :  he  could  have  done  us  this  little  service  (apparently  his 
one  mission  in  the  world,  for  which  Nature  gave  him  bed  and 
board  here) ;  and  he,  the  lace-ruffles  having  gone  into  his  soul, 
has  been  tempted  into  misdoing  it ! — Bielfeld  and  Bieldfeld's 
Book,  such  as  they  are,  appear  to  be  the  one  conquest  Fried- 
rich  got  of  Freemasonry;  no  other  result  now  traceable  to  U5 
of  that  adventure  in  Korn's  Hotel,  crowning  event  of  the  Journey 
to  Loo. 

Seckeiidorf  gets  lodged  in  Grdtz. 

Feldmarschail  Seckendorf,  after  unheard-of  wrestlings  with 
the  Turk  War,  and  the  Vienna  War-Office  [Hofkriegsrath),  is 
sitting,  for  the  last  three  weeks, — where  thinks  the  reader? — 
in  the  Fortress  of  Gratz  among  the  Hills  of  Styria;  a  State- 
Prisoner,  not  likely  to  get  out  soon!  Seckendorf  led  forth,  in 
1737,  "such  an  Army,  for  number,  spirit  and  equipment,"  say 
the  Vienna  people,  "as  never  marched  against  the  Turk  be- 
fore ;"  and  it  must  be  owned,  his  ill  success  has  been  unparal- 
leled. The  blame  was  not  altogether  his  ;  not  chiefly  his,  except 
for  his  rash  undertaking  of  the  thing,  on  such  terms  as  there 
were.  But  the  truth  is,  that  first  scene  we  saw  of  him, — an 
Army  all  gone  out  trumpeting  and  drumming  into  the  woods 
iojlndits  Commander-in-Chief, — was  an  emblem  of  the  Cam- 
paign in  general.  Excellent  Army;  but  commanded  by  nobody 
in  particular;  commanded  by  a  Hojkriegsrath  at  Vienna,  by  a 
Franz  Duke  of  Tuscany,  by  Feldmarschail  Seckendorf,  and  by 
subordinates  who  were  disobedient  to  him:  which  accordingly, 
almost  without  help  of  the  Turk  and  his  disorderly  ferocity, 
rubbed  itself  to  pieces  before  long.  Roamed  about,  now  hither 
now  thither,  with  plans  laid  and  then  with  plans  suddenly 
altered.  Captain  being  Chaos  mainly;  in  swampy  countries,  by 
overflowing  rivers,  in  hunger,  hot  weather,  forced  marches ;  till 
it  was  marched  gradually  off  its  feet;  and  the  clouds  of  chaotic 
Turks,  who  did  finally  show  face,  had  a  cheap  pennyworth  of 


Chap.  V.  VISIT  AT  LOO.  261 

15th  Aug.  ly^S. 

it.  Never  was  such  a  campaign  seen  as  this  of  Seckendorf  in 
I  737,  said  mankind.  Except  indeed  that  the  present  one,  Cam- 
paign of  1738,  in  those  parts,  under  a  different  hand,  is  still 
worse;  and  the  Campaign  of  1739,  under  still  a  different,  will 
be  worst  of  all! — Kaiser  Karl  and  his  Austrians  do  not  prosper 
in  this  Turk  War,  as  the  Russians  do, — who  indeed  have  got 
a  General  equal  to  his  task :  Miinnich,  a  famed  master  in  the 
art  of  handling  Turks  and  War-Ministries  :  real  father  of  Rus- 
sian Soldiering,  say  the  Russians  still.-' 

Campaign  1737,  with  clouds  of  chaotic  Turks  now  sabering 
on  the  skirts  of  it,  had  not  yet  ended,  when  vSeckendorf  was 
called  out  of  it ;  on  polite  pretexts,  home  to  Vienna ;  and  the 
command  given  to  another.  At  the  gates  of  Vienna,  in  the  last 
days  of  October  1737,  an  Official  Person,  waiting  for  the  Feld- 
marschall,  was  sorry  to  inform  him,  That  he,  Feldmarschall 
Seckendorf,  was  \nider  arrest ;  arrest  in  his  own  house,  in  the 
Koldmarkt  (Cabbage-market  so-called),  a  captain  and  twelve 
musketeers  to  watch  over  him  with  fixed  bayonets  there  ; 
strictly  private,  till  the  Hofkriegsrath  had  satisfied  themselve-s 
in  a  point  or  two.  "  Hmph  !"  snuffled  he ;  with  brow  blushing 
slate-colour,  I  should  think,  and  gray  eyes  much  alight.  And 
ever  since,  for  ten  months  or  so,  Seckendorf,  sealed-up  in  the 
Cabbage-market,  has  been  fencing  for  life  with  the  Hofkriegs- 
rath; who  want  satisfaction  upon  '  eighty-six'  different  '  points ;' 
and  make  no  end  of  chicaning  to  one's  clear  answers.  And  the 
Jesuits  preach,  too:  "A  Heretic,  born  enemy  of  Christ  and  his 
Kaiser;  -what  is  the  use  of  questioning  1"  And  the  Heathen  rage, 
and  all  men  gnash  their  teeth,  in  this  uncomfortable  manner. 

Answering  done,  there  comes  no  verdict,  much  less  any 
acquittal;  the  captain  and  twelve  musketeers,  three  of  them 
with  fixed  bayonets  in  one's  very  bedroom,  continue.  One  even- 
ing, 2 1st  July  1738,  glorious  news  from  the  seat  of  War, — not 
////  evening,  as  the  Imperial  Majesty  was  out  hunting, — enters 
Vienna;  blowing  trumpets;  shaking  flags:  "Grand  Victory 
over  the  Turks !"  so  we  call  some  poor  skirmish  there  has  been ; 
and  Vienna  bursting  all  into  three-times-three,  the  populace 
get  \ery  high.  Populace  rush  to  the  Kohlmarkt  :  break  the 
Seckendorf  windows ;  intent  to  massacre  the  Seckendorf,  had 

fl  See  Mannstein  for  IMiinnich's  plans  with  the  Turk  (methods  and  devices  of 
steady  Discipline  in  small  numbers  versus  impetuous  Ferocity  in  great) :  and  Beren- 
horst  {Beirachtiingen  iiber  die  Kriegskunst,  Leipzig,  1796),  a  first-rate  Authority, 
for  examples  and  eulogies  of  them. 


262  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

15th  Aug.  1738. 

not  fresh  military  come,  who  were  obliged  to  fire  and  kill  one 
or  two.  '  The  house  captain  and  his  twelve  musketeers,  of 
'  themselves,  did  wonders ;  Seckendorf  and  all  his  domestics 
'  were  in  arms:'  "yanii-bleu"  for  the  last  time! — This  is  while 
the  Crown-Prince  is  at  Wesel ;  sound  asleep,  most  likely ;  Loo, 
and  the  Masonic  adventure,  perhaps  twinkling  prophetically  in 
his  dreams. 

At  two  next  morning,  an  Official  Gentleman  informs  Seck- 
endorf, That  he,  for  his  part,  must  awaken,  and  go  to  Gratz. 
And  in  one  hour  more  (3  a.m.),  the  Official  Gentleman  rolls 
off  with  him;  drives  all  day;  and  delivers  his  Prisoner  at  Gratz  : 
— '  Not  so  much  as  a  room  ready  there ;  Prisoner  had  to  wait 
an  hour  in  the  carriage,'  till  some  summary  preparation  were 
made.  Wall-neighbours  of  the  poor  Feldmarschall,  in  his  For- 
tress here,  were  'a  Gold-Cook  (swindling  Alchemist),  who  had 
'  gone  crazy ;  and  an  Irish  Lieutenant,  confined  thirty-two  years 
'  for  some  love-adventure,  likewise  pretty  crazy;  their  noises 
'  in  the  night-time  much  disturbed  the  Feldmarschall.'^''  One 
human  thing  there  still  is  in  his  lot,  the  Feldmarschall's  old 
Grafinn.  True  old  Dame,  she,  both  in  the  Kohlmarkt  and  at 
Gratz,  stands  by  him,  '  imprisoned  along  with  him'  if  it  must 
be  so ;  ministering,  comforting,  as  only  a  true  Wife  can  ;• — 
and  hope  has  not  quite  taken  wing. 

Rough  old  Feldmarschall ;  now  turned  of  sixty:  never  made 
such  a  Campaign  before,  as  this  of '37  followed  by  '38  !  There 
sits  he;  and  will  not  trouble  us  any  more  during  the  present 
Kaiser's  lifetime.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  is  amazed  at  these  sud- 
den cantings  of  Fortune's  wheel,  and  grieves  honestly  as  for 
an  old  friend :  even  the  Crown-Prince  finds  Seckendorf  pun- 
ished unjustly;  and  is  almost  sorry  for  him,  after  all  that  has 
come  and  gone. 

The  Ear  0/ Jenkins  reanerges. 

We  must  add  the  following,  distilled  from  the  English 
Newspapers,  though  it  is  now  almost  four  months  after  date : 

^London,  isl  April  1738.  In  the  linglish  House  of  Commons, 
'  much  more  in  the  English  Public,  there  has  been  furious  debating  for 
'  .a  foi'lnighl  past :  Committee  of  the  whole  House,  examining  witnesses, 
'hearing  counsel;  subject,  the  Termagant  of  Spain,  and  her  West- 
'  Indian  procedures; — she,  by  her  procedures  .somewhere,  is  always  cut- 

'"  Seckvndor/s  Lchcii,  ii.  170-277.     See  Schmettau,  pp.  27-59. 


Chap.  V.  VISIT  AT  LOO.  263 

isth  Aug.  1738. 

'  ting-out  work  for  mankind  !  How  Juiglish  and  oilier  strangers,  fallen- 
'  in  with  in  those  seas,  are  treated  by  the  Spaniards,  readers  havelieard, 
'  nay  have  chanced  to  see;  and  it  is  a  fact  painfully  known  to  all  na- 
'  tions.  Fact  which  England,  for  one  nation,  can  no  longer  put-up 
'  with.  Walpole  and  the  Ofticial  Persons  would  fain  smooth  the  matter; 
'  but  the  West-India  Interest,  the  City,  all  Mercantile  and  Navigation 
'  Interests  are  in  dead  earnest:  Committee  of  the  whole  House,  "  Pre- 
'  sided  by  Alderman  Perry,"  has  not  ears  enough  to  hear  the  immensi- 
'  ties  of  evidence  offered ;  slow  Public  is  gradually  kindling  to  some 
'  sense  of  it.  This  had  gone  on  for  two  weeks,  when — what  shall  we 
'  say? — i\\Q  Ear  of  yciikiiis  reemerged  for  the  second  time;  and  pro- 
'  duced  important  effects ! 

'  Where  Jenkins  had  l)cen  all  this  while, — steadfastly  navigating  to 
'  and  fro,  steadfastly  eating  tough  junk  with  a  wetting  of  rum;  not 
'  thinking  too  much  of  past  labours,  yet  privately  "always  keeping  his 
'  lost  Ear  in  cotton"  (with  a  kind  of  ursine  piety,  or  other  dumb  feeling), 
'  — no  mortal  now  knows.  But  to  all  mortals  it  is  evident  he  was  home 
'  in  London  at  this  time ;  no  doubt  a  noted  member  of  Wapping  society, 
'  the  much-enduring  Jenkins.  And  witnesses,  probably  not  one  but 
'  many,  had  mentioned  him  to  this  Committee,  as  a  case  eminently  in 
'  jioint.  Committee,  as  can  still  be  read  in  its  Rhadamanthine  Journals, 
'  orders:  "Z>/f  Jovis,  16°  Martii  1737-8,  That  Captain  Robert  Jenkins 
'  do  attend  this  House  immediately;"  and  then  more  specially,  "17" 
'  Martii,'''' — captious  objections  having  risen  in  Oflicial  quarters,  as  we 
'  guess, — "That  Captain  Robert  Jenkins  do  attend  upon  Tuesday  morn- 
'  ing  next.""  Tuesday  next  is  21st  March, — ist  of  April  1738  by  our 
'  modern  Calendar; — and  on  that  day,  not  a  doubt,  Jenkins  does  at- 
'  lend;  narrates  that  tremendous  passage  we  already  heard  of,  seven 
'  years  ago,  in  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of  Florida ;  and  produces  his 
'  Ear  wrapt  in  cotton : — setting  all  on  flame  (except  the  Official  per- 
'  sons)  at  sight  of  it. ' 

Official  persons,  as  their  wont  is  in  the  pressure  of  debate, 
endeavoured  to  deny,  to  insinuate  in  their  vile  Newspapers, 
That  Jenkins  lost  his  Ear  nearer  home  and  not  for  nothing  ; 
as  one  still  reads  in  the  History  Books. i'  Sheer  calumnies,  we 
now  find.  Jenkins's  account  was  doubtless  abundantly  em- 
phatic ;  but  there  is  no  ground  to  question  the  substantial  truth 
of  him  and  it.  And  so,  after  seven  years  of  unnoticeable  burn- 
ing upon  the  thick  skin  of  the  English  Public,  the  case  of 
Jenkins  accidentally  burns  through,  and  sets  England  bellow^- 
ing;  such  a  smart  is  there  of  it, — not  to  be  soothed  by  Official 
wet  -  cloths  ;  but  getting  worse  and  worse,  for  the  nineteen 
months  ensuing.    Arid  in  short — But  we  will  not  anticipate ! 

"  Coiniiions  Joiiritah,  x.xiii.  (in  ctiebus).  '^  Tiiidal  (.nx.  372),  Coxe,  &c. 


264  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

1739- 

CHAPTER  VI. 

LAST  YEAR  OF  REINSBERG;    JOURNEY  TO  PREUSSEN. 

The  Idyllium  of  Reinsberg, — of  which,  except  in  the  way 
of  sketchy  suggestion,  there  can  no  history  be  given, — lasted 
less  than  four  years ;  and  is  now  coming  to  an  end,  unexpect- 
edly soon.  A  pleasant  Arcadian  Summer  in  one's  life ; — though 
it  has  not  wanted  its  occasional  discords,  flaws  of  ill  weather 
in  the  general  sunshine.  Papa,  always  in  uncertain  health  of 
late,  is  getting  heavier  of  foot  and  of  heart  under  his  heavy 
burdens;  and  sometimes  falls  abstruse  enough,  liable  to  be- 
wilderments from  bad  people  and  events  :  not  much  worth 
noticing  here.^  But  the  Crown-Prince  has  learned  to  deal  with 
all  this ;  all  this  is  of  transient  nature ;  and  a  bright  long  future 
seems  to  lie  ahead  at  Reinsberg; — brightened  especially  by  the 
Literary  Element;  which,  in  this  year  of  1739,  is  brisker  than 
it  had  ever  been.  Distinguished  Visitors,  of  a  literary  turn, 
look  in  at  Reinsberg  ;  the  Voltaire  Correspondence  is  very 
lively;  on  Friedrich's  part  there  is  copious  production,  various 
enterprise,  in  the  form  of  prose  and  verse;  thoughts  even  of 
going  to  press  with  some  of  it:  in  short,  the  Literary  Interest 
rises  very  prominent  at  Reinsberg  in  1739.  Biography  is  apt 
to  forget  the  Literature  there  (having  her  reasons) ;  but  must 
at  last  take  some  notice  of  it,  among  the  phenomena  of  the 
year. 

To  the  young  Prince  himself,  'courting  tranquillity,'  as  his 
door-lintel  intimated,-  and  forbidden  to  be  active  except  within 
limits,  this  of  Literature  was  all  along  the  great  light  of  exist- 
ence at  Reinsberg;  the  supplement  to  all  other  employments 
or  wants  of  employment  there.  To  Friedrich  himself,  in  those 
old  days,  a  great  and  supreme  interest;  while  again,  to  the 
modern  Biographer  of  him,  it  has  become  dark  and  vacant;  a 
thing  to  be  shunned,  not  sought.  So  that  the  fact  as  it  stood 
with  Friedrich  differs  far  from  any  description  that  can  be 
given  of  the  fact.  Alas,  we  have  said  already,  and  the  constant 
truth  is,  Friedrich's  literatures,  his  distinguished  literary  visit- 
ors and  enterprises,  which  were  once  brand-new  and  brilliant, 

'  See  Pcillnitz,  ii.  so.9-5'5  I  Fiiedrich's  Letter  to  Wilhclmin.-i  ('Berlin,  :;>oth  Jan. 
1735:'  in  CEuvres,  xxvii.  part  ist,  pp.  60-61  1 ;  &c.  &c. 
^  ' Fredcrico  trangiii/lita/eiii  coloiti'  (Infih,  p.  280). 


Chap.  VI.  LAST  YEAR  OF   REINSBER(;.  265 

'739- 

have  grown  old  as  a  garment,  and  are  a  sorrow  rather  than 
otherwise  to  existing  mankind !  Conscientious  readers,  who 
would  represent  to  themselves  the  vanished  scene  at  Rcinsberg, 
in  this  point  more  especially,  must  make  an  effort. 

