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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2103-h.zip b/2103-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..540516e --- /dev/null +++ b/2103-h.zip diff --git a/2103-h/2103-h.htm b/2103-h/2103-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cc2cae --- /dev/null +++ b/2103-h/2103-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6365 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + History of Friedrich II. Of Prussia, Volume III. by Thomas Carlyle + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. +III. (of XXI.), by Thomas Carlyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. III. (of XXI.) + Frederick The Great--The Hohenzollerns In Brandenburg--1412-1718 + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Release Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #2103] +Last Updated: November 30, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II. *** + + + + +Produced by D.R. Thompson and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II.<br /> OF PRUSSIA + </h1> + <h2> + FREDERICK THE GREAT + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Thomas Carlyle + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Volume III. + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <div class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>BOOK III. — THE + HOHENZOLLERNS IN BRANDENBURG. - 1412-1718</b></big> </a><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> <b>Chapter I. — KURFURST FRIEDRICH I.</b> + </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> <b>Chapter II. — + MATINEES DU ROI DE PRUSSE.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> + <b>Chapter III. — KURFURST FRIEDRICH II.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0004"> <b>Chapter IV. — KURFURST ALBERT + ACHILLES, AND HIS SUCCESSOR.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> JOHANN THE CICERO IS FOURTH KURFURST, + AND LEAVES TWO NOTABLE SONS. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> <b>Chapter V. — OF THE + BAIREUTH-ANSPACH BRANCH.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> TWO LINES IN CULMBACH OR + BAIREUTH-ANSPACH: THE GERA BOND OF 1598. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0009"> THE ELDER LINE OF CULMBACH: FRIEDRICH AND + HIS THREE NOTABLE SONS THERE. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> + FRIEDRICH'S SECOND SON, MARGRAF GEORGE OF ANSPACH. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> <b>Chapter VI. — HOCHMEISTER + ALBERT, THIRD NOTABLE SON OF FRIEDRICH.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0007"> <b>Chapter VII. — ALBERT ALCIBIADES.</b> + </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> <b>Chapter VIII. — + HISTORICAL MEANING OF THE REFORMATION.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0009"> <b>Chapter IX. — KURFURST JOACHIM I.</b> + </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> <b>Chapter X. — + KURFURST JOACHIM II.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> JOACHIM GETS CO-INVESTMENT IN PREUSSEN. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> JOACHIM MAKES + "HERITAGE-BROTHERHOOD" WITH THE DUKE OF LIEGNITZ. </a><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> <b>Chapter XI. — SEVENTH KURFURST, + JOHANN GEORGE.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> <b>Chapter + XII. — OF ALBERT FRIEDRICH, THE SECOND DUKE OF PREUSSEN.</b> + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> OF DUKE ALBERT FRIEDRICH'S MARRIAGE: WHO + HIS WIFE WAS, AND WHAT HER POSSIBLE DOWRY. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0021"> MARGRAF GEORGE FRIEDRICH COMES TO PREUSSEN + TO ADMINISTER. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> <b>Chapter XIII. — NINTH + KURFURST, JOHANN SIGISMUND.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> HOW THE CLEVE HERITAGE DROPPED, AND MANY + SPRANG TO PICK IT UP. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> THE + KAISER'S THOUGHTS ABOUT IT, AND THE WORLD'S. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> <b>Chapter XIV. — SYMPTOMS OF A + GREAT WAR COMING.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> FIRST SYMPTOM; DONAUWORTH, 1608. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> SYMPTOM THIRD: A DINNER-SCENE AT + DUSSELDORF, 1613: SPANIARDS AND DUTCH SHOULDER ARMS IN CLEVE. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> SYMPTOM FOURTH, AND CATASTROPHE UPON THE + HEELS OF IT. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> WHAT BECAME OF + THE CLEVE-JULICH HERITAGE, AND OF THE PREUSSEN ONE. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> <b>Chapter XV. — TENTH + KURFURST, GEORGE WILHELM.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> + <b>Chapter XVI. — THIRTY-YEARS WAR.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> SECOND ACT, OR EPOCH, 1624-1629. A + SECOND UNCLE PUT TO THE BAN, AND POMMERN SNATCHED AWAY. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> THIRD ACT, AND WHAT THE KURFURST + SUFFERED IN IT. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> <b>Chapter XVII. — DUCHY OF + JAGERNDORF.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> DUKE OF JAGERNDORF, ELECTOR'S UNCLE, IS + PUT UNDER BAN. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> <b>Chapter XVIII. — FRIEDRICH + WILHELM, THE GREAT KURFURST, ELEVENTH OF THE SERIES.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> WHAT BECAME OF POMMERN AT THE PEACE; + FINAL GLANCE INTO CLEVE-JULICH. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> + THE GREAT KURFURST'S WARS: WHAT HE ACHIEVED IN WAR AND PEACE. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> <b>Chapter XIX. — KING + FRIEDRICH I. AGAIN.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> HOW AUSTRIA SETTLED THE SILESIAN CLAIMS. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> HIS REAL CHARACTER. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> <b>Chapter XX. — DEATH OF KING + FRIEDRICH I.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> THE TWELVE HOHENZOLLERN ELECTORS. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> GENEALOGICAL DIAGRAM: THE TWO CULMBACH + LINES. </a><br /> + </div> + </div> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK III. — THE HOHENZOLLERNS IN BRANDENBURG. - 1412-1718 + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter I. — KURFURST FRIEDRICH I. + </h2> + <p> + Burggraf Friedrich, on his first coming to Brandenburg, found but a cool + reception as Statthalter. [<i>"Johannistage"</i> (24 June) "1412," he + first set foot in Brandenburg, with due escort, in due state; only + Statthalter (Viceregent) as yet: Pauli, i. 594, ii. 58; Stenzel, <i>Geschichte + des Preussischen Staats</i> (Hamburg, 1830, 1851), i. 167-169.] He came as + the representative of law and rule; and there had been many helping + themselves by a ruleless life, of late. Industry was at a low ebb, + violence was rife; plunder, disorder everywhere; too much the habit for + baronial gentlemen to "live by the saddle," as they termed it, that is by + highway robbery in modern phrase. + </p> + <p> + The Towns, harried and plundered to skin and bone, were glad to see a + Statthalter, and did homage to him with all their heart. But the Baronage + or Squirearchy of the country were of another mind. These, in the late + anarchies, had set up for a kind of kings in their own right: they had + their feuds; made war, made peace, levied tolls, transit-dues; lived much + at their own discretion in these solitary countries;—rushing out + from their stone towers ("walls fourteen feet thick"), to seize any herd + of "six hundred swine," any convoy of Lubeck or Hamburg merchant-goods, + that had not contented them in passing. What were pedlers and mechanic + fellows made for, if not to be plundered when needful? Arbitrary rule, on + the part of these Noble Robber-Lords! And then much of the Crown-Domains + had gone to the chief of them,—pawned (and the pawn-ticket lost, so + to speak), or sold for what trifle of ready money was to be had, in Jobst + and Company's time. To these gentlemen, a Statthalter coming to inquire + into matters was no welcome phenomenon. Your EDLE HERR (Noble Lord) of + Putlitz, Noble Lords of Quitzow, Rochow, Maltitz and others, supreme in + their grassy solitudes this long while, and accustomed to nothing greater + than themselves in Brandenburg, how should they obey a Statthalter? + </p> + <p> + Such was more or less the universal humor in the Squirearchy of + Brandenburg; not of good omen to Burggraf Friedrich. But the chief seat of + contumacy seemed to be among the Quitzows, Putlitzes, above spoken of; big + Squires in the district they call the Priegnitz, in the Country of the + sluggish Havel River, northwest from Berlin a fifty or forty miles. These + refused homage, very many of them; said they were "incorporated with + Bohmen;" said this and that;—much disinclined to homage; and would + not do it. Stiff surly fellows, much deficient in discernment of what is + above them and what is not:—a thick-skinned set; bodies clad in buff + leather; minds also cased in ill habits of long continuance. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich was very patient with them; hoped to prevail by gentle methods. + He "invited them to dinner;" "had them often at dinner for a year or + more:" but could make no progress in that way. "Who is this we have got + for a Governor?" said the noble lords privately to each other: "A + NURNBERGER TAND (Nurnberg Plaything,—wooden image, such as they make + at Nurnberg)," said they, grinning, in a thick-skinned way: "If it rained + Burggraves all the year round, none of them would come to luck in this + Country;"—and continued their feuds, toll-levyings, plunderings and + other contumacies. Seeing matters come to this pass after waiting above a + year, Burggraf Friedrich gathered his Frankish men-at-arms; quietly made + league with the neighboring Potentates, Thuringen and others; got some + munitions, some artillery together—especially one huge gun, the + biggest ever seen, "a twenty-four pounder" no less; to which the peasants, + dragging her with difficulty through the clayey roads, gave the name of + FAULE GRETE (Lazy, or Heavy Peg); a remarkable piece of ordnance. Lazy Peg + he had got from the Landgraf of Thuringen, on loan merely; but he turned + her to excellent account of his own. I have often inquired after Lazy + Peg's fate in subsequent times; but could never learn anything distinct:—the + German Dryasdust is a dull dog, and seldom carries anything human in those + big wallets of his!— + </p> + <p> + Equipped in this way, Burggraf Friedrich (he was not yet Kurfurst, only + coming to be) marches for the Havel Country (early days of 1414); + [Michaelis, i. 287; Stenzel, i. 168 (where, contrary to wont, is an + insignificant error or two). Pauli (ii. 58) is, as usual, lost in water.] + makes his appearance before Quitzow's strong-house of Friesack, walls + fourteen feet thick: "You Dietrich von Quitzow, are you prepared to live + as a peaceable subject henceforth: to do homage to the Laws and me?"—"Never!" + answered Quitzow, and pulled up his drawbridge. Whereupon Heavy Peg opened + upon him, Heavy Peg and other guns; and, in some eight-and-forty hours, + shook Quitzow's impregnable Friesack about his ears. This was in the month + of February, 1414, day not given: Friesack was the name of the impregnable + Castle (still discoverable in our time); and it ought to be memorable and + venerable to every Prussian man. Burggraf Friedrich VI., not yet quite + become Kurfurst Friedrich I., but in a year's space to become so, he in + person was the beneficent operator; Heavy Peg, and steady Human Insight, + these were clearly the chief implements. + </p> + <p> + Quitzow being settled,—for the country is in military occupation of + Friedrich and his allies, and except in some stone castle a man has no + chance,—straightway Putlitz or another mutineer, with his drawbridge + up, was battered to pieces, and his drawbridge brought slamming down. + After this manner, in an incredibly short period, mutiny was quenched; and + it became apparent to Noble Lords, and to all men, that here at length was + a man come who would have the Laws obeyed again, and could and would keep + mutiny down. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich showed no cruelty; far the contrary. Your mutiny once ended, and + a little repented of, he is ready to be your gracious Prince again: + Fair-play and the social wine-cup, or inexorable war and Lazy Peg, it is + at your discretion which. Brandenburg submitted; hardly ever rebelled + more. Brandenburg, under the wise Kurfurst it has got, begins in a small + degree to be cosmic again, or of the domain of the gods; ceases to be + chaotic and a mere cockpit of the devils. There is no doubt but this + Friedrich also, like his ancestor Friedrich III., the First Hereditary + Burggraf, was an excellent citizen of his country: a man conspicuously + important in all German business in his time. A man setting up for no + particular magnanimity, ability or heroism, but unconsciously exhibiting a + good deal; which by degrees gained universal recognition. He did not shine + much as Reichs-Generalissimo, under Kaiser Sigismund, in his expeditions + against Zisca; on the contrary, he presided over huge defeat and rout, + once and again, in that capacity; and indeed had represented in vain that, + with such a species of militia, victory was impossible. He represented and + again represented, to no purpose; whereupon he declined the office + farther; in which others fared no better. [Hormayr, <i>OEsterreichischer + Plutarch</i> vii. 109-158, ? Zisca.] + </p> + <p> + The offer to be Kaiser was made him in his old days; but he wisely + declined that too. It was in Brandenburg, by what he silently founded + there, that he did his chief benefit to Germany and mankind. He understood + the noble art of governing men; had in him the justice, clearness, valor + and patience needed for that. A man of sterling probity, for one thing. + Which indeed is the first requisite in said art:—if you will have + your laws obeyed without mutiny, see well that they be pieces of God + Almighty's Law: otherwise all the artillery in the world will not keep + down mutiny. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich "travelled much over Brandenburg;" looking into everything with + his own eyes;—making, I can well fancy, innumerable crooked things + straight. Reducing more and more that famishing dog-kennel of a + Brandenburg into a fruitful arable field. His portraits represent a square + headed, mild-looking solid gentleman, with a certain twinkle of mirth in + the serious eyes of him. Except in those Hussite wars for Kaiser Sigismund + and the Reich, in which no man could prosper, he may be defined as + constantly prosperous. To Brandenburg he was, very literally, the blessing + of blessings; redemption out of death into life. In the ruins of that old + Friesack Castle, battered down by Heavy Peg, Antiquarian Science (if it + had any eyes) might look for the tap-root of the Prussian Nation, and the + beginning of all that Brandenburg has since grown to under the sun. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich, in one capacity or another, presided over Brandenburg near + thirty years. He came thither first of all in 1412; was not completely + Kurfurst in his own right till 1415; nor publicly installed, "with 100,000 + looking on from the roofs and windows," in Constance yonder, till 1417,—age + then some forty-five. His Brandenburg residence, when he happened to have + time for residing or sitting still, was Tangermunde, the Castle built by + Kaiser Karl IV. He died there, 21st September, 1440; laden tolerably with + years, and still better with memories of hard work done. Rentsch guesses + by good inference he was born about 1372. As I count, he is seventh in + descent from that Conrad, Burggraf Conrad I., Cadet of Hohenzollern, who + came down from the Rauhe Alp, seeking service with Kaiser Redbeard, above + two centuries ago: Conrad's generation and six others had vanished + successively from the world-theatre in that ever-mysterious manner, and + left the stage clear, when Burggraf Friedrich the Sixth came to be First + Elector. Let three centuries, let twelve generations farther come and + pass, and there will be another still more notable Friedrich,—our + little Fritz, destined to be Third King of Prussia, officially named + Friedrich II., and popularly Frederick the Great. This First Elector is + his lineal ancestor, twelve times removed. [Rentsch, pp. 349-372; Hubner, + t. 176.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II. — MATINEES DU ROI DE PRUSSE. + </h2> + <p> + Eleven successive Kurfursts followed Friedrich in Brandenburg. Of whom and + their births, deaths, wars, marriages, negotiations and continual + multitudinous stream of smaller or greater adventures, much has been + written, of a dreary confused nature; next to nothing of which ought to be + repeated here. Some list of their Names, with what rememberable human + feature or event (if any) still speaks to us in them, we must try to give. + Their Names, well dated, with any actions, incidents, or phases of life, + which may in this way get to adhere to them in the reader's memory, the + reader can insert, each at its right place, in the grand Tide of European + Events, or in such Picture as the reader may have of that. Thereby with + diligence he may produce for himself some faint twilight notion of the + Flight of Time in remote Brandenburg,—convince himself that remote + Brandenburg was present all along, alive after its sort, and assisting, + dumbly or otherwise, in the great World-Drama as that went on. + </p> + <p> + We have to say in general, the history of Brandenburg under the + Hohenzollerns has very little in it to excite a vulgar curiosity, though + perhaps a great deal to interest an intelligent one. Had it found + treatment duly intelligent;—which, however, how could it, lucky + beyond its neighbors, hope to do! Commonplace Dryasdust, and voluminous + Stupidity, not worse here than elsewhere, play their Part. + </p> + <p> + It is the history of a State, or Social Vitality, growing from small to + great; steadily growing henceforth under guidance: and the contrast + between guidance and no-guidance, or mis-guidance, in such matters, is + again impressively illustrated there. This we see well to be the fact; and + the details of this would be of moment, were they given us: but they are + not;—how could voluminous Dryasdust give them? Then, on the other + hand, the Phenomenon is, for a long while, on so small a scale, wholly + without importance in European politics and affairs, the commonplace + Historian, writing of it on a large scale, becomes unreadable and + intolerable. Witness grandiloquent Pauli our fatal friend, with his Eight + watery Quartos; which gods and men, unless driven by necessity, have + learned to avoid! [Dr. Carl Friedrich Pauli, <i>Allgemeine Preussische + Staats-Geschichte</i>, often enough cited here.] The Phenomenon of + Brandenburg is small, remote; and the essential particulars, too delicate + for the eye of Dryasdust, are mostly wanting, drowned deep in details of + the unessential. So that we are well content, my readers and I, to keep + remote from it on this occasion. + </p> + <p> + On one other point I must give the reader warning. A rock of offence on + which if he heedlessly strike, I reckon he will split; at least no help of + mine can benefit him till he be got off again. Alas, offences must come; + and must stand, like rocks of offence, to the shipwreck of many! Modern + Dryasdust, interpreting the mysterious ways of Divine Providence in this + Universe, or what he calls writing History, has done uncountable havoc + upon the best interests of mankind. Hapless godless dullard that he is; + driven and driving on courses that lead only downward, for him as for us! + But one could forgive him all things, compared with this doctrine of + devils which he has contrived to get established, pretty generally, among + his unfortunate fellow-creatures for the time!—I must insert the + following quotation, readers guess from what author:— + </p> + <p> + "In an impudent Pamphlet, forged by I know not whom, and published in + 1766, under the title of <i>Matinees du Roi de Prusse,</i> purporting to + be 'Morning Conversations' of Frederick the Great with his Nephew the + Heir-Apparent, every line of which betrays itself as false and spurious to + a reader who has made any direct or effectual study of Frederick or his + manners or affairs,—it is set forth, in the way of exordium to these + pretended royal confessions, that <i>'notre maison,'</i> our Family of + Hohenzollern, ever since the first origin of it among the Swabian + mountains, or its first descent therefrom into the Castle and Imperial + Wardenship of Nurnberg, some six hundred years ago or more, has + consistently travelled one road, and this a very notable one. 'We, as I + myself the royal Frederick still do, have all along proceeded,' namely, + 'in the way of adroit Machiavelism, as skilful gamblers in this world's + business, ardent gatherers of this world's goods; and in brief as devout + worshippers of Beelzebub, the grand regulator and rewarder of mortals here + below. Which creed we, the Hohenzollerns, have found, and I still find, to + be the true one; learn it you, my prudent Nephew, and let all men learn + it. By holding steadily to that, and working late and early in such + spirit, we are come to what you now see;—and shall advance still + farther, if it please Beelzebub, who is generally kind to those that serve + him well.' Such is the doctrine of this impudent Pamphlet; 'original + Manuscripts' of which are still purchased by simple persons,—who + have then nobly offered them to me, thrice over, gratis or nearly so, as a + priceless curiosity. A new printed edition of which, probably the fifth, + has appeared within few years. Simple persons, consider it a curious and + interesting Document; rather ambiguous in origin perhaps, but probably + authentic in substance, and throwing unexpected light on the character of + Frederick whom men call the Great. In which new light they are willing a + meritorious Editor should share. + </p> + <p> + "Who wrote that Pamphlet I know not, and am in no condition to guess. A + certain snappish vivacity (very unlike the style of Frederick whom it + personates); a wearisome grimacing, gesticulating malice and smartness, + approaching or reaching the sad dignity of what is called 'wit' in modern + times; in general the rottenness of matter, and the epigrammatic unquiet + graciosity of manner in this thing, and its elaborately INhuman turn both + of expression and of thought, are visible characteristics of it. Thought, + we said,—if thought it can be called: thought all hamstrung, + shrivelled by inveterate rheumatism, on the part of the poor ill-thriven + thinker; nay tied (so to speak, for he is of epigrammatic turn withal), as + by cross ropes, right shoulder to left foot; and forced to advance, + hobbling and jerking along, in that sad guise: not in the way of walk, but + of saltation and dance; and this towards a false not a true aim, rather + no-whither than some-whither:—Here were features leading one to + think of an illustrious Prince de Ligne as perhaps concerned in the + affair. The Bibliographical Dictionaries, producing no evidence, name + quite another person, or series of persons, [A certain 'N. de Bonneville' + (afterwards a Revolutionary spiritual-mountebank, for some time) is now + the favorite Name;—proves, on investigation, to be an impossible + one. Barbier <i>(Dictionnaire des Anonymes),</i> in a helpless doubting + manner, gives still others.] highly unmemorable otherwise. Whereupon you + proceed to said other person's acknowledged WORKS (as they are called); + and find there a style bearing no resemblance whatever; and are left in a + dubious state, if it were of any moment. In the absence of proof, I am + unwilling to charge his Highness de Ligne with such an action; and indeed + am little careful to be acquainted with the individual who did it, who + could and would do it. A Prince of Coxcombs I can discern him to have + been; capable of shining in the eyes of insincere foolish persons, and of + doing detriment to them, not benefit; a man without reverence for truth or + human excellence; not knowing in fact what is true from what is false, + what is excellent from what is sham-excellent and at the top of the mode; + an apparently polite and knowing man, but intrinsically an impudent, dark + and merely modish-insolent man;—who, if he fell in with Rhadamanthus + on his travels, would not escape a horse-whipping, Him we will willingly + leave to that beneficial chance, which indeed seems a certain one sooner + or later; and address ourselves to consider the theory itself, and the + facts it pretends to be grounded on. + </p> + <p> + "As to the theory, I must needs say, nothing can be falser, more heretical + or more damnable. My own poor opinion, and deep conviction on that subject + is well known, this long while. And, in fact, the summary of all I have + believed, and have been trying as I could to teach mankind to believe + again, is even that same opinion and conviction, applied to all provinces + of things. Alas, in this his sad theory about the world, our poor impudent + Pamphleteer is by no means singular at present; nay rather he has in a + manner the whole practical part of mankind on his side just now; the more + is the pity for us all!— + </p> + <p> + "It is very certain, if Beelzebub made this world, our Pamphleteer, and + the huge portion of mankind that follow him, are right. But if God made + the world; and only leads Beelzebub, as some ugly muzzled bear is led, a + longer or shorter temporary DANCE in this divine world, and always draws + him home again, and peels the unjust gains off him, and ducks him in a + certain hot Lake, with sure intent to lodge him there to all eternity at + last,—then our Pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that + follow him, are wrong. + </p> + <p> + "More I will not say; being indeed quite tired of SPEAKING on that + subject. Not a subject which it concerns me to speak of; much as it + concerns me, and all men, to know the truth of it, and silently in every + hour and moment to do said truth. As indeed the sacred voice of their own + soul, if they listen, will conclusively admonish all men; and truly if IT + do not, there will be little use in my logic to them. For my own share, I + want no trade with men who need to be convinced of that fact. If I am in + their premises, and discover such a thing of them, I will quit their + premises; if they are in mine, I will, as old Samuel advised, count my + spoons. Ingenious gentlemen who believe that Beelzebub made this world, + are not a class of gentlemen I can get profit from. Let them keep at a + distance, lest mischief fall out between us. They are of the set deserving + to be called—and this not in the way of profane swearing, but of + solemn wrath and pity, I say of virtuous anger and inexorable reprobation—the + damned set. For, in very deed, they are doomed and damned, by Nature's + oldest Act of Parliament, they, and whatsoever thing they do or say or + think; unless they can escape from that devil-element. Which I still hope + they may!— + </p> + <p> + "But with regard to the facts themselves, 'DE NOTRE MAISON,' I take leave + to say, they too are without basis of truth. They are not so false as the + theory, because nothing can in falsity quite equal that. 'NOTRE MAISON,' + this Pamphleteer may learn, if he please to make study and inquiry before + speaking, did not rise by worship of Beelzebub at all in this world; but + by a quite opposite line of conduct. It rose, in fact, by the course which + all, except fools, stockjobber stags, cheating gamblers, forging + Pamphleteers and other temporary creatures of the damned sort, have found + from of old to be the one way of permanently rising: by steady service, + namely, of the Opposite of Beelzebub. By conforming to the Laws of this + Universe; instead of trying by pettifogging to evade and profitably + contradict them. The Hohenzollerns too have a History still articulate to + the human mind, if you search sufficiently; and this is what, even with + some emphasis, it will teach us concerning their adventures, and + achievements of success in the field of life. Resist the Devil, good + reader, and he will flee from you!"—So ends our indignant friend. + </p> + <p> + How the Hohenzollerns got their big Territories, and came to what they are + in the world, will be seen. Probably they were not, any of them, paragons + of virtue. They did not walk in altogether speckless Sunday pumps, or much + clear-starched into consciousness of the moral sublime; but in rugged + practical boots, and by such roads as there were. Concerning their + moralities, and conformities to the Laws of the Road and of the Universe, + there will much remain to be argued by pamphleteers and others. Men will + have their opinion, Men of more wisdom and of less; Apes by the Dead-Sea + also will have theirs. But what man that believed in such a Universe as + that of this Dead-Sea Pamphleteer could consent to live in it at all? Who + that believed in such a Universe, and did not design to live like a + Papin's-Digester, or PORCUS EPICURI, in an extremely ugly manner in it, + could avoid one of two things: Going rapidly into Bedlam, or else blowing + his brains out? "It will not do for me at any rate, this infinite + Dog-house; not for me, ye Dryasdusts, and omnipotent Dog-monsters and + Mud-gods, whoever you are. One honorable thing I can do: take leave of you + and your Dog-establishment. Enough!"— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III. — KURFURST FRIEDRICH II. + </h2> + <p> + The First Friedrich's successor was a younger son, Friedrich II.; who + lasted till 1471, above thirty years; and proved likewise a notable + manager and governor. Very capable to assert himself, and his just rights, + in this world. He was but Twenty-seven at his accession; but the Berlin + Burghers, attempting to take some liberties with him, found he was old + enough. He got the name IRONTEETH. Friedrich FERRATIS DENTIBUS, from his + decisive ways then and afterwards. He had his share of brabbling with + intricate litigant neighbors; quarrels now and then not to be settled + without strokes. His worst war was with Pommern,—just claims + disputed there, and much confused bickering, sieging and harassing in + consequence: of which quarrel we must speak anon. It was he who first + built the conspicuous Schloss or Palace at Berlin, having got the ground + for it (same ground still covered by the actual fine Edifice, which is a + second edition of Friedrich's) from the repentant Burghers; and took up + his chief residence there. [1442-1431 (Nicolari, i. 81).] + </p> + <p> + But his principal achievement in Brandenburg History is his recovery of + the Province called the Neumark to that Electorate. In the thriftless + Sigismund times, the Neumark had been pledged, had been sold; Teutsch + Ritterdom, to whose dominions it lay contiguous, had purchased it with + money down. The Teutsch Ritters were fallen moneyless enough since then; + they offered to pledge the Neumark to Friedrich, who accepted, and + advanced the sum: after a while the Teutsch Ritters, for a small farther + sum, agreed to sell Neumark. [Michaelis, i. 301.] Into which Transaction, + with its dates and circumstances, let us cast one glance, for our behoof + afterwards. The Teutsch Ritters were an opulent domineering Body in + Sigismund's early time; but they are now come well down in Friedrich + II.'s! And are coming ever lower. Sinking steadily, or with desperate + attempts to rise, which only increase the speed downwards, ever since that + fatal Tannenberg Business, 15th July, 1410. Here is the sad progress of + their descent to the bottom; divided into three stages or periods:— + </p> + <p> + "PERIOD FIRST is of Thirty years: 1410-1440. A peace with Poland soon + followed that Defeat of Tannenberg; humiliating peace, with mulct in + money, and slightly in territory, attached to it. Which again was soon + followed by war, and ever again; each new peace more humiliating than its + foregoer. Teutsch Order is steadily sinking,—into debt, among other + things; driven to severe finance-measures (ultimately even to 'debase its + coin'), which produce irritation enough. Poland is gradually edging itself + into the territories and the interior troubles of Preussen; prefatory to + greater operations that lie ahead there. + </p> + <p> + "SECOND PERIOD, of Fourteen years. So it had gone on, from bad to worse, + till 1440; when the general population, through its Heads, the Landed + Gentry and the Towns, wearied out with fiscal and other oppressions from + its domineering Ritterdom brought now to such a pinch, began everywhere to + stir themselves into vocal complaint. Complaint emphatic enough: 'Where + will you find a man that has not suffered injury in his rights, perhaps in + his person? Our friends they have invited as guests, and under show of + hospitality have murdered them. Men, for the sake of their beautiful + wives, have been thrown into the river like dogs,'—and enough of the + like sort. [Voigt, vii. 747; quoting evidently, not an express manifesto, + but one manufactured by the old Chroniclers.] No want of complaint, nor of + complainants: Town of Thorn, Town of Dantzig, Kulm, all manner of Towns + and Baronages, proceeded now to form a BUND, or general Covenant for + complaining; to repugn, in hotter and hotter form, against a domineering + Ritterdom with back so broken; in fine, to colleague with Poland,—what + was most ominous of all. Baronage, Burgherage, they were German mostly by + blood, and by culture were wholly German; but preferred Poland to a + Teutsch Ritterdom of that nature. Nothing but brabblings, scufflings, + objurgations; a great outbreak ripening itself. Teutsch Ritterdom has to + hire soldiers; no money to pay them. It was in these sad years that the + Teutsch Ritterdom, fallen moneyless, offered to pledge the Neumark to our + Kurfurst; 1444, that operation was consummated. [Pauli, ii. 187,—does + not name the sum.] All this goes on, in hotter and hotter form, for ten + years longer. + </p> + <p> + "PERIOD THIRD begins, early in 1454, with an important special + catastrophe; and ends, in the Thirteenth year after, with a still more + important universal one of the same nature. Prussian BUND, or + Anti-Oppression Covenant of the Towns and Landed Gentry, rising in + temperature for fourteen years at this rate, reached at last the igniting + point, and burst into fire. February 4th, 1454, the Town of Thorn, darling + first-child of Teutsch Ritterdom,—child 223 years old at this time, + ['Founded 1231, as a wooden Burg, just across the river, on the Heathen + side, mainly round the stem of an immense old Oak that grew handy there,—Seven + Barges always on the river (Weichsel), to fly to our own side if quite + overwhelmed' <i>Oak and Seven Barges</i> is still the Town's-Arms of + Thorn. See Kohler, <i>Munzbelustigungen,</i>xxii. 107; quoting Dusburg (a + Priest of the Order) and his old <i>Chronica Terrae Prusciae,</i> written + in 1326.] and grown very big, and now very angry,—suddenly took its + old parent by the throat, so to speak, and hurled him out to the dogs; to + the extraneous Polacks first of all. Town of Thorn, namely, sent that day + its 'Letter of Renunciation' to the Hochmeister over at Marienburg; seized + in a day or two more the Hochmeister's Official Envoys, Dignitaries of the + Order; led them through the streets, amid universal storm of execrations, + hootings and unclean projectiles, straight, to jail; and besieged the + Hochmeister's Burg (BASTILLE of Thorn, with a few Ritters in it), all the + artillery and all the throats and hearts of the place raging deliriously + upon it. So that the poor Bitters, who had no chance in resisting, were in + few days obliged to surrender; [8th February, 1454, says Voigt (viii. + 361); 16th, says Kohler <i> (Munzbelustigungen,</i> xxii. 110).] had to + come out in bare jerkin; and Thorn ignominiously dismissed them into space + forevermore,—with actual 'kicks,' I have read in some Books, though + others veil that sad feature. Thorn threw out its old parent in this + manner; swore fealty to the King of Poland; and invited other Towns and + Knightages to follow the example. To which all were willing, wherever + able. + </p> + <p> + "War hereupon, which blazed up over Preussen at large,—Prussian + Covenant and King of Poland VERSUS Teutsch Ritterdom,—and lasted + into the thirteenth year, before it could go out again; out by lack of + fuel mainly. One of the fellest wars on record, especially for burning and + ruining; above '300,000 fighting-men' are calculated to have perished in + it; and of towns, villages, farmsteads, a cipher which makes the fancy, as + it were, black and ashy altogether. Ritterdom showed no lack of fighting + energy; but that could not save it, in the pass things were got to. + Enormous lack of wisdom, of reality and human veracity, there had long + been; and the hour was now come. Finance went out, to the last coin. Large + mercenary armies all along; and in the end not the color of money to pay + them with; mercenaries became desperate; 'besieged the Hochmeister and his + Ritters in Marienburg;'—finally sold the Country they held; formally + made it over to the King of Poland, to get their pay out of it. + Hochmeister had to see such things, and say little. Peace, or extinction + for want of fuel, came in the year 1466. Poland got to itself the whole of + that fine German Country, henceforth called 'WEST Preussen' to distinguish + it, which goes from the left bank of the Weichsel to the borders of + Brandenburg and Neumark;—would have got Neumark too, had not + Kurfurst Friedrich been there to save it. The Teutsch Order had to go + across the Weichsel, ignominiously driven; to content itself with 'EAST + Preussen,' the Konigsberg-Memel country, and even to do homage to Poland + for that. Which latter was the bitterest clause of all: but it could not + be helped, more than the others. In this manner did its revolted children + fling out Teutsch Ritterdom ignominiously to the dogs, to the Polacks, + first of all,—Thorn, the eldest child, leading off or setting the + example." + </p> + <p> + And so the Teutsch Ritters are sunk beyond retrieval; and West Preussen, + called subsequently "Royal Preussen," NOT having homage to pay as the + "Ducal" or East Preussen had, is German no longer, but Polish, Sclavic; + not prospering by the change. [What Thorn had sunk to, out of its palmy + state, see in Nanke's <i>Wanderungen durch Preussen</i> (Hamburg & + Altona, 1800), ii. 177-200:—a pleasant little Rook, treating mainly + of Natural History; but drawing you, by its innocent simplicity and + geniality, to read with thanks whatever is in it.] And all that fine + German country, reduced to rebel against its unwise parent, was cut away + by the Polish sword, and remained with Poland, which did not prove very + wise either; till—till, in the Year 1773, it was cut back by the + German sword! All readers have heard of the Partition of Poland: but of + the Partition of Preussen, 307 years before, all have not heard. + </p> + <p> + It was in the second year of that final tribulation, marked above as + Period Third, that the Teutsch Ritters, famishing for money, completed the + Neumark transaction with Kurfurst Friedrich; Neumark, already pawned to + him ten years before, they in 1455, for a small farther sum, agreed to + sell; and he, long carefully steering towards such an issue, and + dexterously keeping out of the main broil, failed not to buy. Friedrich + could thenceforth, on his own score, protect the Neumark; keep up an + invisible but impenetrable wall between it and the neighboring anarchic + conflagrations of thirteen years; and the Neumark has ever since remained + with Brandenburg, its original owner. + </p> + <p> + As to Friedrich's Pomeranian quarrel, this is the figure of it. Here is a + scene from Rentsch, which falls out in Friedrich's time; and which brought + much battling and broiling to him and his. Symbolical withal of much that + befell in Brandenburg, from first to last. Under the Hohenzollerns as + before, Brandenburg grew by aggregation, by assimilation; and we see here + how difficult the process often was. + </p> + <p> + Pommern (POMERANIA), long Wendish, but peaceably so since the time of + Albert the Bear, and growing ever more German, had, in good part, + according to Friedrich's notion, if there were force in human Treaties and + Imperial Laws, fallen fairly to Brandenburg,—that is to say, the + half of it, Stettin-Pommern had fairly fallen,—in the year 1464, + when Duke Otto of Stettin, the last Wendish Duke, died without heirs. In + that case by many bargains, some with bloody crowns, it had been settled, + If the Wendish Dukes died out, the country was to fall to Brandenburg;—and + here they were dead. "At Duke Otto's burial, accordingly, in the High + Church of Stettin, when the coffin was lowered into its place, the Stettin + Burgermeister, Albrecht Glinde, took sword and helmet, and threw the same + into the grave, in token that the Line was extinct. But Franz von + Eichsted," apparently another Burgher instructed for the nonce, "jumped + into the grave, and picked them out again; alleging, No, the Dukes of + WOLGAST-Pommern were of kin; these tokens we must send to his Grace at + Wolgast, with offer of our homage, said Franz von Eichsted." [Rentsch, p. + 110 (whose printer has put his date awry); Stenzel (i. 233) calls the man + "LORENZ Eikstetten, a resolute Gentleman."]—And sent they were, and + accepted by his Grace. And perhaps half-a-score of bargains, with bloody + crowns to some of them; and yet other chances, and centuries, with the + extinction of new Lines,—had to supervene, before even + Stettin-Pommern, and that in no complete state, could be got. [1648, by + Treaty of Westphalia.] As to Pommern at large, Pommern not denied to be + due, after such extinction and re-extinction of native Ducal Lines, did + not fall home for centuries more; and what struggles and inextricable + armed-litigations there were for it, readers of Brandenburg-History too + wearisomely know. The process of assimilation not the least of an easy + one!— + </p> + <p> + This Friedrich was second son: his Father's outlook for him had, at first, + been towards a Polish Princess and the crown of Poland, which was not then + so elective as afterwards: and with such view his early breeding had been + chiefly in Poland; Johann, the eldest son and heir-apparent, helping his + Father at home in the mean while. But these Polish outlooks went to + nothing, the young Princess having died; so that Friedrich came home; + possessed merely of the Polish language, and of what talents the gods had + given him, which were considerable. And now, in the mean while, Johann, + who at one time promised well in practical life, had taken to Alchemy; and + was busy with crucibles and speculations, to a degree that seemed + questionable. Father Friedrich, therefore, had to interfere, and deal with + this "Johann the Alchemist" (JOHANNES ALCHEMISTA, so the Books still name + him); who loyally renounced the Electorship, at his Father's bidding, in + favor of Friedrich; accepted Baireuth (better half of the Culmbach + Territory) for apanage; and there peacefully distilled and sublimated at + discretion; the government there being an easier task, and fitter for a + soft speculative Herr. A third Brother, Albert by name, got Anspach, on + the Father's decease; very capable to do any fighting there might be + occasion for, in Culmbach. + </p> + <p> + As to the Burggrafship, it was now done, all but the Title. The First + Friedrich, once he was got to be Elector, wisely parted with it. The First + Friedrich found his Electorship had dreadfully real duties for him, and + that this of the Burggrafship had fallen mostly obsolete; so he sold it to + the Nurnbergers for a round sum: only the Principalities and Territories + are retained in that quarter. About which too, and their feudal duties, + boundaries and tolls, with a jealous litigious Nurnberg for neighbor, + there at length came quarrelling enough. But Albert the third Brother, + over at Anspach, took charge of all that; and nothing of it fell in + Johann's way. + </p> + <p> + The good Alchemist died,—performed his last sublimation, poor man,—six + or seven years before his Brother Friedrich; age then sixty-three. [14th + November, 1464.] Friedrich, with his Iron Teeth and faculties, only held + out till fifty-eight,—10th February, 1471. The manner of his end was + peculiar. In that War with Pommern, he sat besieging a Pomeranian town, + Uckermunde the name of it: when at dinner one day, a cannon-ball plunged + down upon the table, [Michaelis, i. 303.] with such a crash as we can + fancy;—which greatly confused the nerves of Friedrich; much injured + his hearing, and even his memory thenceforth. In a few months afterwards + he resigned, in favor of his Successor; retired to Plassenburg, and there + died in about a year more. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV. — KURFURST ALBERT ACHILLES, AND HIS SUCCESSOR. + </h2> + <p> + Neither Friedrich nor Johann left other than daughters: so that the united + Heritage, Brandenburg and Culmbach both, came now to the third Brother, + Albert; who has been in Culmbath these many years already. A tall, fiery, + tough old gentleman, of formidable talent for fighting, who was called the + "ACHILLES OF GERMANY" in his day; being then a very blazing far-seen + character, dim as he has now grown. [Born 1414; Kurfurst, 1471-1486.] This + Albert Achilles was the Third Elector; Ancestor he of all the Brandenburg + and Culmbach Hohenzollern Princes that have since figured in the world. + After him there is no break or shift in the succession, down to the little + Friedrich now born;—Friedrich the old Grandfather, First KING, was + the Twelfth KURFURST. + </p> + <p> + We have to say, they followed generally in their Ancestors' steps, and had + success of the like kind, more or less; Hohenzollerns all of them, by + character and behavior as well as by descent. No lack of quiet energy, of + thrift, sound sense. There was likewise solid fair-play in general, no + founding of yourself on ground that will not carry;—and there was + instant, gentle but inexorable, crushing of mutiny, if it showed itself; + which, after the Second Elector, or at most the Third, it had altogether + ceased to do. Young Friedrich II., upon whom those Berlin Burghers had + tried to close their gates, till he should sign some "Capitulation" to + their mind, got from them, and not quite in ill-humor, that name + IRONTEETH:—"Not the least a Nose-of-wax, this one! No use trying + here, then!"—which, with the humor attached to it, is itself + symbolical of Friedrich and these Hohenzollern Sovereigns. Albert, his + Brother, had plenty of fighting in his time: but it was in the Nurnberg + and other distant regions; no fighting, or hardly any, needed in + Brandenburg henceforth. + </p> + <p> + With Nurnberg, and the Ex-Burggrafship there, now when a new generation + began to tug at the loose clauses of that Bargain with Friedrich I., and + all Free-Towns were going high upon their privileges, Albert had at one + time much trouble, and at length actual furious War;—other + Free-Towns countenancing and assisting Nurnberg in the affair; numerous + petty Princes, feudal Lords of the vicinity, doing the like by Albert. + Twenty years ago, all this; and it did not last, so furious was it. "Eight + victories," they count on Albert's part,—furious successful + skirmishes, call them;—in one of which, I remember, Albert plunged + in alone, his Ritters being rather shy; and laid about him hugely, hanging + by a standard he had taken, till his life was nearly beaten out. [1449 + (Rentsch, p. 399).] Eight victories; and also one defeat, wherein Albert + got captured, and had to ransom himself. The captor was one Kunz of + Kauffungen, the Nurnberg hired General at the time: a man known to some + readers for his Stealing of the Saxon Princes (PRINZENRAUB, they call it); + a feat which cost Kunz his head. [Carlyle's <i>Miscellanies</i> (London, + 1869), vi. ? PRINZENRAUB.] Albert, however, prevailed in the end, as he + was apt to do; and got his Nurnbergers fixed to clauses satisfactory to + him. + </p> + <p> + In his early days he had fought against Poles, Bohemians and others, as + Imperial general. He was much concerned, all along, in those abstruse + armed-litigations of the Austrian House with its dependencies; and + diligently helped the Kaiser,—Friedrich III., rather a weakish, but + an eager and greedy Kaiser,—through most of them. That inextricable + Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish DONNYBROOK (so we may call it) which Austria had + on hand, one of Sigismund's bequests to Austria; distressingly tumultuous + Donnybrook, which goes from 1440 to 1471, fighting in a fierce confused + manner;—the Anti-Turk Hunniades, the Anti-Austrian Corvinus, the + royal Majesties George Podiebrad, Ladislaus POSTHUMUS, Ludwig OHNE HAUT + (Ludwig NO-SKIN), and other Ludwigs, Ladislauses and Vladislauses, + striking and getting struck at such a rate:—Albert was generally + what we may call chief-constable in all that; giving a knock here and then + one there, in the Kaiser's name. [Hormayr, ii. 138, 140 (? HUNYADY + CORVIN); Rentsch, pp. 389-422; Michaelis, i. 304-313.] Almost from + boyhood, he had learned soldiering, which he had never afterwards leisure + to forget. Great store of fighting he had,—say half a century of it, + off and on, during the seventy and odd years he lasted in this world. With + the Donnybrook we spoke of; with the Nurnbergers; with the Dukes of + Bavaria (endless bickerings with these Dukes, Ludwig BEARDY, Ludwig + SUPERBUS, Ludwig GIBBOSUS or Hunchback, against them and about them, on + his own and the Kaiser's score); also with the French, already clutching + at Lorraine; also with Charles the Rash of Burgundy;—lastly with the + Bishop of Bamberg, who got him excommunicated and would not bury the dead. + </p> + <p> + Kurfurst Albert's Letter on this last emergency, to his Viceregent in + Culmbach, is a famed Piece still extant (date 1481); [Rentsch, p. 409.] + and his plan in such emergency, is a simple and likely one: "Carry the + dead bodies to the Parson's house; let him see whether he will not bury + them by and by!—One must fence off the Devil by the Holy Cross," + says Albert,—appeal to Heaven with what honest mother-wit Heaven has + vouchsafed one, means Albert. "These fellows" (the Priests), continues he, + "would fain have the temporal sword as well as the spiritual. Had God + wished there should be only one sword, he could have contrived that as + well as the two. He surely did not want for intellect <i>(Er war gar ein + weiser Mann),"</i>—want of intellect it clearly was not!—In + short, they had to bury the dead, and do reason; and Albert hustled + himself well clear of this broil, as he had done of many. + </p> + <p> + Battle enough, poor man, with steel and other weapons:—and we see he + did it with sharp insight, good forecast; now and then in a wildly leonine + or AQUILINE manner. A tall hook-nosed man, of lean, sharp, rather taciturn + aspect; nose and look are very aquiline; and there is a cloudy sorrow in + those old eyes, which seems capable of sudden effulgence to a dangerous + extent. He was a considerable, diplomatist too: very great with the + Kaiser, Old Friedrich III. (Max's father, Charles V.'s Great-Grandfather); + [How admirable Albert is, not to say "almost divine," to the Kaiser's then + Secretary, oily-mouthed AEneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope, Rentsch can + testify (pp. 401, 586); quoting AEneas's eulogies and gossipries (<i>Historia + Rerum Frederici Imperatoris,</i> I conclude, though no book is named). + Oily diligent AEneas, in his own young years and in Albert's prime, had of + course seen much of this "miracle" of Arms and Art,—"miracle" and + "almost divine," so to speak.] and managed many things for him. Managed to + get the thrice-lovely Heiress of the Netherlands and Burgundy, Daughter of + that Charles the Rash, with her Seventeen Provinces, for Max, (1477) who + was thought thereupon by everybody to be the luckiest man alive; though + the issue contradicted it before long. + </p> + <p> + Kurfurst Albert died in 1486, March 11, aged seventy-two. It was some + months after Bosworth Fight, where our Crooked Richard got his quietus + here in England and brought the Wars of the Roses to their finale:—a + little chubby Boy, the son of poor parents at Eisleben in Saxony, Martin + Luther the name of him, was looking into this abtruse Universe, with those + strange eyes of his, in what rough woollen or linsey-woolsey short-clothes + we do not know. [Born 10th November, 1483] + </p> + <p> + Albert's funeral was very grand; the Kaiser himself, and all the Magnates + of the Diet and Reich attending him from Frankfurt to his last + resting-place, many miles of road. For he died at the Diet, in + Frankfurt-on-Mayn; having fallen ill there while busy,—perhaps too + busy for that age, in the harsh spring weather,—electing Prince + Maximilian ("lucky Max,") who will be Kaiser too before long, and is + already deep in ILL-luck, tragical and other to be King of the Romans. The + old Kaiser had "looked in on him at Onolzbach" (Anspach), and brought him + along; such a man could not be wanting on such an occasion. A man who + "perhaps did more for the German Empire than for the Electorate of + Brandenburg," hint some. The Kaiser himself, Friedrich III., was now + getting old; anxious to see Max secure, and to set his house in order. A + somewhat anxious, creaky, close-fisted, ineffectual old Kaiser; [See + Kohler (<i>Munzbelustigungen,</i> vi. 393-401; ii. 89-96, &c.) for a + vivid account of him.] distinguished by his luck in getting Max so + provided for, and bringing the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands to + his House. He is the first of the Hapsburg Kaisers who had what has since + been called the "Austrian lip"—protrusive under-jaw, with heavy lip + disinclined to shut. He got it from his Mother, and bequeathed it in a + marked manner; his posterity to this day bearing traces of it. Mother's + name was Cimburgis, a Polish Princess, "Duke of Masovia's daughter;" a + lady who had something of the MAULTASCHE in her, in character as well as + mouth.—In old Albert, the poor old Kaiser has lost his right hand; + and no doubt muses sadly as he rides in the funeral procession. + </p> + <p> + Albert is buried at Heilsbronn in Frankenland, among his Ancestors,—burial + in Brandenburg not yet common for these new Kurfursts:—his skull, in + an after-time, used to be shown there, laid on the lid of the tomb; skull + marvellous for strength, and for "having no visible sutures," says + Rentsch. Pious Brandenburg Officiality at length put an end to that + profanation, and restored the skull to its place,—marvellous enough, + with what had once dwelt in it, whether it had sutures or not. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHANN THE CICERO IS FOURTH KURFURST, AND LEAVES TWO NOTABLE SONS. + </h2> + <p> + Albert's eldest Son, the Fourth Kurfurst, was Johannes Cicero (1486-1499): + Johannes was his natural name, to which the epithet "Cicero of Germany + (CICERO GERMANIAE)" was added by an admiring public. He had commonly + administered the Electorate during his Father's absences; and done it with + credit to himself. He was an active man, nowise deficient as a Governor; + creditably severe on highway robbers, for one thing,—destroys you + "fifteen baronial robber-towers" at a stroke; was also concerned in the + Hungarian-Bohemian DONNYBROOK, and did that also well. But nothing struck + a discerning public like the talent he had for speaking. Spoke "four hours + at a stretch in Kaiser Max's Diets, in elegantly flowing Latin;" with a + fair share of meaning, too;—and had bursts of parliamentary + eloquence in him that were astonishing to hear. A tall, square-headed man, + of erect, cheerfully composed aspect, head flung rather back if anything: + his bursts of parliamentary eloquence, once glorious as the day, procured + him the name "Johannes CICERO;" and that is what remains of them: for they + are sunk now, irretrievable he and they, into the belly of eternal Night; + the final resting-place, I do perceive, of much Ciceronian ware in this + world. Apparently he had, like some of his Descendants, what would now be + called "distinguished literary talents,"—insignificant to mankind + and us. I find he was likewise called DER GROSSE, "John the GREAT;" but on + investigation it proves to be mere "John the BIG," a name coming from his + tall stature and ultimate fatness of body. + </p> + <p> + For the rest, he left his family well off, connected with high Potentates + all around; and had increased his store, to a fair degree, in his time. + Besides his eldest Son who followed as Elector, by name Joachim I., a + burly gentleman of whom much is written in Books, he left a second Son, + Archbishop of Magdeburg, who in time became Archbishop of Mainz and + Cardinal of Holy Church, [Ulrich van Hutten's grand "Panegyric" upon this + Albert on his first Entrance into Mainz (9th October, 1514),—"entrance + with a retinue of 2,000 horse, mainly furnished by the Brandenburg and + Culmbach kindred," say the old Books,—is in <i>Ulrichi ab Hutten + Equitis Germani Opera</i> (Munch's edition; Berlin, 1821), i. 276-310.]—and + by accident got to be forever memorable in Church-History, as we shall see + anon. Archbishop of Mainz means withal KUR-MAINZ, Elector of Mainz; who is + Chief of the Seven Electors, and as it were their President or "Speaker." + Albert was the name of this one; his elder Brother, the then + Kur-Brandenburg, was called Joachim. Cardinal Albert Kur-Mainz, like his + brother Joachim Kur-Brandenburg, figures much, and blazes widely abroad, + in the busy reign of Karl V., and the inextricable Lutheran-Papal, + Turk-Christian business it had. + </p> + <p> + But the notable point in this Albert of Mainz was that of Leo X. and the + Indulgences. [Pauli, v. 496-499; Rentsch, p. 869.] Pope Leo had permitted + Albert to retain his Archbishopric of Magdeburg and other dignities along + with that of Mainz; which was an unusual favor. But the Pope expected to + be paid for it,—to have 30,000 ducats (15,000 pounds), almost a + King's ransom at that time, for the "Pallium" to Mainz; PALLIUM, or little + Bit of woollen Cloth, on sale by the Pope, without which Mainz could not + be held. Albert, with all his dignities, was dreadfully short of money at + the time. Chapter of Mainz could or would do little or nothing, having + been drained lately; Magdeburg, Halberstadt, the like. Albert tried + various shifts; tried a little stroke of trade in relics,—gathered + in the Mainz district "some hundreds of fractional sacred bones, and three + whole bodies," which he sent to Halle for pious purchase;—but + nothing came of this branch. The 15,000 pounds remained unpaid; and Pope + Leo, building St. Peter's, "furnishing a sister's toilet," and doing worse + things, was in extreme need of it. What is to be done? "I could borrow the + money from the Fuggers of Augsburg," said the Archbishop hesitatingly; + "but then—?"—"I could help you to repay it." said his + Holiness: "Could repay the half of it,—if only we had (but they + always make such clamor about these things) an Indulgence published in + Germany!"—"Well; it must be!" answered Albert at last, agreeing to + take the clamor on himself, and to do the feat; being at his wits'-end for + money. He draws out his Full-Power, which, as first Spiritual Kurfurst, he + has the privilege to do; nominates (1516) one Tetzel for Chief Salesman, a + Priest whose hardness of face, and shiftiness of head and hand, were known + to him; and—here is one Hohenzollern that has a place in History! + Poor man, it was by accident, and from extreme tightness for money. He was + by no means a violent Churchman; he had himself inclinations towards + Luther, even of a practical sort, as the thing went on. But there was no + help for it. + </p> + <p> + Cardinal Albert, Kur-Mainz, shows himself a copious dexterous public + speaker at the Diets and elsewhere in those times; a man intent on + avoiding violent methods;—uncomfortably fat in his later years, to + judge by the Portraits. Kur-Brandenburg, Kur-Mainz (the younger now + officially even greater than the elder), these names are perpetually + turning up in the German Histories of that Reformation-Period; absent on + no great occasion; and they at length, from amid the meaningless bead-roll + of Names, wearisomely met with in such Books, emerge into Persons for us + as above. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V. — OF THE BAIREUTH-ANSPACH BRANCH. + </h2> + <p> + Albert Achilles the Third Elector had, before his accession, been Margraf + of Anspach, and since his Brother the Alchemist's death, Margraf of + Baireuth too, or of the whole Principality,—"Margraf of Culmbach" we + will call it, for brevity's sake, though the bewildering old Books have + not steadily any name for it. [A certain subaltern of this express title, + "Margraf of Culmbach" (a Cadet, with some temporary appanage there, who + was once in the service of him they call the Winter-King, and may again be + transiently heard of by us here), is the altogether Mysterious Personage + who prints himself "MARQUIS DE LULENBACH" in Bromley's <i>Collection of + Royal Letters</i> (London, 1787), pp. 52, &c.:—one of the most + curious Books on the Thirty-Years War; "edited" with a composed stupidity, + and cheerful infinitude of ignorance, which still farther distinguish it. + The BROMLEY Originals well worth a real editing, turn out, on inquiry, to + have been "sold as Autographs, and dispersed beyond recovery, about fifty + years ago."] After his accession, Albert Achilles naturally held both + Electorate and Principality during the rest of his life. Which was an + extremely rare predicament for the two Countries, the big and the little. + </p> + <p> + No other Elector held them both, for nearly a hundred years; nor then, + except as it were for a moment. The two countries, Electorate and + Principality, Hohenzollern both, and constituting what the Hohenzollerns + had in this world, continued intimately connected; with affinity and + clientship carefully kept, up, and the lesser standing always under the + express protection and as it were COUSINSHIP of the greater. But they had + their separate Princes, Lines of Princes; and they only twice, in the time + of these Twelve Electors, came even temporarily under the same head. And + as to ultimate union, Brandenburg-Baireuth and Brandenburg-Anspach were + not incorporated with Brandenburg-Proper, and its new fortunes, till + almost our own day, namely in 1791; nor then either to continue; having + fallen to Bavaria, in the grand Congress of Vienna, within the next + five-and-twenty years. All which, with the complexities and perplexities + resulting from it here, we must, in some brief way, endeavor to elucidate + for the reader. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TWO LINES IN CULMBACH OR BAIREUTH-ANSPACH: THE GERA BOND OF 1598. + </h2> + <p> + Culmbach the Elector left, at his death, to his Second Son,—properly + to two sons, but one of them soon died, and the other became sole + possessor;—Friedrich by name; who, as founder of the Elder Line of + Brandenburg-Culmbach Princes, must not be forgotten by us. Founder of the + First or Elder Line, for there are two Lines; this of Friedrich's having + gone out in about a hundred years; and the Anspach-Baireuth territories + having fallen home again to Brandenburg;—where, however, they + continued only during the then Kurfurst's life. Johann George (1525-1598), + Seventh Kurfurst, was he to whom Brandenburg-Culmbach fell home,—nay, + strictly speaking, it was but the sure prospect of it that fell home, the + thing itself did not quite fall in his time, though the disposal of it + did, ["Disposal," 1598; thing itself, 1603, in his Son's time.]—to + be conjoined again with Brandenburg-Proper. Conjoined for the short + potential remainder of his own life; and then to be disposed of as an + apanage again;—which latter operation, as Johann George had + three-and-twenty children, could be no difficult one. + </p> + <p> + Johann George, accordingly (Year 1598), split the Territory in two; + Brandenburg-Baireuth was for his second son, Brandenburg-Anspach for his + third: hereby again were two new progenitors of Culmbach Princes + introduced, and a New Line, Second or "Younger Line" they call it (Line + mostly split in two, as heretofore); which—after complex adventures + in its split condition, Baireuth under one head, Anspach under another—continues + active down to our little Fritz's time and farther. As will become but too + apparent to us in the course of this History!— + </p> + <p> + From of old these Territories had been frequently divided: each has its + own little capital, Town of Anspach, Town of Baireuth, [Populations about + the same; 16,000 to 17,000 in our time.] suitable for such arrangement. + Frequently divided; though always under the closest cousinship, and ready + for reuniting, if possible. Generally under the Elder Line too, under + Friedrich's posterity, which was rather numerous and often in need of + apanages, they had been in separate hands. But the understood practice was + not to divide farther; Baireuth by itself, Anspach by itself (or still + luckier if one hand could get hold of both),—and especially + Brandenburg by itself, uncut by any apanage: this, I observe, was the + received practice. But Johann George, wise Kurfurst as he was, wished now + to make it surer; and did so by a famed Deed, called the Gera Bond + (GERAISCHE VERTRAG), dated 1598, [Michaelis, i. 345.] the last year of + Johann George's life. + </p> + <p> + Hereby, in a Family Conclave held at that Gera, a little town in + Thuringen, it was settled and indissolubly fixed, That their Electorate, + unlike all others in Germany, shall continue indivisible; Law of + Primogeniture, here if nowhere else, is to be in full force; and only the + Culmbach Territory (if otherwise unoccupied) can be split off for younger + sons. Culmbach can be split off; and this again withal can be split, if + need be, into two (Baireuth and Anspach); but not in any case farther. + Which Household-Law was strictly obeyed henceforth. Date of it 1598; + principal author, Johann George, Seventh Elector. This "Gera Bond" the + reader can note for himself as an excellent piece of Hohenzollern thrift, + and important in the Brandenburg annals. On the whole, Brandenburg keeps + continually growing under these Twelve Hohenzollerns, we perceive; slower + or faster, just as the Burggrafdom had done, and by similar methods. A + lucky outlay of money (as in the case of Friedrich Ironteeth in the + Neumark) brings them one Province, lucky inheritance another:—good + management is always there, which is the mother of good luck. + </p> + <p> + And so there goes on again, from Johann George downwards, a new stream of + Culmbach Princes, called the Younger or New Line,—properly two + contemporary Lines, of Baireuthers and Anspachers;—always in close + affinity to Brandenburg, and with ultimate reversion to Brandenburg, + should both Lines fail; but with mutual inheritance if only one. They had + intricate fortunes, service in foreign armies, much wandering about, + sometimes considerable scarcity of cash: but, for a hundred and fifty + years to come, neither Line by any means failed,—rather the + contrary, in fact. + </p> + <p> + Of this latter or New Culmbach Line, or split Line, especially of the + Baireuth part of it, our little Wilhelmina, little Fritz's Sister, who + became Margravine there, has given all the world notice. From the Anspach + part of it (at that time in sore scarcity of cash) came Queen Caroline, + famed in our George the Second's time. [See a Synoptic Diagram of these + Genealogies, infra, p. 388a.] From it too came an unmomentous Margraf, who + married a little Sister of Wilhelmina's and Fritz's; of whom we shall + hear. There is lastly a still more unmomentous Margraf, only son of said + Unmomentous and his said Spouse; who again combined the two Territories, + Baireuth having failed of heirs; and who, himself without heirs, and with + a frail Lady Craven as Margravine,—died at Hammersmith, close by us, + in 1806; and so ended the troublesome affair. He had already, in 1791, + sold off to Prussia all temporary claims of his; and let Prussia have the + Heritage at once without waiting farther. Prussia, as we noticed, did not + keep it long; and it is now part of the Bavarian Dominion;—for the + sake of editors and readers, long may it so continue! + </p> + <p> + Of this Younger Line, intrinsically rather insignificant to mankind, we + shall have enough to write in time and place; we must at present direct + our attention to the Elder Line. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ELDER LINE OF CULMBACH: FRIEDRICH AND HIS THREE NOTABLE SONS THERE. + </h2> + <p> + Kurfurst Albert Achilles's second son, Friedrich (1460-1536), [Rentsch, + pp. 593-602.] the founder of the Elder Culmbach Line, ruled his country + well for certain years, and was "a man famed for strength of body and + mind;" but claims little notice from us, except for the sons he had. A + quiet, commendable, honorable man,—with a certain pathetic dignity, + visible even in the eclipsed state he sank into. Poor old gentleman, after + grand enough feats in war and peace, he fell melancholy, fell imbecile, + blind, soon after middle life; and continued so for twenty years, till he + died. During which dark state, say the old Books, it was a pleasure to see + with what attention his Sons treated him, and how reverently the eldest + always led him out to dinner. [Ib. p. 612.] They live and dine at that + high Castle of Plassenburg, where old Friedrich can behold the Red or + White Mayn no more. Alas, alas, Plassenburg is now a Correction-House, + where male and female scoundrels do beating of hemp; and pious Friedrich, + like eloquent Johann, has become a forgotten object. He was of the German + Reichs-Array, who marched to the Netherlands to deliver Max from durance; + Max, the King of the Romans, whom, for all his luck, the mutinous Flemings + had put under lock-and-key at one time. [1482 (Pauli, ii. 389): his + beautiful young Wife, "thrown from her horse," had perished in a + thrice-tragic way, short while before; and the Seventeen Provinces were + unruly under the guardianship of Max.] That is his one feat memorable to + me at present. + </p> + <p> + He was Johann Cicero's HALF-brother, child by a second wife. Like his + Uncle Kurfurst Friedrich II., he had married a Polish Princess; the sharp + Achilles having perhaps an eye to crowns in that direction, during that + Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish Donnybrook. But if so, there again came nothing + of a crown with it; though it was not without its good results for + Friedrich's children by and by. + </p> + <p> + He had eight Sons that reached manhood; five or six of whom came to + something considerable in the world, and Three are memorable down to this + day. One of his daughters he married to the Duke of Liegnitz in Silesia; + which is among the first links I notice of a connection that grew strong + with that sovereign Duchy, and is worth remarking by my readers here. Of + the Three notable Sons it is necessary that we say something. Casimir, + George, Albert are the names of these Three. + </p> + <p> + Casimir, the eldest, [1481-1527.] whose share of heritage is Baireuth, was + originally intended for the Church; but inclining rather to secular and + military things, or his prospects of promotion altering, he early quitted + that; and took vigorously to the career of arms and business. A + truculent-looking Herr, with thoughtful eyes, and hanging under-lip:—HAT + of enviable softness; loose disk of felt flung carelessly on, almost like + a nightcap artificially extended, so admirably soft;—and the look of + the man Casimir, between his cataract of black beard and this + semi-nightcap, is carelessly truculent. He had much fighting with the + Nurnbergers and others; laid it right terribly on, in the way of strokes, + when needful. He was especially truculent upon the Revolt of Peasants in + their BAUERNKRIEG (1525). Them in their wildest rage he fronted; he, that + others might rally to him: "Unhappy mortals, will you shake the world to + pieces, then, because you have much to complain of?" and hanged the + ringleaders of them literally by the dozen, when quelled and captured. A + severe, rather truculent Herr. His brother George, who had Anspach for + heritage, and a right to half those prisoners, admonished and forgave his + half; and pleaded hard with Casimir for mercy to the others, in a fine + Letter still extant; [In Rentsch, p. 627.] which produced no effect on + Casimir. For the dog's sake, and for all sakes, "let not the dog learn to + eat LEATHER;" (of which his indispensable leashes and muzzles are made)! + That was a proverb often heard on the occasion, in Luther's mouth among + the rest. + </p> + <p> + Casimir died in 1527, age then towards fifty. For the last dozen years or + so, when the Father's malady became hopeless, he had governed Culmbach, + both parts of it; the Anspach part, which belonged to his next brother + George, going naturally, in almost all things, along with Baireuth; and + George, who was commonly absent, not interfering, except on important + occasions. Casimir left one little Boy, age then only six, name Albert; to + whom George, henceforth practical sovereign of Culmbach, as his Brother + had been, was appointed Guardian. This youth, very full of fire, wildfire + too much of it, exploded dreadfully on Germany by and by (Albert + ALCIBIADES the name they gave him); nay, towards the end of his nonage, he + had been rather sputtery upon his Uncle, the excellent Guardian who had + charge of him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRIEDRICH'S SECOND SON, MARGRAF GEORGE OF ANSPACH. + </h2> + <p> + Uncle George of Anspach, Casimir's next Brother, had always been of a + peaceabler disposition than Casimir; not indeed without heat of temper, + and sufficient vivacity of every kind. As a youth, he had aided Kaiser Max + in two of his petty wars; but was always rather given "to reading Latin," + to Learning, and ingenious pursuits. His Polish Mother, who, we perceive, + had given "Casimir" his name, proved much more important to George. At an + early age he went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia: + for—Alas, after all, we shall have to cast a glance into that + unbeautiful Hungarian-Bohemian scramble, comparable to an "Irish + Donnybrook," where Albert Achilles long walked as Chief-Constable. It + behooves us, after all, to point out some of the tallest heads in it; and + whitherward, bludgeon in hand, they seem to be swaying and struggling.—Courage, + patient reader! + </p> + <p> + George, then, at an early age went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King of + Hungary and Bohemia: for George's Mother, as we know, was of royal kin; + daughter of the Polish King, Casimir IV. (late mauler of the Teutsch + Ritters); which circumstance had results for George and us. Daughter of + Casimir IV. the Lady was; and therefore of the Jagellon blood by her + father, which amounts to little; but by her mother she was Granddaughter + of that Kaiser Albert II. who "got Three Crowns in one year, and died the + next;" whose posterity have ever since,—up to the lips in trouble + with their confused competitive accompaniments, Hunniades, Corvinus, + George Podiebrad and others, not to speak of dragon Turks coiling ever + closer round you on the frontier,—been Kings of Hungary and Bohemia; + TWO of the crowns (the HERITABLE two) which were got by Kaiser Albert in + that memorable year. He got them, as the reader may remember, by having + the daughter of Kaiser Sigismund to wife,—Sigismund + SUPER-GRAMMATICAM, whom we left standing, red as a flamingo, in the + market-place of Constance a hundred years ago. Thus Time rolls on in its + many-colored manner, edacious and feracious. + </p> + <p> + It is in this way that George's Uncle, Vladislaus, Albert's daughter's + son, is now King of Hungary and Bohemia: the last King Vladislaus they + had; and the last King but one, of any kind, as we shall see anon. + Vladislaus was heir of Poland too, could he have managed to get it; but he + gave up that to his brother, to various younger brothers in succession; + having his hands full with the Hungarian and Bohemian difficulty. He was + very fond of Nephew George; well recognizing the ingenuous, wise and loyal + nature of the young man. He appointed George tutor of his poor son Ludwig; + whom he left at the early age of ten, in an evil world, and evil position + there. "Born without Skin," they say, that is, born in the seventh month;—called + Ludwig OHNE HAUT (Ludwig NO-Skin), on that account. Born certainly, I can + perceive, rather thin of skin; and he would have needed one of a + rhinoceros thickness! + </p> + <p> + George did his function honestly, and with success: Ludwig grew up a + gallant, airy, brisk young King, in spite of difficulties, constitutional + and other; got a Sister of the great Kaiser Karl V. to wife;—determined + (A.D. 1526) to have a stroke at the Turk dragon; which, was coiling round + his frontier, and spitting fire at an intolerable rate. Ludwig, a fine + young man of twenty, marched away with much Hungarian chivalry, right for + the Turk (Summer 1526); George meanwhile going busily to Bohemia, and + there with all his strength levying troops for reinforcement. Ludwig + fought and fenced, for some time, with the Turk outskirts; came at last to + a furious general battle with the Turk (29th August, 1526), at a place + called Mohacz, far east in the flats of the Lower Donau; and was there + tragically beaten and ended. Seeing the Battle gone, and his chivalry all + in flight, Ludwig too had to fly; galloping for life, he came upon bog + which proved bottomless, as good as bottomless; and Ludwig, horse and man, + vanished in it straightway from this world. Hapless young man, like a + flash of lightning suddenly going down there—and the Hungarian + Sovereignty along with him. For Hungary is part of Austria ever since; + having, with Bohemia, fallen to Karl V.'s Brother Ferdinand, as now the + nearest convenient heir of Albert with his Three Crowns. Up to the lips in + difficulties to this day!— + </p> + <p> + George meanwhile, with finely appointed reinforcements, was in full march + to join Ludwig; but the sad news of Mohacz met him: he withdrew, as soon + as might be, to his own territory, and quitted Hungarian politics. This, I + think, was George's third and last trial of war. He by no means delighted + in that art, or had cultivated it like Casimir and some of his brothers.— + </p> + <p> + George by this time had considerable property; part of it important to the + readers of this History. Anspach we already know; but the Duchy of + Jagerndorf,—that and its pleasant valleys, fine hunting-grounds and + larch-clad heights, among the Giant Mountains of Silesia,—that is to + us the memorable territory. George got it in this manner:— + </p> + <p> + Some ten or fifteen years ago, the late King Vladislaus, our Uncle of + blessed memory, loving George, and not having royal moneys at command, + permitted him to redeem with his own cash certain Hungarian Domains, + pledged at a ruinously cheap rate, but unredeemable by Vladislaus. George + did so; years ago, guess ten or fifteen. George did not like the Hungarian + Domains, with their Turk and other inconveniences; he proposed to exchange + them with King Vladislaus for the Bohemian-Silesian Duchy of Jagerndorf; + which had just then, by failure of heirs, lapsed to the King. This also + Vladislaus, the beneficent cashless Uncle, liking George more and more, + permitted to be done. And done it was; I see not in what year; only that + the ultimate investiture (done, this part of the affair, by Ludwig OHNE + HAUT, and duly sanctioned by the Kaiser) dates 1524, two years before the + fatal Mohacz business. + </p> + <p> + From the time of this purchase, and especially till Brother Casimir's + death, which happened in 1527, George resided oftener at Jagerndorf than + at Anspach. Anspach, by the side of Baireuth, needed no management; and in + Jagerndorf much probably required the hand of a good Governor to put it + straight again. The Castle of Jagerndorf, which towers up there in a + rather grand manner to this day, George built: "the old Castle of the + Schellenbergs" (extinct predecessor Line) now gone to ruins, "stands on a + Hill with larches on it, some miles off." Margraf George was much esteemed + as Duke of Jagerndorf. What his actions in that region were, I know not; + but it seems he was so well thought of in Silesia, two smaller neighboring + Potentates, the Duke of Oppeln and the Duke of Ratibor, who had no heirs + of their body, bequeathed, with the Kaiser's assent, these towns and + territories to George: [Rentsch, pp. 623, 127-131. Kaiser is Ferdinand, + Karl V.'s Brother,—as yet only KING of Bohemia and Hungary, but + supreme in regard to such points. His assent is dated "17th June, 1531" in + Rentsch.]—in mere love to their subjects (Rentsch intimates), that + poor men might be governed by a wise good Duke, in the time coming. The + Kaiser would have got the Duchies otherwise. + </p> + <p> + Nay the Kaiser, in spite of his preliminary assent, proved extortionate to + George in this matter; and exacted heavy sums for the actual possession of + Oppeln and Ratibor. George, going so zealously ahead in Protestant + affairs, grew less and less a favorite with Kaisers. But so, at any rate, + on peaceable unquestionable grounds, grounds valid as Imperial Law and + ready money, George is at last Lord of these two little Countries, in the + plain of South-Silesia, as of Jagerndorf among the Mountains hard by. + George has and holds the Duchy of Jagerndorf, with these appendages + (Jagerndorf since 1524, Ratibor and Oppeln since some years later); and + lives constantly, or at the due intervals, in his own strong + Mountain-Castle of Jagerndorf there,—we have no doubt, to the marked + benefit of good men in those parts. Hereby has Jagerndorf joined itself to + the Brandenburg Territories: and the reader can note the circumstance, for + it will prove memorable one day. + </p> + <p> + In the business of the Reformation, Margraf George was very noble. A + simple-hearted, truth-loving, modestly valiant man; rising unconsciously, + in that great element, into the heroic figure. "George the Pious (DER + FROMME)," "George the Confessor (BEKENNER)," were the names he got from + his countrymen. Once this business had become practical, George interfered + a little more in the Culmbach Government; his brother Casimir, who + likewise had Reformation tendencies, rather hanging back in comparison to + George. + </p> + <p> + In 1525 the Town-populations, in the Culmbach region, big Nurnberg in the + van, had gone quite ahead in the new Doctrine; and were becoming + irrepressibly impatient to clear out the old mendacities, and have the + Gospel preached freely to them. This was a questionable step; feasible + perhaps for a great Elector of Saxony;—but for a Margraf of Anspach? + George had come home from Jagerndorf, some three hundred miles away, to + look into it for himself; found it, what with darkness all round, what + with precipices menacing on both hands, and zealous, inconsiderate + Town-populations threatening to take the bit between their teeth, a + frightfully intricate thing. George mounted his horse, one day this year, + day not dated farther, and "with only six attendants" privately rode off, + another two hundred miles, a good three days' ride, to Wittenberg; and + alighted at Dr. Martinus Lutherus's door. [Rentsch, p. 625.] A notable + passage; worth thinking of. But such visits of high Princes, to that poor + house of the Doctor's, were not then uncommon. Luther cleared the doubts + of George; George returned with a resolution taken; "Ahead then, ye poor + Voigtland Gospel populations! I must lead you, we must on!"—And + perils enough there proved to be, and precipices on each hand: + BAUERNKRIEG, that is to say Peasants'-War, Anabaptistry and Red-Republic, + on the one hand; REICHS-ACHT, Ban of Empire, on the other. But George, + eagerly, solemnly attentive, with ever new light rising on him, dealt with + the perils as they came; and went steadily on, in a simple, highly manful + and courageous manner. + </p> + <p> + He did not live to see the actual Wars that followed on Luther's + preaching:—he was of the same age with Luther, born few months + later, and died two years before Luther; [4th March, 1484,—27th + Dec., 1543, George; 10th November, 1483—18th February, 1546, Luther.]