As  biographical  documents,  these  Poetries  and  Proses  of 
the  young  man  give  a  very  pretty  testimony  of  him  ;  but  are 
not  of  value  otherwise.  In  fact,  they  promise,  if  we  look  well 
into  them.  That  here  is  probably  a  practical  faculty  and  intel- 
lect of  the  highest  kind  ;  which  again,  on  the  speculative,  es- 
pecially on  the  poetical  side,  will  never  be  considerable,  nor 
has  even  tried  to  be  so.  This  young  soul  does  not  deal  in 
meditation  at  all,  and  his  tendencies  are  the  reverse  of  senti- 
mental. Here  is  no  introspection,  morbid  or  other,  no  pathos 
or  complaint,  no  melodious  informing  of  the  public  what  dread- 
ful emotions  you  labour  under  :  here,  in  rapid  prompt  form, 
indicating  that  it  is  truth  and  not  fable,  are  generous  aspira- 
tions for  the  world  and  yourself,  generous  pride,  disdain  of  .the 
ignoble,  of  the  dark,  mendacious  ; — here,  in  short,  is  a  swift- 
handed,  \aliant,  j/^^'Z-bright  kind  of  soul  ;  very  likely  for  a 
King's,  if  other  things  answer,  and  not  likely  for  a  Poet's. 
No  doubt  he  could  have  made  something  of  Literature  too  ; 
could  have  written  Books,  and  left  some  stamp  of  a  veracious, 
more  or  less  victorious  intellect,  in  that  strange  province  too. 
But  then  he  must  have  applied  himself  to  it,  as  he  did  to  reign- 
ing :  done  in  the  cursory  style,  we  see  what  it  has  come  to. 

It  is  certain,  Friedrich's  reputation  suffers,  at  this  day, 
from  his  writing.  From  his  not  having  written  nothing,  he 
stands  lower  with  the  world.  Which  seems  hard  measure  ; — - 
though  perhaps  it  is  the  law  of  the  case,  after  all.  '  Nobody 
'  in  these  days,'  says  my  poor  Friend,  '  has  the  least  notion 
'  of  the  sinful  waste  there  is  in  talk,  whether  by  pen  or  tongue. 
'  Better  probably  that  King  Friedrich  had  written  no  Verses ; 
'  nay  I  know  not  that  David's  Psalms  did  David's  Kingship 
'  any  good  !'  Which  may  be  truer  than  it  seems.  Fine  aspir- 
ations, generous  convictions,  purposes, — they  are  thought  very 
fine  :  but  it  is  good,  on  various  accounts,  to  keep  them  rather 
silent  ;  strictly  unvocal,  except  on  call  of  real  business  ;  so 
dangerous  are  they  for  becoming  conscious  of  themselves  ! 
Most  things  do  not  ripen  at  all  except  underground.  And  it 
is  a  sad  but  sure  truth,  that  every  time  you  speak  of  a  fine 
purpose,  especially  if  with  eloquence  and  to  the  admiration  of 


266  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

'739- 

bystanders,  there  is  the  less  chance  of  your  ever  making  a  fact 
of  it  in  your  poor  life. — If  Reinsberg,  and  its  vacancy  of  great 
employment,  was  the  cause  of  Friedrich's  verse-writing,  we  will 
not  praise  Reinsberg  on  that  head  !  But  the  truth  is.  Fried- 
rich's  verses  came  from  him  with  uncommon  fluency  ;  and 
were  not  a  deep  matter,  but  a  shallow  one,  in  any  sense.  Not 
much  more  to  him  than  speaking  with  a  will  ;  than  fantasying 
on  the  flute  in  an  animated  strain.  Ever  and  anon  through 
his  life,  on  small  hint  from  without  or  on  great,  there  was 
found  a  certain  leakage  of  verses,  which  he  was  prompt  to 
utter  ; — and  the  case  at  Reinsberg,  or  afterwards,  is  not  so 
serious  as  we  might  imagine. 

Pine's  Horace ;  and  the  Anti-Macchiavel. 

In  late  months  Friedrich  had  conceived  one  notable  pro- 
ject; which  demands  a  word  in  this  place.  Did  modern  readers 
ever  hear  of  'John  Pine,  the  celebrated  English  Engraver'.? 
John  Pine,  a  man  of  good  scholarship,  good  skill  with  his 
burin,  did  'Tapestries  of  the  House  of  Lords,'  and  other  things 
of  a  celebrated  nature,  famous  at  home  and  abroad  :  but  his 
peculiar  feat,  w^hich  had  commended  him  at  Reinsberg,  was 
an  Edition  of  Horace :  excjuisite  old  Flacc2is  brought  to  per- 
fection, as  it  were  ;  all  done  with  vignettes,  classical  border- 
ings,  symbolic  marginal  ornaments,  in  fine  taste  and  accuracy, 
the  Text  itself  engraved  ;  all  by  the  exquisite  burin  of  Pine.-'' 
This  Edition  had  come  out  last  year,  famous  over  the  world  ; 
and  was  by  and  by,  as  rumour  bore,  to  be  followed  by  a  Virgil 
done  in  the  like  exquisite  manner. 

The  Pine  Horace,  part  of  the  Pine  Virgil  too,  still  exist 
in  the  libraries  of  the  curious  ;  and  are  doubtless  known  to 
the  proper  parties,  though  much  forgotten  by  others  of  us. 
To  Friedrich,  scanning  the  Pine  phenomenon  with  interest 
then  brand-new,  it  seemed  an  admirable  tribute  to  classical 
genius  ;  and  the  idea  occurred  to  him,  "  Is  not  there,  by  Hea- 
ven's blessing,  a  living  genius,  classical  like  those  antique 
Romans,  and  worthy  of  a  like  tribute  .'"'  Friedrich's  idea  was. 
That  Voltaire  being  clearly  the  supreme  of  Poets,  the  Henri- 
ade,  his  supreme  of  Poems,  ought  to  be  engraved  like  Flaccus  j 
text  and  all,   with  vignettes,  tail -pieces,   classical   borderings 

■'  'London,  1737'  f^Biogritphie  U>th:ersclli',  xxxiv.  465). 


Chap.  VI.  LAST  YEAR  OF  REINSBERG.  267 

'739- 

beautifully  symbolic  and  exact;  by  the  exquisite  burin  of  Pine. 
Which  idea  the  young  hero-worshipper,  in  spite  of  his  finance- 
difficulties,  had  resolved  to  realise  ;  and  was  even  now  busy 
with  it,  since  his  return  from  Loo.  "  Such  beautiful  enthu- 
siasm," say  some  readers  ;  "and  in  behalf  of  that  particular 
demigod  !"  Alas,  yes  ;  to  Friedrich  he  was  the  best  demigod 
then  going  ;  and  Friedrich  never  had  any  doubt  about  him. 

For  the  rest,  this  heroic  idea  could  not  realise  itself ;  and 
we  are  happy  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Pine  or  the 
Heimade.  Correspondences  were  entered  into  with  Pine,  and 
some  pains  taken  :  Pine's  high  prices  were  as  nothing  ;  but 
Pine  was  busy  with  his  Virgil ;  probably,  in  fact,  had  little 
stomach  for  the  Henriade  ;  "  could  not  for  seven  years  to  come 
enter  upon  it :"  so  that  the  matter  had  to  die  away  ;  and  no- 
thing came  of  it  but  a  small  Dissej'tatioti,  or  Introductory  Essay, 
which  the  Prince  had  got  ready, — which  is  still  to  be  found 
printed  in  Voltaire's  Works'*  and  in  Friedrich's,  if  any  body 
now  cared  much  to  read  it.  Preuss  says  it  was  finished,  '  the 
loth  August  1739  ;'  '"^"^^  that  minute  fact  in  Chronology,  with 
the  above  tale  of  Hero-worship  hanging  to  it,  will  suffice  my 
readers  and  me. 

But  there  is  another  literary  project  on  hand,  which  did 
take  effect  ; — much  worthy  of  mention,  this  year ;  the  whole 
world  having  risen  into  such  a  Chorus  of  Te  Deiwi  at  sight  of 
it  next  year.  In  this  year  falls,  what  at  any  rate  was  a  great 
event  to  Friedrich,  as  literary  man,  the  printing  of  his  first 
Book, — assiduous  writing  of  it  with  an  eye  to  print.  The  Book 
is  that  '  celebrated  Anti-  Macchiavel,'  ever -praiseworthy  Re- 
futation of  Macchiavel's  Prince j  concerning  which  there  are 
such  immensities  of  Voltaire  Correspondence,  now  become,  like 
the  Book  itself,  inane  to  all  readers.  This  was  the  chosen 
soul's  employment  of  Friedrich,  the  flower  of  life  to  him,  at 
Reinsberg,  through  the  year  1739.  It  did  not  actually  get  to 
press  till  Spring  1740  ;  nor  actually  come  out  till  Autumn, — 
by  which  time  a  great  change  had  occurred  in  Friedrich's  title 
and  circumstances :  but  we  may  as  well  say  here  what  little  is 
to  be  said  of  it  for  modern  readers. 

'  The  Crown-Prince,  reading  this  bad  Book  of  Macchiavel's,  years 
'  ago,  had  been  struck,  as  all  honest  souls,  especially  governors  or  ap- 
'  CEitvres,  xiii.  393-402. 


2  68  AT   RE  INS  BERG.  Book  X. 

1739- 

prentices  to  governing,    must  be,  if  they  thought  of  reading  such  a 
thing,  with  its  Ijadness,  its  falsity,  detestability ;  and  came  by  degrees, 
obliquely  fishing-out  Voltaire's  opinion  as  he  Avent  along,  on  the  no- 
tion of  refuting  Macchiavel ;  and  did   refute  him,  the  best  he  could. 
Set  down,  namely,  his  own  earnest  contradiction  to  such  ungrounded 
noxious  doctrines;  elaborating  the  same  more  and  more  into  clear 
logical  utterance,  till  it  swelled  into  a  little  Volume ;  which,  so  excel- 
lent was  it,  so  important  to  mankind,  Voltaire  and  friends  were  clear 
for  publishing.    Published  accordingly  it  was ;  goes  through  the  press 
next  Summer  (1740),  under  Voltaire's  anxious  superintendence:^  for 
the  Prince  has  at  length  consented  ;  and  Voltaire  hands  the  Manuscript, 
with  mystery  yet  with  hints,  to  a  Dutch  Bookseller,  one  Van  Duren 
at  the  Hague,  who  is  eager  enough  to  print  such  an  article.    Voltaire 
himself, — such  his  magnanimous  friendship,   especially  if  one  have 
Dutch  Lawsuits,  or  business  of  one's  own,  in  those  parts, — takes  charge 
of  correcting ;  lodges  himself  in  the  "Old  Court"  (Prussian  Mansion, 
called  Vii'iZ/e  Coitr,  at  the  Hague,  where  "Luiscius, "figuratively  speak- 
ing, may  "get  an  alms"  from  us)  ;  and  therefrom  corrects,  alters;  cor- 
responds with  the  Prince  and  Van  Duren,  at  a  great  rate.      Keeps  cor- 
recting, altering,  till  Van  Duren  thinks  he  is  spoiling  it  for  sale; — and 
privately  determines  to  preserve  the  original  Manuscript,  and  have  an 
edition  of  that,  with  only  such  corrections  as  seem  good  to  Van  Duren. 
A  treasonous  step  on  this  mule  of  a  Bookseller's  part,  thinks  Voltaire  ; 
but  mulishly  persisted  in  by  the  man.      Endless  correspondence,  to 
right  and  left,  ensues ;  intolerably  wearisome  to  every  reader.      And, 
in  fine,   there  came  out,   in  Autumn  next,' — the  Crown-Prince  no 
longer  a  Crown-Prince  by  that  time,   but  shining  conspicuous  under 
Higher  Title,  —  'not  one  Anti-Macchiavd  ovAy^  but  a  couple  or  a  trio 
'  o{  Anti-MaccJiiaveb  ;  as  printed  "at  the  Hague;"  as  reprinted  "at 
'  London"  or  elsewhere ;  the  confused  Bibliography  of  which  has  now 
'  fallen  very  insignificant.   First  there  was  the  Voltaire  text.  Authorised 
'  Edition,    "  end  of  September  1740;"  then  came,  in  few  weeks,  the 
'  Van  Duren  one;  then,  probably,  a  third,  combining  the  two,  the  vari- 
'  ations  given  as  foot-notes : — in  short,  I  know  not  how  many  editions, 
'  translations,   printings    and   rcprintings ;    all   the  world   being    much 
'  taken  up  ^ith  such  a  message  from  the  upper  regions,  and  eager  to 
'  read  it  in  any  form. 

'As  to  Fricdrich  himself,  who  of  course  says  nothing  of  the  Afiti- 
'  Macchiavel  in  public,  he  privately,  to  Voltaire,  disowns  all  these 
'  editions ;  and  intends  to  give  a  new  one  of  his  own,  which  shall  be 

■''  Here,  gathered  from  Kriedrich's  Letters  to  Voltaire,  is  the  Chronology  of  the 
little  Enterprise : 

1738,  March  21,  June  i-j,  "Macchiavel  abanefnl  man,"  thinks  Friedrich.  "  Ought 
to  be  refuted  by  somebody?"  thinks  he  (date  not  known). 

1739,  March  22,  Fricdrich  thinks  of  doing  it  himself  Has  done  it,  December  4  ; 
— "a  Book  which  ought  to  be  printed,"  say  Voltaire  and  the  literary  visitors. 

1740,  April  •2(1,  Hook  given  up  to  Voltaire  for  printing.  Printing  finished  ;  Book 
appears,  'end  o^ Septetiiicr,'  when  a  great  change  had  occurred  in  Friedrich's  title 
and  position. 


Chap.  VI.  LAST   YEAR   OF    REINSBERG.  269 

I739- 

'  the  right  article;  but  never  did  it,  liaving  far  other  work  cut-uut  for 
'  him  in  the  months  that  came.  But  how  zealous  the  world's  humour 
'  was  in  that  matter,  no  modern  reader  can  conceive  to  himself.  In 
'  the  frightful  Compilation  called  Hddeii-Gcschichte,  which  we  some- 
'  times  cite,  there  are,  excerpted  from  the  then  "  Bibliotheques"  {Nou- 
'  i-elle  Bibliot/u\jne  and  another;  shining  Periodicals  of  the  time,  now 
'  gone  quite  dead),  two  "reviews"  of  the  Anti-Macchiavcl,  which  fill 
'  modern  readers  \\'ith  amazement  :  such  a  Domiiw  diniittas  chanted 
'  over  such  an  article ! — These  details,  in  any  other  than  the  Biographi- 
'  cal  point  of  view,  are  now  infinitely  unimportant. ' 

Truly,  yes  !  The  Crown -Prince's  Aiiti-i\IaccJiiavel,  final 
correct  edition  (in  two  forms,  Voltaire's  as  corrected,  and  the 
Prince's  own  as  written),  stands  now  in  clear  type  f  and,  after 
all  that  jumble  of  printing  and  counter-printing,  we  can  any 
of  us  read  it  in  a  few  hours  ;  but,  alas,  almost  none  of  us  with 
the  least  interest,  or,  as  it  were,  with  any  profit  whatever.  So 
different  is  present  tense  from  past,  in  all  things,  especially  in 
things  like  these  !  It  is  sixscore  years  since  the  ^Ijiti-Macchi- 
avcl  appeared.  The  spectacle  of  one  who  was  himself  a  King 
(for  the  mysterious  fact  was  well  known  to  Van  Duren  and 
everybody)  stepping  forth  to  say  with  conviction,  That  King- 
ship was  not  a  thing  of  attorney  mendacity,  to  be  done  under 
the  patronage  of  Beelzebub,  but  of  human  veracity,  to  be  set 
about  under  quite  Other  patronage  ;  and  that,  in  fact,  a  King 
was  the  "  born  servant  of  his  People"  {dojncsfigue  Friedrich 
once  calls  it),  rather  than  otherwise  :  this,  naturally  enough, 
rose  upon  the  then  populations,  unused  to  such  language,  like 
the  dawn  of  a  new  day  ;  and  was  welcomed  with  such  ap- 
plauses as  are  now  incredible,  after  all  that  has  come  and  gone ! 
Alas,  in  these  sixscore  years,  it  has  been  found  so  easy  to  pro- 
fess and  speak,  even  with  sincerity  !  The  actual  Hero-Kings 
were  long  used  to  be  silent  ;  and  the  Sham-Hero  kind  grow 
only  the  more  desperate  for  us,  the  more  they  speak  and  pro- 
fess ! — This  Anti-Macchiavel  of  Friedrich's  is  a  clear  distinct 
Treatise  ;  confutes,  or  at  least  heartily  contradicts,  paragraph 
by  paragraph,  the  incredible  sophistries  of  Macchiavel.  Na)- 
it  leaves  us,  if  we  sufficiently  force  our  attention,  with  the  com- 
fortable sense  that  his  Royal  Highness  is  speaking  with  con- 
viction, and  honestly  from  the  heart,  in  the  affair  :  but  that  is 
all  the  conquest  we  get  of  it,  in  these  days.      Treatise  fallen 

*  Preuss,  CEitvres  de  Frederic,  viii,  61-163. 


2^o  AT  REINSBERG.  HookX. 

1739- 

more  extinct  to  existing  mankind  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
name. 