—but + in all the intermediate principal transactions George is conspicuously + present; "George of Brandenburg," as the Books call him, or simply + "Margraf George." + </p> + <p> + At the Diet of Augsburg (1530), and the signing of the Augsburg Confession + there, he was sure to be. He rode thither with his Anspach Knightage about + him, "four hundred cavaliers,"—Seckendorfs, Huttens, Flanses and + other known kindreds, recognizable among the lists; [Rentsch, p. 633.]—and + spoke there, notbursts of parliamentary eloquence, but things that had + meaning in them. One speech of his, not in the Diet, but in the Kaiser's + Lodging (15th June, 1530; no doubt, in Anton Fugger's house, where the + Kaiser "lodged for year and day" this time but WITHOUT the "fires of + cinnamon" they talk of on other occasions [See Carlyle's <i>Miscellanies</i> + (iii. 259 n.). The House is at present an Inn, <i>"Gasthaus zu den drei + Mohren;"</i>where tourists lodge, and are still shown the room which the + Kaiser occupied on such visits.]), is still very celebrated. It was the + evening of the Kaiser Karl Fifth's arrival at the Diet; which was then + already, some time since, assembled there. And great had been the Kaiser's + reception that morning; the flower of Germany, all the Princes of the + Empire, Protestant and Papal alike, riding out to meet him, in the open + country, at the Bridge of the Lech. With high-flown speeches and + benignities, on both sides;—only that the Kaiser willed all men, + Protestant and other, should in the mean while do the Popish litanyings, + waxlight processionings and idolatrous stage-performances with him on the + morrow, which was CORPUS-CHRISTI Day; and the Protestants could not nor + would. Imperial hints there had already been, from Innspruck; benign + hopes, of the nature of commands, That loyal Protestant Princes would in + the interim avoid open discrepancies,—perhaps be so loyal as keep + their chaplains, peculiar divine-services, private in the interim? These + were hints;—and now this of the CORPUS-CHRISTI, a still more + pregnant hint! Loyal Protestants refused it, therefore; flatly declined, + though bidden and again bidden. They attended in a body, old Johann of + Saxony, young Philip of Hessen, and the rest; Margraf George, as + spokesman, with eloquent simplicity stating their reasons,—to + somewhat this effect:— + </p> + <p> + Invinciblest all-gracious Kaiser, loyal are we to your high Majesty, ready + to do your bidding by night and by day. But it is your bidding under God, + not against God. Ask us not, O gracious Kaiser! I cannot, and we cannot; + and we must not, and dare not. And "before I would deny my God and his + Evangel," these are George's own words, "I would rather kneel down here + before your Majesty, and have my head struck off,"—hitting his + hind-head, or neck, with the edge of his hand, by way of accompaniment; a + strange radiance in the eyes of him, voice risen into musical alt: <i>"Ehe + Ich wolte meinen Gott und sein Evangelium verlaugnen, ehe wolte Ich hier + vor Eurer Majestat niderknien, und mir den Kopf abhauen lassen."—"Nit + Kop ab, lover Forst, nit Kop ab!"</i> answered Charles in his + Flemish-German; "Not head off, dear Furst, not head off!" said the Kaiser, + a faint smile enlightening those weighty gray eyes of his, and + imperceptibly animating the thick Austrian under-lip. [Rentsch, p. 637. + Marheineke, <i>Geschichte der Teutschen Reformation </i> (Berlin, 1831), + ii. 487.] + </p> + <p> + Speaker and company attended again on the morrow; Margraf George still + more eloquent. Whose Speech flew over Germany, like fire over dry flax; + and still exists,—both Speeches now oftenest rolled into one by + inaccurate editors. [As by Rentsch, ubi supra.] And the CORPUS-CHRISTI + idolatries were forborne the Margraf and his company this time;—the + Kaiser himself, however, walking, nearly roasted in the sun, in heavy + purple-velvet cloak, with a big wax-candle, very superfluous, guttering + and blubbering in the right hand of him, along the streets of Augsburg. + Kur-Brandenburg, Kur-Mainz, high cousins of George, were at this Diet of + Augsburg; Kur-Brandenburg (Elector Joachim I., Cicero's son, of whom we + have spoken, and shall speak again) being often very loud on the + conservative side; and eloquent Kur-Mainz going on the conciliatory tack. + Kur-Brandenburg, in his zeal, had ridden on to Innspruck, to meet the + Kaiser there, and have a preliminary word with him. Both these high + Cousins spoke, and bestirred themselves, a good deal, at this Diet. They + had met the Kaiser on the plains of the Lech, this morning; and, no doubt, + gloomed unutterable things on George and his Speech. George could not help + it. + </p> + <p> + Till his death in 1543, George is to be found always in the front line of + this high Movement, in the line where Kur-Sachsen, John the Steadfast (DER + BESTANDIGE), and young Philip the Magnanimous of Hessen were, and where + danger and difficulty were. Readers of this enlightened gold-nugget + generation can form to themselves no conception of the spirit that then + possessed the nobler kingly mind. "The command of God endures through + Eternity, <i> Verbum Dei Manet In AEternum,"</i> was the Epigraph and + Life-motto which John the Steadfast had adopted for himself; "V. D. M. I. + AE.," these initials he had engraved on all the furnitures of his + existence, on his standards, pictures, plate, on the very sleeves of his + lackeys,—and I can perceive, on his own deep heart first of all. V. + D. M. I. E.:—or might it not be read withal, as Philip of Hessen + sometimes said (Philip, still a young fellow, capable of sport in his + magnanimous scorn), <i>"Verbum Diaboli Manet In Episcopis,</i> The Devil's + Word sticks fast in the Bishops"? + </p> + <p> + We must now take leave of Margraf George and his fine procedures in that + crisis of World-History. He had got Jugerndorf, which became important for + his Family and others: but what was that to the Promethean conquests (such + we may call them) which he had the honor to assist in making for his + Family, and for his Country, and for all men;—very unconscious he of + "bringing fire from Heaven," good modest simple man! So far as I can + gather, there lived, in that day, few truer specimens of the Honest Man. A + rugged, rough-hewn, rather blunt-nosed physiognomy: cheek-bones high, + cheeks somewhat bagged and wrinkly; eyes with a due shade of anxiety and + sadness in them; affectionate simplicity, faithfulness, intelligence, + veracity looking out of every feature of him. Wears plentiful white beard + short-cut, plentiful gold-chains, ruffs, ermines;—a hat not to be + approved of, in comparison with brother Casimir's; miserable + inverted-colander of a hat; hanging at an angle of forty-five degrees; + with band of pearls round the top not the bottom of it; insecure upon the + fine head of George, and by no means to its embellishment. + </p> + <p> + One of his Daughters he married to the Duke of Liegnitz, a new link in + that connection. He left one Boy, George Friedrich; who came under + ALCIBIADES, his Cousin of Baireuth's tutelage; and suffered much by that + connection, or indeed chiefly by his own conspicuously Protestant turn, to + punish which, the Alcibiades connection was taken as a pretext. In riper + years, George Friedrich got his calamities brought well under; and lived + to do good work, Protestant and other, in the world. To which we may + perhaps allude again. The Line of Margraf George the Pious ends in this + George Friedrich, who had no children; the Line of Margraf George, and the + Elder Culmbach Line altogether (1603), Albert Alcibiades, Casimir's one + son, having likewise died without posterity. + </p> + <p> + "Of the younger Brothers," says my Authority, "some four were in the + Church; two of whom rose to be Prelates;—here are the four:— + </p> + <p> + "1. One, Wilhelm by name, was Bishop of Riga, in the remote Prussian + outskirts, and became Protestant;—among the first great Prelates who + took that heretical course; being favored by circumstances to cast out the + 'V. D. <i>(Verbum Diaboli),'</i> as Philip read it. He is a wise-looking + man, with magnificent beard, with something of contemptuous patience in + the meditative eyes of him. He had great troubles with his Riga people,—as + indeed was a perennial case between their Bishop and them, of whatever + creed he might be. + </p> + <p> + "2. The other Prelate held fast by the Papal Orthodoxy: he had got upon + the ladder of promotion towards Magdeburg; hoping to follow his Cousin + KUR-MAINZ, the eloquent conciliatory Cardinal, in that part of his + pluralities. As he did,—little to his comfort, poor man; having + suffered a good deal in the sieges and religious troubles of his + Magdeburgers; who ended by ordering him away, having openly declared + themselves Protestant, at length. He had to go; and occupy himself + complaining, soliciting Aulic-Councils and the like, for therest of his + life. + </p> + <p> + "3. The PROBST of Wurzburg (PROVOST, kind of Head-Canon there); orthodox + Papal he too; and often gave his Brother George trouble. + </p> + <p> + "4. A still more orthodox specimen, the youngest member of the family, who + is likewise in orders: Gumbrecht ('Gumbertus, a Canonicus of' Something or + other, say the Books); who went early to Rome, and became one of his + Holiness Leo Tenth's Chamberlains;—stood the 'Sack of Rome' + (Constable de Bourbon's), and was captured there and ransomed;—but + died still young (1528). These three were Catholics, he of Wurzburg a + rather virulent one." + </p> + <p> + Catholic also was JOHANNES, a fifth Brother, who followed the soldiering + and diplomatic professions, oftenest in Spain; did Government-messages to + Diets, and the like, for Karl V.; a high man and well seen of his Kaiser;—he + had wedded the young Widow of old King Ferdinand in Spain; which proved, + seemingly, a troublous scene for poor Johannes. What we know is, he was + appointed Commandant of Valencia; and died there, still little turned of + thirty,—by poison it is supposed,—and left his young Widow to + marry a third time. + </p> + <p> + These are the Five minor Brothers, four of them Catholic, sons of old + blind Friedrich of Plassenburg; who are not, for their own sake, + memorable, but are mentionable for the sake of the three major Brothers. + So many orthodox Catholics, while Brother George and others went into the + heresies at such a rate! A family much split by religion:—and blind + old Friedrich, dim of intellect, knew nothing of it; and the excellent + Polish Mother said and thought, we know not what. A divided Time!— + </p> + <p> + Johannes of Valencia, and these Chief Priests, were all men of mark; + conspicuous to the able editors of their day: but the only Brother now + generally known to mankind is Albert, Hochmeister of the Teutsch + Ritterdom; by whom Preussen came into the Family. Of him we must now speak + a little. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI. — HOCHMEISTER ALBERT, THIRD NOTABLE SON OF FRIEDRICH. + </h2> + <p> + Albert was born in 1490; George's junior by six years, Casimir's by nine. + He too had been meant for the Church; but soon quitted that, other + prospects and tendencies opening. He had always loved the ingenuous arts; + but the activities too had charms for him. He early shone in his exercises + spiritual and bodily; grew tall above his fellows, expert in arts, + especially in arms;—rode with his Father to Kaiser Max's Court; was + presented by him, as the light of his eyes, to Kaiser Max; who thought him + a very likely young fellow; and bore him in mind, when the Mastership of + the Teutsch Ritterdom fell vacant. [Rentsch, pp. 840-863.] + </p> + <p> + The Teutsch Ritterdom, ever since it got its back broken in that Battle of + Tannenberg in 1410, and was driven out of West-Preussen with such + ignominious kicks, has been lying bedrid, eating its remaining revenues, + or sprawling about in helpless efforts to rise again, which require no + notice from us. Hopeless of ever recovering West-Preussen, it had quietly + paid its homage to Poland for the Eastern part of that Country; quietly + for some couple of generations. But, in the third or fourth generation + after Tannenberg, there began to rise murmurs,—in the Holy Roman + Empire first of all. "Preussen is a piece of the Reich," said hot, + inconsiderate people; "Preussen could not be alienated without consent of + the Reich!" To which discourses the afflicted Ritters listened only too + gladly; their dull eyes kindling into new false hopes at sound of them. + The point was, To choose as Hochmeister some man of German influence, of + power and connection in the Country, who might help them to their + so-called right. With this view, they chose one and then another of such + sort;—and did not find it very hopeful, as we shall see. + </p> + <p> + Albert was chosen Grand-Master of Preussen, in February, 1511; age then + twenty-one. Made his entry into Konigsberg, November next year; in grand + cavalcade, "dreadful storm of rain and wind at the time,"—poor + Albert all in black, and full of sorrow, for the loss of his Mother, the + good Polish Princess, who had died since he left home. Twenty months of + preparation he had held since his Election, before doing anything: for + indeed the case was intricate. He, like his predecessor in office, had + undertaken to refuse that Homage to Poland; the Reich generally, and + Kaiser Max himself, in a loose way of talk, encouraging him: "A piece of + the Reich," said they all; "Teutsch Ritters had no power to give it away + in that manner." Which is a thing more easily said, than made good in the + way of doing. + </p> + <p> + Albert's predecessor, chosen on this principle, was a Saxon Prince, + Friedrich of Meissen; cadet of Saxony; potently enough connected, he too; + who, in like manner, had undertaken to refuse the Homage. And zealously + did refuse it, though to his cost, poor man. From the Reich, for all its + big talking, he got no manner of assistance; had to stave off a Polish War + as he could, by fair-speaking, by diplomacies and contrivances; and died + at middle age, worn down by the sorrows of that sad position. + </p> + <p> + An idea prevails, in ill-informed circles, that our new Grand-Master + Albert was no better than a kind of cheat; that he took this + Grand-Mastership of Preussen; and then, in gayety of heart, + surreptitiously pocketed Preussen for his own behoof. Which is an idle + idea; inconsistent with the least inquiry, or real knowledge how the + matter stood. [Voigt, ix. 740-749; Pauli, iv. 404-407.] By no means in + gayety of heart, did Albert pocket Preussen; nor till after as tough a + struggle to do other with it as could have been expected of any man. + </p> + <p> + One thing not suspected by the Teutsch Ritters, and least of all by their + young Hochmeister, was, That the Teutsch Ritters had well deserved that + terrible down-come at Tannenberg, that ignominious dismissal out of + West-Preussen with kicks. Their insolence, luxury, degeneracy had gone to + great lengths. Nor did that humiliation mend them at all; the reverse + rather. It was deeply hidden from the young Hochmeister as from them, That + probably they were now at length got to the end of their capability: and + ready to be withdrawn from the scene, as soon as any good way offered!—Of + course, they Were reluctant enough to fulfil their bargain to Poland; very + loath they to do Homage now for Preussen, and own themselves sunk to the + second degree. For the Ritters had still their old haughtiness of humor, + their deepseated pride of place, gone now into the unhappy CONSCIOUS + state. That is usually the last thing that deserts a sinking House: pride + of place, gone to the conscious state;—as if, in a reverse manner, + the House felt that it deserved to sink. + </p> + <p> + For the rest, Albert's position among them was what Friedrich of Sachsen's + had been; worse, not better; and the main ultimate difference was, he did + not die of it, like Friedrich of Sachsen; but found an outlet, not open in + Friedrich's time, and lived. To the Ritters, and vague Public which called + itself the Reich, Albert had promised he would refuse the Homage to + Poland; on which Ritters and Reich had clapt their hands: and that was + pretty much all the assistance he got of them. The Reich, as a formal + body, had never asserted its right to Preussen, nor indeed spoken + definitely on the subject: it was only the vague Public that had spoken, + in the name of the Reich. From the Reich, or from any individual of it, + Kaiser or Prince, when actually applied to, Albert could get simply + nothing. From what, Ritters were in Preussen, he might perhaps expect + promptitude to fight, if it came to that; which was not much as things + stood. But, from the great body of the Ritters, scattered over Germany, + with their rich territories (BALLEYS, bailliwicks), safe resources, and + comfortable "Teutschmeister" over them, he got flat refusal: [The titles + HOCHMEISTER and TEUTSCHMEISTER are defined, in many Books and in all + manner of Dictionaries, as meaning the same thing. But that is not quite + the case. They were at first synonymous, so far as I can see; and after + Albert's time, they again became so; but at the date where we now are, and + for a long while back, they represent different entities, and indeed + oftenest, since the Prussian DECLINE began, antagonistic ones. + Teutschmeister, Sub-president over the GERMAN affairs and possessions of + the Order, resides at Mergentheim in that Country: Hochmeister is Chief + President of the whole, but resident at Marienburg in Preussen, and feels + there acutely where the shoe pinches,—much too acutely, thinks the + Teutschmeister in his soft list-slippers, at Mergentheim in the safe + Wurzburg region.] "We will not be concerned in the adventure at all; we + wish you well through it!" Never was a spirited young fellow placed in + more impossible position. His Brother Casimir (George was then in + Hungary), his Cousin Joachim Kur-Brandenburg, Friedrich Duke of Liegnitz, + a Silesian connection of the Family, ["Duke Friedrich II.:" comes by + mothers from Kurfurst Friedrich I.; marries Margraf George's Daughter even + now, 1519 (Hubner, tt. 179, 100, 101).] consulted, advised, negotiated to + all lengths, Albert's own effort was incessant. "Agree with King + Sigismund," said they; "Uncle Sigismund, your good Mother's Brother; a + King softly inclined to us all!"—"How agree?" answered Albert: "He + insists on the Homage, which I have promised not to give!" Casimir went + and came, to Konigsberg, to Berlin; went once himself to Cracow, to the + King, on this errand: but it was a case of "Yes AND No;" not to be solved + by Casimir. + </p> + <p> + As to King Sigismund, he was patient with it to a degree; made the + friendliest paternal professions;—testifying withal, That the claim + was undeniable; and could by him, Sigismund, never be foregone with the + least shadow of honor, and of course never would: "My dear Nephew can + consider whether his dissolute, vain-minded, half-heretical Ritterdom, nay + whether this Prussian fraction of it, is in a condition to take Poland by + the beard in an unjust quarrel; or can hope to do Tannenberg over again in + the reverse way, by Beelzehub's help?"— + </p> + <p> + For seven years, Albert held out in this intermediate state, neither peace + nor war; moving Heaven and Earth to raise supplies, that he might be able + to defy Poland, and begin war. The Reich answers, "We have really nothing + for you." Teutschmeister answers again and again, "I tell you we have + nothing!" In the end, Sigismund grew impatient; made (December, 1519) some + movements of a hostile nature. Albert did not yield; eager only to + procrastinate till he were ready. By superhuman efforts, of borrowing, + bargaining, soliciting, and galloping to and fro, Albert did, about the + end of next year, get up some appearance of an Army: "14,000 German + mercenaries horse and foot," so many in theory; who, to the extent of + 8,000 in actual result, came marching towards him (October, 1520); to + serve "for eight months." With these he will besiege Dantzig, besiege + Thorn; will plunge, suddenly, like a fiery javelin, into the heart of + Poland, and make Poland surrender its claim. Whereupon King Sigismund + bestirred himself in earnest; came out with vast clouds of Polish + chivalry; overset Albert's 8,000;—who took to eating the country, + instead of fighting for it; being indeed in want of all things. One of the + gladdest days Albert had yet seen, was when he got the 8,000 sent home + again. + </p> + <p> + What then is to be done? "Armistice for four years," Sigismund was still + kind enough to consent to that: "Truce for four years: try everywhere, my + poor Nephew; after that, your mind will perhaps become pliant." Albert + tried the Reich again: "Four years, O Princes, and then I must do it, or + be eaten!" Reich, busy with Lutheran-Papal, Turk-Christian quarrels, + merely shrugged its shoulders upon Albert. Teutschmeister did the like; + everybody the like. In Heaven or Earth, then, is there no hope for me? + thought Albert. And his stock of ready money—we will not speak of + that! + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Dr. Osiander of Anspach had come to him; and the pious young man + was getting utterly shaken in his religion. Monkish vows, Pope, Holy + Church itself, what is one to think, Herr Doctor? Albert, religious to an + eminent degree, was getting deep into Protestantism. In his many + journeyings, to Nurnberg, to Brandenburg, and up and down, he had been at + Wittenberg too: he saw Luther in person more than once there; corresponded + with Luther; in fine believed in the truth of Luther. The Culmbach + Brothers were both, at least George ardently was, inclined to + Protestantism, as we have seen; but Albert was foremost of the three in + this course. Osiander and flights of zealous Culmbach Preachers made many + converts in Preussen. In these circumstances the Four Years came to a + close. + </p> + <p> + Albert, we may believe, is greatly at a loss; and deep deliberations, + Culmbach, Berlin, Liegnitz, Poland all called in, are held:—a case + beyond measure intricate. You have given your word; word must be kept,—and + cannot, without plain hurt, or ruin even, to those that took it of you. + Withdraw, therefore; fling it up!—Fling it up? A valuable article to + fling up; fling it up is the last resource. Nay, in fact, to whom will you + fling it up? The Prussian Ritters themselves are getting greatly divided + on the point; and at last on all manner of points, Protestantism ever more + spreading among them. As for the German Brethren, they and their + comfortable Teutschmeister, who refused to partake in the dangerous + adventure at all; are they entitled to have much to say in the settlement + of it now?— + </p> + <p> + Among others, or as chief oracle of all, Luther was consulted. "What would + you have me do towards reforming the Teutsch Order?" inquired Albert of + his oracle. Luther's answer was, as may be guessed, emphatic. "Luther," + says one reporter, "has in his Writings declared the Order to be 'a thing + serviceable neither to God nor man,' and the constitution of it 'a + monstrous, frightful, hermaphroditish, neither secular nor spiritual + constitution.'" [C. J. Weber, <i>Daa Ritterwessen</i> (Stuttgard, 1837), + iii. 208.] We do not know what Luther's answer to Albert was;—but + can infer the purport of it: That such a Teutsch Ritterdom was not, at any + rate, a thing long for this world; that white cloaks with black crosses on + them would not, of themselves, profit any Ritterdom; that solemn vows and + high supramundane professions, followed by such practice as was notorious, + are an afflicting, not to say a damnable, spectacle on God's Earth;—that + a young Herr had better marry; better have done with the wretched + Babylonian Nightmare of Papistry altogether; better shake oneself awake, + in God's name, and see if there are not still monitions in the eternal sky + as to what it is wise to do, and wise not to do!—This I imagine to + have been, in modern language, the purport of Dr. Luther's advice to + Hochmeister Albrecht on the present interesting occasion. + </p> + <p> + It is certain, Albert, before long, took this course; Uncle Sigismund and + the resident Officials of the Ritterdom having made agreement to it as the + one practicable course. The manner as follows: 1. Instead of Elected + Hochmeister, let us be Hereditary Duke of Preussen, and pay homage for it + to Uncle Sigismund in that character. 2. Such of the resident Officials of + the Ritterdom as are prepared to go along with us, we will in like manner + constitute permanent Feudal Proprietors of what they now possess as + Life-rent, and they shall be Sub-vassals under us as Hereditary Duke. 3. + In all which Uncle Sigismund and the Republic of Poland engage to maintain + us against the world. + </p> + <p> + That is, in sum, the Transaction entered into, by King Sigismund I. of + Poland, on the one part, and Hochmeister Albert and his Ritter Officials, + such as went along with him, (which of course none could do that were not + Protestant), on the other part: done at Cracow, 8th April, 1525. [Rentsch, + p. 850.—Here, certified by Rentsch, Voigt and others, is a worn-out + patch of Paper, which is perhaps worth printing:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1490, May 17, Albert is born. + 1511, February 14, Hochmeister. + 1519, December, King Sigismund's first hostile movements. + 1520, October, German Mercenaries arrive. + 1520, November, try Siege of Dantzig. + 1520, November 17, give it up. + 1521, April 10, Truce for Four Years. + 1523, June, Albert consults Luther. + 1524, November, sees Luther. + 1525, April 8, Peace of Cracow, and Albert to be Duke of + Prussia.] Whereby Teutsch Ritterdom, the Prussian part of it, + vanished from the world; dissolving itself, and its "hermaphrodite + constitution," like a kind of Male Nunnery, as so many female ones + had done in those years. A Transaction giving rise to endless + criticism, then and afterwards. Transaction plainly not + reconcilable with the letter of the law; and liable to have logic + chopped upon it to any amount, and to all lengths of time. + The Teutschmeister and his German Brethren shrieked murder; + the whole world, then, and for long afterwards, had much to say + and argue. +</pre> + <p> + To us, now that the logic-chaff is all laid long since, the question is + substantial, not formal. If the Teutsch Ritterdom was actually at this + time DEAD, actually stumbling about as a mere galvanized Lie beginning to + be putrid,—then, sure enough, it behooved that somebody should bury + it, to avoid pestilential effects in the neighborhood. Somebody or other;—first + flaying the skin off, as was natural, and taking that for his trouble. All + turns, in substance, on this latter question! If, again, the Ritterdom was + not dead—? + </p> + <p> + And truly it struggled as hard as Partridge the Almanac-maker to rebut + that fatal accusation; complained (Teutschmeister and German-Papist part + of it) loudly at the Diets; got Albert and his consorts put to the Ban + (GEACHTET), fiercely menaced by the Kaiser Karl V. But nothing came of all + that; nothing but noise. Albert maintained his point; Kaiser Karl always + found his hands full otherwise, and had nothing but stamped parchments and + menaces to fire off at Albert. Teutsch Ritterdom, the Popish part of it, + did enjoy its valuable bailliwicks, and very considerable rents in various + quarters of Germany and Europe, having lost only Preussen; and walked + about, for three centuries more, with money in its pocket, and a solemn + white gown with black cross on its back,—the most opulent Social + Club in existence, and an excellent place for bestowing younger sons of + sixteen quarters. But it was, and continued through so many centuries, in + every essential respect, a solemn Hypocrisy; a functionless merely eating + Phantasm, of the nature of goblin, hungry ghost or ghoul (of which kind + there are many);—till Napoleon finally ordered it to vanish; its + time, even as Phantasm, being come. + </p> + <p> + Albert, I can conjecture, had his own difficulties as Regent in Preussen. + [1525-1568.] Protestant Theology, to make matters worse for him, had split + itself furiously into 'DOXIES; and there was an OSIANDERISM (Osiander + being the Duke's chaplain), much flamed upon by the more orthodox ISM. + "Foreigners," too, German-Anspach and other, were ill seen by the native + gentlemen; yet sometimes got encouragement. One Funccius, a shining + Nurnberg immigrant there, son-in-law of Osiander, who from Theology got + into Politics, had at last (1564) to be beheaded,—old Duke Albert + himself "bitterly weeping" about him; for it was none of Albert's doing. + Probably his new allodial Ritter gentlemen were not the most submiss, when + made hereditary? We can only hope the Duke was a Hohenzollern, and not + quite unequal to his task in this respect. A man with high bald brow; + magnificent spade-beard; air much-pondering, almost gaunt,—gaunt + kind of eyes especially, and a slight cast in them, which adds to his + severity of aspect. He kept his possession well, every inch of it; and + left all safe at his decease in 1568. His age was then near eighty. It was + the tenth year of our Elizabeth as Queen; invincible Armada not yet built; + but Alba very busy, cutting off high heads in Brabant; and stirring up the + Dutch to such fury as was needful for exploding Spain and him. + </p> + <p> + This Duke Albert was a profoundly religious man, as all thoughtful men + then were. Much given to Theology, to Doctors of Divinity; being eager to + know God's Laws in this Universe, and wholesomely certain of damnation if + he should not follow them. Fond of the profane Sciences too, especially of + Astronomy: Erasmus Reinhold and his <i>Tabulae Prutenicae</i> were once + very celebrated; Erasmus Reinhold proclaims gratefully how these his + elaborate Tables (done according to the latest discoveries, 1551 and + onwards) were executed upon Duke Albert's high bounty; for which reason + they are dedicated to Duke Albert, and called "PRUTENICAE," meaning + PRUSSIAN. [Rentsch, p. 855.] The University of Konigsberg was already + founded several years before, in 1544. + </p> + <p> + Albert had not failed to marry, as Luther counselled: by his first Wife he + had only daughters; by his second, one son, Albert Friedrich, who, without + opposition or difficulty, succeeded his Father. Thus was Preussen acquired + to the Hohenzollern Family; for, before long, the Electoral branch managed + to get MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment), that is to say, Eventual Succession; + and Preussen became a Family Heritage, as Anspach and Baireuth were. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII. — ALBERT ALCIBIADES. + </h2> + <p> + One word must be spent on poor Albert, Casimir's son, [1522-1557] already + mentioned. This poor Albert, whom they call ALCIBIADES, made a great noise + in that epoch; being what some define as the "Failure of a Fritz;" who has + really features of him we are to call "Friedrich the Great," but who burnt + away his splendid qualities as a mere temporary shine for the able + editors, and never came to anything. + </p> + <p> + A high and gallant young fellow, left fatherless in childhood; perhaps he + came too early into power:—he came, at any rate, in very volcanic + times, when Germany was all in convulsion; the Old Religion and the New + having at length broken out into open battle, with huge results to be + hoped and feared; and the largest game going on, in sight of an + adventurous youth. How Albert staked in it; how he played to immense + heights of sudden gain, and finally to utter bankruptcy, I cannot explain + here: some German delineator of human destinies, "Artist" worth the name, + if there were any, might find in him a fine subject. + </p> + <p> + He was ward of his Uncle George; and the probable fact is, no guardian + could have been more faithful. Nevertheless, on approaching the years of + majority, of majority but not discretion, he saw good to quarrel with his + Uncle; claimed this and that, which was not granted: quarrel lasting for + years. Nay matters ran so high at last, it was like to come to war between + them, had not George been wiser. The young fellow actually sent a cartel + to his Uncle; challenged him to mortal combat,—at which George only + wagged his old beard, we suppose, and said nothing. Neighbors interposed, + the Diet itself interposed; and the matter was got quenched again. Leaving + Albert, let us hope, a repentant young man. We said he was full of fire, + too much of it wildfire. + </p> + <p> + His profession was Arms; he shone much in war; went slashing and fighting + through those Schmalkaldic broils, and others of his time; a distinguished + captain; cutting his way towards something high, he saw not well what. He + had great comradeship with Moritz of Saxony in the wars: two sworn + brothers they, and comrades in arms:—it is the same dexterous + Moritz, who, himself a Protestant, managed to get his too Protestant + Cousin's Electorate of Saxony into his hand, by luck of the game; the + Moritz, too, from whom Albert by and by got his last defeat, giving Moritz + his death in return. That was the finale of their comradeship. All things + end, and nothing ceases changing till it end. + </p> + <p> + He was by position originally on the Kaiser's side; had attained great + eminence, and done high feats of arms and generalship in his service. But + being a Protestant by creed, he changed after that Schmalkaldic downfall + (rout of Muhlberg, 24th April, 1547), which brought Moritz an Electorate, + and nearly cost Moritz's too Protestant Cousin his life as well as lands. + [Account of it in De Wette, <i>Lebensgeschichte der Herzoge zu Sachsen</i>(Weimar, + 1770), pp. 32-35.] The victorious Kaiser growing now very high in his + ways, there arose complaints against him from all sides, very loud from + the Protestant side; and Moritz and Albert took to arms, with loud + manifestos and the other phenomena. + </p> + <p> + This was early in 1552, five years after Muhlberg Rout or Battle. The + there victorious Kaiser was now suddenly almost ruined; chased like a + partridge into the Innspruck Mountains,—could have been caught, only + Moritz would not; "had no cage to hold so big a bird," he said. So the + Treaty of Passau was made, and the Kaiser came much down from his lofty + ways. Famed TREATY OF PASSAU (22d August, 1552), which was the finale of + these broils, and hushed them up for a Fourscore years to come. That was a + memorable year in German Reformation History. + </p> + <p> + Albert, meanwhile, had been busy in the interior of the country; blazing + aloft in Frankenland, his native quarter, with a success that astonished + all men. For seven months he was virtually King of Germany; ransomed + Bamberg, ransomed Wurzburg, Nurnberg (places he had a grudge at); ransomed + all manner of towns and places,—especially rich Bishops and their + towns, with VERBUM DIABOLI sticking in them,—at enormous sums. King + of the world for a brief season;—must have had some strange thoughts + to himself, had they been recorded for us. A pious man, too; not in the + least like "Alcibiades," except in the sudden changes of fortune he + underwent. His Motto, or old rhymed Prayer, which he would repeat on + getting into the saddle for military work,—a rough rhyme of his own + composing,—is still preserved. Let us give it, with an English + fac-simile, or roughest mechanical pencil-tracing,—by way of glimpse + into the heart of a vanished Time and its Man-at-arms: [Rentsch, p. 644.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Das Walt der Herr Jesus Christ, + Mit dem Vater, der uber uns ist: + Wer starker ist als dieser Mann, + Der komm und thu' ein Leid mir an. + + Guide it the Lord Jesus Christ, [Read "Chris" + or "Chriz," for the rhyme's sake.] + And the Father, who over us is: + He that is stronger than that Man, [Sic.] + Let him do me a hurt when he can. +</pre> + <p> + He was at the Siege of Metz (end of that same 1552), and a principal + figure there. Readers have heard of the Siege of Metz: How Henry II. of + France fished up those "Three Bishoprics" (Metz, Toul, Verdun, constituent + part of Lorraine, a covetable fraction of Teutschland) from the troubled + sea of German things, by aid of Moritz now KUR-SACHSEN, and of Albert; and + would not throw them in again, according to bargain, when Peace, the PEACE + OF PASSAU came. How Kaiser Karl determined to have them back before the + year ended, cost what it might; and Henry II. to keep them, cost what it + might. How Guise defended, with all the Chivalry of France; and Kaiser + Karl besieged, [19th October, 1552, and onwards.] with an Army of 100,000 + men, under Duke Alba for chief captain. Siege protracted into midwinter; + and the "sound of his cannon heard at Strasburg," which is eighty miles + off, "in the winter nights." [Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> p. 453;—and + more especially <i>Munzbelustigungen</i> (Nurnberg, 1729-1750), ix. + 121-129. The Year of this Volume, and of the Number in question, is 1737; + the MUNZE or Medal "recreated upon" in of Henri II.] + </p> + <p> + It had depended upon Albert, who hung in the distance with an army of his + own, whether the Siege could even begin; but he joined the Kaiser, being + reconciled again; and the trenches opened. By the valor of Guise and his + Chivalry,—still more perhaps by the iron frosts and by the sleety + rains of Winter, and the hungers and the hardships of a hundred thousand + men, digging vainly at the ice-bound earth, or trampling it when sleety + into seas of mud, and themselves sinking in it, of dysentery, famine, toil + and despair, as they cannonaded day and night,—Metz could not be + taken. "Impossible!" said the Generals with one voice, after trying it for + a couple of months. "Try it one other ten days," said the Kaiser with a + gloomy fixity; "let us all die, or else do it!" They tried, with double + desperation, another ten days; cannon booming through the winter midnight + far and wide, four score miles round: "Cannot be done, your Majesty! + Cannot,—the winter and the mud, and Guise and the walls; man's + strength cannot do it in this season. We must march away!" Karl listened + in silence; but the tears were seen to run down his proud face, now not so + young as it once was: "Let us march, then!" he said, in a low voice, after + some pause. + </p> + <p> + Alcibiades covered the retreat to Diedenhof (THIONVILLE they now call it): + outmanoeuvred the French, retreated with success; he had already captured + a grand Due d'Aumale, a Prince of the Guises,—valuable ransom to be + looked for there. It was thought he should have made his bargain better + with the Kaiser, before starting; but he had neglected that. Albert's + course was downward thenceforth; Kaiser Karl's too. The French keep these + "Three Bishoprics (TROIS EVECHES)," and Teutschland laments the loss of + them, to this hour. Kaiser Karl, as some write, never smiled again;—abdicated, + not long after; retired into the Monastery of St. Just, and there soon + died. That is the siege of Metz, where Alcibiades was helpful. His own + bargain with the Kaiser should have been better made beforehand. + </p> + <p> + Dissatisfied with any bargain he could now get; dissatisfied with the + Treaty of Passau, with such a finale and hushing-up of the Religious + Controversy, and in general with himself and with the world, Albert again + drew sword; went loose at a high rate upon his Bamberg-Wurzburg enemies, + and, having raised supplies there, upon Moritz and those Passau-Treatiers. + He was beaten at last by Moritz, "Sunday, 9th July, 1553," at a place + called Sievershausen in the Hanover Country, where Moritz himself perished + in the action.—Albert fled thereupon to France. No hope in France. + No luck in other small and desperate stakings of his: the game is done. + Albert returns to a Sister he had, to her Husband's Court in Baden; a + broken, bare and bankrupt man;—soon dies there, childless, leaving + the shadow of a name. [Here, chiefly from Kohler <i>(Munzbelustigungen,</i> + iii. 414-416), is the chronology of Albert's operations:—Seizure of + Nurnberg &c., 11th May to 22d June, 1552; Innspruck (with Treaty of + Passau) follows. Then Siege of Metz, October to December, 1552; Bamberg, + Wurzburg and Nurnberg ransomed again, April, 1553; Battle of + Sievershausen, 9th July, 1553. Wurzburg &c. explode against him; Ban + of the Empire, 4th May, 1554. To France thereupon; returns, hoping to + negotiate, end of 1556; dies at Pforzheim, at his Sister's, 8th January, + 1557.—See Pauli, iii. 120-138. See also Dr. Kapp, <i>Erinnerungen an + diejenigen Markgrafen &c.</i> (a reprint from the <i>Archiv fur + Geschichte und Alterthumskunde in Ober-Franken,</i> Year 1841).] + </p> + <p> + His death brought huge troubles upon Baireuth and the Family Possessions. + So many neighbors, Bamberg, Wurzburg and the rest, were eager for + retaliation; a new Kaiser greedy for confiscating. Plassenburg Castle was + besieged, bombarded, taken by famine and burnt; much was burnt and torn to + waste. Nay, had it not been for help from Berlin, the Family had gone to + utter ruin in those parts. For this Alcibiades had, in his turn, been + Guardian to Uncle George's Son, the George Friedrich we once spoke of, + still a minor, but well known afterwards; and it was attempted, by an + eager Kaiser Ferdinand, to involve this poor youth in his Cousin's + illegalities, as if Ward and Guardian had been one person. Baireuth which + had been Alcibiades's, Anspach which was the young man's own, nay + Jagerndorf with its Appendages, were at one time all in the clutches of + the hawk,—had not help from Berlin been there. But in the end, the + Law had to be allowed its course; George Friedrich got his own Territories + back (all but some surreptitious nibblings in the Jagerndorf quarter, to + be noticed elsewhere), and also got Baireuth, his poor Cousin's + Inheritance;—sole heir, he now, in Culmbath, the Line of Casimir + being out. + </p> + <p> + One owns to a kind of love for poor Albert Alcibiades. In certain sordid + times, even a "Failure of a Fritz" is better than some Successes that are + going. A man of some real nobleness, this Albert; though not with wisdom + enough, not with good fortune enough. Could he have continued to "rule the + situation" (as our French friends phrase it); to march the fanatical + Papistries, and Kaiser Karl, clear out of it, home to Spain and San Justo + a little earlier; to wave the coming Jesuitries away, as with a flaming + sword; to forbid beforehand the doleful Thirty-Years War, and the still + dolefuler spiritual atrophy (the flaccid Pedantry, ever rummaging and + rearranging among learned marine-stores, which thinks itself Wisdom and + Insight; the vague maunderings, flutings; indolent, impotent daydreaming + and tobacco-smoking, of poor Modern Germany) which has followed therefrom,—ACH + GOTT, he might have been a "SUCCESS of a Fritz" three times over! He might + have been a German Cromwell; beckoning his People to fly, eagle-like, + straight towards the Sun; instead of screwing about it in that sad, + uncertain, and far too spiral manner!—But it lay not in him; not in + his capabilities or opportunities, after all: and we but waste time in + such speculations. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII. — HISTORICAL MEANING OF THE REFORMATION. + </h2> + <p> + The Culmbach Brothers, we observe, play a more important part in that era + than their seniors and chiefs of Brandenburg. These Culmbachers, Margraf + George aud Albert of Preussen at the head of them, march valiantly forward + in the Reformation business; while KUR-BRANDENBURG, Joachim I., their + senior Cousin, is talking loud at Diets, galloping to Innspruck and the + like, zealous on the Conservative side; and Cardinal Albert, KUR-MAINZ, + his eloquent brother, is eager to make matters smooth and avoid violent + methods. + </p> + <p> + The Reformation was the great Event of that Sixteenth Century; according + as a man did something in that, or did nothing and obstructed doing, has + he much claim to memory, or no claim, in this age of ours. The more it + becomes apparent that the Reformation was the Event then transacting + itself, was the thing that Germany and Europe either did or refused to do, + the more does the historical significance of men attach itself to the + phases of that transaction. Accordingly we notice henceforth that the + memorable points of Brandenburg History, what of it sticks naturally to + the memory of a reader or student, connect themselves of their own accord, + almost all, with the History of the Reformation. That has proved to be the + Law of Nature in regard to them, softly establishing itself; and it is + ours to follow that law. + </p> + <p> + Brandenburg, not at first unanimously, by no means too inconsiderately, + but with overwhelming unanimity when the matter became clear, was lucky + enough to adopt the Reformation;—and stands by it ever since in its + ever-widening scope, amid such difficulties as there might be. Brandenburg + had felt somehow, that it could do no other. And ever onwards through the + times even of our little Fritz and farther, if we will understand the word + "Reformation," Brandenburg so feels; being, at this day, to an honorable + degree, incapable of believing incredibilities, of adopting solemn shams, + or pretending to live on spiritual moonshine. Which has been of + uncountable advantage to Brandenburg:—how could it fail? This was + what we must call obeying the audible voice of Heaven. To which same + "voice," at that time, all that did not give ear,—what has become of + them since; have they not signally had the penalties to pay! + </p> + <p> + "Penalties:" quarrel not with the old phraseology, good reader; attend + rather to the thing it means. The word was heard of old, with a right + solemn meaning attached to it, from theological pulpits and such places; + and may still be heard there with a half-meaning, or with no meaning, + though it has rather become obsolete to modern ears. But the THING should + not have fallen obsolete; the thing is a grand and solemn truth, + expressive of a silent Law of Heaven, which continues forever valid. The + most untheological of men may still assert the thing; and invite all men + to notice it, as a silent monition and prophecy in this Universe; to take + it, with more of awe than they are wont, as a correct reading of the Will + of the Eternal in respect of such matters; and, in their modern sphere, to + bear the same well in mind. For it is perfectly certain, and may be seen + with eyes in any quarter of Europe at this day. + </p> + <p> + Protestant or not Protestant? The question meant everywhere: "Is there + anything of nobleness in you, O Nation, or is there nothing? Are there, in + this Nation, enough of heroic men to venture forward, and to battle for + God's Truth VERSUS the Devil's Falsehood, at the peril of life and more? + Men who prefer death, and all else, to living under Falsehood,—who, + once for all, will not live under Falsehood; but having drawn the sword + against it (the time being come for that rare and important step), throw + away the scabbard, and can say, in pious clearness, with their whole soul: + 'Come on, then! Life under Falsehood is not good for me; and we will try + it out now. Let it be to the death between us, then!'" + </p> + <p> + Once risen into this divine white-heat of temper, were it only for a + season and not again, the Nation is thenceforth considerable through all + its remaining history. What immensities of DROSS and crypto-poisonous + matter will it not burn out of itself in that high temperature, in the + course of a few years! Witness Cromwell and his Puritans,—making + England habitable even under the Charles-Second terms for a couple of + centuries more. Nations are benefited, I believe, for ages, by being + thrown once into divine white-heat in this manner. And no Nation that has + not had such divine paroxysms at any time is apt to come to much. + </p> + <p> + That was now, in this epoch, the English of "adopting Protestantism;" and + we need not wonder at the results which it has had, and which the want of + it has had. For the want of it is literally the want of loyalty to the + Maker of this Universe. He who wants that, what else has he, or can he + have? If you do not, you Man or you Nation, love the Truth enough, but try + to make a Chapman-bargain with Truth, instead of giving yourself wholly + soul and body and life to her, Truth will not live with you, Truth will + depart from you; and only Logic, "Wit" (for example, "London Wit"), + Sophistry, Virtu, the AEsthetic Arts, and perhaps (for a short while) + Bookkeeping by Double Entry, will abide with you. You will follow falsity, + and think it truth, you unfortunate man or nation. You will right surely, + you for one, stumble to the Devil; and are every day and hour, little as + you imagine it, making progress thither. + </p> + <p> + Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Poland,—the offer of the Reformation + was made everywhere; and it is curious to see what has become of the + nations that would not hear it. In all countries were some that accepted; + but in many there were not enough, and the rest, slowly or swiftly, with + fatal difficult industry, contrived to burn them out. Austria was once + full of Protestants; but the hide-bound Flemish-Spanish Kaiser-element + presiding over it, obstinately, for two centuries, kept saying, "No; we, + with our dull obstinate Cimburgis under-lip and lazy eyes, with our + ponderous Austrian depth of Habituality and indolence of Intellect, we + prefer steady Darkness to uncertain new Light!"—and all men may see + where Austria now is. Spain still more; poor Spain, going about, at this + time, making its "PRONUNCIAMIENTOS;" all the factious attorneys in its + little towns assembling to PRONOUNCE virtually this, "The Old IS a lie, + then;—good Heavens, after we so long tried hard, harder than any + nation, to think it a truth!—and if it be not Rights of Man, Red + Republic and Progress of the Species, we know not what now to believe or + to do; and are as a people stumbling on steep places, in the darkness of + midnight!"—They refused Truth when she came; and now Truth knows + nothing of them. All stars, and heavenly lights, have become veiled to + such men; they must now follow terrestrial IGNES FATUI, and think them + stars. That is the doom passed upon them. + </p> + <p> + Italy too had its Protestants; but Italy killed them; managed to + extinguish Protestantism. Italy put up silently with Practical Lies of all + kinds; and, shrugging its shoulders, preferred going into Dilettantism and + the Fine Arts. The Italians, instead of the sacred service of Fact and + Performance, did Music, Painting, and the like:—till even that has + become impossible for them; and no noble Nation, sunk from virtue to + VIRTU, ever offered such a spectacle before. He that will prefer + Dilettantism in this world for his outfit, shall have it; but all the gods + will depart from him; and manful veracity, earnestness of purpose, devout + depth of soul, shall no more be his. He can if he like make himself a + soprano, and sing for hire;—and probably that is the real goal for + him. + </p> + <p> + But the sharpest-cut example is France; to which we constantly return for + illustration. France, with its keen intellect, saw the truth and saw the + falsity, in those Protestant times; and, with its ardor of generous + impulse, was prone enough to adopt the former. France was within a + hair's-breadth of becoming actually Protestant. But France saw good to + massacre Protestantism, and end it in the night of St. Bartholomew, 1572. + The celestial Apparitor of Heaven's Chancery, so we may speak, the Genius + of Fact and Veracity, had left his Writ of Summons; Writ was read;—and + replied to in this manner. The Genius of Fact and Veracity accordingly + withdrew;—was staved off, got kept away, for two hundred years. But + the writ of Summons had been served; Heaven's Messenger could not stay + away forever. No; he returned duly; with accounts run up, on compound + interest, to the actual hour, in 1792;—and then, at last, there had + to be a "Protestantism;" and we know of what kind that was!— + </p> + <p> + Nations did not so understand it, nor did Brandenburg more than the + others; but the question of questions for them at that time, decisive of + their history for half a thousand years to come, was, Will you obey the + heavenly voice, or will you not? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX. — KURFURST JOACHIM I. + </h2> + <p> + Brandenburg, in the matter of the Reformation, was at first—with + Albert of Mainz, Tetzel's friend, on the one side, and Pious George of + Anspach, "NIT KOP AB," on the other—certainly a divided house. But, + after the first act, it conspicuously ceased to be divided; nay + Kur-Brandenburg and Kur-Mainz themselves had known tendencies to the + Reformation, and were well aware that the Church could not stand as it + was. Nor did the cause want partisans in Berlin, in Brandenburg,—hardly + to be repressed from breaking into flame, while Kurfurst Joachim was so + prudent and conservative. Of this loud Kurfurst Joachim I., here and there + mentioned already, let us now say a more express word. [1484, 1499, 1535: + birth, accession, death of Joachim.] + </p> + <p> + Joachim I., Big John's son, hesitated hither and thither for some time, + trying if it would not do to follow the Kaiser Karl V.'s lead; and at + length, crossed in his temper perhaps by the speed his friends were going + at, declared formally against any farther Reformation; and in his own + family and country was strict upon the point. He is a man, as I judge, by + no means without a temper of his own; very loud occasionally in the Diets + and elsewhere;—reminds me a little of a certain King Friedrich + Wilhelm, whom my readers shall know by and by. A big, surly, rather + bottle-nosed man, with thick lips, abstruse wearied eyes, and no eyebrows + to speak of: not a beautiful man, when you cross him overmuch. + </p> + <p> + OF JOACHIM'S WIFE AND BROTHER-IN-LAW. + </p> + <p> + His wife was a Danish Princess, Sister of poor Christian II., King of that + Country: dissolute Christian, who took up with a huckster-woman's + daughter,—"mother sold gingerbread," it would appear, "at Bergen in + Norway," where Christian was Viceroy; Christian made acceptable love to + the daughter, "DIVIKE (Dovekin, COLUMBINA)," as he called her. Nay he made + the gingerbread mother a kind of prime-minister, said the angry public, + justly scandalized at this of the "Dovekin." He was married, meanwhile, to + Karl V.'s own Sister; but continued that other connection. [Here are the + dates of this poor Christian, in a lump. Born, 1481; King, 1513 (Dovekin + before); married, 1515; turned off, 1523; invades, taken prisoner, 1532; + dies, 1559. Cousin, and then Cousin's Son, succeeded.] He had rash + notions, now for the Reformation, now against it, when he got to be King; + a very rash, unwise, explosive man. He made a "Stockholm BLUTBAD" still + famed in History (kind of open, ordered or permitted, Massacre of eighty + or a hundred of his chief enemies there), "Bloodbath," so they name it; in + Stockholm, where indeed he was lawful King, and not without unlawful + enemies, had a bloodbath been the way to deal with them. Gustavus Vasa was + a young fellow there, who dexterously escaped this Bloodbath, and + afterwards came to something. + </p> + <p> + In Denmark and Sweden, rash Christian made ever more enemies; at length he + was forced to run, and they chose another King or successive pair of + Kings. Christian fled to Kaiser Karl at Brussels; complained to Kaiser + Karl, his Brother-in-law,—whose Sister he had not used well. Kaiser + Karl listened to his complaints, with hanging under-lip, with heavy, deep, + undecipherable eyes; evidently no help from Karl. + </p> + <p> + Christian, after that, wandered about with inexecutable speculations, and + projects to recover his crown or crowns; sheltering often with Kurfurst + Joachim, who took a great deal of trouble about him, first and last; or + with the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich the Wise, or after him, with Johann + the Steadfast ("V. D. M. I. AE." whom we saw at Augsburg), who were his + Mother's Brothers, and beneficent men. He was in Saxony, on such terms, + coming and going, when a certain other Flight thither took place, soon to + be spoken of, which is the cause of our mentioning him here.—In the + end (A.D. 1532) he did get some force together, and made sail to Norway; + but could do no execution whatever there;—on the contrary, was + frozen in on the coast during winter; seized, carried to Copenhagen, and + packed into the "Castle of Sonderburg," a grim sea-lodging on the shore of + Schleswig,—prisoner for the rest of his life, which lasted long + enough. Six-and-twenty years of prison; the first seventeen years of it + strict and hard, almost of the dungeon sort; the remainder, on his fairly + abdicating, was in another Castle, that of Callundborg in the Island of + Zealand, "with fine apartments and conveniences," and even "a good house + of liquor now and then," at discretion of the old soul. That was the end + of headlong Christian II.; he lasted in this manner to the age of + seventy-eight. [Kohler, <i>Munzbelustigungen,</i>xi. 47, 48; Holberg, <i>Danemarckische + Staats-und Reichs-Historie</i> (Copenhagen, 1731, NOT the big Book by + Holberg), p. 241; Buddaus, <i>Allgemeines Historisches Lexicon</i> + (Leipzig, 1709),? Christianus II.] + </p> + <p> + His Sister Elizabeth at Brandenburg is perhaps, in regard to natural + character, recognizably of the same kin as Christian; but her behavior is + far different from his. She too is zealous for the Reformation; but she + has a right to be so, and her notions that way are steady; and she has + hitherto, though in a difficult position, done honor to her creed. Surly + Joachim is difficult to deal with; is very positive now that he has + declared himself: "In my house at least shall be nothing farther of that + unblessed stuff." Poor Lady, I see domestic difficulties very thick upon + her; nothing but division, the very children ranging themselves in + parties. She can pray to Heaven; she must do her wisest. + </p> + <p> + She partook once, by some secret opportunity, of the "communion under both + kinds;" one of her Daughters noticed and knew; told Father of it. Father + knits up his thick lips; rolls his abstruse dissatisfied eyes, in an + ominous manner: the poor Lady, probably possessed of an excitable + imagination too, trembles for herself. "It is thought, His DURCHLAUCHT + will wall you up for life, my Serene Lady; dark prison for life, which + probably may not be long!" These surmises were of no credibility: but + there and then the poor Lady, in a shiver of terror, decides that she must + run; goes off actually, one night ("Monday after the LAETARE," which we + find is 24th March) in the year 1528, (Pauli (ii. 584); who cites + Seckendorf, and this fraction of a Letter of Luther's, to one "LINCKUS" or + Lincke, written on the Friday following (28th March, 1528):— + </p> + <p> + "The Electress [MARGRAVINE he calls her] has fled from Berlin, by help of + her Brother the King of Denmark [poor Christian II.] to our Prince [Johann + the Steadfast], because her Elector had determined to wall her up, as is + reported, on account of the Eucharist under both species. Pray for our + Prince; <i>the pious man and affectionate soul gets a great deal of + trouble with his kindred."</i> Or thus in the Original:— + </p> + <p> + <i>"Marchionissa aufugit a Berlin, auxilio fratris, Regis Daniae, ad + nostrum Principem, quod Marchio statuerat eam immurare (ut dicitur) + propter Eucharistiam utriusque speciei. Ora pro nostro Principe;</i> der + fromme Mann und herzliche Mensch ist doch ja wohl geplaget" (Seckendorf, + <i>Historia Lutheranismi,</i> ii.? 62, No. 8, p. 122).) in a mean vehicle + under cloud of darkness, with only one maid and groom,—driving for + life. That is very certain: she too is on flight towards Saxony, to + shelter with her uncle Kurfurst Johann,—unless for reasons of state + he scruple? On the dark road her vehicle broke down; a spoke given way,—"Not + a bit of rope to splice it," said the improvident groom. "Take my + lace-veil here," said the poor Princess; and in this guise she got to + Torgau (I could guess, her poor Brother's lodging),—and thence, in + short time, to the fine Schloss of Lichtenberg hard by; Uncle Johann, to + whom she had zealously left an option of refusal, having as zealously + permitted and invited her to continue there. Which she did for many years. + </p> + <p> + Nor did she get the least molestation from Husband Joachim;—who I + conjecture had intended, though a man of a certain temper, and strict in + his own house, something short of walling up for life:—poor Joachim + withal! "However, since you are gone, Madam, go!" Nor did he concern + himself with Christian II. farther, but let him lie in prison at his + leisure. As for the Lady, he even let his children visit her at + Lichtenberg; Crypto-Protestants all; and, among them, the repentant + Daughter who had peached upon her. + </p> + <p> + Poor Joachim, he makes a pious speech on his death-bed, solemnly warning + his Son against these new-fangled heresies; the Son being already + possessed of them in his heart. [Speech given in Rentsch, pp. 484-439.] + What could Father do more? Both Father and Son, I suppose, were weeping. + This was in 1535, this last scene; things looking now more ominous than + ever. Of Kurfurst Joachim I will remember nothing farther, except that + once, twenty-three years before, he "held a Tourney in Neu-Ruppin," year + 1612; Tourney on the most magnificent scale, and in New-Ruppin, [Pauli, + ii. 466.] a place we shall know by and by. + </p> + <p> + As to the Lady, she lived eighteen years in that fine Schloss of + Lichtenberg; saw her children as we said; and, silently or otherwise, + rejoiced in the creed they were getting. She saw Luther's self sometimes; + "had him several times to dinner;" he would call at her Mansion, when his + journeys lay that way. She corresponded with him diligently; nay once, for + a three months, she herself went across and lodged with Dr. Luther and his + Kate; as a royal Lady might with a heroic Sage,—though the Sage's + income was only Twenty-four pounds sterling annually. There is no doubt + about that visit of three months; one thinks of it, as of something human, + something homely, ingenuous and pretty. Nothing in surly Joachim's history + is half so memorable to me, or indeed memorable at all in the stage we are + now come to. + </p> + <p> + The Lady survived Joachim twenty years; of these she spent eleven still at + Lichtenberg, in no over-haste to return. However, her Son, the new + Elector, declaring for Protestantism, she at length yielded to his + invitations: came back (1546), and ended her days at Berlin in a peaceable + and venerable manner. Luckless Brother Christian is lying under + lock-and-key all this while; smuggling out messages, and so on; like a + voice from the land of Dreams or of Nightmares, painful, impracticable, + coming now and then. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X. — KURFURST JOACHIM II. + </h2> + <p> + Joachim II., Sixth Elector, no doubt after painful study, and intricate + silent consideration ever since his twelfth year when Luther was first + heard of over the world, came gradually, and before his Father's death had + already come, to the conclusion of adopting the Confession of Augsburg, as + the true Interpretation of this Universe, so far as we had yet got; and + did so, publicly, in the year 1539. [Rentsch, p. 452.] To the great joy of + Berlin and the Brandenburg populations generally, who had been of a + Protestant humor, hardly restrainable by Law, for some years past. By this + decision Joachim held fast, with a stout, weighty grasp; nothing spasmodic + in his way of handling the matter, and yet a heartiness which is agreeable + to see. He could not join in the Schmalkaldic War; seeing, it is probable, + small chance for such a War, of many chiefs and little counsel; nor was he + willing yet to part from the Kaiser Karl V., who was otherwise very good + to him. + </p> + <p> + He had fought personally for this Kaiser, twice over, against the Turks; + first as Brandenburg Captain, learning his art; and afterwards as Kaiser's + Generalissimo, in 1542. He did no good upon the Turks, on that latter + occasion; as indeed what good was to be done, in such a quagmire of + futilities as Joachim's element there was? "Too sumptuous in his dinners, + too much wine withal!" hint some calumniously. [Paulus Jovius, &c. See + Pauli, iii. 70-73.] "Hector of Germany!" say others. He tried some small + prefatory Siege or scalade of Pesth; could not do it; and came his ways + home again, as the best course. Pedant Chroniclers give him the name + HECTOR, "Joachim Hector,"—to match that of CICERO and that of + ACHILLES. A man of solid structure, this our Hector, in body and mind: + extensive cheeks, very large heavy-laden face; capable of terrible bursts + of anger, as his kind generally were. + </p> + <p> + The Schmalkaldic War went to water, as the Germans phrase it: Kur-Sachsen,—that + is, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, Son of Johann "V. D. M. I. AE.," and + Nephew of Friedrich the Wise,—had his sorrowfully valid reasons for + the War; large force too, plenty of zealous copartners, Philip of Hessen + and others; but no generalship, or not enough, for such a business. Big + Army, as is apt enough to happen, fell short of food; Kaiser Karl hung on + the outskirts, waiting confidently till it came to famine. Johann + Friedrich would attempt nothing decisive while provender lasted;—and + having in the end, strangely enough, and somewhat deaf to advice, divided + his big Army into three separate parts;—Johann Friedrich was + himself, with one of those parts, surprised at Muhlberg, on a Sunday when + at church (24th April, 1547); and was there beaten to sudden ruin, and + even taken captive, like to have his head cut off, by the triumphant angry + Kaiser. Philip of Hessen, somewhat wiser, was home to Marburg, safe with + HIS part, in the interim.—Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg had + good reason to rejoice in his own cautious reluctances on this occasion. + However, he did now come valiantly up, hearing what severities were in the + wind. + </p> + <p> + He pleaded earnestly, passionately, he and Cousin or already "Elector" + Moritz, [Pauli, iii. 102.]—who was just getting Johann Friedrich's + Electorship fished away from him out of these troubles, [Kurfurst, 4th + June, 1547.]—for Johann Friedrich of Saxony's life, first of all. + For Johann's life FIRST; this is a thing not to be dispensed with, your + Majesty, on any terms whatever; a <i>sine qua non,</i> this life to + Protestant Germany at large. To which the Kaiser indicated, "He would see; + not immediate death at any rate; we will see." A life that could not and + must not be taken in this manner: this was the FIRST point. Then, + SECONDLY, that Philip of Hessen, now home again at Marburg,—not a + bad or disloyal man, though headlong, and with two wives,—might not + be forfeited; but that peace and pardon might be granted him, on his + entire submission. To which second point the Kaiser answered, "Yes, then, + on his submission." These were the two points. These pleadings went on at + Halle, where the Kaiser now lies, in triumphantly victorious humor, in the + early days of June, Year 1547. Johann Friedrich of Saxony had been, by + some Imperial Court-Council or other,—Spanish merely, I suppose,—doomed + to die. Sentence was signified to him while he sat at chess: "Can wait + till we end the game," thought Johann;—"PERGAMUS," said he to his + comrade, "Let us go on, then!" Sentence not to be executed till one see. + </p> + <p> + With Philip of Hessen things had a more conclusive aspect. Philip had + accepted the terms procured for him; which had been laboriously + negotiated, brought to paper, and now wanted only the sign-manual to them: + <i>"Ohne einigen Gefangniss</i>(without any imprisonment)," one of the + chief clauses. And so Philip now came over to Halle; was met and welcomed + by his two friends, Joachim and Moritz, at Naumburg, a stage before Halle;—clear + now to make his submission, and beg pardon of the Kaiser, according to + bargain. On the morrow, 19th June, 1547, the Papers were got signed. And + next day, 20th June, Philip did, according to bargain, openly beg pardon + of the Kaiser, in his Majesty's Hall of Audience (Town House of Halle, I + suppose); "knelt at the Kaiser's feet publicly on both knees, while his + Kanzler read the submission and entreaty, as agreed upon;" and, alas, then + the Kaiser said nothing at all to him! Kaiser looked haughtily, with + impenetrable eyes and shelf-lip, over the head of him; gave him no hand to + kiss; and left poor Philip kneeling there. An awkward position indeed;—which + any German Painter that there were, might make a Picture of, I have + sometimes thought. Picture of some real meaning, more or less,—if + for symbolic. Towers of Babel, medieval mythologies, and extensive + smearings of that kind, he could find leisure!—Philip having knelt a + reasonable time, and finding there was no help for it, rose in the dread + silence (some say, with too sturdy an expression of countenance); and + retired from the affair, having at least done his part of it. + </p> + <p> + The next practical thing was now supper, or as we of this age should call + it, dinner. Uncommonly select and high supper: host the Duke of Alba; + where Joachim, Elector Moritz, and another high Official, the Bishop of + Arras, were to welcome poor Philip after his troubles. How the grand + supper went, I do not hear: possibly a little constrained; the Kaiser's + strange silence sitting on all men's thoughts; not to be spoken of in the + present company. At length the guests rose to go away. Philip's lodging is + with Moritz (who is his son-in-law, as learned readers know): "You Philip, + your lodging is mine; my lodging is yours,—I should say! Cannot we + ride together?"—"Philip is not permitted to go," said Imperial + Officiality; "Philip is to continue here, and we fear go to prison."—"Prison?" + cried they all: "OHNE EINIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ANY imprisonment)!"—"As + we read the words, it is 'OHNE EWIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ETERNAL + imprisonment),'" answer the others. And so, according to popular + tradition, which has little or no credibility, though printed in many + Books, their false Secretary had actually modified it. + </p> + <p> + "No intention of imprisoning his DURCHLAUCHT of Hessen FOREVER; not + forever!" answered they. And Kurfurst Joachim, in astonished indignation, + after some remonstrating and arguing, louder and louder, which profited + nothing, blazed out into a very whirlwind of rage; drew his sword, it is + whispered with a shudder,—drew his sword, or was for drawing it, + upon the Duke of Alba; and would have done, God knows what, had not + friends flung themselves between, and got the Duke away, or him away. + [Pauli, iii. 103.] Other accounts bear, that it was upon the Bishop of + Arras he drew his sword; which is a somewhat different matter. Perhaps he + drew it on both; or on men and things in general;—for his + indignation knew no bounds. The heavy solid man; yet with a human heart in + him after all, and a Hohenzollern abhorrence of chicanery, capable of + rising to the transcendent pitch! His wars against the Turks, and his + other Hectorships, I will forget; but this, of a face so extensive kindled + all into divine fire for poor Philip's sake, shall be memorable to me. + </p> + <p> + Philip got out by and by, though with difficulty; the Kaiser proving very + stiff in the matter; and only yielding to obstinate pressures, and the + force of time and events. Philip got away; and then how Johann Friedrich + of Sachsen, after being led about for five years, in the Kaiser's train, a + condemned man, liable to be executed any day, did likewise at last get + away, with his head safe and Electorate gone: these are known Historical + events, which we glanced at already, on another score. + </p> + <p> + For, by and by, the Kaiser found tougher solicitation than this of + Joachim's. The Kaiser, by his high carriage in this and other such + matters, had at length kindled a new War round him; and he then soon found + himself reduced to extremities again; chased to the Tyrol Mountains, and + obliged to comply with many things. New War, of quite other emphasis and + management than the Schmalkaldic one; managed by Elector Moritz and our + poor friend Albert Alcibiades as principals. A Kaiser chased into the + mountains, capable of being seized by a little spurring;—"Capture + him?" said Albert. "I have no cage big enough for such a bird!" answered + Moritz; and the Kaiser was let run. How he ran then towards Treaty of + Passau (1552), towards Siege of Metz and other sad conclusions, + "Abdication" the finale of them: these also are known phases in the + Reformation History, as hinted at above. + </p> + <p> + Here at Halle, in the year 1547, the great Kaiser, with Protestantism + manacled at his feet, and many things going prosperous, was at his + culminating point. He published his INTERIM (1548, What you troublesome + Protestants are to do, in the mean time, while the Council of Trent is + sitting, and till it and I decide for you); and in short, drove and + reined-in the Reich with a high hand and a sharp whip, for the time being. + Troublesome Protestants mostly rejected the Interim; Moritz and + Alcibiades, with France in the rear of them, took to arms in that way; + took to ransoming fat Bishoprics ("<i>Verbum Diaboli Manet</i>," we know + where!);—took to chasing Kaisers into the mountains;—and times + came soon round again. In all these latter broils Kurfurst Joachim II., + deeply interested, as we may fancy, strove to keep quiet; and to prevail, + by weight of influence and wise counsel, rather than by fighting with his + Kaiser. + </p> + <p> + One sad little anecdote I recollect of Joachim: an Accident, which + happened in those Passau-Interim days, a year or two after that drawing of + the sword on Alba. Kurfurst Joachim unfortunately once fell through a + staircase, in that time; being, as I guess, a heavy man. It was in the + Castle of Grimnitz, one of his many Castles, a spacious enough old + Hunting-seat, the repairs of which had not been well attended to. The good + Herr, weighty of foot, was leading down his Electress to dinner one day in + this Schloss of Grimnitz; broad stair climbs round a grand Hall, hung with + stag-trophies, groups of weapons, and the like hall-furniture. An unlucky + timber yielded; yawning chasm in the staircase; Joachim and his good + Princess sank by gravitation; Joachim to the floor with little hurt; his + poor Princess (horrible to think of), being next the wall, came upon the + stag-horns and boar-spears down below! [Pauli, iii. 112.] The poor Lady's + hurt was indescribable: she walked lame all the rest of her clays; and + Joachim, I hope (hope, but not with confidence), [Ib. iii. 194.] loved her + all the better for it. This unfortunate old Schloss of Grimnitz, some + thirty miles northward of Berlin, was—by the Eighth Kurfurst, + Joachim Friedrich, Grandson of this one, with great renown to himself and + to it—converted into an Endowed High School: the famed <i>Joachimsthal + Gymnasium,</i> still famed, though now under some change of circumstances, + and removed to Berlin itself. [Nicolai, p. 725.] + </p> + <p> + Joachim's first Wife, from whom descend the following Kurfursts, was a + daughter of that Duke George of Saxony, Luther's celebrated friend, "If it + rained Duke-Georges nine days running." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOACHIM GETS CO-INVESTMENT IN PREUSSEN. + </h2> + <p> + This second Wife, she of the accident at Grimnitz, was Hedwig, King + Sigismund of Poland's daughter; which connection, it is thought, helped + Joachim well in getting what they call the MITBELEHNUNG of Preussen (for + it was he that achieved this point) from King Sigismund. + </p> + <p> + MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment) in Preussen;—whereby is solemnly + acknowledged the right of Joachim and his Posterity to the reversion of + Preussen, should the Culmbach Line of Duke Albert happen to fail. It was a + thing Joachim long strove for; till at length his Father-in-law did, some + twenty years hence, concede it him. [Date, Lublin, 19th July, 1568: Pauli, + iii. 177-179, 193; Rentsch, p. 457; Stenzel, i. 341, 342.] Should Albert's + Line fail, then, the other Culmbachers get Preussen; should the + Culmbachers all fail, the Berlin Brandenburgers get it. The Culmbachers + are at this time rather scarce of heirs: poor Alcibiades died childless, + as we know, and Casimir's Line is extinct; Duke Albert himself has left + only one Son, who now succeeds in Preussen; still young, and not of the + best omens. Margraf George the Pious, he left only George Friedrich; an + excellent man, who is now prosperous in the world, and wedded long since, + but has no children. So that, between Joachim's Line and Preussen there + are only two intermediate heirs;—and it was a thing eminently worth + looking after. Nor has it wanted that. And so Kurfurst Joachim, almost at + the end of his course, has now made sure of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOACHIM MAKES "HERITAGE-BROTHERHOOD" WITH THE DUKE OF LIEGNITZ. + </h2> + <p> + Another feat of like nature Joachim II. had long ago achieved; which + likewise in the long-run proved important in his Family, and in the + History of the world: an "ERBVERBRUDERUNG," so they term it, with the Duke + of Liegnitz,—date 1537. ERBVERBRUDERUNG ("Heritage-brotherhood," + meaning Covenant to succeed reciprocally on Failure of Heirs to either) + had in all times been a common paction among German Princes well affected + to each other. Friedrich II., the then Duke of Liegnitz, we have + transiently seen, was related to the Family; he had been extremely helpful + in bringing his young friend Albert of Preussen's affairs to a good issue,—whose + Niece, withal, he had wedded:—in fact, he was a close friend of this + our Joachim's; and there had long been a growing connection between the + two Houses, by intermarriages and good offices. + </p> + <p> + The Dukes of Liegnitz were Sovereign-Princes, come of the old Piasts of + Poland; and had perfect right to enter into this transaction of an + ERBVERBRUDERUNG with whom they liked. True, they had, above two hundred + years before, in the days of King Johann ICH-DIEN (A.D. 1329), voluntarily + constituted themselves Vassals of the Crown of Bohemia: [Pauli, iii. 22.] + but the right to dispose of their Lands as they pleased had, all along, + been carefully acknowledged, and saved entire. And, so late as 1521, just + sixteen years ago, the Bohemian King Vladislaus the Last, our good Margraf + George's friend, had expressly, in a Deed still extant, confirmed to them, + with all the emphasis and amplitude that Law-Phraseology could bring to + bear upon it, the right to dispose of said Lands in any manner of way: "by + written testament, or by verbal on their death-bed, they can, as they see + wisest, give away, sell, pawn, dispose of, and exchange <i>(vergeben, + verkaufen, versetzen, verschaffen, verwechseln)</i> these said lands," to + all lengths, and with all manner of freedom. Which privilege had likewise + been confirmed, twice over (1522, 1524), by Ludwig the next King, Ludwig + OHNE-HAUT, who perished in the bogs of Mohacz, and ended the native Line + of Bohemian-Hungarian Kings. Nay, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, Karl V.'s + Brother, afterwards Kaiser, who absorbed that Bohemian Crown among the + others, had himself, by implication, sanctioned or admitted the privilege, + in 1529, only eight years ago. [Stenzel, i. 323.] The right to make the + ERBVERBRUDERUNG could not seem doubtful to anybody. + </p> + <p> + And made accordingly it was: signed, sealed, drawn out on the proper + parchments, 18th October, 1537; to the following clear effect: "That if + Duke Friedrich's Line should die out, all his Liegnitz countries, + Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, should fall to the Hohenzollern Brandenburgers: + and that, if the Line of Hohenzollern Brandenburg should first fail, then + all and singular the Bohemian Fiefs of Brandenburg (as Crossen, Zullichau + and seven others there enumerated) should fall to the House of Liegnitz." + [Stenzel, i. 320.] It seemed a clear Paction, questionable by no mortal. + Double-marriage between the two Houses (eldest Son, on each side, to + suitable Princess on the other) was to follow: and did follow, after some + delays, 17th February, 1545. So that the matter seemed now complete: + secure on all points, and a matter of quiet satisfaction to both the + Houses and to their friends. + </p> + <p> + But Ferdinand, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia and Hungary, and coming + to be Emperor one day, was not of that sentiment. Ferdinand had once + implicitly recognized the privilege, but Ferdinand, now when he saw the + privilege turned to use, and such a territory as Liegnitz exposed to the + possibility of falling into inconvenient hands, explicitly took other + thoughts: and gradually determined to prohibit this ERBVERBRUDERUNG. The + States of Bohemia, accordingly, in 1544 (it is not doubtful, by + Ferdinand's suggestion), were moved to make inquiries as to this + Heritage-Fraternity of Liegnitz. [Ib. i. 322.] On which hint King + Ferdinand straightway informed the Duke of Liegnitz that the act was not + justifiable, and must be revoked. The Duke of Liegnitz, grieved to the + heart, had no means of resisting. Ferdinand, King of the Romans, backed by + Kaiser Karl, with the States of Bohemia barking at his wink, were too + strong for poor Duke Friedrich of Liegnitz. Great corresponding between + Berlin, Liegnitz, Prag ensued on this matter: but the end was a summons to + Duke Friedrich,—summons from King Ferdinand in March, 1546, "To + appear in the Imperial Hall (KAISERHOF) at Breslau," and to submit that + Deed of EBVERBRUDERUNG to the examination of the States there. The States, + already up to the affair, soon finished their examination of it (8th May, + 1546). The deed was annihilated: and Friedrich was ordered, furthermore, + to produce proofs within six months that his subjects too were absolved of + all oaths or the like regarding it, and that in fact the Transaction was + entirely abolished and reduced to zero. Friedrich complied, had to comply: + very much chagrined, he returned home: and died next year,—it is + supposed, of heartbreak from this business. He had yielded outwardly: but + to force only. In a Codicil appended to his last Will, some months + afterwards (which Will, written years ago, had treated the ERBVERBRUDERUNG + as a Fact settled), he indicates, as with his last breath, that he + considered the thing still valid, though overruled by the hand of power. + Let the reader mark this matter; for it will assuredly become memorable, + one day. + </p> + <p> + The hand of power, namely, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, had applied in + like manner to Joachim of Brandenburg to surrender his portion of the + Deed, and annihilate on his side too this ERBVERBRUDERUNG. But Joachim + refused steadily, and all his successors steadily, to give up this Bit of + Written Parchment: kept the same, among their precious documents, against + some day that might come (and I suppose it lies in the Archives of Berlin + even now): silently, or in words, asserting that the Deed of + Heritage-Brothership was good, and that though some hands might have the + power, no hand could have the right to abolish it on those terms. + </p> + <p> + How King Ferdinand permitted himself such a procedure? Ferdinand, says one + of his latest apologists in this matter, "considered the privileges + granted by his Predecessors, in respect to rights of Sovereignty, as + fallen extinct on their death." [Stenzel, i. 323.] Which—if Reality + and Fact would but likewise be so kind as "consider" it so—was no + doubt convenient for Ferdinand! + </p> + <p> + Joachim was not so great with Ferdinand as he had been with Charles the + Imperial Brother. Joachim and Ferdinand had many debates of this kind, + some of them rather stiff. Jagerndorf, for instance, and the + Baireuth-Anspach confiscations, in George Friedrich's minority. Ferdinand, + now Kaiser, had snatched Jagerndorf from poor young George Friedrich, son + of excellent Margraf George whom we knew: "Part of the spoils of Albert + Alcibiades," thought Ferdinand, "and a good windfall,"—though young + George Friedrich had merely been the Ward of Cousin Alcibiades, and + totally without concern in those political explosions. "Excellent + windfall," thought Ferdinand: and held his grip. But Joachim, in his + weighty steady way, intervened: Joachim, emphatic in the Diets and + elsewhere, made Ferdinand quit grip, and produce Jagerndorf again. + Jagerndorf and the rest had all to be restored: and, except some filchings + in the Jagerndorf Appendages (Ratibor and Oppeln, "restored" only in + semblance, and at length juggled away altogether), [Rentsch, pp. 129, + 130.] everything came to its right owner again. Nor would Joachim rest + till Alcibiades's Territories too were all punctually given back, to this + same George Friedrich: to whom, by law and justice, they belonged, In + these points Joachim prevailed against a strong-handed Kaiser, apt to + "consider one's rights fallen extinct" now and then. In this of Liegnitz + all he could do was to keep the Deed, in steady protest silent or vocal. + </p> + <p> + But enough now of Joachim Hector, Sixth Kurfurst, and of his workings and + his strugglings. He walked through this world, treading as softly as might + be, yet with a strong weighty step: rending the jungle steadily asunder; + well seeing whither he was bound. Rather an expensive Herr: built a good + deal, completion of the Schloss at Berlin one example: [Nicolai, p. 82.] + and was not otherwise afraid of outlay, in the Reich's Politics, or in + what seemed needful: If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it + is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn! + </p> + <p> + Joachim was always a conspicuous Public Man, a busy Politician in the + Reich: stanch to his kindred, and by no means blind to himself or his own + interests. Stanch also, we must grant, and ever active, though generally + in a cautious, weighty, never in a rash swift way, to the great Cause of + Protestantism, and to all good causes. He was himself a solemnly devout + man; deep awe-stricken reverence dwelling in his view of this Universe. + Most serious, though with a jocose dialect commonly, having a cheerful wit + in speaking to men. Luther's Books he called his SEELENSCHATZ + (Soul's-treasure): Luther and the Bible were his chief reading. Fond of + profane learning too, and of the useful or ornamental Arts; given to + music, and "would himself sing aloud" when he had a melodious + leisure-hour. Excellent old gentleman: he died, rather suddenly, but with + much nobleness, 3d January, 1571; age sixty-six. Old Rentsch's account of + this event is still worth reading: [Rentsch, p. 458.] Joachim's + death-scene has a mild pious beauty which does not depend on creed. + </p> + <p> + He had a Brother too, not a little occupied with Politics, and always on + the good side: a wise pious man, whose fame was in all the churches: + "Johann of Custrin," called also "Johann THE WISE," who busied himself + zealously in Protestant matters, second only in piety and zeal to his + Cousin, Margraf George the Pious; and was not so held back by official + considerations as his Brother the Elector now and then. Johann of Custrin + is a very famous man in the old Books: Johann was the first that fortified + Custrin: built himself an illustrious Schloss, and "roofed it with + copper," in Custrin (which is a place we shall be well acquainted with by + and by); and lived there, with the Neumark for apanage, a true man's life;—mostly + with a good deal of business, warlike and other, on his hands; with good + Books, good Deeds, and occasionally good Men, coming to enliven it,—according + to the terms then given. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XI. — SEVENTH KURFURST, JOHANN GEORGE. + </h2> + <p> + Kaiser Karl, we said, was very good to Joachim; who always strove, + sometimes with a stretch upon his very conscience, to keep well with the + Kaiser. The Kaiser took Joachim's young Prince along with him to those + Schmalkaldic Wars (not the comfortable side for Joachim's conscience, but + the safe side for an anxious Father); Kaiser made a Knight of this young + Prince, on one occasion of distinction; he wrote often to Papa about him, + what a promising young hero he was,—seems really to have liked the + young man. It was Johann George, Elector afterwards, Seventh Elector.—This + little incident is known to me on evidence. [Rentsch, p. 465.] A small + thing that certainly befell, at the siege of Wittenberg (A.D. 1547), + during those Philip-of-Hessen Negotiations, three hundred and odd years + ago. + </p> + <p> + The Schmalkaldic War having come all to nothing, the Saxon Elector sitting + captive with sword overhead in the way we saw, Saxon Wittenberg was + besieged, and the Kaiser was in great hurry to get it. Kaiser in person, + and young Johann George for sole attendant, rode round the place one day, + to take a view of the works, and judge how soon, or whether ever, it could + be compelled to give in. Gunners noticed them from the battlements; + gunners Saxon-Protestant most likely, and in just gloom at the perils and + indignities now lying on their pious Kurfurst Johann Friedrich the + Magnanimous. "Lo, you! Kaiser's self riding yonder, and one of his silk + JUNKERS. Suppose we gave the Kaiser's self a shot, then?" said the gunner, + or thought: "It might help a better man from his life-perils, if such shot + did—!" In fact the gun flashed off, with due outburst, and almost + with due effect. The ball struck the ground among the very horses' feet of + the two riders; so that they were thrown, or nearly so, and covered from + sight with a cloud of earth and sand;—and the gunners thought, for + some instants, an unjust, obstinate Kaiser's life was gone; and a pious + Elector's saved. But it proved not so. Kaiser Karl and Johann George both + emerged, in a minute or two, little the worse;—Kaiser Karl perhaps + blushing somewhat, and flurried this time, I think, in the impenetrable + eyes; and his Cimburgis lip closed for the moment;—and galloped out + of shot-range. "I never forget this little incident," exclaims Smelfungus: + "It is one of the few times I can get, after all my reading about that + surprising Karl V., I do not say the least understanding or practical + conception of him and his character and his affairs, but the least ocular + view or imagination of him, as a fact among facts!" Which is unlucky for + Smelfungus.—Johann George, still more emphatically, never to the end + of HIS life forgot this incident. And indeed it must be owned, had the + shot taken effect as intended, the whole course of human things would have + been surprisingly altered;—and for one thing, neither FREDERICH THE + GREAT, nor the present HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH, had ever risen above ground, + or troubled an enlightened public or me! + </p> + <p> + Of Johann George, this Seventh Elector, [1525; 1571-1598.] who proved a + good Governor, and carried on the Family Affairs in the old style of slow + steady success, I will remember nothing more, except that he had the + surprising number of Three-and-Twenty children; one of them posthumous, + though he died at the age of seventy-three.— + </p> + <p> + He is Founder of the New Culmbach line: two sons of these twenty-three + children he settled, one in Baireuth, the other in Anspach; from whom come + all the subsequent Heads of that Principality, till the last of them died + in Hammersmith in 1806, as above said. [Rentsch, p. 475 (CHRISTIAN to + Baireuth; JOACHIM ERNST to Anspach);—See Genealogical Diagram, inra, + p. 309a.] He was a prudent, thrifty Herr; no mistresses, no luxuries + allowed; at the sight of a new-fashioned coat, he would fly out on an + unhappy youth, and pack him from his presence. Very strict in point of + justice: a peasant once appealing to him, in one of his + inspection-journeys through the country, "Grant me justice, DURCHLAUCHT, + against So-and-so; I am your highness's born subject!"—"Thou + shouldst have it, man, wert thou a born Turk!" answered Johann George.—There + is something anxious, grave and, as it were, surprised in the look of this + good Herr. He made the GERA BOND above spoken of;—founded the + Younger Culmbach Line, with that important Law of Primogeniture strictly + superadded. A conspicuous thrift, veracity, modest solidity, looks through + the conduct of this Herr;—a determined Protestant he too, as indeed + all the following were and are. [Rentsch, pp. 470, 471.] + </p> + <p> + Of Joachim Friedrich, his eldest Son, who at one time was Archbishop of + Magdeburg,—called home from the wars to fill that valuable Heirloom, + which had suddenly fallen vacant by an Uncle's death, and keep it warm;—and + who afterwards, in due course, carried on a LOBLICHE REGIERUNG of the old + style and physiognomy, as Eighth Kurfurst, from his fiftieth to his + sixtieth year (1598-1608): [Born, 1547; Magdehurg, 1566-1598 (when his + Third Son got it,—very unlucky in the Thirty-Years War afterwards).] + of him we already noticed the fine "JOACHIMS-thal Gymnasium," or + Foundation for learned purposes, in the old Schloss of Grimnitz, where his + serene Grandmother got lamed; and will notice nothing farther, in this + place, except his very great anxiety to profit by the Prussian + MITBELEHNUNG,—that Co-infeftment in Preussen, achieved by his + Grandfather Joachim II., which was now about coming to its full maturity. + Joachim Friedrich had already married his eldest Prince to the daughter of + Albert Friedrich, Second Duke of Preussen, who it was by this time evident + would be the last Duke there of his Line. Joachim Friedrich, having + himself fallen a widower, did next year, though now counting fifty-six—But + it will be better if we explain first, a little, how matters now stood + with Preussen. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XII. — OF ALBERT FRIEDRICH, THE SECOND DUKE OF PREUSSEN. + </h2> + <p> + Duke Albert died in 1568, laden with years, and in his latter time greatly + broken down by other troubles. His Prussian RATHS (Councillors) were + disobedient, his Osianders and Lutheran-Calvinist Theologians were all in + fire and flame against each other: the poor old man, with the best + dispositions, but without power to realize them, had much to do and to + suffer. Pious, just and honorable, intending the best; but losing his + memory, and incapable of business, as he now complained. In his sixtieth + year he had married a second time, a young Brunswick Princess, with whose + foolish Brother, Eric, he had much trouble; and who at last herself took + so ill with the insolence and violence of these intrusive Councillors and + Theologians, that the household-life she led beside her old Husband and + them became intolerable to her; and she withdrew to another residence,—a + little Hunting-seat at Neuhausen, half a dozen miles from Konigsberg;—and + there, or at Labiau still farther off, lived mostly, in a separate + condition, for the rest of her life. Separate for life:—nevertheless + they happened to die on the same day; 20th March, 1568, they were + simultaneously delivered from their troubles in this world. [Hubner, t. + 181; Stenzel, i. 342.] + </p> + <p> + Albert left one Son; the second child of this last Wife: his one child by + the former Wife, a daughter now of good years, was married to the Duke of + Mecklenburg. Son's name was Albert Friedrich; age, at his Father's death, + fifteen. A promising young Prince, but of sensitive abstruse temper;—held + under heavy tutelage by his Raths and Theologians; and spurting up against + them, in explosive rebellion, from time to time. He now (1568) was to be + sovereign Duke of Preussen, and the one representative of the Culmbach + Line in that fine Territory; Margraf George Friedrich of Anspach, the only + other Culmbacher, being childless, though wedded. + </p> + <p> + We need not doubt, the Brandenburg House—old Kurfurst Joachim II. + still alive, and thrifty Johann George the Heir-Apparent—kept a + watchful eye on those emergencies. But it was difficult to interfere + directly; the native Prussian Raths were very jealous, and Poland itself + was a ticklish Sovereignty to deal with. Albert Friedrich being still a + Minor, the Polish King, Sigismund, proposed to undertake the guardianship + of him, as became a superior lord to a subject vassal on such an occasion. + But the Prussian Raths assured his Majesty, "Their young Prince was of + such a lively intellect, he was perfectly fit to conduct the affairs of + the Government," especially with such a Body of expert Councillors to help + him, "and might be at once declared of age." Which was accordingly the + course followed; Poland caring little for it; Brandenburg digesting the + arrangement as it could. And thus it continued for some years, even under + new difficulties that arose; the official Clique of Raths being the real + Government of the Country; and poor young Albert Friedrich bursting out + occasionally into tears against them, occasionally into futile humors of a + fiery nature. Osiander-Theology, and the battle of the 'DOXIES, ran very + high; nor was Prussian Officiality a beautiful thing. + </p> + <p> + These Prussian Raths, and the Prussian RITTERSCHAFT generally (Knightage, + Land-Aristocracy), which had its STANDE (States: or meetings of Parliament + after a sort), were all along of a mutinous, contumacious humor. The idea + had got into their minds, That they were by birth what the ancient Ritters + by election had been; entitled, fit or not fit, to share the Government + promotions among them: "The Duke is hereditary in his office; why not we? + All Offices, are they not, by nature, ours to share among us?" The Duke's + notion, again, was to have the work of his Offices effectually done; small + matter by whom: the Ritters looked less to that side of the question;—regarded + any "Foreigner" (German-Anspacher, or other Non-Prussian), whatever his + merit, as an intruder, usurper, or kind of thief, when seen in office. + Their contentions, contumacies and pretensions were accordingly manifold. + They had dreams of an "Aristocratic Republic, with the Sovereign reduced + to zero," like what their Polish neighbors grew to. They had various + dreams; and individuals among them broke out, from time to time, into high + acts of insolence and mutiny. It took a hundred and fifty years of + Brandenburg horse-breaking, sometimes with sharp manipulation and a potent + curb-bit, to dispossess them of that notion, and make them go steadily in + harness. Which also, however, was at last got done by the Hohenzollerns. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OF DUKE ALBERT FRIEDRICH'S MARRIAGE: WHO HIS WIFE WAS, AND WHAT HER + POSSIBLE DOWRY. + </h2> + <p> + In a year or two, there came to be question of the marrying of young Duke + Albert Friedrich. After due consultation, the Princess fixed upon was + Maria Eleonora, eldest Daughter of the then Duke of Cleve: to him a proper + Embassy was sent with that object; and came back with Yes for answer. Duke + of Cleve, at that time, was Wilhelm, called "the Rich" in History-Books; a + Sovereign of some extent in those lower Rhine countries. Whom I can + connect with the English reader's memory in no readier way than by the + fact, That he was younger brother, one year younger, of a certain "Anne of + Cleves;"—a large fat Lady, who was rather scurvily used in this + country; being called, by Henry VIII. and us, a "great Flanders mare," + unsuitable for espousal with a King of delicate feelings! This Anne of + Cleves, who took matters quietly and lived on her pension, when rejected + by King Henry, was Aunt of the young Lady now in question for Preussen. + She was still alive here in England, pleasantly quiet, "at Burley on the + Hill," till Maria Eleonora was seven years old;—who possibly enough + still reads in her memory some fading vestige of new black frocks or + trimmings, and brief court-mourning, on the death of poor Aunt Anne over + seas.—Another Aunt is more honorably distinguished; Sibylla, Wife of + our noble Saxon Elector, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost his + Electorate and almost his Life for religion's sake, as we have seen; by + whom, in his perils and distresses, Sibylla stood always, like a very true + and noble Wife. + </p> + <p> + Duke Wilhelm himself was a man of considerable mark in his day. His Duchy + of Cleve included not only Cleve-Proper, but Julich (JULIERS), Berg, which + latter pair of Duchies were a better thing than Cleve-Proper:—Julich, + Berg and various other small Principalities, which, gradually + agglomerating by marriage, heritage and the chance of events in successive + centuries, had at length come all into Wilhelm's hands; so that he got the + name of Wilhelm the Rich among his contemporaries. He seems to have been + of a headlong, blustery, uncertain disposition; much tossed about in the + controversies of his day. At one time he was a Protestant declared; not + without reasons of various kinds. The Duchy of Geldern (what we call + GUELDERS) had fallen to him, by express bequest of the last Owner, whose + Line was out; and Wilhelm took possession. But the Kaiser Karl V. quite + refused to let him keep possession. Whereupon Wilhelm had joined with the + French (it was in the Moritz-Alcibiades time); had declared war, and taken + other high measures: but it came to nothing, or to less. The end was, + Wilhelm had to "come upon his knees" before the Kaiser, and beg + forgiveness; quite renouncing Geldern, which accordingly has gone its own + different road ever since. Wilhelm was zealously Protestant in those days; + as his people are, and as he still is, at the period we treat of. But he + went into Papistry, not long after; and made other sudden turns and + misventures: to all appearance, rather an abrupt, blustery, uncertain + Herr. It is to him that Albert Friedrich, the young Duke of Preussen, + guided by his Council, now (Year 1572) sends an Embassy, demanding his + eldest Daughter, Maria Eleonora, to wife. + </p> + <p> + Duke Wilhelm answered Yea; "sent a Counter-Embassy," with whatever else + was necessary; and in due time the young Bride, with her Father, set out + towards Preussen, such being the arrangement, there to complete the + matter. They had got as far as Berlin, warmly welcomed by the Kurfurst + Johann George; when, from Konigsberg, a sad message reached them: namely, + that the young Duke had suddenly been seized with an invincible depression + and overclouding of mind, not quite to be characterized by the name of + madness, but still less by that of perfect sanity. His eagerness to see + his Bride was the same as formerly; but his spiritual health was in the + questionable state described. The young Lady paused for a little, in such + mood as we may fancy. She had already lost two offers, Bridegrooms + snatched away by death, says Pauli; [Pauli, iv. 512.] and thought it might + be ominous to refuse the third. So she decided to go on; dashed aside her + father's doubts; sent her unhealthy Bridegroom "a flower-garland as + love-token," who duly responded; and Father Wilhelm and she proceeded, as + if nothing were wrong. The spiritual state of the Prince, she found, had + not been exaggerated to her. His humors and ways were strange, + questionable; other than one could have wished. Such as he was, however, + she wedded him on the appointed terms;—hoping probably for a + recovery, which never came. + </p> + <p> + The case of Albert's malady is to this day dim; and strange tales are + current as to the origin of it, which the curious in Physiology may + consult; they are not fit for reporting here. [Ib. iv. 476.] It seems to + have consisted in an overclouding, rather than a total ruin of the mind. + Incurable depression there was; gloomy torpor alternating with fits of + vehement activity or suffering; great discontinuity at all times:—evident + unfitness for business. It was long hoped he might recover. And Doctors in + Divinity and in Medicine undertook him: Theologians, Exorcists, + Physicians, Quacks; but no cure came of it, nothing but mutual + condemnations, violences and even execrations, from the said Doctors and + their respective Official patrons, lay and clerical. Must have been such a + scene for a young Wife as has seldom occurred, in romance or reality! + Children continued to be born; daughter after daughter; but no son that + lived. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MARGRAF GEORGE FRIEDRICH COMES TO PREUSSEN TO ADMINISTER. + </h2> + <p> + After five years' space, in 1578, [Pauli, iv. 476, 481, 482.] cure being + now hopeless, and the very Council admitting that the Duke was incapable + of business,—George Friedrich of Anspach-Baireuth came into the + country to take charge of him; having already, he and the other + Brandenburgers, negotiated the matter with the King of Poland, in whose + power it mostly lay. + </p> + <p> + George Friedrich was by no means welcome to the Prussian Council, nor to + the Wife, nor to the Landed Aristocracy;—other than welcome, for + reasons we can guess. But he proved, in the judgment of all fair + witnesses, an excellent Governor; and, for six-and-twenty years, + administered the country with great and lasting advantage to it. His + Portraits represent to us a large ponderous figure of a man, very fat in + his latter years; with an air of honest sense, dignity, composed solidity;—very + fit for the task now on hand. + </p> + <p> + He resolutely, though in mild form, smoothed down the flaming fires of his + Clergy; commanding now this controversy and then that other controversy <i>("de + concreto et de inconcreto,"</i> or whatever they were) to fall strictly + silent; to carry themselves on by thought and meditation merely, and + without words. He tamed the mutinous Aristocracy, the mutinous + Burgermeisters, Town-Council of Konigsberg, whatever mutiny there was. He + drained bogs, says old Rentsch; he felled woods, made roads, established + inns. Prussia was well governed till George's death; which happened in the + year 1603. [Rentsch, pp. 666-688.] Anspach, in the mean while, Anspach, + Baireuth and Jagerndorf, which were latterly all his, he had governed by + deputy; no need of visiting those quiet countries, except for purposes of + kindly recreation, or for a swift general supervision, now and then. By + all accounts, an excellent, steadfast, wise and just man, this fat George + Friedrich; worthy of the Father that produced him <i>("Nit Kop ab, lover + Forst, nit Kop ab!"),—-</i> and that is saying much. + </p> + <p> + By his death without children much territory fell home to the Elder House; + to be disposed of as was settled in the GERA BOND five years before. + Anspach and Baireuth went to two Brothers of the now Elector, Kurfurst + Joachim Friedrich, sons of Johann George of blessed memory: founders, + they, of the "New Line," of whom we know. Jagerndorf the Elector himself + got; and he, not long after, settled it on one of his own sons, a new + Johann George, who at that time was fallen rather landless and out of a + career: "Johann George of Jagerndorf," so called thenceforth: whose + history will concern us by and by. Preussen was to be incorporated with + the Electorate,—were possession of it once had. But that is a + ticklish point; still ticklish in spite of rights, and liable to perverse + accidents that may arise. + </p> + <p> + Joachim Friedrich, as we intimated once, was not wanting to himself on + this occasion. But the affair was full of intricacies; a very wasps'-nest + of angry humors; and required to be handled with delicacy, though with + force and decision. Joachim Friedrich's eldest Son, Johann Sigismund, + Electoral Prince of Brandenburg, had already, in 1594, married one of + Albert Friedrich the hypochondriac Duke of Preussen's daughters; and there + was a promising family of children; no lack of children. Nevertheless + prudent Joachim Friedrich himself, now a widower, age towards sixty, did + farther, in the present emergency, marry another of these Princesses, a + younger Sister of his Son's Wife,—seven months after George + Friedrich's death,—to make assurance doubly sure, A man not to be + balked, if he can help it. By virtue of excellent management,—Duchess, + Prussian STANDE (States), and Polish Crown, needing all to be contented,—Joachim + Friedrich, with gentle strong pressure, did furthermore squeeze his way + into the actual Guardianship of Preussen and the imbecile Duke, which was + his by right. This latter feat he achieved in the course of another year + (11th March, 1605); [Stenzel, i. 358.] and thereby fairly got hold of + Preussen; which he grasped, "knuckles-white," as we may say; and which his + descendants have never quitted since. + </p> + <p> + Good management was very necessary. The thing was difficult;—and + also was of more importance than we yet altogether see. Not Preussen only, + but a still better country, the Duchy of Cleve, Cleve-Julich, Duke + Wilhelm's Heritage down in the Rhineland,—Heritage turning out now + to be of right his eldest Daughter's here, and likely now to drop soon,—is + involved in the thing. This first crisis, of getting into the Prussian + Administratorship, fallen vacant, our vigilant Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich + has successfully managed; and he holds his grip, knuckles-white. Before + long, a second crisis comes; where also he will have to grasp decisively + in,—he, or those that stand for him, and whose knuckles can still + hold, But that may go to a new Chapter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIII. — NINTH KURFURST, JOHANN SIGISMUND. + </h2> + <p> + In the summer of 1608 (23d May, 1608) Johann Sigismund's (and his + Father's) Mother-in-law, the poor Wife of the poor imbecile Duke of + Preussen, died. [Maria Eleonora, Duke Wilhelm of Cleve's eldest Daughter: + 1550, 1573, 1608 (Hubner, t. 286).] Upon which Johann Sigismund, + Heir-Apparent of Brandenburg and its expectancies, was instantly + despatched from Berlin, to gather up the threads cut loose by that event, + and see that the matter took no damage. On the road thither news reached + him that his own Father, old Joachim Friedrich, was dead (18th July, + 1608); that he himself was now Kurfurst; [1572, 1608-1619.] and that + numerous threads were loose at both ends of his affairs. + </p> + <p> + The "young man"—not now so young, being full thirty-five and of fair + experience—was in difficulty, under these overwhelming tidings; and + puzzled, for a little, whether to advance or to return. He decided to + advance, and settle Prussian matters, where the peril and the risk were; + Brandenburg business he could do by rescripts. + </p> + <p> + His difficulties in Preussen, and at the Polish Court, were in fact + immense. But after a space of eight or nine months, he did, by excellent + management, not sparing money judiciously laid out on individuals, arrive + at some adjustment, better or worse, and got Preussen in hand; [29th + April, 1609. Stenzel, i. 370.] legal Administrator of the imbecile Duke, + as his Father had been. After which he had to run for Brandenburg, without + loss of time: great matters being there in the wind. Nothing wrong in + Brandenburg, indeed; but the great Cleve Heritage is dropping, has + dropped; over in Cleve, an immense expectancy is now come to the point of + deciding itself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOW THE CLEVE HERITAGE DROPPED, AND MANY SPRANG TO PICK IT UP. + </h2> + <p> + Wilhelm of Cleve, the explosive Duke, whom we saw at Berlin and Konigsberg + at the wedding of this poor Lady now deceased, had in the + marriage-contract, as he did in all subsequent contracts and deeds of like + nature, announced a Settlement of his Estates, which was now become of the + highest moment for Johann Sigismund. The Country at that time called Duchy + of Cleve, consisted, as we said above, not only of Cleve-Proper, but of + two other still better Duchies, Julich and Berg; then of the GRAFSCHAFT + (County) of Ravensburg, County of Mark, Lordship of—-In fact it was + a multifarious agglomerate of many little countries, gathered by marriage, + heritage and luck, in the course of centuries, and now united in the hand + of this Duke Wilhelm. It amounted perhaps to two Yorkshires in extent. + [See Busching, <i>Erdbeschreibung,</i> v. 642-734.] A naturally opulent + Country, of fertile meadows, shipping capabilities, metalliferous hills; + and, at this time, in consequence of the Dutch-Spanish War, and the + multitude of Protestant refugees, it was getting filled with ingenious + industries; and rising to be, what it still is, the busiest quarter of + Germany. A Country lowing with kine; the hum of the flax-spindle heard in + its cottages, in those old days,—"much of the linen called Hollands + is made in Julich, and only bleached, stamped and sold, by the Dutch," + says Busching. A Country, in our days, which is shrouded at short + intervals with the due canopy of coal-smoke, and loud with sounds of the + anvil and the loom. + </p> + <p> + This Duchy of Cleve, all this fine agglomerate of Duchies, Duke Wilhelm + settled, were to be inherited in a piece, by his eldest (or indeed, as it + soon proved, his only) Son and the heirs of that Son, if there were any. + Failing heirs of that only Son, then the entire Duchy of Cleve was to go + to Maria Eleonora as eldest Daughter, now marrying to Friedrich Albert, + Duke of Prussia, and to their heirs lawfully begotten: heirs female, if + there happened to be no male. The other Sisters, of whom there were three, + were none of them to have the least pretence to inherit Cleve or any part + of it. On the contrary, they were, in such event, of the eldest Daughter + or her heirs coming to inherit Cleve, to have each of them a sum of ready + money paid ["200,000 GOLDGULDEN," about 100,000 pounds; Pauli, vi. 542; + iii. 504.] by the said inheritrix of Cleve or her heirs; and on receiving + that, were to consider their claims entirely fulfilled, and to cease + thinking of Cleve for the future. + </p> + <p> + This Settlement, by express privilege of Kaiser Karl V., nay of Kaiser + Maximilian before him, and the Laws of the Reich, Duke Wilhelm doubted not + he was entitled to make; and this Settlement he made; his Lawyers writing + down the terms, in their wearisome way, perhaps six times over; and + struggling by all methods to guard against the least misunderstanding. + Cleve with all its appurtenances, Julich, Berg and the rest, goes to the + eldest Sister and her heirs, male or female: If she have no heirs, male or + female, then, but not till then, the next Sister steps into her shoes in + that matter: but if she have, then, we repeat for the sixth and last time, + no Sister or Sister's Representative has the least word to say to it, but + takes her 100,000 pounds, and ceases thinking of Cleve. + </p> + <p> + The other three Sisters were all gradually married;—one of them to + Pfalz-Neuburg, an eminent Prince, in the Bavarian region called the + OBER-PFALZ (Upper Palatinate), who, or at least whose eldest Son, is much + worth mentioning and remembering by us here;—and, in all these + marriage-contracts, Wilhelm and his Lawyers expressed themselves to the + like effect, and in the like elaborate sixfold manner: so that Wilhelm and + they thought there could nowhere in the world be any doubt about it. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after signing the last of these marriage-contracts, or perhaps it + was in the course of signing them, Duke Wilhelm had a stroke of palsy. He + had, before that, gone into Papistry again, poor man. The truth is, he had + repeated strokes; and being an abrupt, explosive Herr, he at last quite + yielded to palsy; and sank slowly out of the world, in a cloud of + semi-insanity, which lasted almost twenty years. [Died 25th January, 1592, + age 76.] Duke Wilhelm did leave a Son, Johann Wilhelm, who succeeded him + as Duke. But this Son also proved explosive; went half and at length + wholly insane. Jesuit Priests, and their intrigues to bring back a + Protestant country to the bosom of the Church, wrapped the poor man, all + his days, as in a burning Nessus'-Shirt; and he did little but mischief in + the world. He married, had no children; he accused his innocent Wife, the + Jesuits and he, of infidelity. Got her judged, not properly sentenced; and + then strangled her, he and they, in her bed:—"Jacobea of Baden + (1597);" a thrice-tragic history. Then he married again; Jesuits being + extremely anxious for an Orthodox heir: but again there came no heir; + there came only new blazings of the Nessus'-Shirt. In fine, the poor man + died (Spring, 1609), and made the world rid of him. Died 25th March, 1609; + that is the precise date;—about a month before our new Elector, + Johann Sigismund, got his affairs winded up at the Polish Court, and came + galloping home in such haste. There was pressing need of him in the Cleve + regions. + </p> + <p> + For the painful exactitude of Duke Wilhelm and his Lawyers has profited + little; and there are claimants on claimants rising for that valuable + Cleve Country. As indeed Johann Sigismund had anticipated, and been warned + from all quarters, to expect. For months past, he has had his faculties + bent, with lynx-eyed attention, on that scene of things; doubly and trebly + impatient to get Preussen soldered up, ever since this other matter came + to the bursting-point. What could be done by the utmost vigilance of his + Deputies, he had done. It was the 25th of March when the mad Duke died: on + the 4th of April, Johann Sigismund's Deputy, attended by a Notary to + record the act, "fixed up the Brandenburg Arms on the Government-House of + Cleve;" [Pauli, vi. 566.] on the 5th, they did the same at Dusseldorf; on + the following days, at Julich and the other Towns. But already on the 5th, + they had hardly got done at Dusseldorf, when there appeared—young + Wolfgang Wilhelm, Heir-Apparent of that eminent Pfalz-Neuburg, he in + person, to put up the Pfalz-Neuburg Arms! Pfalz-Neuburg, who married the + Second Daughter, he is actually claiming, then;—the whole, or part? + Both are sensible that possession is nine points in law. + </p> + <p> + Pfalz-Neuburg's claim was for the whole Duchy. "All my serene Mother's!" + cried the young Heir of Pfalz-Neuburg: "Properly all mine!" cried he. "Is + not she NEAREST of kin? Second Daughter, true; but the Daughter; not + Daughter OF a Daughter, as you are (as your Serene Electress is), O + DURCHLAUCHT of Brandenburg:—consider, besides, you are female, I am + male!" That was Pfalz-Neuburg's logic: none of the best, I think, in + forensic genealogy. His tenth point was perhaps rather weak; but he had + possession, co-possession, and the nine points good. The other Two + Sisters, by their Sons or Husbands, claimed likewise; but not the whole: + "Divide it," said they: "that surely is the real meaning of Karl V.'s Deed + of Privilege to make such a Testament. Divide it among the Four Daughters + or their representatives, and let us all have shares!" + </p> + <p> + Nor were these four claimants by any means all. The Saxon Princes next + claimed; two sets of Saxon Princes. First the minor set, Gotha-Weimar and + the rest, the Ernestine Line so called; representatives of Johann + Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost the Electorate for religion's sake at + Muhlberg in the past century, and from MAJOR became MINOR in Saxon + Genealogy. "Magnanimous Johann Friedrich," said they, "had to wife an Aunt + of the now deceased Duke of Cleve; Wife Sibylla (sister of the Flanders + Mare), of famous memory, our lineal Ancestress. In favor of whom HER + Father, the then reigning Duke of Cleve, made a marriage-contract of + precisely similar import to this your Prussian one: he, and barred all his + descendants, if contracts are to be valid." This is the claim of the + Ernestine Line of Saxon Princes; not like to go for much, in their present + disintegrated condition. + </p> + <p> + But the Albertine Line, the present Elector of Saxony, also claims: "Here + is a Deed," said he, "executed by Kaiser Friedrich III. in the year 1483, + [Pauli, ubi supra; Hubner, t. 286.] generations before your Kaiser Karl; + Deed solemnly granting to Albert, junior of Sachsen, and to his heirs, the + reversion of those same Duchies, should the Male Line happen to fail, as + it was then likely to do. How could Kaiser Max revoke his Father's deed, + or Kaiser Karl his Great-grandfather's? Little Albert, the Albert of the + PRINZENRAUB, he who grew big, and fought lion-like for his Kaiser in the + Netherlands and Western Countries; he and his have clearly the heirship of + Cleve by right; and we, now grown Electors, and Seniors of Saxony, demand + it of a grateful House of Hapsburg,—and will study to make ourselves + convenient in return."— + </p> + <p> + "Nay, if that is your rule, that old Laws and Deeds are to come in bar of + new, we," cry a multitude of persons,—French Dukes of Nevers, and + all manner of remote, exotic figures among them,—"we are the real + heirs! Ravensburg, Mark, Berg, Ravenstein, this patch and the other of + that large Duchy of yours, were they not from primeval time expressly + limited to heirs-male? Heirs-male; and we now are the nearest heirs-male + of said patches and portions; and will prove it!"—In short, there + never was such a Lawsuit,—so fat an affair for the attorney species, + if that had been the way of managing it,—as this of Cleve was likely + to prove. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE KAISER'S THOUGHTS ABOUT IT, AND THE WORLD'S. + </h2> + <p> + What greatly complicated the affair, too, was the interest the Kaiser took + in it. The Kaiser could not well brook a powerful Protestant in that + country; still less could his Cousin the Spaniard. Spaniards, worn to the + ground, coercing that world-famous Dutch Revolt, and astonished to find + that they could not coerce it at all, had resolved at this time to take + breath before trying farther. Spaniards and Dutch, after Fifty years of + such fighting as we know, have made a Twelve-years' Truce (1609): but the + battled Spaniard, panting, pale in his futile rage and sweat, has not + given up the matter; he is only taking breath, and will try it again. Now + Cleve is his road into Holland, in such adventure; no success possible if + Cleve be not in good hands. Brandenburg is Protestant, powerful; + Brandenburg will not do for a neighbor there. + </p> + <p> + Nor will Pfalz-Neuburg. A Protestant of Protestants, this Palatine Neuburg + too,—junior branch, possible heir in time coming, of KUR-PFALZ + (Elector Palatine) himself, in the Rhine Countries; of Kur-Pfalz, who is + acknowledged Chief Protestant: official "President" of the "Evangelical + Union" they have lately made among them in these menacing times;—Pfalz-Neuburg + too, this young Wolfgang Wilhelm, if he do not break off kind, might be + very awkward to the Kaiser in Cleve-Julich. Nay Saxony itself; for they + are all Protestants:—unless perhaps Saxony might become pliant, and + try to make itself useful to a munificent Imperial House? + </p> + <p> + Evidently what would best suit the Kaiser and Spaniards, were this, That + no strong Power whatever got footing in Cleve, to grow stronger by the + possession of such a country:—BETTER than best it would suit, if he, + the Kaiser, could himself get it smuggled into his hands, and there hold + it fast! Which privately was the course resolved upon at headquarters.—In + this way the "Succession Controversy of the Cleve Duchies" is coming to be + a very high matter; mixing itself, up with the grand Protestant-Papal + Controversy, the general armed-lawsuit of mankind in that generation. + Kaiser, Spaniard, Dutch, English, French Henri IV. and all mortals, are + getting concerned in the decision of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIV. — SYMPTOMS OF A GREAT WAR COMING. + </h2> + <p> + Meanwhile Brandenburg and Neuburg both hold grip of Cleve in that manner, + with a mutually menacing inquiring expression of countenance; each grasps + it (so to speak) convulsively with the one hand, and has with the other + hand his sword by the hilt, ready to fly out. But to understand this + Brandenburg-Neuburg phenomenon and the then significance of the + Cleve-Julich Controversy, we must take the following bits of Chronology + along with us. For the German Empire, with Protestant complaints, and + Papist usurpations and severities, was at this time all a continent of + sour thick smoke, already breaking out into dull-red flashes here and + there,—symptoms of the universal conflagration of a Thirty-Years + War, which followed. SYMPTON FIRST is that of Donauworth, and dates above + a year back. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIRST SYMPTOM; DONAUWORTH, 1608. + </h2> + <p> + Donauworth, a Protestant Imperial Free-town, in the Bavarian regions, had + been, for some fault on the part of the populace against a flaring + Mass-procession which had no business to be there, put under Ban of the + Empire; had been seized accordingly (December, 1607), and much cuffed, and + shaken about, by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, as executor of the said Ban; + [Michaeelis, ii. 216; Buddaei LEXICON, i. 853.]—who, what was still + worse, would by no means give up the Town when he had done with it; Town + being handy to him, and the man being stout and violently Papist. Hence + the "Evangelical Union" which we saw,—which has not taken Donauworth + yet. Nor ever will! Donauworth never was retaken; but is Bavarian at this + hour, A Town namable in History ever since. Not to say withal, that it is + where Marlborough, did "the Lines of Schellenberg" long after: + Schellenberg ("Jingle-Hill," so to render it) looks down across the Danube + or Donau River, upon Donauworth,—its "Lines," and other histories, + now much abolished, and quiet under grass. + </p> + <p> + But now all Protestantism sounding everywhere, in angry mournful tone, + "Donauwarth! Give up Donauworth!"—and an "Evangelical Union," with + moneys, with theoretic contingents of force, being on foot for that and + the like objects;—we can fancy what a scramble this of Cleve-Julich + was like to be; and especially what effect this duelling attitude of + Brandenburg and Neuburg had on the Protestant mind. Protestant neighbors, + Landgraf Moritz of Hessen-Cassel at their head, intervene in tremulous + haste, in the Cleve-Julich affair: "Peace, O friends! Some bargain; + peaceable joint-possession; any temporary bargain, till we see! Can two + Protestants fall to slashing one another, in such an aspect of the Reich + and its Jesuitries?"—And they did agree (Dortmund, 10th May, 1609) + the first of their innumerable "agreements," to some temporary + joint-possession;—the thrice-thankful Country doing homage to both, + "with oath to the one that SHALL be found genuine." And they did endeavor + to govern jointly, and to keep the peace on those terms, though it was not + easy. + </p> + <p> + For the Kaiser had already said (or his Aulic Council and Spanish Cousin, + poor Kaiser Rodolf caring too little about these things, [Rodolf II. + (Kepler's too insolvent "Patron"), 1576-1612; then Matthias, Rodolf's + Brother, 1612-1619, rather tolerant to Protestants;—then Ferdinand + II. his Uncle's Son, 1619-1637, much the reverse of tolerant, by whom + mainly came the Thirty-Years War,—were the Kaisers of this Period. + Ferdinand III., Son of II: (1637-1657), who finished out the Thirty-Years + War, partly by fighting of his own in young days (Battle of Nordlingen his + grandest feat), was Father of Kaiser Leopold (1658- 1705),—whose Two + Sons were Kaiser Joseph (1705-1711) and Kaiser Karl VI. (1711-1740), Maria + Theresa's Father.] had already said), Cleve must absolutely not go into + wrong hands. For which what safe method is there, but that the Kaiser + himself become proprietor? A Letter is yet extant, from the Aulic Council + to their Vice-Chancellor, who had been sent to negotiate this matter with + the parties; Letter to the effect, That such result was the only good one; + that it must be achieved; "that he must devise all manner of quirks <i>(alle + Spitzfindigkeiten auffordern sollte),"</i> and achieve it. [Pauli, iii. + 5055.] This curious Letter of a sublime Aulic Council, or Imperial + HOF-RATH, to its VICE-KANZLER, still exists. + </p> + <p> + And accordingly quirks did not prove undevisable on behalf of the Kaiser. + "Since you cannot agree," said the Kaiser, "and there are so many of you + who claim (we having privately stirred up several of you to the feat), + there will be nothing for it, but the Kaiser must put the Country under + sequestration, and take possession of it with his own troops, till a + decision be arrived at,—which probably will not be soon!" + </p> + <p> + SECOND SYMPTOM; SEIZURE OF JULICH BY THE KAISER, AND SIEGE AND RECAPTURE + OF IT BY THE PROTESTANT PARTIES, 1610. WHEREUPON WHEREUPON "CATHOLIC + LEAGUE," TO BALANCEE "EVANGELICAL UNION." + </p> + <p> + And the Kaiser forthwith did as he had said; sent Archduke Leopold with + troops, who forcibly took the Castle of Julich; commanding all other + castles and places to surrender and sequestrate themselves, in like + fashion; threatening Brandenburg and Neuburg, in a dreadful manner, with + REICHS-ACHT (Ban of the Empire), if they presumed to show contumacy. Upon + which Brandenburg and Neuburg, ranking themselves together, showed decided + contumacy; "tore down the Kaiser's Proclamation," [Ib. iii. 524. Emperor's + Proclamation, in Dusseldorf, 23d July, 1609,—taken down solemnly, + 1st August, 1609,] having good help at their back. + </p> + <p> + And accordingly, "on the 4th of September, 1610," after a two-months' + siege, they, or the Dutch, French, and Evangelical Union Troops bombarding + along with them, and "many English volunteers" to help, retook Julich, and + packed Leopold away again. [Ib. iii. 527.] The Dutch and the French were + especially anxious about this Cleve business,—poor Henri IV. was + just putting those French troops in motion towards Julich, when Ravaillac, + the distracted Devil's-Jesuit, did his stroke upon him; so that another + than Henri had to lead in that expedition. The actual Captain at the Siege + was Prince Christian of Anhalt, by repute the first soldier of Germany at + that period: he had a horse shot under him, the business being very hot + and furious;—he had still worse fortune in the course of years. + There were "many English volunteers" at this Siege; English nation hugely + interested in it, though their King would not act except diplomatically. + It was the talk of all the then world,—the evening song and the + morning prayer of Protestants especially,—till it was got ended in + this manner. It deserves to rank as SYMPTON SECOND in this business; far + bigger flare of dull red in the universal smoke-continent, than that of + Donauworth had been. Are there no memorials left of those "English + volunteers," then? [In Carlyle's <i> Miscellanies</i> (vi.? "Two Hundred + and Fifty Years ago: a Fragment about Duels") is one small scene belonging + to them.] Alas, they might get edited as Bromley's <i>Royal Letters</i> + are;—and had better lie quiet! + </p> + <p> + "Evangelical Union," formed some two years before, with what cause we saw, + has Kur-Pfalz [Winter-King's Father; died 9th September, 1610, few days + after this recapture of Julich.] at the head of it: but its troops or + operations were never of a very forcible character. Kur-Brandenburg now + joined it formally, as did many more; Kur-Sachsen, anxious to make himself + convenient in other quarters, never would. Add to these phenomena, the now + decisive appearance of a "Catholic LIGA" (League of Catholic Princes), + which, by way of counterpoise to the "Union," had been got up by Duke + Maximilian of Bavaria several months ago; and which now, under the same + guidance, in these bad circumstances, took a great expansion of figure. + Duke Maximilian, "DONAUWORTH Max," finding the Evangelical Union go so + very high, and his own Kaiser like to be good for little in such business + (poor hypochondriac Kaiser Rodolf II., more taken up with turning-looms + and blow-pipes than with matters political, who accordingly is swept out + of Julich in such summary way),—Donauworth Max has seen this a + necessary institution in the present aspect.—Both "Union" and + "League" rapidly waxed under the sound of the Julich cannon, as was + natural. + </p> + <p> + Kur-Sachsen, for standing so well aloof from the Union, got from the + thankful Kaiser written Titles for these Duchies of Cleve and Julich; + Imperial parchments and infestments of due extent; but never any Territory + in those parts. He never offered fight for his pretensions; and + Brandenburg and Neuburg—Neuburg especially—always answered + him, "No!" with sword half-drawn. So Kur-Sachsen faded out again, and took + only parchments by the adventure. Practically there was no private + Competitor of moment to Brandenburg, except this Wolfgang Wilhelm of + Pfalz-Neuburg; he alone having clutched hold.—But we hasten to + SYMPTOM THIRD, which particularly concerns us, and will be intelligible + now at last. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SYMPTOM THIRD: A DINNER-SCENE AT DUSSELDORF, 1613: SPANIARDS AND DUTCH + SHOULDER ARMS IN CLEVE. + </h2> + <p> + Brandenburg and Neuburg stood together against third parties; but their + joint-government was apt to fall in two, when left to itself, and the + pressure of danger withdrawn. "They governed by the RATHS and STANDE of + the Country;" old methods and old official men: each of the two had his + own Vice-Regent (STATTHALTER) present on the ground, who jointly presided + as they could. Jarrings were unavoidable; but how mend it? Settle the + litigated Territory itself, and end their big lawsuit, they could not; + often as they tried it, with the whole world encouraging and urging them. + [Old Sir Henry Wotton, Provost of Eton in his old days, remembers how he + went Ambassador on this errand,—as on many others equally bootless;—and + writes himself "Legatus," not only "thrice to Venice, twice to" &c. + &c., but also "once to Holland in the Juliers matter <i>(semel in + Juliacensi negotio):"</i> see <i>Reliquiae Wottonianae</i> (London, 1672), + Preface. It was "in 1614," say the Biographies vaguely. His Despatches, + are they in the Paper-Office still? His good old Book deserves new + editing, his good old genially pious life a proper elucidation, by some + faithful man.] The meetings they had, and the treaties and temporary + bargains they made, and kept, and could not keep, in these and in the + following years and generations, pass our power of recording. + </p> + <p> + In 1613 the Brandenburg STATTHALTER was Ernst, the Elector's younger + Brother, Wolfgang Wilhelm in person, for his Father, or rather for himself + as heir of his Mother, represented Pfalz-Neuburg. Ernst of Brandenburg had + adopted Calvinism as his creed; a thing hateful and horrible to the + Lutheran mind (of which sort was Wolfgang Wilhelm), to a degree now + altogether inconceivable. Discord arose in consequence between the + STATTHALTERS, as to official appointments, sacred and secular: "You are + for promoting Calvinists!"—"And you, I see, are for promoting + Lutherans!"—Johann Sigismund himself had to intervene: Wolfgang + Wilhelm and he had their meetings, friendly colloquies:—the final + celloquy of which is still memorable; and issues in SYMPTOM THIRD. + </p> + <p> + We said, a strong flame of choler burnt in all these Hohenzollerns, though + they held it well down. Johann Sigismund, an excellent man of business, + knew how essential a mild tone is: nevertheless he found, as this colloquy + went on, that human patience might at length get too much. The scene, + after some examination, is conceivable in this wise: Place Dusseldorf, + Elector's apartment in the Schloss there; time late in the Year 1613, Day + not discoverable by me. The two sat at dinner, after much colloquy all + morning: Johann Sigismund, a middle-aged, big-headed, stern-faced, + honest-looking man; hair cropped, I observe; and eyelids slightly + contracted, as if for sharper vision into matters: Wolfgang Wilhelm, of + features fallen dim to me; an airy gentleman, well out of his teens, but, + I doubt, not of wisdom sufficient; evidently very high and stiff in his + ways. + </p> + <p> + His proposal, by way of final settlement, and end to all these brabbles, + was this, and he insisted on it: "Give me your eldest Princess to wife; + let her dowry be your whole claim on Cleve-Julich; I will marry her on + that condition, and we shall be friends!" Here evidently is a gentleman + that does not want for conceit in himself:—consider too, in Johann + Sigismund's opinion, he had no right to a square inch of these + Territories, though for peace' sake a joint share had been allowed him for + the time! "On that condition, jackanapes?" thought Johann Sigismund: "My + girl is not a monster; nor at a loss for husbands fully better than you, I + should hope!" This he thought, and could not help thinking; but endeavored + to say nothing of it. The young jackanapes went on, insisting. Nature at + last prevailed; Johann Sigismund lifted his hand (princely etiquettes + melting all into smoke on the sudden), and gave the young jackanapes a + slap over the face. Veritable slap; which opened in a dreadful manner the + eyes of young Pfalz-Neuburg to his real situation; and sent him off + high-flaming, vowing never-imagined vengeance. A remarkable slap; well + testified to,—though the old Histories, struck blank with terror, + reverence and astonishment, can for most part only symbol it in dumb-show; + [Pufendorf <i>(Rer. Brandenb.</i> lib. iv.? 16, p. 213), and many others, + are in this case. Tobias Pfanner <i>(Historia Pacis Westphalicae,</i> lib. + i.? 9, p. 26) is explicit: <i>"Neque, ut infida regnandi societas est, + Brandenburgio et Neoburgio diu conveniebat; eorumque jurgia, cum + matrimonii faedere pacari posse propinqui ipsorum credidissent, acrius + ezarsere; inter epulas, quibus futurum generum Septemvir</i> (the + "Sevensman," or Elector, "One of The Seven") <i>excipiebat, hujus enim + filia Wolfgango sperabatur, ob nescio quos sermones eo inter utrumque + altercalione provecta, ut Elector irae impotestior, nulla dignitatis, + hospitii, cognationis, affinitatisve verecundia cohibitus, intenderit + Neoburgio manus, et contra tendentis os verberaverit. Ita, quae apud + concordes vincula caritatis, incitamenta irarum apud infensos erant."</i> + (Cited in Kohler, <i>Munzbelustiqungen,</i> xxi. 341; who refers also to + Levassor, <i>Histoire de Louis XII.)</i>—Pauli (iii. 542) bedomes + qnite vaporous.] a slap that had important consequences in this world. + </p> + <p> + For now Wolfgang Wilhelm, flaming off in never-imagined vengeance, posted + straight to Munchen, to Max of Bavaria there; declared himself convinced, + or nearly so, of the Roman-Catholic Religion; wooed, and in a few weeks + (10th November, 1613) wedded Max's younger Sister; and soon after, at + Dusseldorf, pompously professed such his blessed change of Belief,—with + immense flourish of trumpeting, and jubilant pamphleteering, from Holy + Church. [Kohler, ubi supra.] His poor old Father, the devoutest of + Protestants, wailed aloud his "Ichabod! the glory is departed!"—holding + "weekly fast and humiliation" ever after,—and died in few months of + a broken heart. The Catholic League has now a new Member on those terms. + </p> + <p> + And on the other hand, Johann Sigismund, nearly with the like haste (25th + December, 1613), declared himself convinced of Calvinism, his younger + Brother's creed; [Pauli, iii. 546.]—which continues ever since the + Brandenburg Court-creed, that of the People being mostly Lutheran. Men + said, it was to please the Dutch, to please the Julichers, most of whom + are Calvinist. Apologetic Pauli is elaborate, but inconclusive. It was + very ill taken at Berlin, where even popular riot arose on the matter. In + Prussia too it had its drawbacks. [Ib. iii. 544; Michaelis, i. 349.] + </p> + <p> + And now, all being full of mutation, rearrangement and infinite rumor, + there marched next year (1614), on slight pretext, resting on great + suspicions, Spanish troops into the Julich-Cleve country, and, + countenanced by Neuburg, began seizing garrisons there. Whereupon Dutch + troops likewise marched, countenanced by Brandenburg, and occupied other + fortresses and garrisons: and so, in every strong-place, these were either + Papist-Spaniards or Calvinist-Dutch; who stood there, fronting one + another, and could not by treatying be got out again;—like clouds + positively electric VERSUS clouds negatively. As indeed was getting to be + the case of Germany in general; case fatally visible in every Province, + Principality and Parish there: till a thunder-storm, and succession of + thunder-storms, of Thirty Years' continuance, broke out. Of which these + huge rumors and mutations, and menacings of war, springing out of that + final colloquy and slap in the face, are to be taken as the THIRD + premonitory Symptom. Spaniards and Dutch stand electrically fronting one + another in Cleve for seven years, till their Truce is out, before they + clash together; Germany does not wait so long by a couple of years. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SYMPTOM FOURTH, AND CATASTROPHE UPON THE HEELS OF IT. + </h2> + <p> + Five years more (1618), and there will have come a FOURTH Symptom, biggest + of all, rapidly consummating the process;—Symptom still famed, of + the following external figure: Three Official Gentlemen descending from a + window in the Castle of Prag: hurled out by impatient Bohemian + Protestantism, a depth of seventy feet,—happily only into dung, and + without loss of life. From which follows a "King of Bohemia" elected + there, King not unknown to us;—"thunder-clouds" all in one huge + clash, and the "continent of sour smoke" blazing all into a continent of + thunderous fire: THIRTY-YEARS WAR, as they now call it! Such a + conflagration as poor Germany never saw before or since. + </p> + <p> + These were the FOUR preliminary SYMPTOMS of that dismal business. "As to + the primary CAUSES of it," says one of my Authorities, "these lie deep, + deep almost as those of Original Sin. But the proximate causes seem to me + to have been these two: FIRST, That the Jesuit-Priests and Principalities + had vowed and resolved to have, by God's help and by the Devil's (this was + the peculiarity of it), Europe made Orthodox again: and then SECONDLY, The + fact that a Max of Bavaria existed at that time, whose fiery character, + cunning but rash head, and fanatically Papist heart disposed him to + attempt that enterprise, him with such resources and capacities, under + their bad guidance." + </p> + <p> + Johann Sigismund did many swift decisive strokes of business in his time, + businesses of extensive and important nature; but this of the slap to + Neuburg has stuck best in the idle memory of mankind. Dusseldorf, Year + 1613: it was precisely in the time when that same Friedrioh, not yet by + any means "King of Bohemia," but already Kur-Pfalz (Cousin of this + Neuburg, and head man of the Protestants), was over here in England, on a + fine errand;—namely, had married the fair Elizabeth (14th February, + 1613), James the First's Princess; "Goody Palsgrave," as her Mother + floutingly called her, not liking the connection. What kind of a "King of + Bohemia" this Friedrich made, five or six years after, and what sea of + troubles he and his entered into, we know; the "WINTER-KONIG" + (Winter-King, fallen in times of FROST, or built of mere frost, a + SNOW-king altogether soluble again) is the name he gets in German + Histories. But here is another hook to hang Chronology upon. + </p> + <p> + This brief Bohemian Kingship had not yet exploded on the Weissenberg of + Prag, [Battle there, Sunday 8th November, 1620.] when old Sir Henry Wotton + being sent as Ambassador "to LIE abroad" (as he wittily called it, to his + cost) in that Business, saw, in the City of Lintz in the picturesque green + country by the shores of the Donau there, an ingenious person, who is now + recognizable as one of the remarkablest of mankind, Mr. John Kepler, + namely: Keplar as Wotton writes him; addressing the great Lord Bacon + (unhappily without strict date of any kind) on that among other subjects. + Mr. John's now ever-memorable watching of those <i> Motions of the Star + Mars,</i> [<i>De Motibus Stellae Martis;</i> Prag, 1609.] with + "calculations repeated seventy times," and also with Discovery of the + Planetary Laws of this Universe, some, ten years ago, appears to be + unknown to Wotton and Bacon; but there is something else of Mr. John's + devising [It seems, Baptista Porta (of Naples, dead some years before) + must have given him the essential hint,—of whom, or whose hint, Mr. + John does not happen to inform his Excellency at present.] which deserves + attention from an Instaurator of Philosophy:— + </p> + <p> + "He hath a little black Tent (of what stuff is not much importing)," says + the Ambassador, "which he can suddenly set up where he will in a Field; + and it is convertible (like a windmill) to all quarters at pleasure; + capable of not much more than one man, as I conceive, and perhaps at no + great ease; exactly close and dark,—save at one hole, about an inch + and a half in the diameter, to which he applies a long perspective Trunk, + with the convex glass fitted to the said hole, and the concave taken out + at the other end, which extendeth to about the middle of this erected + Tent: through which the visible radiations of all the Objects without are + intromitted, falling upon a Paper, which is accommodated to receive them; + and so he traceth them with his pen in their natural appearance; turning + his little Tent round by degrees, till he hath designed the whole Aspect + of the Field." [<i>Reliqui Wottonianae,</i> (london 1672), p. 300.]—In + fact he hath a CAMERA OBSCURA, and is exhibiting the same for the + delectation of Imperial gentlemen lounging that way. Mr. John invents such + toys, writes almanacs, practises medicine, for good reasons; his + encouragement from the Holy Roman Empire and mankind being only a pension + of 18 pounds a year, and that hardly ever paid. An ingenious person, + truly, if there ever was one among Adam's Posterity. Just turned of fifty + and ill off for cash. This glimpse of him, in his little black tent with + perspective glasses, while the Thirty-Years War blazes out, is welcome as + a date. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WHAT BECAME OF THE CLEVE-JULICH HERITAGE, AND OF THE PREUSSEN ONE. + </h2> + <p> + In the Cleve Duchies joint government had now become more difficult than + ever: but it had to be persisted in,—under mutual offences, + suspicions and outbreaks hardly repressed;—no final Bargain of + Settlement proving by any method possible. Treaties enough, and + conferences and pleadings, manifestoings:—Could not some painful + German collector of Statistics try to give us the approximate quantity of + impracticable treaties, futile conferences, manifestoes correspondences; + in brief, some authentical cipher (say in round millions) of idle Words + spoken by official human creatures and approximately (in square miles) the + extent of Law Stationery and other Paper written, first and last, about + this Controversy of the Cleve Duchies? In that form it might have a + momentary interest. + </p> + <p> + When the Winter-King's explosion took place, [Crowned at Prag, 4th + November N.S. 1619; beaten to ruin there, and obliged to gallop (almost + before dinner done), Sunday, 8th November, 1620.] and his own unfortunate + Pfalz (Palatinate) became the theatre of war (Tilly, Spinola, VERSUS + Pfalzers, English, Dutch), involving all the neighboring regions, + Cleve-Julich did not escape its fate. The Spaniards and the Dutch, who had + long sat in gloomy armed-truce, occupying with obstinate precaution the + main Fortresses of these Julich-Cleve countries, did now straightway, + their Twelve-Years' truce being out (1621), [Pauli, vi. 578-580.] fall to + fighting and besieging one another there; the huge War, which proved of + Thirty Years, being now all ablaze. What the country suffered in the + interim may be imagined. + </p> + <p> + In 1624, in pity to all parties, some attempt at practical Division of the + Territory was again made: Neuburg to have Berg and Julich, Brandenburg to + have Cleve, Mark, Ravensburg and the minor appurtenances: and Treaty to + that effect was got signed (11th May, 1624). But it was not well kept, nor + could be; and the statistic cipher of new treaties, manifestoes, + conferences, and approximate written area of Law-Paper goes on increasing. + </p> + <p> + It was not till forty-two years after, in 1666, as will be more minutely + noticeable by and by, that an effective partition could be practically + brought about. Nor in this state was the Lawsuit by any means ended,—as + we shall wearisomely see, in times long following that. In fact there + never was, in the German Chanceries or out of them, such a Lawsuit, Armed + or Wigged, as this of the Cleve Duchies first and last. And the sentence + was not practically given, till the Congress of Vienna (1815) in our own + day gave it; and the thing Johann Sigismund had claimed legally in 1609 + was actually handed over to Johann Sigismund's Descendant in the seventh + generation, after two hundred and six years. Handed over to him then,—and + a liberal rate of interest allowed. These litigated Duchies are now the + Prussian Province Julich-Berg-Cleve, and the nucleus of Prussia's + possessions in the Rhine country. + </p> + <p> + A year before Johann Sigismund's death, Albert Friedrich, the poor + eclipsed Duke of Prussia, died (8th August, 1618): upon which our swift + Kurfurst, not without need of his dexterities there too, got peaceable + possession of Prussia;—nor has his Family lost hold of that, up to + the present time. Next year (23d December, 1619), he himself closed a + swift busy life (labor enough in it for him perhaps, though only an age of + forty-nine); and sank to his long rest, his works following him,—unalterable + thenceforth, not unfruitful some of them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XV. — TENTH KURFURST, GEORGE WILHELM. + </h2> + <p> + By far the unluckiest of these Electors, whether the most unworthy of them + or not, was George Wilhelm, Tenth Elector, who now succeeded Johann + Sigismund his Father. The Father's eyes had closed when this great flame + was breaking out; and the Son's days were all spent amid the hot ashes and + fierce blazings of it. + </p> + <p> + The position of Brandenburg during this sad Thirty-Years War was passive + rather than active; distinguished only in the former way, and as far as + possible from being glorious or victorious. Never since the Hohenzollerns + came to that Country had Brandenburg such a time. Difficult to have mended + it; impossible to have quite avoided it;—and Kurfurst George Wilhelm + was not a man so superior to all his neighbors, that he could clearly see + his way in such an element. The perfect or ideal course was clear: To have + frankly drawn sword for his Religion and his Rights, so soon as the battle + fairly opened; and to have fought for these same, till he got either them + or died. Alas, that is easily said and written; but it is, for a George + Wilhelm especially, difficult to do! His capability in all kinds was + limited; his connections, with this side and that, were very intricate. + Gustavus and the Winter-King were his Brothers-in-law; Gustavus wedded to + his Sister, he to Winter-King's. His relations to Poland, feudal superior + of Preussen, were delicate; and Gustavus was in deadly quarrel with + Poland. And then Gustavus's sudden laying-hold of Pommern, which had just + escaped from Wallenstein and the Kaiser? It must be granted, poor George + Wilhelm's case demanded circumspectness. + </p> + <p> + One can forgive him for declining the Bohemian-King speculation, though + his Uncle of Jagerndorf and his Cousins of Liegnitz were so hearty and + forward in it. Pardonable in him to decline the Bohemian speculation;—though + surely it is very sad that he found himself so short of "butter and + firewood" when the poor Ex-King, and his young Wife, then in a specially + interesting state, came to take shelter with him! [Solltl <i>(Geschichte + des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges,</i>—a trivial modern Book) gives a + notable memorial from the Brandenburg RATHS, concerning these their + difficulties of housekeeping. Their real object, we perceive, was to get + rid of a Guest so dangerous as the Ex-King, under Ban of the Empire, had + now become.] But when Gustavus landed, and flung out upon the winds such a + banner as that of his,—truly it was required of a Protestant + Governor of men to be able to read said banner in a certain degree. A + Governor, not too IMperfect, would have recognized this Gustavus, what his + purposes and likelihoods were; the feeling would have been, checked by due + circumspectness: "Up, my men, let us follow this man; let us live and die + in the Cause this man goes for! Live otherwise with honor, or die + otherwise with honor, we cannot, in the pass things have come to!"—And + thus, at the very worst, Brandenburg would have had only one class of + enemies to ravage it; and might have escaped with, arithmetically + speaking, HALF the harrying it got in that long Business. + </p> + <p> + But Protestant Germany—sad shame to it, which proved lasting sorrow + as well—was all alike torpid; Brandenburg not an exceptional case. + No Prince stood up as beseemed: or only one, and he not a great one; + Landgraf Wilhelm of Hessen, who, and his brave Widow after him, seemed + always to know what hour it was. Wilhelm of Hessen all along;—and a + few wild hands, Christian of Brunswick, Christian of Anhalt, Johann George + of Jagerndorf, who stormed out tumultuously at first, but were soon blown + away by the Tilly-Wallenstein TRADE-WINDS and regulated armaments:—the + rest sat still, and tried all they could to keep out of harm's way. The + "Evangelical Union" did a great deal of manifestoing, pathetic, indignant + and other; held solemn Meetings at Heilbronn, old Sir Henry Wotton going + as Ambassador to them; but never got any redress. Had the Evangelical + Union shut up its inkhorns sooner; girt on its fighting-tools when the + time came, and done some little execution with them then, instead of none + at all,—we may fancy the Evangelical Union would have better + discharged its function. It might have saved immense wretchedness to + Germany. But its course went not that way. + </p> + <p> + In fact, had there been no better Protestantism than that of Germany, all + was over with Protestantism; and Max of Bavaria, with fanatical Ferdinand + II. as Kaiser over him, and Father Lammerlein at his right hand and Father + Hyacinth at his left, had got their own sweet way in this world. But + Protestant Germany was not Protestant Europe, after all. Over seas there + dwelt and reigned a certain King in Sweden; there farmed, and walked + musing by the shores of the Ouse in Huntingdonshire, a certain man;—there + was a Gustav Adolf over seas, an Oliver Cromwell over seas; and "a company + of poor men" were found capable of taking Lucifer by the beard,—who + accordingly, with his Lammerleins, Hyacinths, Habernfeldts and others, was + forced to withdraw, after a tough struggle!— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVI. — THIRTY-YEARS WAR. + </h2> + <p> + The enormous Thirty-Years War, most intricate of modern Occurrences in the + domain of Dryasdust, divides itself, after some unravelling, into Three + principal Acts or Epochs; in all of which, one after the other, our + Kurfurst had an interest mounting progressively, but continuing to be a + passive interest. + </p> + <p> + Act FIRST goes from 1620 to 1624; and might be entitled "The Bohemian King + Made and Demolished." Personally the Bohemian King was soon demolished. + His Kingship may be said to have gone off by explosion; by one Fight, + namely, done on the Weissenberg near Prag (Sunday, 8th November, 1620), + while he sat at dinner in the City, the boom of the cannon coming in with + interest upon his high guests and him. He had to run, in hot haste, that + night, leaving many of his important papers,—and becomes a + Winter-King. Winter-King's account was soon settled. But the extirpating + of his Adherents, and capturing of his Hereditary Lands, Palatinate and + Upper-Palatinate, took three years more. Hard fighting for the Palatinate; + Tilly and Company against the "Evangelical-Union Troops, and the English + under Sir Horace Vere." Evangelical-Union Troops, though marching about + there, under an Uncle of our Kurfurst (Margraf Joachim Ernst, that lucky + Anspach Uncle, founder of "the Line"), who professed some skill in + soldiering, were a mere Picture of an Army; would only "observe," and + would not fight at all. So that the whole fighting fell to Sir Horace and + his poor handful of English; of whose grim posture "in Frankendale" + [Frankenthal, a little Town in the Palatinate, N.W. from Mannheim a short + way.] and other Strongholds, for months long, there is talk enough in the + old English History-Books. + </p> + <p> + Then there were certain stern War-Captains, who rallied from the + Weissenberg Defeat:—Christian of Brunswick, the chief of them, + titular Bishop of Halberstadt, a high-flown, fiery young fellow, of + terrible fighting gifts; he flamed up considerably, with "the Queen of + Bohemia's glove stuck in his Hat:" "Bright Lady, it shall stick there, + till I get you your own again, or die!" [1621-1623, age not yet + twenty-five; died (by poison), 1626, having again become supremely + important just then. <i>"Gottes Freund, der Pfaffen Feind</i> (God's + Friend, Priests' Foe);" <i>"Alles fur Ruhm und Ihr (All for Glory and + Her,"</i>—the bright Elizabeth, become Ex-Queen), were mottoes of + his.—Buddaus IN VOCE (i. 649); Michaelis, i. 110.] Christian of + Brunswick, George of Jagerndorf (our Kurfurst's Uncle), Count Mansfeldt + and others, made stormy fight once and again, hanging upon this central + "Frankendale" Business, till they and it became hopeless. For the Kaiser + and his Jesuits were not in doubt; a Kaiser very proud, unscrupulous; now + clearly superior in force,—and all along of great superiority in + fraud. + </p> + <p> + Christian of Brunswick, Johann George and Mansfeldt were got rid of: + Christian by poison; Johann George and Mansfeldt by other methods,—chiefly + by playing upon poor King James of England, and leading him by the long + nose he was found to have. The Palatinate became the Kaiser's for the time + being; Upper Palatinate (OBER-PFALZ) Duke Max of Bavaria, lying contiguous + to it, had easily taken. "Incorporate the Ober-Pfalz with your Bavaria," + said the Kaiser, "you, illustrious, thrice-serviceable Max! And let + Lammerlein and Hyacinth, with their Gospel of Ignatius, loose upon it. + Nay, as a still richer reward, be yours the forfeited KUR (Electorship) of + this mad Kur-Pfalz, or Winter-King. I will hold his Rhine-Lands, his + UNTER-PFALZ: his Electorship and OBER-PFALZ, I say, are yours, Duke, + henceforth KURFURST Maximilian!" [Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> p. 520.] + Which was a hard saying in the ears of Brandenburg, Saxony and the other + Five, and of the Reich in general; but they had all to comply, after + wincing. For the Kaiser proceeded with a high hand. He had put the Ex-King + under Ban of the Empire (never asking "the Empire" about it); put his + Three principal Adherents, Johann George of Jagerndorf one of them, Prince + Christian of Anhalt (once captain at the Siege of Juliers) another, + likewise under Ban of the Empire; [22d Jan. 1621 (ibid. p. 518).] and in + short had flung about, and was flinging, his thunder-bolts in a very + Olympian manner. Under all which, what could Brandenburg and the others + do; but whimper some trembling protest, "Clear against Law!"—and sit + obedient? The Evangelical Union did not now any more than formerly draw + out its fighting-tools. In fact, the Evangelical Union now fairly + dissolved itself; melted into a deliquium of terror under these + thunder-bolts that were flying, and was no more heard of in the world.— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SECOND ACT, OR EPOCH, 1624-1629. A SECOND UNCLE PUT TO THE BAN, AND + POMMERN SNATCHED AWAY. + </h2> + <p> + Except in the "NETHER-SAXON CIRCLE" (distant Northwest region, with its + Hanover, Mecklenburg, with its rich Hamburgs, Lubecks, Magdeburgs, all + Protestant, and abutting on the Protestant North), trembling Germany lay + ridden over as the Kaiser willed. Foreign League got up by France, King + James, Christian IV. of Denmark (James's Brother-in-law, with whom he had + such "drinking" in Somerset House, long ago, on Christian's visit hither + [Old Histories of James I. (Wilson, &c.)]), went to water, or worse. + Only the "Nether-Saxon Circle" showed some life; was levying an army; and + had appointed Christian of Brunswick its Captain, till he was got + poisoned;—upon which the drinking King of Denmark took the command. + </p> + <p> + Act SECOND goes from 1624 to 1627 or even 1629; and contains drunken + Christian's Exploits. Which were unfortunate, almost to the ruin of + Denmark itself, as well as of the Nether-Saxon Circle;—till in the + latter of these years he slightly rallied, and got a supportable Peace + granted him (Peace of Lubeck, 1629); after which he sits quiet, + contemplative, with an evil eye upon Sweden now and then. The beatings he + got, in quite regular succession, from Tilly and Consorts, are not worth + mentioning: the only thing one now remembers of him is his alarming + accident on the ramparts of Hameln, just at the opening of these + Campaigns. At Hameln, which was to be a strong post, drunken Christian + rode out once, on a summer afternoon (1624), to see that the ramparts were + all right, or getting all right;—and tumbled, horse and self (self + in liquor, it is thought), in an ominous alarming manner. Taken up for + dead;—nay some of the vague Histories seem to think he was really + dead:—but he lived to be often beaten after that, and had many moist + years more. + </p> + <p> + Our Kurfurst had another Uncle put to the Ban in this Second Act,—Christian + Wilhelm Archbishop of Magdeburg, "for assisting the Danish King;" nor was + Ban all the ruin that fell on this poor Archbishop. What could an + unfortunate Kurfurst do, but tremble and obey? There was still a worse + smart got by our poor Kurfurst out of Act Second; the glaring injustice + done him in Pommern. + </p> + <p> + Does the reader remember that scene in the High Church of Stettin a + hundred and fifty years ago? How the Burgermeister threw sword and helmet + into the grave of the last Duke of Pommern-Stettin there; and a forward + Citizen picked them out again in favor of a Collateral Branch? Never + since, any more than then, could Brandenburg get Pommern according to + claim. Collateral Branch, in spite of Friedrich Ironteeth, in spite even + of Albert Achilles and some fighting of his; contrived, by pleading at the + Diets and stirring up noise, to maintain its pretensions: and Treaties + without end ensued, as usual; Treaties refreshed and new-signed by every + Successor of Albert, to a wearisome degree. The sum of which always was: + "Pommern does actual homage to Brandenburg; vassal of Brandenburg;—and + falls home to it, if the now Extant Line go extinct." Nay there is an + ERBVERBRUDERUNG (Heritage-Fraternity) over and above, established this + long time, and wearisomely renewed at every new Accession. Hundreds of + Treaties, oppressive to think of:—and now the last Duke, old + Bogislaus, is here, without hope of children; and the fruit of all that + haggling, actual Pommern to wit, will at last fall home? Alas, no; far + otherwise. + </p> + <p> + For the Kaiser having so triumphantly swept off the Winter-King, and + Christian IV. in the rear of him, and got Germany ready for converting to + Orthodoxy,—wished now to have some hold of the Seaboard, thereby to + punish Denmark; nay thereby, as is hoped, to extend the blessings of + Orthodoxy into England, Sweden, Holland, and the other Heretic States, in + due time. For our plans go far! This is the Kaiser's fixed wish, rising to + the rank of hope now and then: all Europe shall become Papist again by the + help of God and the Devil. So the Kaiser, on hardly any pretext, seized + Mecklenburg from the Proprietors,—"Traitors, how durst you join + Danish Christian?"—and made Wallenstein Duke of it. Duke of + Mecklenburg, "Admiral of the EAST SEA (Baltic);" and set to "building + ships of war in Rostock,"—his plans going far. [Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> + pp, 524, 525.] This done, he seized Pommern, which also is a fine + Sea-country,—stirring up Max of Bavaria to make some idle pretence + to Pommern, that so the Kaiser might seize it "in sequestration till + decided on." Under which hard treatment, George Wilhelm had to sit sad and + silent,—though the Stralsunders would not. Hence the world-famous + Siege of Stralsund (1628); fierce Wallenstein declaring, "I will have the + Town, if it hung by a chain from Heaven;" but finding he could not get it; + owing to the Swedish succor, to the stubborn temper prevalent among the + Townsfolk, and also greatly to the rains and peat-bogs. + </p> + <p> + A second Uncle of George Wilhelm's, that unlucky Archbishop of Magdeburg + above mentioned, the Kaiser, once more by his own arbitrary will, put + under Ban of the Empire, in this Second Act: "Traitor, how durst you join + with the Danes?" The result of which was Tilly's Sack of Magdeburg + (10-12th May, 1631), a transaction never forgettable by mankind.—As + for Pommern, Gustav Adolf, on his intervening in these matters, landed + there: Pommern was now seized by Gustav Adolf, as a landing-place and + place-of-arms, indispensable for Sweden in the present emergency; and was + so held thenceforth. Pommern will not fall to George Wilhelm at this time. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THIRD ACT, AND WHAT THE KURFURST SUFFERED IN IT. + </h2> + <p> + And now we are at Act THIRD:—Landing of Gustav Adolf "in the Isle of + Usedom, 24th June, 1630," and onward for Eighteen Years till the Peace of + Westphalia, in 1648;—on which, as probably better known to the + reader, we will not here go into details. In this Third Act too, George + Wilhelm followed his old scheme, peace at any price;—as shy of + Gustav as he had been of other Champions of the Cause; and except + complaining, petitioning and manifestoing, studiously did nothing. + </p> + <p> + Poor man, it was his fate to stand in the range of these huge collisions,—Bridge + of Dessau, Siege of Stralsund, Sack of Magdeburg, Battle of Leipzig,—where + the Titans were bowling rocks at one another; and he hoped, by dexterous + skipping, to escape share of the game. To keep well with his Kaiser,—and + such a Kaiser to Germany and to him,—this, for George Wilhelm, was + always the first commandment. If the Kaiser confiscate your Uncles, + against law; seize your Pommern; rob you on the public highways,—George + Wilhelm, even in such case, is full of dubitations. Nay his + Prime-Minister, one Schwartzenberg, a Catholic, an Austrian Official at + one time,—Progenitor of the Austrian Schwartzenbergs that now are,—was + secretly in the Kaiser's interest, and is even thought to have been in the + Kaiser's pay, all along. + </p> + <p> + Gustav, at his first landing, had seized Pommern, and swept it clear of + Austrians, for himself and for his own wants; not too regardful of George + Wilhelm's claims on it. He cleared out Frankfurt-on-Oder, Custrin and + other Brandenburg Towns, in a similar manner,—by cannon and storm, + when needful;—drove the Imperialists and Tilly forth of these + countries. Advancing, next year, to save Magdeburg, now shrieking under + Tilly's bombardment, Gustav insisted on having, if not some bond of union + from his Brother-in-law of Brandenburg, at least the temporary cession of + two Places of War for himself, Spandau and Custrin, indispensable in any + farther operation. Which cession Kurfurst George Wilhelm, though giving + all his prayers to the Good Cause, could by no means grant. Gustav had to + insist, with more and more emphasis; advancing at last, with military + menace, upon Berlin itself. He was met by George Wilhelm and his Council, + "in the woods of Copenick," short way to the east of that City: there + George Wilhelm and his Council wandered about, sending messages, + hopelessly consulting; saying among each other, <i>"Que faire; ils ont des + canons,</i> what can one do; they have got cannon?" [<i>OEvres de Frederic + le Grand</i> (Berlin, 1846-1856 et seqq.: <i>Memoires de Brandebourg</i>), + i. 38. For the rest, Friedrich's Account of the Transaction is very loose + and scanty: see Pauli (iv. 568) and his minute details.] For many hours + so; round the inflexible Gustav,—who was there like a fixed + milestone, and to all questions and comers had only one answer!