Perhaps  indeed  mankind  is  getting  weary  of  the  question 
altogether.  Macchiavel  himself  one  now  reads  only  by  com- 
pulsion. "  What  is  the  use  of  arguing  with  anybody  that  can 
believe  in  Macchiavel  ?"  asks  mankind,  or  might  well  ask  ; 
and,  except  for  Editorial  purposes,  eschews  any  Anti-Macchl- 
avelj  impatient  to  be  rid  of  bane  and  antidote  both.  Truly 
the  world  has  had  a  pother  with  this  little  Nicolo  Macchia- 
velli  and  his  perverse  little  Book  : — pity  almost  that  a  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm,  taking  his  rounds  at  that  point  of  time,  had  not 
had  the  "  refuting"  of  him  ;  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  method  would 
have  been  briefer  than  Friedrich's  !  But  let  us  hope  the  thing 
is  now,  practically,  about  completed.  And  as  to  the  other 
question,  "  Was  the  Signor  Nicolo  serious  in  this  perverse 
little  Book  ;  or  did  he  only  do  it  ironically,  with  a  serious  in- 
verse purpose?"  we  will  leave  that  to  be  decided,  any  time  con- 
venient, by  people  who  are  much  at  leisure  in  the  world  ! — 

The  printing  of  the  Anti-Macchiavel  was  not  intrinsically 
momentous  in  Friedrich's  history ;  yet  it  might  as  well  have 
been  dispensed  with.  He  had  here  drawn  a  fine  program, 
and  needlessly  placarded  it  for  the  street  populations  :  and 
afterwards  there  rose,  as  could  not  fail  on  their  part,  compa- 
rison between  program  and  performance  ;  scornful  cry,  chiefly 
from  men  of  weak  judgment,  "  Is  this  King  an  y4;///-Macchi- 
avel,  then  ?  Pfui  !"  Of  which, — though  Voltaire's  voice,  too, 
was  heard  in  it,  in  angryfmoments, — we  shall  say  nothing:  the 
reader,  looking  for  himself,  will  judge  by  and  by.  And  here- 
with enough  of  the  Ajiti-Macchiavel.  Composition  of  .liiti- 
Macchiavel  and  speculation  of  the  Pine  Heiiriade  lasted,  both 
of  them,  all  through  this  Year  1739,  '^'^^  farther:  from  these 
two  items,  not  to  mention  any  other,  readers  can  figure  suffi- 
ciently how  literary  a  year  it  was. 

Friedrich  in  Preusseii  again  ;  at  the  Stud  of  Trakehnen. 
A  tragically  great  Event  coming  on. 

In  July  this  year  the  Crown-Prince  went  with  Papa  on  the 
Prussian  Review-journey."  Such  attendance  on  Review-jour- 
neys, a  mark  of  his  being  well  with  Papa,  is  now  becoming 

''  'Set  out,  7th  July'  (CEurres,  xxvii.  part  ist,  6711.). 


Chap.  Vf.  JOURNEY  TO   PREUSSEN.  271 

C7th  July  i7iC). 

usual  ;  they  are  agreeable  excursions,  and  cannot  but  be  in- 
structive as  well.  On  this  occasion,  things  went  beautifully 
with  him.  Out  in  those  grassy  Countries,  in  the  bright  Sum- 
mer, once  more  he  had  an  unusually;  fine  time  ; — and  two 
very  special  pleasures  befell  him.  First  was,  a  sight  of  the 
Emigrants,  our  Salzburgers  and  other,  in  their  flourishing  con- 
dition, over  in  Lithuania  yonder.  Delightful  to  see  how  the 
waste  is  blossoming  up  again  ;  busy  men,  with  their  indus- 
tries, their  steady  pious  husbandries,  making  all  things  green 
and  fruitful  :  horse-droves,  cattle-herds,  waving  cornfields  ; — 
a  very  "  Schinahgrnbe  (Butter-pit)"  of  those  Northern  parts, 
as  it  is  since  called.^  The  Crown-Prince's  own  words  on  this 
matter  we  will  give  ;  they  are  in  a  Letter  of  his  to  Voltaire, 
perhaps  already  known  to  some  readers  ; — and  we  can  observe 
he  writes  rather  copiously  from  those  localities  at  present,  and 
in  a  cheerful  humour  with  everybody. 

' /w.f^^Awrg',  27/7i_^«/j/  1739  (Crown-Prince  to  Voltaire).  '■'  *  I'rus- 
'  sian  Lithuania  is  a  Country  a  hiuidred  and  twenty  miles  long,  by  from 
'  sixty  to  forty  broad;*  it  was  ravaged  by  Pestilence  at  the  beginning 
'  i)f  this  Centuiy;  and  they  say  Three-hundred  Thousand  people  died 
'  of  disease  and  famine.'  Ravaged  by  Pestilence  and  the  neglect  of 
King  Friedrich  I.  ;  till  my  Father,  once  his  hands  were  free,  made 
personal  survey  of  it,  and  took  it  up,  in  earnest. 

'  Since  that  time,'  say  twenty  years  ago,  'there  is  no  expense  that 
'  the  King  has  been  afraid  of,  in  order  to  succeed  in  his  salutary  views. 
'  He  made,  in  the  first  place,  regulations  full  of  wisdom;  he  rebuilt 
'  wherever  the  Pestilence  had  desolated :  thousands  of  families,  from 
'  the  ends  of  Europe, '  Seventeen  Thousand  Salzburgers  for  the  last 
item,  'were  conducted  hither;  the  Country  repeopled  itself;  trade  be- 
'  gan  to  flourish  again ; — and  now,  in  these  'f&rtile  regions,  abundance 
'  reigns  more  than  it  ever  did. 

'  There  are  above  half  a  million  of  inhabitants  in  Lithuania ;  there 
'  are  more  to\^^^s  than  there  ever  were,  more  flocks  than  formerly,  more 
'  wealth  and  more  productiveness  than  in  any  other  part  of  Germany. 
'  And  all  this  that  I  tell  you  of  is  due  lo  the  King  alone ;  who  not  only 
'  gave  the  orders,  but  superintended  the  execution  of  them ;  it  was  he 
'  that  devised  the  plans,  and  himself  got  them  carried  to  fulfilment ;  and 
'  spared  neither  care  nor  pains,  nor  immense  expenditures,  nor  promises 
'  nor  recompenses,  to  secure  happiness  and  life  to  this  half  million  of 
'  thinking  beings,  who  owe  to  him  alone  that  they  have  possessions  and 
'  felicity  in  the  world. 

'  I  hope  this  detail  does  not  weary  you.    I  depend  on  your  humanity 

8  Biisching,  Erdbeschreibung,  ii.  1049. 

9  '  Miles  English,'  we  always  mean,  unless  <fec. 


272  AT   REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Aug.  1739. 
'  extending  itself  to  your  Lithuanian  brethren,  as  well  as  to  your  French, 
'  English,  German,  or  other, — all  the  more  as,  to  my  great  astonish- 
'  ment,  I  passetl  through  villages  where  you  hear  nothing  spoken  but 
'  French. — I  have  found  something  so  heroic,  in  the  generous  and  la- 
'  borious  way  in  which  the  King  addressed  himself  to  making  this 
'  desert  flourish  with  inhabitants  and  happy  industries  and  fruits,  that 
'  it  seemed  to  me  you  would  feel  the  same  sentiments  in  learning  the 
'  circiunstances  of  such  a  reestablishment. 

'  I  daily  expect  news  of  you  from  Enghien'  (in  those  Dutch-Law.suit 
Countries).  *  *  'The  divine  Emilie;  '■*  ''  the  Duke'  (D'Aremberg, 
Austrian  Soldier,  of  convivial  turn, — remote  Welsh-Uncle  to  a  certain 
little  Prince  de  Eigne, "now  spinning  tops  in  those  parts;'"  not  other- 
wise interesting),  '  whom  Apollo  contends  for  against  Bacchus.  *  * 
'  Adieu.      Ne  vi'ouhliez pas,  mon  cher  ami.''^^ 

This  is  one  pleasant  scene,  to  the  Crown-Prince  and  us, 
in  those  grassy  localities.  And  now  we  have  to  mention  that, 
about  a  fortnight  later,  at  Konigsberg  one  day,  in  reference  to 
a  certain  Royal  Stud  or  Horse-breeding  Establishment  in 
those  same  Lithuanian  regions,  there  had  a  still  livelier  satis- 
faction happened  him  ;  satisfaction  of  a  personal  and  filial 
nature.  The  name  of  this  Royal  Stud,  inestimable  on  such 
grotmd,  is  Trakehnen, — lies  south  of  Tilsit,  in  an  upper  valley 
of  the  Pregel  river  ;— very  extensive  Horse-Establishment, 
'with  seven  farms  under  it,'  say  the  Books,  and  all  'in  the 
most  perfect  order,'  they  need  hardly  add,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
being  master  of  it.  Well,  the  Royal  Party  was  at  Konigsberg, 
so  far  on  the  road  homewards  again  from  those  outlying  parts, 
when  Friedrich  Wilhelm  said  one  day  to  his  Son,  quite  in  a 
cursory  manner,  "  I  give  thee  that  Stud  of  Trakehnen  ;  thou 
must  go  back  and  look  to  it  ;" — which  struck  Fritz  quite  dumb 
at  the  moment. 

For  it  is  worth  near  upon  3,000/.  a  year  (12,000  thalers) ; 
a  welcome  new  item  in  our  impoverished  budget  ;  and  it  is  an 
undeniable  sign  of  Papa's  good  humour  with  us,  which  is  more 
precious  still.  P^ritz  made  his  acknowledgments,  eloquent  with 
looks,  eloquent  with  voice,  on  coming  to  himself  ;  and  is,  in 
fact,  very  proud  of  his  gift,  and  celebrates  it  to  his  Wilhel- 
mina,  to  Camas  and  others  who  have  a  right  to  know  such  a 
thing.  Grand  useful  gift  ;  and  handed  over  by  Papa  grandly, 
in  three  business  words,  as  if  it  had  been  a  brace  of  game  :  "  I 

'"  Born  23d  May  1735,  this  Later  little  I'riiice  ;  lasted  till  1  jlh  Dec.  1814  ("dainc, 
iiiais  il  ite  marche  pas'  ). 
"  CEuvrcs,  .\xi.  304,  305. 


Chap.  VI.  JOURNEY  TO   PREUSSEN.  273 

Aug.  1739. 

give  it  thee,  Fritz  !"  A  thing  not  to  be  forgotten.  '  At  bottom 
'  Fricdrich  Wilhehn  was  not  avaricious'  (not  a  miser,  only  a 
man  grandly  abhorring  waste,  as  the  poor  vulgar  cannot  do), 
'not  avaricious,'  says  Pollnitz  once;  'he  made  munificent 
'  gifts,  and  never  thought  of  them  more.'  This  of  Trakehnen, 
— perhaps  there  might  be  a  whiff  of  coming  Fate  concerned  in 
it  withal :  "  I  shall  soon  be  dead,  not  able  to  give  thee  anything, 
poor  Fritz  !"  To  the  Prince  and  us  it  is  very  beautiful  ;  a  fine 
eftulgencc  of  the  inner  man  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm.  The  Prince 
returned  to  Trakehnen,  on  this  glad  errand  ;  settled  the  busi- 
ness details  there  ;  and,  after  a  few  days,  went  home  by  a 
route  of  his  own  ; — well  satisfied  with  this  Prussian-Review 
journey,  as  we  may  imagine. 

One  sad  thing  there  was,  though  Friedrich  did  not  yet 
know  how  sad,  in  this  Review-journey  :  the  new  fit  of  illness 
that  overtook  his  Majesty.  From  Pollnitz,  who  was  of  the 
party,  we  have  details  on  that  head.  In  his  Majesty's  last 
bad  illness,  five  years  ago,  when  all  seemed  hopeless,  it  ap- 
pears the  surgeons  had  relieved  him,— in  fact  recovered  him, 
bringing  off  the  bad  humours  in  c^uantity, — by  an  incision  in 
the  foot  or  leg.  In  the  course  of  the  present  fatigues,  this  old 
wound  broke  out  again  ;  which  of  course  stood  much  in  the 
way  of  his  Majesty  ;  and  could  not  be  neglected,  as  probably 
the  causes  of  it  were.  A  regimental  surgeon,  Pollnitz  says, 
was  called  in  ;  who,  in  two  days,  healed  the  wound, — and  de- 
clared all  to  be  right  again ;  though  in  fact,  as  we  may  judge, 
it  was  dangerously  worse  than  before.  '  All  well  here,'  writes 
Friedrich  ;  '  the  King  has  been  out  of  order,  but  is  now  en- 
'  tirely  recovered  {tout  a  fait  rcjiiis).''^- 

Much  reviewing  and  heavy  business  followed  at  Konigs- 
berg  ; — gift  of  Trakehnen,  and  departure  of  the  Crown-Prince 
for  Trakehnen,  winding  it  up.  Directly  on  the  heel  of  which, 
his  Majesty  turned  homewards,  the  Crown-Prince  not  to  meet 
him  till  once  at  Berlin  again.  Majesty's  first  stage  was  at 
Pillau,  where  we  have  been.  At  Pillau,  or  next  day  at  Dant- 
zig,  Pollnitz  observed  a  change  in  his  Majesty's  humour,  which 
had  been  quite  sunshiny  all  this  journey  hitherto.  At  Dantzig 
Pollnitz  first  noticed  it ;  but  at  every  new  stage  it  grew  worse, 
evil  accidents    occurring  to  worsen  it ;  and   at  Berlin  it  was 

'■^  '  Konigsberg,  30th  July  1739,'  to  his  Wife  (CEnvres,  xxvi.  6). 
VOL.   III.  T 


274  AT   REINSBERC;.  r,ook  x. 

Aue;.  1739. 

worst  of  ail  ; — and,  alas,  his  poor  Majesty  never  recovered  his 
sunshine  in  this  world  again  !  Here  is  Pollnitz's  account  of 
the  journey  homewards  : 

'  Till  iiovi','  till  Pillau  and  Dantzig,  'his  Majesty  had  been  in  espe- 
'  dally  good  humour ;  but  in  Dantzig  his  cheerfulness  forsook  him  ; — 
'  and  it  never  came  back.  He  arrived  about  ten  at  night  in  that  Cit}'' 
(Wednesday  12th  August  or  thereby);  'slept  there;  and  was  off  again 
'  next  morning  at  five.  He  drove  only  thirty  miles  this  day;  stopped 
'  in  Lupow'  (coast  road  through  Pommern),  '  with  Herr  von  Grumkow' 
(the  late  Grumkow's  Brother),  '  Kammer  President  in  this  Pommern 
'  Province.  From  Lupow  he  went  to  a  poor  Village  near  Belgard, 
'  eighty  miles  farther ;' — last  village  on  the  great  road,  Belgard  lying  to 
left  a  little,  on  a  side  road; — 'and  stayed  there  overnight. 

'  At  Belgard,  next  morning,  he  reviewed  the  Dragoon  Regiment  von 
Platen ;  and  was  very  ill-content  with  it.  And  nobody,  with  the 
least  understanding  of  that  business,  but  must  own  that  never  did 
Prussian  Regiment  manceuvre  worse.  Conscious  themselves  how  bad 
it  was,  they  lost  head,  and  got  into  open  confusion.  The  King  did 
all  that  was  possible  to  help  them  into  order  again.  He  withdrew 
thrice  over,  to  give  the  Officers  time  to  recover  themselves;  but  it  was 
all  in  vain.  The  King,  contrary  to  wont,  restrained  himself  amazingly, 
and  would  not  show  his  displeasui-e  in  public.  He  got  into  his  car- 
riage, and  drove  away  with  the  Fiirst  of  Anhalt, '  Old  Dessauer,  'and 
Von  Winterfeld, '  Captain  in  the  Giant  Regiment,  '  who  is  now  Major- 
General  von  Winterfeld;'^  not  staying  to  dine  with  General  von  Platen, 
as  was  always  his  custom  with  Commandants  whom  he  had  reviewed. 
He  bade  Prince  Wilhelm  and  the  rest  of  us  stay  and  dine;  he  himself 
drove  away,' — towards  the  great  road  again,  and  some  imcertain  lodg- 
ig  there. 

'  We  stayed  accordingly;  and  did  full  justice  to  the  good  cheer,' — 

though  poor  Platen  would  certainly  look  flustered,  one  may  fancy.     'But 

as  the  Prince  was  anxious  to  come  up  with  his  Majesty  again,  and 

knew  not  where  he  would  meet  him,  we  had  to  he  very  swift  with  the 

l)usiness. 

'  We  found  the  King  with  Anhalt  and  Winterfeld,  by  and  by;  sit- 
ting in  a  village,  in  front  of  a  barn,  and  eating  a  cold  pie  there,  M^hicli 
the  Fiirst  of  Anhalt  had  chanced  to  have  with  him ;  his  Majesty, 
owing  to  what  he  had  seen  on  the  parade-ground,  was  in  the  utmost 
ill -humour  (//ti(7/j/?i7Vt';-Zrt«;/t').  Next  day,  Saturday,  he  went  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  or  two  hundred  miles;  and  arrived  in  Berlin  at  ten  at 
night.  Not  expected  there  till  the  morrow;  so  that  his  rooms  were 
locked, — her  Majesty  being  over  in  Monbijou,  giving  her  children  a 
Ball;'" — and  we  can  fancy  what  a  frame  of  mind  there  was  ! 