—<i>"Que + faire; ils ont des canons?"</i> This was the 3d May, 1631. This probably + is about the nadir-point of the Brandenburg-Hohenzollern History. The + little Friedrich, who became Frederick the Great, in writing of it, has a + certain grim banter in his tone; and looks rather with mockery on the + perplexities of his poor Ancestor, so fatally ignorant of the time of day + it had now become. + </p> + <p> + On the whole, George Wilhelm did what is to be called nothing, in the + Thirty-Years War; his function was only that of suffering. He followed + always the bad lead of Johann George, Elector of Saxony; a man of no + strength, devoutness or adequate human worth; who proved, on these + negative grounds, and without flagrancy of positive badness, an + unspeakable curse to Germany. Not till the Kaiser fulminated forth his + Restitution-Edict, and showed he was in earnest about it (1629-1631), + "Restore to our Holy Church what you have taken from her since the Peace + of Passau!"—could this Johann George prevail upon himself to join + Sweden, or even to do other than hate it for reasons he saw. Seized by the + throat in this manner, and ordered to DELIVER, Kur-Sachsen did, and + Brandenburg along with him, make Treaty with the Swede. [8th February, + 1631 (Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> pp. 526-531.) in consequence of + which they two, some months after, by way of co-operating with Gustav on + his great march Vienna-ward, sent an invading force into Bohemia, + Brandenburg contributing some poor 3,000 to it; who took Prag, and some + other open Towns; but "did almost nothing there," say the Histories, + "except dine and drink." It is clear enough they were instantly scattered + home [October, 1633 (Stenzel, i. 503).) at the first glimpse of + Wallenstein dawning on the horizon again in those parts. + </p> + <p> + Gustav having vanished (Field of Lutzen, 6th November, 1632 [Pauli, iv. + 576.]), Oxenstiern, with his high attitude, and "Presidency" of the "Union + of Heilbronn," was rather an offence to Kur-Sachsen, who used to be + foremost man on such occasions. Kur-Sachsen broke away again; made his + Peace of Prag, [1635, 20th May (Stenzel, i. 513).] whom Brandenburg again + followed; Brandenburg and gradually all the others, except the noble + Wilhelm of Hessen-Cassel alone. Miserable Peace; bit of Chaos clouted up, + and done over with Official varnish;—which proved to be the signal + for continuing the War beyond visible limits, and rendering peace + impossible. + </p> + <p> + After this, George Wilhelm retires from the scene; lives in Custrin + mainly; mere miserable days, which shall be invisible to us. He died in + 1640; and, except producing an active brave Son very unlike himself, did + nothing considerable in the world. <i>"Que faire; ils ont des canons!"</i> + </p> + <p> + Among the innumerable sanguinary tusslings of this War are counted Three + great Battles, Leipzig, Lutzen, Nordlingen. Under one great Captain, + Swedish Gustav, and the two or three other considerable Captains, who + appeared in it, high passages of furious valor, of fine strategy and + tactic, are on record. But on the whole, the grand weapon in it, and + towards the latter times the exclusive one, was Hunger. The opposing + Armies tried to starve one another; at lowest, tried each not to starve. + Each trying to eat the country, or at any rate to leave nothing eatable in + it: what that will mean for the country, we may consider. As the Armies + too frequently, and the Kaiser's Armies habitually, lived without + commissariat, often enough without pay, all horrors of war and of being a + seat of war, that have been since heard of, are poor to those then + practised. The detail of which is still horrible to read. Germany, in all + eatable quarters of it, had to undergo the process;—tortured, torn + to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a mortar under the iron mace of war. + [Curious incidental details of the state it was reduced to, in the Rhine + and Danube Countries, turn up in the Earl of Arundel and Surrey's TRAVELS + ("Arundel of the Marbles") as <i>Ambassador Extraordinary to the Emperor + Ferdinando II. in 1636</i> (a small Volume, or Pamphlet, London, 1637).] + Brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its country populations + driven to despair, by the one party and the other. Three times,—first + in the Wallenstein Mecklenburg period, while fire and sword were the + weapons, and again, twice over, in the ultimate stages of the struggle, + when starvation had become the method—Brandenburg fell to be the + principal theatre of conflict, where all forms of the dismal were at their + height. In 1638, three years after that precious "Peace of Prag," the + Swedes (Banier VERSUS Gallas) starving out the Imperialists in those + Northwestern parts, the ravages of the starving Gallas and his + Imperialists excelled all precedent; and the "famine about Tangermunde had + risen so high that men ate human flesh, nay human creatures ate their own + children." [1638: Pauli, iv. 604.] <i>"Que faire; ils ont des canons!</i>" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVII. — DUCHY OF JAGERNDORF. + </h2> + <p> + This unfortunate George Wilhelm failed in getting Pommern when due; + Pommern, firmly held by the Swedes, was far from him. But that was not the + only loss of territory he had. Jagerndorf,—we have heard of Johann + George of Jagerndorf, Uncle of this George Wilhelm, how old Joachim + Friedrich put him into Jagerndorf, long since, when it fell home to the + Electoral House. Jagerndorf is now lost; Johann George is under + REICHS-ACHT (Ban of Empire), ever since the Winter-King's explosion, and + the thunder-bolts that followed; and wanders landless;—nay he is + long since dead, and has six feet of earth for a territory, far away in + Transylvania, or the RIESEN-GEBIRGE (Giant Mountains) somewhere. + Concerning whom a word now. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DUKE OF JAGERNDORF, ELECTOR'S UNCLE, IS PUT UNDER BAN. + </h2> + <p> + Johann George, a frank-hearted valiant man, concerning whom only good + actions, and no bad one, are on record, had notable troubles in the world; + bad troubles to begin with, and worse to end in. He was second Son of + Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, who had meant him for the Church. [1577-1624: + Rentsch, p. 486.] The young fellow was Coadjutor of Strasburg, almost from + the time of getting into short-clothes. He was then, still very young, + elected Bishop there (1592); Bishop of Strasburg,—but only by the + Protestant part of the Canons; the Catholic part, unable to submit longer, + and thinking it a good time for revolt against a Protestant population and + obstinately heterodox majority, elected another Bishop,—one "Karl of + the House of Lorraine;" and there came to be dispute, and came even to be + fighting needed. Fighting; which prudent Papa would not enter into, except + faintly at second-hand, through the Anspach Cousins, or others that were + in the humor. Troublesome times for the young man; which lasted a dozen + years or more. At last a Bargain was made (1604); Protestant and Catholic + Canons splitting the difference in some way; and the House of Lorraine + paying Johann George a great deal of money to go home again. [<i>OEuvres + completes de Voltaire,</i> 97 vols. (Paris, 1825-1832), xxxiii. 284.—Kohler + (<i>Reichs-Historie,</i> p. 487) gives the authentic particulars.] Poor + Johann George came out of it in that way; not second-best, think several. + </p> + <p> + He was then (1606) put into Jagerndorf, which had just fallen vacant; our + excellent fat friend, George Friedrich of Anspach, Administrator of + Preussen, having lately died, and left it vacant, as we saw. George + Friedrich's death yielded fine apanages, three of them in all: FIRST + Anspach, SECOND, Baireuth, and this THIRD of Jagerndorf for a still + younger Brother. There was still a fourth younger Brother, Uncle of George + Wilhelm; Archbishop of Magdeburg this one; who also, as we have seen, got + into REICHS-ACHT, into deep trouble in the Thirty-Years War. He was in + Tilly's thrice-murderous Storm of Magdeburg (10th May, 1631); was + captured, tumbled about by the wild soldiery, and nearly killed there. + Poor man, with his mitre and rochets left in such a state! In the end he + even became CATHOLIC,—from conviction, as was evident, and + bewilderment of mind;—and lived in Austria on a pension; + occasionally publishing polemical pamphlets. [1587; 1628; 1665 (Rentsch, + pp. 905-910).]— + </p> + <p> + As to Johann George, he much repaired and beautified the Castle of + Jagerndorf, says Rentsch: but he unfortunately went ahead into the + Winter-King's adventure; which, in that sad battle of the Weissenberg, + made total shipwreck of itself, drawing Johann George and much else along + with it. Johann George was straightway tyrannously put to the Ban, + forfeited of life and lands: [22d January, 1621 (Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> + p. 518: and rectify Hubner, t. 178).] Johann George disowned the said Ban; + stood out fiercely for self and Winter-King; and did good fighting in the + Silesian strongholds and mountain-passes: but was forced to seek temporary + shelter in SIEBENBURGEN (Transylvania); and died far away, in a year or + two (1624), while returning to try it again. Sleeps, I think, in the + "Jablunka Pass;" the dumb Giant-Mountains (RIESEN-GEBIRGE) shrouding up + his sad shipwreck and him. + </p> + <p> + Jagerndorf was thus seized by Ferdinand II. of the House of Hapsburg; and + though it was contrary to all law that the Kaiser should keep it,—poor + Johann George having left Sons very innocent of treason, and Brothers, and + an Electoral. Nephew, very innocent,—to whom, by old compacts and + new, the Heritage in defect of him was to fall,—neither Kaiser + Ferdinand II. nor Kaiser Ferdinand III. nor any Kaiser would let go the + hold; but kept Jagerndorf fast clenched, deaf to all pleadings, and + monitions of gods or men. Till at length, in the fourth generation + afterwards, one "Friedrich the Second," not unknown to us,—a sharp + little man, little in stature, but large in faculty and renown, who is now + called "Frederick the Great,"—clutched hold of the Imperial fist (so + to speak), seizing his opportunity in 1740; and so wrenched and twisted + said close fist, that not only Jagerndorf dropped out of it, but the whole + of Silesia along with Jagerndorf, there being other claims withal. And the + account was at last settled, with compound interest,—as in fact such + accounts are sure to be, one way or other. And so we leave Johann George + among the dumb Giant-Mountains again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XVIII. — FRIEDRICH WILHELM, THE GREAT KURFURST, ELEVENTH OF + THE SERIES. + </h2> + <p> + Brandenburg had again sunk very low under the Tenth Elector, in the + unutterable troubles of the times. But it was gloriously raised up again + by his Son Friedrich Wilhelm, who succeeded in 1640. This is he whom they + call the "Great Elector (GROSSE KURFURST);" of whom there is much writing + and celebrating in Prussian Books. As for the epithet, it is not uncommon + among petty German populations, and many times does not mean too much: + thus Max of Bavaria, with his Jesuit Lambkins and Hyacinths, is, by + Bavarians, called "Maximilian the Great." Friedrich Wilhelm, both by his + intrinsic qualities and the success he met with, deserves it better than + most. His success, if we look where he started and where he ended, was + beyond that of any other man in his day. He found Brandenburg annihilated, + and he left Brandenburg sound and flourishing; a great country, or already + on the way towards greatness. Undoubtedly a most rapid, clear-eyed, active + man. There was a stroke in him swift as lightning, well-aimed mostly, and + of a respectable weight, withal; which shattered asunder a whole world of + impediments for him, by assiduous repetition of it for fifty years. [1620; + 1640; 1688.] + </p> + <p> + There hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty under more + distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances. Political significance + Brandenburg had none; a mere Protestant appendage dragged about by a + Papist Kaiser. His Father's Prime-Minister, as we have seen, was in the + interest of his enemies; not Brandenburg's servant, but Austria's. The + very Commandants of his Fortresses, Commandant of Spandau more especially, + refused to obey Friedrich Wilhelm, on his accession; "were bound to obey + the Kaiser in the first place." He had to proceed softly as well as + swiftly; with the most delicate hand to get him of Spandau by the collar, + and put him under lock-and-key, him as a warning to others. + </p> + <p> + For twenty years past, Brandenburg had been scoured by hostile armies, + which, especially the Kaiser's part of which, committed outrages new in + human history. In a year or two hence, Brandenburg became again the + theatre of business; Austrian Gallas advancing thither again (1644), with + intent "to shut up Torstenson and his Swedes in Jutland," where they had + been chastising old Christian IV., now meddlesome again, for the last + time, and never a good neighbor to Sweden. Gallas could by no means do + what he intended: on the contrary, he had to run from Torstenson, what + feet could do; was hunted, he and his MERODE-BRUDER (beautiful inventors + of the "Marauding" Art), "till they pretty much all died (CREPERTIN)," + says Kohler. [<i>Reichs-Historie,</i> p. 556; Pauli, v. 24.] No great loss + to society, the death of these Artists: but we can fancy what their life, + and especially what the process of their dying, may have cost poor + Brandenburg again!— + </p> + <p> + Friedrich Wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was sun-clear to + himself, but for most part dim to everybody else. He had to walk very + warily, Sweden on one hand of him, suspicious Kaiser on the other; he had + to wear semblances, to be ready with evasive words; and advance + noiselessly by many circuits. More delicate operation could not be + imagined. But advance he did: advance and arrive. With extraordinary + talent, diligence and felicity the young man wound himself out of this + first fatal position: got those foreign Armies pushed out of his Country, + and kept them out. His first concern had been to find some vestige of + revenue, to put that upon a clear footing; and by loans or otherwise to + scrape a little ready money together. On the strength of which a small + body of soldiers could be collected about him, and drilled into real + ability to fight and obey. This as a basis: on this followed all manner of + things: freedom from Swedish-Austrian invasions, as the first thing. + </p> + <p> + He was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first quality, + when it came to that: but never was willing to fight if he could help it. + Preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre and negotiate; which he did in a most + vigilant, adroit and masterly manner. But by degrees he had grown to have, + and could maintain it, an Army of 24,000 men: among the best troops then + in being. With or without his will, he was in all the great Wars of his + time,—the time of Louis XIV., who kindled Europe four times over, + thrice in our Kurfurst's day. The Kurfurst's Dominions, a long straggling + country, reaching from Memel to Wesel, could hardly keep out of the way of + any war that might rise. He made himself available, never against the good + cause of Protestantism and German Freedom, yet always in the place and way + where his own best advantage was to be had. Louis XIV. had often much need + of him: still oftener, and more pressingly, had Kaiser Leopold, the little + Gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red feather in his hat," whom Mr. + Savage used to see majestically walking about, with Austrian lip that said + nothing at all. [<i>A Compleat History of Germany,</i> by Mr. Savage (8vo, + London, 1702), p. 553. Who this Mr. Savage was, we have no trace. Prefixed + to the volume is the Portrait of a solid Gentleman of forty: gloomily + polite, with ample wig and cravat,—in all likelihood some studious + subaltern Diplomatist in the Succession War. His little Book is very lean + and barren: but faithfully compiled,—and might have some + illumination in it, where utter darkness is so prevalent. Most likely, + Addison picked his story of the <i>Siege of Weinsberg</i> ("Women carrying + out their Husbands on their back,"—one of his best SPECTATORS) out + of this poor Book.] His 24,000 excellent fighting-men, thrown in at the + right time, were often a thing that could turn the balance in great + questions. They required to be allowed for at a high rate,—which he + well knew how to adjust himself for exacting and securing always. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WHAT BECAME OF POMMERN AT THE PEACE; FINAL GLANCE INTO CLEVE-JULICH. + </h2> + <p> + When the Peace of Westphalia (1648) concluded that Thirty-Years + Conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, Friedrich + Wilhelm's right to Pommern was admitted by everybody: and well insisted on + by himself: but right had to yield to reason of state, and he could not + get it. The Swedes insisted on their expenses: the Swedes held Pommern, + had all along held it,—in pawn, they said, for their expenses. + Nothing for it but to give the Swedes the better half of Pommern. + FORE-Pommern (so they call it, "Swedish Pomerania" thenceforth), which + lies next the Sea: this, with some Towns and cuttings over and above, was + Sweden's share: Friedrich Wilhelm had to put up with HINDER-Pommern, + docked furthermore of the Town of Stettin, and of other valuable cuttings, + in favor of Sweden. Much to Friedrich Wilhelm's grief and just anger, + could he have helped it. + </p> + <p> + They gave him Three secularized Bishoprics, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, + Minden, with other small remnants, for compensation; and he had to be + content with these for the present. But he never gave up the idea of + Pommern: much of the effort of his life was spent upon recovering + Fore-Pommern: thrice-eager upon that, whenever lawful opportunity offered. + To no purpose then: he never could recover Swedish Pommern; only his late + descendants, and that by slowish degrees, could recover it all. Readers + remember that Burgermeister of Stettin, with the helmet and sword flung + into the grave and picked out again:—and can judge whether + Brandenburg got its good luck quite by lying in bed!— + </p> + <p> + Once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose towards War, and it + remained a purpose only. Soon after the Peace of Westphalia, old + Pfalz-Neuburg, the same who got the slap on the face, went into tyrannous + proceedings against the Protestant part of his subjects in Julich-Cleve: + who called to Friedrich Wilhelm for help. Friedrich Wilhelm, a zealous + Protestant, made remonstrances, retaliations: ere long the thought struck + him, "Suppose, backed by the Dutch, we threw out this fantastic old + gentleman, his Papistries, and pretended claims and self, clear out of + it?" This was Friedrich Wilhelm's thought; and he suddenly marched troops + into the Territory, with that view. But Europe was in alarm, the Dutch + grew faint: Friedrich Wilhelm saw it would not do. He had a conference + with old Pfalz-Neuburg: "Young gentleman, we remember how your Grandfather + made free with us and our august countenance! Nevertheless we—" In + fine, the "statistic of Treaties" was increased by One: and there the + matter rested till calmer times. + </p> + <p> + In 1666, as already said, an effective Partition of these litigated + Territories was accomplished: Prussia to have the Duchy of Cleve-Proper, + the Counties of Mark and Ravensburg, with other Patches and Pertinents: + Neuburg, what was the better share, to have Julich Duchy and Berg Duchy. + Furthermore, if either of the Lines failed, in no sort was a collateral to + be admitted: but Brandenburg was to inherit Neuburg, or Neuburg + Brandenburg, as the case might be. [Pauli, v. 120-129.] A clear Bargain + this at last: and in the times that had come, it proved executable so far. + But if the reader fancies the Lawsuit was at last out in this way, he will + be a simple reader! In the days of our little Fritz, the Line of + Pfalz-Neuburg was evidently ending: but that Brandenburg and not a + collateral should succeed it, there lay the quarrel,—open still, as + if it had never been shut: and we shall hear enough about it!— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GREAT KURFURST'S WARS: WHAT HE ACHIEVED IN WAR AND PEACE. + </h2> + <p> + Friedrich Wilhelm's first actual appearance in War, Polish-Swedish War + (1655-1660), was involuntary in the highest degree: forced upon him for + the sake of his Preussen, which bade fair to be lost or ruined, without + blame of his or its. Nevertheless, here too he made his benefit of the + affair. The big King of Sweden had a standing quarrel with his big Cousin + of Poland, which broke out into hot War; little Preussen lay between them, + and was like to be crushed in the collision. Swedish King was Karl Gustav, + Christina's Cousin, Charles Twelfth's Grandfather; a great and mighty man, + lion of the North in his time: Polish King was one John Casimir; + chivalrous enough, and with clouds of forward Polish chivalry about him, + glittering with barbaric gold. Frederick III., Danish King for the time + being, he also was much involved in the thing. Fain would Friedrich + Wilhelm have kept out of it, but he could not. Karl Gustav as good as + forced him to join: he joined; fought along with Karl Gustav an + illustrious Battle; "Battle of Warsaw," three days long (28-30th July, + 1656), on the skirts of Warsaw,—crowds "looking from the upper + windows" there; Polish chivalry, broken at last, going like chaff upon the + winds, and John Casimir nearly ruined. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after which, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had shone much in the Battle, + changed sides. An inconsistent, treacherous man? Perhaps not, O reader; + perhaps a man advancing "in circuits," the only way he has; spirally, face + now to east, now to west, with his own reasonable private aim sun-clear to + him all the while? + </p> + <p> + John Casimir agreed to give up the "Homage of Preussen" for this service; + a grand prize for Friedrich Wilhelm. [Treaty of Labiau, 10th November, + 1656 (Pauli, v. 73-75); 20th November (Stenzel, iv. 128,—who always + uses NEW STYLE).] What the Teutsch Ritters strove for in vain, and lost + their existence in striving for, the shifty Kurfurst has now got: Ducal + Prussia, which is also called East Prussia, is now a free sovereignty,—and + will become as "Royal" as the other Polish part. Or perhaps even more so, + in the course of time!—Karl Gustav, in a high frame of mind, informs + the Kurfurst, that he has him on his books, and will pay the debt one day! + </p> + <p> + A dangerous debtor in such matters, this Karl Gustav. In these same + months, busy with the Danish part of the Controversy, he was doing a feat + of war, which set all Europe in astonishment. In January, 1658, Karl + Gustav marches his Army, horse, foot and artillery, to the extent of + twenty thousand, across the Baltic ice, and takes an Island without + shipping,—Island of Funen, across the Little Belt; three miles of + ice; and a part of the sea open, which has to be crossed on planks. Nay, + forward from Funen, when once there, he achieves ten whole miles more of + ice; and takes Zealand itself, [Holberg's <i>Danemarkische + Reichs-Historie,</i> pp. 406-409.]—to the wonder of all mankind. An + imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man; who had dreamed of a new Goth + Empire: The mean Hypocrites and Fribbles of the South to be coerced again + by noble Norse valor, and taught a new lesson. Has been known to lay his + hand on his sword while apprising an Ambassador (Dutch High-Mightiness) + what his royal intentions were: "Not the sale or purchase of groceries, + observe you, Sir! My aims go higher!"—Charles Twelfth's Grandfather, + and somewhat the same type of man. + </p> + <p> + But Karl Gustav died, short while after; [13th February, 1660, age 38.] + left his big wide-raging Northern Controversy to collapse in what way it + could. Sweden and the fighting-parties made their "Peace of Oliva" (Abbey + of Oliva, near Dantzig, 1st May, 1660); and this of Preussen was ratified, + in all form, among the other points. No homage more; nothing now above + Ducal Prussia but the Heavens; and great times coming for it. This was one + of the successfulest strokes of business ever done by Friedrich Wilhelm; + who had been forced, by sheer compulsion, to embark in that big game.—"Royal + Prussia," the Western or POLISH Prussia: this too, as all Newspapers know, + has, in our times, gone the same road as the other. Which probably, after + all, it may have had, in Nature, some tendency to do? Cut away, for + reasons, by the Polish sword, in that Battle of Tannenberg, long since; + and then, also for reasons, cut back again! That is the fact;—not + unexampled in human History. + </p> + <p> + Old Johann Casimir, not long after that Peace of Oliva, getting tired of + his unruly Polish chivalry and their ways, abdicated;—retired to + Paris; and "lived much with Ninon de l'Enclos and her circle," for the + rest of his life. He used to complain of his Polish chivalry, that there + was no solidity in them; nothing but outside glitter, with tumult and + anarchic noise; fatal want of one essential talent, the talent of Obeying; + and has been heard to prophesy that a glorious Republic, persisting in + such courses, would arrive at results which would surprise it. + </p> + <p> + Onward from this time, Friedrich Wilhelm figures in the world; public men + watching his procedure; Kings anxious to secure him,—Dutch + printsellers sticking up his Portraits for a hero-worshipping Public. + Fighting hero, had the Public known it, was not his essential character, + though he had to fight a great deal. He was essentially an Industrial man; + great in organizing, regulating, in constraining chaotic heaps to become + cosmic for him. He drains bogs, settles colonies in the waste-places of + his Dominions, cuts canals; unweariedly encourages trade and work. The + FRIEDRICH-WILHELM'S CANAL, which still carries tonnage from the Oder to + the Spree, [Executed, 1662-1668; fifteen English miles long (Busching, + ERDBESCHREIBUNG, vi, 2193).] is a monument of his zeal in this way; + creditable, with the means he had. To the poor French Protestants, in the + Edict-of-Nantes Affair, he was like an express Benefit of Heaven: one + Helper appointed, to whom the help itself was profitable. He munificently + welcomed them to Brandenburg; showed really a noble piety and human pity, + as well as judgment; nor did Brandenburg and he want their reward. Some + 20,000 nimble French souls, evidently of the best French quality, found a + home there;—made "waste sands about Berlin into potherb gardens;" + and in the spiritual Brandenburg, too, did something of horticulture, + which is still noticeable. [Erman (weak Biographer of Queen + Sophie-Charlotte, already cited), <i>Memoires pour sevir a l'Histoire den + Refugies Francais dans les Etats du Roi de Prusse</i> (Berlin, 1782-1794), + 8 tt. 8vo.] + </p> + <p> + Certainly this Elector was one of the shiftiest of men. Not an unjust man + either. A pious, God-fearing man rather, stanch to his Protestantism and + his Bible; not unjust by any means,—nor, on the other hand, by any + means thick-skinned in his interpretings of justice: Fair-play to myself + always; or occasionally even the Height of Fair-play! On the whole, by + constant energy, vigilance, adroit activity, by an ever-ready insight and + audacity to seize the passing fact by its right handle, he fought his way + well in the world; left Brandenburg a flourishing and greatly increased + Country, and his own name famous enough. + </p> + <p> + A thick-set stalwart figure; with brisk eyes, and high strong irregularly + Roman nose. Good bronze Statue of him, by Schluter, once a famed man, + still rides on the LANGE-BRUCKE (Long-Bridge) at Berlin; and his Portrait, + in huge frizzled Louis-Quatorze wig, is frequently met with in German + Galleries. Collectors of Dutch Prints, too, know him: here a gallant, + eagle-featured little gentleman, brisk in the smiles of youth, with + plumes, with truncheon, caprioling on his war-charger, view of tents in + the distance;—there a sedate, ponderous, wrinkly old man, eyes + slightly puckered (eyes BUSIER than mouth); a face well-ploughed by Time, + and not found unfruitful; one of the largest, most laborious, potent faces + (in an ocean of circumambient periwig) to be met with in that Century. + [Both Prints are Dutch; the Younger, my copy of the Younger, has lost the + Engraver's Name (Kurfurst's age is twenty-seven); the Elder is by MASSON, + 1633, when Friedrich Wilhelm was sixty-three.] There are many Histories + about him, too; but they are not comfortable to read. [G. D. Geyler, <i>Leben + und Thaten Friedrich Wihelms des Grossen</i> (Frankfort and Leipzig, + 1703), folio. Franz Horn, <i>Das Leben Friedrich Wilhelms des Grossen</i> + (Berlin, 1814). Pauli, <i>Staats-Geschichte,</i> Band v. (Halle, 1764). + Pufendorf, <i>De rebus gestis Friderici Wilhelmi Magni Electoris + Brandenburgensis Commentaria</i> (Lips. et Berol. 1733, fol.)] He also has + wanted a sacred Poet; and found only a bewildering Dryasdust. + </p> + <p> + His Two grand Feats that dwell in the Prussian memory are perhaps none of + his greatest, but were of a kind to strike the imagination. They both + relate to what was the central problem of his life,—the recovery of + Pommern from the Swedes. Exploit First is the famed "Battle of FEHRBELLIN + (Ferry of BellEEN)," fought on the 18th June, 1675. Fehrbellin is an + inconsiderable Town still standing in those peaty regions, some + five-and-thirty miles northwest of Berlin; and had for ages plied its poor + Ferry over the oily-looking, brown, sluggish stream called Rhin, or Rhein + in those parts, without the least notice from mankind, till this fell out. + It is a place of pilgrimage to patriotic Prussians, ever since Friedrich + Wilhelm's exploit there. The matter went thus:— + </p> + <p> + Friedrich Wilhelm was fighting, far south in Alsace, on Kaiser Leopold's + side, in the Louis-Fourteenth War; that second one, which ended in the + treaty of Nimwegen. Doing his best there,—when the Swedes, egged on + by Louis XIV., made war upon him; crossed the Pomeranian marches, troop + after troop, and invaded his Brandenburg Territory with a force which at + length amounted to some 16,000 men. No help for the moment: Friedrich + Wilhelm could not be spared from his post. The Swedes, who had at first + professed well, gradually went into plunder, roving, harrying, at their + own will; and a melancholy time they made of it for Friedrich Wilhelm and + his People. Lucky if temporary harm were all the ill they were likely to + do; lucky if—! He stood steady, however; in his solid manner, + finishing the thing in hand first, since that was feasible. He then even + retired into winter-quarters, to rest his men; and seemed to have left the + Swedish 16,000 autocrats of the situation; who accordingly went storming + about at a great rate. + </p> + <p> + Not so, however; very far indeed from so. Having rested his men for + certain months, Friedrich Wilhelm silently in the first days of June + (1675) gets them under march again; marches, his Cavalry and he as first + instalment, with best speed from Schweinfurt, [Stenzel, ii. 347.] which is + on the river Main, to Magdeburg; a distance of two hundred miles. At + Magdeburg, where he rests three days, waiting for the first handful of + foot and a field-piece or two, he learns that the Swedes are in three + parties wide asunder; the middle party of them within forty miles of him. + Probably stronger, even this middle one, than his small body (of "six + thousand Horse, twelve hundred Foot and three guns");—stronger, but + capable perhaps of being surprised, of being cut in pieces, before the + others can come up? Rathenau is the nearest skirt of this middle party: + thither goes the Kurfurst, softly, swiftly, in the June night (16-17th + June, 1675); gets into Rathenau, by brisk stratagem; tumbles out the + Swedish Horse-regiment there, drives it back towards Fehrbellin. + </p> + <p> + He himself follows hard;—swift riding enough, in the summer night, + through those damp Havel lands, in the old Hohenzollern fashion: and + indeed old Freisack Castle, as it chances,—Freisack, scene of + Dietrich von Quitzow and LAZY PEG long since,—is close by! Follows + hard, we say: strikes in upon this midmost party (nearly twice his number, + but Infantry for the most part); and after fierce fight, done with good + talent on both sides, cuts it into utter ruin, as proposed. Thereby he has + left the Swedish Army as a mere head and tail WITHOUT body; has entirely + demolished the Swedish Army. [Stenzel, ii. 350-357.] Same feat + intrinsically as that done by Cromwell, on Hamilton and the Scots, in + 1648. It was, so to speak, the last visit Sweden paid to Brandenburg, or + the last of any consequence; and ended the domination of the Swedes in + those quarters. A thing justly to be forever remembered by Brandenburg;—on + a smallish modern scale, the Bannockburn, Sempach, Marathon, of + Brandenburg. [See Pauli, v. 161-169; Stenzel, ii. 335, 340-347, 354; + Kausler, <i>Atlas des plus memorables Batailles, Combats et Sieges,</i> or + <i>Atlas der merkwurdigsten Schlachten, Treffen und Belagerungen</i> + (German and French, Carlsruhe and Freiburg, 1831), p. 417, Blatt 62.] + </p> + <p> + Exploit Second was four years later; in some sort a corollary to this; and + a winding-up of the Swedish business. The Swedes, in farther prosecution + of their Louis-Fourteenth speculation, had invaded Preussen this time, and + were doing sad havoc there. It was in the dead of winter, Christmas, 1678, + more than four hundred miles off; and the Swedes, to say nothing of their + other havoc, were in a case to take Konigsberg, and ruin Prussia + altogether, if not prevented. Friedrich Wilhelm starts from Berlin, with + the opening Year, on his long march; the Horse-troops first, Foot to + follow at their swiftest; he himself (his Wife, his ever-true "Louisa," + accompanying, as her wont was) travels, towards the end, at the rate of + "sixty miles a day." He gets in still in time, finds Konigsberg unscathed. + Nay it is even said, the Swedes are extensively falling sick; having, + after a long famine, found infinite "pigs, near Insterburg," in those + remote regions, and indulged in the fresh pork overmuch. + </p> + <p> + I will not describe the subsequent manoeuvres, which would interest + nobody: enough if I say that on the 16th of January, 1679, it had become + of the highest moment for Friedrich Wilhelm to get from Carwe (Village + near Elbing) on the shore of the FRISCHE HAF, where he was, through + Konigsberg, to Gilge on the CURISCHE HAF, where the Swedes are,—in a + minimum of time. Distance, as the crow flies, is about a hundred miles; + road, which skirts the two HAFS [Pauli, v. 215-222; Stenzel, ii. 392-397.] + (wide shallow WASHES, as we should name them), is of rough quality, and + naturally circuitous. It is ringing frost to-day, and for days back:—Friedrich + Wilhelm hastily gathers all the sledges, all the horses of the district; + mounts some four thousand men in sledges; starts, with the speed of light, + in that fashion. Scours along all day, and after the intervening bit of + land, again along; awakening the ice-bound silences. Gloomy Frische Haf, + wrapt in its Winter cloud-coverlids, with its wastes of tumbled sand, its + poor frost-bound fishing-hamlets, pine-hillocks,—desolate-looking, + stern as Greenland or more so, says Busching, who travelled there in + winter-time, [Busching's <i>Beitrage</i> (Halle, 1789), vi. 160.]—hears + unexpected human noises, and huge grinding and trampling; the four + thousand, in long fleet of sledges, scouring across it, in that manner. + All day they rush along,—out of the rimy hazes of morning into the + olive-colored clouds of evening again,—with huge loud-grinding + rumble;—and do arrive in time at Gilge. A notable streak of things, + shooting across those frozen solitudes, in the New-Year, 1679;—little + short of Karl Gustav's feat, which we heard of, in the other or Danish end + of the Baltic, twenty years ago, when he took Islands without ships. + </p> + <p> + This Second Exploit—suggested or not by that prior one of Karl + Gustav on the ice—is still a thing to be remembered by Hohenzollerns + and Prussians. The Swedes were beaten here, on Friedrich Wilhelm's rapid + arrival; were driven into disastrous rapid retreat Northward; which they + executed, in hunger and cold; fighting continually, like Northern bears, + under the grim sky; Friedrich Wilhelm sticking to their skirts,—holding + by their tail, like an angry bear-ward with steel whip in his hand. A + thing which, on the small scale, reminds one of Napoleon's experiences. + Not till Napoleon's huge fighting-flight, a hundred and thirty-four years + after, did I read of such a transaction in those parts. The Swedish + invasion of Preussen has gone utterly to ruin. + </p> + <p> + And this, then, is the end of Sweden, and its bad neighborhood on these + shores, where it has tyrannously sat on our skirts so long? Swedish + Pommern the Elector already had: last year, coming towards it ever since + the Exploit of Fehrbellin, he had invaded Swedish Pommern; had besieged + and taken Stettin, nay Stralsund too, where Wallenstein had failed;—cleared + Pommern altogether of its Swedish guests. Who had tried next in Preussen, + with what luck we see. Of Swedish Pommern the Elector might now say: + "Surely it is mine; again mine, as it long was; well won a second time, + since the first would not do!" But no:—Louis XIV. proved a gentleman + to his Swedes. Louis, now that the Peace of Nimwegen had come, and only + the Elector of Brandenburg was still in harness, said steadily, though + anxious enough to keep well with the Elector: "They are my allies, these + Swedes; it was on my bidding they invaded you: can I leave them in such a + pass? It must not be!" So Pommern had to be given back. A miss which was + infinitely grievous to Friedrich Wilhelm. The most victorious Elector + cannot hit always, were his right never so good. + </p> + <p> + Another miss which he had to put up with, in spite of his rights, and his + good services, was that of the Silesian Duchies. The Heritage-Fraternity + with Liegnitz had at length, in 1675, come to fruit. The last Duke of + Liegnitz was dead: Duchies of Liegnitz, of Brieg, Wohlau, are + Brandenburg's, if there were right done! But Kaiser Leopold in the scarlet + stockings will not hear of Heritage-Fraternity. "Nonsense!" answers Kaiser + Leopold: "A thing suppressed at once, ages ago; by Imperial power: flat + ZERO of a thing at this time;—and you, I again bid you, return me + your Papers upon it!" This latter act of duty Friedrich Wilhelm would not + do; but continued insisting. [Pauli, v. 321.] "Jagerndorf at least, O + Kaiser of the world," said he; "Jagerndorf, there is no color for your + keeping that!" To which the Kaiser again answers, "Nonsense!"—and + even falls upon astonishing schemes about it, as we shall see;—but + gives nothing. Ducal Preussen is sovereign, Cleve is at Peace, + Hinter-Pommern ours;—this Elector has conquered much: but the + Silesian Heritages and Vor-Pommern, and some other things, he will have to + do without. Louis XIV., it is thought, once offered to get him made King; + [Ib. vii. 215.] but that he declined for the present. + </p> + <p> + His married and domestic life is very fine and human; especially with that + Oranien-Nassau Princess, who was his first Wife (1646-1667); Princess + Louisa of Nassau-Orange; Aunt to our own Dutch William, King William III., + in time coming. An excellent wise Princess; from whom came the Orange + Heritages, which afterwards proved difficult to settle:—Orange was + at last exchanged for the small Principality of Neufchatel in Switzerland, + which is Prussia's ever since. "Oranienburg (ORANGE-BURG)," a Royal + Country-house, still standing, some twenty miles northwards from Berlin, + was this Louisa's place: she had trimmed it up into a little jewel, of the + Dutch type,—potherb gardens, training-schools for young girls, and + the like;—a favorite abode of hers, when she was at liberty for + recreation. But her life was busy and earnest: she was helpmate, not in + name only, to an ever-busy man. They were married young; a marriage of + love withal. Young Friedrich Wilhelm's courtship, wedding in Holland; the + honest trustful walk and conversation of the two Sovereign Spouses, their + journeyings together, their mutual hopes, fears and manifold vicissitudes; + till Death, with stern beauty, shut it in:—all is human, true and + wholesome in it; interesting to look upon, and rare among sovereign + persons. + </p> + <p> + Not but that he had his troubles with his womankind. Even with this his + first Wife, whom he loved truly, and who truly loved him, there were + scenes; the Lady having a judgment of her own about everything that + passed, and the Man being choleric withal. Sometimes, I have heard, "he + would dash his hat at her feet," saying symbolically, "Govern you, then, + Madam! Not the Kurfurst-Hat; a Coif is my wear, it seems!" [Forster, <i>Friedrich + Wilhelm I. Konig von Preussen</i> (Potsdam, 1834), i. 177.] Yet her + judgment was good; and he liked to have it on the weightiest things, + though her powers of silence might halt now and then. He has been known, + on occasion, to run from his Privy-Council to her apartment, while a + complex matter was debating, to ask her opinion, hers too, before it was + decided. Excellent Louisa; Princess full of beautiful piety, good-sense + and affection; a touch of the Nassau-Heroic in her. At the moment of her + death, it is said, when speech had fled, he felt, from her hand which lay + in his, three slight, slight pressures: "Farewell!" thrice mutely spoken + in that manner,—not easy to forget in this world. [Wegfuhrer, <i>Leben + der Kurfurstin Luise</i> (Leipzig, 1838), p. 175.] + </p> + <p> + His second Wife, Dorothea,—who planted the Lindens in Berlin, and + did other husbandries, of whom we have heard, fell far short of Louisa in + many things; but not in tendency to advise, to remonstrate, and + plaintively reflect on the finished and unalterable. Dreadfully thrifty + lady, moreover; did much in dairy produce, farming of town-rates, + provision-taxes: not to speak again of that Tavern she was thought to have + in Berlin, and to draw custom to in an oblique manner! What scenes she had + with Friedrich her stepson, we have seen. "Ah, I have not my Louisa now; + to whom now shall I run for advice or help!" would the poor Kurfurst at + times exclaim. + </p> + <p> + He had some trouble, considerable trouble now and then, with mutinous + spirits in Preussen; men standing on antique Prussian franchises and + parchments; refusing to see that the same were now antiquated, + incompatible, not to say impossible, as the new Sovereign alleged; and + carrying themselves very stiffly at times. But the Hohenzollerns had been + used to such things; a Hohenzollern like this one would evidently take his + measures, soft but strong, and ever stronger to the needful pitch, with + mutinous spirits. One Burgermeister of Konigsberg, after much stroking on + the back, was at length seized in open Hall, by Electoral writ,—soldiers + having first gently barricaded the principal streets, and brought cannon + to bear upon them. This Burgermeister, seized in such brief way, lay + prisoner for life; refusing to ask his liberty, though it was thought he + might have had it on asking. [Horn, <i>Das Leben Friedrich Wilhelms des + Grossen</i> (Berlin, 1814), p. 68.] + </p> + <p> + Another gentleman, a Baron von Kalkstein, of old Teutsch-Bitter kin, of + very high ways, in the Provincial Estates (STANDE) and elsewhere, got into + lofty almost solitary opposition, and at length into mutiny proper, + against the new "Non-Polish SOVEREIGN," and flatly refused to do homage at + his accession in that new capacity. [Supra, pp. 383, et seqq.] Refused, + Kalkstein did, for his share; fled to Warsaw; and very fiercely, in a loud + manner, carried on his mutinies in the Diets and Court-Conclaves there; + his plea being, or plea for the time, "Poland is our liege lord [which it + was not always], and we cannot be transferred to you, except by our + consent asked and given," which too had been a little neglected on the + former occasion of transfer. So that the Great Elector knew not what to do + with Kalkstein; and at length (as the case was pressing) had him kidnapped + by his Ambassador at Warsaw; had him "rolled into a carpet" there, and + carried swiftly in the Ambassador's coach, in the form of luggage, over + the frontier, into his native Province, there to be judged, and, in the + end (since nothing else would serve him), to have the sentence executed, + and his head cut off. For the case was pressing! [Horn, pp. 80-82.]—These + things, especially this of Kalkstein, with a boisterous Polish Diet and + parliamentary eloquence in the rear of him, gave rise to criticism; and + required management on the part of the Great Elector. + </p> + <p> + Of all his Ancestors, our little Fritz, when he grew big, admired this + one. A man made like himself in many points. He seems really to have loved + and honored this one. In the year 1750 there had been a new Cathedral got + finished at Berlin; the ancestral bones had to be shifted over from the + vaults of the old one,—the burying-place ever since Joachim II., + that Joachim who drew his sword on Alba. "King Friedrich, with some + attendants, witnessed the operation, January, 1750. When the Great + Kurfurst's coffin came, he made them open it; gazed in silence on the + features for some time, which were perfectly recognizable; laid his hand + on the hand long dead, and said, <i>'Messieurs, celui-ci a fait de grandes + choses</i> (This one did a great work)!'" [See Preuss, i. 270.] + </p> + <p> + He died 29th April, 1688;—looking with intense interest upon Dutch + William's preparations to produce a Glorious Revolution in this Island; + being always of an ardent Protestant feeling, and a sincerely religious + man. Friedrich, Crown-Prince, age then thirty-one, and already married a + second time, was of course left Chief Heir;—who, as we see, has not + declined the Kingship, when a chance for it offered. There were four + Half-brothers of Friedrich, too, who got apanages, appointments. They had + at one time confidently looked for much more, their Mother being busy; but + were obliged to be content, and conform to the GERA BOND and fundamental + Laws of the Country. They are entitled Margraves; two of whom left + children, Margraves of Brandenburg-Schwedt, HEERMEISTERS (Head of the + Malta-Knighthood) at Sonnenburg, Statthalters in Magdeburg, or I know not + what; whose names turn up confusedly in the Prussian Books; and, except as + temporary genealogical puzzles, are not of much moment to the Foreign + reader. Happily there is nothing else in the way of Princes of the Blood, + in our little Friedrich's time; and happily what concern he had with + these, or how he was related to them, will not be abstruse to us, if + occasion rise. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIX. — KING FRIEDRICH I. AGAIN. + </h2> + <p> + We said the Great Elector never could work his Silesian Duchies out of + Kaiser Leopold's grip: to all his urgencies the little Kaiser in red + stockings answered only in evasions, refusals; and would quit nothing. We + noticed also what quarrels the young Electoral Prince, Friedrich, + afterwards King, had got into with his Stepmother; suddenly feeling + poisoned after dinner, running to his Aunt at Cassel, coming back on + treaty, and the like. These are two facts which the reader knows: and out + of these two grew a third, which it is fit he should know. + </p> + <p> + In his last years, the Great Elector, worn out with labor, and harassed + with such domestic troubles over and above, had evidently fallen much + under his Wife's management; cutting out large apanages (clear against the + GERA BOND) for her children;—longing probably for quiet in his + family at any price. As to the poor young Prince, negotiated back from + Cassel, he lived remote, and had fallen into open disfavor,—with a + very ill effect upon his funds, for one thing. His father kept him + somewhat tight on the money-side, it is alleged; and he had rather a turn + for spending money handsomely. He was also in some alarm about the + proposed apanages to his Half-brothers, the Margraves above mentioned, of + which there were rumors going. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOW AUSTRIA SETTLED THE SILESIAN CLAIMS. + </h2> + <p> + Now in these circumstances the Austrian Court, who at this time (1685) + greatly needed the Elector's help against Turks and others, and found him + very urgent about these Silesian Duchies of his, fell upon what I must + call a very extraordinary shift for getting rid of the Silesian question. + "Serene Highness," said they, by their Ambassador at Berlin, "to end these + troublesome talks, and to liquidate all claims, admissible and + inadmissible, about Silesia, the Imperial Majesty will give you an actual + bit of Territory, valuable, though not so large as you expected!" The + Elector listens with both ears: What Territory, then? The "Circle of + Schwiebus," hanging on the northwestern edge of Silesia, contiguous to the + Elector's own Dominions in these Frankfurt-on-Oder regions: this the + generous Imperial Majesty proposes to give in fee-simple to Friedrich + Wilhelm, and so to end the matter. Truly a most small patch of Territory + in comparison; not bigger than an English Rutlandshire, to say nothing of + soil and climate! But then again it was an actual patch of territory; not + a mere parchment shadow of one: this last was a tempting point to the old + harassed Elector. Such friendly offer they made him, I think, in 1685, at + the time they were getting 8,000 of his troops to march against the Turks + for them; a very needful service at the moment. "By the bye, do not march + through Silesia, you!—Or march faster!" said the cautious Austrians + on this occasion: "Other roads will answer better than Silesia!" said + they. [Pauli, v. 327, 332.] Baron Freytag, their Ambassador at Berlin, had + negotiated the affair so far: "Circle of Schwiebus," said Freytag, "and + let us have done with these thorny talks!" + </p> + <p> + But Baron Freytag had been busy, in the mean while, with the young Prince; + secretly offering Sympathy, counsel, help; of all which the poor Prince + stood in need enough. "We will help you in that dangerous matter of the + Apanages," said Freytag; "Help you in all things,"—I suppose he + would say,—"necessary pocket-money is not a thing your Highness need + want!" And thus Baron Freytag, what is very curious, had managed to + bargain beforehand with the young Prince, That directly on coming to + power, he would give up Schwiebus again, SHOULD the offer of Schwiebus be + accepted by Papa. To which effect Baron Freytag held a signed Bond, duly + executed by the young man, before Papa had concluded at all. Which is very + curious indeed!— + </p> + <p> + Poor old Papa, worn out with troubles, accepted Schwiebus in liquidation + of all claims (8th April, 1686), and a few days after set his men on march + against the Turks:—and, exactly two months beforehand, on the 8th of + February last, the Prince had signed HIS secret engagement, That Schwiebus + should be a mere phantasm to Papa; that he, the Prince, would restore it + on his accession. Both these singular Parchments, signed, sealed and done + in the due legal form, lay simultaneously in Freytag's hand; and probably + enough they exist yet, in some dusty corner, among the solemn sheepskins + of the world. This is literally the plan hit upon by an Imperial Court, to + assist a young Prince in his pecuniary and other difficulties, and get rid + of Silesian claims. Plan actually not unlike that of swindling + money-lenders to a young gentleman in difficulties, and of manageable + turn, who has got into their hands. + </p> + <p> + The Great Elector died two years after; Schwiebus then in his hand. The + new Elector, once instructed as to the nature of the affair, refused to + give up Schwiebus; [19th September, 1689 Pauli, vii. 74.] declared the + transaction a swindle:—and in fact, for seven years more, retained + possession of Schwiebus. But the Austrian Court insisted, with emphasis, + at length with threats (no insuperable pressure from Louis, or the Turks, + at this time); the poor cheated Elector had, at last, to give up + Schwiebus, in terms of his promise. [31st December, 1694.] He took act + that it had been a surreptitious transaction, palmed upon him while + ignorant, and while without the least authority or power to make such a + promise; that he was not bound by it, nor would be, except on compulsion + thus far: and as to binding Brandenburg by it, how could he, at that + period of his history, bind Brandenburg? Brandenburg was not then his to + bind, any more than China was. + </p> + <p> + His Raths had advised Friedrich against giving up Schwiebus in that + manner. But his answer is on record: "I must, I will and shall keep my own + word. But my rights on Silesia, which I could not, and do not in these + unjust circumstances, compromise, I leave intact for my posterity to + prosecute. If God and the course of events order it no otherwise than now, + we must be content. But if God shall one day send the opportunity, those + that come after me will know what they have to do in such case." [Pauli, + vii. 150.] And so Schwiebus was given up, the Austrians paying back what + Brandenburg had laid out in improving it, "250,000 GULDEN (25,000 + pounds);"—and the Hand of Power had in this way, finally as it + hoped, settled an old troublesome account of Brandenburg's. Settled the + Silesian-Duchies Claim, by the temporary Phantasm of a Gift of Schwiebus. + That is literally the Liegnitz-Jagerndorf case; and the reader is to note + it and remember it. For it will turn up again in History. The Hand of + Power is very strong: but a stronger may perhaps get hold of its knuckles + one day, at an advantageous time, and do a feat upon it. + </p> + <p> + The "eventual succession to East Friesland," which had been promised by + the Reich, some ten years ago, to the Great Elector, "for what he had done + against the Turks, and what he had suffered from those Swedish Invasions, + in the Common Cause:" this shadow of Succession, the Kaiser now said, + should not be haggled with any more; but be actually realized, and the + Imperial sanction to it now given,—effect to follow IF the Friesland + Line died out. Let this be some consolation for the loss of Schwiebus and + your Silesian Duchies. Here in Friesland is the ghost of a coming + possession; there in Schwiebus was the ghost of a going one: phantasms you + shall not want for; but the Hand of Power parts not with its realities, + however come by. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HIS REAL CHARACTER. + </h2> + <p> + Poor Friedrich led a conspicuous life as Elector and King; but no public + feat he did now concerns us like this private one of Schwiebus. + Historically important, this, and requiring to be remembered, while so + much else demands mere oblivion from us. He was a spirited man; did + soldierings, fine Siege of Bonn (July-October, 1689), sieges and + campaignings, in person,—valiant in action, royal especially in + patience there,—during that Third War of Louis-Fourteenth's, the + Treaty-of-Ryswick one. All through the Fourth, or Spanish Succession-War, + his Prussian Ten-Thousand, led by fit generals, showed eminently what + stuff they were made of. Witness Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau (still a YOUNG + Dessauer) on the field of Blenheim;—Leopold had the right wing + there, and saved Prince Eugene who was otherwise blown to pieces, while + Marlborough stormed and conquered on the left. Witness the same Dessauer + on the field of Hochstadt the year before, [Varnhagen von Ense, <i>Biographische + Denkmale</i> (Berlin, 1845), ii, 155.] how he managed the retreat there. + Or see him at the Bridge of Cassano (1705); in the Lines of Turin (1706); + [<i> Des weltheruhnden Furstens Leopoldi von Anhult-Dessau Leben und + Thaten</i> (Leipzig, 1742, anonymous, by one MICHAEL RANFFT), pp. 53, 61.] + wherever hot service was on hand. At Malplaquet, in those murderous + inexpugnable French Lines, bloodiest of obstinate Fights (upwards of + thirty thousand left on the ground), the Prussians brag that it was they + who picked their way through a certain peat-bog, reckoned impassable; and + got fairly in upon the French wing,—to the huge comfort of + Marlborough, and little Eugene his brisk comrade on that occasion. + Marlborough knew well the worth of these Prussian troops, and also how to + stroke his Majesty into continuing them in the field. + </p> + <p> + He was an expensive King, surrounded by cabals, by Wartenbergs male and + female, by whirlpools of intrigues, which, now that the game is over, + become very forgettable. But one finds he was a strictly honorable man; + with a certain height and generosity of mind, capable of other nobleness + than the upholstery kind. He had what we may call a hard life of it; did + and suffered a good deal in his day and generation, not at all in a + dishonest or unmanful manner. In fact, he is quite recognizably a + Hohenzollern,—with his back half broken. Readers recollect that sad + accident: how the Nurse, in one of those headlong journeys which his + Father and Mother were always making, let the poor child fall or jerk + backward; and spoiled him much, and indeed was thought to have killed him, + by that piece of inattention. He was not yet Hereditary Prince, he was + only second son: but the elder died; and he became Elector, King; and had + to go with his spine distorted,—distortion not glaringly + conspicuous, though undeniable;—and to act the Hohenzollern SO. Nay + who knows but it was this very jerk, and the half-ruin of his nervous + system,—this doubled wish to be beautiful, and this crooked back + capable of being hid or decorated into straightness,—that first set + the poor man on thinking of expensive ornamentalities, and Kingships in + particular? History will forgive the Nurse in that case. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps History has dwelt too much on the blind side of this expensive + King. Toland, on entering his country, was struck rather with the signs of + good administration everywhere. No sooner have you crossed the Prussian + Border, out of Westphalia, says Toland, than smooth highways, well-tilled + fields, and a general air of industry and regularity, are evident: solid + milestones, brass-bound, and with brass inscription, tell the traveller + where he is; who finds due guidance of finger-posts, too, and the blessing + of habitable inns. The people seem all to be busy, diligently occupied; + villages reasonably swept and whitewashed;—never was a better set of + Parish Churches; whether new-built or old, they are all in brand-new + repair. The contrast with Westphalia is immediate and great; but indeed + that was a sad country, to anybody but a patient Toland, who knows the + causes of phenomena. No inns there, except of the naturally savage sort. + "A man is very happy if he finds clean straw to sleep on, without + expecting sheets or coverings; let him readily dispense with plates, forks + and napkins, if he can get anything to eat.... He must be content to have + the cows, swine and poultry for his fellow-lodgers, and to go in at the + same passage that the smoke comes out at, for there's no other vent for it + but the door; which makes foreigners commonly say that the people of + Westphalia enter their houses by the chimney." And observe withal: "This + is the reason why their beef and hams are so finely prepared and ripened; + for the fireplace being backwards, the smoke must spread over all the + house before it gets to the door; which makes everything within of a + russet or sable color, not excepting the hands and faces of the meaner + sort." [<i>An Account of the Courts of Prussia and Hanover,</i> by Mr. + Toland (cited already), p. 4.] If Prussia yield to Westphalia in ham, in + all else she is strikingly superior. + </p> + <p> + He founded Universities, this poor King; University of Halle; Royal + Academy of Berlin, Leibnitz presiding: he fought for Protestantism;—did + what he could for the cause of Cosmos VERSUS Chaos, after his fashion. The + magnificences of his Charlottenburgs, Oranienburgs and numerous + Country-houses make Toland almost poetic. An affable kindly man withal, + though quick of temper; his word sacred to him. A man of many troubles, + and acquainted with "the infinitely little (L'INFINIMENT PETIT)," as his + Queen termed it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XX. — DEATH OF KING FRIEDRICH I. + </h2> + <p> + Old King Friedrich I. had not much more to do in the world, after + witnessing the christening of his Grandson of like name. His leading forth + or sending forth of troops, his multiplex negotiations, solemn + ceremonials, sad changes of ministry, sometimes transacted "with tears," + are mostly ended; the ever-whirling dust-vortex of intrigues, of which he + has been the centre for a five-and-twenty years, is settling down finally + towards everlasting rest. No more will Marlborough come and dexterously + talk him over,—proud to "serve as cupbearer," on occasion, to so + high a King—for new bodies of men to help in the next campaign: we + have ceased to be a King worthy of such a cupbearer, and Marlborough's + campaigns too are all ended. + </p> + <p> + Much is ended. They are doing the sorrowful Treaty of Utrecht; Louis XIV. + himself is ending; mournfully shrunk into the corner, with his Missal and + his Maintenon; looking back with just horror on Europe four times set + ablaze for the sake of one poor mortal in big periwig, to no purpose. + Lucky if perhaps Missal-work, orthodox litanies, and even Protestant + Dragonnades, can have virtue to wipe out such a score against a man! + Unhappy Louis: the sun-bright gold has become dim as copper; we rose in + storms, and we are setting in watery clouds. The Kaiser himself (Karl VI., + Leopold's Son, Joseph I.'s younger Brother) will have to conform to this + Treaty of Utrecht: what other possibility for him? + </p> + <p> + The English, always a wonderful Nation, fought and subsidied from side to + side of Europe for this Spanish-Succession business; fought ten years, + such fighting as they never did before or since, under "John Duke of + Marlborough," who, as is well known, "beat the French thorough and + thorough." French entirely beaten at last, not without heroic difficulty + and as noble talent as was ever shown in diplomacy and war, are ready to + do your will in all things; in this of giving up Spain, among others:—whereupon + the English turn round, with a sudden new thought, "No, we will not have + our WILL done; it shall be the other way, the way it WAS,—now that + we bethink ourselves, after all this fighting for our will!" And make + Peace on those terms, as if no war had been; and accuse the great + Marlborough of many things, of theft for one. A wonderful People; and in + their Continental Politics (which indeed consist chiefly of Subsidies) + thrice wonderful. So the Treaty of Utrecht is transacting itself; which + that of Rastadt, on the part of Kaiser and Empire, unable to get on + without Subsidies, will have to follow: and after such quantities of + powder burnt, and courageous lives wasted, general AS-YOU-WERE is the + result arrived at. + </p> + <p> + Old Friedrich's Ambassadors are present at Utrecht, jangling and pleading + among the rest; at Berlin too the despatch of business goes lumbering on; + but what thing, in the shape of business, at Utrecht or at Berlin, is of + much importance to the old man? Seems as if Europe itself were waxing dim, + and sinking to stupid sleep,—as we, in our poor royal person, full + surely are. A Crown has been achieved, and diamond buttons worth 1,500 + pounds apiece; but what is a Crown, and what are buttons, after all?—I + suppose the tattle and SINGERIES of little Wilhelmina, whom he would spend + whole days with; this and occasional visits to a young Fritzchen's cradle, + who is thriving moderately, and will speak and do aperies one day,—are + his main solacements in the days that are passing. Much of this + Friedrich's life has gone off like the smoke of fire-works, has faded + sorrowfully, and proved phantasmal. Here is an old Autograph Note, written + by him at the side of that Cradle, and touching on a slight event there; + which, as it connects two venerable Correspondents and their Seventeenth + Century with a grand Phenomenon of the Eighteenth, we will insert here. + The old King addresses his older Mother-in-law, famed Electress Sophie of + Hanover, in these terms (spelling corrected):— + </p> + <p> + "CHARLOTTENBURG, den 30 August, 1712. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ew. Churf. Durchlaucht werden sich zweifelsohne mit uns +erfreuen, dass der kleine Printz (PRINZ) Fritz nuhnmero (NUNMEHR) 6 +Zehne (ZAHNE) hat und ohne die geringste incommoditet (-TAT). Daraus +kann man auch die PREDESTINATION sehen, dass alle seine Bruder haben +daran sterben mussen, dieser aber bekommt sie ohne Muhe wie seine +Schwester. Gott erhalte ihn uns noch lange zum trohst (TROST), in dessen +Schutz ich dieselbe ergebe und lebenslang verbleibe, + + "Ew. Churf. Durchl. gehorsamster Diener und treuer Sohn, +</pre> + <p> + "FRIEDRICH R." + </p> + <p> + [Preuss, <i>Friedrich der Grosse (Historische Skizze,</i> Berlin, 1838), + p. 380.] + </p> + <p> + Of which this is the literal English:—"Your Electoral Serenity will + doubtless rejoice with us that the little Prince Fritz has now got his + sixth tooth without the least INCOMMODITE. And therein we may trace a + pre-destination, inasmuch as his Brothers died of teething [<i>Not of + cannon-sound and weight of head-gear, then, your Majesty thinks? That were + a painful thought?</i>]; and this one, as his Sister [WILHELMINA] did, + gets them [THE TEETH] without trouble. God preserve him long for a comfort + to us:—to whose protection I commit DIESELBE [<i>Your Electoral + Highness, in the third person</i>], and remain lifelong, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your Electoral Highness's most obedient Servant and true Son, +</pre> + <p> + "FRIEDRICH REX." + </p> + <p> + One of Friedrich Rex's worst adventures was his latest; commenced some + five or six years ago (1708), and now not far from terminating. He was a + Widower, of weakly constitution, towards fifty: his beautiful ingenious + "Serena," with all her Theologies, pinch-of-snuff Coronations and other + earthly troubles, was dead; and the task of continuing the Hohenzollern + progeny, given over to Friedrich Wilhelm the Prince Royal, was thought to + be in good hands. Majesty Friedrich with the weak back had retired, in + 1708, to Karlsbad, to rest from his cares; to take the salutary waters, + and recruit his weak nerves a little. Here, in the course of confidential + promenadings, it was hinted, it was represented to him by some pickthank + of a courtier, That the task of continuing the Hohenzollern progeny did + not seem to prosper in the present good hands; that Sophie Dorothee, + Princess Royal, had already borne two royal infants which had speedily + died: that in fact it was to be gathered from the medical men, if not from + their words, then from their looks and cautious innuendoes, that Sophie + Dorothee, Princess Royal, would never produce a Prince or even Princess + that would live; which task, therefore, did now again seem to devolve upon + his Majesty, if his Majesty had not insuperable objections? Majesty had no + insuperable objections; old Majesty listened to the flattering tale; and, + sure enough, he smarted for it in a signal manner. + </p> + <p> + By due industry, a Princess was fixed upon for Bride, Princess Sophie + Louisa of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, age now twenty-four: she was got as Wife, + and came home to Berlin in all pomp;—but good came not with her to + anybody there. Not only did she bring the poor old man no children, which + was a fault to be overlooked, considering Sophie Dorothee's success; but + she brought a querulous, weak and self-sufficient female humor; found his + religion heterodox,—he being Calvinist, and perhaps even + lax-Calvinist, she Lutheran as the Prussian Nation is, and strict to the + bone:—heterodox wholly, to the length of no salvation possible; and + times rose on the Berlin Court such as had never been seen before! "No + salvation possible, says my Dearest? Hah! And an innocent Court-Mask or + Dancing Soiree is criminal in the sight of God and of the Queen? And we + are children of wrath wholly, and a frivolous generation; and the Queen + will see us all—!" + </p> + <p> + The end was, his Majesty, through sad solitary days and nights, repented + bitterly that he had wedded such a She-Dominic; grew quite estranged from + her; the poor She-Dominic giving him due return in her way,—namely, + living altogether in her own apartments, upon orthodoxy, jealousy and + other bad nourishment. Till at length she went quite mad; and, except the + due medical and other attendants, nobody saw her, or spoke of her, at + Berlin. Was this a cheering issue of such an adventure to the poor old + expensive Gentleman? He endeavored to digest in silence the bitter morsel + he had cooked for himself; but reflected often, as an old King might, What + dirt have I eaten! + </p> + <p> + In this way stands that matter in the Schloss of Berlin, when little + Friedrich, who will one day be called the Great, is born. Habits of the + expensive King, hours of rising, modes of dressing, and so forth, are to + be found in Pollnitz; [Pollnitz, <i>Memoiren zur Lebens-und + Regierungs-Geschichte der Vier letzten Regenten des Preussischen Staats</i> + (Berlin, 1791). A vague, inexact, but not quite uninstructive or + uninteresting Book: Printed also in FRENCH, which was the Original, same + place and time.] but we charitably omit them all. Even from foolish + Pollnitz a good eye will gather, what was above intimated, that this + feeble-backed, heavy-laden old King was of humane and just disposition; + had dignity in his demeanor; had reticence, patience; and, though + hot-tempered like all the Hohenzollerns, that he bore himself like a + perfect gentleman for one thing; and tottered along his high-lying + lonesome road not in an unmanful manner at all. Had not his nerves been + damaged by that fall in infancy, who knows but we might have had something + else to read of him than that he was regardless of expense in this world! + </p> + <p> + His last scene, of date February, 1713, is the tragical ultimatum of that + fine Karlsbad adventure of the Second marriage,—Third marriage, in + fact, though the First, anterior to "Serena," is apt to be forgotten, + having lasted short while, and produced only a Daughter, not memorable + except by accident. This Third marriage, which had brought so many sorrows + to him, proved at length the death of the old man. For he sat one morning, + in the chill February days of the Year 1713, in his Apartment, as usual; + weak of nerves, but thinking no special evil; when, suddenly with huge + jingle, the glass door of his room went to sherds; and there rushed in—bleeding + and dishevelled, the fatal "White Lady" (WEISSE FRAU), who is understood + to walk that Schloss at Berlin, and announce Death to the Royal + inhabitants. Majesty had fainted, or was fainting. "Weisse Frau? Oh no, + your Majesty!"—not that; but indeed something almost worse.—Mad + Queen, in her Apartments, had been seized, that day, when half or quarter + dressed; with unusual orthodoxy or unusual jealousy. Watching her + opportunity, she had whisked into the corridor, in extreme deshabille; and + gone, like the wild roe, towards Majesty's Suite of Rooms; through + Majesty's glass door, like a catapult; and emerged as we saw,—in + petticoat and shift, with hair streaming, eyes glittering, arms cut, and + the other sad trimmings. O Heaven, who could laugh? There are tears due to + Kings and to all men. It was deep misery; deep enough "SIN and misery," as + Calvin well says, on the one side and the other! The poor old King was + carried to bed; and never rose again, but died in a few days. The date of + the WEISSE FRAU'S death, one might have hoped, was not distant either; but + she lasted, in her sad state, for above twenty years coming. + </p> + <p> + Old King Friedrich's death-day was 25th February, 1713; the unconscious + little Grandson being then in his Fourteenth month. To whom, after this + long, voyage round the world, we now gladly return. + </p> + <p> + By way of reinforcement to any recollection the reader may have of these + Twelve Hohenzollern Kurfursts, I will append a continuous list of them, + with here and there an indication. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE TWELVE HOHENZOLLERN ELECTORS. + </h2> + <p> + 1. FRIEDRICH I. (as Burggraf, was Friedrich VI.): born, it is inferred, + 1372 (Rentsch, p. 350); accession, 18th April, 1417; died 21st September, + 1440. Had come to Brandenburg, 1412, as Statthalter. The Quitzows and + HEAVY PEG. + </p> + <p> + 2. FRIEDRICH II.: 19th November, 1413; 21st September, 1440; 10th + February, 1472. Friedrich IRONTEETH; tames the Berlin Burghers. Spoke + Polish, was to have been Polish King. Cannon-shot upon his dinner-table + shatters his nerves so, that he abdicates, and soon dies. JOHANNES + ALCHYMISTA his elder Brother; ALBERT ACHILLES his younger. + </p> + <p> + 3. ALBERT (Achilles): 24th November, 1414; 10th February, 1471; 11th + March, 1486. Third son of Friedrich I.; is lineal Progenitor of all the + rest. Eldest Son, JOHANN CICERO, follows as Kurfurst; a Younger Son, + FRIEDRICH (by a different Mother), got Culmbach, and produced the Elder + Line there. (See Genealogical Diagram.) + </p> + <p> + 4. JOHANN (Cicero): 2d August, 1455; 11th March, 1486; 9th January, 1499. + Big John. Friedrich of Culmbach's elder (Half-) Brother. + </p> + <p> + 5. JOACHIM I.: 21st February, 1484; 9th January, 1499; 11th July, 1535. + Loud in the Reformation times; finally declares peremptorily for the + Conservative side. Wife (Sister of Christian II. of Denmark) runs away. + </p> + <p> + Younger Brother Albert Kur-Mainz, whom Hutten celebrated; born 1490; + Archbishop of Magdeburg and Halberstadt 1513, of Maim 1514; died 1545: set + Tetzel, and the Indulgence, on foot. + </p> + <p> + 6. JOACHIM II. (Hector): 9th January, 1505; 11th July, 1535; 3d January, + 1571. Sword drawn on Alba once. ERBVERBRUDERUNG with Liegnitz. Staircase + at Grimnitz. A weighty industrious Kurfurst. + </p> + <p> + Declared himself Protestant, 1539. First Wife (mother of his Successor) + was Daughter to Duke George of Saxony, Luther's "If it rained Duke + Georges."—Johann of Custrin was a younger Brother of his: died ten + days after Joachim; left no Son. + </p> + <p> + 7. JOHANN GEORGE: 11th September, 1525; 3d January, 1571; 8th January, + 1598. Cannon-shot, at Siege of Wittenberg, upon Kaiser Karl and him. Gera + Bond. + </p> + <p> + Married a Silesian Duke of Liegnitz's Daughter (result of the + ERBVERBRUDERUNG there,—Antea, p. 231). Had twenty-three children. It + was to him that Baireuth and Anspach fell home: he settled them on his + second and his third sons, Christian and Joachim Ernst; founders of the + New Line of Baireuth and Anspach. (See Genealogical Diagram.) + </p> + <p> + 8. JOACHIM FRIEDRICH: 27th January, 1546; 8th January, 1598; 18th July, + 1608. Archbishop of Magdeburg first of all,—to keep the place + filled. Joachimsthal School at old Castle of Grimnitz. Very vigilant for + Preussen; which was near falling due. + </p> + <p> + Two of his Younger Sons, Johann George (1577-1624) to whom he gave + JAGERNDORF, and that Archbishop of Magdeburg, who was present in Tilly's + storm, got both wrecked in the Thirty-Years War;—not without + results, in the Jagerndorf case. + </p> + <p> + 9. JOHANN SIGISMUND: 8th November, 1572; 18th July, 1608; 23d December, + 1619. Preussen: Cleve; Slap on the face to Neuburg. + </p> + <p> + 10. GEORGE WILHELM: 3d November, 1595; 22d November, 1619; 21st November, + 1640. The unfortunate of the Thirty-Years War. <i>"Que faire; ils ont des + canons!"</i> + </p> + <p> + 11. FRIEDRICH WILHELM: 6th February, 1620; 21st November, 1640; 29th + April, 1688. The Great Elector. + </p> + <p> + 12. FRIEDRICH III.: 1st July, 1657; 29th April, 1688; 25th February, 1713. + First King (18th January, 1701). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GENEALOGICAL DIAGRAM: THE TWO CULMBACH LINES. + </h2> + <h3> + 3d KURFURST (1471-1486) ALBERT ACHILLES. ELDER CULMBACH LINE. + </h3> + <p> + FRIEDRICH, second son of Kurfurst Albert Achilles, younger Brother of + Johannes Cicero, got CULMBACH: Anspach first, then Baireuth on the death + of a younger Brother. Born 1460; got Anspach 1486; Baireuth 1495; followed + Max in his VENETIAN CAMPAIGN, 1508; fell IMBECILE 1515; died 1536. Had a + Polish Wife; from whom came interests in Hungary as well as Poland to his + children. Friedrich had Three notable Sons, + </p> + <p> + 1. CASIMIR, who got BAIREUTH (1515): born 1481; died 1527. Very truculent + in the Peasants' War. ALBERT ALEIBIADES: a man of great mark in his day + (1522-1557); never married. Two Sisters, with one of whom he took shelter + at last; no Brother. + </p> + <p> + 2. GEORGE THE PIOUS, who got ANSPACH (1515): born 1484; died 1543; got + Jagerndorf, by purchase, from his Mother's Hungarian connection, 1524. + Protestant declared, 1528; and makes honorable figure in the Histories + thenceforth. The George of Kaiser Karl's <i>"Nit-Kop-ab."</i> One Son, + GEORGE FRIEDRICH; born 1539; went to administer Preussen when Cousin + became incompetent; died 1603. Heir to his Father in ANSPACH and + JAGERNDORF; also to his Cousin Alcibiades in BAIREUTH. Had been left a + minor (boy of 4, as the reader sees); Alcibiades his Guardian for a little + while: from which came great difficulties, and unjust ruin would have + come, had not Kurfurst Joachim I. been helpful and vigorous in his behalf. + George Friedrich got at length most of his Territories into hand: Anspach + and Baireuth unimpaired, Jagerndorf too, except that Ratibor and Oppeln + were much eaten into by the Imperial chicaneries in that quarter. Died + 1603, without children;—upon which his Territories all reverted to + the main Brandenburg line, namely, to Johann George Seventh Kurfurst, or + his representatives, according to the GERA BOND; and the "Elder Culmbach + Line" had ended in this manner. + </p> + <p> + 3. ALBERT; born 1490; Hochmeister of the Teutsch Ritters, 1511; declares + himself Protestant, and Duke of Prussia, 1525; died 1568. One Son, ALB + declared MELANCHOLIC 1573; died 1618. His Cousin George Friedrich + administered for him till 1603; after which Joachim Friedrich; and then, + lastly, Joachim Friedrich's Son, Johann Sigismund the Ninth Kurfurst. Had + married the Heiress of Cleve (whence came a celebrated Cleve Controversy + in after-times). No son; a good many daughters; eldest of whom was married + to Kurfurst Johann Sigismund; from her came the controverted Cleve + Property. + </p> + <p> + 7th KURFURST (1571-1598), JOHANN GEORGE. YOUNGER CULMBACH LINE. + </p> + <p> + Kurfurst Johann George settled Baireuth and Anspach on Two of his Younger + Sons, who are Founders of the "Younger Culmbach Line" (SPLIT Line or Pair + of LINES). Jagerndorf the new Kurfurst, Joachim Friedrich, kept; settled + it on one of his younger sons. Here are the two new Founders in Baireuth + and Anspach, and some indication of their "Lines," so far as important to + us at present: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BAIREUTH. +</pre> + <p> + (1.) CHRISTIAN, second son of Kurfurst Johann George: born 1581; got + Baireuth 1603; died 1655. A distinguished Governor in his sphere. Had two + sons; the elder died before him, but left a son, Christian Ernst; who (2.) + succeeded, and (3.) whose son, George Wilhelm: 1644, 1655, 1712; 1678, + 1712, 1726 (are BIRTH, ACCESSION, END of these two); the latter of whom + had no son that lived. Upon which the posterity of Christian's second son + succeeded. Second son of Christian notable to us in two little ways: + FIRST, That HE, George Albert, Margraf of CULMbach, is the inscrutable + "Marquis de LULENbach" of <i>Bromley's Letters</i> (antea p. 184, let the + Commentators take comfort!); SECOND and better, That from him came our + little Wilhelmina's Husband,—as will be afterwards explained. It was + his grandson (4.) that succeeded in Baireuth, George Friedrich Karl (1688, + 1726, 1735); Father of Wilhelmina's Husband. After whom (5.) his Son + Friedrich (1711, 1735, 1763), Wilhelmina's Husband; who leaving (1763) + nothing hut a daughter, Baireuth fell to Anspach, 1769, after an old Uncle + (6.), childless, had also died. SIX Baireuth Margraves of this Line; FIVE + generations; and then to Anspach, in 1769. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ANSPACH. +</pre> + <p> + (1.) JOACHIM ERNST, third son of Kurfurst Johann George: born 1583; got + Anspach 1603; died 1625. Had military tendencies, experiences; did not + thrive as Captain of the EVANGELICAL UNION (1619-1620) when WINTER-KING + came up and THIRTY-YEARS WAR along with him. Left two sons; elder of whom, + (2.) Friedrich, nominally Sovereign, age still only eighteen, fell in the + Battle of Nordlingen (worst battle of the Thirty-Years War, 1634); and the + younger of whom, (3.) Albert, succeeded (1620, 1634, 1667), and his son, + (4.) Johann Friedrich (1654, 1667, 1686); and (5, 6, 7.) no fewer than + three grandsons,—children mostly, though entitled "sovereign"—in + a PARALLEL way (Christian Albert, 1675, 1686, 1692; George Friedrich, + 1678, 1692, 1703; Wilhelm Friedrich, 1685, 1703, 1723). Two little points + notable here also, and no third: + </p> + <p> + FIRST, That one of the grand-DAUGHTERS, full-sister of the last of these + three parallel figures, half-sister of the two former, was—Queen + Caroline, George II.'s wife, who has still some fame with us. + </p> + <p> + SECOND, That the youngest of said three grandsons, Queen Caroline's + full-brother, left a son then minor, who became major, (8.) and wedded a + Sister of our dear little Wilhelmina's, of whom we shall hear (Karl + Wilhelm Friedrich, 1712, 1723, 1757); unmomentous Margraf otherwise. His + and her one son it was, (9.) Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander (1736, + 1757, 1806), who inherited Baireuth, inherited Actress Clairon, Lady + Craven, and at Hammersmith (House once Bubb Doddington's, if that has any + charm) ended the affair. + </p> + <p> + NINE Anspach Margraves; in FIVE generations: end, 1806. + </p> + <p> + END OF BOOK III <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, +Vol. III. (of XXI.), by Thomas Carlyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II. *** + +***** This file should be named 2103-h.htm or 2103-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/0/2103/ + +Produced by D.R. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. III. (of XXI.) + Frederick The Great--The Hohenzollerns In Brandenburg--1412-1718 + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Posting Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #2103] +Release Date: March 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II. *** + + + + +Produced by D.R. Thompson + + + + + +HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH II. OF PRUSSIA + +FREDERICK THE GREAT + +By Thomas Carlyle + + + + +BOOK III. -- THE HOHENZOLLERNS IN BRANDENBURG. - 1412-1718 + + + + +Chapter I. -- KURFURST FRIEDRICH I. + +Burggraf Friedrich, on his first coming to Brandenburg, found but a cool +reception as Statthalter. [_"Johannistage"_ (24 June) "1412," he first +set foot in Brandenburg, with due escort, in due state; only Statthalter +(Viceregent) as yet: Pauli, i. 594, ii. 58; Stenzel, _Geschichte des +Preussischen Staats_ (Hamburg, 1830, 1851), i. 167-169.] He came as +the representative of law and rule; and there had been many helping +themselves by a ruleless life, of late. Industry was at a low ebb, +violence was rife; plunder, disorder everywhere; too much the habit for +baronial gentlemen to "live by the saddle," as they termed it, that is +by highway robbery in modern phrase. + +The Towns, harried and plundered to skin and bone, were glad to see +a Statthalter, and did homage to him with all their heart. But the +Baronage or Squirearchy of the country were of another mind. These, in +the late anarchies, had set up for a kind of kings in their own right: +they had their feuds; made war, made peace, levied tolls, transit-dues; +lived much at their own discretion in these solitary countries;--rushing +out from their stone towers ("walls fourteen feet thick"), to seize +any herd of "six hundred swine," any convoy of Lubeck or Hamburg +merchant-goods, that had not contented them in passing. What were +pedlers and mechanic fellows made for, if not to be plundered when +needful? Arbitrary rule, on the part of these Noble Robber-Lords! And +then much of the Crown-Domains had gone to the chief of them,--pawned +(and the pawn-ticket lost, so to speak), or sold for what trifle +of ready money was to be had, in Jobst and Company's time. To these +gentlemen, a Statthalter coming to inquire into matters was no welcome +phenomenon. Your EDLE HERR (Noble Lord) of Putlitz, Noble Lords of +Quitzow, Rochow, Maltitz and others, supreme in their grassy solitudes +this long while, and accustomed to nothing greater than themselves in +Brandenburg, how should they obey a Statthalter? + +Such was more or less the universal humor in the Squirearchy of +Brandenburg; not of good omen to Burggraf Friedrich. But the chief seat +of contumacy seemed to be among the Quitzows, Putlitzes, above spoken +of; big Squires in the district they call the Priegnitz, in the Country +of the sluggish Havel River, northwest from Berlin a fifty or forty +miles. These refused homage, very many of them; said they were +"incorporated with Bohmen;" said this and that;--much disinclined to +homage; and would not do it. Stiff surly fellows, much deficient in +discernment of what is above them and what is not:--a thick-skinned +set; bodies clad in buff leather; minds also cased in ill habits of long +continuance. + +Friedrich was very patient with them; hoped to prevail by gentle +methods. He "invited them to dinner;" "had them often at dinner for a +year or more:" but could make no progress in that way. "Who is this we +have got for a Governor?" said the noble lords privately to each other: +"A NURNBERGER TAND (Nurnberg Plaything,--wooden image, such as they +make at Nurnberg)," said they, grinning, in a thick-skinned way: "If it +rained Burggraves all the year round, none of them would come to luck +in this Country;"--and continued their feuds, toll-levyings, plunderings +and other contumacies. Seeing matters come to this pass after waiting +above a year, Burggraf Friedrich gathered his Frankish men-at-arms; +quietly made league with the neighboring Potentates, Thuringen and +others; got some munitions, some artillery together--especially one huge +gun, the biggest ever seen, "a twenty-four pounder" no less; to which +the peasants, dragging her with difficulty through the clayey roads, +gave the name of FAULE GRETE (Lazy, or Heavy Peg); a remarkable piece +of ordnance. Lazy Peg he had got from the Landgraf of Thuringen, on loan +merely; but he turned her to excellent account of his own. I have often +inquired after Lazy Peg's fate in subsequent times; but could never +learn anything distinct:--the German Dryasdust is a dull dog, and seldom +carries anything human in those big wallets of his!-- + +Equipped in this way, Burggraf Friedrich (he was not yet Kurfurst, +only coming to be) marches for the Havel Country (early days of 1414); +[Michaelis, i. 287; Stenzel, i. 168 (where, contrary to wont, is an +insignificant error or two). Pauli (ii. 58) is, as usual, lost in +water.] makes his appearance before Quitzow's strong-house of Friesack, +walls fourteen feet thick: "You Dietrich von Quitzow, are you prepared +to live as a peaceable subject henceforth: to do homage to the Laws and +me?"--"Never!" answered Quitzow, and pulled up his drawbridge. Whereupon +Heavy Peg opened upon him, Heavy Peg and other guns; and, in some +eight-and-forty hours, shook Quitzow's impregnable Friesack about his +ears. This was in the month of February, 1414, day not given: Friesack +was the name of the impregnable Castle (still discoverable in our +time); and it ought to be memorable and venerable to every Prussian man. +Burggraf Friedrich VI., not yet quite become Kurfurst Friedrich I., +but in a year's space to become so, he in person was the beneficent +operator; Heavy Peg, and steady Human Insight, these were clearly the +chief implements. + +Quitzow being settled,--for the country is in military occupation of +Friedrich and his allies, and except in some stone castle a man has no +chance,--straightway Putlitz or another mutineer, with his drawbridge +up, was battered to pieces, and his drawbridge brought slamming down. +After this manner, in an incredibly short period, mutiny was quenched; +and it became apparent to Noble Lords, and to all men, that here at +length was a man come who would have the Laws obeyed again, and could +and would keep mutiny down. + +Friedrich showed no cruelty; far the contrary. Your mutiny once ended, +and a little repented of, he is ready to be your gracious Prince again: +Fair-play and the social wine-cup, or inexorable war and Lazy Peg, it +is at your discretion which. Brandenburg submitted; hardly ever rebelled +more. Brandenburg, under the wise Kurfurst it has got, begins in a small +degree to be cosmic again, or of the domain of the gods; ceases to be +chaotic and a mere cockpit of the devils. There is no doubt but this +Friedrich also, like his ancestor Friedrich III., the First Hereditary +Burggraf, was an excellent citizen of his country: a man conspicuously +important in all German business in his time. A man setting up for no +particular magnanimity, ability or heroism, but unconsciously exhibiting +a good deal; which by degrees gained universal recognition. He did +not shine much as Reichs-Generalissimo, under Kaiser Sigismund, in his +expeditions against Zisca; on the contrary, he presided over huge defeat +and rout, once and again, in that capacity; and indeed had represented +in vain that, with such a species of militia, victory was impossible. He +represented and again represented, to no purpose; whereupon he +declined the office farther; in which others fared no better. [Hormayr, +_OEsterreichischer Plutarch_ vii. 109-158, ? Zisca.] + +The offer to be Kaiser was made him in his old days; but he wisely +declined that too. It was in Brandenburg, by what he silently founded +there, that he did his chief benefit to Germany and mankind. He +understood the noble art of governing men; had in him the justice, +clearness, valor and patience needed for that. A man of sterling +probity, for one thing. Which indeed is the first requisite in said +art:--if you will have your laws obeyed without mutiny, see well that +they be pieces of God Almighty's Law: otherwise all the artillery in the +world will not keep down mutiny. + +Friedrich "travelled much over Brandenburg;" looking into everything +with his own eyes;--making, I can well fancy, innumerable crooked +things straight. Reducing more and more that famishing dog-kennel of +a Brandenburg into a fruitful arable field. His portraits represent a +square headed, mild-looking solid gentleman, with a certain twinkle +of mirth in the serious eyes of him. Except in those Hussite wars for +Kaiser Sigismund and the Reich, in which no man could prosper, he may be +defined as constantly prosperous. To Brandenburg he was, very literally, +the blessing of blessings; redemption out of death into life. In +the ruins of that old Friesack Castle, battered down by Heavy Peg, +Antiquarian Science (if it had any eyes) might look for the tap-root of +the Prussian Nation, and the beginning of all that Brandenburg has since +grown to under the sun. + +Friedrich, in one capacity or another, presided over Brandenburg near +thirty years. He came thither first of all in 1412; was not completely +Kurfurst in his own right till 1415; nor publicly installed, "with +100,000 looking on from the roofs and windows," in Constance yonder, +till 1417,--age then some forty-five. His Brandenburg residence, when +he happened to have time for residing or sitting still, was Tangermunde, +the Castle built by Kaiser Karl IV. He died there, 21st September, 1440; +laden tolerably with years, and still better with memories of hard work +done. Rentsch guesses by good inference he was born about 1372. As I +count, he is seventh in descent from that Conrad, Burggraf Conrad I., +Cadet of Hohenzollern, who came down from the Rauhe Alp, seeking service +with Kaiser Redbeard, above two centuries ago: Conrad's generation and +six others had vanished successively from the world-theatre in that +ever-mysterious manner, and left the stage clear, when Burggraf +Friedrich the Sixth came to be First Elector. Let three centuries, let +twelve generations farther come and pass, and there will be another +still more notable Friedrich,--our little Fritz, destined to be Third +King of Prussia, officially named Friedrich II., and popularly Frederick +the Great. This First Elector is his lineal ancestor, twelve times +removed. [Rentsch, pp. 349-372; Hubner, t. 176.] + + + + +Chapter II. -- MATINEES DU ROI DE PRUSSE. + +Eleven successive Kurfursts followed Friedrich in Brandenburg. Of whom +and their births, deaths, wars, marriages, negotiations and continual +multitudinous stream of smaller or greater adventures, much has been +written, of a dreary confused nature; next to nothing of which ought to +be repeated here. Some list of their Names, with what rememberable human +feature or event (if any) still speaks to us in them, we must try to +give. Their Names, well dated, with any actions, incidents, or phases +of life, which may in this way get to adhere to them in the reader's +memory, the reader can insert, each at its right place, in the grand +Tide of European Events, or in such Picture as the reader may have +of that. Thereby with diligence he may produce for himself some faint +twilight notion of the Flight of Time in remote Brandenburg,--convince +himself that remote Brandenburg was present all along, alive after its +sort, and assisting, dumbly or otherwise, in the great World-Drama as +that went on. + +We have to say in general, the history of Brandenburg under the +Hohenzollerns has very little in it to excite a vulgar curiosity, +though perhaps a great deal to interest an intelligent one. Had it found +treatment duly intelligent;--which, however, how could it, lucky +beyond its neighbors, hope to do! Commonplace Dryasdust, and voluminous +Stupidity, not worse here than elsewhere, play their Part. + +It is the history of a State, or Social Vitality, growing from small +to great; steadily growing henceforth under guidance: and the contrast +between guidance and no-guidance, or mis-guidance, in such matters, is +again impressively illustrated there. This we see well to be the fact; +and the details of this would be of moment, were they given us: but they +are not;--how could voluminous Dryasdust give them? Then, on the other +hand, the Phenomenon is, for a long while, on so small a scale, wholly +without importance in European politics and affairs, the commonplace +Historian, writing of it on a large scale, becomes unreadable and +intolerable. Witness grandiloquent Pauli our fatal friend, with his +Eight watery Quartos; which gods and men, unless driven by necessity, +have learned to avoid! [Dr. Carl Friedrich Pauli, _Allgemeine +Preussische Staats-Geschichte_, often enough cited here.] The Phenomenon +of Brandenburg is small, remote; and the essential particulars, too +delicate for the eye of Dryasdust, are mostly wanting, drowned deep in +details of the unessential. So that we are well content, my readers and +I, to keep remote from it on this occasion. + +On one other point I must give the reader warning. A rock of offence on +which if he heedlessly strike, I reckon he will split; at least no help +of mine can benefit him till he be got off again. Alas, offences must +come; and must stand, like rocks of offence, to the shipwreck of many! +Modern Dryasdust, interpreting the mysterious ways of Divine Providence +in this Universe, or what he calls writing History, has done uncountable +havoc upon the best interests of mankind. Hapless godless dullard that +he is; driven and driving on courses that lead only downward, for him +as for us! But one could forgive him all things, compared with this +doctrine of devils which he has contrived to get established, pretty +generally, among his unfortunate fellow-creatures for the time!--I must +insert the following quotation, readers guess from what author:-- + +"In an impudent Pamphlet, forged by I know not whom, and published in +1766, under the title of _Matinees du Roi de Prusse,_ purporting to +be 'Morning Conversations' of Frederick the Great with his Nephew the +Heir-Apparent, every line of which betrays itself as false and spurious +to a reader who has made any direct or effectual study of Frederick +or his manners or affairs,--it is set forth, in the way of exordium to +these pretended royal confessions, that _'notre maison,'_ our Family +of Hohenzollern, ever since the first origin of it among the Swabian +mountains, or its first descent therefrom into the Castle and Imperial +Wardenship of Nurnberg, some six hundred years ago or more, has +consistently travelled one road, and this a very notable one. 'We, as I +myself the royal Frederick still do, have all along proceeded,' namely, +'in the way of adroit Machiavelism, as skilful gamblers in this world's +business, ardent gatherers of this world's goods; and in brief as devout +worshippers of Beelzebub, the grand regulator and rewarder of mortals +here below. Which creed we, the Hohenzollerns, have found, and I still +find, to be the true one; learn it you, my prudent Nephew, and let all +men learn it. By holding steadily to that, and working late and early in +such spirit, we are come to what you now see;--and shall advance still +farther, if it please Beelzebub, who is generally kind to those that +serve him well.' Such is the doctrine of this impudent Pamphlet; +'original Manuscripts' of which are still purchased by simple +persons,--who have then nobly offered them to me, thrice over, gratis +or nearly so, as a priceless curiosity. A new printed edition of which, +probably the fifth, has appeared within few years. Simple persons, +consider it a curious and interesting Document; rather ambiguous in +origin perhaps, but probably authentic in substance, and throwing +unexpected light on the character of Frederick whom men call the Great. +In which new light they are willing a meritorious Editor should share. + +"Who wrote that Pamphlet I know not, and am in no condition to guess. +A certain snappish vivacity (very unlike the style of Frederick whom it +personates); a wearisome grimacing, gesticulating malice and smartness, +approaching or reaching the sad dignity of what is called 'wit' in +modern times; in general the rottenness of matter, and the epigrammatic +unquiet graciosity of manner in this thing, and its elaborately INhuman +turn both of expression and of thought, are visible characteristics +of it. Thought, we said,--if thought it can be called: thought all +hamstrung, shrivelled by inveterate rheumatism, on the part of the poor +ill-thriven thinker; nay tied (so to speak, for he is of epigrammatic +turn withal), as by cross ropes, right shoulder to left foot; and forced +to advance, hobbling and jerking along, in that sad guise: not in the +way of walk, but of saltation and dance; and this towards a false not +a true aim, rather no-whither than some-whither:--Here were features +leading one to think of an illustrious Prince de Ligne as perhaps +concerned in the affair. The Bibliographical Dictionaries, producing no +evidence, name quite another person, or series of persons, [A certain +'N. de Bonneville' (afterwards a Revolutionary spiritual-mountebank, for +some time) is now the favorite Name;--proves, on investigation, to be +an impossible one. Barbier _(Dictionnaire des Anonymes),_ in a helpless +doubting manner, gives still others.] highly unmemorable otherwise. +Whereupon you proceed to said other person's acknowledged WORKS (as they +are called); and find there a style bearing no resemblance whatever; and +are left in a dubious state, if it were of any moment. In the absence +of proof, I am unwilling to charge his Highness de Ligne with such +an action; and indeed am little careful to be acquainted with the +individual who did it, who could and would do it. A Prince of Coxcombs +I can discern him to have been; capable of shining in the eyes of +insincere foolish persons, and of doing detriment to them, not benefit; +a man without reverence for truth or human excellence; not knowing in +fact what is true from what is false, what is excellent from what is +sham-excellent and at the top of the mode; an apparently polite +and knowing man, but intrinsically an impudent, dark and merely +modish-insolent man;--who, if he fell in with Rhadamanthus on his +travels, would not escape a horse-whipping, Him we will willingly leave +to that beneficial chance, which indeed seems a certain one sooner or +later; and address ourselves to consider the theory itself, and the +facts it pretends to be grounded on. + +"As to the theory, I must needs say, nothing can be falser, more +heretical or more damnable. My own poor opinion, and deep conviction on +that subject is well known, this long while. And, in fact, the summary +of all I have believed, and have been trying as I could to teach mankind +to believe again, is even that same opinion and conviction, applied to +all provinces of things. Alas, in this his sad theory about the world, +our poor impudent Pamphleteer is by no means singular at present; nay +rather he has in a manner the whole practical part of mankind on his +side just now; the more is the pity for us all!-- + +"It is very certain, if Beelzebub made this world, our Pamphleteer, and +the huge portion of mankind that follow him, are right. But if God made +the world; and only leads Beelzebub, as some ugly muzzled bear is led, a +longer or shorter temporary DANCE in this divine world, and always draws +him home again, and peels the unjust gains off him, and ducks him in a +certain hot Lake, with sure intent to lodge him there to all eternity at +last,--then our Pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that follow +him, are wrong. + +"More I will not say; being indeed quite tired of SPEAKING on that +subject. Not a subject which it concerns me to speak of; much as it +concerns me, and all men, to know the truth of it, and silently in every +hour and moment to do said truth. As indeed the sacred voice of their +own soul, if they listen, will conclusively admonish all men; and truly +if IT do not, there will be little use in my logic to them. For my own +share, I want no trade with men who need to be convinced of that fact. +If I am in their premises, and discover such a thing of them, I will +quit their premises; if they are in mine, I will, as old Samuel advised, +count my spoons. Ingenious gentlemen who believe that Beelzebub made +this world, are not a class of gentlemen I can get profit from. Let them +keep at a distance, lest mischief fall out between us. They are of the +set deserving to be called--and this not in the way of profane swearing, +but of solemn wrath and pity, I say of virtuous anger and inexorable +reprobation--the damned set. For, in very deed, they are doomed and +damned, by Nature's oldest Act of Parliament, they, and whatsoever thing +they do or say or think; unless they can escape from that devil-element. +Which I still hope they may!-- + +"But with regard to the facts themselves, 'DE NOTRE MAISON,' I take +leave to say, they too are without basis of truth. They are not so false +as the theory, because nothing can in falsity quite equal that. 'NOTRE +MAISON,' this Pamphleteer may learn, if he please to make study and +inquiry before speaking, did not rise by worship of Beelzebub at all in +this world; but by a quite opposite line of conduct. It rose, in fact, +by the course which all, except fools, stockjobber stags, cheating +gamblers, forging Pamphleteers and other temporary creatures of the +damned sort, have found from of old to be the one way of permanently +rising: by steady service, namely, of the Opposite of Beelzebub. +By conforming to the Laws of this Universe; instead of trying by +pettifogging to evade and profitably contradict them. The Hohenzollerns +too have a History still articulate to the human mind, if you search +sufficiently; and this is what, even with some emphasis, it will teach +us concerning their adventures, and achievements of success in the field +of life. Resist the Devil, good reader, and he will flee from you!"--So +ends our indignant friend. + +How the Hohenzollerns got their big Territories, and came to what they +are in the world, will be seen. Probably they were not, any of them, +paragons of virtue. They did not walk in altogether speckless Sunday +pumps, or much clear-starched into consciousness of the moral sublime; +but in rugged practical boots, and by such roads as there were. +Concerning their moralities, and conformities to the Laws of the Road +and of the Universe, there will much remain to be argued by pamphleteers +and others. Men will have their opinion, Men of more wisdom and of less; +Apes by the Dead-Sea also will have theirs. But what man that believed +in such a Universe as that of this Dead-Sea Pamphleteer could consent +to live in it at all? Who that believed in such a Universe, and did +not design to live like a Papin's-Digester, or PORCUS EPICURI, in +an extremely ugly manner in it, could avoid one of two things: Going +rapidly into Bedlam, or else blowing his brains out? "It will not do for +me at any rate, this infinite Dog-house; not for me, ye Dryasdusts, and +omnipotent Dog-monsters and Mud-gods, whoever you are. One honorable +thing I can do: take leave of you and your Dog-establishment. Enough!"-- + + + + +Chapter III. -- KURFURST FRIEDRICH II. + +The First Friedrich's successor was a younger son, Friedrich II.; who +lasted till 1471, above thirty years; and proved likewise a notable +manager and governor. Very capable to assert himself, and his just +rights, in this world. He was but Twenty-seven at his accession; but the +Berlin Burghers, attempting to take some liberties with him, found he +was old enough. He got the name IRONTEETH. Friedrich FERRATIS DENTIBUS, +from his decisive ways then and afterwards. He had his share of +brabbling with intricate litigant neighbors; quarrels now and then not +to be settled without strokes. His worst war was with Pommern,--just +claims disputed there, and much confused bickering, sieging and +harassing in consequence: of which quarrel we must speak anon. It was he +who first built the conspicuous Schloss or Palace at Berlin, having got +the ground for it (same ground still covered by the actual fine Edifice, +which is a second edition of Friedrich's) from the repentant Burghers; +and took up his chief residence there. [1442-1431 (Nicolari, i. 81).] + +But his principal achievement in Brandenburg History is his recovery of +the Province called the Neumark to that Electorate. In the thriftless +Sigismund times, the Neumark had been pledged, had been sold; Teutsch +Ritterdom, to whose dominions it lay contiguous, had purchased it with +money down. The Teutsch Ritters were fallen moneyless enough since +then; they offered to pledge the Neumark to Friedrich, who accepted, and +advanced the sum: after a while the Teutsch Ritters, for a small +farther sum, agreed to sell Neumark. [Michaelis, i. 301.] Into which +Transaction, with its dates and circumstances, let us cast one +glance, for our behoof afterwards. The Teutsch Ritters were an opulent +domineering Body in Sigismund's early time; but they are now come well +down in Friedrich II.'s! And are coming ever lower. Sinking steadily, +or with desperate attempts to rise, which only increase the speed +downwards, ever since that fatal Tannenberg Business, 15th July, 1410. +Here is the sad progress of their descent to the bottom; divided into +three stages or periods:-- + +"PERIOD FIRST is of Thirty years: 1410-1440. A peace with Poland soon +followed that Defeat of Tannenberg; humiliating peace, with mulct in +money, and slightly in territory, attached to it. Which again was soon +followed by war, and ever again; each new peace more humiliating than +its foregoer. Teutsch Order is steadily sinking,--into debt, among other +things; driven to severe finance-measures (ultimately even to 'debase +its coin'), which produce irritation enough. Poland is gradually edging +itself into the territories and the interior troubles of Preussen; +prefatory to greater operations that lie ahead there. + +"SECOND PERIOD, of Fourteen years. So it had gone on, from bad to worse, +till 1440; when the general population, through its Heads, the Landed +Gentry and the Towns, wearied out with fiscal and other oppressions from +its domineering Ritterdom brought now to such a pinch, began everywhere +to stir themselves into vocal complaint. Complaint emphatic enough: +'Where will you find a man that has not suffered injury in his rights, +perhaps in his person? Our friends they have invited as guests, and +under show of hospitality have murdered them. Men, for the sake of their +beautiful wives, have been thrown into the river like dogs,'--and enough +of the like sort. [Voigt, vii. 747; quoting evidently, not an express +manifesto, but one manufactured by the old Chroniclers.] No want of +complaint, nor of complainants: Town of Thorn, Town of Dantzig, Kulm, +all manner of Towns and Baronages, proceeded now to form a BUND, or +general Covenant for complaining; to repugn, in hotter and hotter +form, against a domineering Ritterdom with back so broken; in fine, +to colleague with Poland,--what was most ominous of all. Baronage, +Burgherage, they were German mostly by blood, and by culture were wholly +German; but preferred Poland to a Teutsch Ritterdom of that nature. +Nothing but brabblings, scufflings, objurgations; a great outbreak +ripening itself. Teutsch Ritterdom has to hire soldiers; no money to +pay them. It was in these sad years that the Teutsch Ritterdom, fallen +moneyless, offered to pledge the Neumark to our Kurfurst; 1444, that +operation was consummated. [Pauli, ii. 187,--does not name the sum.] All +this goes on, in hotter and hotter form, for ten years longer. + +"PERIOD THIRD begins, early in 1454, with an important special +catastrophe; and ends, in the Thirteenth year after, with a still +more important universal one of the same nature. Prussian BUND, or +Anti-Oppression Covenant of the Towns and Landed Gentry, rising in +temperature for fourteen years at this rate, reached at last the +igniting point, and burst into fire. February 4th, 1454, the Town of +Thorn, darling first-child of Teutsch Ritterdom,--child 223 years old at +this time, ['Founded 1231, as a wooden Burg, just across the river, on +the Heathen side, mainly round the stem of an immense old Oak that grew +handy there,--Seven Barges always on the river (Weichsel), to fly to +our own side if quite overwhelmed' _Oak and Seven Barges_ is still the +Town's-Arms of Thorn. See Kohler, _Munzbelustigungen,_xxii. 107; quoting +Dusburg (a Priest of the Order) and his old _Chronica Terrae Prusciae,_ +written in 1326.] and grown very big, and now very angry,--suddenly took +its old parent by the throat, so to speak, and hurled him out to the +dogs; to the extraneous Polacks first of all. Town of Thorn, namely, +sent that day its 'Letter of Renunciation' to the Hochmeister over +at Marienburg; seized in a day or two more the Hochmeister's Official +Envoys, Dignitaries of the Order; led them through the streets, amid +universal storm of execrations, hootings and unclean projectiles, +straight, to jail; and besieged the Hochmeister's Burg (BASTILLE of +Thorn, with a few Ritters in it), all the artillery and all the throats +and hearts of the place raging deliriously upon it. So that the poor +Bitters, who had no chance in resisting, were in few days obliged to +surrender; [8th February, 1454, says Voigt (viii. 361); 16th, says +Kohler _ (Munzbelustigungen,_ xxii. 110).] had to come out in +bare jerkin; and Thorn ignominiously dismissed them into space +forevermore,--with actual 'kicks,' I have read in some Books, though +others veil that sad feature. Thorn threw out its old parent in this +manner; swore fealty to the King of Poland; and invited other Towns and +Knightages to follow the example. To which all were willing, wherever +able. + +"War hereupon, which blazed up over Preussen at large,--Prussian +Covenant and King of Poland VERSUS Teutsch Ritterdom,--and lasted into +the thirteenth year, before it could go out again; out by lack of fuel +mainly. One of the fellest wars on record, especially for burning and +ruining; above '300,000 fighting-men' are calculated to have perished in +it; and of towns, villages, farmsteads, a cipher which makes the fancy, +as it were, black and ashy altogether. Ritterdom showed no lack of +fighting energy; but that could not save it, in the pass things were got +to. Enormous lack of wisdom, of reality and human veracity, there had +long been; and the hour was now come. Finance went out, to the last +coin. Large mercenary armies all along; and in the end not the color +of money to pay them with; mercenaries became desperate; 'besieged the +Hochmeister and his Ritters in Marienburg;'--finally sold the Country +they held; formally made it over to the King of Poland, to get their pay +out of it. Hochmeister had to see such things, and say little. Peace, or +extinction for want of fuel, came in the year 1466. Poland got to itself +the whole of that fine German Country, henceforth called 'WEST Preussen' +to distinguish it, which goes from the left bank of the Weichsel to the +borders of Brandenburg and Neumark;--would have got Neumark too, had not +Kurfurst Friedrich been there to save it. The Teutsch Order had to go +across the Weichsel, ignominiously driven; to content itself with 'EAST +Preussen,' the Konigsberg-Memel country, and even to do homage to Poland +for that. Which latter was the bitterest clause of all: but it could +not be helped, more than the others. In this manner did its revolted +children fling out Teutsch Ritterdom ignominiously to the dogs, to the +Polacks, first of all,--Thorn, the eldest child, leading off or setting +the example." + +And so the Teutsch Ritters are sunk beyond retrieval; and West Preussen, +called subsequently "Royal Preussen," NOT having homage to pay as the +"Ducal" or East Preussen had, is German no longer, but Polish, Sclavic; +not prospering by the change. [What Thorn had sunk to, out of its palmy +state, see in Nanke's _Wanderungen durch Preussen_ (Hamburg & Altona, +1800), ii. 177-200:--a pleasant little Rook, treating mainly of Natural +History; but drawing you, by its innocent simplicity and geniality, to +read with thanks whatever is in it.] And all that fine German country, +reduced to rebel against its unwise parent, was cut away by the Polish +sword, and remained with Poland, which did not prove very wise either; +till--till, in the Year 1773, it was cut back by the German sword! All +readers have heard of the Partition of Poland: but of the Partition of +Preussen, 307 years before, all have not heard. + +It was in the second year of that final tribulation, marked above as +Period Third, that the Teutsch Ritters, famishing for money, completed +the Neumark transaction with Kurfurst Friedrich; Neumark, already pawned +to him ten years before, they in 1455, for a small farther sum, agreed +to sell; and he, long carefully steering towards such an issue, and +dexterously keeping out of the main broil, failed not to buy. Friedrich +could thenceforth, on his own score, protect the Neumark; keep up an +invisible but impenetrable wall between it and the neighboring anarchic +conflagrations of thirteen years; and the Neumark has ever since +remained with Brandenburg, its original owner. + +As to Friedrich's Pomeranian quarrel, this is the figure of it. Here +is a scene from Rentsch, which falls out in Friedrich's time; and which +brought much battling and broiling to him and his. Symbolical withal +of much that befell in Brandenburg, from first to last. Under +the Hohenzollerns as before, Brandenburg grew by aggregation, by +assimilation; and we see here how difficult the process often was. + +Pommern (POMERANIA), long Wendish, but peaceably so since the time +of Albert the Bear, and growing ever more German, had, in good part, +according to Friedrich's notion, if there were force in human Treaties +and Imperial Laws, fallen fairly to Brandenburg,--that is to say, the +half of it, Stettin-Pommern had fairly fallen,--in the year 1464, when +Duke Otto of Stettin, the last Wendish Duke, died without heirs. In that +case by many bargains, some with bloody crowns, it had been settled, If +the Wendish Dukes died out, the country was to fall to Brandenburg;--and +here they were dead. "At Duke Otto's burial, accordingly, in the High +Church of Stettin, when the coffin was lowered into its place, the +Stettin Burgermeister, Albrecht Glinde, took sword and helmet, and threw +the same into the grave, in token that the Line was extinct. But Franz +von Eichsted," apparently another Burgher instructed for the nonce, +"jumped into the grave, and picked them out again; alleging, No, the +Dukes of WOLGAST-Pommern were of kin; these tokens we must send to his +Grace at Wolgast, with offer of our homage, said Franz von Eichsted." +[Rentsch, p. 110 (whose printer has put his date awry); Stenzel (i. 233) +calls the man "LORENZ Eikstetten, a resolute Gentleman."]--And sent they +were, and accepted by his Grace. And perhaps half-a-score of bargains, +with bloody crowns to some of them; and yet other chances, and +centuries, with the extinction of new Lines,--had to supervene, before +even Stettin-Pommern, and that in no complete state, could be got. +[1648, by Treaty of Westphalia.] As to Pommern at large, Pommern not +denied to be due, after such extinction and re-extinction of native +Ducal Lines, did not fall home for centuries more; and what struggles +and inextricable armed-litigations there were for it, readers of +Brandenburg-History too wearisomely know. The process of assimilation +not the least of an easy one!-- + +This Friedrich was second son: his Father's outlook for him had, at +first, been towards a Polish Princess and the crown of Poland, which +was not then so elective as afterwards: and with such view his early +breeding had been chiefly in Poland; Johann, the eldest son and +heir-apparent, helping his Father at home in the mean while. But these +Polish outlooks went to nothing, the young Princess having died; so that +Friedrich came home; possessed merely of the Polish language, and of +what talents the gods had given him, which were considerable. And now, +in the mean while, Johann, who at one time promised well in +practical life, had taken to Alchemy; and was busy with crucibles and +speculations, to a degree that seemed questionable. Father Friedrich, +therefore, had to interfere, and deal with this "Johann the Alchemist" +(JOHANNES ALCHEMISTA, so the Books still name him); who loyally +renounced the Electorship, at his Father's bidding, in favor of +Friedrich; accepted Baireuth (better half of the Culmbach Territory) for +apanage; and there peacefully distilled and sublimated at discretion; +the government there being an easier task, and fitter for a soft +speculative Herr. A third Brother, Albert by name, got Anspach, on +the Father's decease; very capable to do any fighting there might be +occasion for, in Culmbach. + +As to the Burggrafship, it was now done, all but the Title. The First +Friedrich, once he was got to be Elector, wisely parted with it. The +First Friedrich found his Electorship had dreadfully real duties for +him, and that this of the Burggrafship had fallen mostly obsolete; so he +sold it to the Nurnbergers for a round sum: only the Principalities and +Territories are retained in that quarter. About which too, and their +feudal duties, boundaries and tolls, with a jealous litigious Nurnberg +for neighbor, there at length came quarrelling enough. But Albert the +third Brother, over at Anspach, took charge of all that; and nothing of +it fell in Johann's way. + +The good Alchemist died,--performed his last sublimation, poor man,--six +or seven years before his Brother Friedrich; age then sixty-three. [14th +November, 1464.] Friedrich, with his Iron Teeth and faculties, only held +out till fifty-eight,--10th February, 1471. The manner of his end was +peculiar. In that War with Pommern, he sat besieging a Pomeranian town, +Uckermunde the name of it: when at dinner one day, a cannon-ball plunged +down upon the table, [Michaelis, i. 303.] with such a crash as we can +fancy;--which greatly confused the nerves of Friedrich; much injured his +hearing, and even his memory thenceforth. In a few months afterwards he +resigned, in favor of his Successor; retired to Plassenburg, and there +died in about a year more. + + + + +Chapter IV. -- KURFURST ALBERT ACHILLES, AND HIS SUCCESSOR. + +Neither Friedrich nor Johann left other than daughters: so that the +united Heritage, Brandenburg and Culmbach both, came now to the third +Brother, Albert; who has been in Culmbath these many years already. A +tall, fiery, tough old gentleman, of formidable talent for fighting, +who was called the "ACHILLES OF GERMANY" in his day; being then a +very blazing far-seen character, dim as he has now grown. [Born 1414; +Kurfurst, 1471-1486.] This Albert Achilles was the Third Elector; +Ancestor he of all the Brandenburg and Culmbach Hohenzollern Princes +that have since figured in the world. After him there is no break +or shift in the succession, down to the little Friedrich now +born;--Friedrich the old Grandfather, First KING, was the Twelfth +KURFURST. + +We have to say, they followed generally in their Ancestors' steps, and +had success of the like kind, more or less; Hohenzollerns all of them, +by character and behavior as well as by descent. No lack of quiet +energy, of thrift, sound sense. There was likewise solid fair-play in +general, no founding of yourself on ground that will not carry;--and +there was instant, gentle but inexorable, crushing of mutiny, if it +showed itself; which, after the Second Elector, or at most the Third, it +had altogether ceased to do. Young Friedrich II., upon whom those +Berlin Burghers had tried to close their gates, till he should sign some +"Capitulation" to their mind, got from them, and not quite in ill-humor, +that name IRONTEETH:--"Not the least a Nose-of-wax, this one! No use +trying here, then!"--which, with the humor attached to it, is itself +symbolical of Friedrich and these Hohenzollern Sovereigns. Albert, his +Brother, had plenty of fighting in his time: but it was in the Nurnberg +and other distant regions; no fighting, or hardly any, needed in +Brandenburg henceforth. + +With Nurnberg, and the Ex-Burggrafship there, now when a new generation +began to tug at the loose clauses of that Bargain with Friedrich I., and +all Free-Towns were going high upon their privileges, Albert had at one +time much trouble, and at length actual furious War;--other Free-Towns +countenancing and assisting Nurnberg in the affair; numerous petty +Princes, feudal Lords of the vicinity, doing the like by Albert. Twenty +years ago, all this; and it did not last, so furious was it. "Eight +victories," they count on Albert's part,--furious successful skirmishes, +call them;--in one of which, I remember, Albert plunged in alone, +his Ritters being rather shy; and laid about him hugely, hanging by +a standard he had taken, till his life was nearly beaten out. [1449 +(Rentsch, p. 399).] Eight victories; and also one defeat, wherein Albert +got captured, and had to ransom himself. The captor was one Kunz of +Kauffungen, the Nurnberg hired General at the time: a man known to some +readers for his Stealing of the Saxon Princes (PRINZENRAUB, they call +it); a feat which cost Kunz his head. [Carlyle's _Miscellanies_ (London, +1869), vi. ? PRINZENRAUB.] Albert, however, prevailed in the end, as he +was apt to do; and got his Nurnbergers fixed to clauses satisfactory to +him. + +In his early days he had fought against Poles, Bohemians and others, as +Imperial general. He was much concerned, all along, in those abstruse +armed-litigations of the Austrian House with its dependencies; and +diligently helped the Kaiser,--Friedrich III., rather a weakish, but +an eager and greedy Kaiser,--through most of them. That inextricable +Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish DONNYBROOK (so we may call it) which Austria +had on hand, one of Sigismund's bequests to Austria; distressingly +tumultuous Donnybrook, which goes from 1440 to 1471, fighting in a +fierce confused manner;--the Anti-Turk Hunniades, the Anti-Austrian +Corvinus, the royal Majesties George Podiebrad, Ladislaus POSTHUMUS, +Ludwig OHNE HAUT (Ludwig NO-SKIN), and other Ludwigs, Ladislauses and +Vladislauses, striking and getting struck at such a rate:--Albert was +generally what we may call chief-constable in all that; giving a knock +here and then one there, in the Kaiser's name. [Hormayr, ii. 138, 140 +(? HUNYADY CORVIN); Rentsch, pp. 389-422; Michaelis, i. 304-313.] Almost +from boyhood, he had learned soldiering, which he had never afterwards +leisure to forget. Great store of fighting he had,--say half a century +of it, off and on, during the seventy and odd years he lasted in this +world. With the Donnybrook we spoke of; with the Nurnbergers; with the +Dukes of Bavaria (endless bickerings with these Dukes, Ludwig BEARDY, +Ludwig SUPERBUS, Ludwig GIBBOSUS or Hunchback, against them and about +them, on his own and the Kaiser's score); also with the French, already +clutching at Lorraine; also with Charles the Rash of Burgundy;--lastly +with the Bishop of Bamberg, who got him excommunicated and would not +bury the dead. + +Kurfurst Albert's Letter on this last emergency, to his Viceregent in +Culmbach, is a famed Piece still extant (date 1481); [Rentsch, p. 409.] +and his plan in such emergency, is a simple and likely one: "Carry the +dead bodies to the Parson's house; let him see whether he will not bury +them by and by!--One must fence off the Devil by the Holy Cross," +says Albert,--appeal to Heaven with what honest mother-wit Heaven has +vouchsafed one, means Albert. "These fellows" (the Priests), continues +he, "would fain have the temporal sword as well as the spiritual. Had +God wished there should be only one sword, he could have contrived that +as well as the two. He surely did not want for intellect _(Er war gar +ein weiser Mann),"_--want of intellect it clearly was not!--In short, +they had to bury the dead, and do reason; and Albert hustled himself +well clear of this broil, as he had done of many. + +Battle enough, poor man, with steel and other weapons:--and we see +he did it with sharp insight, good forecast; now and then in a wildly +leonine or AQUILINE manner. A tall hook-nosed man, of lean, sharp, +rather taciturn aspect; nose and look are very aquiline; and there is +a cloudy sorrow in those old eyes, which seems capable of sudden +effulgence to a dangerous extent. He was a considerable, diplomatist +too: very great with the Kaiser, Old Friedrich III. (Max's father, +Charles V.'s Great-Grandfather); [How admirable Albert is, not to say +"almost divine," to the Kaiser's then Secretary, oily-mouthed AEneas +Sylvius, afterwards Pope, Rentsch can testify (pp. 401, 586); +quoting AEneas's eulogies and gossipries (_Historia Rerum Frederici +Imperatoris,_ I conclude, though no book is named). Oily diligent +AEneas, in his own young years and in Albert's prime, had of course seen +much of this "miracle" of Arms and Art,--"miracle" and "almost divine," +so to speak.] and managed many things for him. Managed to get the +thrice-lovely Heiress of the Netherlands and Burgundy, Daughter of that +Charles the Rash, with her Seventeen Provinces, for Max, [1477]--who was +thought thereupon by everybody to be the luckiest man alive; though the +issue contradicted it before long. + +Kurfurst Albert died in 1486, March 11, aged seventy-two. It was some +months after Bosworth Fight, where our Crooked Richard got his quietus +here in England and brought the Wars of the Roses to their finale:--a +little chubby Boy, the son of poor parents at Eisleben in Saxony, Martin +Luther the name of him, was looking into this abtruse Universe, with +those strange eyes of his, in what rough woollen or linsey-woolsey +short-clothes we do not know. [Born 10th November, 1483] + +Albert's funeral was very grand; the Kaiser himself, and all the +Magnates of the Diet and Reich attending him from Frankfurt to his +last resting-place, many miles of road. For he died at the Diet, in +Frankfurt-on-Mayn; having fallen ill there while busy,--perhaps too busy +for that age, in the harsh spring weather,--electing Prince Maximilian +("lucky Max,") who will be Kaiser too before long, and is already deep +in ILL-luck, tragical and other to be King of the Romans. The old Kaiser +had "looked in on him at Onolzbach" (Anspach), and brought him along; +such a man could not be wanting on such an occasion. A man who "perhaps +did more for the German Empire than for the Electorate of Brandenburg," +hint some. The Kaiser himself, Friedrich III., was now getting old; +anxious to see Max secure, and to set his house in order. A somewhat +anxious, creaky, close-fisted, ineffectual old Kaiser; [See Kohler +(_Munzbelustigungen,_ vi. 393-401; ii. 89-96, &c.) for a vivid account +of him.] distinguished by his luck in getting Max so provided for, and +bringing the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands to his House. He is +the first of the Hapsburg Kaisers who had what has since been called +the "Austrian lip"--protrusive under-jaw, with heavy lip disinclined to +shut. He got it from his Mother, and bequeathed it in a marked manner; +his posterity to this day bearing traces of it. Mother's name was +Cimburgis, a Polish Princess, "Duke of Masovia's daughter;" a lady +who had something of the MAULTASCHE in her, in character as well as +mouth.--In old Albert, the poor old Kaiser has lost his right hand; and +no doubt muses sadly as he rides in the funeral procession. + +Albert is buried at Heilsbronn in Frankenland, among his +Ancestors,--burial in Brandenburg not yet common for these new +Kurfursts:--his skull, in an after-time, used to be shown there, laid on +the lid of the tomb; skull marvellous for strength, and for "having no +visible sutures," says Rentsch. Pious Brandenburg Officiality at +length put an end to that profanation, and restored the skull to its +place,--marvellous enough, with what had once dwelt in it, whether it +had sutures or not. + + + + +JOHANN THE CICERO IS FOURTH KURFURST, AND LEAVES TWO NOTABLE SONS. + +Albert's eldest Son, the Fourth Kurfurst, was Johannes Cicero +(1486-1499): Johannes was his natural name, to which the epithet "Cicero +of Germany (CICERO GERMANIAE)" was added by an admiring public. He had +commonly administered the Electorate during his Father's absences; and +done it with credit to himself. He was an active man, nowise +deficient as a Governor; creditably severe on highway robbers, for one +thing,--destroys you "fifteen baronial robber-towers" at a stroke; was +also concerned in the Hungarian-Bohemian DONNYBROOK, and did that also +well. But nothing struck a discerning public like the talent he had +for speaking. Spoke "four hours at a stretch in Kaiser Max's Diets, in +elegantly flowing Latin;" with a fair share of meaning, too;--and had +bursts of parliamentary eloquence in him that were astonishing to hear. +A tall, square-headed man, of erect, cheerfully composed aspect, head +flung rather back if anything: his bursts of parliamentary eloquence, +once glorious as the day, procured him the name "Johannes CICERO;" and +that is what remains of them: for they are sunk now, irretrievable he +and they, into the belly of eternal Night; the final resting-place, I do +perceive, of much Ciceronian ware in this world. Apparently he had, +like some of his Descendants, what would now be called "distinguished +literary talents,"--insignificant to mankind and us. I find he was +likewise called DER GROSSE, "John the GREAT;" but on investigation it +proves to be mere "John the BIG," a name coming from his tall stature +and ultimate fatness of body. + +For the rest, he left his family well off, connected with high +Potentates all around; and had increased his store, to a fair degree, +in his time. Besides his eldest Son who followed as Elector, by name +Joachim I., a burly gentleman of whom much is written in Books, he left +a second Son, Archbishop of Magdeburg, who in time became Archbishop +of Mainz and Cardinal of Holy Church, [Ulrich van Hutten's grand +"Panegyric" upon this Albert on his first Entrance into Mainz (9th +October, 1514),--"entrance with a retinue of 2,000 horse, mainly +furnished by the Brandenburg and Culmbach kindred," say the old +Books,--is in _Ulrichi ab Hutten Equitis Germani Opera_ (Munch's +edition; Berlin, 1821), i. 276-310.]--and by accident got to be forever +memorable in Church-History, as we shall see anon. Archbishop of Mainz +means withal KUR-MAINZ, Elector of Mainz; who is Chief of the Seven +Electors, and as it were their President or "Speaker." Albert was the +name of this one; his elder Brother, the then Kur-Brandenburg, was +called Joachim. Cardinal Albert Kur-Mainz, like his brother Joachim +Kur-Brandenburg, figures much, and blazes widely abroad, in the busy +reign of Karl V., and the inextricable Lutheran-Papal, Turk-Christian +business it had. + +But the notable point in this Albert of Mainz was that of Leo X. and +the Indulgences. [Pauli, v. 496-499; Rentsch, p. 869.] Pope Leo had +permitted Albert to retain his Archbishopric of Magdeburg and other +dignities along with that of Mainz; which was an unusual favor. But the +Pope expected to be paid for it,--to have 30,000 ducats (15,000 pounds), +almost a King's ransom at that time, for the "Pallium" to Mainz; +PALLIUM, or little Bit of woollen Cloth, on sale by the Pope, without +which Mainz could not be held. Albert, with all his dignities, was +dreadfully short of money at the time. Chapter of Mainz could or +would do little or nothing, having been drained lately; Magdeburg, +Halberstadt, the like. Albert tried various shifts; tried a little +stroke of trade in relics,--gathered in the Mainz district "some +hundreds of fractional sacred bones, and three whole bodies," which he +sent to Halle for pious purchase;--but nothing came of this branch. +The 15,000 pounds remained unpaid; and Pope Leo, building St. Peter's, +"furnishing a sister's toilet," and doing worse things, was in extreme +need of it. What is to be done? "I could borrow the money from +the Fuggers of Augsburg," said the Archbishop hesitatingly; "but +then--?"--"I could help you to repay it." said his Holiness: "Could +repay the half of it,--if only we had (but they always make such clamor +about these things) an Indulgence published in Germany!"--"Well; it must +be!" answered Albert at last, agreeing to take the clamor on himself, +and to do the feat; being at his wits'-end for money. He draws out his +Full-Power, which, as first Spiritual Kurfurst, he has the privilege +to do; nominates (1516) one Tetzel for Chief Salesman, a Priest whose +hardness of face, and shiftiness of head and hand, were known to him; +and--here is one Hohenzollern that has a place in History! Poor man, +it was by accident, and from extreme tightness for money. He was by no +means a violent Churchman; he had himself inclinations towards Luther, +even of a practical sort, as the thing went on. But there was no help +for it. + +Cardinal Albert, Kur-Mainz, shows himself a copious dexterous public +speaker at the Diets and elsewhere in those times; a man intent on +avoiding violent methods;--uncomfortably fat in his later years, to +judge by the Portraits. Kur-Brandenburg, Kur-Mainz (the younger now +officially even greater than the elder), these names are perpetually +turning up in the German Histories of that Reformation-Period; absent +on no great occasion; and they at length, from amid the meaningless +bead-roll of Names, wearisomely met with in such Books, emerge into +Persons for us as above. + + + + +Chapter V. -- OF THE BAIREUTH-ANSPACH BRANCH. + +Albert Achilles the Third Elector had, before his accession, been +Margraf of Anspach, and since his Brother the Alchemist's death, Margraf +of Baireuth too, or of the whole Principality,--"Margraf of Culmbach" we +will call it, for brevity's sake, though the bewildering old Books +have not steadily any name for it. [A certain subaltern of this express +title, "Margraf of Culmbach" (a Cadet, with some temporary appanage +there, who was once in the service of him they call the Winter-King, +and may again be transiently heard of by us here), is the altogether +Mysterious Personage who prints himself "MARQUIS DE LULENBACH" in +Bromley's _Collection of Royal Letters_ (London, 1787), pp. 52, +&c.:--one of the most curious Books on the Thirty-Years War; "edited" +with a composed stupidity, and cheerful infinitude of ignorance, which +still farther distinguish it. The BROMLEY Originals well worth a real +editing, turn out, on inquiry, to have been "sold as Autographs, and +dispersed beyond recovery, about fifty years ago."] After his accession, +Albert Achilles naturally held both Electorate and Principality during +the rest of his life. Which was an extremely rare predicament for the +two Countries, the big and the little. + +No other Elector held them both, for nearly a hundred years; nor then, +except as it were for a moment. The two countries, Electorate and +Principality, Hohenzollern both, and constituting what the Hohenzollerns +had in this world, continued intimately connected; with affinity and +clientship carefully kept, up, and the lesser standing always under the +express protection and as it were COUSINSHIP of the greater. But they +had their separate Princes, Lines of Princes; and they only twice, in +the time of these Twelve Electors, came even temporarily under the +same head. And as to ultimate union, Brandenburg-Baireuth and +Brandenburg-Anspach were not incorporated with Brandenburg-Proper, and +its new fortunes, till almost our own day, namely in 1791; nor then +either to continue; having fallen to Bavaria, in the grand Congress +of Vienna, within the next five-and-twenty years. All which, with the +complexities and perplexities resulting from it here, we must, in some +brief way, endeavor to elucidate for the reader. + + + + +TWO LINES IN CULMBACH OR BAIREUTH-ANSPACH: THE GERA BOND OF 1598. + +Culmbach the Elector left, at his death, to his Second Son,--properly +to two sons, but one of them soon died, and the other became sole +possessor;--Friedrich by name; who, as founder of the Elder Line of +Brandenburg-Culmbach Princes, must not be forgotten by us. Founder of +the First or Elder Line, for there are two Lines; this of Friedrich's +having gone out in about a hundred years; and the Anspach-Baireuth +territories having fallen home again to Brandenburg;--where, however, +they continued only during the then Kurfurst's life. Johann George +(1525-1598), Seventh Kurfurst, was he to whom Brandenburg-Culmbach fell +home,--nay, strictly speaking, it was but the sure prospect of it that +fell home, the thing itself did not quite fall in his time, though the +disposal of it did, ["Disposal," 1598; thing itself, 1603, in his Son's +time.]--to be conjoined again with Brandenburg-Proper. Conjoined for the +short potential remainder of his own life; and then to be disposed of +as an apanage again;--which latter operation, as Johann George had +three-and-twenty children, could be no difficult one. + +Johann George, accordingly (Year 1598), split the Territory in two; +Brandenburg-Baireuth was for his second son, Brandenburg-Anspach for +his third: hereby again were two new progenitors of Culmbach Princes +introduced, and a New Line, Second or "Younger Line" they call it (Line +mostly split in two, as heretofore); which--after complex adventures +in its split condition, Baireuth under one head, Anspach under +another--continues active down to our little Fritz's time and farther. +As will become but too apparent to us in the course of this History!-- + +From of old these Territories had been frequently divided: each has +its own little capital, Town of Anspach, Town of Baireuth, [Populations +about the same; 16,000 to 17,000 in our time.] suitable for such +arrangement. Frequently divided; though always under the closest +cousinship, and ready for reuniting, if possible. Generally under the +Elder Line too, under Friedrich's posterity, which was rather numerous +and often in need of apanages, they had been in separate hands. But +the understood practice was not to divide farther; Baireuth by itself, +Anspach by itself (or still luckier if one hand could get hold of +both),--and especially Brandenburg by itself, uncut by any apanage: +this, I observe, was the received practice. But Johann George, wise +Kurfurst as he was, wished now to make it surer; and did so by a famed +Deed, called the Gera Bond (GERAISCHE VERTRAG), dated 1598, [Michaelis, +i. 345.] the last year of Johann George's life. + +Hereby, in a Family Conclave held at that Gera, a little town in +Thuringen, it was settled and indissolubly fixed, That their Electorate, +unlike all others in Germany, shall continue indivisible; Law of +Primogeniture, here if nowhere else, is to be in full force; and only +the Culmbach Territory (if otherwise unoccupied) can be split off for +younger sons. Culmbach can be split off; and this again withal can be +split, if need be, into two (Baireuth and Anspach); but not in any case +farther. Which Household-Law was strictly obeyed henceforth. Date of it +1598; principal author, Johann George, Seventh Elector. This "Gera Bond" +the reader can note for himself as an excellent piece of Hohenzollern +thrift, and important in the Brandenburg annals. On the whole, +Brandenburg keeps continually growing under these Twelve Hohenzollerns, +we perceive; slower or faster, just as the Burggrafdom had done, and by +similar methods. A lucky outlay of money (as in the case of Friedrich +Ironteeth in the Neumark) brings them one Province, lucky inheritance +another:--good management is always there, which is the mother of good +luck. + +And so there goes on again, from Johann George downwards, a new stream +of Culmbach Princes, called the Younger or New Line,--properly two +contemporary Lines, of Baireuthers and Anspachers;--always in close +affinity to Brandenburg, and with ultimate reversion to Brandenburg, +should both Lines fail; but with mutual inheritance if only one. They +had intricate fortunes, service in foreign armies, much wandering about, +sometimes considerable scarcity of cash: but, for a hundred and fifty +years to come, neither Line by any means failed,--rather the contrary, +in fact. + +Of this latter or New Culmbach Line, or split Line, especially of the +Baireuth part of it, our little Wilhelmina, little Fritz's Sister, +who became Margravine there, has given all the world notice. From the +Anspach part of it (at that time in sore scarcity of cash) came Queen +Caroline, famed in our George the Second's time. [See a Synoptic Diagram +of these Genealogies, infra, p. 388a.] From it too came an unmomentous +Margraf, who married a little Sister of Wilhelmina's and Fritz's; of +whom we shall hear. There is lastly a still more unmomentous Margraf, +only son of said Unmomentous and his said Spouse; who again combined +the two Territories, Baireuth having failed of heirs; and who, himself +without heirs, and with a frail Lady Craven as Margravine,--died at +Hammersmith, close by us, in 1806; and so ended the troublesome affair. +He had already, in 1791, sold off to Prussia all temporary claims of +his; and let Prussia have the Heritage at once without waiting farther. +Prussia, as we noticed, did not keep it long; and it is now part of the +Bavarian Dominion;--for the sake of editors and readers, long may it so +continue! + +Of this Younger Line, intrinsically rather insignificant to mankind, we +shall have enough to write in time and place; we must at present direct +our attention to the Elder Line. + + + + +THE ELDER LINE OF CULMBACH: FRIEDRICH AND HIS THREE NOTABLE SONS THERE. + +Kurfurst Albert Achilles's second son, Friedrich (1460-1536), [Rentsch, +pp. 593-602.] the founder of the Elder Culmbach Line, ruled his country +well for certain years, and was "a man famed for strength of body and +mind;" but claims little notice from us, except for the sons he had. +A quiet, commendable, honorable man,--with a certain pathetic dignity, +visible even in the eclipsed state he sank into. Poor old gentleman, +after grand enough feats in war and peace, he fell melancholy, fell +imbecile, blind, soon after middle life; and continued so for twenty +years, till he died. During which dark state, say the old Books, it +was a pleasure to see with what attention his Sons treated him, and how +reverently the eldest always led him out to dinner. [Ib. p. 612.] They +live and dine at that high Castle of Plassenburg, where old Friedrich +can behold the Red or White Mayn no more. Alas, alas, Plassenburg is now +a Correction-House, where male and female scoundrels do beating of +hemp; and pious Friedrich, like eloquent Johann, has become a +forgotten object. He was of the German Reichs-Array, who marched to the +Netherlands to deliver Max from durance; Max, the King of the Romans, +whom, for all his luck, the mutinous Flemings had put under lock-and-key +at one time. [1482 (Pauli, ii. 389): his beautiful young Wife, "thrown +from her horse," had perished in a thrice-tragic way, short while +before; and the Seventeen Provinces were unruly under the guardianship +of Max.] That is his one feat memorable to me at present. + +He was Johann Cicero's HALF-brother, child by a second wife. Like his +Uncle Kurfurst Friedrich II., he had married a Polish Princess; the +sharp Achilles having perhaps an eye to crowns in that direction, during +that Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish Donnybrook. But if so, there again came +nothing of a crown with it; though it was not without its good results +for Friedrich's children by and by. + +He had eight Sons that reached manhood; five or six of whom came to +something considerable in the world, and Three are memorable down to +this day. One of his daughters he married to the Duke of Liegnitz in +Silesia; which is among the first links I notice of a connection that +grew strong with that sovereign Duchy, and is worth remarking by my +readers here. Of the Three notable Sons it is necessary that we say +something. Casimir, George, Albert are the names of these Three. + +Casimir, the eldest, [1481-1527.] whose share of heritage is Baireuth, +was originally intended for the Church; but inclining rather to secular +and military things, or his prospects of promotion altering, he early +quitted that; and took vigorously to the career of arms and business. +A truculent-looking Herr, with thoughtful eyes, and hanging +under-lip:--HAT of enviable softness; loose disk of felt flung +carelessly on, almost like a nightcap artificially extended, so +admirably soft;--and the look of the man Casimir, between his cataract +of black beard and this semi-nightcap, is carelessly truculent. He had +much fighting with the Nurnbergers and others; laid it right terribly +on, in the way of strokes, when needful. He was especially truculent +upon the Revolt of Peasants in their BAUERNKRIEG (1525). Them in their +wildest rage he fronted; he, that others might rally to him: "Unhappy +mortals, will you shake the world to pieces, then, because you have much +to complain of?" and hanged the ringleaders of them literally by the +dozen, when quelled and captured. A severe, rather truculent Herr. His +brother George, who had Anspach for heritage, and a right to half +those prisoners, admonished and forgave his half; and pleaded hard with +Casimir for mercy to the others, in a fine Letter still extant; [In +Rentsch, p. 627.] which produced no effect on Casimir. For the dog's +sake, and for all sakes, "let not the dog learn to eat LEATHER;" (of +which his indispensable leashes and muzzles are made)! That was a +proverb often heard on the occasion, in Luther's mouth among the rest. + +Casimir died in 1527, age then towards fifty. For the last dozen +years or so, when the Father's malady became hopeless, he had governed +Culmbach, both parts of it; the Anspach part, which belonged to his +next brother George, going naturally, in almost all things, along with +Baireuth; and George, who was commonly absent, not interfering, except +on important occasions. Casimir left one little Boy, age then only six, +name Albert; to whom George, henceforth practical sovereign of Culmbach, +as his Brother had been, was appointed Guardian. This youth, very full +of fire, wildfire too much of it, exploded dreadfully on Germany by and +by (Albert ALCIBIADES the name they gave him); nay, towards the end of +his nonage, he had been rather sputtery upon his Uncle, the excellent +Guardian who had charge of him. + + + + +FRIEDRICH'S SECOND SON, MARGRAF GEORGE OF ANSPACH. + +Uncle George of Anspach, Casimir's next Brother, had always been of a +peaceabler disposition than Casimir; not indeed without heat of temper, +and sufficient vivacity of every kind. As a youth, he had aided Kaiser +Max in two of his petty wars; but was always rather given "to reading +Latin," to Learning, and ingenious pursuits. His Polish Mother, who, we +perceive, had given "Casimir" his name, proved much more important to +George. At an early age he went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King of Hungary +and Bohemia: for--Alas, after all, we shall have to cast a glance into +that unbeautiful Hungarian-Bohemian scramble, comparable to an "Irish +Donnybrook," where Albert Achilles long walked as Chief-Constable. It +behooves us, after all, to point out some of the tallest heads in +it; and whitherward, bludgeon in hand, they seem to be swaying and +struggling.--Courage, patient reader! + +George, then, at an early age went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King of +Hungary and Bohemia: for George's Mother, as we know, was of royal kin; +daughter of the Polish King, Casimir IV. (late mauler of the Teutsch +Ritters); which circumstance had results for George and us. Daughter +of Casimir IV. the Lady was; and therefore of the Jagellon blood by her +father, which amounts to little; but by her mother she was Granddaughter +of that Kaiser Albert II. who "got Three Crowns in one year, and died +the next;" whose posterity have ever since,--up to the lips in trouble +with their confused competitive accompaniments, Hunniades, Corvinus, +George Podiebrad and others, not to speak of dragon Turks coiling ever +closer round you on the frontier,--been Kings of Hungary and Bohemia; +TWO of the crowns (the HERITABLE two) which were got by Kaiser Albert in +that memorable year. He got them, as the reader may remember, by having +the daughter of Kaiser Sigismund to wife,--Sigismund SUPER-GRAMMATICAM, +whom we left standing, red as a flamingo, in the market-place of +Constance a hundred years ago. Thus Time rolls on in its many-colored +manner, edacious and feracious. + +It is in this way that George's Uncle, Vladislaus, Albert's daughter's +son, is now King of Hungary and Bohemia: the last King Vladislaus they +had; and the last King but one, of any kind, as we shall see anon. +Vladislaus was heir of Poland too, could he have managed to get it; +but he gave up that to his brother, to various younger brothers in +succession; having his hands full with the Hungarian and Bohemian +difficulty. He was very fond of Nephew George; well recognizing the +ingenuous, wise and loyal nature of the young man. He appointed George +tutor of his poor son Ludwig; whom he left at the early age of ten, in +an evil world, and evil position there. "Born without Skin," they say, +that is, born in the seventh month;--called Ludwig OHNE HAUT (Ludwig +NO-Skin), on that account. Born certainly, I can perceive, rather thin +of skin; and he would have needed one of a rhinoceros thickness! + +George did his function honestly, and with success: Ludwig grew up +a gallant, airy, brisk young King, in spite of difficulties, +constitutional and other; got a Sister of the great Kaiser Karl V. +to wife;--determined (A.D. 1526) to have a stroke at the Turk dragon; +which, was coiling round his frontier, and spitting fire at an +intolerable rate. Ludwig, a fine young man of twenty, marched away +with much Hungarian chivalry, right for the Turk (Summer 1526); George +meanwhile going busily to Bohemia, and there with all his strength +levying troops for reinforcement. Ludwig fought and fenced, for some +time, with the Turk outskirts; came at last to a furious general battle +with the Turk (29th August, 1526), at a place called Mohacz, far east in +the flats of the Lower Donau; and was there tragically beaten and ended. +Seeing the Battle gone, and his chivalry all in flight, Ludwig too had +to fly; galloping for life, he came upon bog which proved bottomless, +as good as bottomless; and Ludwig, horse and man, vanished in it +straightway from this world. Hapless young man, like a flash of +lightning suddenly going down there--and the Hungarian Sovereignty +along with him. For Hungary is part of Austria ever since; having, +with Bohemia, fallen to Karl V.'s Brother Ferdinand, as now the nearest +convenient heir of Albert with his Three Crowns. Up to the lips in +difficulties to this day!-- + +George meanwhile, with finely appointed reinforcements, was in full +march to join Ludwig; but the sad news of Mohacz met him: he withdrew, +as soon as might be, to his own territory, and quitted Hungarian +politics. This, I think, was George's third and last trial of war. He +by no means delighted in that art, or had cultivated it like Casimir and +some of his brothers.-- + +George by this time had considerable property; part of it important to +the readers of this History. Anspach we already know; but the Duchy of +Jagerndorf,--that and its pleasant valleys, fine hunting-grounds and +larch-clad heights, among the Giant Mountains of Silesia,--that is to us +the memorable territory. George got it in this manner:-- + +Some ten or fifteen years ago, the late King Vladislaus, our Uncle of +blessed memory, loving George, and not having royal moneys at command, +permitted him to redeem with his own cash certain Hungarian Domains, +pledged at a ruinously cheap rate, but unredeemable by Vladislaus. +George did so; years ago, guess ten or fifteen. George did not like the +Hungarian Domains, with their Turk and other inconveniences; he proposed +to exchange them with King Vladislaus for the Bohemian-Silesian Duchy +of Jagerndorf; which had just then, by failure of heirs, lapsed to the +King. This also Vladislaus, the beneficent cashless Uncle, liking George +more and more, permitted to be done. And done it was; I see not in what +year; only that the ultimate investiture (done, this part of the affair, +by Ludwig OHNE HAUT, and duly sanctioned by the Kaiser) dates 1524, two +years before the fatal Mohacz business. + +From the time of this purchase, and especially till Brother Casimir's +death, which happened in 1527, George resided oftener at Jagerndorf than +at Anspach. Anspach, by the side of Baireuth, needed no management; and +in Jagerndorf much probably required the hand of a good Governor to put +it straight again. The Castle of Jagerndorf, which towers up there in +a rather grand manner to this day, George built: "the old Castle of the +Schellenbergs" (extinct predecessor Line) now gone to ruins, "stands +on a Hill with larches on it, some miles off." Margraf George was much +esteemed as Duke of Jagerndorf. What his actions in that region were, I +know not; but it seems he was so well thought of in Silesia, two smaller +neighboring Potentates, the Duke of Oppeln and the Duke of Ratibor, who +had no heirs of their body, bequeathed, with the Kaiser's assent, these +towns and territories to George: [Rentsch, pp. 623, 127-131. Kaiser is +Ferdinand, Karl V.'s Brother,--as yet only KING of Bohemia and Hungary, +but supreme in regard to such points. His assent is dated "17th June, +1531" in Rentsch.]--in mere love to their subjects (Rentsch intimates), +that poor men might be governed by a wise good Duke, in the time coming. +The Kaiser would have got the Duchies otherwise. + +Nay the Kaiser, in spite of his preliminary assent, proved extortionate +to George in this matter; and exacted heavy sums for the actual +possession of Oppeln and Ratibor. George, going so zealously ahead in +Protestant affairs, grew less and less a favorite with Kaisers. But +so, at any rate, on peaceable unquestionable grounds, grounds valid as +Imperial Law and ready money, George is at last Lord of these two little +Countries, in the plain of South-Silesia, as of Jagerndorf among the +Mountains hard by. George has and holds the Duchy of Jagerndorf, with +these appendages (Jagerndorf since 1524, Ratibor and Oppeln since some +years later); and lives constantly, or at the due intervals, in his own +strong Mountain-Castle of Jagerndorf there,--we have no doubt, to the +marked benefit of good men in those parts. Hereby has Jagerndorf joined +itself to the Brandenburg Territories: and the reader can note the +circumstance, for it will prove memorable one day. + +In the business of the Reformation, Margraf George was very noble. +A simple-hearted, truth-loving, modestly valiant man; rising +unconsciously, in that great element, into the heroic figure. "George +the Pious (DER FROMME)," "George the Confessor (BEKENNER)," were +the names he got from his countrymen. Once this business had become +practical, George interfered a little more in the Culmbach Government; +his brother Casimir, who likewise had Reformation tendencies, rather +hanging back in comparison to George. + +In 1525 the Town-populations, in the Culmbach region, big Nurnberg in +the van, had gone quite ahead in the new Doctrine; and were becoming +irrepressibly impatient to clear out the old mendacities, and have the +Gospel preached freely to them. This was a questionable step; feasible +perhaps for a great Elector of Saxony;--but for a Margraf of Anspach? +George had come home from Jagerndorf, some three hundred miles away, to +look into it for himself; found it, what with darkness all round, what +with precipices menacing on both hands, and zealous, inconsiderate +Town-populations threatening to take the bit between their teeth, a +frightfully intricate thing. George mounted his horse, one day this +year, day not dated farther, and "with only six attendants" privately +rode off, another two hundred miles, a good three days' ride, to +Wittenberg; and alighted at Dr. Martinus Lutherus's door. [Rentsch, +p. 625.] A notable passage; worth thinking of. But such visits of high +Princes, to that poor house of the Doctor's, were not then uncommon. +Luther cleared the doubts of George; George returned with a resolution +taken; "Ahead then, ye poor Voigtland Gospel populations! I must lead +you, we must on!"--And perils enough there proved to be, and precipices +on each hand: BAUERNKRIEG, that is to say Peasants'-War, Anabaptistry +and Red-Republic, on the one hand; REICHS-ACHT, Ban of Empire, on the +other. But George, eagerly, solemnly attentive, with ever new light +rising on him, dealt with the perils as they came; and went steadily on, +in a simple, highly manful and courageous manner. + +He did not live to see the actual Wars that followed on Luther's +preaching:--he was of the same age with Luther, born few months later, +and died two years before Luther; [4th March, 1484,--27th Dec., 1543, +George; 10th November, 1483--18th February, 1546, Luther.]--but in all +the intermediate principal transactions George is conspicuously present; +"George of Brandenburg," as the Books call him, or simply "Margraf +George." + +At the Diet of Augsburg (1530), and the signing of the Augsburg +Confession there, he was sure to be. He rode thither with his Anspach +Knightage about him, "four hundred cavaliers,"--Seckendorfs, Huttens, +Flanses and other known kindreds, recognizable among the lists; +[Rentsch, p. 633.]--and spoke there, notbursts of parliamentary +eloquence, but things that had meaning in them. One speech of his, not +in the Diet, but in the Kaiser's Lodging (15th June, 1530; no doubt, in +Anton Fugger's house, where the Kaiser "lodged for year and day" this +time but WITHOUT the "fires of cinnamon" they talk of on other occasions +[See Carlyle's _Miscellanies_ (iii. 259 n.). The House is at present an +Inn, _"Gasthaus zu den drei Mohren;"_where tourists lodge, and are still +shown the room which the Kaiser occupied on such visits.]), is still +very celebrated. It was the evening of the Kaiser Karl Fifth's arrival +at the Diet; which was then already, some time since, assembled there. +And great had been the Kaiser's reception that morning; the flower of +Germany, all the Princes of the Empire, Protestant and Papal alike, +riding out to meet him, in the open country, at the Bridge of the Lech. +With high-flown speeches and benignities, on both sides;--only that the +Kaiser willed all men, Protestant and other, should in the mean while +do the Popish litanyings, waxlight processionings and idolatrous +stage-performances with him on the morrow, which was CORPUS-CHRISTI +Day; and the Protestants could not nor would. Imperial hints there had +already been, from Innspruck; benign hopes, of the nature of commands, +That loyal Protestant Princes would in the interim avoid open +discrepancies,--perhaps be so loyal as keep their chaplains, peculiar +divine-services, private in the interim? These were hints;--and now this +of the CORPUS-CHRISTI, a still more pregnant hint! Loyal Protestants +refused it, therefore; flatly declined, though bidden and again bidden. +They attended in a body, old Johann of Saxony, young Philip of Hessen, +and the rest; Margraf George, as spokesman, with eloquent simplicity +stating their reasons,--to somewhat this effect:-- + +Invinciblest all-gracious Kaiser, loyal are we to your high Majesty, +ready to do your bidding by night and by day. But it is your bidding +under God, not against God. Ask us not, O gracious Kaiser! I cannot, and +we cannot; and we must not, and dare not. And "before I would deny my +God and his Evangel," these are George's own words, "I would +rather kneel down here before your Majesty, and have my head struck +off,"--hitting his hind-head, or neck, with the edge of his hand, by +way of accompaniment; a strange radiance in the eyes of him, voice +risen into musical alt: _"Ehe Ich wolte meinen Gott und sein Evangelium +verlaugnen, ehe wolte Ich hier vor Eurer Majestat niderknien, und mir +den Kopf abhauen lassen."--"Nit Kop ab, lover Forst, nit Kop ab!"_ +answered Charles in his Flemish-German; "Not head off, dear Furst, not +head off!" said the Kaiser, a faint smile enlightening those weighty +gray eyes of his, and imperceptibly animating the thick Austrian +under-lip. [Rentsch, p. 637. Marheineke, _Geschichte der Teutschen +Reformation _ (Berlin, 1831), ii. 487.] + +Speaker and company attended again on the morrow; Margraf George still +more eloquent. Whose Speech flew over Germany, like fire over dry +flax; and still exists,--both Speeches now oftenest rolled into one by +inaccurate editors. [As by Rentsch, ubi supra.] And the CORPUS-CHRISTI +idolatries were forborne the Margraf and his company this time;--the +Kaiser himself, however, walking, nearly roasted in the sun, in heavy +purple-velvet cloak, with a big wax-candle, very superfluous, guttering +and blubbering in the right hand of him, along the streets of Augsburg. +Kur-Brandenburg, Kur-Mainz, high cousins of George, were at this Diet of +Augsburg; Kur-Brandenburg (Elector Joachim I., Cicero's son, of whom +we have spoken, and shall speak again) being often very loud on the +conservative side; and eloquent Kur-Mainz going on the conciliatory +tack. Kur-Brandenburg, in his zeal, had ridden on to Innspruck, to meet +the Kaiser there, and have a preliminary word with him. Both these high +Cousins spoke, and bestirred themselves, a good deal, at this Diet. +They had met the Kaiser on the plains of the Lech, this morning; and, no +doubt, gloomed unutterable things on George and his Speech. George could +not help it. + +Till his death in 1543, George is to be found always in the front line +of this high Movement, in the line where Kur-Sachsen, John the Steadfast +(DER BESTANDIGE), and young Philip the Magnanimous of Hessen were, +and where danger and difficulty were. Readers of this enlightened +gold-nugget generation can form to themselves no conception of the +spirit that then possessed the nobler kingly mind. "The command of God +endures through Eternity, _ Verbum Dei Manet In AEternum,"_ was the +Epigraph and Life-motto which John the Steadfast had adopted for +himself; "V. D. M. I. AE.," these initials he had engraved on all the +furnitures of his existence, on his standards, pictures, plate, on the +very sleeves of his lackeys,--and I can perceive, on his own deep heart +first of all. V. D. M. I. E.:--or might it not be read withal, as Philip +of Hessen sometimes said (Philip, still a young fellow, capable of sport +in his magnanimous scorn), _"Verbum Diaboli Manet In Episcopis,_ The +Devil's Word sticks fast in the Bishops"? + +We must now take leave of Margraf George and his fine procedures in that +crisis of World-History. He had got Jugerndorf, which became important +for his Family and others: but what was that to the Promethean conquests +(such we may call them) which he had the honor to assist in making for +his Family, and for his Country, and for all men;--very unconscious he +of "bringing fire from Heaven," good modest simple man! So far as I can +gather, there lived, in that day, few truer specimens of the Honest Man. +A rugged, rough-hewn, rather blunt-nosed physiognomy: cheek-bones high, +cheeks somewhat bagged and wrinkly; eyes with a due shade of anxiety and +sadness in them; affectionate simplicity, faithfulness, intelligence, +veracity looking out of every feature of him. Wears plentiful white +beard short-cut, plentiful gold-chains, ruffs, ermines;--a hat not to +be approved of, in comparison with brother Casimir's; miserable +inverted-colander of a hat; hanging at an angle of forty-five degrees; +with band of pearls round the top not the bottom of it; insecure upon +the fine head of George, and by no means to its embellishment. + +One of his Daughters he married to the Duke of Liegnitz, a new link +in that connection. He left one Boy, George Friedrich; who came under +ALCIBIADES, his Cousin of Baireuth's tutelage; and suffered much by that +connection, or indeed chiefly by his own conspicuously Protestant turn, +to punish which, the Alcibiades connection was taken as a pretext. In +riper years, George Friedrich got his calamities brought well under; and +lived to do good work, Protestant and other, in the world. To which we +may perhaps allude again. The Line of Margraf George the Pious ends in +this George Friedrich, who had no children; the Line of Margraf George, +and the Elder Culmbach Line altogether (1603), Albert Alcibiades, +Casimir's one son, having likewise died without posterity. + +"Of the younger Brothers," says my Authority, "some four were in the +Church; two of whom rose to be Prelates;--here are the four:-- + +"1. One, Wilhelm by name, was Bishop of Riga, in the remote Prussian +outskirts, and became Protestant;--among the first great Prelates who +took that heretical course; being favored by circumstances to cast out +the 'V. D. _(Verbum Diaboli),'_ as Philip read it. He is a wise-looking +man, with magnificent beard, with something of contemptuous patience +in the meditative eyes of him. He had great troubles with his Riga +people,--as indeed was a perennial case between their Bishop and them, +of whatever creed he might be. + +"2. The other Prelate held fast by the Papal Orthodoxy: he had got upon +the ladder of promotion towards Magdeburg; hoping to follow his Cousin +KUR-MAINZ, the eloquent conciliatory Cardinal, in that part of his +pluralities. As he did,--little to his comfort, poor man; having +suffered a good deal in the sieges and religious troubles of his +Magdeburgers; who ended by ordering him away, having openly declared +themselves Protestant, at length. He had to go; and occupy himself +complaining, soliciting Aulic-Councils and the like, for therest of his +life. + +"3. The PROBST of Wurzburg (PROVOST, kind of Head-Canon there); orthodox +Papal he too; and often gave his Brother George trouble. + +"4. A still more orthodox specimen, the youngest member of the family, +who is likewise in orders: Gumbrecht ('Gumbertus, a Canonicus of' +Something or other, say the Books); who went early to Rome, and became +one of his Holiness Leo Tenth's Chamberlains;--stood the 'Sack of Rome' +(Constable de Bourbon's), and was captured there and ransomed;--but died +still young (1528). These three were Catholics, he of Wurzburg a rather +virulent one." + +Catholic also was JOHANNES, a fifth Brother, who followed the soldiering +and diplomatic professions, oftenest in Spain; did Government-messages +to Diets, and the like, for Karl V.; a high man and well seen of his +Kaiser;--he had wedded the young Widow of old King Ferdinand in Spain; +which proved, seemingly, a troublous scene for poor Johannes. What we +know is, he was appointed Commandant of Valencia; and died there, still +little turned of thirty,--by poison it is supposed,--and left his young +Widow to marry a third time. + +These are the Five minor Brothers, four of them Catholic, sons of +old blind Friedrich of Plassenburg; who are not, for their own sake, +memorable, but are mentionable for the sake of the three major Brothers. +So many orthodox Catholics, while Brother George and others went into +the heresies at such a rate! A family much split by religion:--and blind +old Friedrich, dim of intellect, knew nothing of it; and the excellent +Polish Mother said and thought, we know not what. A divided Time!