Nobody,  not  at  first  even  the  Doctors,  much  heeded  this 

'3  Maior-General  since  1743,  of  high  fame;  fell  in  fight,  7th  Sept.  1757. 
'''  POllnitz,  ii.  534-537. 


Chap.  VII.        BALTIMORE  AND  ALGAROTTI.  275 

•.'oth-25th  Sept.  1739. 

new  fit  of  illness  ;  which  went  and  came  :  "changed  temper," 
deeper  or  less  deep  gloom  of  "bad  humour,"  being  the  main 
phenomenon  to  bystanders.  But  the  sad  truth  was,  his  Ma- 
jesty never  did  recover  his  sunshine  ;  from  Pillau  onwards  he 
was  slowly  entering  into  the  shadows  of  the  total  Last  Echpse  ; 
and  his  journeyings  and  reviewings  in  this  world  were  all  done. 
Ten  months  hence,  Pollnitz  and  others  knew  better  what  it 
had  been  ! — 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

LAST  YEAR  OF  REINSBERG  :    TRANSIT  OF  BALTIMORE  AND 
OTHER  PERSONS  AND  THINGS. 

Friedrich  had  not  been  long  home  again  from  Trakehnen 
and  Preussen,  when  the  routine  of  things  at  Reinsberg  was 
illuminated  by  Visitors,  of  brilliant  and  learned  quality;  some 
of  whom,  a  certain  Signor  Algarotti  for  one,  require  passing 
mention  here.  Algarotti,  who  became  a  permanent  friend  or 
satellite,  very  luminous  to  the  Prince,  and  was  much  about 
him  in  coming  years,  first  shone  out  upon  the  scene  at  this 
time, — coming  unexpectedly,  and  from  the  Eastward  as  it 
chanced. 

On  his  own  score,  Algarotti  has  become  a  wearisome  lite- 
rary man  to  modern  readers  :  one  of  those  half-remembered 
men ;  whose  books  seem  to  claim  a  reading,  and  do  not  repay 
it  you  when  given.  Treatises,  of  a  serious  nature,  On  the 
Opera;  setting  forth,  in  earnest,  the  potential  "  moral  uses" 
of  the  Opera,  and  dedicated  to  Chatham  ;  Neutonianismo  per 
le  Donne  (Astronomy  for  Ladies)  :  the  mere  Titles  of  such 
things  are  fatally  sufficient  to  us  ;  and  we  cannot,  without 
effort,  nor  with  it,  recall  the  brilliancy  of  Algarotti  and  them 
to  his  contemporary  world. 

Algarotti  was  a  rich  Venetian  Merchant's  Son,  precisely 
about  the  Crown-Prince's  age  ;  shone  greatly  in  his  studies  at 
Bologna  and  elsewhere  ;  had  written  Poesies  {Riine)  ;  written 
especially  that  Ncwtonianism  for  the  Dames  (equal  to  Fonte- 
nelle,  said  Fame,  and  orthodox  Newtonian  withal,  not  hetero- 
dox or  Cartesian) ; — and  had  shone,  respected,  at  Paris,  on 
the  strength  of  it,  for  three  or  four  years  past  :  friend  of  Vol- 
taire in  consequence,  of  Voltaire  and  his  divine  Emilie,  and  a 


2  76  AT  RKINSliKRG.  Hook  x. 

3olli-25th  Sept.  1730. 

welcome  guest  at  Cirey  ;  friend  of  the  cultivated  world  gene- 
rally, which  was  then  labouring,  divine  Eniilie  in  the  van  of 
it,  to  understand  Newton  and  be  orthodox  in  this  department 
of  things.  Algarotti  did  tine  Poesies,  too,  once  and  again  ; 
did  Classical  Scholarships,  and  much  else:  everywhere  a  clear- 
headed, methodically  distinct,  concise  kind  of  man.  A  high 
style  of  breeding  about  him,  too  ;  had  powers  of  pleasing,  and 
used  them  :  a  man  beautifully  lucent  in  society,  gentle  yet  im- 
pregnable there  ;  keeping  himself  unspotted  from  the  world 
and  its  discrepancies, — really  with  considerable  prudence,  first 
and  last. 

He  is  somewhat  of  the  Bielfeld  type  ;  a  Merchant's  Son, 
we  observe,  like  Bielfeld  ;  but  a  Venetian  Merchant's,  not  a 
Hamburg's  ;  and  also  of  better  natural  stuff  than  Bielfeld. 
Concentrated  himself  upon  his  task  with  more  seriousness,  and 
made  a  higher  thing  of  it  than  Bielfeld  ;  though,  after  all,  it 
was  the  same  task  the  two  had.  Alas,  our  "  Swaii  of  Padua  " 
(so  they  sometimes  called  him)  only  sailed,  paddling  grandly, 
nowhither, — as  the  Swan-Goose  of  the  Elbe  did,  in  a  less 
stately  manner  !  One  cannot  well  bear  to  read  his  Books. 
There  is  no  light  upon  Friedrich  to  tempt  us  ;  better  light 
than  Bielfeld's  there  could  have  been,  and  much  of  it  :  but 
he  prudently,  as  well  as  proudly,  forbore  such  topics.  He  ap- 
proaches very  near  fertility  and  geniality  in  his  writings,  but 
never  reaches  it.  Dilettantism  become  serious  and  strenuous, 
in  those  departments — Well,  it  was  beautiful  to  young  Fried- 
rich  and  the  world  at  that  time,  though  it  is  not  to  us  ! — 
Young  Algai'Otti,  Twenty-seven  this  year,  has  been  touring 
about  as  a  celebrity  these  four  years  past,  on  the  strength  of 
his  fine  manners  and  Ncivtonianisni  for  the  Dames. 

It  was  under  escort  of  Baltimore,  'an  English  Milord,'  re- 
commended from  Potsdam  itself,  that  Algarotti  came  to  Reins- 
berg  :  the  Signor  had  much  to  do  with  English  people  now 
and  after.  Where  Baltimore  first  picked  him  up,  I  know  not : 
but  they  have  been  to  Russia  together  ;  Baltimore  by  twelve 
years  the  elder  of  the  two  :  and  now,  getting  home  towards 
England  again,  they  call  at  Reinsberg  in  the  fine  Autumn 
weather  ; — and  considerably  captivate  the  Crown-Prince,  Balti- 
more playing  chief,  in  that  as  in  other  points.  The  visit  lasted 
five  days  }  there  was  copious   speech  on  many  things  ; — dis- 

'  2otli-?!;lli  Scplc-iiilioi-  1731)  {(h'.in'fcs  <ii'  ]''r,'iii'rn\  xlv.  p.  .\iv. ). 


Clmp.  vjr.        BALTIMORE  AND  ALGAROTTI.  z^^ 

•.?5th  Sept.-iotli  Oct.  1739. 

cussion  about  Printing  oi  ihc  ^Inti-iMacc/iiavelj  Algarotti  to 
get  it  printed  in  England,  Algarotti  to  get  Pine  and  his  En- 
graved Henriade  put  under  way  ;  neither  of  which  projects 
took  effect  ; — readers  can  conceive  what  a  charming  five  days 
these  were.  Here,  in  the  Crown-Prince's  own  words,  are 
some  brief  glimmerings  which  will  suffice  us  : 

Rcinsbcrg,  zi^th  Sept.  1739  (Cro\\n-Prince  to  Papa).  '■■■  '■■'  that  '110- 
'  tiling  new  has  occurred  in  the  Regiment,  and  we  have  few  sick.    Here 

■  has  the  English  Milord,  who  was  at  Potsdam,  passed  through'  (stayed 
live  days,  though  we  call  it  passing,  and  suppress  the  Algarotti,  Balti- 
more being  indeed  chief).  '  He  is  gone  towards  Hamburg,  to  take  ship 
'  for  England   there.      As  I  heard  that  my  Most  All-gracious  Father 

■  \\ished  I  should  show  him  courtesy,  I  have  done  for  him  what  I  could. 

'  The  Prince  of  Mirow  has  also  been  here,' — our  old  Strelitz  friend.  Of 
Paltimore  nothing  more  to  Papa.  But  to  another  Correspondent,  to 
tiie  good  Suhm  (who  is  now  at  Petersburg,  and  much  in  our  intimacy, 
ready  to  transact  loans  for  us,  translate  Wolf,  or  do  what  is  wanted), 
I  here  is  this  passage  next  day: 

Keinsbcrg,  z6t/i  Scptci>iher  1739  ('^'°  Suhm).  '  We  have  had  Milord 
'  Baltimore  here,  and  the  young  Algarotti;  both  of  thein  men  who,  by 
'  their  accomplishments,  cannot  but  conciliate  the  esteem  and  consider- 
'  ation  of  all  who  see  them.  We  talked  much  of  you'  (Suhm),  'of 
'  Philosophy,  of  Science,  Art;  in  short,  of  all  that  can  be  included  in 
'  the  taste  of  cultivated  people  (luninites  gens).  '^  y\nd  again  to  another, 
al:)out  two  weeks  hence: 

Rcinsba-q^  loth  October  1739  (To  Voltaire).  '  We  have  had  Milord 
'  Baltimore  and  Algarotti  here,  who  are  going  back  to  England.  This 
'  ^Milord  is  a  very  sensible  man  {/lo/nine  trl's-sense);  who  possesses  a 
'  great  deal  of  knowledge,  and  thinks,  like  us,  that  sciences  can  be  no 
'  disparagement  to  nobility,  nor  degrade  an  illustrious  rank.  I  admired 
'  the  genius  of  this  .li/o/ais,  as  one  does  a  fine  face  through  a  crape 
'  veil.  He  speaks  French  very  ill,  yet  one  likes  to  hear  him  speak  it; 
'  and  as  for  his  English,  he  pronounces  it  so  quick,  there  is  no  possi- 
'  bility  of  following  him.  He  calls  a  Russian  "a  mechanical  animal." 
'  He  says  "Petersburg  is  the  eye  of  Russia,  with  which  it  keeps  civilised 
'  countries  in  sight;  if  you  took  this  eye  from  it,  Russia  would  fall  again 
'  into  barbarism,  out  of  which  it  is  just  struggling."^  *  *  Young  Alga- 
'  rt)tti,  whom  you  know,  pleased  me  beyond  measure.  He  promised 
'  that  he' — But  Baltimore,  promise  or  not,  is  the  chief  figure  at  present. 

• 
Evidently  an  original  kind  of  iigurc  to  us,  a'/  ^Inglais.    And 
indeed  there  is  already  finished  a  rhymed  Epistle  to  Baltimore  ; 
]^pilre  sur  la  Liberie  (copy  goes  in  that  same  Leller,  for  Vol- 

•  (Jiiivres  dc  I'^ridi'ric,  .\vi.  370.  3  ii,_  xxi.  326,  327. 


278  AT  REINSBERG.  Bookx. 

Oct.  1739. 

taire's  behoof),  which  dates  itself  hkewise  October  loth  ;  be- 
ginning, 

^  V esprit  libre,  Milord,  qui  rigne  en  Aughierre,'' — 

which,  though  it  is  full  of  fine  sincere  sentiments,  about  human 
dignity,  papal  superstition,  Newton,  Locke,  and  aspirations  for 
progress  of  culture  in  Prussia,  no  reader  could  stand  at  this 
epoch. 

What  Baltimore  said  in  answer  to  the  Epitrc,  we  do  not 
know  ;  probably  not  much :  it  does  not  appear  he  ever  saw  or 
spoke  to  Friedrich  a  second  time.  Three  weeks  after.  Fried- 
rich  writing  to  Algarotti,  has  these  words :  '  I  pray  you  make 
'  my  friendships  to  Milord  Baltimore,  whose  character  and  man- 
'  ner  of  thinking  I  truly  esteem.  I  hope  he  has,  by  this  time, 
'  got  my  Epitre  on  the  English  Liberty  of  Thought.'^  And  so 
Baltimore  passes  on,  silent  in  History  henceforth, — though 
Friedrich  seems  to  have  remembered  him  to  late  times,  as  a 
kind  of  type-figure  when  England  came  into  his  head.  For 
the  sake  of  this  small  transit  over  the  sun's  disk,  I  have  made 
some  inquiry  about  Baltimore  ;  but  found  very  little ; — perhaps 
enough : 

'  He  was  Charles,  Sixth  Lord  Baltimore,  it  appears;  Sixth,  and 
'  last  but  one.  First  of  the  Baltimores,  we  know,  was  Secretary  Cal- 
'  vert  (1618-1624),  who  colonised  Maryland;  last  of  them  (1774)  was 
'  the  Son  of  this  Charles;  something  of  a  fool,  to  judge  by  the  face  of 
'  him  in  Portraits,  and  by  some  of  his  doings  in  the  world.  He,  that 
'  Seventh  Baltimore,  printed  one  or  two  little  Volumes  ("  now  of  ex- 
'  treme  rarity," — cannot  be  too  rare);  and  winded-up  by  standing  an 
'  ugly  Trial  at  Kingston  Assizes  (plaintiff  an  unfortunate-female).  After 
'  which  he  retired  to  Naples,  and  there  ended,  1774,  the  last  of  these 
'  Milords.* 

'  He  of  the  Kingston  Assizes,  we  say,  was  not  this  Charles;  but  his 
'  Son,  wlioni  let  the  reader  forget.  Charles,  age  forty  at  this  time,  had 
'  travelled  about  tlic  Continent  a  good  deal :  once,  long  ago,  we  ima- 
,'  gined  we  had  got  a  glimpse  of  liim  (but  it  was  a  guess  merely)  loung- 
'  ing  about  Luneville  and  Lorraine,  along  with  Lyttellon,  in  the  Con- 
'  gress-of-Soissons  time  ?  Not  long  after  that,  it  is  certain  enough,  he 
'  got  appointed  a  Gentleman  of  the  Bedcl^ambcr  to  Prince  Fred ;  who 
'  was  a  friend  of  speculative  talkers  i-yid  cultivated  people.  \\\  which 
'  situation  Charles  Sixth  Baron  Baltiniore  continued  all  his  days  after; 
'  and  might  have  risen  by  means  of  Fred,  as  he  was  anxious  enough  to 
'  do,  had  both  of  them  lived ;  but  they  both  died ;  Baltimore  first,  in 

*  291)1  October  1739,  'J'o  Algarotti  in  London  {CEuvrcs,  xviii.  5). 
'■>  Wulpolc  (by  Park),  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble  Authors  (London,  1806), 
V.  278. 


Chap.vir.  WHAT  BIELFELD  SAW.  279 

Ocl.  1739. 

'  1751,  a  year  before  Fred.  Eubb  Doddington,  diligent  labuurer  in 
'  llie  same  Fred  vineyard,  was  mucli  infested  by  this  Baltimore, — who, 
'  drunk  or  sober  (for  he  occasionally  gets  into  liquor),  is  always  putting 
'  out  Bubb,  and  stands  too  well  with  our  Royal  Master,  one  secretly 
'  (cars!  Baltimore's  finances,  I  can  guess.  Mere  not  in  too  good  order; 
'  mostly  an  Absentee;  Irish  Estates  not  managed  in  the  first  style,  while 
'  one  is  busy  in  the  P'red  vineyard  !  "The  best  and  honestest  man  in  the 
'  world,  with  a  good  deal  of  jumbled  knowledge,"  Walpole  calls  him 
'  once:  "  but  not  capable  of  conducting  a  party."  '"  Oh  no; — and  died, 
at  any  rate,  Spring  175 1:'  and  we  will  not  mention  him  farther. 

Bidfeld,  what  he  satv  at  Relnsberg  and  around. 

Directly  on  the  rear  of  these  fine  visitors,  came,  by  invita- 
tion, a  pair  of  the  Korn's-Hotel  people  ;  Masonic  friends  ;  one 
of  whom  was  Bielfeld,  whose  dainty  Installation  Speech  and 
ways  of  procedure  had  been  of  promise  to  the  Prince  on  that 
occasion.  '  Baron  von  Oberg'  was  the  other  : — Hanoverian 
Baron  :  the  same  who  went  into  the  Wars,  and  was  a  "General 
von  Oberg"  twenty  years  hence  ?  The  same  or  another,  it  does 
not  much  concern  us.  Nor  does  the  visit  much,  or  at  all  ;  ex- 
cept that  Bielfeld,  being  of  writing  nature,  professes  to  give 
ocular  account  of  it.  Honest  transcript  of  what  a  human  crea- 
ture actually  saw  at  Reinsberg,  and  in  the  Berlin  environment 
at  that  date,  would  have  had  a  value  to  mankind :  but  Bielfeld 
has  adopted  the  fictitious  form ;  and  pretty  much  ruined  for  us 
any  transcript  there  is.  Exaggeration,  gesticulation,  fantastic 
uncertainty  afflict  the  reader  ;  and  prevent  comfortable  belief, 
except  where  there  is  other  evidence  than  Bielfeld's. 