-- + +Johannes of Valencia, and these Chief Priests, were all men of mark; +conspicuous to the able editors of their day: but the only Brother +now generally known to mankind is Albert, Hochmeister of the Teutsch +Ritterdom; by whom Preussen came into the Family. Of him we must now +speak a little. + + + + +Chapter VI. -- HOCHMEISTER ALBERT, THIRD NOTABLE SON OF FRIEDRICH. + +Albert was born in 1490; George's junior by six years, Casimir's by +nine. He too had been meant for the Church; but soon quitted that, other +prospects and tendencies opening. He had always loved the ingenuous +arts; but the activities too had charms for him. He early shone in his +exercises spiritual and bodily; grew tall above his fellows, expert in +arts, especially in arms;--rode with his Father to Kaiser Max's Court; +was presented by him, as the light of his eyes, to Kaiser Max; who +thought him a very likely young fellow; and bore him in mind, when the +Mastership of the Teutsch Ritterdom fell vacant. [Rentsch, pp. 840-863.] + +The Teutsch Ritterdom, ever since it got its back broken in that Battle +of Tannenberg in 1410, and was driven out of West-Preussen with such +ignominious kicks, has been lying bedrid, eating its remaining revenues, +or sprawling about in helpless efforts to rise again, which require +no notice from us. Hopeless of ever recovering West-Preussen, it had +quietly paid its homage to Poland for the Eastern part of that Country; +quietly for some couple of generations. But, in the third or fourth +generation after Tannenberg, there began to rise murmurs,--in the Holy +Roman Empire first of all. "Preussen is a piece of the Reich," said hot, +inconsiderate people; "Preussen could not be alienated without consent +of the Reich!" To which discourses the afflicted Ritters listened only +too gladly; their dull eyes kindling into new false hopes at sound +of them. The point was, To choose as Hochmeister some man of German +influence, of power and connection in the Country, who might help +them to their so-called right. With this view, they chose one and then +another of such sort;--and did not find it very hopeful, as we shall +see. + +Albert was chosen Grand-Master of Preussen, in February, 1511; age then +twenty-one. Made his entry into Konigsberg, November next year; in grand +cavalcade, "dreadful storm of rain and wind at the time,"--poor Albert +all in black, and full of sorrow, for the loss of his Mother, the good +Polish Princess, who had died since he left home. Twenty months of +preparation he had held since his Election, before doing anything: for +indeed the case was intricate. He, like his predecessor in office, had +undertaken to refuse that Homage to Poland; the Reich generally, and +Kaiser Max himself, in a loose way of talk, encouraging him: "A piece of +the Reich," said they all; "Teutsch Ritters had no power to give it away +in that manner." Which is a thing more easily said, than made good in +the way of doing. + +Albert's predecessor, chosen on this principle, was a Saxon Prince, +Friedrich of Meissen; cadet of Saxony; potently enough connected, he +too; who, in like manner, had undertaken to refuse the Homage. And +zealously did refuse it, though to his cost, poor man. From the Reich, +for all its big talking, he got no manner of assistance; had to stave +off a Polish War as he could, by fair-speaking, by diplomacies and +contrivances; and died at middle age, worn down by the sorrows of that +sad position. + +An idea prevails, in ill-informed circles, that our new Grand-Master +Albert was no better than a kind of cheat; that he took this +Grand-Mastership of Preussen; and then, in gayety of heart, +surreptitiously pocketed Preussen for his own behoof. Which is an idle +idea; inconsistent with the least inquiry, or real knowledge how the +matter stood. [Voigt, ix. 740-749; Pauli, iv. 404-407.] By no means in +gayety of heart, did Albert pocket Preussen; nor till after as tough a +struggle to do other with it as could have been expected of any man. + +One thing not suspected by the Teutsch Ritters, and least of all by +their young Hochmeister, was, That the Teutsch Ritters had well deserved +that terrible down-come at Tannenberg, that ignominious dismissal out of +West-Preussen with kicks. Their insolence, luxury, degeneracy had gone +to great lengths. Nor did that humiliation mend them at all; the reverse +rather. It was deeply hidden from the young Hochmeister as from +them, That probably they were now at length got to the end of their +capability: and ready to be withdrawn from the scene, as soon as any +good way offered!--Of course, they Were reluctant enough to fulfil their +bargain to Poland; very loath they to do Homage now for Preussen, and +own themselves sunk to the second degree. For the Ritters had still +their old haughtiness of humor, their deepseated pride of place, gone +now into the unhappy CONSCIOUS state. That is usually the last thing +that deserts a sinking House: pride of place, gone to the conscious +state;--as if, in a reverse manner, the House felt that it deserved to +sink. + +For the rest, Albert's position among them was what Friedrich of +Sachsen's had been; worse, not better; and the main ultimate difference +was, he did not die of it, like Friedrich of Sachsen; but found an +outlet, not open in Friedrich's time, and lived. To the Ritters, and +vague Public which called itself the Reich, Albert had promised he would +refuse the Homage to Poland; on which Ritters and Reich had clapt their +hands: and that was pretty much all the assistance he got of them. The +Reich, as a formal body, had never asserted its right to Preussen, nor +indeed spoken definitely on the subject: it was only the vague Public +that had spoken, in the name of the Reich. From the Reich, or from any +individual of it, Kaiser or Prince, when actually applied to, Albert +could get simply nothing. From what, Ritters were in Preussen, he might +perhaps expect promptitude to fight, if it came to that; which was not +much as things stood. But, from the great body of the Ritters, scattered +over Germany, with their rich territories (BALLEYS, bailliwicks), safe +resources, and comfortable "Teutschmeister" over them, he got flat +refusal: [The titles HOCHMEISTER and TEUTSCHMEISTER are defined, in many +Books and in all manner of Dictionaries, as meaning the same thing. But +that is not quite the case. They were at first synonymous, so far as I +can see; and after Albert's time, they again became so; but at the date +where we now are, and for a long while back, they represent different +entities, and indeed oftenest, since the Prussian DECLINE began, +antagonistic ones. Teutschmeister, Sub-president over the GERMAN affairs +and possessions of the Order, resides at Mergentheim in that Country: +Hochmeister is Chief President of the whole, but resident at Marienburg +in Preussen, and feels there acutely where the shoe pinches,--much +too acutely, thinks the Teutschmeister in his soft list-slippers, at +Mergentheim in the safe Wurzburg region.] "We will not be concerned in +the adventure at all; we wish you well through it!" Never was a spirited +young fellow placed in more impossible position. His Brother Casimir +(George was then in Hungary), his Cousin Joachim Kur-Brandenburg, +Friedrich Duke of Liegnitz, a Silesian connection of the Family, ["Duke +Friedrich II.:" comes by mothers from Kurfurst Friedrich I.; marries +Margraf George's Daughter even now, 1519 (Hubner, tt. 179, 100, 101).] +consulted, advised, negotiated to all lengths, Albert's own effort was +incessant. "Agree with King Sigismund," said they; "Uncle Sigismund, +your good Mother's Brother; a King softly inclined to us all!"--"How +agree?" answered Albert: "He insists on the Homage, which I have +promised not to give!" Casimir went and came, to Konigsberg, to Berlin; +went once himself to Cracow, to the King, on this errand: but it was a +case of "Yes AND No;" not to be solved by Casimir. + +As to King Sigismund, he was patient with it to a degree; made the +friendliest paternal professions;--testifying withal, That the claim +was undeniable; and could by him, Sigismund, never be foregone with the +least shadow of honor, and of course never would: "My dear Nephew can +consider whether his dissolute, vain-minded, half-heretical Ritterdom, +nay whether this Prussian fraction of it, is in a condition to take +Poland by the beard in an unjust quarrel; or can hope to do Tannenberg +over again in the reverse way, by Beelzehub's help?"-- + +For seven years, Albert held out in this intermediate state, neither +peace nor war; moving Heaven and Earth to raise supplies, that he might +be able to defy Poland, and begin war. The Reich answers, "We have +really nothing for you." Teutschmeister answers again and again, "I +tell you we have nothing!" In the end, Sigismund grew impatient; made +(December, 1519) some movements of a hostile nature. Albert did not +yield; eager only to procrastinate till he were ready. By superhuman +efforts, of borrowing, bargaining, soliciting, and galloping to and fro, +Albert did, about the end of next year, get up some appearance of an +Army: "14,000 German mercenaries horse and foot," so many in theory; +who, to the extent of 8,000 in actual result, came marching towards him +(October, 1520); to serve "for eight months." With these he will besiege +Dantzig, besiege Thorn; will plunge, suddenly, like a fiery javelin, +into the heart of Poland, and make Poland surrender its claim. Whereupon +King Sigismund bestirred himself in earnest; came out with vast clouds +of Polish chivalry; overset Albert's 8,000;--who took to eating the +country, instead of fighting for it; being indeed in want of all things. +One of the gladdest days Albert had yet seen, was when he got the 8,000 +sent home again. + +What then is to be done? "Armistice for four years," Sigismund was still +kind enough to consent to that: "Truce for four years: try everywhere, +my poor Nephew; after that, your mind will perhaps become pliant." +Albert tried the Reich again: "Four years, O Princes, and then I must +do it, or be eaten!" Reich, busy with Lutheran-Papal, Turk-Christian +quarrels, merely shrugged its shoulders upon Albert. Teutschmeister did +the like; everybody the like. In Heaven or Earth, then, is there no hope +for me? thought Albert. And his stock of ready money--we will not speak +of that! + +Meanwhile Dr. Osiander of Anspach had come to him; and the pious young +man was getting utterly shaken in his religion. Monkish vows, Pope, Holy +Church itself, what is one to think, Herr Doctor? Albert, religious +to an eminent degree, was getting deep into Protestantism. In his many +journeyings, to Nurnberg, to Brandenburg, and up and down, he had +been at Wittenberg too: he saw Luther in person more than once there; +corresponded with Luther; in fine believed in the truth of Luther. The +Culmbach Brothers were both, at least George ardently was, inclined to +Protestantism, as we have seen; but Albert was foremost of the three +in this course. Osiander and flights of zealous Culmbach Preachers made +many converts in Preussen. In these circumstances the Four Years came to +a close. + +Albert, we may believe, is greatly at a loss; and deep deliberations, +Culmbach, Berlin, Liegnitz, Poland all called in, are held:--a case +beyond measure intricate. You have given your word; word must be +kept,--and cannot, without plain hurt, or ruin even, to those that took +it of you. Withdraw, therefore; fling it up!--Fling it up? A valuable +article to fling up; fling it up is the last resource. Nay, in fact, to +whom will you fling it up? The Prussian Ritters themselves are getting +greatly divided on the point; and at last on all manner of points, +Protestantism ever more spreading among them. As for the German +Brethren, they and their comfortable Teutschmeister, who refused to +partake in the dangerous adventure at all; are they entitled to have +much to say in the settlement of it now?-- + +Among others, or as chief oracle of all, Luther was consulted. "What +would you have me do towards reforming the Teutsch Order?" inquired +Albert of his oracle. Luther's answer was, as may be guessed, emphatic. +"Luther," says one reporter, "has in his Writings declared the Order to +be 'a thing serviceable neither to God nor man,' and the constitution +of it 'a monstrous, frightful, hermaphroditish, neither secular nor +spiritual constitution.'" [C. J. Weber, _Daa Ritterwessen_ (Stuttgard, +1837), iii. 208.] We do not know what Luther's answer to Albert +was;--but can infer the purport of it: That such a Teutsch Ritterdom was +not, at any rate, a thing long for this world; that white cloaks with +black crosses on them would not, of themselves, profit any Ritterdom; +that solemn vows and high supramundane professions, followed by such +practice as was notorious, are an afflicting, not to say a damnable, +spectacle on God's Earth;--that a young Herr had better marry; better +have done with the wretched Babylonian Nightmare of Papistry altogether; +better shake oneself awake, in God's name, and see if there are not +still monitions in the eternal sky as to what it is wise to do, and wise +not to do!--This I imagine to have been, in modern language, the +purport of Dr. Luther's advice to Hochmeister Albrecht on the present +interesting occasion. + +It is certain, Albert, before long, took this course; Uncle Sigismund +and the resident Officials of the Ritterdom having made agreement to +it as the one practicable course. The manner as follows: 1. Instead +of Elected Hochmeister, let us be Hereditary Duke of Preussen, and +pay homage for it to Uncle Sigismund in that character. 2. Such of the +resident Officials of the Ritterdom as are prepared to go along with us, +we will in like manner constitute permanent Feudal Proprietors of what +they now possess as Life-rent, and they shall be Sub-vassals under us +as Hereditary Duke. 3. In all which Uncle Sigismund and the Republic of +Poland engage to maintain us against the world. + +That is, in sum, the Transaction entered into, by King Sigismund I. +of Poland, on the one part, and Hochmeister Albert and his Ritter +Officials, such as went along with him, (which of course none could do +that were not Protestant), on the other part: done at Cracow, 8th April, +1525. [Rentsch, p. 850.--Here, certified by Rentsch, Voigt and others, +is a worn-out patch of Paper, which is perhaps worth printing:-- + + 1490, May 17, Albert is born. + 1511, February 14, Hochmeister. + 1519, December, King Sigismund's first hostile movements. + 1520, October, German Mercenaries arrive. + 1520, November, try Siege of Dantzig. + 1520, November 17, give it up. + 1521, April 10, Truce for Four Years. + 1523, June, Albert consults Luther. + 1524, November, sees Luther. + 1525, April 8, Peace of Cracow, and Albert to be Duke of + Prussia.] Whereby Teutsch Ritterdom, the Prussian part of it, + vanished from the world; dissolving itself, and its "hermaphrodite + constitution," like a kind of Male Nunnery, as so many female ones + had done in those years. A Transaction giving rise to endless + criticism, then and afterwards. Transaction plainly not + reconcilable with the letter of the law; and liable to have logic + chopped upon it to any amount, and to all lengths of time. + The Teutschmeister and his German Brethren shrieked murder; + the whole world, then, and for long afterwards, had much to say + and argue. + +To us, now that the logic-chaff is all laid long since, the question is +substantial, not formal. If the Teutsch Ritterdom was actually at this +time DEAD, actually stumbling about as a mere galvanized Lie beginning +to be putrid,--then, sure enough, it behooved that somebody should +bury it, to avoid pestilential effects in the neighborhood. Somebody or +other;--first flaying the skin off, as was natural, and taking that +for his trouble. All turns, in substance, on this latter question! If, +again, the Ritterdom was not dead--? + +And truly it struggled as hard as Partridge the Almanac-maker to rebut +that fatal accusation; complained (Teutschmeister and German-Papist part +of it) loudly at the Diets; got Albert and his consorts put to the Ban +(GEACHTET), fiercely menaced by the Kaiser Karl V. But nothing came of +all that; nothing but noise. Albert maintained his point; Kaiser Karl +always found his hands full otherwise, and had nothing but stamped +parchments and menaces to fire off at Albert. Teutsch Ritterdom, +the Popish part of it, did enjoy its valuable bailliwicks, and very +considerable rents in various quarters of Germany and Europe, having +lost only Preussen; and walked about, for three centuries more, with +money in its pocket, and a solemn white gown with black cross on its +back,--the most opulent Social Club in existence, and an excellent +place for bestowing younger sons of sixteen quarters. But it was, and +continued through so many centuries, in every essential respect, a +solemn Hypocrisy; a functionless merely eating Phantasm, of the nature +of goblin, hungry ghost or ghoul (of which kind there are many);--till +Napoleon finally ordered it to vanish; its time, even as Phantasm, being +come. + +Albert, I can conjecture, had his own difficulties as Regent in +Preussen. [1525-1568.] Protestant Theology, to make matters worse +for him, had split itself furiously into 'DOXIES; and there was an +OSIANDERISM (Osiander being the Duke's chaplain), much flamed upon by +the more orthodox ISM. "Foreigners," too, German-Anspach and other, were +ill seen by the native gentlemen; yet sometimes got encouragement. One +Funccius, a shining Nurnberg immigrant there, son-in-law of Osiander, +who from Theology got into Politics, had at last (1564) to be +beheaded,--old Duke Albert himself "bitterly weeping" about him; for it +was none of Albert's doing. Probably his new allodial Ritter gentlemen +were not the most submiss, when made hereditary? We can only hope the +Duke was a Hohenzollern, and not quite unequal to his task in this +respect. A man with high bald brow; magnificent spade-beard; air +much-pondering, almost gaunt,--gaunt kind of eyes especially, and a +slight cast in them, which adds to his severity of aspect. He kept his +possession well, every inch of it; and left all safe at his decease +in 1568. His age was then near eighty. It was the tenth year of our +Elizabeth as Queen; invincible Armada not yet built; but Alba very busy, +cutting off high heads in Brabant; and stirring up the Dutch to such +fury as was needful for exploding Spain and him. + +This Duke Albert was a profoundly religious man, as all thoughtful men +then were. Much given to Theology, to Doctors of Divinity; being +eager to know God's Laws in this Universe, and wholesomely certain of +damnation if he should not follow them. Fond of the profane Sciences +too, especially of Astronomy: Erasmus Reinhold and his _Tabulae +Prutenicae_ were once very celebrated; Erasmus Reinhold proclaims +gratefully how these his elaborate Tables (done according to the latest +discoveries, 1551 and onwards) were executed upon Duke Albert's high +bounty; for which reason they are dedicated to Duke Albert, and called +"PRUTENICAE," meaning PRUSSIAN. [Rentsch, p. 855.] The University of +Konigsberg was already founded several years before, in 1544. + +Albert had not failed to marry, as Luther counselled: by his first Wife +he had only daughters; by his second, one son, Albert Friedrich, +who, without opposition or difficulty, succeeded his Father. Thus was +Preussen acquired to the Hohenzollern Family; for, before long, the +Electoral branch managed to get MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment), that is +to say, Eventual Succession; and Preussen became a Family Heritage, as +Anspach and Baireuth were. + + + + +Chapter VII. -- ALBERT ALCIBIADES. + +One word must be spent on poor Albert, Casimir's son, [1522-1557] +already mentioned. This poor Albert, whom they call ALCIBIADES, made a +great noise in that epoch; being what some define as the "Failure of +a Fritz;" who has really features of him we are to call "Friedrich the +Great," but who burnt away his splendid qualities as a mere temporary +shine for the able editors, and never came to anything. + +A high and gallant young fellow, left fatherless in childhood; perhaps +he came too early into power:--he came, at any rate, in very volcanic +times, when Germany was all in convulsion; the Old Religion and the New +having at length broken out into open battle, with huge results to +be hoped and feared; and the largest game going on, in sight of an +adventurous youth. How Albert staked in it; how he played to immense +heights of sudden gain, and finally to utter bankruptcy, I cannot +explain here: some German delineator of human destinies, "Artist" worth +the name, if there were any, might find in him a fine subject. + +He was ward of his Uncle George; and the probable fact is, no guardian +could have been more faithful. Nevertheless, on approaching the years +of majority, of majority but not discretion, he saw good to quarrel with +his Uncle; claimed this and that, which was not granted: quarrel lasting +for years. Nay matters ran so high at last, it was like to come to war +between them, had not George been wiser. The young fellow actually sent +a cartel to his Uncle; challenged him to mortal combat,--at which George +only wagged his old beard, we suppose, and said nothing. Neighbors +interposed, the Diet itself interposed; and the matter was got quenched +again. Leaving Albert, let us hope, a repentant young man. We said he +was full of fire, too much of it wildfire. + +His profession was Arms; he shone much in war; went slashing and +fighting through those Schmalkaldic broils, and others of his time; a +distinguished captain; cutting his way towards something high, he saw +not well what. He had great comradeship with Moritz of Saxony in the +wars: two sworn brothers they, and comrades in arms:--it is the same +dexterous Moritz, who, himself a Protestant, managed to get his too +Protestant Cousin's Electorate of Saxony into his hand, by luck of the +game; the Moritz, too, from whom Albert by and by got his last defeat, +giving Moritz his death in return. That was the finale of their +comradeship. All things end, and nothing ceases changing till it end. + +He was by position originally on the Kaiser's side; had attained great +eminence, and done high feats of arms and generalship in his service. +But being a Protestant by creed, he changed after that Schmalkaldic +downfall (rout of Muhlberg, 24th April, 1547), which brought Moritz an +Electorate, and nearly cost Moritz's too Protestant Cousin his life as +well as lands. [Account of it in De Wette, _Lebensgeschichte der Herzoge +zu Sachsen_(Weimar, 1770), pp. 32-35.] The victorious Kaiser growing +now very high in his ways, there arose complaints against him from all +sides, very loud from the Protestant side; and Moritz and Albert took to +arms, with loud manifestos and the other phenomena. + +This was early in 1552, five years after Muhlberg Rout or Battle. The +there victorious Kaiser was now suddenly almost ruined; chased like a +partridge into the Innspruck Mountains,--could have been caught, only +Moritz would not; "had no cage to hold so big a bird," he said. So the +Treaty of Passau was made, and the Kaiser came much down from his lofty +ways. Famed TREATY OF PASSAU (22d August, 1552), which was the finale of +these broils, and hushed them up for a Fourscore years to come. That was +a memorable year in German Reformation History. + +Albert, meanwhile, had been busy in the interior of the country; blazing +aloft in Frankenland, his native quarter, with a success that astonished +all men. For seven months he was virtually King of Germany; ransomed +Bamberg, ransomed Wurzburg, Nurnberg (places he had a grudge at); +ransomed all manner of towns and places,--especially rich Bishops and +their towns, with VERBUM DIABOLI sticking in them,--at enormous sums. +King of the world for a brief season;--must have had some strange +thoughts to himself, had they been recorded for us. A pious man, too; +not in the least like "Alcibiades," except in the sudden changes of +fortune he underwent. His Motto, or old rhymed Prayer, which he would +repeat on getting into the saddle for military work,--a rough rhyme of +his own composing,--is still preserved. Let us give it, with an English +fac-simile, or roughest mechanical pencil-tracing,--by way of glimpse +into the heart of a vanished Time and its Man-at-arms: [Rentsch, p. +644.] + + Das Walt der Herr Jesus Christ, + Mit dem Vater, der uber uns ist: + Wer starker ist als dieser Mann, + Der komm und thu' ein Leid mir an. + + Guide it the Lord Jesus Christ, [Read "Chris" + or "Chriz," for the rhyme's sake.] + And the Father, who over us is: + He that is stronger than that Man, [Sic.] + Let him do me a hurt when he can. + +He was at the Siege of Metz (end of that same 1552), and a principal +figure there. Readers have heard of the Siege of Metz: How Henry II. +of France fished up those "Three Bishoprics" (Metz, Toul, Verdun, +constituent part of Lorraine, a covetable fraction of Teutschland) from +the troubled sea of German things, by aid of Moritz now KUR-SACHSEN, and +of Albert; and would not throw them in again, according to bargain, when +Peace, the PEACE OF PASSAU came. How Kaiser Karl determined to have them +back before the year ended, cost what it might; and Henry II. to keep +them, cost what it might. How Guise defended, with all the Chivalry of +France; and Kaiser Karl besieged, [19th October, 1552, and onwards.] +with an Army of 100,000 men, under Duke Alba for chief captain. Siege +protracted into midwinter; and the "sound of his cannon heard at +Strasburg," which is eighty miles off, "in the winter nights." [Kohler, +_Reichs-Historie,_ p. 453;--and more especially _Munzbelustigungen_ +(Nurnberg, 1729-1750), ix. 121-129. The Year of this Volume, and of the +Number in question, is 1737; the MUNZE or Medal "recreated upon" in of +Henri II.] + +It had depended upon Albert, who hung in the distance with an army of +his own, whether the Siege could even begin; but he joined the Kaiser, +being reconciled again; and the trenches opened. By the valor of Guise +and his Chivalry,--still more perhaps by the iron frosts and by the +sleety rains of Winter, and the hungers and the hardships of a hundred +thousand men, digging vainly at the ice-bound earth, or trampling +it when sleety into seas of mud, and themselves sinking in it, of +dysentery, famine, toil and despair, as they cannonaded day and +night,--Metz could not be taken. "Impossible!" said the Generals with +one voice, after trying it for a couple of months. "Try it one other ten +days," said the Kaiser with a gloomy fixity; "let us all die, or else +do it!" They tried, with double desperation, another ten days; cannon +booming through the winter midnight far and wide, four score miles +round: "Cannot be done, your Majesty! Cannot,--the winter and the mud, +and Guise and the walls; man's strength cannot do it in this season. We +must march away!" Karl listened in silence; but the tears were seen to +run down his proud face, now not so young as it once was: "Let us march, +then!" he said, in a low voice, after some pause. + +Alcibiades covered the retreat to Diedenhof (THIONVILLE they now call +it): outmanoeuvred the French, retreated with success; he had already +captured a grand Due d'Aumale, a Prince of the Guises,--valuable ransom +to be looked for there. It was thought he should have made his bargain +better with the Kaiser, before starting; but he had neglected that. +Albert's course was downward thenceforth; Kaiser Karl's too. The French +keep these "Three Bishoprics (TROIS EVECHES)," and Teutschland laments +the loss of them, to this hour. Kaiser Karl, as some write, never smiled +again;--abdicated, not long after; retired into the Monastery of St. +Just, and there soon died. That is the siege of Metz, where Alcibiades +was helpful. His own bargain with the Kaiser should have been better +made beforehand. + +Dissatisfied with any bargain he could now get; dissatisfied with the +Treaty of Passau, with such a finale and hushing-up of the Religious +Controversy, and in general with himself and with the world, Albert +again drew sword; went loose at a high rate upon his Bamberg-Wurzburg +enemies, and, having raised supplies there, upon Moritz and those +Passau-Treatiers. He was beaten at last by Moritz, "Sunday, 9th July, +1553," at a place called Sievershausen in the Hanover Country, where +Moritz himself perished in the action.--Albert fled thereupon to France. +No hope in France. No luck in other small and desperate stakings of his: +the game is done. Albert returns to a Sister he had, to her Husband's +Court in Baden; a broken, bare and bankrupt man;--soon dies there, +childless, leaving the shadow of a name. [Here, chiefly from Kohler +_(Munzbelustigungen,_ iii. 414-416), is the chronology of Albert's +operations:--Seizure of Nurnberg &c., 11th May to 22d June, 1552; +Innspruck (with Treaty of Passau) follows. Then Siege of Metz, October +to December, 1552; Bamberg, Wurzburg and Nurnberg ransomed again, April, +1553; Battle of Sievershausen, 9th July, 1553. Wurzburg &c. explode +against him; Ban of the Empire, 4th May, 1554. To France thereupon; +returns, hoping to negotiate, end of 1556; dies at Pforzheim, at his +Sister's, 8th January, 1557.--See Pauli, iii. 120-138. See also Dr. +Kapp, _Erinnerungen an diejenigen Markgrafen &c._ (a reprint from +the _Archiv fur Geschichte und Alterthumskunde in Ober-Franken,_ Year +1841).] + +His death brought huge troubles upon Baireuth and the Family +Possessions. So many neighbors, Bamberg, Wurzburg and the rest, were +eager for retaliation; a new Kaiser greedy for confiscating. Plassenburg +Castle was besieged, bombarded, taken by famine and burnt; much was +burnt and torn to waste. Nay, had it not been for help from Berlin, the +Family had gone to utter ruin in those parts. For this Alcibiades had, +in his turn, been Guardian to Uncle George's Son, the George Friedrich +we once spoke of, still a minor, but well known afterwards; and it was +attempted, by an eager Kaiser Ferdinand, to involve this poor youth in +his Cousin's illegalities, as if Ward and Guardian had been one person. +Baireuth which had been Alcibiades's, Anspach which was the young man's +own, nay Jagerndorf with its Appendages, were at one time all in the +clutches of the hawk,--had not help from Berlin been there. But in the +end, the Law had to be allowed its course; George Friedrich got his own +Territories back (all but some surreptitious nibblings in the Jagerndorf +quarter, to be noticed elsewhere), and also got Baireuth, his poor +Cousin's Inheritance;--sole heir, he now, in Culmbath, the Line of +Casimir being out. + +One owns to a kind of love for poor Albert Alcibiades. In certain sordid +times, even a "Failure of a Fritz" is better than some Successes that +are going. A man of some real nobleness, this Albert; though not with +wisdom enough, not with good fortune enough. Could he have continued +to "rule the situation" (as our French friends phrase it); to march the +fanatical Papistries, and Kaiser Karl, clear out of it, home to Spain +and San Justo a little earlier; to wave the coming Jesuitries away, as +with a flaming sword; to forbid beforehand the doleful Thirty-Years War, +and the still dolefuler spiritual atrophy (the flaccid Pedantry, ever +rummaging and rearranging among learned marine-stores, which thinks +itself Wisdom and Insight; the vague maunderings, flutings; indolent, +impotent daydreaming and tobacco-smoking, of poor Modern Germany) which +has followed therefrom,--ACH GOTT, he might have been a "SUCCESS of a +Fritz" three times over! He might have been a German Cromwell; beckoning +his People to fly, eagle-like, straight towards the Sun; instead +of screwing about it in that sad, uncertain, and far too spiral +manner!--But it lay not in him; not in his capabilities or +opportunities, after all: and we but waste time in such speculations. + + + + +Chapter VIII. -- HISTORICAL MEANING OF THE REFORMATION. + +The Culmbach Brothers, we observe, play a more important part in that +era than their seniors and chiefs of Brandenburg. These Culmbachers, +Margraf George aud Albert of Preussen at the head of them, march +valiantly forward in the Reformation business; while KUR-BRANDENBURG, +Joachim I., their senior Cousin, is talking loud at Diets, galloping to +Innspruck and the like, zealous on the Conservative side; and Cardinal +Albert, KUR-MAINZ, his eloquent brother, is eager to make matters smooth +and avoid violent methods. + +The Reformation was the great Event of that Sixteenth Century; according +as a man did something in that, or did nothing and obstructed doing, has +he much claim to memory, or no claim, in this age of ours. The more it +becomes apparent that the Reformation was the Event then transacting +itself, was the thing that Germany and Europe either did or refused to +do, the more does the historical significance of men attach itself to +the phases of that transaction. Accordingly we notice henceforth that +the memorable points of Brandenburg History, what of it sticks naturally +to the memory of a reader or student, connect themselves of their own +accord, almost all, with the History of the Reformation. That has proved +to be the Law of Nature in regard to them, softly establishing itself; +and it is ours to follow that law. + +Brandenburg, not at first unanimously, by no means too inconsiderately, +but with overwhelming unanimity when the matter became clear, was lucky +enough to adopt the Reformation;--and stands by it ever since in +its ever-widening scope, amid such difficulties as there might be. +Brandenburg had felt somehow, that it could do no other. And ever +onwards through the times even of our little Fritz and farther, if we +will understand the word "Reformation," Brandenburg so feels; being, +at this day, to an honorable degree, incapable of believing +incredibilities, of adopting solemn shams, or pretending to live +on spiritual moonshine. Which has been of uncountable advantage to +Brandenburg:--how could it fail? This was what we must call obeying the +audible voice of Heaven. To which same "voice," at that time, all that +did not give ear,--what has become of them since; have they not signally +had the penalties to pay! + +"Penalties:" quarrel not with the old phraseology, good reader; attend +rather to the thing it means. The word was heard of old, with a right +solemn meaning attached to it, from theological pulpits and such places; +and may still be heard there with a half-meaning, or with no meaning, +though it has rather become obsolete to modern ears. But the THING +should not have fallen obsolete; the thing is a grand and solemn truth, +expressive of a silent Law of Heaven, which continues forever valid. The +most untheological of men may still assert the thing; and invite all +men to notice it, as a silent monition and prophecy in this Universe; +to take it, with more of awe than they are wont, as a correct reading of +the Will of the Eternal in respect of such matters; and, in their modern +sphere, to bear the same well in mind. For it is perfectly certain, and +may be seen with eyes in any quarter of Europe at this day. + +Protestant or not Protestant? The question meant everywhere: "Is there +anything of nobleness in you, O Nation, or is there nothing? Are there, +in this Nation, enough of heroic men to venture forward, and to battle +for God's Truth VERSUS the Devil's Falsehood, at the peril of life +and more? Men who prefer death, and all else, to living under +Falsehood,--who, once for all, will not live under Falsehood; but +having drawn the sword against it (the time being come for that rare +and important step), throw away the scabbard, and can say, in pious +clearness, with their whole soul: 'Come on, then! Life under Falsehood +is not good for me; and we will try it out now. Let it be to the death +between us, then!'" + +Once risen into this divine white-heat of temper, were it only for a +season and not again, the Nation is thenceforth considerable through all +its remaining history. What immensities of DROSS and crypto-poisonous +matter will it not burn out of itself in that high temperature, in +the course of a few years! Witness Cromwell and his Puritans,--making +England habitable even under the Charles-Second terms for a couple of +centuries more. Nations are benefited, I believe, for ages, by being +thrown once into divine white-heat in this manner. And no Nation that +has not had such divine paroxysms at any time is apt to come to much. + +That was now, in this epoch, the English of "adopting Protestantism;" +and we need not wonder at the results which it has had, and which the +want of it has had. For the want of it is literally the want of loyalty +to the Maker of this Universe. He who wants that, what else has he, +or can he have? If you do not, you Man or you Nation, love the Truth +enough, but try to make a Chapman-bargain with Truth, instead of giving +yourself wholly soul and body and life to her, Truth will not live with +you, Truth will depart from you; and only Logic, "Wit" (for example, +"London Wit"), Sophistry, Virtu, the AEsthetic Arts, and perhaps (for a +short while) Bookkeeping by Double Entry, will abide with you. You will +follow falsity, and think it truth, you unfortunate man or nation. You +will right surely, you for one, stumble to the Devil; and are every day +and hour, little as you imagine it, making progress thither. + +Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Poland,--the offer of the Reformation was +made everywhere; and it is curious to see what has become of the nations +that would not hear it. In all countries were some that accepted; but in +many there were not enough, and the rest, slowly or swiftly, with fatal +difficult industry, contrived to burn them out. Austria was once full of +Protestants; but the hide-bound Flemish-Spanish Kaiser-element presiding +over it, obstinately, for two centuries, kept saying, "No; we, with our +dull obstinate Cimburgis under-lip and lazy eyes, with our ponderous +Austrian depth of Habituality and indolence of Intellect, we prefer +steady Darkness to uncertain new Light!"--and all men may see where +Austria now is. Spain still more; poor Spain, going about, at this time, +making its "PRONUNCIAMIENTOS;" all the factious attorneys in its +little towns assembling to PRONOUNCE virtually this, "The Old IS a +lie, then;--good Heavens, after we so long tried hard, harder than +any nation, to think it a truth!--and if it be not Rights of Man, Red +Republic and Progress of the Species, we know not what now to believe or +to do; and are as a people stumbling on steep places, in the darkness +of midnight!"--They refused Truth when she came; and now Truth knows +nothing of them. All stars, and heavenly lights, have become veiled to +such men; they must now follow terrestrial IGNES FATUI, and think them +stars. That is the doom passed upon them. + +Italy too had its Protestants; but Italy killed them; managed to +extinguish Protestantism. Italy put up silently with Practical Lies +of all kinds; and, shrugging its shoulders, preferred going into +Dilettantism and the Fine Arts. The Italians, instead of the sacred +service of Fact and Performance, did Music, Painting, and the +like:--till even that has become impossible for them; and no noble +Nation, sunk from virtue to VIRTU, ever offered such a spectacle before. +He that will prefer Dilettantism in this world for his outfit, shall +have it; but all the gods will depart from him; and manful veracity, +earnestness of purpose, devout depth of soul, shall no more be his. He +can if he like make himself a soprano, and sing for hire;--and probably +that is the real goal for him. + +But the sharpest-cut example is France; to which we constantly return +for illustration. France, with its keen intellect, saw the truth and saw +the falsity, in those Protestant times; and, with its ardor of generous +impulse, was prone enough to adopt the former. France was within a +hair's-breadth of becoming actually Protestant. But France saw good +to massacre Protestantism, and end it in the night of St. Bartholomew, +1572. The celestial Apparitor of Heaven's Chancery, so we may speak, +the Genius of Fact and Veracity, had left his Writ of Summons; Writ was +read;--and replied to in this manner. The Genius of Fact and Veracity +accordingly withdrew;--was staved off, got kept away, for two hundred +years. But the writ of Summons had been served; Heaven's Messenger could +not stay away forever. No; he returned duly; with accounts run up, on +compound interest, to the actual hour, in 1792;--and then, at last, +there had to be a "Protestantism;" and we know of what kind that was!-- + +Nations did not so understand it, nor did Brandenburg more than the +others; but the question of questions for them at that time, decisive of +their history for half a thousand years to come, was, Will you obey the +heavenly voice, or will you not? + + + + +Chapter IX. -- KURFURST JOACHIM I. + +Brandenburg, in the matter of the Reformation, was at first--with Albert +of Mainz, Tetzel's friend, on the one side, and Pious George of Anspach, +"NIT KOP AB," on the other--certainly a divided house. But, after the +first act, it conspicuously ceased to be divided; nay Kur-Brandenburg +and Kur-Mainz themselves had known tendencies to the Reformation, and +were well aware that the Church could not stand as it was. Nor did the +cause want partisans in Berlin, in Brandenburg,--hardly to be repressed +from breaking into flame, while Kurfurst Joachim was so prudent and +conservative. Of this loud Kurfurst Joachim I., here and there mentioned +already, let us now say a more express word. [1484, 1499, 1535: birth, +accession, death of Joachim.] + +Joachim I., Big John's son, hesitated hither and thither for some time, +trying if it would not do to follow the Kaiser Karl V.'s lead; and at +length, crossed in his temper perhaps by the speed his friends were +going at, declared formally against any farther Reformation; and in +his own family and country was strict upon the point. He is a man, as I +judge, by no means without a temper of his own; very loud occasionally +in the Diets and elsewhere;--reminds me a little of a certain King +Friedrich Wilhelm, whom my readers shall know by and by. A big, surly, +rather bottle-nosed man, with thick lips, abstruse wearied eyes, and no +eyebrows to speak of: not a beautiful man, when you cross him overmuch. + + + +OF JOACHIM'S WIFE AND BROTHER-IN-LAW. + +His wife was a Danish Princess, Sister of poor Christian II., King of +that Country: dissolute Christian, who took up with a huckster-woman's +daughter,--"mother sold gingerbread," it would appear, "at Bergen in +Norway," where Christian was Viceroy; Christian made acceptable love to +the daughter, "DIVIKE (Dovekin, COLUMBINA)," as he called her. Nay he +made the gingerbread mother a kind of prime-minister, said the angry +public, justly scandalized at this of the "Dovekin." He was married, +meanwhile, to Karl V.'s own Sister; but continued that other connection. +[Here are the dates of this poor Christian, in a lump. Born, 1481; King, +1513 (Dovekin before); married, 1515; turned off, 1523; invades, taken +prisoner, 1532; dies, 1559. Cousin, and then Cousin's Son, succeeded.] +He had rash notions, now for the Reformation, now against it, when he +got to be King; a very rash, unwise, explosive man. He made a "Stockholm +BLUTBAD" still famed in History (kind of open, ordered or permitted, +Massacre of eighty or a hundred of his chief enemies there), +"Bloodbath," so they name it; in Stockholm, where indeed he was lawful +King, and not without unlawful enemies, had a bloodbath been the way to +deal with them. Gustavus Vasa was a young fellow there, who dexterously +escaped this Bloodbath, and afterwards came to something. + +In Denmark and Sweden, rash Christian made ever more enemies; at length +he was forced to run, and they chose another King or successive pair of +Kings. Christian fled to Kaiser Karl at Brussels; complained to Kaiser +Karl, his Brother-in-law,--whose Sister he had not used well. Kaiser +Karl listened to his complaints, with hanging under-lip, with heavy, +deep, undecipherable eyes; evidently no help from Karl. + +Christian, after that, wandered about with inexecutable speculations, +and projects to recover his crown or crowns; sheltering often with +Kurfurst Joachim, who took a great deal of trouble about him, first and +last; or with the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich the Wise, or after him, +with Johann the Steadfast ("V. D. M. I. AE." whom we saw at Augsburg), +who were his Mother's Brothers, and beneficent men. He was in Saxony, on +such terms, coming and going, when a certain other Flight thither took +place, soon to be spoken of, which is the cause of our mentioning him +here.--In the end (A.D. 1532) he did get some force together, and +made sail to Norway; but could do no execution whatever there;--on the +contrary, was frozen in on the coast during winter; seized, carried +to Copenhagen, and packed into the "Castle of Sonderburg," a grim +sea-lodging on the shore of Schleswig,--prisoner for the rest of his +life, which lasted long enough. Six-and-twenty years of prison; the +first seventeen years of it strict and hard, almost of the dungeon sort; +the remainder, on his fairly abdicating, was in another Castle, that +of Callundborg in the Island of Zealand, "with fine apartments and +conveniences," and even "a good house of liquor now and then," at +discretion of the old soul. That was the end of headlong Christian +II.; he lasted in this manner to the age of seventy-eight. [Kohler, +_Munzbelustigungen,_xi. 47, 48; Holberg, _Danemarckische Staats-und +Reichs-Historie_ (Copenhagen, 1731, NOT the big Book by Holberg), p. +241; Buddaus, _Allgemeines Historisches Lexicon_ (Leipzig, 1709),? +Christianus II.] + +His Sister Elizabeth at Brandenburg is perhaps, in regard to natural +character, recognizably of the same kin as Christian; but her behavior +is far different from his. She too is zealous for the Reformation; but +she has a right to be so, and her notions that way are steady; and she +has hitherto, though in a difficult position, done honor to her creed. +Surly Joachim is difficult to deal with; is very positive now that he +has declared himself: "In my house at least shall be nothing farther of +that unblessed stuff." Poor Lady, I see domestic difficulties very thick +upon her; nothing but division, the very children ranging themselves in +parties. She can pray to Heaven; she must do her wisest. + +She partook once, by some secret opportunity, of the "communion under +both kinds;" one of her Daughters noticed and knew; told Father of it. +Father knits up his thick lips; rolls his abstruse dissatisfied eyes, +in an ominous manner: the poor Lady, probably possessed of an excitable +imagination too, trembles for herself. "It is thought, His DURCHLAUCHT +will wall you up for life, my Serene Lady; dark prison for life, which +probably may not be long!" These surmises were of no credibility: but +there and then the poor Lady, in a shiver of terror, decides that she +must run; goes off actually, one night ("Monday after the LAETARE," +which we find is 24th March) in the year 1528, (Pauli (ii. 584); who +cites Seckendorf, and this fraction of a Letter of Luther's, to one +"LINCKUS" or Lincke, written on the Friday following (28th March, +1528):-- + +"The Electress [MARGRAVINE he calls her] has fled from Berlin, by help +of her Brother the King of Denmark [poor Christian II.] to our Prince +[Johann the Steadfast], because her Elector had determined to wall her +up, as is reported, on account of the Eucharist under both species. Pray +for our Prince; _the pious man and affectionate soul gets a great deal +of trouble with his kindred."_ Or thus in the Original:-- + +_"Marchionissa aufugit a Berlin, auxilio fratris, Regis Daniae, ad +nostrum Principem, quod Marchio statuerat eam immurare (ut dicitur) +propter Eucharistiam utriusque speciei. Ora pro nostro Principe;_ der +fromme Mann und herzliche Mensch ist doch ja wohl geplaget" (Seckendorf, +_Historia Lutheranismi,_ ii.? 62, No. 8, p. 122).) in a mean vehicle +under cloud of darkness, with only one maid and groom,--driving for +life. That is very certain: she too is on flight towards Saxony, to +shelter with her uncle Kurfurst Johann,--unless for reasons of state +he scruple? On the dark road her vehicle broke down; a spoke given +way,--"Not a bit of rope to splice it," said the improvident groom. +"Take my lace-veil here," said the poor Princess; and in this guise she +got to Torgau (I could guess, her poor Brother's lodging),--and thence, +in short time, to the fine Schloss of Lichtenberg hard by; Uncle Johann, +to whom she had zealously left an option of refusal, having as zealously +permitted and invited her to continue there. Which she did for many +years. + +Nor did she get the least molestation from Husband Joachim;--who I +conjecture had intended, though a man of a certain temper, and strict +in his own house, something short of walling up for life:--poor Joachim +withal! "However, since you are gone, Madam, go!" Nor did he concern +himself with Christian II. farther, but let him lie in prison at +his leisure. As for the Lady, he even let his children visit her at +Lichtenberg; Crypto-Protestants all; and, among them, the repentant +Daughter who had peached upon her. + +Poor Joachim, he makes a pious speech on his death-bed, solemnly warning +his Son against these new-fangled heresies; the Son being already +possessed of them in his heart. [Speech given in Rentsch, pp. 484-439.] +What could Father do more? Both Father and Son, I suppose, were weeping. +This was in 1535, this last scene; things looking now more ominous than +ever. Of Kurfurst Joachim I will remember nothing farther, except that +once, twenty-three years before, he "held a Tourney in Neu-Ruppin," year +1612; Tourney on the most magnificent scale, and in New-Ruppin, [Pauli, +ii. 466.] a place we shall know by and by. + +As to the Lady, she lived eighteen years in that fine Schloss of +Lichtenberg; saw her children as we said; and, silently or otherwise, +rejoiced in the creed they were getting. She saw Luther's self +sometimes; "had him several times to dinner;" he would call at her +Mansion, when his journeys lay that way. She corresponded with him +diligently; nay once, for a three months, she herself went across and +lodged with Dr. Luther and his Kate; as a royal Lady might with a heroic +Sage,--though the Sage's income was only Twenty-four pounds sterling +annually. There is no doubt about that visit of three months; one thinks +of it, as of something human, something homely, ingenuous and pretty. +Nothing in surly Joachim's history is half so memorable to me, or indeed +memorable at all in the stage we are now come to. + +The Lady survived Joachim twenty years; of these she spent eleven still +at Lichtenberg, in no over-haste to return. However, her Son, the new +Elector, declaring for Protestantism, she at length yielded to his +invitations: came back (1546), and ended her days at Berlin in a +peaceable and venerable manner. Luckless Brother Christian is lying +under lock-and-key all this while; smuggling out messages, and so +on; like a voice from the land of Dreams or of Nightmares, painful, +impracticable, coming now and then. + + + + +Chapter X. -- KURFURST JOACHIM II. + +Joachim II., Sixth Elector, no doubt after painful study, and intricate +silent consideration ever since his twelfth year when Luther was first +heard of over the world, came gradually, and before his Father's death +had already come, to the conclusion of adopting the Confession of +Augsburg, as the true Interpretation of this Universe, so far as we had +yet got; and did so, publicly, in the year 1539. [Rentsch, p. 452.] To +the great joy of Berlin and the Brandenburg populations generally, who +had been of a Protestant humor, hardly restrainable by Law, for some +years past. By this decision Joachim held fast, with a stout, weighty +grasp; nothing spasmodic in his way of handling the matter, and yet +a heartiness which is agreeable to see. He could not join in the +Schmalkaldic War; seeing, it is probable, small chance for such a War, +of many chiefs and little counsel; nor was he willing yet to part from +the Kaiser Karl V., who was otherwise very good to him. + +He had fought personally for this Kaiser, twice over, against the +Turks; first as Brandenburg Captain, learning his art; and afterwards as +Kaiser's Generalissimo, in 1542. He did no good upon the Turks, on that +latter occasion; as indeed what good was to be done, in such a quagmire +of futilities as Joachim's element there was? "Too sumptuous in his +dinners, too much wine withal!" hint some calumniously. [Paulus Jovius, +&c. See Pauli, iii. 70-73.] "Hector of Germany!" say others. He tried +some small prefatory Siege or scalade of Pesth; could not do it; and +came his ways home again, as the best course. Pedant Chroniclers give +him the name HECTOR, "Joachim Hector,"--to match that of CICERO and +that of ACHILLES. A man of solid structure, this our Hector, in body and +mind: extensive cheeks, very large heavy-laden face; capable of terrible +bursts of anger, as his kind generally were. + +The Schmalkaldic War went to water, as the Germans phrase it: +Kur-Sachsen,--that is, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, Son of +Johann "V. D. M. I. AE.," and Nephew of Friedrich the Wise,--had his +sorrowfully valid reasons for the War; large force too, plenty of +zealous copartners, Philip of Hessen and others; but no generalship, or +not enough, for such a business. Big Army, as is apt enough to +happen, fell short of food; Kaiser Karl hung on the outskirts, waiting +confidently till it came to famine. Johann Friedrich would attempt +nothing decisive while provender lasted;--and having in the end, +strangely enough, and somewhat deaf to advice, divided his big Army into +three separate parts;--Johann Friedrich was himself, with one of those +parts, surprised at Muhlberg, on a Sunday when at church (24th April, +1547); and was there beaten to sudden ruin, and even taken captive, +like to have his head cut off, by the triumphant angry Kaiser. Philip of +Hessen, somewhat wiser, was home to Marburg, safe with HIS part, in the +interim.--Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg had good reason to rejoice +in his own cautious reluctances on this occasion. However, he did now +come valiantly up, hearing what severities were in the wind. + +He pleaded earnestly, passionately, he and Cousin or already "Elector" +Moritz, [Pauli, iii. 102.]--who was just getting Johann Friedrich's +Electorship fished away from him out of these troubles, [Kurfurst, 4th +June, 1547.]--for Johann Friedrich of Saxony's life, first of all. For +Johann's life FIRST; this is a thing not to be dispensed with, +your Majesty, on any terms whatever; a _sine qua non,_ this life to +Protestant Germany at large. To which the Kaiser indicated, "He would +see; not immediate death at any rate; we will see." A life that could +not and must not be taken in this manner: this was the FIRST point. +Then, SECONDLY, that Philip of Hessen, now home again at Marburg,--not a +bad or disloyal man, though headlong, and with two wives,--might not be +forfeited; but that peace and pardon might be granted him, on his entire +submission. To which second point the Kaiser answered, "Yes, then, on +his submission." These were the two points. These pleadings went on at +Halle, where the Kaiser now lies, in triumphantly victorious humor, in +the early days of June, Year 1547. Johann Friedrich of Saxony had +been, by some Imperial Court-Council or other,--Spanish merely, I +suppose,--doomed to die. Sentence was signified to him while he sat at +chess: "Can wait till we end the game," thought Johann;--"PERGAMUS," +said he to his comrade, "Let us go on, then!" Sentence not to be +executed till one see. + +With Philip of Hessen things had a more conclusive aspect. Philip +had accepted the terms procured for him; which had been laboriously +negotiated, brought to paper, and now wanted only the sign-manual to +them: _"Ohne einigen Gefangniss_(without any imprisonment)," one of +the chief clauses. And so Philip now came over to Halle; was met and +welcomed by his two friends, Joachim and Moritz, at Naumburg, a stage +before Halle;--clear now to make his submission, and beg pardon of the +Kaiser, according to bargain. On the morrow, 19th June, 1547, the Papers +were got signed. And next day, 20th June, Philip did, according to +bargain, openly beg pardon of the Kaiser, in his Majesty's Hall of +Audience (Town House of Halle, I suppose); "knelt at the Kaiser's +feet publicly on both knees, while his Kanzler read the submission and +entreaty, as agreed upon;" and, alas, then the Kaiser said nothing +at all to him! Kaiser looked haughtily, with impenetrable eyes and +shelf-lip, over the head of him; gave him no hand to kiss; and left poor +Philip kneeling there. An awkward position indeed;--which any German +Painter that there were, might make a Picture of, I have sometimes +thought. Picture of some real meaning, more or less,--if for symbolic. +Towers of Babel, medieval mythologies, and extensive smearings of that +kind, he could find leisure!--Philip having knelt a reasonable time, and +finding there was no help for it, rose in the dread silence (some say, +with too sturdy an expression of countenance); and retired from the +affair, having at least done his part of it. + +The next practical thing was now supper, or as we of this age should +call it, dinner. Uncommonly select and high supper: host the Duke of +Alba; where Joachim, Elector Moritz, and another high Official, the +Bishop of Arras, were to welcome poor Philip after his troubles. How +the grand supper went, I do not hear: possibly a little constrained; the +Kaiser's strange silence sitting on all men's thoughts; not to be +spoken of in the present company. At length the guests rose to go away. +Philip's lodging is with Moritz (who is his son-in-law, as learned +readers know): "You Philip, your lodging is mine; my lodging is +yours,--I should say! Cannot we ride together?"--"Philip is not +permitted to go," said Imperial Officiality; "Philip is to continue +here, and we fear go to prison."--"Prison?" cried they all: "OHNE +EINIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ANY imprisonment)!"--"As we read the words, +it is 'OHNE EWIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ETERNAL imprisonment),'" answer +the others. And so, according to popular tradition, which has little or +no credibility, though printed in many Books, their false Secretary had +actually modified it. + +"No intention of imprisoning his DURCHLAUCHT of Hessen FOREVER; +not forever!" answered they. And Kurfurst Joachim, in astonished +indignation, after some remonstrating and arguing, louder and louder, +which profited nothing, blazed out into a very whirlwind of rage; drew +his sword, it is whispered with a shudder,--drew his sword, or was for +drawing it, upon the Duke of Alba; and would have done, God knows what, +had not friends flung themselves between, and got the Duke away, or +him away. [Pauli, iii. 103.] Other accounts bear, that it was upon the +Bishop of Arras he drew his sword; which is a somewhat different matter. +Perhaps he drew it on both; or on men and things in general;--for his +indignation knew no bounds. The heavy solid man; yet with a human heart +in him after all, and a Hohenzollern abhorrence of chicanery, capable +of rising to the transcendent pitch! His wars against the Turks, and +his other Hectorships, I will forget; but this, of a face so extensive +kindled all into divine fire for poor Philip's sake, shall be memorable +to me. + +Philip got out by and by, though with difficulty; the Kaiser proving +very stiff in the matter; and only yielding to obstinate pressures, +and the force of time and events. Philip got away; and then how Johann +Friedrich of Sachsen, after being led about for five years, in the +Kaiser's train, a condemned man, liable to be executed any day, did +likewise at last get away, with his head safe and Electorate gone: these +are known Historical events, which we glanced at already, on another +score. + +For, by and by, the Kaiser found tougher solicitation than this of +Joachim's. The Kaiser, by his high carriage in this and other such +matters, had at length kindled a new War round him; and he then +soon found himself reduced to extremities again; chased to the Tyrol +Mountains, and obliged to comply with many things. New War, of quite +other emphasis and management than the Schmalkaldic one; managed by +Elector Moritz and our poor friend Albert Alcibiades as principals. A +Kaiser chased into the mountains, capable of being seized by a little +spurring;--"Capture him?" said Albert. "I have no cage big enough for +such a bird!" answered Moritz; and the Kaiser was let run. How he ran +then towards Treaty of Passau (1552), towards Siege of Metz and other +sad conclusions, "Abdication" the finale of them: these also are known +phases in the Reformation History, as hinted at above. + +Here at Halle, in the year 1547, the great Kaiser, with Protestantism +manacled at his feet, and many things going prosperous, was at his +culminating point. He published his INTERIM (1548, What you troublesome +Protestants are to do, in the mean time, while the Council of Trent +is sitting, and till it and I decide for you); and in short, drove and +reined-in the Reich with a high hand and a sharp whip, for the time +being. Troublesome Protestants mostly rejected the Interim; Moritz and +Alcibiades, with France in the rear of them, took to arms in that way; +took to ransoming fat Bishoprics ("_Verbum Diaboli Manet_," we know +where!);--took to chasing Kaisers into the mountains;--and times came +soon round again. In all these latter broils Kurfurst Joachim II., +deeply interested, as we may fancy, strove to keep quiet; and to +prevail, by weight of influence and wise counsel, rather than by +fighting with his Kaiser. + +One sad little anecdote I recollect of Joachim: an Accident, which +happened in those Passau-Interim days, a year or two after that drawing +of the sword on Alba. Kurfurst Joachim unfortunately once fell through +a staircase, in that time; being, as I guess, a heavy man. It was in +the Castle of Grimnitz, one of his many Castles, a spacious enough old +Hunting-seat, the repairs of which had not been well attended to. The +good Herr, weighty of foot, was leading down his Electress to dinner one +day in this Schloss of Grimnitz; broad stair climbs round a grand Hall, +hung with stag-trophies, groups of weapons, and the like hall-furniture. +An unlucky timber yielded; yawning chasm in the staircase; Joachim and +his good Princess sank by gravitation; Joachim to the floor with little +hurt; his poor Princess (horrible to think of), being next the wall, +came upon the stag-horns and boar-spears down below! [Pauli, iii. 112.] +The poor Lady's hurt was indescribable: she walked lame all the rest +of her clays; and Joachim, I hope (hope, but not with confidence), [Ib. +iii. 194.] loved her all the better for it. This unfortunate old Schloss +of Grimnitz, some thirty miles northward of Berlin, was--by the Eighth +Kurfurst, Joachim Friedrich, Grandson of this one, with great renown to +himself and to it--converted into an Endowed High School: the famed +_Joachimsthal Gymnasium,_ still famed, though now under some change of +circumstances, and removed to Berlin itself. [Nicolai, p. 725.] + +Joachim's first Wife, from whom descend the following Kurfursts, was a +daughter of that Duke George of Saxony, Luther's celebrated friend, "If +it rained Duke-Georges nine days running." + + + + +JOACHIM GETS CO-INFEFTMENT IN PREUSSEN. + +This second Wife, she of the accident at Grimnitz, was Hedwig, King +Sigismund of Poland's daughter; which connection, it is thought, helped +Joachim well in getting what they call the MITBELEHNUNG of Preussen (for +it was he that achieved this point) from King Sigismund. + +MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment) in Preussen;--whereby is solemnly +acknowledged the right of Joachim and his Posterity to the reversion of +Preussen, should the Culmbach Line of Duke Albert happen to fail. It was +a thing Joachim long strove for; till at length his Father-in-law did, +some twenty years hence, concede it him. [Date, Lublin, 19th July, 1568: +Pauli, iii. 177-179, 193; Rentsch, p. 457; Stenzel, i. 341, 342.] Should +Albert's Line fail, then, the other Culmbachers get Preussen; should the +Culmbachers all fail, the Berlin Brandenburgers get it. The Culmbachers +are at this time rather scarce of heirs: poor Alcibiades died childless, +as we know, and Casimir's Line is extinct; Duke Albert himself has left +only one Son, who now succeeds in Preussen; still young, and not of the +best omens. Margraf George the Pious, he left only George Friedrich; +an excellent man, who is now prosperous in the world, and wedded long +since, but has no children. So that, between Joachim's Line and Preussen +there are only two intermediate heirs;--and it was a thing eminently +worth looking after. Nor has it wanted that. And so Kurfurst Joachim, +almost at the end of his course, has now made sure of it. + + + + +JOACHIM MAKES "HERITAGE-BROTHERHOOD" WITH THE DUKE OF LIEGNITZ. + +Another feat of like nature Joachim II. had long ago achieved; which +likewise in the long-run proved important in his Family, and in the +History of the world: an "ERBVERBRUDERUNG," so they term it, with the +Duke of Liegnitz,--date 1537. ERBVERBRUDERUNG ("Heritage-brotherhood," +meaning Covenant to succeed reciprocally on Failure of Heirs to either) +had in all times been a common paction among German Princes well +affected to each other. Friedrich II., the then Duke of Liegnitz, we +have transiently seen, was related to the Family; he had been extremely +helpful in bringing his young friend Albert of Preussen's affairs to +a good issue,--whose Niece, withal, he had wedded:--in fact, he was a +close friend of this our Joachim's; and there had long been a growing +connection between the two Houses, by intermarriages and good offices. + +The Dukes of Liegnitz were Sovereign-Princes, come of the old Piasts +of Poland; and had perfect right to enter into this transaction of an +ERBVERBRUDERUNG with whom they liked. True, they had, above two +hundred years before, in the days of King Johann ICH-DIEN (A.D. 1329), +voluntarily constituted themselves Vassals of the Crown of Bohemia: +[Pauli, iii. 22.] but the right to dispose of their Lands as they +pleased had, all along, been carefully acknowledged, and saved entire. +And, so late as 1521, just sixteen years ago, the Bohemian King +Vladislaus the Last, our good Margraf George's friend, had expressly, +in a Deed still extant, confirmed to them, with all the emphasis and +amplitude that Law-Phraseology could bring to bear upon it, the right to +dispose of said Lands in any manner of way: "by written testament, or +by verbal on their death-bed, they can, as they see wisest, give away, +sell, pawn, dispose of, and exchange _(vergeben, verkaufen, versetzen, +verschaffen, verwechseln)_ these said lands," to all lengths, and with +all manner of freedom. Which privilege had likewise been confirmed, +twice over (1522, 1524), by Ludwig the next King, Ludwig OHNE-HAUT, +who perished in the bogs of Mohacz, and ended the native Line of +Bohemian-Hungarian Kings. Nay, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, Karl V.'s +Brother, afterwards Kaiser, who absorbed that Bohemian Crown among +the others, had himself, by implication, sanctioned or admitted the +privilege, in 1529, only eight years ago. [Stenzel, i. 323.] The right +to make the ERBVERBRUDERUNG could not seem doubtful to anybody. + +And made accordingly it was: signed, sealed, drawn out on the proper +parchments, 18th October, 1537; to the following clear effect: "That +if Duke Friedrich's Line should die out, all his Liegnitz countries, +Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, should fall to the Hohenzollern Brandenburgers: +and that, if the Line of Hohenzollern Brandenburg should first fail, +then all and singular the Bohemian Fiefs of Brandenburg (as Crossen, +Zullichau and seven others there enumerated) should fall to the House of +Liegnitz." [Stenzel, i. 320.] It seemed a clear Paction, questionable by +no mortal. Double-marriage between the two Houses (eldest Son, on each +side, to suitable Princess on the other) was to follow: and did follow, +after some delays, 17th February, 1545. So that the matter seemed now +complete: secure on all points, and a matter of quiet satisfaction to +both the Houses and to their friends. + +But Ferdinand, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia and Hungary, and +coming to be Emperor one day, was not of that sentiment. Ferdinand had +once implicitly recognized the privilege, but Ferdinand, now when he saw +the privilege turned to use, and such a territory as Liegnitz exposed +to the possibility of falling into inconvenient hands, explicitly +took other thoughts: and gradually determined to prohibit this +ERBVERBRUDERUNG. The States of Bohemia, accordingly, in 1544 (it is not +doubtful, by Ferdinand's suggestion), were moved to make inquiries as to +this Heritage-Fraternity of Liegnitz. [Ib. i. 322.] On which hint King +Ferdinand straightway informed the Duke of Liegnitz that the act was not +justifiable, and must be revoked. The Duke of Liegnitz, grieved to the +heart, had no means of resisting. Ferdinand, King of the Romans, backed +by Kaiser Karl, with the States of Bohemia barking at his wink, were too +strong for poor Duke Friedrich of Liegnitz. Great corresponding between +Berlin, Liegnitz, Prag ensued on this matter: but the end was a summons +to Duke Friedrich,--summons from King Ferdinand in March, 1546, "To +appear in the Imperial Hall (KAISERHOF) at Breslau," and to submit +that Deed of EBVERBRUDERUNG to the examination of the States there. The +States, already up to the affair, soon finished their examination of it +(8th May, 1546). The deed was annihilated: and Friedrich was ordered, +furthermore, to produce proofs within six months that his subjects too +were absolved of all oaths or the like regarding it, and that in fact +the Transaction was entirely abolished and reduced to zero. Friedrich +complied, had to comply: very much chagrined, he returned home: and died +next year,--it is supposed, of heartbreak from this business. He had +yielded outwardly: but to force only. In a Codicil appended to his last +Will, some months afterwards (which Will, written years ago, had treated +the ERBVERBRUDERUNG as a Fact settled), he indicates, as with his last +breath, that he considered the thing still valid, though overruled +by the hand of power. Let the reader mark this matter; for it will +assuredly become memorable, one day. + +The hand of power, namely, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, had applied +in like manner to Joachim of Brandenburg to surrender his portion of the +Deed, and annihilate on his side too this ERBVERBRUDERUNG. But Joachim +refused steadily, and all his successors steadily, to give up this Bit +of Written Parchment: kept the same, among their precious documents, +against some day that might come (and I suppose it lies in the Archives +of Berlin even now): silently, or in words, asserting that the Deed of +Heritage-Brothership was good, and that though some hands might have the +power, no hand could have the right to abolish it on those terms. + +How King Ferdinand permitted himself such a procedure? Ferdinand, says +one of his latest apologists in this matter, "considered the privileges +granted by his Predecessors, in respect to rights of Sovereignty, as +fallen extinct on their death." [Stenzel, i. 323.] Which--if Reality +and Fact would but likewise be so kind as "consider" it so--was no doubt +convenient for Ferdinand! + +Joachim was not so great with Ferdinand as he had been with Charles the +Imperial Brother. Joachim and Ferdinand had many debates of this +kind, some of them rather stiff. Jagerndorf, for instance, and the +Baireuth-Anspach confiscations, in George Friedrich's minority. +Ferdinand, now Kaiser, had snatched Jagerndorf from poor young George +Friedrich, son of excellent Margraf George whom we knew: "Part of +the spoils of Albert Alcibiades," thought Ferdinand, "and a good +windfall,"--though young George Friedrich had merely been the Ward +of Cousin Alcibiades, and totally without concern in those political +explosions. "Excellent windfall," thought Ferdinand: and held his grip. +But Joachim, in his weighty steady way, intervened: Joachim, emphatic +in the Diets and elsewhere, made Ferdinand quit grip, and produce +Jagerndorf again. Jagerndorf and the rest had all to be restored: and, +except some filchings in the Jagerndorf Appendages (Ratibor and Oppeln, +"restored" only in semblance, and at length juggled away altogether), +[Rentsch, pp. 129, 130.] everything came to its right owner again. Nor +would Joachim rest till Alcibiades's Territories too were all punctually +given back, to this same George Friedrich: to whom, by law and justice, +they belonged, In these points Joachim prevailed against a strong-handed +Kaiser, apt to "consider one's rights fallen extinct" now and then. In +this of Liegnitz all he could do was to keep the Deed, in steady protest +silent or vocal. + +But enough now of Joachim Hector, Sixth Kurfurst, and of his workings +and his strugglings. He walked through this world, treading as softly +as might be, yet with a strong weighty step: rending the jungle steadily +asunder; well seeing whither he was bound. Rather an expensive Herr: +built a good deal, completion of the Schloss at Berlin one example: +[Nicolai, p. 82.] and was not otherwise afraid of outlay, in the Reich's +Politics, or in what seemed needful: If there is a harvest ahead, even a +distant one, it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn! + +Joachim was always a conspicuous Public Man, a busy Politician in the +Reich: stanch to his kindred, and by no means blind to himself or his +own interests. Stanch also, we must grant, and ever active, though +generally in a cautious, weighty, never in a rash swift way, to the +great Cause of Protestantism, and to all good causes. He was himself a +solemnly devout man; deep awe-stricken reverence dwelling in his view +of this Universe. Most serious, though with a jocose dialect commonly, +having a cheerful wit in speaking to men. Luther's Books he called his +SEELENSCHATZ (Soul's-treasure): Luther and the Bible were his chief +reading. Fond of profane learning too, and of the useful or ornamental +Arts; given to music, and "would himself sing aloud" when he had +a melodious leisure-hour. Excellent old gentleman: he died, rather +suddenly, but with much nobleness, 3d January, 1571; age sixty-six. Old +Rentsch's account of this event is still worth reading: [Rentsch, p. +458.] Joachim's death-scene has a mild pious beauty which does not +depend on creed. + +He had a Brother too, not a little occupied with Politics, and always +on the good side: a wise pious man, whose fame was in all the churches: +"Johann of Custrin," called also "Johann THE WISE," who busied himself +zealously in Protestant matters, second only in piety and zeal to his +Cousin, Margraf George the Pious; and was not so held back by official +considerations as his Brother the Elector now and then. Johann of +Custrin is a very famous man in the old Books: Johann was the first that +fortified Custrin: built himself an illustrious Schloss, and "roofed it +with copper," in Custrin (which is a place we shall be well acquainted +with by and by); and lived there, with the Neumark for apanage, a true +man's life;--mostly with a good deal of business, warlike and other, +on his hands; with good Books, good Deeds, and occasionally good Men, +coming to enliven it,--according to the terms then given. + + + +Chapter XI. -- SEVENTH KURFURST, JOHANN GEORGE. + +Kaiser Karl, we said, was very good to Joachim; who always strove, +sometimes with a stretch upon his very conscience, to keep well with the +Kaiser. The Kaiser took Joachim's young Prince along with him to those +Schmalkaldic Wars (not the comfortable side for Joachim's conscience, +but the safe side for an anxious Father); Kaiser made a Knight of this +young Prince, on one occasion of distinction; he wrote often to Papa +about him, what a promising young hero he was,--seems really to have +liked the young man. It was Johann George, Elector afterwards, Seventh +Elector.--This little incident is known to me on evidence. [Rentsch, p. +465.] A small thing that certainly befell, at the siege of Wittenberg +(A.D. 1547), during those Philip-of-Hessen Negotiations, three hundred +and odd years ago. + +The Schmalkaldic War having come all to nothing, the Saxon Elector +sitting captive with sword overhead in the way we saw, Saxon Wittenberg +was besieged, and the Kaiser was in great hurry to get it. Kaiser in +person, and young Johann George for sole attendant, rode round the place +one day, to take a view of the works, and judge how soon, or whether +ever, it could be compelled to give in. Gunners noticed them from the +battlements; gunners Saxon-Protestant most likely, and in just gloom +at the perils and indignities now lying on their pious Kurfurst Johann +Friedrich the Magnanimous. "Lo, you! Kaiser's self riding yonder, and +one of his silk JUNKERS. Suppose we gave the Kaiser's self a shot, +then?" said the gunner, or thought: "It might help a better man from his +life-perils, if such shot did--!" In fact the gun flashed off, with due +outburst, and almost with due effect. The ball struck the ground among +the very horses' feet of the two riders; so that they were thrown, or +nearly so, and covered from sight with a cloud of earth and sand;--and +the gunners thought, for some instants, an unjust, obstinate Kaiser's +life was gone; and a pious Elector's saved. But it proved not so. Kaiser +Karl and Johann George both emerged, in a minute or two, little the +worse;--Kaiser Karl perhaps blushing somewhat, and flurried this time, +I think, in the impenetrable eyes; and his Cimburgis lip closed for the +moment;--and galloped out of shot-range. "I never forget this little +incident," exclaims Smelfungus: "It is one of the few times I can get, +after all my reading about that surprising Karl V., I do not say the +least understanding or practical conception of him and his character and +his affairs, but the least ocular view or imagination of him, as a fact +among facts!" Which is unlucky for Smelfungus.--Johann George, still +more emphatically, never to the end of HIS life forgot this incident. +And indeed it must be owned, had the shot taken effect as intended, the +whole course of human things would have been surprisingly altered;--and +for one thing, neither FREDERICH THE GREAT, nor the present HISTORY +OF FRIEDRICH, had ever risen above ground, or troubled an enlightened +public or me! + +Of Johann George, this Seventh Elector, [1525; 1571-1598.] who proved +a good Governor, and carried on the Family Affairs in the old style of +slow steady success, I will remember nothing more, except that he +had the surprising number of Three-and-Twenty children; one of them +posthumous, though he died at the age of seventy-three.-- + +He is Founder of the New Culmbach line: two sons of these twenty-three +children he settled, one in Baireuth, the other in Anspach; from whom +come all the subsequent Heads of that Principality, till the last +of them died in Hammersmith in 1806, as above said. [Rentsch, p. 475 +(CHRISTIAN to Baireuth; JOACHIM ERNST to Anspach);--See Genealogical +Diagram, inra, p. 309a.] He was a prudent, thrifty Herr; no mistresses, +no luxuries allowed; at the sight of a new-fashioned coat, he would fly +out on an unhappy youth, and pack him from his presence. Very strict +in point of justice: a peasant once appealing to him, in one of his +inspection-journeys through the country, "Grant me justice, DURCHLAUCHT, +against So-and-so; I am your highness's born subject!"--"Thou shouldst +have it, man, wert thou a born Turk!" answered Johann George.--There is +something anxious, grave and, as it were, surprised in the look of this +good Herr. He made the GERA BOND above spoken of;--founded the Younger +Culmbach Line, with that important Law of Primogeniture strictly +superadded. A conspicuous thrift, veracity, modest solidity, looks +through the conduct of this Herr;--a determined Protestant he too, as +indeed all the following were and are. [Rentsch, pp. 470, 471.] + +Of Joachim Friedrich, his eldest Son, who at one time was Archbishop of +Magdeburg,--called home from the wars to fill that valuable Heirloom, +which had suddenly fallen vacant by an Uncle's death, and keep it +warm;--and who afterwards, in due course, carried on a LOBLICHE +REGIERUNG of the old style and physiognomy, as Eighth Kurfurst, from +his fiftieth to his sixtieth year (1598-1608): [Born, 1547; Magdehurg, +1566-1598 (when his Third Son got it,--very unlucky in the Thirty-Years +War afterwards).] of him we already noticed the fine "JOACHIMS-thal +Gymnasium," or Foundation for learned purposes, in the old Schloss +of Grimnitz, where his serene Grandmother got lamed; and will notice +nothing farther, in this place, except his very great anxiety to profit +by the Prussian MITBELEHNUNG,--that Co-infeftment in Preussen, achieved +by his Grandfather Joachim II., which was now about coming to its full +maturity. Joachim Friedrich had already married his eldest Prince to +the daughter of Albert Friedrich, Second Duke of Preussen, who it was +by this time evident would be the last Duke there of his Line. Joachim +Friedrich, having himself fallen a widower, did next year, though now +counting fifty-six--But it will be better if we explain first, a little, +how matters now stood with Preussen. + + + + +Chapter XII. -- OF ALBERT FRIEDRICH, THE SECOND DUKE OF PREUSSEN. + +Duke Albert died in 1568, laden with years, and in his latter time +greatly broken down by other troubles. His Prussian RATHS (Councillors) +were disobedient, his Osianders and Lutheran-Calvinist Theologians were +all in fire and flame against each other: the poor old man, with the +best dispositions, but without power to realize them, had much to do and +to suffer. Pious, just and honorable, intending the best; but losing his +memory, and incapable of business, as he now complained. In his sixtieth +year he had married a second time, a young Brunswick Princess, with +whose foolish Brother, Eric, he had much trouble; and who at last +herself took so ill with the insolence and violence of these intrusive +Councillors and Theologians, that the household-life she led beside +her old Husband and them became intolerable to her; and she withdrew +to another residence,--a little Hunting-seat at Neuhausen, half a dozen +miles from Konigsberg;--and there, or at Labiau still farther off, lived +mostly, in a separate condition, for the rest of her life. Separate for +life:--nevertheless they happened to die on the same day; 20th March, +1568, they were simultaneously delivered from their troubles in this +world. [Hubner, t. 181; Stenzel, i. 342.] + +Albert left one Son; the second child of this last Wife: his one child +by the former Wife, a daughter now of good years, was married to the +Duke of Mecklenburg. Son's name was Albert Friedrich; age, at his +Father's death, fifteen. A promising young Prince, but of sensitive +abstruse temper;--held under heavy tutelage by his Raths and +Theologians; and spurting up against them, in explosive rebellion, from +time to time. He now (1568) was to be sovereign Duke of Preussen, and +the one representative of the Culmbach Line in that fine Territory; +Margraf George Friedrich of Anspach, the only other Culmbacher, being +childless, though wedded. + +We need not doubt, the Brandenburg House--old Kurfurst Joachim II. still +alive, and thrifty Johann George the Heir-Apparent--kept a watchful eye +on those emergencies. But it was difficult to interfere directly; +the native Prussian Raths were very jealous, and Poland itself was a +ticklish Sovereignty to deal with. Albert Friedrich being still a Minor, +the Polish King, Sigismund, proposed to undertake the guardianship of +him, as became a superior lord to a subject vassal on such an occasion. +But the Prussian Raths assured his Majesty, "Their young Prince was of +such a lively intellect, he was perfectly fit to conduct the affairs of +the Government," especially with such a Body of expert Councillors to +help him, "and might be at once declared of age." Which was accordingly +the course followed; Poland caring little for it; Brandenburg digesting +the arrangement as it could. And thus it continued for some years, even +under new difficulties that arose; the official Clique of Raths being +the real Government of the Country; and poor young Albert Friedrich +bursting out occasionally into tears against them, occasionally into +futile humors of a fiery nature. Osiander-Theology, and the battle of +the 'DOXIES, ran very high; nor was Prussian Officiality a beautiful +thing. + +These Prussian Raths, and the Prussian RITTERSCHAFT generally +(Knightage, Land-Aristocracy), which had its STANDE (States: or meetings +of Parliament after a sort), were all along of a mutinous, contumacious +humor. The idea had got into their minds, That they were by birth what +the ancient Ritters by election had been; entitled, fit or not fit, to +share the Government promotions among them: "The Duke is hereditary in +his office; why not we? All Offices, are they not, by nature, ours to +share among us?" The Duke's notion, again, was to have the work of his +Offices effectually done; small matter by whom: the Ritters looked +less to that side of the question;--regarded any "Foreigner" +(German-Anspacher, or other Non-Prussian), whatever his merit, as +an intruder, usurper, or kind of thief, when seen in office. Their +contentions, contumacies and pretensions were accordingly manifold. They +had dreams of an "Aristocratic Republic, with the Sovereign reduced +to zero," like what their Polish neighbors grew to. They had various +dreams; and individuals among them broke out, from time to time, into +high acts of insolence and mutiny. It took a hundred and fifty years +of Brandenburg horse-breaking, sometimes with sharp manipulation and +a potent curb-bit, to dispossess them of that notion, and make them go +steadily in harness. Which also, however, was at last got done by the +Hohenzollerns. + + + + +OF DUKE ALBERT FRIEDRICH'S MARRIAGE: WHO HIS WIFE WAS, AND WHAT HER +POSSIBLE DOWRY. + +In a year or two, there came to be question of the marrying of young +Duke Albert Friedrich. After due consultation, the Princess fixed upon +was Maria Eleonora, eldest Daughter of the then Duke of Cleve: to him +a proper Embassy was sent with that object; and came back with Yes for +answer. Duke of Cleve, at that time, was Wilhelm, called "the Rich" +in History-Books; a Sovereign of some extent in those lower Rhine +countries. Whom I can connect with the English reader's memory in no +readier way than by the fact, That he was younger brother, one year +younger, of a certain "Anne of Cleves;"--a large fat Lady, who was +rather scurvily used in this country; being called, by Henry VIII. and +us, a "great Flanders mare," unsuitable for espousal with a King of +delicate feelings! This Anne of Cleves, who took matters quietly and +lived on her pension, when rejected by King Henry, was Aunt of the young +Lady now in question for Preussen. She was still alive here in England, +pleasantly quiet, "at Burley on the Hill," till Maria Eleonora was seven +years old;--who possibly enough still reads in her memory some fading +vestige of new black frocks or trimmings, and brief court-mourning, on +the death of poor Aunt Anne over seas.