At  Berlin  the  beautiful  straight  streets,  Linden  Avenues 
(perhaps  a  better  sample  than  those  of  our  day),  were  notable 
to  Bielfeld  ;  bridges,  statues  very  fine  ;  grand  esplanades,  and 
such  military  drilling  and  parading  as  was  never  seen.  He 
had  dinner-invitations,  too,  in  quantity;  likes  this  one  and  that 
(all  in  prudent  asterisks), — likes  Truchsess  von  Waldburg  very 
much,  and  his  strange  mode  of  bachelor  housekeeping,  and 
the  way  he  dines  and  talks  among  his  fellow-creatures,  or  sits 
studious  among  his  Military  Books  and  Paper-litters.  But  all 
is  loose  far-off  sketching,  in  the  style  oi  Anacharsis  the  Younger; 
and  makes  no  solid  impression. 

<•  Walpole's  ZtV/cri  to  Mann  (London,   1843),  ii.  175:  27th  January  1747.     See 
ib.  i.  82. 

"  Peerage  0/ h-elaiid  {l^onAon,  1768),  ii.  172-174. 


28o  AT  REINSBERG.  Kookx. 

Oct.  1739. 

Getting  to  Reinsberg,  to  the  Town,  to  the  Schloss,  he 
crosses  the  esplanade,  the  moat ;  sees  what  we  know,  beautiful 
square  Mansion  among  its  woods  and  waters  ; — and  almost 
nothing  that  we  do  not  know,  except  the  way  the  moat-bridge 
is  lighted:  'Bridge  furnished,'  he  says,  'with  seven  Statues 
'  representing  the  seven  Planets,  each  holding  in  her  hand  a 
'  glass  lamp  in  the  form  of  a  globe  ;'  which  is  a  pretty  object 
in  the  night-time.  The  House  is  now  finished  ;  Knobelsdorf 
rejoicing  in  his  success  ;  Pesne  and  others  giving  the  last  touch 
to  some  ceilings  of  a  sublime  nature.  On  the  lintel  of  the  gate 
is  inscribed  Frcderico  Tranqiiillitateni  Colenti  (To  Friedrich 
courting  Tranquillity).  The  gardens,  walks,  hermitages,  grot- 
toes, are  very  spacious,  fine:  not  yet  completed, — perhaps  will 
never  be.  A  Temple  of  Bacchus  is  just  now  on  hand,  some- 
where in  those  labyrinthic  woods  :  '  twelve  gigantic  Satyrs  as 
caryatides,  crowned  by  an  inverted  Punch-bowl  for  dome  ;' 
that  is  the  ingenious  Knobelsdorf's  idea,  pleasant  to  the  mind. 
Knobelsdorf  is  of  austere  aspect  ;  austere,  yet  benevolent  and 
full  of  honest  sagacity ;  the  very  picture  of  sound  sense,  thinks 
Bielfeld.  M.  Jordan  is  handsome,  though  of  small  stature  ; 
agreeable  expression  of  face ;  eye  extremely  vivid ;  brown  com- 
plexion, '  bushy  eyebrows  as  well  as  beard  are  black. ''^ 

Or  did  the  reader  ever  hear  of  '  M.  Fredersdorf,'  Head 
Valet  at  this  time  ?  Fredersdorf  will  become,  as  it  were,  Privy- 
I'urse,  House-friend,  and  domestic  Factotum,  and  play  a  great 
part  in  coming  years.  '  A  tall  handsome  man  ;'  much  '  silent 
sense,  civility,  dexterity  ;'  something  '  magnificently  clever  in 
him,'  thinks  Bielfeld  (now,  or  else  twenty  years  afterwards)  ; 
whom  we  can  believe.*^  He  was  a  gift  from  General  Schwerin, 
this  Fredersdorf;  once  a  Private  in  Schwcrin's  regiment,  at 
Frankfurt-on-Oder, — •excellent  on  the  flute,  for  one  quality. 
Schwerin,  who  had  an  eye  for  men,  sent  him  to  Friedrich,  in 
the  Ciistrin  time  ;  hoping  he  might  suit  in  fluting  and  other- 
wise. Which  he  conspicuously  did.  Bielfcld's  account,  we 
must  candidly  say,  appears  to  be  an  afterthou.qlit ;  but  readers 
can  make  their  profit  of  it,  all  the  same. 

As  to  the  Crown-Prince  and  Princess,  words  fail  to  express 
their  gracious  perfections,  their  affabilities,  polite  ingenuities  : 
— Jiielfeld's  words  do  give  us  some  pleasant  shadowy  conceiv- 
ability  of  the  Crown-Princess  : 

*  liielfcld  (.-iliridgcd),  i.  45.  '-'  II).  p.  49. 


;  J 
Chap.  VII.  WHAT   BIELFELI)   SAW.  281 

Oct.  1739. 

'Tall,  and  perfect  in  shape;  bust  .such  as  a  sculptor  might  copy; 
'  complexion  of  the  finest;  features  ditto;  nose,  I  confess,  smallish  and 
'  pointed,  but  excellent  of  that  kind;  hair  of  the  supremest  flaxen,  "shin- 
'  ing"  like  a  flood  of  sunbeams,  when  the  powder  is  off  it.  A  humane 
'  ingenuous  Princess;  little  negligences  in  toilet  or  the  like,  if  such  occur, 
'  even  these  set  her  off,  so  ingenuous  are  they.  Speaks  little;  but  always 
'  to  the  purpose,  in  a  simple,  cheerful  and  wise  way.  Dances  bcauti- 
'  fully;  heart  (her  soubrette  assures  me)  is  heavenly; — and  "perhaps 
'  no  Princess  living  has  a  finer  set  of  diamonds. "  ' 

Of  the  Crown-Princess  there  is  some  pleasant  .shadow  traced  as  on 
cob\\eb,  to  this  effect.  But  of  the  Crown-Prince  there  is  no  forming 
the  least  conception  from  what  he  says: — this  is  mere  cobweb  with  No- 
thing elaborately  painted  on  it.  Nor  do  the  portraits  of  the  others 
attract  by  their  verisimilitude.  Here  is  Colonel  Keyserling,  for  instance; 
the  witty  Courlander,  famous  enough  in  the  Friedrich  circle;  who  went 
on  embassy  to  Cirey,  and  much  else:  he  'whirls  in  with  upi'oar  {fracas) 
like  Boreas  in  the  Ballet;'  fowling-piece  on  shoulder,  and  in  his  'dress- 
ing-gown' withal,  which  is  still  stranger ;  snatches-off  Bielfeld,  unknown 
till  that  moment,  to  sit  by  him  while  dressing;  and  there,  with  mucli 
capering,  pirouetting,  and  indeed  almost  ground-and-lofty  tumbling,  lor 
accompaniment,  '  talks  of  Horses,  Mathematics,  Painting,  Architecture, 
Literature,  and  the  Art  of  War, '  while  he  dresses.  This  gentleman 
was  once  Colonel  in  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  Army;  is  now  fairly  turned 
of  forty,  and  has  been  in  troubles :  we  hope  he  is  not  like  in  the  Bielfeld 
Portrait; — otherwise,  ho\v  happy  that  we  never  had  the  honour  of  know- 
ing him!  Indeed,  the  Crown-l'rince's  Household  generally,  as  Bielfeld 
paints  it  in  flourishes  of  panegyric,  is  but  unattractive;  barren  to  the 
modern  onlooker;  partly  the  Painter's  blame,  we  doubt  not.  He  gives 
details  about  their  mode  of  dining,  taking  coffee,  doing  concert; — and 
describes  once  an  incidental  drinking-bout  got-up  aforethought  by  the 
Prince ;  which  is  probably  in  good  part  fiction,  though  not  ill  done. 
These  fantastic  sketchings,  rigorously  winnowed  into  the  credible  and 
actual,  leave  no  great  residue  in  that  kind;  but  what  little  they  do  leave 
is  of  favourable  and  pleasant  nature. 

Bielfeld  made  a  visit  privately  to  Potsdam,  too:  saw  the  Giants 
drill;  made  acquaintance  M-ith  important  Captains  of  theirs  (all  in  as- 
/erisks)  at  Potsdam;  with  whom  he  dined,  not  in  a  too  credible  manner, 
and  even  danced.  Among  the  asterisks,  we  easily  pick-out  Captain 
W'artensleben  (of  the  Korn's-Hotel  operation),  and  Winterfeld,  a  still 
more  important  Captain,  M'hom  we  saw  dining  on  cold  pie  with  his 
Majesty,  at  a  barn-door  in  Pommern,  not  long  since.  Of  the  Giants, 
or  their  life  at  Potsdam,  Bielfeld's  word  is  not  worth  hearing, — worth 
suppressing  rather; — his  knowledge  being  so  small,  and  hung  forth  in 
so  fantastic  a  way.  This  transient  sight  he  had  of  his  Majesty  in  person; 
this,  which  is  worth  something  to  us, — fact  being  evidently  lodged  in 
it.  '  After  church-parade,'  Autumn  .Sunday  afternoon  (day  uncertain, 
Bielfeld's  date  being  fictitious,  and  even  inip()ssi])le).  Majesty  drove  out 


28-2  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Oct.  1739. 
tu  Wubteihauscn,  'where  the  quantities  of  game  surpass  all  belief;'  and 
Bielfeld  had  one  glimpse  of  him: 

'  I  saw  his  Majesty  only,  as  it  were,  in  passing.  If  I  may  judge 
'  by  his  Portraits,  he  must  have  been  of  a  perfect  beauty  in  his  young 
'  time;  but  it  must  be  confessed  there  is  nothing  left  of  it  now.  His 
'  eyes  truly  are  fine;  but  the  glance  of  them  is  terrible:  his  complexion 
'  is  composed  of  the  strongest  tints  of  red,  blue,  yellow,  green,' — not  a 
lovely  complexion  at  all ;  '  big  head  ;  the  thick  neck  sunk  between  the 
'  shoulders;  figure  short  and  heavy  {courte  et  ran/assee).'^" 

'  Going  out  toWusterhausen,'  then,  that  afternoon,  '  Octo- 
ber 1739.'  How  his  Majesty  is  crushed  down  ;  quite  bulged 
out  of  shape  in  that  sad  way,  by  the  weight  of  time  and  its 
pressures  :  his  thoughts,  too,  most  Hkely,  of  a  heavy-laden  and 
abstruse  nature  !  The  old  Pfalz  Controversy  has  misgone  with 
him;  Pfalz,  and  so  much  else  in  the  world;  —  the  world  in 
whole,  probably  enotigh,  near  ending  to  him  ;  the  final  shadows, 
sombre,  grand  and  mournful,  closing-in  upon  him  ! — 

Ti/r/:  War  ends ;  Spanish  War  begins.     A   Wedding  in 
Petersburg. 

Last  news  come  to  Potsdam  in  these  days  is,  The  Kaiser 
has  ended  his  disastrous  Turk  War  ;  been  obliged  to  end  it  ; 
sudden  downbreak,  and  as  it  were  panic  terror,  having  at  last 
come  upon  his  unfortunate  Generals  in  those  parts.  Duke 
Franz  was  passionate  to  be  out  of  such  a  thing;  Franz,  General 
Neipperg  and  others;  and  now,  '  2d  September  1739,'  ^'ke 
lodgers  leaping  from  a  burning  house,  they  are  out  of  it.  The 
Turk  gets  Belgrad  itself,  not  to  mention  wide  territories  farther 
east, — Belgrad  without  shot  fired  ; — nay  the  Turk  was  hardly 
to  be  kept  from  hanging  the  Imperial  Messenger  (a  General 
Neipperg,  Duke  Franz's  old  Tutor,  and  chief  Confidant,  whom 
wc  shall  hear  more  of  elsewhere),  whose  passport  was  not  quite 
right  on  this  occasion  ! — Never  was  a  more  disgraceful  Peace. 
But  also  never  had  been  worse  fighting;  planless,  changeful, 
powerless,  melting  into  futility  at  every  step : — not  to  be  mended 
by  imprisonments  in  Griitz,  and  still  harsher  treatment  of  in- 
dividuals. "  Has  all  success  forsaken  mc,  then,  since  Eugene 
died  ?"  said  the  Kaiser;  and  snatched  at  this  Turk  Peace;  glad 
to  have  it,  by  mediation  of  France,  and  on  any  terms. 

Has  not  this  Kaiser  lost  his  outlying  properties  at  a  fearful 

'0  Bielfeld,  p.  35. 


Chap.  VII.  JENKINS.  283 

Oct.  1739. 

rate  ?  Naples  is  gone  ;  Spanish  Bourbon  sits  in  our  Naples  ; 
comparatively  little  left  for  us  in  Italy.  And  now  the  very  Turk 
has  beaten  us  small ;  insolently  fillips  the  Imperial  nose  of  us, 
— threatening  to  hang  our  Neipperg,  and  the  like.  Were  it 
not  for  Anne  of  Russia,  whose  big  horsewhip  falls  heavy  on 
this  Turk,  he  might  almost  get  to  Vienna  again,  for  anything 
we  could  do  !  A  Kaiser  worthy  to  be  pitied  ; — whom  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  we  perceive,  does  honestly  pity.  A  Kaiser  much 
beggared,  much  disgraced,  in  late  years  ;  who  has  played  a 
huge  life-game  so  long,  diplomatising,  warring;  and,  except  the 
Shadow  of  Pragmatic  Sanction,  has  nothing  to  retire  upon. 

The  Russians  protested,  with  astonishment,  against  such 
Turk  Peace  on  the  Kaiser's  part.  But  there  was  no  help  for 
it.  One  ally  is  gone,  the  Kaiser  has  let-go  this  Western  skirt 
of  the  Turk  ;  and  '  Thamas  Kouli  Khan'  (called  also  Nadir 
Shah,  famed  Oriental  slasher  and  slayer  of  that  time)  no  longer 
stands  upon  the  Eastern  skirt,  but  '  has  entered  India,'  it  ap- 
pears :  the  Russians, — their  cash,  too,  running  low, — do  them- 
selves make  peace,  '  about  a  month  after  ;'  restoring  Azoph  and 
nearly  all  their  conquests  ;  putting  off  the  ruin  of  the  Turk  till 
a  better  time. 

War  is  over  in  the  East,  then  ;  but  another  in  the  West, 
England  againsf  Spain  (Spain  and  France  to  help),  is  about 
beginning.  Readers  remember  how  Jenkins's  Ear  reemerged, 
Spring  gone  a  year,  in  a  blazing  condition  ?  Here,  through 
Sylvanus  Urban  himself,  are  two  direct  glimpses,  a  twelvemonth 
nearer  hand,  which  show  us  how  the  matter  has  been  proceed- 
ing since  : 

'■London,  i^th  February  1739.  The  City  Authorities,' — laying  or 
going  to  lay  '  the  foundation  of  the  Mansion-House'  (Edifice  now  very 
black  in  our  time),  and  doing  other  things  of  little  moment  to  us,  '  had 
'  a  Masquerade  at  the  Guildhall  this  nigiil.  There  was  a  very  splendid 
•  appearance  at  the  Masquerade;  but  among  the  many  humorous  and 
■  whimsical  "characters,  what  seemed  most  to  engage  attention  was  a 
'  Spaniard,  who  called  himself  "  Knight  of  the  Ear;"  as  Badge  of  which 
'  Order  he  wore  on  his  breast  the  form  of  a  Star,  with  its  points  tinged 
'  in  blood;  and  on  the  body  of  it  an  Ear  painted,  and  in  capital  letters 
'  the  word  Jenkins  encircling  it.  Across  his  shoulder  there  huug, 
'  instead  of  ribbon,  a  large  Halter;  which  he  held -up  to  several  persons 
'  dressed  as  English  .Sailors,  who  seemed  in  great  terror  of  him,  and 
'  falling  on  their  knees  suffered  him  to  rummage  their  pockets ;  which 
'done,  he  would  insolently  dismiss  them  with  strokes  of  his  halter. 


284  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

Oct.  1739. 
'  Several  of  the  Sailors  had  a  bloody  Ear  hanging  down  from  their 
'  heads;  and  on  their  hats  were  these  words,  Ear  for  Ear ;  on  others, 
'  N'o  Search  or  no  Trade;  with  the  like  sentences.'"  The  conflagration 
evidently  going  on;  not  lilcely  to  be  damped-down  again,  by  ministerial 
art  ! — 

'■London,  i^th  March  1739.'  Grand  Debate  in  Parliament,  on  the 
late  "Spanish  Convention,"  pretended  Bargain  of  redress  lately  got 
from  Spain:  Approve  the  Convention,  or  Not  approve?  'A  hundred 
'  Members  were  in  the  House  of  Commons  before  seven,  this  morning; 
'  and  four  hundred  had  taken  their  seat  by  ten;  \\'hich  is  an  unheard- 
'  of  thing.  Prince  of  Wales, '  Fred  in  person,  '  was  in  the  gallery  till 
'  twelve  at  night,  and  had  his  dinner  sent  to  him.  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
'  rose:  "  Sir,  the  great  pains  that  have  been  taken  to  influence  all  ranks 
'  and  degrees  of  men  in  this  Nation —  *  '■■'  But  give  me  leave  to"  ' — 
apply  a  wet  cloth  to  Honourable  Gentlemen.  Which  he  does,  really 
with  skill  and  sense.  France  and  the  others  are  so  strong,  he  urges ; 
England  so  unprepared;  Kaiser  at  such  a  pass;  "  War  like  to  be,  about 
the  Palatinate  Dispute"  (our  friend  Friedrich  Wilhelm's) :  ' '  Where  is 
England  to  get  allies  ?" — and  hours  long  of  tlie  like  sort.  A  judicious 
wet  cloth;  which  proved  unavailing. 