--Another Aunt is more honorably +distinguished; Sibylla, Wife of our noble Saxon Elector, Johann +Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost his Electorate and almost his +Life for religion's sake, as we have seen; by whom, in his perils and +distresses, Sibylla stood always, like a very true and noble Wife. + +Duke Wilhelm himself was a man of considerable mark in his day. His +Duchy of Cleve included not only Cleve-Proper, but Julich (JULIERS), +Berg, which latter pair of Duchies were a better thing than +Cleve-Proper:--Julich, Berg and various other small Principalities, +which, gradually agglomerating by marriage, heritage and the chance of +events in successive centuries, had at length come all into Wilhelm's +hands; so that he got the name of Wilhelm the Rich among his +contemporaries. He seems to have been of a headlong, blustery, uncertain +disposition; much tossed about in the controversies of his day. At one +time he was a Protestant declared; not without reasons of various kinds. +The Duchy of Geldern (what we call GUELDERS) had fallen to him, by +express bequest of the last Owner, whose Line was out; and Wilhelm +took possession. But the Kaiser Karl V. quite refused to let him keep +possession. Whereupon Wilhelm had joined with the French (it was in +the Moritz-Alcibiades time); had declared war, and taken other high +measures: but it came to nothing, or to less. The end was, Wilhelm had +to "come upon his knees" before the Kaiser, and beg forgiveness; quite +renouncing Geldern, which accordingly has gone its own different road +ever since. Wilhelm was zealously Protestant in those days; as his +people are, and as he still is, at the period we treat of. But he +went into Papistry, not long after; and made other sudden turns and +misventures: to all appearance, rather an abrupt, blustery, uncertain +Herr. It is to him that Albert Friedrich, the young Duke of Preussen, +guided by his Council, now (Year 1572) sends an Embassy, demanding his +eldest Daughter, Maria Eleonora, to wife. + +Duke Wilhelm answered Yea; "sent a Counter-Embassy," with whatever else +was necessary; and in due time the young Bride, with her Father, set +out towards Preussen, such being the arrangement, there to complete the +matter. They had got as far as Berlin, warmly welcomed by the Kurfurst +Johann George; when, from Konigsberg, a sad message reached them: +namely, that the young Duke had suddenly been seized with an invincible +depression and overclouding of mind, not quite to be characterized +by the name of madness, but still less by that of perfect sanity. His +eagerness to see his Bride was the same as formerly; but his spiritual +health was in the questionable state described. The young Lady paused +for a little, in such mood as we may fancy. She had already lost two +offers, Bridegrooms snatched away by death, says Pauli; [Pauli, iv. +512.] and thought it might be ominous to refuse the third. So she +decided to go on; dashed aside her father's doubts; sent her unhealthy +Bridegroom "a flower-garland as love-token," who duly responded; +and Father Wilhelm and she proceeded, as if nothing were wrong. The +spiritual state of the Prince, she found, had not been exaggerated to +her. His humors and ways were strange, questionable; other than one +could have wished. Such as he was, however, she wedded him on the +appointed terms;--hoping probably for a recovery, which never came. + +The case of Albert's malady is to this day dim; and strange tales are +current as to the origin of it, which the curious in Physiology may +consult; they are not fit for reporting here. [Ib. iv. 476.] It seems to +have consisted in an overclouding, rather than a total ruin of the mind. +Incurable depression there was; gloomy torpor alternating with fits +of vehement activity or suffering; great discontinuity at all +times:--evident unfitness for business. It was long hoped he might +recover. And Doctors in Divinity and in Medicine undertook him: +Theologians, Exorcists, Physicians, Quacks; but no cure came of it, +nothing but mutual condemnations, violences and even execrations, +from the said Doctors and their respective Official patrons, lay and +clerical. Must have been such a scene for a young Wife as has seldom +occurred, in romance or reality! Children continued to be born; daughter +after daughter; but no son that lived. + + + + +MARGRAF GEORGE FRIEDRICH COMES TO PREUSSEN TO ADMINISTER. + +After five years' space, in 1578, [Pauli, iv. 476, 481, 482.] cure being +now hopeless, and the very Council admitting that the Duke was incapable +of business,--George Friedrich of Anspach-Baireuth came into the country +to take charge of him; having already, he and the other Brandenburgers, +negotiated the matter with the King of Poland, in whose power it mostly +lay. + +George Friedrich was by no means welcome to the Prussian Council, nor +to the Wife, nor to the Landed Aristocracy;--other than welcome, +for reasons we can guess. But he proved, in the judgment of all fair +witnesses, an excellent Governor; and, for six-and-twenty years, +administered the country with great and lasting advantage to it. His +Portraits represent to us a large ponderous figure of a man, very fat +in his latter years; with an air of honest sense, dignity, composed +solidity;--very fit for the task now on hand. + +He resolutely, though in mild form, smoothed down the flaming fires +of his Clergy; commanding now this controversy and then that other +controversy _("de concreto et de inconcreto,"_ or whatever they were) to +fall strictly silent; to carry themselves on by thought and meditation +merely, and without words. He tamed the mutinous Aristocracy, the +mutinous Burgermeisters, Town-Council of Konigsberg, whatever mutiny +there was. He drained bogs, says old Rentsch; he felled woods, made +roads, established inns. Prussia was well governed till George's death; +which happened in the year 1603. [Rentsch, pp. 666-688.] Anspach, in the +mean while, Anspach, Baireuth and Jagerndorf, which were latterly +all his, he had governed by deputy; no need of visiting those quiet +countries, except for purposes of kindly recreation, or for a swift +general supervision, now and then. By all accounts, an excellent, +steadfast, wise and just man, this fat George Friedrich; worthy of the +Father that produced him _("Nit Kop ab, lover Forst, nit Kop ab!"),---_ +and that is saying much. + +By his death without children much territory fell home to the Elder +House; to be disposed of as was settled in the GERA BOND five years +before. Anspach and Baireuth went to two Brothers of the now Elector, +Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, sons of Johann George of blessed memory: +founders, they, of the "New Line," of whom we know. Jagerndorf the +Elector himself got; and he, not long after, settled it on one of +his own sons, a new Johann George, who at that time was fallen rather +landless and out of a career: "Johann George of Jagerndorf," so called +thenceforth: whose history will concern us by and by. Preussen was to be +incorporated with the Electorate,--were possession of it once had. But +that is a ticklish point; still ticklish in spite of rights, and liable +to perverse accidents that may arise. + +Joachim Friedrich, as we intimated once, was not wanting to himself +on this occasion. But the affair was full of intricacies; a very +wasps'-nest of angry humors; and required to be handled with delicacy, +though with force and decision. Joachim Friedrich's eldest Son, Johann +Sigismund, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg, had already, in 1594, +married one of Albert Friedrich the hypochondriac Duke of Preussen's +daughters; and there was a promising family of children; no lack of +children. Nevertheless prudent Joachim Friedrich himself, now a widower, +age towards sixty, did farther, in the present emergency, marry another +of these Princesses, a younger Sister of his Son's Wife,--seven months +after George Friedrich's death,--to make assurance doubly sure, A +man not to be balked, if he can help it. By virtue of excellent +management,--Duchess, Prussian STANDE (States), and Polish Crown, +needing all to be contented,--Joachim Friedrich, with gentle strong +pressure, did furthermore squeeze his way into the actual Guardianship +of Preussen and the imbecile Duke, which was his by right. This latter +feat he achieved in the course of another year (11th March, 1605); +[Stenzel, i. 358.] and thereby fairly got hold of Preussen; which he +grasped, "knuckles-white," as we may say; and which his descendants have +never quitted since. + +Good management was very necessary. The thing was difficult;--and also +was of more importance than we yet altogether see. Not Preussen only, +but a still better country, the Duchy of Cleve, Cleve-Julich, Duke +Wilhelm's Heritage down in the Rhineland,--Heritage turning out now to +be of right his eldest Daughter's here, and likely now to drop soon,--is +involved in the thing. This first crisis, of getting into the Prussian +Administratorship, fallen vacant, our vigilant Kurfurst Joachim +Friedrich has successfully managed; and he holds his grip, +knuckles-white. Before long, a second crisis comes; where also he will +have to grasp decisively in,--he, or those that stand for him, and whose +knuckles can still hold, But that may go to a new Chapter. + + + + +Chapter XIII. -- NINTH KURFURST, JOHANN SIGISMUND. + +In the summer of 1608 (23d May, 1608) Johann Sigismund's (and his +Father's) Mother-in-law, the poor Wife of the poor imbecile Duke +of Preussen, died. [Maria Eleonora, Duke Wilhelm of Cleve's eldest +Daughter: 1550, 1573, 1608 (Hubner, t. 286).] Upon which Johann +Sigismund, Heir-Apparent of Brandenburg and its expectancies, was +instantly despatched from Berlin, to gather up the threads cut loose by +that event, and see that the matter took no damage. On the road thither +news reached him that his own Father, old Joachim Friedrich, was dead +(18th July, 1608); that he himself was now Kurfurst; [1572, 1608-1619.] +and that numerous threads were loose at both ends of his affairs. + +The "young man"--not now so young, being full thirty-five and of fair +experience--was in difficulty, under these overwhelming tidings; and +puzzled, for a little, whether to advance or to return. He decided to +advance, and settle Prussian matters, where the peril and the risk were; +Brandenburg business he could do by rescripts. + +His difficulties in Preussen, and at the Polish Court, were in fact +immense. But after a space of eight or nine months, he did, by excellent +management, not sparing money judiciously laid out on individuals, +arrive at some adjustment, better or worse, and got Preussen in hand; +[29th April, 1609. Stenzel, i. 370.] legal Administrator of the imbecile +Duke, as his Father had been. After which he had to run for Brandenburg, +without loss of time: great matters being there in the wind. Nothing +wrong in Brandenburg, indeed; but the great Cleve Heritage is dropping, +has dropped; over in Cleve, an immense expectancy is now come to the +point of deciding itself. + + + + +HOW THE CLEVE HERITAGE DROPPED, AND MANY SPRANG TO PICK IT UP. + +Wilhelm of Cleve, the explosive Duke, whom we saw at Berlin and +Konigsberg at the wedding of this poor Lady now deceased, had in the +marriage-contract, as he did in all subsequent contracts and deeds of +like nature, announced a Settlement of his Estates, which was now become +of the highest moment for Johann Sigismund. The Country at that +time called Duchy of Cleve, consisted, as we said above, not only of +Cleve-Proper, but of two other still better Duchies, Julich and Berg; +then of the GRAFSCHAFT (County) of Ravensburg, County of Mark, Lordship +of---In fact it was a multifarious agglomerate of many little countries, +gathered by marriage, heritage and luck, in the course of centuries, and +now united in the hand of this Duke Wilhelm. It amounted perhaps to two +Yorkshires in extent. [See Busching, _Erdbeschreibung,_ v. 642-734.] +A naturally opulent Country, of fertile meadows, shipping capabilities, +metalliferous hills; and, at this time, in consequence of the +Dutch-Spanish War, and the multitude of Protestant refugees, it was +getting filled with ingenious industries; and rising to be, what it +still is, the busiest quarter of Germany. A Country lowing with +kine; the hum of the flax-spindle heard in its cottages, in those old +days,--"much of the linen called Hollands is made in Julich, and only +bleached, stamped and sold, by the Dutch," says Busching. A Country, in +our days, which is shrouded at short intervals with the due canopy of +coal-smoke, and loud with sounds of the anvil and the loom. + +This Duchy of Cleve, all this fine agglomerate of Duchies, Duke Wilhelm +settled, were to be inherited in a piece, by his eldest (or indeed, as +it soon proved, his only) Son and the heirs of that Son, if there were +any. Failing heirs of that only Son, then the entire Duchy of Cleve was +to go to Maria Eleonora as eldest Daughter, now marrying to Friedrich +Albert, Duke of Prussia, and to their heirs lawfully begotten: heirs +female, if there happened to be no male. The other Sisters, of whom +there were three, were none of them to have the least pretence to +inherit Cleve or any part of it. On the contrary, they were, in such +event, of the eldest Daughter or her heirs coming to inherit Cleve, to +have each of them a sum of ready money paid ["200,000 GOLDGULDEN," about +100,000 pounds; Pauli, vi. 542; iii. 504.] by the said inheritrix of +Cleve or her heirs; and on receiving that, were to consider their claims +entirely fulfilled, and to cease thinking of Cleve for the future. + +This Settlement, by express privilege of Kaiser Karl V., nay of Kaiser +Maximilian before him, and the Laws of the Reich, Duke Wilhelm doubted +not he was entitled to make; and this Settlement he made; his Lawyers +writing down the terms, in their wearisome way, perhaps six times +over; and struggling by all methods to guard against the least +misunderstanding. Cleve with all its appurtenances, Julich, Berg and the +rest, goes to the eldest Sister and her heirs, male or female: If she +have no heirs, male or female, then, but not till then, the next Sister +steps into her shoes in that matter: but if she have, then, we repeat +for the sixth and last time, no Sister or Sister's Representative has +the least word to say to it, but takes her 100,000 pounds, and ceases +thinking of Cleve. + +The other three Sisters were all gradually married;--one of them to +Pfalz-Neuburg, an eminent Prince, in the Bavarian region called the +OBER-PFALZ (Upper Palatinate), who, or at least whose eldest Son, is +much worth mentioning and remembering by us here;--and, in all these +marriage-contracts, Wilhelm and his Lawyers expressed themselves to the +like effect, and in the like elaborate sixfold manner: so that Wilhelm +and they thought there could nowhere in the world be any doubt about it. + +Shortly after signing the last of these marriage-contracts, or perhaps +it was in the course of signing them, Duke Wilhelm had a stroke of +palsy. He had, before that, gone into Papistry again, poor man. The +truth is, he had repeated strokes; and being an abrupt, explosive Herr, +he at last quite yielded to palsy; and sank slowly out of the world, in +a cloud of semi-insanity, which lasted almost twenty years. [Died 25th +January, 1592, age 76.] Duke Wilhelm did leave a Son, Johann Wilhelm, +who succeeded him as Duke. But this Son also proved explosive; went +half and at length wholly insane. Jesuit Priests, and their intrigues to +bring back a Protestant country to the bosom of the Church, wrapped the +poor man, all his days, as in a burning Nessus'-Shirt; and he did little +but mischief in the world. He married, had no children; he accused his +innocent Wife, the Jesuits and he, of infidelity. Got her judged, +not properly sentenced; and then strangled her, he and they, in her +bed:--"Jacobea of Baden (1597);" a thrice-tragic history. Then he +married again; Jesuits being extremely anxious for an Orthodox heir: +but again there came no heir; there came only new blazings of the +Nessus'-Shirt. In fine, the poor man died (Spring, 1609), and made +the world rid of him. Died 25th March, 1609; that is the precise +date;--about a month before our new Elector, Johann Sigismund, got his +affairs winded up at the Polish Court, and came galloping home in such +haste. There was pressing need of him in the Cleve regions. + +For the painful exactitude of Duke Wilhelm and his Lawyers has profited +little; and there are claimants on claimants rising for that valuable +Cleve Country. As indeed Johann Sigismund had anticipated, and been +warned from all quarters, to expect. For months past, he has had his +faculties bent, with lynx-eyed attention, on that scene of things; +doubly and trebly impatient to get Preussen soldered up, ever since +this other matter came to the bursting-point. What could be done by the +utmost vigilance of his Deputies, he had done. It was the 25th of March +when the mad Duke died: on the 4th of April, Johann Sigismund's Deputy, +attended by a Notary to record the act, "fixed up the Brandenburg Arms +on the Government-House of Cleve;" [Pauli, vi. 566.] on the 5th, they +did the same at Dusseldorf; on the following days, at Julich and +the other Towns. But already on the 5th, they had hardly got done at +Dusseldorf, when there appeared--young Wolfgang Wilhelm, Heir-Apparent +of that eminent Pfalz-Neuburg, he in person, to put up the Pfalz-Neuburg +Arms! Pfalz-Neuburg, who married the Second Daughter, he is actually +claiming, then;--the whole, or part? Both are sensible that possession +is nine points in law. + +Pfalz-Neuburg's claim was for the whole Duchy. "All my serene Mother's!" +cried the young Heir of Pfalz-Neuburg: "Properly all mine!" cried he. +"Is not she NEAREST of kin? Second Daughter, true; but the Daughter; +not Daughter OF a Daughter, as you are (as your Serene Electress is), +O DURCHLAUCHT of Brandenburg:--consider, besides, you are female, I am +male!" That was Pfalz-Neuburg's logic: none of the best, I think, in +forensic genealogy. His tenth point was perhaps rather weak; but he +had possession, co-possession, and the nine points good. The other Two +Sisters, by their Sons or Husbands, claimed likewise; but not the whole: +"Divide it," said they: "that surely is the real meaning of Karl V.'s +Deed of Privilege to make such a Testament. Divide it among the Four +Daughters or their representatives, and let us all have shares!" + +Nor were these four claimants by any means all. The Saxon Princes next +claimed; two sets of Saxon Princes. First the minor set, Gotha-Weimar +and the rest, the Ernestine Line so called; representatives of Johann +Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost the Electorate for religion's sake +at Muhlberg in the past century, and from MAJOR became MINOR in Saxon +Genealogy. "Magnanimous Johann Friedrich," said they, "had to wife an +Aunt of the now deceased Duke of Cleve; Wife Sibylla (sister of the +Flanders Mare), of famous memory, our lineal Ancestress. In favor +of whom HER Father, the then reigning Duke of Cleve, made a +marriage-contract of precisely similar import to this your Prussian one: +he, and barred all his descendants, if contracts are to be valid." This +is the claim of the Ernestine Line of Saxon Princes; not like to go for +much, in their present disintegrated condition. + +But the Albertine Line, the present Elector of Saxony, also claims: +"Here is a Deed," said he, "executed by Kaiser Friedrich III. in the +year 1483, [Pauli, ubi supra; Hubner, t. 286.] generations before your +Kaiser Karl; Deed solemnly granting to Albert, junior of Sachsen, and +to his heirs, the reversion of those same Duchies, should the Male Line +happen to fail, as it was then likely to do. How could Kaiser Max +revoke his Father's deed, or Kaiser Karl his Great-grandfather's? Little +Albert, the Albert of the PRINZENRAUB, he who grew big, and fought +lion-like for his Kaiser in the Netherlands and Western Countries; he +and his have clearly the heirship of Cleve by right; and we, now grown +Electors, and Seniors of Saxony, demand it of a grateful House of +Hapsburg,--and will study to make ourselves convenient in return."-- + +"Nay, if that is your rule, that old Laws and Deeds are to come in bar +of new, we," cry a multitude of persons,--French Dukes of Nevers, and +all manner of remote, exotic figures among them,--"we are the real +heirs! Ravensburg, Mark, Berg, Ravenstein, this patch and the other of +that large Duchy of yours, were they not from primeval time expressly +limited to heirs-male? Heirs-male; and we now are the nearest heirs-male +of said patches and portions; and will prove it!"--In short, there never +was such a Lawsuit,--so fat an affair for the attorney species, if that +had been the way of managing it,--as this of Cleve was likely to prove. + + + + +THE KAISER'S THOUGHTS ABOUT IT, AND THE WORLD'S. + +What greatly complicated the affair, too, was the interest the Kaiser +took in it. The Kaiser could not well brook a powerful Protestant in +that country; still less could his Cousin the Spaniard. Spaniards, worn +to the ground, coercing that world-famous Dutch Revolt, and astonished +to find that they could not coerce it at all, had resolved at this time +to take breath before trying farther. Spaniards and Dutch, after Fifty +years of such fighting as we know, have made a Twelve-years' Truce +(1609): but the battled Spaniard, panting, pale in his futile rage and +sweat, has not given up the matter; he is only taking breath, and will +try it again. Now Cleve is his road into Holland, in such adventure; +no success possible if Cleve be not in good hands. Brandenburg is +Protestant, powerful; Brandenburg will not do for a neighbor there. + +Nor will Pfalz-Neuburg. A Protestant of Protestants, this Palatine +Neuburg too,--junior branch, possible heir in time coming, of KUR-PFALZ +(Elector Palatine) himself, in the Rhine Countries; of Kur-Pfalz, who is +acknowledged Chief Protestant: official "President" of the +"Evangelical Union" they have lately made among them in these menacing +times;--Pfalz-Neuburg too, this young Wolfgang Wilhelm, if he do not +break off kind, might be very awkward to the Kaiser in Cleve-Julich. +Nay Saxony itself; for they are all Protestants:--unless perhaps Saxony +might become pliant, and try to make itself useful to a munificent +Imperial House? + +Evidently what would best suit the Kaiser and Spaniards, were this, That +no strong Power whatever got footing in Cleve, to grow stronger by the +possession of such a country:--BETTER than best it would suit, if he, +the Kaiser, could himself get it smuggled into his hands, and there +hold it fast! Which privately was the course resolved upon at +headquarters.--In this way the "Succession Controversy of the Cleve +Duchies" is coming to be a very high matter; mixing itself, up with the +grand Protestant-Papal Controversy, the general armed-lawsuit of mankind +in that generation. Kaiser, Spaniard, Dutch, English, French Henri IV. +and all mortals, are getting concerned in the decision of it. + + + + +Chapter XIV. -- SYMPTOMS OF A GREAT WAR COMING. + +Meanwhile Brandenburg and Neuburg both hold grip of Cleve in that +manner, with a mutually menacing inquiring expression of countenance; +each grasps it (so to speak) convulsively with the one hand, and has +with the other hand his sword by the hilt, ready to fly out. But to +understand this Brandenburg-Neuburg phenomenon and the then significance +of the Cleve-Julich Controversy, we must take the following bits +of Chronology along with us. For the German Empire, with Protestant +complaints, and Papist usurpations and severities, was at this time +all a continent of sour thick smoke, already breaking out into dull-red +flashes here and there,--symptoms of the universal conflagration of a +Thirty-Years War, which followed. SYMPTON FIRST is that of Donauworth, +and dates above a year back. + + + + +FIRST SYMPTOM; DONAUWORTH, 1608. + +Donauworth, a Protestant Imperial Free-town, in the Bavarian regions, +had been, for some fault on the part of the populace against a flaring +Mass-procession which had no business to be there, put under Ban of the +Empire; had been seized accordingly (December, 1607), and much cuffed, +and shaken about, by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, as executor of the +said Ban; [Michaeelis, ii. 216; Buddaei LEXICON, i. 853.]--who, what was +still worse, would by no means give up the Town when he had done with +it; Town being handy to him, and the man being stout and violently +Papist. Hence the "Evangelical Union" which we saw,--which has not taken +Donauworth yet. Nor ever will! Donauworth never was retaken; but is +Bavarian at this hour, A Town namable in History ever since. Not to say +withal, that it is where Marlborough, did "the Lines of Schellenberg" +long after: Schellenberg ("Jingle-Hill," so to render it) looks down +across the Danube or Donau River, upon Donauworth,--its "Lines," and +other histories, now much abolished, and quiet under grass. + +But now all Protestantism sounding everywhere, in angry mournful tone, +"Donauwarth! Give up Donauworth!"--and an "Evangelical Union," with +moneys, with theoretic contingents of force, being on foot for that and +the like objects;--we can fancy what a scramble this of Cleve-Julich +was like to be; and especially what effect this duelling attitude +of Brandenburg and Neuburg had on the Protestant mind. Protestant +neighbors, Landgraf Moritz of Hessen-Cassel at their head, intervene +in tremulous haste, in the Cleve-Julich affair: "Peace, O friends! Some +bargain; peaceable joint-possession; any temporary bargain, till we see! +Can two Protestants fall to slashing one another, in such an aspect of +the Reich and its Jesuitries?"--And they did agree (Dortmund, 10th May, +1609) the first of their innumerable "agreements," to some temporary +joint-possession;--the thrice-thankful Country doing homage to both, +"with oath to the one that SHALL be found genuine." And they did +endeavor to govern jointly, and to keep the peace on those terms, though +it was not easy. + +For the Kaiser had already said (or his Aulic Council and Spanish +Cousin, poor Kaiser Rodolf caring too little about these things, +[Rodolf II. (Kepler's too insolvent "Patron"), 1576-1612; then Matthias, +Rodolf's Brother, 1612-1619, rather tolerant to Protestants;--then +Ferdinand II. his Uncle's Son, 1619-1637, much the reverse of tolerant, +by whom mainly came the Thirty-Years War,--were the Kaisers of this +Period. Ferdinand III., Son of II: (1637-1657), who finished out the +Thirty-Years War, partly by fighting of his own in young days (Battle of +Nordlingen his grandest feat), was Father of Kaiser Leopold +(1658- 1705),--whose Two Sons were Kaiser Joseph (1705-1711) and Kaiser +Karl VI. (1711-1740), Maria Theresa's Father.] had already said), Cleve +must absolutely not go into wrong hands. For which what safe method is +there, but that the Kaiser himself become proprietor? A Letter is yet +extant, from the Aulic Council to their Vice-Chancellor, who had been +sent to negotiate this matter with the parties; Letter to the effect, +That such result was the only good one; that it must be achieved; "that +he must devise all manner of quirks _(alle Spitzfindigkeiten auffordern +sollte),"_ and achieve it. [Pauli, iii. 5055.] This curious Letter of a +sublime Aulic Council, or Imperial HOF-RATH, to its VICE-KANZLER, still +exists. + +And accordingly quirks did not prove undevisable on behalf of the +Kaiser. "Since you cannot agree," said the Kaiser, "and there are so +many of you who claim (we having privately stirred up several of you +to the feat), there will be nothing for it, but the Kaiser must put +the Country under sequestration, and take possession of it with his +own troops, till a decision be arrived at,--which probably will not be +soon!" + + +SECOND SYMPTOM; SEIZURE OF JULICH BY THE KAISER, AND SIEGE AND RECAPTURE +OF IT BY THE PROTESTANT PARTIES, 1610. WHEREUPON WHEREUPON "CATHOLIC +LEAGUE," TO BALANCEE "EVANGELICAL UNION." + +And the Kaiser forthwith did as he had said; sent Archduke Leopold with +troops, who forcibly took the Castle of Julich; commanding all other +castles and places to surrender and sequestrate themselves, in like +fashion; threatening Brandenburg and Neuburg, in a dreadful manner, with +REICHS-ACHT (Ban of the Empire), if they presumed to show contumacy. +Upon which Brandenburg and Neuburg, ranking themselves together, showed +decided contumacy; "tore down the Kaiser's Proclamation," [Ib. iii. +524. Emperor's Proclamation, in Dusseldorf, 23d July, 1609,--taken down +solemnly, 1st August, 1609,] having good help at their back. + +And accordingly, "on the 4th of September, 1610," after a two-months' +siege, they, or the Dutch, French, and Evangelical Union Troops +bombarding along with them, and "many English volunteers" to help, +retook Julich, and packed Leopold away again. [Ib. iii. 527.] The Dutch +and the French were especially anxious about this Cleve business,--poor +Henri IV. was just putting those French troops in motion towards Julich, +when Ravaillac, the distracted Devil's-Jesuit, did his stroke upon him; +so that another than Henri had to lead in that expedition. The actual +Captain at the Siege was Prince Christian of Anhalt, by repute the first +soldier of Germany at that period: he had a horse shot under him, the +business being very hot and furious;--he had still worse fortune in the +course of years. There were "many English volunteers" at this Siege; +English nation hugely interested in it, though their King would not +act except diplomatically. It was the talk of all the then world,--the +evening song and the morning prayer of Protestants especially,--till it +was got ended in this manner. It deserves to rank as SYMPTON SECOND +in this business; far bigger flare of dull red in the universal +smoke-continent, than that of Donauworth had been. Are there no +memorials left of those "English volunteers," then? [In Carlyle's _ +Miscellanies_ (vi.? "Two Hundred and Fifty Years ago: a Fragment about +Duels") is one small scene belonging to them.] Alas, they might get +edited as Bromley's _Royal Letters_ are;--and had better lie quiet! + +"Evangelical Union," formed some two years before, with what cause we +saw, has Kur-Pfalz [Winter-King's Father; died 9th September, 1610, few +days after this recapture of Julich.] at the head of it: but its troops +or operations were never of a very forcible character. Kur-Brandenburg +now joined it formally, as did many more; Kur-Sachsen, anxious to +make himself convenient in other quarters, never would. Add to these +phenomena, the now decisive appearance of a "Catholic LIGA" (League of +Catholic Princes), which, by way of counterpoise to the "Union," had +been got up by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria several months ago; and which +now, under the same guidance, in these bad circumstances, took a great +expansion of figure. Duke Maximilian, "DONAUWORTH Max," finding the +Evangelical Union go so very high, and his own Kaiser like to be good +for little in such business (poor hypochondriac Kaiser Rodolf II., more +taken up with turning-looms and blow-pipes than with matters political, +who accordingly is swept out of Julich in such summary way),--Donauworth +Max has seen this a necessary institution in the present aspect.--Both +"Union" and "League" rapidly waxed under the sound of the Julich cannon, +as was natural. + +Kur-Sachsen, for standing so well aloof from the Union, got from the +thankful Kaiser written Titles for these Duchies of Cleve and Julich; +Imperial parchments and infestments of due extent; but never any +Territory in those parts. He never offered fight for his pretensions; +and Brandenburg and Neuburg--Neuburg especially--always answered him, +"No!" with sword half-drawn. So Kur-Sachsen faded out again, and took +only parchments by the adventure. Practically there was no private +Competitor of moment to Brandenburg, except this Wolfgang Wilhelm of +Pfalz-Neuburg; he alone having clutched hold.--But we hasten to SYMPTOM +THIRD, which particularly concerns us, and will be intelligible now at +last. + + + + +SYMPTOM THIRD: A DINNER-SCENE AT DUSSELDORF, 1613: SPANIARDS AND DUTCH +SHOULDER ARMS IN CLEVE. + +Brandenburg and Neuburg stood together against third parties; but their +joint-government was apt to fall in two, when left to itself, and the +pressure of danger withdrawn. "They governed by the RATHS and STANDE of +the Country;" old methods and old official men: each of the two had +his own Vice-Regent (STATTHALTER) present on the ground, who jointly +presided as they could. Jarrings were unavoidable; but how mend it? +Settle the litigated Territory itself, and end their big lawsuit, they +could not; often as they tried it, with the whole world encouraging and +urging them. [Old Sir Henry Wotton, Provost of Eton in his old days, +remembers how he went Ambassador on this errand,--as on many others +equally bootless;--and writes himself "Legatus," not only "thrice to +Venice, twice to" &c. &c., but also "once to Holland in the Juliers +matter _(semel in Juliacensi negotio):"_ see _Reliquiae Wottonianae_ +(London, 1672), Preface. It was "in 1614," say the Biographies vaguely. +His Despatches, are they in the Paper-Office still? His good old +Book deserves new editing, his good old genially pious life a proper +elucidation, by some faithful man.] The meetings they had, and the +treaties and temporary bargains they made, and kept, and could not keep, +in these and in the following years and generations, pass our power of +recording. + +In 1613 the Brandenburg STATTHALTER was Ernst, the Elector's younger +Brother, Wolfgang Wilhelm in person, for his Father, or rather for +himself as heir of his Mother, represented Pfalz-Neuburg. Ernst of +Brandenburg had adopted Calvinism as his creed; a thing hateful and +horrible to the Lutheran mind (of which sort was Wolfgang Wilhelm), to +a degree now altogether inconceivable. Discord arose in consequence +between the STATTHALTERS, as to official appointments, sacred and +secular: "You are for promoting Calvinists!"--"And you, I see, are +for promoting Lutherans!"--Johann Sigismund himself had to intervene: +Wolfgang Wilhelm and he had their meetings, friendly colloquies:--the +final celloquy of which is still memorable; and issues in SYMPTOM THIRD. + +We said, a strong flame of choler burnt in all these Hohenzollerns, +though they held it well down. Johann Sigismund, an excellent man of +business, knew how essential a mild tone is: nevertheless he found, as +this colloquy went on, that human patience might at length get too much. +The scene, after some examination, is conceivable in this wise: Place +Dusseldorf, Elector's apartment in the Schloss there; time late in the +Year 1613, Day not discoverable by me. The two sat at dinner, after +much colloquy all morning: Johann Sigismund, a middle-aged, big-headed, +stern-faced, honest-looking man; hair cropped, I observe; and eyelids +slightly contracted, as if for sharper vision into matters: Wolfgang +Wilhelm, of features fallen dim to me; an airy gentleman, well out of +his teens, but, I doubt, not of wisdom sufficient; evidently very high +and stiff in his ways. + +His proposal, by way of final settlement, and end to all these brabbles, +was this, and he insisted on it: "Give me your eldest Princess to wife; +let her dowry be your whole claim on Cleve-Julich; I will marry her on +that condition, and we shall be friends!" Here evidently is a gentleman +that does not want for conceit in himself:--consider too, in Johann +Sigismund's opinion, he had no right to a square inch of these +Territories, though for peace' sake a joint share had been allowed him +for the time! "On that condition, jackanapes?" thought Johann Sigismund: +"My girl is not a monster; nor at a loss for husbands fully better than +you, I should hope!" This he thought, and could not help thinking; +but endeavored to say nothing of it. The young jackanapes went on, +insisting. Nature at last prevailed; Johann Sigismund lifted his hand +(princely etiquettes melting all into smoke on the sudden), and gave the +young jackanapes a slap over the face. Veritable slap; which opened in +a dreadful manner the eyes of young Pfalz-Neuburg to his real situation; +and sent him off high-flaming, vowing never-imagined vengeance. A +remarkable slap; well testified to,--though the old Histories, struck +blank with terror, reverence and astonishment, can for most part only +symbol it in dumb-show; [Pufendorf _(Rer. Brandenb._ lib. iv.? 16, p. +213), and many others, are in this case. Tobias Pfanner _(Historia +Pacis Westphalicae,_ lib. i.? 9, p. 26) is explicit: _"Neque, ut infida +regnandi societas est, Brandenburgio et Neoburgio diu conveniebat; +eorumque jurgia, cum matrimonii faedere pacari posse propinqui ipsorum +credidissent, acrius ezarsere; inter epulas, quibus futurum generum +Septemvir_ (the "Sevensman," or Elector, "One of The Seven") +_excipiebat, hujus enim filia Wolfgango sperabatur, ob nescio quos +sermones eo inter utrumque altercalione provecta, ut Elector irae +impotestior, nulla dignitatis, hospitii, cognationis, affinitatisve +verecundia cohibitus, intenderit Neoburgio manus, et contra tendentis +os verberaverit. Ita, quae apud concordes vincula caritatis, incitamenta +irarum apud infensos erant."_ (Cited in Kohler, _Munzbelustiqungen,_ +xxi. 341; who refers also to Levassor, _Histoire de Louis XII.)_--Pauli +(iii. 542) bedomes qnite vaporous.] a slap that had important +consequences in this world. + +For now Wolfgang Wilhelm, flaming off in never-imagined vengeance, +posted straight to Munchen, to Max of Bavaria there; declared himself +convinced, or nearly so, of the Roman-Catholic Religion; wooed, and in +a few weeks (10th November, 1613) wedded Max's younger Sister; and soon +after, at Dusseldorf, pompously professed such his blessed change +of Belief,--with immense flourish of trumpeting, and jubilant +pamphleteering, from Holy Church. [Kohler, ubi supra.] His poor old +Father, the devoutest of Protestants, wailed aloud his "Ichabod! +the glory is departed!"--holding "weekly fast and humiliation" ever +after,--and died in few months of a broken heart. The Catholic League +has now a new Member on those terms. + +And on the other hand, Johann Sigismund, nearly with the like haste +(25th December, 1613), declared himself convinced of Calvinism, his +younger Brother's creed; [Pauli, iii. 546.]--which continues ever since +the Brandenburg Court-creed, that of the People being mostly Lutheran. +Men said, it was to please the Dutch, to please the Julichers, most of +whom are Calvinist. Apologetic Pauli is elaborate, but inconclusive. +It was very ill taken at Berlin, where even popular riot arose on the +matter. In Prussia too it had its drawbacks. [Ib. iii. 544; Michaelis, +i. 349.] + +And now, all being full of mutation, rearrangement and infinite rumor, +there marched next year (1614), on slight pretext, resting on great +suspicions, Spanish troops into the Julich-Cleve country, and, +countenanced by Neuburg, began seizing garrisons there. Whereupon Dutch +troops likewise marched, countenanced by Brandenburg, and occupied other +fortresses and garrisons: and so, in every strong-place, these were +either Papist-Spaniards or Calvinist-Dutch; who stood there, fronting +one another, and could not by treatying be got out again;--like clouds +positively electric VERSUS clouds negatively. As indeed was getting +to be the case of Germany in general; case fatally visible in every +Province, Principality and Parish there: till a thunder-storm, and +succession of thunder-storms, of Thirty Years' continuance, broke +out. Of which these huge rumors and mutations, and menacings of war, +springing out of that final colloquy and slap in the face, are to +be taken as the THIRD premonitory Symptom. Spaniards and Dutch stand +electrically fronting one another in Cleve for seven years, till their +Truce is out, before they clash together; Germany does not wait so long +by a couple of years. + + + + +SYMPTOM FOURTH, AND CATASTROPHE UPON THE HEELS OF IT. + +Five years more (1618), and there will have come a FOURTH Symptom, +biggest of all, rapidly consummating the process;--Symptom still famed, +of the following external figure: Three Official Gentlemen descending +from a window in the Castle of Prag: hurled out by impatient Bohemian +Protestantism, a depth of seventy feet,--happily only into dung, and +without loss of life. From which follows a "King of Bohemia" elected +there, King not unknown to us;--"thunder-clouds" all in one huge clash, +and the "continent of sour smoke" blazing all into a continent +of thunderous fire: THIRTY-YEARS WAR, as they now call it! Such a +conflagration as poor Germany never saw before or since. + +These were the FOUR preliminary SYMPTOMS of that dismal business. "As to +the primary CAUSES of it," says one of my Authorities, "these lie deep, +deep almost as those of Original Sin. But the proximate causes seem +to me to have been these two: FIRST, That the Jesuit-Priests and +Principalities had vowed and resolved to have, by God's help and by the +Devil's (this was the peculiarity of it), Europe made Orthodox again: +and then SECONDLY, The fact that a Max of Bavaria existed at that time, +whose fiery character, cunning but rash head, and fanatically Papist +heart disposed him to attempt that enterprise, him with such resources +and capacities, under their bad guidance." + +Johann Sigismund did many swift decisive strokes of business in his +time, businesses of extensive and important nature; but this of the slap +to Neuburg has stuck best in the idle memory of mankind. Dusseldorf, +Year 1613: it was precisely in the time when that same Friedrioh, not +yet by any means "King of Bohemia," but already Kur-Pfalz (Cousin +of this Neuburg, and head man of the Protestants), was over here in +England, on a fine errand;--namely, had married the fair Elizabeth (14th +February, 1613), James the First's Princess; "Goody Palsgrave," as her +Mother floutingly called her, not liking the connection. What kind of a +"King of Bohemia" this Friedrich made, five or six years after, and what +sea of troubles he and his entered into, we know; the "WINTER-KONIG" +(Winter-King, fallen in times of FROST, or built of mere frost, a +SNOW-king altogether soluble again) is the name he gets in German +Histories. But here is another hook to hang Chronology upon. + +This brief Bohemian Kingship had not yet exploded on the Weissenberg +of Prag, [Battle there, Sunday 8th November, 1620.] when old Sir Henry +Wotton being sent as Ambassador "to LIE abroad" (as he wittily called +it, to his cost) in that Business, saw, in the City of Lintz in the +picturesque green country by the shores of the Donau there, an ingenious +person, who is now recognizable as one of the remarkablest of mankind, +Mr. John Kepler, namely: Keplar as Wotton writes him; addressing the +great Lord Bacon (unhappily without strict date of any kind) on that +among other subjects. Mr. John's now ever-memorable watching of those +_ Motions of the Star Mars,_ [_De Motibus Stellae Martis;_ Prag, 1609.] +with "calculations repeated seventy times," and also with Discovery of +the Planetary Laws of this Universe, some, ten years ago, appears to be +unknown to Wotton and Bacon; but there is something else of Mr. John's +devising [It seems, Baptista Porta (of Naples, dead some years before) +must have given him the essential hint,--of whom, or whose hint, +Mr. John does not happen to inform his Excellency at present.] which +deserves attention from an Instaurator of Philosophy:-- + +"He hath a little black Tent (of what stuff is not much importing)," +says the Ambassador, "which he can suddenly set up where he will in +a Field; and it is convertible (like a windmill) to all quarters at +pleasure; capable of not much more than one man, as I conceive, and +perhaps at no great ease; exactly close and dark,--save at one hole, +about an inch and a half in the diameter, to which he applies a long +perspective Trunk, with the convex glass fitted to the said hole, and +the concave taken out at the other end, which extendeth to about the +middle of this erected Tent: through which the visible radiations of +all the Objects without are intromitted, falling upon a Paper, which +is accommodated to receive them; and so he traceth them with his pen in +their natural appearance; turning his little Tent round by degrees, till +he hath designed the whole Aspect of the Field." [_Reliqui Wottonianae,_ +(london 1672), p. 300.]--In fact he hath a CAMERA OBSCURA, and is +exhibiting the same for the delectation of Imperial gentlemen lounging +that way. Mr. John invents such toys, writes almanacs, practises +medicine, for good reasons; his encouragement from the Holy Roman Empire +and mankind being only a pension of 18 pounds a year, and that hardly +ever paid. An ingenious person, truly, if there ever was one among +Adam's Posterity. Just turned of fifty and ill off for cash. This +glimpse of him, in his little black tent with perspective glasses, while +the Thirty-Years War blazes out, is welcome as a date. + + + + +WHAT BECAME OF THE CLEVE-JULICH HERITAGE, AND OF THE PREUSSEN ONE. + +In the Cleve Duchies joint government had now become more difficult than +ever: but it had to be persisted in,--under mutual offences, suspicions +and outbreaks hardly repressed;--no final Bargain of Settlement proving +by any method possible. Treaties enough, and conferences and pleadings, +manifestoings:--Could not some painful German collector of Statistics +try to give us the approximate quantity of impracticable treaties, +futile conferences, manifestoes correspondences; in brief, some +authentical cipher (say in round millions) of idle Words spoken by +official human creatures and approximately (in square miles) the extent +of Law Stationery and other Paper written, first and last, about this +Controversy of the Cleve Duchies? In that form it might have a momentary +interest. + +When the Winter-King's explosion took place, [Crowned at Prag, 4th +November N.S. 1619; beaten to ruin there, and obliged to gallop +(almost before dinner done), Sunday, 8th November, 1620.] and his +own unfortunate Pfalz (Palatinate) became the theatre of war (Tilly, +Spinola, VERSUS Pfalzers, English, Dutch), involving all the neighboring +regions, Cleve-Julich did not escape its fate. The Spaniards and the +Dutch, who had long sat in gloomy armed-truce, occupying with obstinate +precaution the main Fortresses of these Julich-Cleve countries, did now +straightway, their Twelve-Years' truce being out (1621), [Pauli, vi. +578-580.] fall to fighting and besieging one another there; the huge +War, which proved of Thirty Years, being now all ablaze. What the +country suffered in the interim may be imagined. + +In 1624, in pity to all parties, some attempt at practical Division +of the Territory was again made: Neuburg to have Berg and Julich, +Brandenburg to have Cleve, Mark, Ravensburg and the minor appurtenances: +and Treaty to that effect was got signed (11th May, 1624). But it was +not well kept, nor could be; and the statistic cipher of new treaties, +manifestoes, conferences, and approximate written area of Law-Paper goes +on increasing. + +It was not till forty-two years after, in 1666, as will be more minutely +noticeable by and by, that an effective partition could be practically +brought about. Nor in this state was the Lawsuit by any means ended,--as +we shall wearisomely see, in times long following that. In fact there +never was, in the German Chanceries or out of them, such a Lawsuit, +Armed or Wigged, as this of the Cleve Duchies first and last. And the +sentence was not practically given, till the Congress of Vienna (1815) +in our own day gave it; and the thing Johann Sigismund had claimed +legally in 1609 was actually handed over to Johann Sigismund's +Descendant in the seventh generation, after two hundred and six years. +Handed over to him then,--and a liberal rate of interest allowed. These +litigated Duchies are now the Prussian Province Julich-Berg-Cleve, and +the nucleus of Prussia's possessions in the Rhine country. + +A year before Johann Sigismund's death, Albert Friedrich, the poor +eclipsed Duke of Prussia, died (8th August, 1618): upon which our swift +Kurfurst, not without need of his dexterities there too, got peaceable +possession of Prussia;--nor has his Family lost hold of that, up to the +present time. Next year (23d December, 1619), he himself closed a swift +busy life (labor enough in it for him perhaps, though only an age +of forty-nine); and sank to his long rest, his works following +him,--unalterable thenceforth, not unfruitful some of them. + + + + +Chapter XV. -- TENTH KURFURST, GEORGE WILHELM. + +By far the unluckiest of these Electors, whether the most unworthy of +them or not, was George Wilhelm, Tenth Elector, who now succeeded Johann +Sigismund his Father. The Father's eyes had closed when this great flame +was breaking out; and the Son's days were all spent amid the hot ashes +and fierce blazings of it. + +The position of Brandenburg during this sad Thirty-Years War was passive +rather than active; distinguished only in the former way, and as far +as possible from being glorious or victorious. Never since the +Hohenzollerns came to that Country had Brandenburg such a time. +Difficult to have mended it; impossible to have quite avoided it;--and +Kurfurst George Wilhelm was not a man so superior to all his neighbors, +that he could clearly see his way in such an element. The perfect or +ideal course was clear: To have frankly drawn sword for his Religion and +his Rights, so soon as the battle fairly opened; and to have fought for +these same, till he got either them or died. Alas, that is easily said +and written; but it is, for a George Wilhelm especially, difficult to +do! His capability in all kinds was limited; his connections, with this +side and that, were very intricate. Gustavus and the Winter-King were +his Brothers-in-law; Gustavus wedded to his Sister, he to Winter-King's. +His relations to Poland, feudal superior of Preussen, were delicate; and +Gustavus was in deadly quarrel with Poland. And then Gustavus's sudden +laying-hold of Pommern, which had just escaped from Wallenstein and +the Kaiser? It must be granted, poor George Wilhelm's case demanded +circumspectness. + +One can forgive him for declining the Bohemian-King speculation, though +his Uncle of Jagerndorf and his Cousins of Liegnitz were so hearty +and forward in it. Pardonable in him to decline the Bohemian +speculation;--though surely it is very sad that he found himself so +short of "butter and firewood" when the poor Ex-King, and his young +Wife, then in a specially interesting state, came to take shelter with +him! [Solltl _(Geschichte des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges,_--a trivial +modern Book) gives a notable memorial from the Brandenburg RATHS, +concerning these their difficulties of housekeeping. Their real object, +we perceive, was to get rid of a Guest so dangerous as the Ex-King, +under Ban of the Empire, had now become.] But when Gustavus landed, and +flung out upon the winds such a banner as that of his,--truly it was +required of a Protestant Governor of men to be able to read said +banner in a certain degree. A Governor, not too IMperfect, would have +recognized this Gustavus, what his purposes and likelihoods were; the +feeling would have been, checked by due circumspectness: "Up, my men, +let us follow this man; let us live and die in the Cause this man goes +for! Live otherwise with honor, or die otherwise with honor, we +cannot, in the pass things have come to!"--And thus, at the very worst, +Brandenburg would have had only one class of enemies to ravage it; and +might have escaped with, arithmetically speaking, HALF the harrying it +got in that long Business. + +But Protestant Germany--sad shame to it, which proved lasting sorrow +as well--was all alike torpid; Brandenburg not an exceptional case. +No Prince stood up as beseemed: or only one, and he not a great one; +Landgraf Wilhelm of Hessen, who, and his brave Widow after him, seemed +always to know what hour it was. Wilhelm of Hessen all along;--and a few +wild hands, Christian of Brunswick, Christian of Anhalt, Johann George +of Jagerndorf, who stormed out tumultuously at first, but were +soon blown away by the Tilly-Wallenstein TRADE-WINDS and regulated +armaments:--the rest sat still, and tried all they could to keep out of +harm's way. The "Evangelical Union" did a great deal of manifestoing, +pathetic, indignant and other; held solemn Meetings at Heilbronn, old +Sir Henry Wotton going as Ambassador to them; but never got any redress. +Had the Evangelical Union shut up its inkhorns sooner; girt on its +fighting-tools when the time came, and done some little execution with +them then, instead of none at all,--we may fancy the Evangelical Union +would have better discharged its function. It might have saved immense +wretchedness to Germany. But its course went not that way. + +In fact, had there been no better Protestantism than that of Germany, +all was over with Protestantism; and Max of Bavaria, with fanatical +Ferdinand II. as Kaiser over him, and Father Lammerlein at his right +hand and Father Hyacinth at his left, had got their own sweet way in +this world. But Protestant Germany was not Protestant Europe, after +all. Over seas there dwelt and reigned a certain King in Sweden; there +farmed, and walked musing by the shores of the Ouse in Huntingdonshire, +a certain man;--there was a Gustav Adolf over seas, an Oliver Cromwell +over seas; and "a company of poor men" were found capable of taking +Lucifer by the beard,--who accordingly, with his Lammerleins, Hyacinths, +Habernfeldts and others, was forced to withdraw, after a tough +struggle!-- + + + + +Chapter XVI. -- THIRTY-YEARS WAR. + +The enormous Thirty-Years War, most intricate of modern Occurrences in +the domain of Dryasdust, divides itself, after some unravelling, into +Three principal Acts or Epochs; in all of which, one after the other, +our Kurfurst had an interest mounting progressively, but continuing to +be a passive interest. + +Act FIRST goes from 1620 to 1624; and might be entitled "The Bohemian +King Made and Demolished." Personally the Bohemian King was soon +demolished. His Kingship may be said to have gone off by explosion; +by one Fight, namely, done on the Weissenberg near Prag (Sunday, 8th +November, 1620), while he sat at dinner in the City, the boom of the +cannon coming in with interest upon his high guests and him. He had +to run, in hot haste, that night, leaving many of his important +papers,--and becomes a Winter-King. Winter-King's account was soon +settled. But the extirpating of his Adherents, and capturing of his +Hereditary Lands, Palatinate and Upper-Palatinate, took three years +more. Hard fighting for the Palatinate; Tilly and Company against the +"Evangelical-Union Troops, and the English under Sir Horace Vere." +Evangelical-Union Troops, though marching about there, under an Uncle of +our Kurfurst (Margraf Joachim Ernst, that lucky Anspach Uncle, founder +of "the Line"), who professed some skill in soldiering, were a mere +Picture of an Army; would only "observe," and would not fight at all. +So that the whole fighting fell to Sir Horace and his poor handful of +English; of whose grim posture "in Frankendale" [Frankenthal, a little +Town in the Palatinate, N.W. from Mannheim a short way.] and other +Strongholds, for months long, there is talk enough in the old English +History-Books. + +Then there were certain stern War-Captains, who rallied from the +Weissenberg Defeat:--Christian of Brunswick, the chief of them, titular +Bishop of Halberstadt, a high-flown, fiery young fellow, of terrible +fighting gifts; he flamed up considerably, with "the Queen of Bohemia's +glove stuck in his Hat:" "Bright Lady, it shall stick there, till I get +you your own again, or die!" [1621-1623, age not yet twenty-five; died +(by poison), 1626, having again become supremely important just then. +_"Gottes Freund, der Pfaffen Feind_ (God's Friend, Priests' Foe);" +_"Alles fur Ruhm und Ihr (All for Glory and Her,"_--the bright Elizabeth, +become Ex-Queen), were mottoes of his.--Buddaus IN VOCE (i. 649); +Michaelis, i. 110.] Christian of Brunswick, George of Jagerndorf (our +Kurfurst's Uncle), Count Mansfeldt and others, made stormy fight once +and again, hanging upon this central "Frankendale" Business, till they +and it became hopeless. For the Kaiser and his Jesuits were not in +doubt; a Kaiser very proud, unscrupulous; now clearly superior in +force,--and all along of great superiority in fraud. + +Christian of Brunswick, Johann George and Mansfeldt were got rid +of: Christian by poison; Johann George and Mansfeldt by other +methods,--chiefly by playing upon poor King James of England, and +leading him by the long nose he was found to have. The Palatinate became +the Kaiser's for the time being; Upper Palatinate (OBER-PFALZ) Duke Max +of Bavaria, lying contiguous to it, had easily taken. "Incorporate +the Ober-Pfalz with your Bavaria," said the Kaiser, "you, illustrious, +thrice-serviceable Max! And let Lammerlein and Hyacinth, with their +Gospel of Ignatius, loose upon it. Nay, as a still richer reward, +be yours the forfeited KUR (Electorship) of this mad Kur-Pfalz, +or Winter-King. I will hold his Rhine-Lands, his UNTER-PFALZ: his +Electorship and OBER-PFALZ, I say, are yours, Duke, henceforth KURFURST +Maximilian!" [Kohler, _Reichs-Historie,_ p. 520.] Which was a hard +saying in the ears of Brandenburg, Saxony and the other Five, and of +the Reich in general; but they had all to comply, after wincing. For the +Kaiser proceeded with a high hand. He had put the Ex-King under Ban of +the Empire (never asking "the Empire" about it); put his Three principal +Adherents, Johann George of Jagerndorf one of them, Prince Christian of +Anhalt (once captain at the Siege of Juliers) another, likewise under +Ban of the Empire; [22d Jan. 1621 (ibid. p. 518).] and in short had +flung about, and was flinging, his thunder-bolts in a very Olympian +manner. Under all which, what could Brandenburg and the others do; but +whimper some trembling protest, "Clear against Law!"--and sit obedient? +The Evangelical Union did not now any more than formerly draw out its +fighting-tools. In fact, the Evangelical Union now fairly dissolved +itself; melted into a deliquium of terror under these thunder-bolts that +were flying, and was no more heard of in the world.-- + + + + +SECOND ACT, OR EPOCH, 1624-1629. A SECOND UNCLE PUT TO THE BAN, AND +POMMERN SNATCHED AWAY. + +Except in the "NETHER-SAXON CIRCLE" (distant Northwest region, with its +Hanover, Mecklenburg, with its rich Hamburgs, Lubecks, Magdeburgs, all +Protestant, and abutting on the Protestant North), trembling Germany lay +ridden over as the Kaiser willed. Foreign League got up by France, King +James, Christian IV. of Denmark (James's Brother-in-law, with whom he +had such "drinking" in Somerset House, long ago, on Christian's visit +hither [Old Histories of James I. (Wilson, &c.)]), went to water, or +worse. Only the "Nether-Saxon Circle" showed some life; was levying an +army; and had appointed Christian of Brunswick its Captain, till he was +got poisoned;--upon which the drinking King of Denmark took the command. + +Act SECOND goes from 1624 to 1627 or even 1629; and contains drunken +Christian's Exploits. Which were unfortunate, almost to the ruin of +Denmark itself, as well as of the Nether-Saxon Circle;--till in the +latter of these years he slightly rallied, and got a supportable +Peace granted him (Peace of Lubeck, 1629); after which he sits quiet, +contemplative, with an evil eye upon Sweden now and then. The beatings +he got, in quite regular succession, from Tilly and Consorts, are +not worth mentioning: the only thing one now remembers of him is his +alarming accident on the ramparts of Hameln, just at the opening of +these Campaigns. At Hameln, which was to be a strong post, drunken +Christian rode out once, on a summer afternoon (1624), to see that the +ramparts were all right, or getting all right;--and tumbled, horse and +self (self in liquor, it is thought), in an ominous alarming manner. +Taken up for dead;--nay some of the vague Histories seem to think he was +really dead:--but he lived to be often beaten after that, and had many +moist years more. + +Our Kurfurst had another Uncle put to the Ban in this Second +Act,--Christian Wilhelm Archbishop of Magdeburg, "for assisting +the Danish King;" nor was Ban all the ruin that fell on this poor +Archbishop. What could an unfortunate Kurfurst do, but tremble and +obey? There was still a worse smart got by our poor Kurfurst out of Act +Second; the glaring injustice done him in Pommern. + +Does the reader remember that scene in the High Church of Stettin a +hundred and fifty years ago? How the Burgermeister threw sword and +helmet into the grave of the last Duke of Pommern-Stettin there; and a +forward Citizen picked them out again in favor of a Collateral Branch? +Never since, any more than then, could Brandenburg get Pommern according +to claim. Collateral Branch, in spite of Friedrich Ironteeth, in spite +even of Albert Achilles and some fighting of his; contrived, by pleading +at the Diets and stirring up noise, to maintain its pretensions: and +Treaties without end ensued, as usual; Treaties refreshed and new-signed +by every Successor of Albert, to a wearisome degree. The sum of which +always was: "Pommern does actual homage to Brandenburg; vassal of +Brandenburg;--and falls home to it, if the now Extant Line go extinct." +Nay there is an ERBVERBRUDERUNG (Heritage-Fraternity) over and above, +established this long time, and wearisomely renewed at every new +Accession. Hundreds of Treaties, oppressive to think of:--and now the +last Duke, old Bogislaus, is here, without hope of children; and the +fruit of all that haggling, actual Pommern to wit, will at last fall +home? Alas, no; far otherwise. + +For the Kaiser having so triumphantly swept off the Winter-King, and +Christian IV. in the rear of him, and got Germany ready for converting +to Orthodoxy,--wished now to have some hold of the Seaboard, thereby +to punish Denmark; nay thereby, as is hoped, to extend the blessings of +Orthodoxy into England, Sweden, Holland, and the other Heretic States, +in due time. For our plans go far! This is the Kaiser's fixed wish, +rising to the rank of hope now and then: all Europe shall become Papist +again by the help of God and the Devil. So the Kaiser, on hardly any +pretext, seized Mecklenburg from the Proprietors,--"Traitors, how durst +you join Danish Christian?"--and made Wallenstein Duke of it. Duke of +Mecklenburg, "Admiral of the EAST SEA (Baltic);" and set to +"building ships of war in Rostock,"--his plans going far. [Kohler, +_Reichs-Historie,_ pp, 524, 525.] This done, he seized Pommern, which +also is a fine Sea-country,--stirring up Max of Bavaria to make +some idle pretence to Pommern, that so the Kaiser might seize it "in +sequestration till decided on." Under which hard treatment, George +Wilhelm had to sit sad and silent,--though the Stralsunders would not. +Hence the world-famous Siege of Stralsund (1628); fierce Wallenstein +declaring, "I will have the Town, if it hung by a chain from Heaven;" +but finding he could not get it; owing to the Swedish succor, to the +stubborn temper prevalent among the Townsfolk, and also greatly to the +rains and peat-bogs. + +A second Uncle of George Wilhelm's, that unlucky Archbishop of Magdeburg +above mentioned, the Kaiser, once more by his own arbitrary will, put +under Ban of the Empire, in this Second Act: "Traitor, how durst you +join with the Danes?" The result of which was Tilly's Sack of Magdeburg +(10-12th May, 1631), a transaction never forgettable by mankind.--As +for Pommern, Gustav Adolf, on his intervening in these matters, landed +there: Pommern was now seized by Gustav Adolf, as a landing-place and +place-of-arms, indispensable for Sweden in the present emergency; and +was so held thenceforth. Pommern will not fall to George Wilhelm at this +time. + + + + +THIRD ACT, AND WHAT THE KURFURST SUFFERED IN IT. + +And now we are at Act THIRD:--Landing of Gustav Adolf "in the Isle of +Usedom, 24th June, 1630," and onward for Eighteen Years till the Peace +of Westphalia, in 1648;--on which, as probably better known to the +reader, we will not here go into details. In this Third Act too, George +Wilhelm followed his old scheme, peace at any price;--as shy of Gustav +as he had been of other Champions of the Cause; and except complaining, +petitioning and manifestoing, studiously did nothing. + +Poor man, it was his fate to stand in the range of these huge +collisions,--Bridge of Dessau, Siege of Stralsund, Sack of Magdeburg, +Battle of Leipzig,--where the Titans were bowling rocks at one another; +and he hoped, by dexterous skipping, to escape share of the game. +To keep well with his Kaiser,--and such a Kaiser to Germany and to +him,--this, for George Wilhelm, was always the first commandment. If the +Kaiser confiscate your Uncles, against law; seize your Pommern; rob you +on the public highways,--George Wilhelm, even in such case, is full of +dubitations. Nay his Prime-Minister, one Schwartzenberg, a Catholic, +an Austrian Official at one time,--Progenitor of the Austrian +Schwartzenbergs that now are,--was secretly in the Kaiser's interest, +and is even thought to have been in the Kaiser's pay, all along. + +Gustav, at his first landing, had seized Pommern, and swept it clear +of Austrians, for himself and for his own wants; not too regardful of +George Wilhelm's claims on it. He cleared out Frankfurt-on-Oder, Custrin +and other Brandenburg Towns, in a similar manner,--by cannon and +storm, when needful;--drove the Imperialists and Tilly forth of these +countries. Advancing, next year, to save Magdeburg, now shrieking under +Tilly's bombardment, Gustav insisted on having, if not some bond of +union from his Brother-in-law of Brandenburg, at least the temporary +cession of two Places of War for himself, Spandau and Custrin, +indispensable in any farther operation. Which cession Kurfurst George +Wilhelm, though giving all his prayers to the Good Cause, could by +no means grant. Gustav had to insist, with more and more emphasis; +advancing at last, with military menace, upon Berlin itself. He was met +by George Wilhelm and his Council, "in the woods of Copenick," short way +to the east of that City: there George Wilhelm and his Council wandered +about, sending messages, hopelessly consulting; saying among each +other, _"Que faire; ils ont des canons,_ what can one do; they have got +cannon?" [_OEvres de Frederic le Grand_ (Berlin, 1846-1856 et seqq.: +_Memoires de Brandebourg_), i. 38. For the rest, Friedrich's Account of +the Transaction is very loose and scanty: see Pauli (iv. 568) and his +minute details.] For many hours so; round the inflexible Gustav,--who +was there like a fixed milestone, and to all questions and comers had +only one answer!--_"Que faire; ils ont des canons?"_ This was the +3d May, 1631. This probably is about the nadir-point of the +Brandenburg-Hohenzollern History. The little Friedrich, who became +Frederick the Great, in writing of it, has a certain grim banter in +his tone; and looks rather with mockery on the perplexities of his poor +Ancestor, so fatally ignorant of the time of day it had now become. + +On the whole, George Wilhelm did what is to be called nothing, in the +Thirty-Years War; his function was only that of suffering. He followed +always the bad lead of Johann George, Elector of Saxony; a man of no +strength, devoutness or adequate human worth; who proved, on these +negative grounds, and without flagrancy of positive badness, an +unspeakable curse to Germany. Not till the Kaiser fulminated forth his +Restitution-Edict, and showed he was in earnest about it (1629-1631), +"Restore to our Holy Church what you have taken from her since the +Peace of Passau!"--could this Johann George prevail upon himself to join +Sweden, or even to do other than hate it for reasons he saw. Seized by +the throat in this manner, and ordered to DELIVER, Kur-Sachsen did, and +Brandenburg along with him, make Treaty with the Swede. [8th February, +1631 (Kohler, _Reichs-Historie,_ pp. 526-531.) in consequence of which +they two, some months after, by way of co-operating with Gustav on +his great march Vienna-ward, sent an invading force into Bohemia, +Brandenburg contributing some poor 3,000 to it; who took Prag, and some +other open Towns; but "did almost nothing there," say the Histories, +"except dine and drink." It is clear enough they were instantly +scattered home [October, 1633 (Stenzel, i. 503).) at the first glimpse +of Wallenstein dawning on the horizon again in those parts. + +Gustav having vanished (Field of Lutzen, 6th November, 1632 [Pauli, +iv. 576.]), Oxenstiern, with his high attitude, and "Presidency" of the +"Union of Heilbronn," was rather an offence to Kur-Sachsen, who used to +be foremost man on such occasions. Kur-Sachsen broke away again; made +his Peace of Prag, [1635, 20th May (Stenzel, i. 513).] whom Brandenburg +again followed; Brandenburg and gradually all the others, except the +noble Wilhelm of Hessen-Cassel alone. Miserable Peace; bit of Chaos +clouted up, and done over with Official varnish;--which proved to be the +signal for continuing the War beyond visible limits, and rendering peace +impossible. + +After this, George Wilhelm retires from the scene; lives in Custrin +mainly; mere miserable days, which shall be invisible to us. He died in +1640; and, except producing an active brave Son very unlike himself, did +nothing considerable in the world. _"Que faire; ils ont des canons!"_ + +Among the innumerable sanguinary tusslings of this War are counted Three +great Battles, Leipzig, Lutzen, Nordlingen. Under one great Captain, +Swedish Gustav, and the two or three other considerable Captains, who +appeared in it, high passages of furious valor, of fine strategy and +tactic, are on record. But on the whole, the grand weapon in it, and +towards the latter times the exclusive one, was Hunger. The opposing +Armies tried to starve one another; at lowest, tried each not to starve. +Each trying to eat the country, or at any rate to leave nothing eatable +in it: what that will mean for the country, we may consider. As the +Armies too frequently, and the Kaiser's Armies habitually, lived without +commissariat, often enough without pay, all horrors of war and of being +a seat of war, that have been since heard of, are poor to those then +practised. The detail of which is still horrible to read. Germany, in +all eatable quarters of it, had to undergo the process;--tortured, torn +to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a mortar under the iron mace of +war. [Curious incidental details of the state it was reduced to, in the +Rhine and Danube Countries, turn up in the Earl of Arundel and Surrey's +TRAVELS ("Arundel of the Marbles") as _Ambassador Extraordinary to the +Emperor Ferdinando II. in 1636_ (a small Volume, or Pamphlet, London, +1637).] Brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its country +populations driven to despair, by the one party and the other. Three +times,--first in the Wallenstein Mecklenburg period, while fire and +sword were the weapons, and again, twice over, in the ultimate stages of +the struggle, when starvation had become the method--Brandenburg fell to +be the principal theatre of conflict, where all forms of the dismal +were at their height. In 1638, three years after that precious "Peace of +Prag," the Swedes (Banier VERSUS Gallas) starving out the Imperialists +in those Northwestern parts, the ravages of the starving Gallas and his +Imperialists excelled all precedent; and the "famine about Tangermunde +had risen so high that men ate human flesh, nay human creatures ate +their own children." [1638: Pauli, iv. 604.] _"Que faire; ils ont des +canons!_" + + + + +Chapter XVII. -- DUCHY OF JAGERNDORF. + +This unfortunate George Wilhelm failed in getting Pommern when due; +Pommern, firmly held by the Swedes, was far from him. But that was not +the only loss of territory he had. Jagerndorf,--we have heard of Johann +George of Jagerndorf, Uncle of this George Wilhelm, how old Joachim +Friedrich put him into Jagerndorf, long since, when it fell home to +the Electoral House. Jagerndorf is now lost; Johann George is under +REICHS-ACHT (Ban of Empire), ever since the Winter-King's explosion, and +the thunder-bolts that followed; and wanders landless;--nay he is long +since dead, and has six feet of earth for a territory, far away in +Transylvania, or the RIESEN-GEBIRGE (Giant Mountains) somewhere. +Concerning whom a word now. + + + + +DUKE OF JAGERNDORF, ELECTOR'S UNCLE, IS PUT UNDER BAN. + +Johann George, a frank-hearted valiant man, concerning whom only good +actions, and no bad one, are on record, had notable troubles in the +world; bad troubles to begin with, and worse to end in. He was second +Son of Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, who had meant him for the Church. +[1577-1624: Rentsch, p. 486.] The young fellow was Coadjutor of +Strasburg, almost from the time of getting into short-clothes. He +was then, still very young, elected Bishop there (1592); Bishop of +Strasburg,--but only by the Protestant part of the Canons; the Catholic +part, unable to submit longer, and thinking it a good time for revolt +against a Protestant population and obstinately heterodox majority, +elected another Bishop,--one "Karl of the House of Lorraine;" and there +came to be dispute, and came even to be fighting needed. Fighting; +which prudent Papa would not enter into, except faintly at second-hand, +through the Anspach Cousins, or others that were in the humor. +Troublesome times for the young man; which lasted a dozen years or +more. At last a Bargain was made (1604); Protestant and Catholic Canons +splitting the difference in some way; and the House of Lorraine +paying Johann George a great deal of money to go home again. +[_OEuvres completes de Voltaire,_ 97 vols. (Paris, 1825-1832), +xxxiii. 284.--Kohler (_Reichs-Historie,_ p. 487) gives the authentic +particulars.] Poor Johann George came out of it in that way; not +second-best, think several. + +He was then (1606) put into Jagerndorf, which had just fallen vacant; +our excellent fat friend, George Friedrich of Anspach, Administrator +of Preussen, having lately died, and left it vacant, as we saw. George +Friedrich's death yielded fine apanages, three of them in all: FIRST +Anspach, SECOND, Baireuth, and this THIRD of Jagerndorf for a still +younger Brother. There was still a fourth younger Brother, Uncle of +George Wilhelm; Archbishop of Magdeburg this one; who also, as we have +seen, got into REICHS-ACHT, into deep trouble in the Thirty-Years War. +He was in Tilly's thrice-murderous Storm of Magdeburg (10th May, 1631); +was captured, tumbled about by the wild soldiery, and nearly killed +there. Poor man, with his mitre and rochets left in such a state! In +the end he even became CATHOLIC,--from conviction, as was evident, and +bewilderment of mind;--and lived in Austria on a pension; occasionally +publishing polemical pamphlets. [1587; 1628; 1665 (Rentsch, pp. +905-910).]-- + +As to Johann George, he much repaired and beautified the Castle of +Jagerndorf, says Rentsch: but he unfortunately went ahead into the +Winter-King's adventure; which, in that sad battle of the Weissenberg, +made total shipwreck of itself, drawing Johann George and much else +along with it. Johann George was straightway tyrannously put to the +Ban, forfeited of life and lands: [22d January, 1621 (Kohler, +_Reichs-Historie,_ p. 518: and rectify Hubner, t. 178).] Johann George +disowned the said Ban; stood out fiercely for self and Winter-King; and +did good fighting in the Silesian strongholds and mountain-passes: but +was forced to seek temporary shelter in SIEBENBURGEN (Transylvania); and +died far away, in a year or two (1624), while returning to try it +again. Sleeps, I think, in the "Jablunka Pass;" the dumb Giant-Mountains +(RIESEN-GEBIRGE) shrouding up his sad shipwreck and him. + +Jagerndorf was thus seized by Ferdinand II. of the House of Hapsburg; +and though it was contrary to all law that the Kaiser should keep +it,--poor Johann George having left Sons very innocent of treason, and +Brothers, and an Electoral. Nephew, very innocent,--to whom, by old +compacts and new, the Heritage in defect of him was to fall,--neither +Kaiser Ferdinand II. nor Kaiser Ferdinand III. nor any Kaiser would let +go the hold; but kept Jagerndorf fast clenched, deaf to all pleadings, +and monitions of gods or men. Till at length, in the fourth generation +afterwards, one "Friedrich the Second," not unknown to us,--a sharp +little man, little in stature, but large in faculty and renown, who is +now called "Frederick the Great,"--clutched hold of the Imperial fist +(so to speak), seizing his opportunity in 1740; and so wrenched and +twisted said close fist, that not only Jagerndorf dropped out of it, +but the whole of Silesia along with Jagerndorf, there being other claims +withal. And the account was at last settled, with compound interest,--as +in fact such accounts are sure to be, one way or other. And so we leave +Johann George among the dumb Giant-Mountains again. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. -- FRIEDRICH WILHELM, THE GREAT KURFURST, ELEVENTH OF THE +SERIES. + +Brandenburg had again sunk very low under the Tenth Elector, in the +unutterable troubles of the times. But it was gloriously raised up again +by his Son Friedrich Wilhelm, who succeeded in 1640. This is he whom +they call the "Great Elector (GROSSE KURFURST);" of whom there is much +writing and celebrating in Prussian Books. As for the epithet, it is not +uncommon among petty German populations, and many times does not mean +too much: thus Max of Bavaria, with his Jesuit Lambkins and Hyacinths, +is, by Bavarians, called "Maximilian the Great." Friedrich Wilhelm, +both by his intrinsic qualities and the success he met with, deserves it +better than most. His success, if we look where he started and where he +ended, was beyond that of any other man in his day. He found Brandenburg +annihilated, and he left Brandenburg sound and flourishing; a great +country, or already on the way towards greatness. Undoubtedly a most +rapid, clear-eyed, active man. There was a stroke in him swift as +lightning, well-aimed mostly, and of a respectable weight, withal; which +shattered asunder a whole world of impediments for him, by assiduous +repetition of it for fifty years. [1620; 1640; 1688.] + +There hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty under +more distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances. Political significance +Brandenburg had none; a mere Protestant appendage dragged about by a +Papist Kaiser. His Father's Prime-Minister, as we have seen, was in the +interest of his enemies; not Brandenburg's servant, but Austria's. +The very Commandants of his Fortresses, Commandant of Spandau more +especially, refused to obey Friedrich Wilhelm, on his accession; "were +bound to obey the Kaiser in the first place." He had to proceed softly +as well as swiftly; with the most delicate hand to get him of Spandau by +the collar, and put him under lock-and-key, him as a warning to others. + +For twenty years past, Brandenburg had been scoured by hostile armies, +which, especially the Kaiser's part of which, committed outrages new +in human history. In a year or two hence, Brandenburg became again the +theatre of business; Austrian Gallas advancing thither again (1644), +with intent "to shut up Torstenson and his Swedes in Jutland," where +they had been chastising old Christian IV., now meddlesome again, for +the last time, and never a good neighbor to Sweden. Gallas could by +no means do what he intended: on the contrary, he had to run from +Torstenson, what feet could do; was hunted, he and his MERODE-BRUDER +(beautiful inventors of the "Marauding" Art), "till they pretty much all +died (CREPERTIN)," says Kohler. [_Reichs-Historie,_ p. 556; Pauli, v. +24.] No great loss to society, the death of these Artists: but we can +fancy what their life, and especially what the process of their dying, +may have cost poor Brandenburg again!