For  '  William  Pittj'  (so  they  spell  the  great  Chatham  that 
is  to  be)  was  eloquent  on  the  other  side  :  "  Despairing  Mer- 
chants," "Voice  of  England,"  and  so  on.  And  the  world  was 
all  in  an  inflamed  state.  And  Mr.  Pulteney  exclaimed  :  Pala- 
tinate .f*  Allies.'*  "We  need  no  allies  ;  the  case  of  Mr.  Jenkins 
will  raise  us  volunteers  everywhere  !"  And  in  short, — after 
eight  months  more  of  haggling,  and  applying  wet  cloths, — Wal- 
pole, in  the  name  of  England,  has  to  declare  War  against 
Spain  ;^2  the  public  humour  proving  unquenchable  on  that  mat- 
ter. War;  and  no  Peace  to  be,  "till  our  undoubted  right," 
to  roadway  on  the  oceans  of  this  Planet,  become  permanently 
manifest  to  the  Spanish  Majesty. 

Such  the  effect  of  a  small  Ear,  kept  about  one  in  cotton, 
from  ursine  piety  or  other  feelings.  Has  not  Jenkins's  Ear 
reiimcrgcd,  with  a  vengeance  ?  It  has  kindled  a  War  ;  dan- 
gerous for  kindling  other  Wars,  and  setting  the  whole  world 
on  fire, — -as  will  be  too  evident  in  the  sequel  !  The  Etxr  of 
fcnldns  is  a  singular  tiling.  Might  have  mounted  to  be  a  Con- 
stellation, like  Jicrcniccs  Hair,  and  otlier  small  facts  become 
mythical,  had  the  English  People  Ijccii  of  poetic  turn  !  Enough 
of  //,  for  the  time  being. — 

"  Grnt/eiiinii's  Mngn^ini'  iov  1739,  p.  \o^;-  omdate.t,  .ns  always,  aii.'  n.s. 
'*  '3(1  Novemlier  (2311  Oitfibcr)  1739.' 


chap.vni.     DEATH   OF   FRIEDRICII   WILIIELM.       285 

Oct.  1739. 

This  Summer,  Anton  Uliich,  at  Petersburg,  did  wed  his 
Serene  Mecklenburg  Princess,  Heiress  of  all  the  Russias  :  'July 
14th,  1739,' — three  months  before  that  Drive  to  Wusterhausen, 
which  we  saw  lately.  Little  Anton  Ulrich,  Cadet  of  Brunswick ; 
our  Friedrich's  Brother-in-Law ;  —  a  noticeably  small  man  in 
comparison  to  such  bulk  of  destiny,  thinks  Friedrich,  though 
the  case  is  not  without  example  P^ 

'  Anton  Ulrich  is  now  five-and-twenty, '  says  one  of  my  Notebooks; 
'  a  young  gentleman  of  small  stature,  shining  courage  in  battle,  but 
'  somewhat  shy  and  bashful;  who  has  had  his  troubles  in  Petersburg 
'  society,  till  the  trial  came, — and  will  have.  Here  are  the  stages  of 
'  Anton  Ulrich's  felicity: 

'  IVJnter  1732-3.  He  was  sent-for  to  Petersburg  (his  serene  Aunt 
'  the  German  Kaiserinn,  and  Kaiser  Karl's  diplomatists,  suggesting  it 
'  there),  with  the  view  of  his  paying  court  to  the  young  Mecklenburg 
'  Princess,  Heiress  of  all  the  Russias,  of  whom  we  have  often  heard. 
'  February  1733,  he  arrived  on  this  errand; — not  approved  of  at  all  l)y 
'  the  Mecklenburg  Princess,  by  Czarina  Anne  or  anybody  there:  what 
'  can  be  done  with  such  an  uncomfortable  little  creature  ?  They  gave 
'  him  a  Colonelcy  of  Cuirassiers:   "  Drill  there,  and  endure." 

^  Spring  i-jT^j.  Much -enduring,  diligently  drilling,  for  four  years 
'  past,  he  ■went  this  year  to  the  Turk  War  under  Mihinich ; — much 
'  pleased  Miinnich,  at  Oczakow  and  elsewhere;  who  reports  in  the  War- 
'  Office  high  things  of  him.  And  on  the  whole, — the  serene  Vienna 
'  people  now  again  bestirring  themselves,  with  whom  we  are  in  co- 
'  partnery  in  this  Turk  business, — little  Anton  Ulrich  is  encouraged  to 
'  proceed.  Proceeds ;  formally  demands  his  Mecklenburg  Princess  ; 
'  and, 

'' Jtily  ^\tli,  1739,  weds  her;  the  happiest  little  man  in  all  tlie 
'  Russias,  and  with  the  biggest  destiny,  if  it  prosper.  Next  year,  too, 
'  there  came  a  son  and  heir;  whom  they  called  Iwan,  in  honour  of  his 
'  Russian  Great-grandfather.  Shall  we  add  the  .subsequent  felicities  of 
'  Anton  Ulrich  here;  or  wait  till  another  opportunity?' 

Better  wait.  This  is  all,  and  more  than  all,  his  Prussian 
Majesty,  rolling  out  of  Wusterhausen  that  afternoon,  ever  knew 
of  them,  or  needed  to  know  ! — 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEATH  OF  FRIEDRICH  WILHELM. 

At  Wusterhausen,  this  Autumn,  there  is  game  as  usual,  but 
little  or  no  hunting  for  the  King.    He  has  to  sit  drearily  within 

'■'  A  Letter  of  hi';  to  Suhm  ;  touching  on  Franz  of  Lorraine  and  this  Anton  Ulrich. 


286  AT  REINSBERG.  •  Book  X. 

Nov.   ly.g-April  1740. 

doors,  for  most  part ;  listening  to  the  rustle  of  falling  leaves, 
to  dim  Winter  coming  with  its  rains  and  winds.  Field-sports 
are  a  rumour  from  without :  for  him  now  no  joyous  sow-baiting, 
deer-chasing  ; — that,  like  other  things,  is  past. 

In  the  beginning  of  November,  he  came  to  Berlin  ;  was 
worse  there,  and  again  was  better  ; — strove  to  do  the  Carnival, 
as  had  been  customary ;  but  in  a  languid,  lamed  manner.  One 
night  he  looked  in  upon  an  evening-party  which  General  Schu- 
lenburg  was  giving :  he  returned  home,  chilled,  shivering  ; 
could  not,  all  night,  be  brought  to  heat  again.  It  was  the  last 
evening-party  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ever  went  to.^  Lieutenant- 
General  Schulenburg  :  the  same  who  doomed  young  Friedrich 
to  death,  as  President  of  the  Court-Martial ;  and  then  wrote 
the  Three  Letters  about  him  which  we  once  looked  into  :  il- 
luminates himself  in  this  manner  in  Berlin  society, — Carnival 
season  1 740,  weather  fiercely  cold.  Maypole  Schulenburg  the 
lean  Aunt,  Ex-Mistress  of  George  I.,  over  in  London, — I  think 
she  must  now  be  dead  ?  Or  if  not  dead,  why  not  !  Memory, 
for  the  tenth  time,  fails  me,  of  the  humanly  unmemorable,  whom 
perhaps  even  flunkies  should  forget ;  and  I  will  try  it  no  more. 
The  stalwart  Lieutenant-General  will  reappear  on  us  once,  twice 
at  the  utmost,  and  never  again.  He  gave  the  last  evening- 
party  Friedrich  Wilhelm  ever  went  to. 

Poor  Friedrich  W^ilhelm  is  in  truth  very  ill  ;  tosses  about 
all  day,  in  and  out  of  bed, — bed  and  wheeled-chair  drearily  al- 
ternating ;  suffers  much  ; — and  again,  in  Diplomatic  circles,  the 
rumours  are  rife  and  sinister.  Ever  from  this  chill  at  Schulen- 
burg's  the  medicines  did  him  no  good,  says  PoUnitz  :  if  he  ral- 
lied, it  was  the  effect  of  Nature,  and  only  temporary.  He  does 
daily,  with  punctuahty,  his  Official  business  ;  perhaps  the  best 
two  hours  he  has  of  the  four-and-twenty,  for  the  time  hangs 
heavy  on  him.  His  old  Generals  sit  round  his  bed,  talking, 
smoking,  as  it  was  five  years  ago  ;  his  Feekin  and  his  Children 
much  about  him,  out  and  in  :  the  heavy-laden,  weary  hours  roll 
round  as  they  can.  In  general  there  is  a  kind  of  constant 
Tabaks- Collegium,  old  Flans,  Camas,  Hacke,  Pollnitz,  Der- 
schau,  and  the  rest  by  turns  always  there  ;  the  royal  Patient 
cannot  be  left  alone,  without  faces  he  hkes  :  other  Generals, 
estimable  in  their  way,  have  a  physiognomy  displeasing  to  the 
sick  man  ;  and  will  smart  for  it  if  they  enter, — "At  sight  of 

'  Pollnitz  (ii.  538);  wlio  gives  no  dale. 


Chap.vni.     DEATH   OF   FRIEDRICH   WILHELM.      287 

Nov.  i73Q-Apvil  1740. 

/uM  every  pain  grows  painfuler  !"--the  poor  King  being  of 
poetic  temperament,  as  we  often  say.  Friends  are  encouraged 
to  smoke,  especially  to  keep-up  a  stream  of  talk  ;  if  at  any  time 
he  fall  into  a  doze  and  they  cease  talking,  the  silence  will  awaken 
him. 

He  is  worst-off  in  the  night ;  sleep  very  bad  :  and  among 
his  sore  bodily  pains,  ennui  falls  very  heavy  to  a  mind  so  restless. 
He  can  paint,  he  can  whittle,  chisel  :  at  last  they  even  mount 
him  a  table,  in  his  bed,  with  joiner's  tools,  mallets,  gluepots, 
where  he  makes  small  carpentry, — the  talk  to  go  on  the  while; 
— often  at  night  is  the  sound  of  his  mallet  audible  in  the  Palace 
Esplanade  ;  and  Berlin  townsfolk  pause  to  listen,  with  many 
thoughts  of  a  sympathetic  or  at  least  inarticulate  character  : 
"  I/m,  Wek,  Ihro  Majestdt :  ach  Gott,  pale  Death  knocks  with 
impartial  foot  at  the  huts  of  poor  men  and  the  Palaces  of  Kings  X'~ 
Reverend  Herr  Roloff,  whom  they  call  Provost  {Probst,  Chief 
Clergyman)  Roloflf,  a  pious  honest  man  and  preacher,  he,  I 
could  guess,  has  already  been  giving  spiritual  counsel  now  and 
then  ;  later  interviews  with  Roloff  are  expi-essly  on  record  :  for 
it  is  the  King's  private  thought,  ever  and  anon  borne  in  upon 
liim,  that  death  itself  is  in  this  business. 

Queen  and  Children,  mostly  hoping  hitherto,  though  fear- 
ing too,  live  in  much  anxiety  and  agitation.  The  Crown-Prince 
is  often  over  from  Reinsberg  ;  must  not  come  too  often,  nor 
even  inquire  too  much  :  his  affectionate  solicitude  might  be 
mistaken  for  solicitude  of  another  kind  !  It  is  certain  he  is  in 
no  haste  to  be  King  ;  to  quit  the  haunts  of  the  Muses,  and 
embark  on  Kingship.  Certain,  too,  he  loves  his  Father ;  shud- 
ders at  the  thought  of  losing  him.  And  yet  again  there  will 
gleams  intrude  of  a  contrary  thought ;  which  the  filial  heart 
disowns,  with  a  kind  of  horror,  "  Down,  thou  impious  thought !" 
— We  perceive  he  manages  in  general  to  push  the  crisis  away 
from  him  ;  to  believe  that  real  danger  is  still  distant.  His  de- 
meanour, so  far  as  we  can  gather  from  his  Letters  or  other  evi- 
dence, is  amiable,  prudent,  natural  ;  altogether  that  of  a  liuman 
Son  in  those  difficult  circumstances.  Poor  Papa  is  heavy-laden  : 
let  us  help  to  bear  his  burdens  ;— let  us  hope  the  crisis  is  still 
far  off  !— 

Once,  on  a  favourable  evening,  probably  about  the  begin- 
ning of  April,  when  he  felt  as  if  improving,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 

'^  PiJllnitz,  ii,  539, 


288  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

Nov.  1739-April  1740. 

resolved  to  dress,  and  hold  Tobacco-Parliament  again  in  a  for- 
mal manner.  Let  us  look  in  there,  through  the  eyes  of  Poll- 
nitz,  who  was  of  it,  upon  the  last  Tobacco-Parliament  : 

'  A  numerous  party;  Schwerin,  Hacke,  Derschau,  all  the  chiefs 
'  and  commandants  of  the  Berlin  Garrison  are  there;  the  old  circle  full; 
'  social  human  speech  once  more,  and  pipes  alight ;  pleasant  to  the 
'  King.  He  does  not  himself  smoke  on  this  occasion;  but  he  is  unusually 
'  lively  in  talk;  much  enjoys  the  returning  glimpse  of  old  days;  and 
'  the  Tobacco  circle  was  proceeding  through  its  phase.?,  successful  be- 
'  yond  common.  All  at  once  the  Crown-Prince  steps  in;  direct  from 
'  Reinsberg:'  an  unexpected  pleasure.  At  sight  of  whom  the  Tobacco 
'  circle,  taken  on  the  sudden,  simultaneously  started  up,  and  made  him 
'  a  bow.  Rule  i.s,  in  Tobacco-Parliament  you  do  not  rise  for  anybody; 
'  and  they  have  risen.  Which  struck  the  sick  heart  in  a  strange  pain- 
'  ful  way.  "Hm,  the  Rising  Sun?"  thinks  he;  "  Rules  broken  through, 
'  for  the  Ri.sing  Sun.  But  I  am  not  dead  yet,  as  you  shall  know !"  ring- 
'  ing  for  his  servants  in  great  wrath;  and  had  himself  rolled  out,  regard- 
'  less  of  protestations  and  excuses.      "  Hither,  you  Placke!"  said  he. 

'  Hacke  followed;  but  it  was  only  to  return  on  the  instant,  with  the 
'  King's  order,  "That  you  instantly  quit  the  Palace,  all  of  you,  and 
'  don't  come  back!"  Solemn  respectful  message  to  his  Majesty  was  of 
'  no  effect,  or  of  less ;  they  had  to  go,  on  those  terms ;  and  Pollnitz, 
'  making  for  his  Majesty's  apartment  next  morning  as  usual,  was 
'  twitched  by  a  Gensdarme,  "No  admittance!"  And  it  was  days  be- 
'  fore  the  matter  would  come  round  again,  under  earnest  protestations 
'  from  the  one  side,  and  traculent  rebukes  from  the  other.'*  Figure  the 
Crown-Prince,  figure  the  poor  sick  Majesty;  and  what  a  time  in  those 
localities  ! 

With  the  bright  spring  weather  he  seemed  to  revive  ;  to- 
wards the  end  of  April  he  resolved  for  Potsdam,  everybody 
thinking  him  much  better,  and  the  outer  Public  reckoning  the 
crisis  of  the  illness  over.  He  himself  knew  other.  It  was  on 
the  27th  of  the  month  that  he  went ;  he  said,  "  Fare  thee  well, 
"  then,  Berlin  ;  I  am  to  die  in  Potsdam,  then  {ich  werde  in 
''  Potsdam  sterbcn)T  The  May-flowers  came  late  ;  the  weather 
was  changeful,  ungenial  for  the  sick  man  :  this  winter  of  1740 
had  been  the  coldest  on  record  ;  it  extended  itself  into  the  very 
summer  ;  and  brought  great  distress  of  every  kind  ; — of  which 
some  oral  rumour  still  survives  in  all  countries.  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm  heard  complaints  of  scarcity  among  the  people  ;  admoni- 
tions to  open  his  Corn-granaries  (such  as  he  always  has  in  store 

■'  12th  April  T740'/'  (/.liiivres,  xwii.  part  ist,  p.  29);  I'cllliiltz  is  dateless. 
■•  Piillnitz  (abridged),  ii.  540. 


Chnp.  VIII.      DEATH   OF  FRIEDRICH   WILHELM.       2S9 

27th  April  1740. 

against  that  kind  of  accident)  ;  but  he  still  hesitated  and  re- 
fused ;  unable  to  look  into  it  himself,  and  fearing  deceptions. 

For  the  rest,  he  is  struggling  between  death  and  life  ;  in 
general  persuaded  that  the  end  is  fast  hastening  on.  He  sends 
for  Chief  Preacher  Roloff  out  to  Potsdam  ;  has  some  notable 
dialogues  with  Roloff,  and  with  two  other  Potsdam  Clergymen, 
of  which  there  is  record  still  left  us.  In  these,  as  in  all  his 
demeanour  at  this  supreme  time,  we  see  the  big  rugged  block 
of  manhood  come  out  very  vividly  ;  strong  in  his  simplicity,  in 
his  veracity.  Friedrich  Wilhelm's  wish  is  to  know  from  Roloff 
what  the  chances  are  for  him  in  the  other  world, — which  is 
not  less  certain  than  Potsdam  and  the  giant  grenadiers  to 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  ;  and  where,  he  perceives,  never  half  so 
clearly  before,  he  shall  actually  peel-off  his  Kinghood,  and  stand 
before  God  Almighty,  no  better  than  a  naked  beggar.  Roloffs 
prognostics  are  not  so  encouraging  as  the  King  had  hoped. 
Surely  this  King  "  never  took  or  coveted  what  was  not  his  ; 
kept  true  to  his  marriage-vow,  in  spite  of  horrible  examples 
everywhere  ;  believed  the  Bible,  honoured  the  Preachers,  went 
diligently  to  Church,  and  tried  to  do  what  he  understood  God's 
commandments  were  ?"  To  all  which  Roloff,  a  courageous 
pious  man,  answers  with  discreet  words  and  shakings  of  the 
head.  "  Did  I  behave  ill,  then  ;  did  I  ever  do  injustice  ?" 
Roloff  mentions  Baron  Schlubhut  the  defalcating  Amtmann, 
hanged  at  Konigsberg  without  even  a  trial.  "  He  had  no  trial; 
but  was  there  any  doubt  he  had  justice  ?  A  public  thief,  con- 
fessing he  had  stolen  the  taxes  he  was  set  to  gather ;  insolently 
offering,  as  if  that  were  all,  to  repay  the  money,  and  saying,  It 
was  not  Manicr  (good  manners)  to  hang  a  nobleman !"  Roloff 
shakes  his  head.  Too  violent,  your  Majesty,  and  savouring  of 
the  tyrannous.      The  poor  King  must  repent. 

"  Well, — is  there  anything  more  ?  Out  with  it,  then  ;  bet- 
ter now  than  too  late !" — Much  oppression,  forcing  men  to  build 
in  Berlin. —  "Oppression?  was  it  not  their  benefit,  as  well  as 
Berlin's  and  the  Country's  ?  I  had  no  interest  in  it  othci'. 
Derschau,  you  who  managed  it  ?"  and  his  Majesty  turned  to 
Derschau.  For  all  the  smoking  generals  and  company  are  still 
here  ;  nor  will  his  Majesty  consent  to  dismiss  them  from  the 
presence  and  be  alone  with  Roloff:  "What  is  there  to  conceal? 
They  are  people  of  honour,  and  my  friends."  Derschau,  whose 
feats  in  the  building  way  are  not  unknown  even  to  us,  answers 

VOL.  III.  u 


290  AT  REINSBERG.  Bookx. 

May  1740. 

■with  a  hard  face,  It  was  all  right  and  orderly  ;  nothing  out  of 
square  in  his  building  operations.  To  which  Roloff  shakes  his 
head  :  "  A  thing  of  public  notoriety,  Herr  General."' — "  I  will 
prove  everything  before  a  Court,"  answers  the  Herr  General 
with  still  harder  face  ;  Roloff  still  austerely  shaking  his  head. 
Hm  ! — And  then  there  is  forgiveness  of  enemies  ;  your  Majesty 
is  bound  to  forgive  all  men,  or  how  can  you  ask  to  be  forgiven  ? 
"Well,  I  will,  I  do;  you  Feekin,  write  to  your  Brother  (un- 
forgiveablest  of  beings),  after  I  am  dead,  that  I  forgave  him, 
died  in  peace  with  him."- — Better  her  Majesty  should  write  at 
once,  suggests  Roloff. — "No,  after  I  am  dead,"  persists  the 
Son  of  Nature, — that  will  be  safer  l^  An  unwedgeable  and 
gnarled  big  block  of  manhood  and  simplicity  and  sincerity  : 
such  as  we  rarely  get  sight  of  among  the  modern  sons  of 
Adam,  among  the  crowned  sons  nearly  never.  At  parting  he 
said  to  Roloff,  "You  (^r.  He)  do  not  spare  me;  it  is  right. 
You  do  your  duty  like  an  honest  Christian  man."^ 

Roloff,  I  perceive,  had  several  Dialogues  with  the  King  ; 
and  stayed  in  Potsdam  some  days  for  that  object.  The  above 
bit  of  jotting  is  from  the  Seckendorf  Papers  (probably  picked 
up  by  Seckendorf  Junior),  and  is  dated  only  'May.'  Of  the 
two  Potsdam  Preachers,  one  of  whom  is  'Oesfeld,  Chaplain  of 
the  Giant  Grenadiers,'  and  the  other  is  '  Cochins,  Calvinist 
Hofprediger,'  each  pubhshed  on  his  own  score  some  Notes  of 
dialogue  and  circumstance  ;"  which  are  to  the  same  effect,  so 
far  as  they  concern  us  ;  and  exhibit  the  same  rugged  Son  of 
Nature,  looking  with  all  his  eyesight  into  the  near  Eternity, 
and  sinking  in  a  human  and  not  inhuman  manner  amid  the 
floods  of  Time.  '  Wa,  wa,  what  great  God  is  this,  that  pulls 
'  down  the  strength  of  the  strongest  Kings  !' — 

The  poor  King's  state  is  very  restless,  fluctuates  from  day 
to  day;  he  is  impatient  of  bed  ;  sleeps  very  ill;  is  up  whenever 

5  Wrote  accordingly,  'not  able  to  finish  without  many  tears:'  honest  sensible 
Letter  (though  intlifferently  spelt),  '  Herlin,  ist  June  1740;' — lies  now  in  State-Paper 
Office:  '  Koyal  Lcttrrs,  vol.  xciv.,  Prussia,  1689-1777.' 

0  Notata  ex  ore  Kolofft  ( '  found  among  the  Seckendorf  Papers,'  no  date  but  '  May 
174c'),  in  Forster,  ii.  154,  155;  in  a  fragmentary  state:  completed  in  Pollnitz,  ii.  545- 
549- 

7  Cochius  the  Jlof/'reiiiscr's  (Calvinist  Court-Chaplain's)  Account  of  his  Inter- 
views (first  of  them  '  Friday  27th  May  1740,  about  9  r.  M.') ;  followed  by  ditto  fron\ 
Oesfeld  (Chaplain  of  the  Giants),  who  usually  accompanied  Cochius, — are  in  Sey- 
farth,  Ccschichtc  P'riedrich  ties  Grosseii  (Leipzig,  1783-1788),  i.  ( IJeylage)  24-40.  Sey- 
farth  was  "  Regiments-Auditor"  in  Halle :  his  Work,  solid  though  stupid,  consists 
ne.irly  altogether  of  multifarious  ^'c/Ar^c//  (Appendices)  r^.nA  Notes;  which  are  cre- 
ditably accurate,  and  often  curious  ;  and,  as  usual,  have  no  Index  for  an  unfortunate 
reader. 


Chap. VIII.     DEATH   OF  FRIEDRICH   WILHELM.      291 

26th  May  1740. 

possible  ;  rolls  about  in  his  wheeled  chair,  and  even  gets  into 
the  air  :  at  one  time  looking  strong,  as  if  there  were  still  months 
in  him,  and  anon  sunk  in  fainting  weakness,  as  if  he  had  few 
minutes  to  live.  Friedrich  at  Reinsberg  corresponds  very  se- 
cretly with  Dr.  EUer  ;  has  other  friends  at  Potsdam  whose 
secret  news  he  very  an.xiously  reads.  To  the  last  he  cannot 
bring  himself  to  think  it  serious.^ 

On  Thursday  26th  of  May,  an  express  from  Eller,  or  the 
Potsdam  friends,  arrives  at  Reinsberg  :  He  is  to  come  quickly, 
if  he  would  see  his  Father  again  alive  !  The  step  may  have 
danger,  too  ;  but  Friedrich,  a  world  of  feelings  urging  him,  is 
on  the  road  next  morning  before  the  sun.  His  journey  may  be 
fancied  ;  the  like  of  it  falls  to  all  men.  Arriving  at  last,  turn- 
ing hastily  a  corner  of  the  Potsdam  Schloss,  Friedrich  sees 
some  gathering  in  the  distance  :  it  is  his  Father  in  his  rollwagen 
(wheeled-chair), — not  dying  ;  but  out  of  doors,  giving  orders 
about  founding  a  House,  or  seeing  it  done.  House  for  one 
Philips,  a  crabbed  Englishman  he  has ;  whose  tongue  is  none 
of  the  best,  not  even  to  Majesty  itself,  but  whose  merits  as 
a  Groom,  of  English  and  other  Horses,  are  without  parallel  in 
those  parts.  Without  parallel,  and  deserve  a  House  before  we 
die.  Let  us  see  it  set  agoing,  this  blessed  May-day  !  Of  Philips, 
who  survived  deep  into  Friedrich's  time,  and  uttered  rough 
sayings  (in  mixed  intelligible  dialect)  when  put  upon  in  his 
grooming,  or  otherwise  disturbed,  I  could  obtain  no  farther  ac- 
count :  the  man  did  not  care  to  be  put  in  History  (a  very  small 
service  to  a  man)  ;  cared  to  have  a  house  with  trim  fittings, 
and  to  do  his  grooming  well,  the  fortunate  Philips. 

At  sight  of  his  Son,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  threw  out  his  arms  ; 
the  Son  kneeling  sank  upon  his  breast,  and  they  embraced 
with  tears.  My  Father,  my  Father  ;  JNIy  Son,  my  Son  !  It  was 
a  scene  to  make  all  bystanders  and  even  Philips  weep. — Pro- 
bably the  emotion  hurt  the  old  King  ;  he  had  to  be  taken  in 
again  straightway,  his  show  of  strength  suddenly  gone,  and 
bed  the  only  place  for  him.  This  same  Friday  he  dictated  to 
one  of  his  Ministers  (Boden,  who  was  in  close  attendance)  the 
Instruction  for  his  Funeral ;  a  rude  characteristic  Piece,  which 
perhaps  the  English  reader  knows.  Too  long  and  rude  for  re- 
printing here.'^ 

*  Letter  to  Eller,  25th  May  17.^0  {Ginvres,  xvl.  184). 

9  Copy  of  it,  in  Seyfarth  (ubi  supri),  i.  19-24.     Translated  in  Mauvlllon  (ii.  432- 
437)  ;  ia  &c.  &c. 


292  AT  REINSBERG.  Cook  x. 

C7th-3oth  May  1740. 

He  is  to  be  buried  in  his  uniform,  the  Potsdam  Grenadiers 
his  escort ;  with  mihtary  decorum,  three  volleys  fired  (and  take 
care  they  be  well  fired,  'nicht  plackeretC),  so  many  cannon  sal- 
vos ; — and  no  fuss  or  flaunting  ceremony  :  simplicity  and  de- 
cency is  what  the  tenant  of  that  oak  coffin  wants,  as  he  always 
did  when  owner  of  wider  dominions.  The  coffin,  which  he  has 
ready  and  beside  him  in  the  Palace  this  good  while,  is  a  stout 
piece  of  carpentry,  with  leather  straps  and  other  improvements  ; 
he  views  it  from  time  to  time  ;  solaces  his  truculent  imagina- 
tion with  the  look  of  it  :  "I  shall  sleep  right  well  there"  he 
would  say.  The  image  he  has  of  his  Burial,  we  perceive,  is  of 
perfect  visuality,  equal  to  what  a  Defoe  could  do  in  imagining. 
All  is  seen,  settled  to  the  last  minuteness  :  the  coffin  is  to  be 
borne  out  by  so  and  so,  at  such  and  such  a  door  ;  this  detach- 
ment is  to  fall-in  here,  that  there,  in  the  attitude  of  '  cover 
arms'  (musket  inverted  under  left  arm)  ;  and  the  band  is  to 
play,  with  all  its  blackamoors,  O  Hmtpt  voll  Bliit  nnd  IVun- 
den  (O  Head,  all  bleeding  wounded)  ;  a  Dirge  his  Majesty  had 
liked,  who  knew  music,  and  had  a  love  for  it,  after  his  sort. 
Good  Son  of  Nature  :  a  dumb  Poet,  as  I  say  always  ;  most 
dumb,  but  real  ;  the  value  of  him  great,  and  unknown  in  these 
babbling  times.  It  was  on  this  same  Friday  night  that  Co- 
cliius  was  first  sent  for  ;  Cochius,  and  Oesfeld  with  him,  'about 
nine  o'clock.' 

For  the  next  three  days  (Saturday  to  Monday)  when  his 
cough  and  many  sufierings  would  permit  him,  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm  had  long  private  dialogues  with  his  Son  ;  instructing  him, 
as  was  evident,  in  the  mysteries  of  State  ;  in  what  knowledge, 
as  to  persons  and  to  things,  he  reckoned  might  be  usefulest  to 
him.  What  the  lessons  were,  we  know  not  ;  the  way  of  taking 
them  had  given  pleasure  to  the  old  man  :  he  was  heard  to  say, 
perhaps  more  than  once,  when  the  Generals  were  called  in, 
and  the  dialogue  interrupted  for  a  while  :  "Am  not  I  happy  to 
have  such  a  Son  to  leave  behind  me !"  And  the  grimly  sympa- 
thetic Generals  testified  assent  ;  endeavoured  to  talk  a  little, 
could  at  least  smoke,  and  look  friendly  ;  till  the  King  gathered 
strength  for  continuing  his  instructions  to  his  Successor.  All 
else  was  as  if  settled  with  him  ;  this  had  still  remained  to  do. 
This  once  done  (finished,  Monday  night),  why  not  abdicate 
altogether  ;  and  die  disengaged,  be  it  in  a  day  or  in  a  month, 
since  that  is  now  the  one  work  left  ?  Friedrich  Wilhelm  does 
so  purpose. 


Chap.vm.       DEATH   OF  FRIEDRICH  WILHELM.     293 

31st  May  1740. 

His  State,  now  as  all  along,  was  fluctuating,  uncertain,  rest- 
less. He  was  heard  murmuring  prayers  ;  he  would  say  some- 
times, "  Pray  for  me  ;  Bctet,  betct."  And  more  than  once,  in 
deep  tone  :  "  Lord,  enter  not  into  judgment  with  Thy  servant, 
for  in  Thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified  !"  The  wild 
Son  of  Nature,  looking  into  Life  and  Death,  into  Judgment  and 
Eternity,  finds  that  these  things  are  very  great.  This  too  is 
a  characteristic  trait  :  In  a  certain  German  Hymn  {Why  fret 
or  mtirmiir,  then  ?  the  title  of  it),  which  they  often  sang  to 
him,  or  along  with  him,  as  he  much  loved  it,  are  these  words, 
'  Naked  I  came  into  the  world,  and  naked  shall  I  go,' — "  No," 
said  he,  'always  with  vivacity,'  at  this  passage;  "not  quite 
naked,  I  shall  have  my  uniform  on  :"  Let  us  be  exact,  since 
we  are  at  it !  After  which  the  singing  proceeded  again.  '  The 
late  Graf  Alexander  von  Wartenberg,' — Captain  Wartenberg, 
whom  we  know,  and  whose  opportunities, — '  was  wont  to  re- 
late this.'i*^ 

Tuesday  31st  May,  'about  one  in  the  morning,'  Cochius 
was  again  sent  for.  He  found  the  King  in  very  pious  mood, 
but  in  great  distress,  and  afraid  he  might  yet  have  much  pain 
to  suffer.  Cochius  prayed  with  him  ;  talked  piously.  "  I  can 
remember  nothing,"  said  the  King  ;  "  I  cannot  pray,  I  have 
forgotten  all  my  prayers." — "  Prayer  is  not  in  words,  but  in 
the  thought  of  the  heart,"  said  Cochius  ;  and  soothed  the 
heavy-laden  man  as  he  could.  "Fare  you  well,"  said  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm,  at  length;  "most  likely  we  shall  not  meet  again 
in  this  world."  Whereat  Cochius  burst  into  tears,  and  with- 
drew. About  four,  the  King  was  again  out  of  bed ;  wished  to  see 
his  youngest  Boy,  who  had  been  ill  of  measles,  but  was  doing- 
well  :  "Poor  little  Ferdinand,  adieu,  then,  my  little  child!" 
This  is  the  Father  of  that  fine  Louis  Ferdinand,  who  was  killed 
at  Jena  ;  concerning  whom  Berlin,  in  certain  emancipated  cir- 
cles of  it,  still  speaks  with  regret.  He,  the  Louis  Ferdinand, 
had  fine  qualities  ;  but  went  far  a-roving,  into  radicalism,  in- 
to romantic  love,  into  champagne;  and  was  cut-down  on  the 
threshold  of  Jena,  desperately  fighting, — perhaps  happily  for  him. 
From  little  Ferdinand's  room  Friedrich  Wilhelm  has  him- 
self rolled  into  Queen  Sophie's.  "Feekin,  O  my  Feekin,  thou 
must  rise  this  day,  and  help  me  what  thou  canst.  This  day  I 
am  going  to  die  ;  thou  wilt  be  with  me  this  day !"     The  good 

'^  Bi'isching  (in  17S6),  Bcyi;-(i^c,  iv.  100. 


294  ^^T  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

31st  May  1740. 

Wife  rises  :  I  know  not  that  it  was  the  first  time  she  had  been 
so  called  ;  but  it  did  prove  the  last.  Friedrich  Wilhelm  has 
decided,  as  the  first  thing  he  will  do,  to  abdicate  ;  and  all  the 
Official  persons  and  companions  of  the  sick-room,  Pdllnitz 
among  them,  not  long  after  sunrise,  are  called  to  see  it  done. 
PoUnitz,  huddling-on  his  clothes,  arrived  about  five  :  in  a  cor- 
ridor he  sees  the  wheeled-chair  and  poor  sick  King  ;  steps 
aside  to  let  him  pass  :  '  "It  is  over  {Das  ist  vollbracht)"  said 
'  the  King,  looking  up  to  me  as  he  passed  :  he  had  on  his 
'  nightcap,  and  a  blue  mantle  thrown  round  him.'  He  was 
vrheeled  into  his  anteroom  ;  there  let  the  company  assemble  : 
many  of  them  are  already  there. 

The  royal  stables  are  visible  from  this  room  :  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  orders  the  horses  to  be  ridden  out  :  you  old  Fiirst  of 
Anhalt  Dessau  my  oldest  friend,  you  Colonel  Hacke  faithfulest 
of  Adjutant-Generals,  take  each  of  you  a  horse,  the  best  you 
can  pick  out  :  it  is  my  last  gift  to  you.  Dessau,  in  silence, 
with  dumb-show  of  thanks,  points  to  a  horse,  any  horse  : 
"You  have  chosen  the  very  worst,"  said  Friedrich  Wilhelm  : 
"  Take  that  other,  I  will  warrant  him  a  good  one !"  The  grim 
Old  Dessauer  thanks  in  silence  ;  speechless  grief  is  on  that 
stern  gunpowder  face,  and  he  seems  even  to  be  struggling 
v.'ith  tears.  "Nay,  nay,  my  friend,"  Fi-iedrich  Wilhelm  said, 
"  this  is  a  debt  we  have  all  to  pay." 

The  Official  people,  Queen,  Friedrich,  Minister  Boden, 
Minister  Podewils,  and  even  Pollnitz,  being  now  all  present, 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  makes  his  Declaration,  at  considerable 
length;  old  General  Bredow  repeating  it  aloud,^^  sentence  by 
sentence,  the  King's  own  voice  being  too  weak  ;  so  that  all 
may  hear  :  "  That  he  abdicates,  gives  up  wholl)-,  in  favour  of 
his  good  Son  Friedrich  ;  that  foreign  Ambassadors  are  to  be 
informed  ;  that  you  are  all  to  be  true  and  loyal  to  my  Son  as 
you  were  to  me" — and  what  else  is  needful.  To  which  the 
judicious  Podewils  makes  answer,  "  That  there  must  first  be 
a  written  Deed  of  this  high  Transaction  executed,  which  shall 
be  straightway  set  about ;  the  Deed  once  executed,  signed  and 
sealed, — the  high  Royal  will,  in  all  points,  takes  effect."  Alas, 
before  Podewils  has  done  speaking,  the  King  is  like  falling 
into  a  faint  ;  docs  faint,  and  is  carried  to  bed  :  too  unlikely 
any  Deed  of  Abdication  will  be  needed. 

"  I'ullnit/,  ii.  561. 


Ch:»p.viii.     DEATH   OF  FRIEDRICH  WILHELM.       295 

31st  May  1740. 

Ups  and  downs  there  still  were  ;  sore  fluctuating  labour, 
as  the  poor  King  struggles  to  his  final  rest,  this  morning.  He 
was  at  the  window  again,  when  the  Wacht-paradc  (Grenadiers 
on  Guard)  turned  out ;  he  saw  them  make  their  evolutions  for 
the  last  time.^2  After  which,  new  relapse,  new  fluctuation.  It 
was  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  Cochins  was  again  sent  for. 
The  King  lay  speechless,  seemingly  still  conscious,  in  bed  ; 
Cochius  prays  with  fervour,  in  a  loud  tone,  that  the  dying 
King  may  hear  and  join.  "  Not  so  loud  ! "  says  the  King, 
rallying  a  little.  He  had  remembered  that  it  was  the  season 
when  his  servants  got  their  new  liveries  ;  they  had  been  or- 
dered to  appear  this  day  in  full  new  costume  :  "  O  vanity !  O 
vanity!"  said  Friedrich  Wilhelm,  at  sight  of  the  ornamented 
plush.  "Pray  for  me,  pray  for  me  ;  my  trust  is  in  the  Saviour!" 
he  often  said.  His  pains,  his  weakness  are  great ;  the  cord- 
age of  a  most  tough  heart  rending  itself  piece  by  piece.  At 
one  time,  he  called  for  a  mirror :  that  is  certain  : — rugged 
wild  nlan,  son  of  Nature  to  the  last.  The  miri'or  was  brought ; 
what  lie  said  at  sight  of  his  face  is  variously  reported  :  "  Not 
so  worn  out  as  I  thought,"  is  Pollnitz's  account,  and  the  like- 
liest ; — though  perhaps  he  said  several  things,  "ugly  face," 
"as  good  as  dead  already;"  and  continued  the  inspection  for 
some  aioments.^^     A  grim,  strange  thing. 

"  feel  my  pulse,  Pitsch,"  said  he,  noticing  the  Surgeon  of 
his  Giints  :  "tell  me  how  long  this  will  last." — "Alas,  not 
long,"  answered  Pitsch. — "Say  not,  alas;  but  how  do  you 
(He)  blow?" — "The  pulse  is  gone!" — "Impossible,"  said  he, 
lifting  his  arm :  "  how  could  I  move  my  fingers  so,  if  the  pulse 
v/ere  gone.''"  Pitsch  looked  mournfully  steadfast.  "Herrjesu, 
to  thee  I  live ;  Herr  Jesu,  to  thee  I  die  ;  in  life  and  in  death 
thou  art  my  gain  {Du  bist  inein  Gewmn)."  These  were  the 
last  words  Friedrich  Wilhelm  spoke  in  this  world.  He  again 
fell  into  a  faint.  EUer  gave  a  signal  to  the  Crown-Prince  to 
take  the  Queen  away.  Scarcely  were  they  out  of  the  room, 
when  '.he  faint  had  deepened  into  death  ;  and  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm, at  rest  from  all  his  labours,  slept  with  the  primeval  sons 
of  Thcr. 

No  Baresark  of  them,  nor  Odin's  self,  I  think,  was  a  bit 
of  truer  human  stuff; — I  confess  his  value  to  me,  in  these  sad 
times,  is  rare  and  great.      Considering  the  usual  Histrionic, 

'*  lauli,  viii.  280.  '^  POlliiitz,  ii.  564  ;  Wilhelmina,  ii.  321. 


296  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  x. 

31st  May  1740. 

Papin's-Digester,  Truculent-Charlatan  and  other  species  of 
"  Kings,"  alone  attainable  for  the  sunk  tlunky  populations  of 
an  Era  given  up  to  Mammon  and  the  worship  of  its  own  belly, 
what  would  not  such  a  population  give  for  a  Friedrich  Wil- 
helm,  to  guide  it  on  the  road  back  {xom  Orcus  a  little?  'Would 
give,'  I  have  written  ;  but  alas,  it  ought  to  have  been  'should 
give.'  What  they  '  would'  give  is  too  mournfully  plain  to  me, 
in  spite  of  ballotboxes  :  a  steady  and  tremendous  truth  from 
the  days  of  Barabbas  downwards  and  upwards  ! — Tuesday 
31st  May  1740,  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, Friedrich  Wilhelm  died  ;  age  fifty-two,  coming  I5:h  Au- 
gust next.  Same  day,  Friedrich  his  Son  was  proclaimed  at 
Berlin  ;  quilted  heralds,  with  sound  of  trumpet  and  the  like, 
doing  what  is  customarj'  on  such  occasions. 

On  Saturday  4th  June,  the  King's  body  is  laid  out  in  state; 
all  Potsdam  at  liberty  to  come  and  see.  He  lies  there,  in  his 
regimentals,  in  his  oaken  coffin,  on  a  raised  place  intheniddle 
of  the  room  ;  decent  mortuary  draperies,  lamps,  garlands,  ban- 
derols furnishing  the  room  and  him  :  at  his  feet,  on  a  black- 
velvet  tabomrt  {siool),  are  the  chivalry  emblems,  helmet,  gaunt- 
lets, spurs  ;  and  on  similar  stools,  at  the  right  hand  aid  the 
left,  lie  his  military  insignia,  hat  and  sash,  sword,  guidon,  and 
what  else  is  fit.  Around,  in  silence,  sit  nine  veteran  military 
dignitaries  ;  Buddenbrock,  Waldau,  Derschau,  Einsiedel,  and 
five  others  whom  we  omit  to  name.  Silent  they  sit.  A  grim 
earnest  sight  in  the  shine  of  the  lamplight,  as  you  pass  out  of 
the  June  sun.  Many  went,  all  day;  looked  once  again  )n  the 
face  that  was  to  vanish.  Precisely  at  ten  at  night,  the  coffin- 
lid  is  screwed  down  :  Twelve  Potsdam  Captains  take  the  coffin 
on  their  shoulders ;  Four-and-tvventy  Corporals  with  wax  torches, 
Four-and-twenty  Sergeants  with  inverted  halbcrts  lovered  ; 
certain  Generals  on  order,  and  very  many  following  as  volun- 
teers ;  these  perform  the  actual  burial, — carry  the  body  to  the 
Garrison  Church,  where  are  clergy  waiting,  which  is  but  i  small 
step  off;  see  it  lodged,  oak  coffin  and  all,  in  a  marble  offin  in 
the  side  vault  there,  which  is  known  to  Tourists.^'*  It  is  the 
end  of  the  week,  and  the  actual  burial  is  done, — hastened  for- 
ward for  reasons  we  can  guess. 

Filial  piety  by  no  means  intends  to  defraud  a  loved  Father 

11  rai:'.;,  vlii.  2S1. 


Chr.p.viii.     DEATH   OF   FRIEDRICH  WILHELM.      297 

31st  May  1740. 

of  the  Spartan  ceremonial  contemplated  as  obsequies  by  him  : 
very  far  from  it.  Fihal  piety  will  conform  to  that  with  rigour  ; 
only  adding  what  musical  and  other  splendours  are  possible,  to 
testify  his  love  still  more.  And  so,  almost  three  weeks  hence, 
on  the  23d  of  the  month,  with  the  aid  of  Dresden  Artists,  of 
Latin  Cantatas,  and  other  pomps  (not  inexcusable,  though  some- 
what out  of  keeping),  the  due  Funeral  is  done,  no  Corpse  but 
a  Wax  Effigy  present  in  it  ; — and  in  all  points,  that  of  the  Pots- 
dam Grenadiers  not  forgotten,  there  was  rigorous  conformity 
to  the  Instruction  left.  In  all  points,  even  to  the  extensive 
funeral  dinner,  and  drinking  of  the  appointed  cask  of  wine, 
'  the  best  cask  in  my  cellar.'     Adieu,  O  King. 

The  Potsdam  Grenadiers  fired  their  three  volleys  (not 
' plackering,'  as  I  have  reason  to  believe,  but  well);  got  their 
allowance,  dinner-liquor,  and  appointed  coin  of  money :  it  was 
the  last  service  required  of  them  in  this  world.  That  same 
night  they  were  dissolved,  the  whole  Four  Thousand  of  them, 
at  a  stroke  ;  and  ceased  to  exist  as  Potsdam  Grenadiers.  Co- 
lonels, Captains,  all  the  Officers  known  to  be  of  merit,  were 
advanced,  at  least  transferred.  Of  the  common  men,  a  minority, 
of  not  inhuman  height  and  of  worth  otherwise,  were  formed 
into  a  new  Regiment  on  the  common  terms  :  the  stupid  splay- 
footed eight-feet  mass  were  allowed  to  *stalk  off  whither  they 
pleased,  or  vegetate  on  frugal  pensions  ;  Irish  Kirkman,  and  a 
few  others  neither  knock-kneed  nor  without  head,  were  ap- 
pointed hcydiics,  that  is,  porters  to  the  King's  or  other  Palaces ; 
and  dd  that  duty  in  what  was  considered  an  ornamental 
manner. 

Hsre  are  still  two  things  capable  of  being  fished-up  from 
the  sea.  of  nugatory  matter ;  and  meditated  on  by  readers,  till 
the  following  Books  open. 

Tlie  last  breath  of  FriedrichWilhelm  having  fied,  Friedrich 
hurried  to  a  private  room  ;  sat  there  all  in  tears  ;  looking  back 
through  the  gulfs  of  the  Past,  upon  such  a  Father  now  rapt 
away  forever.  Sad  all,  and  soft  in  the  moonlight  of  memory, 
— the  lost  Loved  One  all  in  the  right  as  we  now  see,  we  all  in 
the  wrong!  —  This,  it  appears,  was  the  Son's  fixed  opinion. 
Seven  years  hence,  here  is  how  Friedrich  concludes  the  His- 
tory of  his  Father,  written  with  a  loyal  admiration  throughout : 
'  We  kave  left  under  silence  the  domestic  chagrins  of  this  great 


298  AT  REINSBERG.  Book  X. 

3 1  St  May  1740. 

'  Prince  :  readers  must  have  some  indulgence  for  the  faults  of 
'  the  Children,  in  consideration  of  the  virtues  of  such  a  Fa- 
'  ther.'^^  All  in  tears  he  sits  at  present,  meditating  these  sad 
things. 

In  a  little  while  the  Old  Dessauer,  about  to  leave  for  Des- 
sau, ventures  in  to  the  Crown-Prince,  Crown-Prince  no  longer  ; 
•  embraces  his  knees  ;'  offers,  weeping,  his  condolence,  his  con- 
gratulation ; — hopes  withal  that  his  sons  and  he  will  be  con- 
tinued in  their  old  posts,  and  that  he,  the  Old  Dessauer,  "will 
have  the  same  authority  as  in  the  late  reign."  Friedrich's  eyes, 
at  this  last  clause,  flash-out  tearless,  strangely  Olympian.  "In 
"  your  posts  I  have  no  thought  of  making  change  :  in  your 
"  posts,  yes  ; — and  as  to  authority,  I  know  of  none  there  can 
"  be  but  what  resides  in  the  King  that  is  sovereign  !"  Which, 
as  it  were,  struck  the  breath  out  of  the  Old  Dessauer ;  and 
sent  him  home  with  a  painful  miscellany  of  feelings,  astonish- 
ment not  wanting  among  them. 

At  an  after  hour,  the  same  night,  Friedrich  went  to  Berlin; 
met  by  acclamation  enough.  He  slept  there,  not  without  :umult 
of  dreams,  one  may  fancy;  and  on  awakening  next  morning, 
the  first  sound  he  heard  was  that  of  the  Regiment  Glasenap 
under  his  windows,  swearing  fealty  to  the  new  King.  He 
sprang  out  of  bed  in  a  tempest  of  emotion  ;  bustled  distractedly 
to  and  fro,  wildly  weeping.  Pollnitz,  who  came  into  the  ante- 
room, found  him  in  this  state,  '  half-dressed,  with  dishevelled 
hair,  in  tears,  and  as  if  beside  himself.'  "  These  huzzahings 
only  tell  me  what  I  have  lost !"  said  the  new  King. — '^  He  was 
in  great  suffering,"  suggested  Pollnitz  ;  "  he  is  now  at  rest." 
"True,  he  suffered  ;  but  he  was  here  with  us  :  and  now — !"iS' 

•'  Oinv7-cs,  i.  174  {liTi'm.  dc  Uynndehoiirg:  finished  about  1747). 
'°  Ranke  (ii.  46,  47^  from  certain  Fragments,  still  in  manuscript,  of  Pdllnitz's- 
Mciiioircii. 


END  OF  VOL.   III. 


LONDON  :   ROnSON  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS,  PANCRAS  ROAD,  N.W. 


^ 


Miua,tinm 


PRUSSIA 

■     4•^■««e■^■    i--< 


-T-T-^-     I        '        I        I       I      "^        I  ~ 


./(sc'i.u.i  .rb 


r 


^^WEUNIVERy/A         vKclOSANCElfjV,  <vM-llBRARYQ^,       k 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


)*-«  I  >»  ' 


1991! 


^•105 


CJ 


5> 


31! 


aMEUNIVERS//, 


v>;lUV,V^LtLiJ^ 


<rjl3DNVS01^^ 


amednivers-//. 


5 


vvlOSANCElfjv^ 


3  1158  01158  7861 


^^ 


6> 


'^«!/0JllV3JC 
^OFrALIF0%. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  890  282 


<\UlBRARYQ/r^ 


K^m^moA.      <^^WE  univer% 


y=r 


>&AlJv 


^<!/ojnv3-jo'^    ^^m\m\^ 


^.OF-CAll  FOff^      ^OFCAll  FOi?.(^         ^^WEUNlVERiy^ 


vjclOS-ANCEli 

o 


^lOSANCEli 

O 


AWEUMIVERS//. 


"^/^iJiAIN.iilVv ' 


'BRARYQ^ 

If 


•W^EUNIVERS"//, 


vjclOSANCfia^ 


^3>^