-- + +Friedrich Wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was sun-clear +to himself, but for most part dim to everybody else. He had to walk very +warily, Sweden on one hand of him, suspicious Kaiser on the other; he +had to wear semblances, to be ready with evasive words; and advance +noiselessly by many circuits. More delicate operation could not be +imagined. But advance he did: advance and arrive. With extraordinary +talent, diligence and felicity the young man wound himself out of +this first fatal position: got those foreign Armies pushed out of his +Country, and kept them out. His first concern had been to find some +vestige of revenue, to put that upon a clear footing; and by loans or +otherwise to scrape a little ready money together. On the strength of +which a small body of soldiers could be collected about him, and drilled +into real ability to fight and obey. This as a basis: on this followed +all manner of things: freedom from Swedish-Austrian invasions, as the +first thing. + +He was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first quality, +when it came to that: but never was willing to fight if he could help +it. Preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre and negotiate; which he did in +a most vigilant, adroit and masterly manner. But by degrees he had grown +to have, and could maintain it, an Army of 24,000 men: among the best +troops then in being. With or without his will, he was in all the great +Wars of his time,--the time of Louis XIV., who kindled Europe four times +over, thrice in our Kurfurst's day. The Kurfurst's Dominions, a long +straggling country, reaching from Memel to Wesel, could hardly keep out +of the way of any war that might rise. He made himself available, never +against the good cause of Protestantism and German Freedom, yet always +in the place and way where his own best advantage was to be had. Louis +XIV. had often much need of him: still oftener, and more pressingly, had +Kaiser Leopold, the little Gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red +feather in his hat," whom Mr. Savage used to see majestically walking +about, with Austrian lip that said nothing at all. [_A Compleat History +of Germany,_ by Mr. Savage (8vo, London, 1702), p. 553. Who this Mr. +Savage was, we have no trace. Prefixed to the volume is the Portrait +of a solid Gentleman of forty: gloomily polite, with ample wig and +cravat,--in all likelihood some studious subaltern Diplomatist in the +Succession War. His little Book is very lean and barren: but faithfully +compiled,--and might have some illumination in it, where utter darkness +is so prevalent. Most likely, Addison picked his story of the _Siege of +Weinsberg_ ("Women carrying out their Husbands on their back,"--one +of his best SPECTATORS) out of this poor Book.] His 24,000 excellent +fighting-men, thrown in at the right time, were often a thing that could +turn the balance in great questions. They required to be allowed for at +a high rate,--which he well knew how to adjust himself for exacting and +securing always. + + + + +WHAT BECAME OF POMMERN AT THE PEACE; FINAL GLANCE INTO CLEVE-JULICH. + +When the Peace of Westphalia (1648) concluded that Thirty-Years +Conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, Friedrich +Wilhelm's right to Pommern was admitted by everybody: and well insisted +on by himself: but right had to yield to reason of state, and he could +not get it. The Swedes insisted on their expenses: the Swedes held +Pommern, had all along held it,--in pawn, they said, for their expenses. +Nothing for it but to give the Swedes the better half of Pommern. +FORE-Pommern (so they call it, "Swedish Pomerania" thenceforth), which +lies next the Sea: this, with some Towns and cuttings over and above, +was Sweden's share: Friedrich Wilhelm had to put up with HINDER-Pommern, +docked furthermore of the Town of Stettin, and of other valuable +cuttings, in favor of Sweden. Much to Friedrich Wilhelm's grief and just +anger, could he have helped it. + +They gave him Three secularized Bishoprics, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, +Minden, with other small remnants, for compensation; and he had to be +content with these for the present. But he never gave up the idea +of Pommern: much of the effort of his life was spent upon recovering +Fore-Pommern: thrice-eager upon that, whenever lawful opportunity +offered. To no purpose then: he never could recover Swedish Pommern; +only his late descendants, and that by slowish degrees, could recover it +all. Readers remember that Burgermeister of Stettin, with the helmet and +sword flung into the grave and picked out again:--and can judge whether +Brandenburg got its good luck quite by lying in bed!-- + +Once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose towards War, and +it remained a purpose only. Soon after the Peace of Westphalia, +old Pfalz-Neuburg, the same who got the slap on the face, went into +tyrannous proceedings against the Protestant part of his subjects +in Julich-Cleve: who called to Friedrich Wilhelm for help. Friedrich +Wilhelm, a zealous Protestant, made remonstrances, retaliations: ere +long the thought struck him, "Suppose, backed by the Dutch, we threw out +this fantastic old gentleman, his Papistries, and pretended claims and +self, clear out of it?" This was Friedrich Wilhelm's thought; and he +suddenly marched troops into the Territory, with that view. But Europe +was in alarm, the Dutch grew faint: Friedrich Wilhelm saw it would not +do. He had a conference with old Pfalz-Neuburg: "Young gentleman, +we remember how your Grandfather made free with us and our august +countenance! Nevertheless we--" In fine, the "statistic of Treaties" was +increased by One: and there the matter rested till calmer times. + +In 1666, as already said, an effective Partition of these litigated +Territories was accomplished: Prussia to have the Duchy of Cleve-Proper, +the Counties of Mark and Ravensburg, with other Patches and Pertinents: +Neuburg, what was the better share, to have Julich Duchy and Berg Duchy. +Furthermore, if either of the Lines failed, in no sort was a collateral +to be admitted: but Brandenburg was to inherit Neuburg, or Neuburg +Brandenburg, as the case might be. [Pauli, v. 120-129.] A clear Bargain +this at last: and in the times that had come, it proved executable so +far. But if the reader fancies the Lawsuit was at last out in this way, +he will be a simple reader! In the days of our little Fritz, the Line +of Pfalz-Neuburg was evidently ending: but that Brandenburg and not a +collateral should succeed it, there lay the quarrel,--open still, as if +it had never been shut: and we shall hear enough about it!-- + + + + +THE GREAT KURFURST'S WARS: WHAT HE ACHIEVED IN WAR AND PEACE. + +Friedrich Wilhelm's first actual appearance in War, Polish-Swedish War +(1655-1660), was involuntary in the highest degree: forced upon him for +the sake of his Preussen, which bade fair to be lost or ruined, without +blame of his or its. Nevertheless, here too he made his benefit of +the affair. The big King of Sweden had a standing quarrel with his big +Cousin of Poland, which broke out into hot War; little Preussen lay +between them, and was like to be crushed in the collision. Swedish King +was Karl Gustav, Christina's Cousin, Charles Twelfth's Grandfather; a +great and mighty man, lion of the North in his time: Polish King was +one John Casimir; chivalrous enough, and with clouds of forward Polish +chivalry about him, glittering with barbaric gold. Frederick III., +Danish King for the time being, he also was much involved in the thing. +Fain would Friedrich Wilhelm have kept out of it, but he could not. Karl +Gustav as good as forced him to join: he joined; fought along with +Karl Gustav an illustrious Battle; "Battle of Warsaw," three days long +(28-30th July, 1656), on the skirts of Warsaw,--crowds "looking from the +upper windows" there; Polish chivalry, broken at last, going like chaff +upon the winds, and John Casimir nearly ruined. + +Shortly after which, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had shone much in the +Battle, changed sides. An inconsistent, treacherous man? Perhaps not, +O reader; perhaps a man advancing "in circuits," the only way he has; +spirally, face now to east, now to west, with his own reasonable private +aim sun-clear to him all the while? + +John Casimir agreed to give up the "Homage of Preussen" for this +service; a grand prize for Friedrich Wilhelm. [Treaty of Labiau, 10th +November, 1656 (Pauli, v. 73-75); 20th November (Stenzel, iv. 128,--who +always uses NEW STYLE).] What the Teutsch Ritters strove for in vain, +and lost their existence in striving for, the shifty Kurfurst has now +got: Ducal Prussia, which is also called East Prussia, is now a free +sovereignty,--and will become as "Royal" as the other Polish part. Or +perhaps even more so, in the course of time!--Karl Gustav, in a high +frame of mind, informs the Kurfurst, that he has him on his books, and +will pay the debt one day! + +A dangerous debtor in such matters, this Karl Gustav. In these same +months, busy with the Danish part of the Controversy, he was doing a +feat of war, which set all Europe in astonishment. In January, 1658, +Karl Gustav marches his Army, horse, foot and artillery, to the extent +of twenty thousand, across the Baltic ice, and takes an Island without +shipping,--Island of Funen, across the Little Belt; three miles of ice; +and a part of the sea open, which has to be crossed on planks. Nay, +forward from Funen, when once there, he achieves ten whole miles more +of ice; and takes Zealand itself, [Holberg's _Danemarkische +Reichs-Historie,_ pp. 406-409.]--to the wonder of all mankind. An +imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man; who had dreamed of a new +Goth Empire: The mean Hypocrites and Fribbles of the South to be coerced +again by noble Norse valor, and taught a new lesson. Has been known +to lay his hand on his sword while apprising an Ambassador (Dutch +High-Mightiness) what his royal intentions were: "Not the sale or +purchase of groceries, observe you, Sir! My aims go higher!"--Charles +Twelfth's Grandfather, and somewhat the same type of man. + +But Karl Gustav died, short while after; [13th February, 1660, age 38.] +left his big wide-raging Northern Controversy to collapse in what way +it could. Sweden and the fighting-parties made their "Peace of Oliva" +(Abbey of Oliva, near Dantzig, 1st May, 1660); and this of Preussen was +ratified, in all form, among the other points. No homage more; nothing +now above Ducal Prussia but the Heavens; and great times coming for +it. This was one of the successfulest strokes of business ever done by +Friedrich Wilhelm; who had been forced, by sheer compulsion, to embark +in that big game.--"Royal Prussia," the Western or POLISH Prussia: this +too, as all Newspapers know, has, in our times, gone the same road as +the other. Which probably, after all, it may have had, in Nature, some +tendency to do? Cut away, for reasons, by the Polish sword, in that +Battle of Tannenberg, long since; and then, also for reasons, cut back +again! That is the fact;--not unexampled in human History. + +Old Johann Casimir, not long after that Peace of Oliva, getting tired of +his unruly Polish chivalry and their ways, abdicated;--retired to Paris; +and "lived much with Ninon de l'Enclos and her circle," for the rest of +his life. He used to complain of his Polish chivalry, that there was no +solidity in them; nothing but outside glitter, with tumult and anarchic +noise; fatal want of one essential talent, the talent of Obeying; and +has been heard to prophesy that a glorious Republic, persisting in such +courses, would arrive at results which would surprise it. + +Onward from this time, Friedrich Wilhelm figures in the world; public +men watching his procedure; Kings anxious to secure him,--Dutch +printsellers sticking up his Portraits for a hero-worshipping Public. +Fighting hero, had the Public known it, was not his essential character, +though he had to fight a great deal. He was essentially an Industrial +man; great in organizing, regulating, in constraining chaotic heaps +to become cosmic for him. He drains bogs, settles colonies in the +waste-places of his Dominions, cuts canals; unweariedly encourages trade +and work. The FRIEDRICH-WILHELM'S CANAL, which still carries tonnage +from the Oder to the Spree, [Executed, 1662-1668; fifteen English miles +long (Busching, ERDBESCHREIBUNG, vi, 2193).] is a monument of his zeal +in this way; creditable, with the means he had. To the poor French +Protestants, in the Edict-of-Nantes Affair, he was like an express +Benefit of Heaven: one Helper appointed, to whom the help itself was +profitable. He munificently welcomed them to Brandenburg; showed really +a noble piety and human pity, as well as judgment; nor did Brandenburg +and he want their reward. Some 20,000 nimble French souls, evidently of +the best French quality, found a home there;--made "waste sands about +Berlin into potherb gardens;" and in the spiritual Brandenburg, too, +did something of horticulture, which is still noticeable. [Erman (weak +Biographer of Queen Sophie-Charlotte, already cited), _Memoires pour +sevir a l'Histoire den Refugies Francais dans les Etats du Roi de +Prusse_ (Berlin, 1782-1794), 8 tt. 8vo.] + +Certainly this Elector was one of the shiftiest of men. Not an unjust +man either. A pious, God-fearing man rather, stanch to his Protestantism +and his Bible; not unjust by any means,--nor, on the other hand, by any +means thick-skinned in his interpretings of justice: Fair-play to myself +always; or occasionally even the Height of Fair-play! On the whole, by +constant energy, vigilance, adroit activity, by an ever-ready insight +and audacity to seize the passing fact by its right handle, he fought +his way well in the world; left Brandenburg a flourishing and greatly +increased Country, and his own name famous enough. + +A thick-set stalwart figure; with brisk eyes, and high strong +irregularly Roman nose. Good bronze Statue of him, by Schluter, once a +famed man, still rides on the LANGE-BRUCKE (Long-Bridge) at Berlin; and +his Portrait, in huge frizzled Louis-Quatorze wig, is frequently met +with in German Galleries. Collectors of Dutch Prints, too, know him: +here a gallant, eagle-featured little gentleman, brisk in the smiles of +youth, with plumes, with truncheon, caprioling on his war-charger, view +of tents in the distance;--there a sedate, ponderous, wrinkly old man, +eyes slightly puckered (eyes BUSIER than mouth); a face well-ploughed +by Time, and not found unfruitful; one of the largest, most laborious, +potent faces (in an ocean of circumambient periwig) to be met with +in that Century. [Both Prints are Dutch; the Younger, my copy of the +Younger, has lost the Engraver's Name (Kurfurst's age is twenty-seven); +the Elder is by MASSON, 1633, when Friedrich Wilhelm was sixty-three.] +There are many Histories about him, too; but they are not comfortable to +read. [G. D. Geyler, _Leben und Thaten Friedrich Wihelms des Grossen_ +(Frankfort and Leipzig, 1703), folio. Franz Horn, _Das Leben Friedrich +Wilhelms des Grossen_ (Berlin, 1814). Pauli, _Staats-Geschichte,_ Band +v. (Halle, 1764). Pufendorf, _De rebus gestis Friderici Wilhelmi Magni +Electoris Brandenburgensis Commentaria_ (Lips. et Berol. 1733, fol.)] He +also has wanted a sacred Poet; and found only a bewildering Dryasdust. + +His Two grand Feats that dwell in the Prussian memory are perhaps none +of his greatest, but were of a kind to strike the imagination. They both +relate to what was the central problem of his life,--the recovery +of Pommern from the Swedes. Exploit First is the famed "Battle +of FEHRBELLIN (Ferry of BellEEN)," fought on the 18th June, 1675. +Fehrbellin is an inconsiderable Town still standing in those peaty +regions, some five-and-thirty miles northwest of Berlin; and had for +ages plied its poor Ferry over the oily-looking, brown, sluggish stream +called Rhin, or Rhein in those parts, without the least notice from +mankind, till this fell out. It is a place of pilgrimage to patriotic +Prussians, ever since Friedrich Wilhelm's exploit there. The matter went +thus:-- + +Friedrich Wilhelm was fighting, far south in Alsace, on Kaiser Leopold's +side, in the Louis-Fourteenth War; that second one, which ended in the +treaty of Nimwegen. Doing his best there,--when the Swedes, egged on +by Louis XIV., made war upon him; crossed the Pomeranian marches, troop +after troop, and invaded his Brandenburg Territory with a force which +at length amounted to some 16,000 men. No help for the moment: Friedrich +Wilhelm could not be spared from his post. The Swedes, who had at first +professed well, gradually went into plunder, roving, harrying, at their +own will; and a melancholy time they made of it for Friedrich Wilhelm +and his People. Lucky if temporary harm were all the ill they were +likely to do; lucky if--! He stood steady, however; in his solid manner, +finishing the thing in hand first, since that was feasible. He then even +retired into winter-quarters, to rest his men; and seemed to have left +the Swedish 16,000 autocrats of the situation; who accordingly went +storming about at a great rate. + +Not so, however; very far indeed from so. Having rested his men for +certain months, Friedrich Wilhelm silently in the first days of June +(1675) gets them under march again; marches, his Cavalry and he as first +instalment, with best speed from Schweinfurt, [Stenzel, ii. 347.] which +is on the river Main, to Magdeburg; a distance of two hundred miles. At +Magdeburg, where he rests three days, waiting for the first handful of +foot and a field-piece or two, he learns that the Swedes are in three +parties wide asunder; the middle party of them within forty miles of +him. Probably stronger, even this middle one, than his small body (of +"six thousand Horse, twelve hundred Foot and three guns");--stronger, +but capable perhaps of being surprised, of being cut in pieces, before +the others can come up? Rathenau is the nearest skirt of this middle +party: thither goes the Kurfurst, softly, swiftly, in the June night +(16-17th June, 1675); gets into Rathenau, by brisk stratagem; tumbles +out the Swedish Horse-regiment there, drives it back towards Fehrbellin. + +He himself follows hard;--swift riding enough, in the summer night, +through those damp Havel lands, in the old Hohenzollern fashion: and +indeed old Freisack Castle, as it chances,--Freisack, scene of Dietrich +von Quitzow and LAZY PEG long since,--is close by! Follows hard, we +say: strikes in upon this midmost party (nearly twice his number, but +Infantry for the most part); and after fierce fight, done with good +talent on both sides, cuts it into utter ruin, as proposed. Thereby +he has left the Swedish Army as a mere head and tail WITHOUT body; has +entirely demolished the Swedish Army. [Stenzel, ii. 350-357.] Same feat +intrinsically as that done by Cromwell, on Hamilton and the Scots, in +1648. It was, so to speak, the last visit Sweden paid to Brandenburg, or +the last of any consequence; and ended the domination of the Swedes +in those quarters. A thing justly to be forever remembered by +Brandenburg;--on a smallish modern scale, the Bannockburn, Sempach, +Marathon, of Brandenburg. [See Pauli, v. 161-169; Stenzel, ii. 335, +340-347, 354; Kausler, _Atlas des plus memorables Batailles, Combats +et Sieges,_ or _Atlas der merkwurdigsten Schlachten, Treffen und +Belagerungen_ (German and French, Carlsruhe and Freiburg, 1831), p. 417, +Blatt 62.] + +Exploit Second was four years later; in some sort a corollary to +this; and a winding-up of the Swedish business. The Swedes, in farther +prosecution of their Louis-Fourteenth speculation, had invaded Preussen +this time, and were doing sad havoc there. It was in the dead of winter, +Christmas, 1678, more than four hundred miles off; and the Swedes, to +say nothing of their other havoc, were in a case to take Konigsberg, and +ruin Prussia altogether, if not prevented. Friedrich Wilhelm starts +from Berlin, with the opening Year, on his long march; the Horse-troops +first, Foot to follow at their swiftest; he himself (his Wife, his +ever-true "Louisa," accompanying, as her wont was) travels, towards the +end, at the rate of "sixty miles a day." He gets in still in time, finds +Konigsberg unscathed. Nay it is even said, the Swedes are extensively +falling sick; having, after a long famine, found infinite "pigs, near +Insterburg," in those remote regions, and indulged in the fresh pork +overmuch. + +I will not describe the subsequent manoeuvres, which would interest +nobody: enough if I say that on the 16th of January, 1679, it had become +of the highest moment for Friedrich Wilhelm to get from Carwe (Village +near Elbing) on the shore of the FRISCHE HAF, where he was, through +Konigsberg, to Gilge on the CURISCHE HAF, where the Swedes are,--in a +minimum of time. Distance, as the crow flies, is about a hundred +miles; road, which skirts the two HAFS [Pauli, v. 215-222; Stenzel, ii. +392-397.] (wide shallow WASHES, as we should name them), is of rough +quality, and naturally circuitous. It is ringing frost to-day, and for +days back:--Friedrich Wilhelm hastily gathers all the sledges, all +the horses of the district; mounts some four thousand men in sledges; +starts, with the speed of light, in that fashion. Scours along all +day, and after the intervening bit of land, again along; awakening +the ice-bound silences. Gloomy Frische Haf, wrapt in its Winter +cloud-coverlids, with its wastes of tumbled sand, its poor frost-bound +fishing-hamlets, pine-hillocks,--desolate-looking, stern as Greenland or +more so, says Busching, who travelled there in winter-time, [Busching's +_Beitrage_ (Halle, 1789), vi. 160.]--hears unexpected human noises, +and huge grinding and trampling; the four thousand, in long fleet +of sledges, scouring across it, in that manner. All day they rush +along,--out of the rimy hazes of morning into the olive-colored clouds +of evening again,--with huge loud-grinding rumble;--and do arrive in +time at Gilge. A notable streak of things, shooting across those frozen +solitudes, in the New-Year, 1679;--little short of Karl Gustav's feat, +which we heard of, in the other or Danish end of the Baltic, twenty +years ago, when he took Islands without ships. + +This Second Exploit--suggested or not by that prior one of Karl Gustav +on the ice--is still a thing to be remembered by Hohenzollerns and +Prussians. The Swedes were beaten here, on Friedrich Wilhelm's rapid +arrival; were driven into disastrous rapid retreat Northward; which they +executed, in hunger and cold; fighting continually, like Northern bears, +under the grim sky; Friedrich Wilhelm sticking to their skirts,--holding +by their tail, like an angry bear-ward with steel whip in his hand. A +thing which, on the small scale, reminds one of Napoleon's experiences. +Not till Napoleon's huge fighting-flight, a hundred and thirty-four +years after, did I read of such a transaction in those parts. The +Swedish invasion of Preussen has gone utterly to ruin. + +And this, then, is the end of Sweden, and its bad neighborhood on these +shores, where it has tyrannously sat on our skirts so long? Swedish +Pommern the Elector already had: last year, coming towards it ever since +the Exploit of Fehrbellin, he had invaded Swedish Pommern; had +besieged and taken Stettin, nay Stralsund too, where Wallenstein had +failed;--cleared Pommern altogether of its Swedish guests. Who had tried +next in Preussen, with what luck we see. Of Swedish Pommern the Elector +might now say: "Surely it is mine; again mine, as it long was; well won +a second time, since the first would not do!" But no:--Louis XIV. proved +a gentleman to his Swedes. Louis, now that the Peace of Nimwegen had +come, and only the Elector of Brandenburg was still in harness, said +steadily, though anxious enough to keep well with the Elector: "They are +my allies, these Swedes; it was on my bidding they invaded you: can I +leave them in such a pass? It must not be!" So Pommern had to be given +back. A miss which was infinitely grievous to Friedrich Wilhelm. The +most victorious Elector cannot hit always, were his right never so good. + +Another miss which he had to put up with, in spite of his rights, +and his good services, was that of the Silesian Duchies. The +Heritage-Fraternity with Liegnitz had at length, in 1675, come to fruit. +The last Duke of Liegnitz was dead: Duchies of Liegnitz, of Brieg, +Wohlau, are Brandenburg's, if there were right done! But Kaiser +Leopold in the scarlet stockings will not hear of Heritage-Fraternity. +"Nonsense!" answers Kaiser Leopold: "A thing suppressed at once, ages +ago; by Imperial power: flat ZERO of a thing at this time;--and you, I +again bid you, return me your Papers upon it!" This latter act of duty +Friedrich Wilhelm would not do; but continued insisting. [Pauli, +v. 321.] "Jagerndorf at least, O Kaiser of the world," said he; +"Jagerndorf, there is no color for your keeping that!" To which the +Kaiser again answers, "Nonsense!"--and even falls upon astonishing +schemes about it, as we shall see;--but gives nothing. Ducal Preussen +is sovereign, Cleve is at Peace, Hinter-Pommern ours;--this Elector has +conquered much: but the Silesian Heritages and Vor-Pommern, and some +other things, he will have to do without. Louis XIV., it is thought, +once offered to get him made King; [Ib. vii. 215.] but that he declined +for the present. + +His married and domestic life is very fine and human; especially with +that Oranien-Nassau Princess, who was his first Wife (1646-1667); +Princess Louisa of Nassau-Orange; Aunt to our own Dutch William, King +William III., in time coming. An excellent wise Princess; from whom +came the Orange Heritages, which afterwards proved difficult to +settle:--Orange was at last exchanged for the small Principality of +Neufchatel in Switzerland, which is Prussia's ever since. "Oranienburg +(ORANGE-BURG)," a Royal Country-house, still standing, some twenty miles +northwards from Berlin, was this Louisa's place: she had trimmed it +up into a little jewel, of the Dutch type,--potherb gardens, +training-schools for young girls, and the like;--a favorite abode of +hers, when she was at liberty for recreation. But her life was busy and +earnest: she was helpmate, not in name only, to an ever-busy man. They +were married young; a marriage of love withal. Young Friedrich Wilhelm's +courtship, wedding in Holland; the honest trustful walk and conversation +of the two Sovereign Spouses, their journeyings together, their mutual +hopes, fears and manifold vicissitudes; till Death, with stern beauty, +shut it in:--all is human, true and wholesome in it; interesting to look +upon, and rare among sovereign persons. + +Not but that he had his troubles with his womankind. Even with this his +first Wife, whom he loved truly, and who truly loved him, there were +scenes; the Lady having a judgment of her own about everything that +passed, and the Man being choleric withal. Sometimes, I have heard, "he +would dash his hat at her feet," saying symbolically, "Govern you, then, +Madam! Not the Kurfurst-Hat; a Coif is my wear, it seems!" [Forster, +_Friedrich Wilhelm I. Konig von Preussen_ (Potsdam, 1834), i. 177.] Yet +her judgment was good; and he liked to have it on the weightiest things, +though her powers of silence might halt now and then. He has been known, +on occasion, to run from his Privy-Council to her apartment, while a +complex matter was debating, to ask her opinion, hers too, before it was +decided. Excellent Louisa; Princess full of beautiful piety, good-sense +and affection; a touch of the Nassau-Heroic in her. At the moment of her +death, it is said, when speech had fled, he felt, from her hand which +lay in his, three slight, slight pressures: "Farewell!" thrice mutely +spoken in that manner,--not easy to forget in this world. [Wegfuhrer, +_Leben der Kurfurstin Luise_ (Leipzig, 1838), p. 175.] + +His second Wife, Dorothea,--who planted the Lindens in Berlin, and did +other husbandries, of whom we have heard, fell far short of Louisa +in many things; but not in tendency to advise, to remonstrate, and +plaintively reflect on the finished and unalterable. Dreadfully thrifty +lady, moreover; did much in dairy produce, farming of town-rates, +provision-taxes: not to speak again of that Tavern she was thought to +have in Berlin, and to draw custom to in an oblique manner! What scenes +she had with Friedrich her stepson, we have seen. "Ah, I have not my +Louisa now; to whom now shall I run for advice or help!" would the poor +Kurfurst at times exclaim. + +He had some trouble, considerable trouble now and then, with mutinous +spirits in Preussen; men standing on antique Prussian franchises +and parchments; refusing to see that the same were now antiquated, +incompatible, not to say impossible, as the new Sovereign alleged; and +carrying themselves very stiffly at times. But the Hohenzollerns had +been used to such things; a Hohenzollern like this one would evidently +take his measures, soft but strong, and ever stronger to the needful +pitch, with mutinous spirits. One Burgermeister of Konigsberg, after +much stroking on the back, was at length seized in open Hall, by +Electoral writ,--soldiers having first gently barricaded the principal +streets, and brought cannon to bear upon them. This Burgermeister, +seized in such brief way, lay prisoner for life; refusing to ask his +liberty, though it was thought he might have had it on asking. [Horn, +_Das Leben Friedrich Wilhelms des Grossen_ (Berlin, 1814), p. 68.] + +Another gentleman, a Baron von Kalkstein, of old Teutsch-Bitter kin, of +very high ways, in the Provincial Estates (STANDE) and elsewhere, got +into lofty almost solitary opposition, and at length into mutiny proper, +against the new "Non-Polish SOVEREIGN," and flatly refused to do homage +at his accession in that new capacity. [Supra, pp. 383, et seqq.] +Refused, Kalkstein did, for his share; fled to Warsaw; and very +fiercely, in a loud manner, carried on his mutinies in the Diets and +Court-Conclaves there; his plea being, or plea for the time, "Poland is +our liege lord [which it was not always], and we cannot be transferred +to you, except by our consent asked and given," which too had been a +little neglected on the former occasion of transfer. So that the Great +Elector knew not what to do with Kalkstein; and at length (as the case +was pressing) had him kidnapped by his Ambassador at Warsaw; had him +"rolled into a carpet" there, and carried swiftly in the Ambassador's +coach, in the form of luggage, over the frontier, into his native +Province, there to be judged, and, in the end (since nothing else would +serve him), to have the sentence executed, and his head cut off. For the +case was pressing! [Horn, pp. 80-82.]--These things, especially this of +Kalkstein, with a boisterous Polish Diet and parliamentary eloquence in +the rear of him, gave rise to criticism; and required management on the +part of the Great Elector. + +Of all his Ancestors, our little Fritz, when he grew big, admired this +one. A man made like himself in many points. He seems really to have +loved and honored this one. In the year 1750 there had been a new +Cathedral got finished at Berlin; the ancestral bones had to be shifted +over from the vaults of the old one,--the burying-place ever since +Joachim II., that Joachim who drew his sword on Alba. "King Friedrich, +with some attendants, witnessed the operation, January, 1750. When the +Great Kurfurst's coffin came, he made them open it; gazed in silence on +the features for some time, which were perfectly recognizable; laid his +hand on the hand long dead, and said, _'Messieurs, celui-ci a fait de +grandes choses_ (This one did a great work)!'" [See Preuss, i. 270.] + +He died 29th April, 1688;--looking with intense interest upon Dutch +William's preparations to produce a Glorious Revolution in this Island; +being always of an ardent Protestant feeling, and a sincerely religious +man. Friedrich, Crown-Prince, age then thirty-one, and already married +a second time, was of course left Chief Heir;--who, as we see, has not +declined the Kingship, when a chance for it offered. There were four +Half-brothers of Friedrich, too, who got apanages, appointments. They +had at one time confidently looked for much more, their Mother being +busy; but were obliged to be content, and conform to the GERA BOND and +fundamental Laws of the Country. They are entitled Margraves; two of +whom left children, Margraves of Brandenburg-Schwedt, HEERMEISTERS (Head +of the Malta-Knighthood) at Sonnenburg, Statthalters in Magdeburg, or +I know not what; whose names turn up confusedly in the Prussian Books; +and, except as temporary genealogical puzzles, are not of much moment to +the Foreign reader. Happily there is nothing else in the way of Princes +of the Blood, in our little Friedrich's time; and happily what concern +he had with these, or how he was related to them, will not be abstruse +to us, if occasion rise. + + + + +Chapter XIX. -- KING FRIEDRICH I. AGAIN. + +We said the Great Elector never could work his Silesian Duchies out of +Kaiser Leopold's grip: to all his urgencies the little Kaiser in red +stockings answered only in evasions, refusals; and would quit nothing. +We noticed also what quarrels the young Electoral Prince, Friedrich, +afterwards King, had got into with his Stepmother; suddenly feeling +poisoned after dinner, running to his Aunt at Cassel, coming back on +treaty, and the like. These are two facts which the reader knows: and +out of these two grew a third, which it is fit he should know. + +In his last years, the Great Elector, worn out with labor, and harassed +with such domestic troubles over and above, had evidently fallen much +under his Wife's management; cutting out large apanages (clear against +the GERA BOND) for her children;--longing probably for quiet in his +family at any price. As to the poor young Prince, negotiated back from +Cassel, he lived remote, and had fallen into open disfavor,--with a very +ill effect upon his funds, for one thing. His father kept him somewhat +tight on the money-side, it is alleged; and he had rather a turn for +spending money handsomely. He was also in some alarm about the proposed +apanages to his Half-brothers, the Margraves above mentioned, of which +there were rumors going. + + + + +HOW AUSTRIA SETTLED THE SILESIAN CLAIMS. + +Now in these circumstances the Austrian Court, who at this time (1685) +greatly needed the Elector's help against Turks and others, and found +him very urgent about these Silesian Duchies of his, fell upon what I +must call a very extraordinary shift for getting rid of the Silesian +question. "Serene Highness," said they, by their Ambassador at Berlin, +"to end these troublesome talks, and to liquidate all claims, admissible +and inadmissible, about Silesia, the Imperial Majesty will give you an +actual bit of Territory, valuable, though not so large as you expected!" +The Elector listens with both ears: What Territory, then? The "Circle of +Schwiebus," hanging on the northwestern edge of Silesia, contiguous to +the Elector's own Dominions in these Frankfurt-on-Oder regions: this the +generous Imperial Majesty proposes to give in fee-simple to Friedrich +Wilhelm, and so to end the matter. Truly a most small patch of Territory +in comparison; not bigger than an English Rutlandshire, to say nothing +of soil and climate! But then again it was an actual patch of territory; +not a mere parchment shadow of one: this last was a tempting point to +the old harassed Elector. Such friendly offer they made him, I think, in +1685, at the time they were getting 8,000 of his troops to march against +the Turks for them; a very needful service at the moment. "By the bye, +do not march through Silesia, you!--Or march faster!" said the cautious +Austrians on this occasion: "Other roads will answer better than +Silesia!" said they. [Pauli, v. 327, 332.] Baron Freytag, their +Ambassador at Berlin, had negotiated the affair so far: "Circle of +Schwiebus," said Freytag, "and let us have done with these thorny +talks!" + +But Baron Freytag had been busy, in the mean while, with the young +Prince; secretly offering Sympathy, counsel, help; of all which the poor +Prince stood in need enough. "We will help you in that dangerous matter +of the Apanages," said Freytag; "Help you in all things,"--I suppose he +would say,--"necessary pocket-money is not a thing your Highness need +want!" And thus Baron Freytag, what is very curious, had managed to +bargain beforehand with the young Prince, That directly on coming to +power, he would give up Schwiebus again, SHOULD the offer of Schwiebus +be accepted by Papa. To which effect Baron Freytag held a signed Bond, +duly executed by the young man, before Papa had concluded at all. Which +is very curious indeed!-- + +Poor old Papa, worn out with troubles, accepted Schwiebus in liquidation +of all claims (8th April, 1686), and a few days after set his men on +march against the Turks:--and, exactly two months beforehand, on the +8th of February last, the Prince had signed HIS secret engagement, That +Schwiebus should be a mere phantasm to Papa; that he, the Prince, would +restore it on his accession. Both these singular Parchments, signed, +sealed and done in the due legal form, lay simultaneously in Freytag's +hand; and probably enough they exist yet, in some dusty corner, among +the solemn sheepskins of the world. This is literally the plan hit upon +by an Imperial Court, to assist a young Prince in his pecuniary and +other difficulties, and get rid of Silesian claims. Plan actually +not unlike that of swindling money-lenders to a young gentleman in +difficulties, and of manageable turn, who has got into their hands. + +The Great Elector died two years after; Schwiebus then in his hand. The +new Elector, once instructed as to the nature of the affair, refused to +give up Schwiebus; [19th September, 1689 Pauli, vii. 74.] declared +the transaction a swindle:--and in fact, for seven years more, retained +possession of Schwiebus. But the Austrian Court insisted, with emphasis, +at length with threats (no insuperable pressure from Louis, or the +Turks, at this time); the poor cheated Elector had, at last, to give up +Schwiebus, in terms of his promise. [31st December, 1694.] He took act +that it had been a surreptitious transaction, palmed upon him while +ignorant, and while without the least authority or power to make such a +promise; that he was not bound by it, nor would be, except on compulsion +thus far: and as to binding Brandenburg by it, how could he, at that +period of his history, bind Brandenburg? Brandenburg was not then his to +bind, any more than China was. + +His Raths had advised Friedrich against giving up Schwiebus in that +manner. But his answer is on record: "I must, I will and shall keep my +own word. But my rights on Silesia, which I could not, and do not in +these unjust circumstances, compromise, I leave intact for my posterity +to prosecute. If God and the course of events order it no otherwise than +now, we must be content. But if God shall one day send the opportunity, +those that come after me will know what they have to do in such case." +[Pauli, vii. 150.] And so Schwiebus was given up, the Austrians paying +back what Brandenburg had laid out in improving it, "250,000 GULDEN +(25,000 pounds);"--and the Hand of Power had in this way, finally as it +hoped, settled an old troublesome account of Brandenburg's. Settled +the Silesian-Duchies Claim, by the temporary Phantasm of a Gift of +Schwiebus. That is literally the Liegnitz-Jagerndorf case; and the +reader is to note it and remember it. For it will turn up again in +History. The Hand of Power is very strong: but a stronger may perhaps +get hold of its knuckles one day, at an advantageous time, and do a feat +upon it. + +The "eventual succession to East Friesland," which had been promised by +the Reich, some ten years ago, to the Great Elector, "for what he had +done against the Turks, and what he had suffered from those Swedish +Invasions, in the Common Cause:" this shadow of Succession, the Kaiser +now said, should not be haggled with any more; but be actually realized, +and the Imperial sanction to it now given,--effect to follow IF the +Friesland Line died out. Let this be some consolation for the loss of +Schwiebus and your Silesian Duchies. Here in Friesland is the ghost of +a coming possession; there in Schwiebus was the ghost of a going one: +phantasms you shall not want for; but the Hand of Power parts not with +its realities, however come by. + + + + +HIS REAL CHARACTER. + +Poor Friedrich led a conspicuous life as Elector and King; but no +public feat he did now concerns us like this private one of Schwiebus. +Historically important, this, and requiring to be remembered, while +so much else demands mere oblivion from us. He was a spirited man; +did soldierings, fine Siege of Bonn (July-October, 1689), sieges +and campaignings, in person,--valiant in action, royal especially +in patience there,--during that Third War of Louis-Fourteenth's, +the Treaty-of-Ryswick one. All through the Fourth, or Spanish +Succession-War, his Prussian Ten-Thousand, led by fit generals, showed +eminently what stuff they were made of. Witness Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau +(still a YOUNG Dessauer) on the field of Blenheim;--Leopold had the +right wing there, and saved Prince Eugene who was otherwise blown to +pieces, while Marlborough stormed and conquered on the left. Witness the +same Dessauer on the field of Hochstadt the year before, [Varnhagen von +Ense, _Biographische Denkmale_ (Berlin, 1845), ii, 155.] how he managed +the retreat there. Or see him at the Bridge of Cassano (1705); in +the Lines of Turin (1706); [_ Des weltheruhnden Furstens Leopoldi +von Anhult-Dessau Leben und Thaten_ (Leipzig, 1742, anonymous, by one +MICHAEL RANFFT), pp. 53, 61.] wherever hot service was on hand. At +Malplaquet, in those murderous inexpugnable French Lines, bloodiest of +obstinate Fights (upwards of thirty thousand left on the ground), the +Prussians brag that it was they who picked their way through a certain +peat-bog, reckoned impassable; and got fairly in upon the French +wing,--to the huge comfort of Marlborough, and little Eugene his brisk +comrade on that occasion. Marlborough knew well the worth of these +Prussian troops, and also how to stroke his Majesty into continuing them +in the field. + +He was an expensive King, surrounded by cabals, by Wartenbergs male and +female, by whirlpools of intrigues, which, now that the game is over, +become very forgettable. But one finds he was a strictly honorable man; +with a certain height and generosity of mind, capable of other nobleness +than the upholstery kind. He had what we may call a hard life of it; +did and suffered a good deal in his day and generation, not at all in +a dishonest or unmanful manner. In fact, he is quite recognizably a +Hohenzollern,--with his back half broken. Readers recollect that sad +accident: how the Nurse, in one of those headlong journeys which his +Father and Mother were always making, let the poor child fall or jerk +backward; and spoiled him much, and indeed was thought to have killed +him, by that piece of inattention. He was not yet Hereditary Prince, he +was only second son: but the elder died; and he became Elector, King; +and had to go with his spine distorted,--distortion not glaringly +conspicuous, though undeniable;--and to act the Hohenzollern SO. Nay +who knows but it was this very jerk, and the half-ruin of his nervous +system,--this doubled wish to be beautiful, and this crooked back +capable of being hid or decorated into straightness,--that first set +the poor man on thinking of expensive ornamentalities, and Kingships in +particular? History will forgive the Nurse in that case. + +Perhaps History has dwelt too much on the blind side of this expensive +King. Toland, on entering his country, was struck rather with the +signs of good administration everywhere. No sooner have you crossed the +Prussian Border, out of Westphalia, says Toland, than smooth highways, +well-tilled fields, and a general air of industry and regularity, are +evident: solid milestones, brass-bound, and with brass inscription, tell +the traveller where he is; who finds due guidance of finger-posts, too, +and the blessing of habitable inns. The people seem all to be busy, +diligently occupied; villages reasonably swept and whitewashed;--never +was a better set of Parish Churches; whether new-built or old, they are +all in brand-new repair. The contrast with Westphalia is immediate +and great; but indeed that was a sad country, to anybody but a patient +Toland, who knows the causes of phenomena. No inns there, except of the +naturally savage sort. "A man is very happy if he finds clean straw +to sleep on, without expecting sheets or coverings; let him readily +dispense with plates, forks and napkins, if he can get anything to +eat.... He must be content to have the cows, swine and poultry for his +fellow-lodgers, and to go in at the same passage that the smoke comes +out at, for there's no other vent for it but the door; which makes +foreigners commonly say that the people of Westphalia enter their houses +by the chimney." And observe withal: "This is the reason why their beef +and hams are so finely prepared and ripened; for the fireplace being +backwards, the smoke must spread over all the house before it gets to +the door; which makes everything within of a russet or sable color, not +excepting the hands and faces of the meaner sort." [_An Account of the +Courts of Prussia and Hanover,_ by Mr. Toland (cited already), p. 4.] +If Prussia yield to Westphalia in ham, in all else she is strikingly +superior. + +He founded Universities, this poor King; University of Halle; Royal +Academy of Berlin, Leibnitz presiding: he fought for Protestantism;--did +what he could for the cause of Cosmos VERSUS Chaos, after his fashion. +The magnificences of his Charlottenburgs, Oranienburgs and numerous +Country-houses make Toland almost poetic. An affable kindly man withal, +though quick of temper; his word sacred to him. A man of many troubles, +and acquainted with "the infinitely little (L'INFINIMENT PETIT)," as his +Queen termed it. + + + + +Chapter XX. -- DEATH OF KING FRIEDRICH I. + +Old King Friedrich I. had not much more to do in the world, after +witnessing the christening of his Grandson of like name. His leading +forth or sending forth of troops, his multiplex negotiations, solemn +ceremonials, sad changes of ministry, sometimes transacted "with tears," +are mostly ended; the ever-whirling dust-vortex of intrigues, of which +he has been the centre for a five-and-twenty years, is settling down +finally towards everlasting rest. No more will Marlborough come and +dexterously talk him over,--proud to "serve as cupbearer," on occasion, +to so high a King--for new bodies of men to help in the next +campaign: we have ceased to be a King worthy of such a cupbearer, and +Marlborough's campaigns too are all ended. + +Much is ended. They are doing the sorrowful Treaty of Utrecht; Louis +XIV. himself is ending; mournfully shrunk into the corner, with his +Missal and his Maintenon; looking back with just horror on Europe four +times set ablaze for the sake of one poor mortal in big periwig, to +no purpose. Lucky if perhaps Missal-work, orthodox litanies, and even +Protestant Dragonnades, can have virtue to wipe out such a score against +a man! Unhappy Louis: the sun-bright gold has become dim as copper; we +rose in storms, and we are setting in watery clouds. The Kaiser himself +(Karl VI., Leopold's Son, Joseph I.'s younger Brother) will have to +conform to this Treaty of Utrecht: what other possibility for him? + +The English, always a wonderful Nation, fought and subsidied from side +to side of Europe for this Spanish-Succession business; fought ten +years, such fighting as they never did before or since, under "John Duke +of Marlborough," who, as is well known, "beat the French thorough and +thorough." French entirely beaten at last, not without heroic difficulty +and as noble talent as was ever shown in diplomacy and war, are ready +to do your will in all things; in this of giving up Spain, among +others:--whereupon the English turn round, with a sudden new thought, +"No, we will not have our WILL done; it shall be the other way, the way +it WAS,--now that we bethink ourselves, after all this fighting for our +will!" And make Peace on those terms, as if no war had been; and accuse +the great Marlborough of many things, of theft for one. A wonderful +People; and in their Continental Politics (which indeed consist chiefly +of Subsidies) thrice wonderful. So the Treaty of Utrecht is transacting +itself; which that of Rastadt, on the part of Kaiser and Empire, +unable to get on without Subsidies, will have to follow: and after +such quantities of powder burnt, and courageous lives wasted, general +AS-YOU-WERE is the result arrived at. + +Old Friedrich's Ambassadors are present at Utrecht, jangling and +pleading among the rest; at Berlin too the despatch of business goes +lumbering on; but what thing, in the shape of business, at Utrecht or at +Berlin, is of much importance to the old man? Seems as if Europe itself +were waxing dim, and sinking to stupid sleep,--as we, in our poor royal +person, full surely are. A Crown has been achieved, and diamond buttons +worth 1,500 pounds apiece; but what is a Crown, and what are buttons, +after all?--I suppose the tattle and SINGERIES of little Wilhelmina, +whom he would spend whole days with; this and occasional visits to a +young Fritzchen's cradle, who is thriving moderately, and will speak +and do aperies one day,--are his main solacements in the days that are +passing. Much of this Friedrich's life has gone off like the smoke of +fire-works, has faded sorrowfully, and proved phantasmal. Here is an old +Autograph Note, written by him at the side of that Cradle, and +touching on a slight event there; which, as it connects two venerable +Correspondents and their Seventeenth Century with a grand Phenomenon of +the Eighteenth, we will insert here. The old King addresses his older +Mother-in-law, famed Electress Sophie of Hanover, in these terms +(spelling corrected):-- + +"CHARLOTTENBURG, den 30 August, 1712. + + "Ew. Churf. Durchlaucht werden sich zweifelsohne mit uns +erfreuen, dass der kleine Printz (PRINZ) Fritz nuhnmero (NUNMEHR) 6 +Zehne (ZAHNE) hat und ohne die geringste incommoditet (-TAT). Daraus +kann man auch die PREDESTINATION sehen, dass alle seine Bruder haben +daran sterben mussen, dieser aber bekommt sie ohne Muhe wie seine +Schwester. Gott erhalte ihn uns noch lange zum trohst (TROST), in dessen +Schutz ich dieselbe ergebe und lebenslang verbleibe, + + "Ew. Churf. Durchl. gehorsamster Diener und treuer Sohn, + +"FRIEDRICH R." + +[Preuss, _Friedrich der Grosse (Historische Skizze,_ Berlin, 1838), p. +380.] + +Of which this is the literal English:--"Your Electoral Serenity will +doubtless rejoice with us that the little Prince Fritz has now got his +sixth tooth without the least INCOMMODITE. And therein we may trace +a pre-destination, inasmuch as his Brothers died of teething [_Not of +cannon-sound and weight of head-gear, then, your Majesty thinks? That +were a painful thought?_]; and this one, as his Sister [WILHELMINA] +did, gets them [THE TEETH] without trouble. God preserve him long for a +comfort to us:--to whose protection I commit DIESELBE [_Your Electoral +Highness, in the third person_], and remain lifelong, + + "Your Electoral Highness's most obedient Servant and true Son, + +"FRIEDRICH REX." + +One of Friedrich Rex's worst adventures was his latest; commenced some +five or six years ago (1708), and now not far from terminating. He was a +Widower, of weakly constitution, towards fifty: his beautiful ingenious +"Serena," with all her Theologies, pinch-of-snuff Coronations and other +earthly troubles, was dead; and the task of continuing the Hohenzollern +progeny, given over to Friedrich Wilhelm the Prince Royal, was thought +to be in good hands. Majesty Friedrich with the weak back had retired, +in 1708, to Karlsbad, to rest from his cares; to take the salutary +waters, and recruit his weak nerves a little. Here, in the course of +confidential promenadings, it was hinted, it was represented to him +by some pickthank of a courtier, That the task of continuing the +Hohenzollern progeny did not seem to prosper in the present good hands; +that Sophie Dorothee, Princess Royal, had already borne two royal +infants which had speedily died: that in fact it was to be gathered +from the medical men, if not from their words, then from their looks and +cautious innuendoes, that Sophie Dorothee, Princess Royal, would +never produce a Prince or even Princess that would live; which task, +therefore, did now again seem to devolve upon his Majesty, if his +Majesty had not insuperable objections? Majesty had no insuperable +objections; old Majesty listened to the flattering tale; and, sure +enough, he smarted for it in a signal manner. + +By due industry, a Princess was fixed upon for Bride, Princess Sophie +Louisa of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, age now twenty-four: she was got as +Wife, and came home to Berlin in all pomp;--but good came not with her +to anybody there. Not only did she bring the poor old man no children, +which was a fault to be overlooked, considering Sophie Dorothee's +success; but she brought a querulous, weak and self-sufficient female +humor; found his religion heterodox,--he being Calvinist, and perhaps +even lax-Calvinist, she Lutheran as the Prussian Nation is, and strict +to the bone:--heterodox wholly, to the length of no salvation possible; +and times rose on the Berlin Court such as had never been seen +before! "No salvation possible, says my Dearest? Hah! And an innocent +Court-Mask or Dancing Soiree is criminal in the sight of God and of the +Queen? And we are children of wrath wholly, and a frivolous generation; +and the Queen will see us all--!" + +The end was, his Majesty, through sad solitary days and nights, repented +bitterly that he had wedded such a She-Dominic; grew quite estranged +from her; the poor She-Dominic giving him due return in her +way,--namely, living altogether in her own apartments, upon orthodoxy, +jealousy and other bad nourishment. Till at length she went quite mad; +and, except the due medical and other attendants, nobody saw her, or +spoke of her, at Berlin. Was this a cheering issue of such an adventure +to the poor old expensive Gentleman? He endeavored to digest in silence +the bitter morsel he had cooked for himself; but reflected often, as an +old King might, What dirt have I eaten! + +In this way stands that matter in the Schloss of Berlin, when little +Friedrich, who will one day be called the Great, is born. Habits of the +expensive King, hours of rising, modes of dressing, and so forth, are +to be found in Pollnitz; [Pollnitz, _Memoiren zur Lebens-und +Regierungs-Geschichte der Vier letzten Regenten des Preussischen +Staats_ (Berlin, 1791). A vague, inexact, but not quite uninstructive or +uninteresting Book: Printed also in FRENCH, which was the Original, +same place and time.] but we charitably omit them all. Even from foolish +Pollnitz a good eye will gather, what was above intimated, that this +feeble-backed, heavy-laden old King was of humane and just disposition; +had dignity in his demeanor; had reticence, patience; and, though +hot-tempered like all the Hohenzollerns, that he bore himself like +a perfect gentleman for one thing; and tottered along his high-lying +lonesome road not in an unmanful manner at all. Had not his nerves +been damaged by that fall in infancy, who knows but we might have had +something else to read of him than that he was regardless of expense in +this world! + +His last scene, of date February, 1713, is the tragical ultimatum of +that fine Karlsbad adventure of the Second marriage,--Third marriage, +in fact, though the First, anterior to "Serena," is apt to be forgotten, +having lasted short while, and produced only a Daughter, not memorable +except by accident. This Third marriage, which had brought so many +sorrows to him, proved at length the death of the old man. For he +sat one morning, in the chill February days of the Year 1713, in his +Apartment, as usual; weak of nerves, but thinking no special evil; when, +suddenly with huge jingle, the glass door of his room went to sherds; +and there rushed in--bleeding and dishevelled, the fatal "White Lady" +(WEISSE FRAU), who is understood to walk that Schloss at Berlin, and +announce Death to the Royal inhabitants. Majesty had fainted, or was +fainting. "Weisse Frau? Oh no, your Majesty!"--not that; but indeed +something almost worse.--Mad Queen, in her Apartments, had been seized, +that day, when half or quarter dressed; with unusual orthodoxy or +unusual jealousy. Watching her opportunity, she had whisked into the +corridor, in extreme deshabille; and gone, like the wild roe, towards +Majesty's Suite of Rooms; through Majesty's glass door, like a catapult; +and emerged as we saw,--in petticoat and shift, with hair streaming, +eyes glittering, arms cut, and the other sad trimmings. O Heaven, who +could laugh? There are tears due to Kings and to all men. It was deep +misery; deep enough "SIN and misery," as Calvin well says, on the one +side and the other! The poor old King was carried to bed; and never rose +again, but died in a few days. The date of the WEISSE FRAU'S death, one +might have hoped, was not distant either; but she lasted, in her sad +state, for above twenty years coming. + +Old King Friedrich's death-day was 25th February, 1713; the unconscious +little Grandson being then in his Fourteenth month. To whom, after this +long, voyage round the world, we now gladly return. + + +By way of reinforcement to any recollection the reader may have of these +Twelve Hohenzollern Kurfursts, I will append a continuous list of them, +with here and there an indication. + + + + +THE TWELVE HOHENZOLLERN ELECTORS. + +1. FRIEDRICH I. (as Burggraf, was Friedrich VI.): born, it is inferred, +1372 (Rentsch, p. 350); accession, 18th April, 1417; died 21st +September, 1440. Had come to Brandenburg, 1412, as Statthalter. The +Quitzows and HEAVY PEG. + +2. FRIEDRICH II.: 19th November, 1413; 21st September, 1440; 10th +February, 1472. Friedrich IRONTEETH; tames the Berlin Burghers. Spoke +Polish, was to have been Polish King. Cannon-shot upon his dinner-table +shatters his nerves so, that he abdicates, and soon dies. JOHANNES +ALCHYMISTA his elder Brother; ALBERT ACHILLES his younger. + +3. ALBERT (Achilles): 24th November, 1414; 10th February, 1471; 11th +March, 1486. Third son of Friedrich I.; is lineal Progenitor of all the +rest. Eldest Son, JOHANN CICERO, follows as Kurfurst; a Younger Son, +FRIEDRICH (by a different Mother), got Culmbach, and produced the Elder +Line there. (See Genealogical Diagram.) + +4. JOHANN (Cicero): 2d August, 1455; 11th March, 1486; 9th January, +1499. Big John. Friedrich of Culmbach's elder (Half-) Brother. + +5. JOACHIM I.: 21st February, 1484; 9th January, 1499; 11th July, 1535. +Loud in the Reformation times; finally declares peremptorily for the +Conservative side. Wife (Sister of Christian II. of Denmark) runs away. + +Younger Brother Albert Kur-Mainz, whom Hutten celebrated; born 1490; +Archbishop of Magdeburg and Halberstadt 1513, of Maim 1514; died 1545: +set Tetzel, and the Indulgence, on foot. + +6. JOACHIM II. (Hector): 9th January, 1505; 11th July, 1535; 3d January, +1571. Sword drawn on Alba once. ERBVERBRUDERUNG with Liegnitz. Staircase +at Grimnitz. A weighty industrious Kurfurst. + +Declared himself Protestant, 1539. First Wife (mother of his Successor) +was Daughter to Duke George of Saxony, Luther's "If it rained Duke +Georges."--Johann of Custrin was a younger Brother of his: died ten days +after Joachim; left no Son. + +7. JOHANN GEORGE: 11th September, 1525; 3d January, 1571; 8th January, +1598. Cannon-shot, at Siege of Wittenberg, upon Kaiser Karl and him. +Gera Bond. + +Married a Silesian Duke of Liegnitz's Daughter (result of the +ERBVERBRUDERUNG there,--Antea, p. 231). Had twenty-three children. It +was to him that Baireuth and Anspach fell home: he settled them on his +second and his third sons, Christian and Joachim Ernst; founders of the +New Line of Baireuth and Anspach. (See Genealogical Diagram.) + +8. JOACHIM FRIEDRICH: 27th January, 1546; 8th January, 1598; 18th July, +1608. Archbishop of Magdeburg first of all,--to keep the place filled. +Joachimsthal School at old Castle of Grimnitz. Very vigilant for +Preussen; which was near falling due. + +Two of his Younger Sons, Johann George (1577-1624) to whom he gave +JAGERNDORF, and that Archbishop of Magdeburg, who was present in Tilly's +storm, got both wrecked in the Thirty-Years War;--not without results, +in the Jagerndorf case. + +9. JOHANN SIGISMUND: 8th November, 1572; 18th July, 1608; 23d December, +1619. Preussen: Cleve; Slap on the face to Neuburg. + +10. GEORGE WILHELM: 3d November, 1595; 22d November, 1619; 21st +November, 1640. The unfortunate of the Thirty-Years War. _"Que faire; +ils ont des canons!"_ + +11. FRIEDRICH WILHELM: 6th February, 1620; 21st November, 1640; 29th +April, 1688. The Great Elector. + +12. FRIEDRICH III.: 1st July, 1657; 29th April, 1688; 25th February, +1713. First King (18th January, 1701). + + + + +GENEALOGICAL DIAGRAM: THE TWO CULMBACH LINES. + +3d KURFURST (1471-1486) ALBERT ACHILLES. ELDER CULMBACH LINE. + +FRIEDRICH, second son of Kurfurst Albert Achilles, younger Brother of +Johannes Cicero, got CULMBACH: Anspach first, then Baireuth on the +death of a younger Brother. Born 1460; got Anspach 1486; Baireuth 1495; +followed Max in his VENETIAN CAMPAIGN, 1508; fell IMBECILE 1515; died +1536. Had a Polish Wife; from whom came interests in Hungary as well as +Poland to his children. Friedrich had Three notable Sons, + +1. CASIMIR, who got BAIREUTH (1515): born 1481; died 1527. Very +truculent in the Peasants' War. ALBERT ALEIBIADES: a man of great mark +in his day (1522-1557); never married. Two Sisters, with one of whom he +took shelter at last; no Brother. + +2. GEORGE THE PIOUS, who got ANSPACH (1515): born 1484; died 1543; got +Jagerndorf, by purchase, from his Mother's Hungarian connection, 1524. +Protestant declared, 1528; and makes honorable figure in the Histories +thenceforth. The George of Kaiser Karl's _"Nit-Kop-ab."_ One Son, +GEORGE FRIEDRICH; born 1539; went to administer Preussen when Cousin +became incompetent; died 1603. Heir to his Father in ANSPACH and +JAGERNDORF; also to his Cousin Alcibiades in BAIREUTH. Had been left a +minor (boy of 4, as the reader sees); Alcibiades his Guardian for a +little while: from which came great difficulties, and unjust ruin would +have come, had not Kurfurst Joachim I. been helpful and vigorous in his +behalf. George Friedrich got at length most of his Territories into +hand: Anspach and Baireuth unimpaired, Jagerndorf too, except that +Ratibor and Oppeln were much eaten into by the Imperial chicaneries in +that quarter. Died 1603, without children;--upon which his Territories +all reverted to the main Brandenburg line, namely, to Johann George +Seventh Kurfurst, or his representatives, according to the GERA BOND; +and the "Elder Culmbach Line" had ended in this manner. + +3. ALBERT; born 1490; Hochmeister of the Teutsch Ritters, 1511; declares +himself Protestant, and Duke of Prussia, 1525; died 1568. One Son, ALB +declared MELANCHOLIC 1573; died 1618. His Cousin George Friedrich +administered for him till 1603; after which Joachim Friedrich; and then, +lastly, Joachim Friedrich's Son, Johann Sigismund the Ninth Kurfurst. +Had married the Heiress of Cleve (whence came a celebrated Cleve +Controversy in after-times). No son; a good many daughters; eldest +of whom was married to Kurfurst Johann Sigismund; from her came the +controverted Cleve Property. + + +7th KURFURST (1571-1598), JOHANN GEORGE. YOUNGER CULMBACH LINE. + +Kurfurst Johann George settled Baireuth and Anspach on Two of his +Younger Sons, who are Founders of the "Younger Culmbach Line" (SPLIT +Line or Pair of LINES). Jagerndorf the new Kurfurst, Joachim Friedrich, +kept; settled it on one of his younger sons. Here are the two new +Founders in Baireuth and Anspach, and some indication of their "Lines," +so far as important to us at present: + + + BAIREUTH. + +(1.) CHRISTIAN, second son of Kurfurst Johann George: born 1581; got +Baireuth 1603; died 1655. A distinguished Governor in his sphere. Had +two sons; the elder died before him, but left a son, Christian Ernst; +who (2.) succeeded, and (3.) whose son, George Wilhelm: 1644, 1655, +1712; 1678, 1712, 1726 (are BIRTH, ACCESSION, END of these two); the +latter of whom had no son that lived. Upon which the posterity of +Christian's second son succeeded. Second son of Christian notable to us +in two little ways: FIRST, That HE, George Albert, Margraf of CULMbach, +is the inscrutable "Marquis de LULENbach" of _Bromley's Letters_ (antea +p. 184, let the Commentators take comfort!); SECOND and better, That +from him came our little Wilhelmina's Husband,--as will be afterwards +explained. It was his grandson (4.) that succeeded in Baireuth, George +Friedrich Karl (1688, 1726, 1735); Father of Wilhelmina's Husband. After +whom (5.) his Son Friedrich (1711, 1735, 1763), Wilhelmina's Husband; +who leaving (1763) nothing hut a daughter, Baireuth fell to Anspach, +1769, after an old Uncle (6.), childless, had also died. SIX Baireuth +Margraves of this Line; FIVE generations; and then to Anspach, in 1769. + + + ANSPACH. + +(1.) JOACHIM ERNST, third son of Kurfurst Johann George: born 1583; got +Anspach 1603; died 1625. Had military tendencies, experiences; did not +thrive as Captain of the EVANGELICAL UNION (1619-1620) when WINTER-KING +came up and THIRTY-YEARS WAR along with him. Left two sons; elder of +whom, (2.) Friedrich, nominally Sovereign, age still only eighteen, +fell in the Battle of Nordlingen (worst battle of the Thirty-Years War, +1634); and the younger of whom, (3.) Albert, succeeded (1620, 1634, +1667), and his son, (4.) Johann Friedrich (1654, 1667, 1686); and (5, +6, 7.) no fewer than three grandsons,--children mostly, though entitled +"sovereign"--in a PARALLEL way (Christian Albert, 1675, 1686, 1692; +George Friedrich, 1678, 1692, 1703; Wilhelm Friedrich, 1685, 1703, +1723). Two little points notable here also, and no third: + +FIRST, That one of the grand-DAUGHTERS, full-sister of the last of +these three parallel figures, half-sister of the two former, was--Queen +Caroline, George II.'s wife, who has still some fame with us. + +SECOND, That the youngest of said three grandsons, Queen Caroline's +full-brother, left a son then minor, who became major, (8.) and wedded +a Sister of our dear little Wilhelmina's, of whom we shall hear (Karl +Wilhelm Friedrich, 1712, 1723, 1757); unmomentous Margraf otherwise. His +and her one son it was, (9.) Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander (1736, +1757, 1806), who inherited Baireuth, inherited Actress Clairon, Lady +Craven, and at Hammersmith (House once Bubb Doddington's, if that has +any charm) ended the affair. + +NINE Anspach Margraves; in FIVE generations: end, 1806. + + +END OF BOOK III + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, +Vol. III. 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Thompson <drthom@ihug.co.nz> + + + + + +Carlyle's "History of Friedrich II of Prussia" + + + + +BOOK III. + +THE HOHENZOLLERNS IN BRANDENBURG. +1412-1718 + +CHAPTER I. + +KURFURST FRIEDRICH I. + +Burggraf Friedrich, on his first coming to Brandenburg, found but +a cool reception as Statthalter. [<italic> "Johannistage" <end +italic> (24 June) "1412," he first set foot in Brandenburg, with +due escort, in due state; only Statthalter (Viceregent) as yet: +Pauli, i. 594, ii. 58; Stenzel, <italic> Geschichte des +Preussischen Staats <end italic> (Hamburg, 1830, 1851), +i. 167-169.] He came as the representative of law and rule; +and there had been many helping themselves by a ruleless life, of +late. Industry was at a low ebb, violence was rife; plunder, +disorder everywhere; too much the habit for baronial gentlemen to +"live by the saddle," as they termed it, that is by highway +robbery in modern phrase. + +The Towns, harried and plundered to skin and bone, were glad to +see a Statthalter, and did homage to him with all their heart. +But the Baronage or Squirearchy of the country were of another +mind. These, in the late anarchies, had set up for a kind of kings +in their own right: they had their feuds; made war, made peace, +levied tolls, transit-dues; lived much at their own discretion in +these solitary countries;--rushing out from their stone towers +("walls fourteen feet thick"), to seize any herd of "six hundred +swine," any convoy of Lubeck or Hamburg merchant-goods, that had +not contented them in passing. What were pedlers and mechanic +fellows made for, if not to be plundered when needful? Arbitrary +rule, on the part of these Noble Robber-Lords! And then much of +the Crown-Domains had gone to the chief of them,--pawned (and the +pawn-ticket lost, so to speak), or sold for what trifle of ready +money was to be had, in Jobst and Company's time. To these +gentlemen, a Statthalter coming to inquire into matters was no +welcome phenomenon. Your EDLE HERR (Noble Lord) of Putlitz, Noble +Lords of Quitzow, Rochow, Maltitz and others, supreme in their +grassy solitudes this long while, and accustomed to nothing +greater than themselves in Brandenburg, how should they obey +a Statthalter? + +Such was more or less the universal humor in the Squirearchy of +Brandenburg; not of good omen to Burggraf Friedrich. But the chief +seat of contumacy seemed to be among the Quitzows, Putlitzes, +above spoken of; big Squires in the district they call the +Priegnitz, in the Country of the sluggish Havel River, northwest +from Berlin a fifty or forty miles. These refused homage, very +many of them; said they were "incorporated with Bohmen;" said this +and that;--much disinclined to homage; and would not do it. +Stiff surly fellows, much deficient in discernment of what is +above them and what is not:--a thick-skinned set; bodies clad in +buff leather; minds also cased in ill habits of long continuance. + +Friedrich was very patient with them; hoped to prevail by gentle +methods. He "invited them to dinner;" "had them often at dinner +for a year or more:" but could make no progress in that way. +"Who is this we have got for a Governor?" said the noble lords +privately to each other: "A NURNBERGER TAND (Nurnberg Plaything,-- +wooden image, such as they make at Nurnberg)," said they, +grinning, in a thick-skinned way: "If it rained Burggraves all the +year round, none of them would come to luck in this Country;"--and +continued their feuds, toll-levyings, plunderings and other +contumacies. Seeing matters come to this pass after waiting above +a year, Burggraf Friedrich gathered his Frankish men-at-arms; +quietly made league with the neighboring Potentates, Thuringen and +others; got some munitions, some artillery together--especially +one huge gun, the biggest ever seen, "a twenty-four pounder" no +less; to which the peasants, dragging her with difficulty through +the clayey roads, gave the name of FAULE GRETE (Lazy, or Heavy +Peg); a remarkable piece of ordnance. Lazy Peg he had got from the +Landgraf of Thuringen, on loan merely; but he turned her to +excellent account of his own. I have often inquired after Lazy +Peg's fate in subsequent times; but could never learn anything +distinct:--the German Dryasdust is a dull dog, and seldom carries +anything human in those big wallets of his!-- + +Equipped in this way, Burggraf Friedrich (he was not yet Kurfurst, +only coming to be) marches for the Havel Country (early days of +1414); [Michaelis, i. 287; Stenzel, i. 168 (where, contrary to +wont, is an insignificant error or two). Pauli (ii. 58) is, as +usual, lost in water.] makes his appearance before Quitzow's +strong-house of Friesack, walls fourteen feet thick: "You Dietrich +von Quitzow, are you prepared to live as a peaceable subject +henceforth: to do homage to the Laws and me?"--"Never!" answered +Quitzow, and pulled up his drawbridge. Whereupon Heavy Peg opened +upon him, Heavy Peg and other guns; and, in some eight-and-forty +hours, shook Quitzow's impregnable Friesack about his ears. +This was in the month of February, 1414, day not given: Friesack +was the name of the impregnable Castle (still discoverable in our +time); and it ought to be memorable and venerable to every +Prussian man. Burggraf Friedrich VI., not yet quite become +Kurfurst Friedrich I., but in a year's space to become so, he in +person was the beneficent operator; Heavy Peg, and steady Human +Insight, these were clearly the chief implements. + +Quitzow being settled,--for the country is in military occupation +of Friedrich and his allies, and except in some stone castle a man +has no chance,--straightway Putlitz or another mutineer, with his +drawbridge up, was battered to pieces, and his drawbridge brought +slamming down. After this manner, in an incredibly short period, +mutiny was quenched; and it became apparent to Noble Lords, and to +all men, that here at length was a man come who would have the +Laws obeyed again, and could and would keep mutiny down. + +Friedrich showed no cruelty; far the contrary. Your mutiny once +ended, and a little repented of, he is ready to be your gracious +Prince again: Fair-play and the social wine-cup, or inexorable war +and Lazy Peg, it is at your discretion which. Brandenburg +submitted; hardly ever rebelled more. Brandenburg, under the wise +Kurfurst it has got, begins in a small degree to be cosmic again, +or of the domain of the gods; ceases to be chaotic and a mere +cockpit of the devils. There is no doubt but this Friedrich also, +like his ancestor Friedrich III., the First Hereditary Burggraf, +was an excellent citizen of his country: a man conspicuously +important in all German business in his time. A man setting up for +no particular magnanimity, ability or heroism, but unconsciously +exhibiting a good deal; which by degrees gained universal +recognition. He did not shine much as Reichs-Generalissimo, under +Kaiser Sigismund, in his expeditions against Zisca; on the +contrary, he presided over huge defeat and rout, once and again, +in that capacity; and indeed had represented in vain that, with +such a species of militia, victory was impossible. He represented +and again represented, to no purpose; whereupon he declined the +office farther; in which others fared no better. [Hormayr, +<italic> OEsterreichischer Plutarch <end italic> vii. 109-158, +? Zisca.] + +The offer to be Kaiser was made him in his old days; but he wisely +declined that too. It was in Brandenburg, by what he silently +founded there, that he did his chief benefit to Germany and +mankind. He understood the noble art of governing men; had in him +the justice, clearness, valor and patience needed for that. +A man of sterling probity, for one thing. Which indeed is the +first requisite in said art:--if you will have your laws obeyed +without mutiny, see well that they be pieces of God Almighty's +Law: otherwise all the artillery in the world will not keep +down mutiny. + +Friedrich "travelled much over Brandenburg;" looking into +everything with his own eyes;--making, I can well fancy, +innumerable crooked things straight. Reducing more and more that +famishing dog-kennel of a Brandenburg into a fruitful arable +field. His portraits represent a square headed, mild-looking solid +gentleman, with a certain twinkle of mirth in the serious eyes of +him. Except in those Hussite wars for Kaiser Sigismund and the +Reich, in which no man could prosper, he may be defined as +constantly prosperous. To Brandenburg he was, very literally, the +blessing of blessings; redemption out of death into life. In the +ruins of that old Friesack Castle, battered down by Heavy Peg, +Antiquarian Science (if it had any eyes) might look for the +tap-root of the Prussian Nation, and the beginning of all that +Brandenburg has since grown to under the sun. + +Friedrich, in one capacity or another, presided over Brandenburg +near thirty years. He came thither first of all in 1412; was not +completely Kurfurst in his own right till 1415; nor publicly +installed, "with 100,000 looking on from the roofs and windows," +in Constance yonder, till 1417,--age then some forty-five. +His Brandenburg residence, when he happened to have time for +residing or sitting still, was Tangermunde, the Castle built by +Kaiser Karl IV. He died there, 21st September, 1440; laden +tolerably with years, and still better with memories of hard work +done. Rentsch guesses by good inference he was born about 1372. +As I count, he is seventh in descent from that Conrad, Burggraf +Conrad I., Cadet of Hohenzollern, who came down from the Rauhe +Alp, seeking service with Kaiser Redbeard, above two centuries +ago: Conrad's generation and six others had vanished successively +from the world-theatre in that ever-mysterious manner, and left +the stage clear, when Burggraf Friedrich the Sixth came to be +First Elector. Let three centuries, let twelve generations farther +come and pass, and there will be another still more notable +Friedrich,--our little Fritz, destined to be Third King of +Prussia, officially named Friedrich II., and popularly Frederick +the Great. This First Elector is his lineal ancestor, twelve times +removed. [Rentsch, pp. 349-372; Hubner, t. 176.] + + + +Chapter II. + +MATINEES DU ROI DE PRUSSE. + +Eleven successive Kurfursts followed Friedrich in Brandenburg. +Of whom and their births, deaths, wars, marriages, negotiations +and continual multitudinous stream of smaller or greater +adventures, much has been written, of a dreary confused nature; +next to nothing of which ought to be repeated here. Some list of +their Names, with what rememberable human feature or event (if +any) still speaks to us in them, we must try to give. Their Names, +well dated, with any actions, incidents, or phases of life, which +may in this way get to adhere to them in the reader's memory, the +reader can insert, each at its right place, in the grand Tide of +European Events, or in such Picture as the reader may have of +that. Thereby with diligence he may produce for himself some faint +twilight notion of the Flight of Time in remote Brandenburg,-- +convince himself that remote Brandenburg was present all along, +alive after its sort, and assisting, dumbly or otherwise, in the +great World-Drama as that went on. + +We have to say in general, the history of Brandenburg under the +Hohenzollerns has very little in it to excite a vulgar curiosity, +though perhaps a great deal to interest an intelligent one. +Had it found treatment duly intelligent;--which, however, how +could it, lucky beyond its neighbors, hope to do! Commonplace +Dryasdust, and voluminous Stupidity, not worse here than +elsewhere, play their Part. + +It is the history of a State, or Social Vitality, growing from +small to great; steadily growing henceforth under guidance: +and the contrast between guidance and no-guidance, or mis- +guidance, in such matters, is again impressively illustrated +there. This we see well to be the fact; and the details of this +would be of moment, were they given us: but they are not;--how +could voluminous Dryasdust give them? Then, on the other hand, the +Phenomenon is, for a long while, on so small a scale, wholly +without importance in European politics and affairs, the +commonplace Historian, writing of it on a large scale, becomes +unreadable and intolerable. Witness grandiloquent Pauli our fatal +friend, with his Eight watery Quartos; which gods and men, unless +driven by necessity, have learned to avoid! [Dr. Carl Friedrich +Pauli, <italic> Allgemeine Preussische Staats-Geschichte, often +enough cited here.] The Phenomenon of Brandenburg is small, +remote; and the essential particulars, too delicate for the eye of +Dryasdust, are mostly wanting, drowned deep in details of the +unessential. So that we are well content, my readers and I, to +keep remote from it on this occasion. + +On one other point I must give the reader warning. A rock of +offence on which if he heedlessly strike, I reckon he will split; +at least no help of mine can benefit him till he be got off again. +Alas, offences must come; and must stand, like rocks of offence, +to the shipwreck of many! Modern Dryasdust, interpreting the +mysterious ways of Divine Providence in this Universe, or what he +calls writing History, has done uncountable havoc upon the best +interests of mankind. Hapless godless dullard that he is; +driven and driving on courses that lead only downward, for him as +for us! But one could forgive him all things, compared with this +doctrine of devils which he has contrived to get established, +pretty generally, among his unfortunate fellow-creatures for the +time!--I must insert the following quotation, readers guess from +what author:-- + +"In an impudent Pamphlet, forged by I know not whom, and published +in 1766, under the title of <italic> Matinees du Roi de Prusse, +<end italic> purporting to be 'Morning Conversations' of Frederick +the Great with his Nephew the Heir-Apparent, every line of which +betrays itself as false and spurious to a reader who has made any +direct or effectual study of Frederick or his manners or affairs, +--it is set forth, in the way of exordium to these pretended royal +confessions, that <italic> 'notre maison,' <end italic> our Family +of Hohenzollern, ever since the first origin of it among the +Swabian mountains, or its first descent therefrom into the Castle +and Imperial Wardenship of Nurnberg, some six hundred years ago or +more, has consistently travelled one road, and this a very notable +one. 'We, as I myself the royal Frederick still do, have all along +proceeded,' namely, 'in the way of adroit Machiavelism, as skilful +gamblers in this world's business, ardent gatherers of this +world's goods; and in brief as devout worshippers of Beelzebub, +the grand regulator and rewarder of mortals here below. +Which creed we, the Hohenzollerns, have found, and I still find, +to be the true one; learn it you, my prudent Nephew, and let all +men learn it. By holding steadily to that, and working late and +early in such spirit, we are come to what you now see;--and shall +advance still farther, if it please Beelzebub, who is generally +kind to those that serve him well.' Such is the doctrine of this +impudent Pamphlet; 'original Manuscripts' of which are still +purchased by simple persons,--who have then nobly offered them to +me, thrice over, gratis or nearly so, as a priceless curiosity. +A new printed edition of which, probably the fifth, has appeared +within few years. Simple persons, consider it a curious and +interesting Document; rather ambiguous in origin perhaps, but +probably authentic in substance, and throwing unexpected light on +the character of Frederick whom men call the Great. In which new +light they are willing a meritorious Editor should share. + +"Who wrote that Pamphlet I know not, and am in no condition to +guess. A certain snappish vivacity (very unlike the style of +Frederick whom it personates); a wearisome grimacing, +gesticulating malice and smartness, approaching or reaching the +sad dignity of what is called 'wit' in modern times; in general +the rottenness of matter, and the epigrammatic unquiet graciosity +of manner in this thing, and its elaborately INhuman turn both of +expression and of thought, are visible characteristics of it. +Thought, we said,--if thought it can be called: thought all +hamstrung, shrivelled by inveterate rheumatism, on the part of the +poor ill-thriven thinker; nay tied (so to speak, for he is of +epigrammatic turn withal), as by cross ropes, right shoulder to +left foot; and forced to advance, hobbling and jerking along, in +that sad guise: not in the way of walk, but of saltation and +dance; and this towards a false not a true aim, rather no-whither +than some-whither:--Here were features leading one to think of an +illustrious Prince de Ligne as perhaps concerned in the affair. +The Bibliographical Dictionaries, producing no evidence, name +quite another person, or series of persons, [A certain "N. de +Bonneville" (afterwards a Revolutionary spiritual-mountebank, for +some time) is now the favorite Name;--proves, on investigation, to +be an impossible one. Barbier <italic> (Dictionnaire des +Anonymes), <end italic> in a helpless doubting manner, gives still +others.] highly unmemorable otherwise. Whereupon you proceed to +said other person's acknowledged WORKS (as they are called); +and find there a style bearing no resemblance whatever; and are +left in a dubious state, if it were of any moment. In the absence +of proof, I am unwilling to charge his Highness de Ligne with such +an action; and indeed am little careful to be acquainted with the +individual who did it, who could and would do it. A Prince of +Coxcombs I can discern him to have been; capable of shining in the +eyes of insincere foolish persons, and of doing detriment to them, +not benefit; a man without reverence for truth or human +excellence; not knowing in fact what is true from what is false, +what is excellent from what is sham-excellent and at the top of +the mode; an apparently polite and knowing man, but intrinsically +an impudent, dark and merely modish-insolent man;--who, if he fell +in with Rhadamanthus on his travels, would not escape a horse- +whipping, Him we will willingly leave to that beneficial chance, +which indeed seems a certain one sooner or later; and address +ourselves to consider the theory itself, and the facts it pretends +to be grounded on. + +"As to the theory, I must needs say, nothing can be falser, more +heretical or more damnable. My own poor opinion, and deep +conviction on that subject is well known, this long while. And, in +fact, the summary of all I have believed, and have been trying as +I could to teach mankind to believe again, is even that same +opinion and conviction, applied to all provinces of things. +Alas, in this his sad theory about the world, our poor impudent +Pamphleteer is by no means singular at present; nay rather he has +in a manner the whole practical part of mankind on his side just +now; the more is the pity for us all!-- + +"It is very certain, if Beelzebub made this world, our +Pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that follow him, are +right. But if God made the world; and only leads Beelzebub, as +some ugly muzzled bear is led, a longer or shorter temporary DANCE +in this divine world, and always draws him home again, and peels +the unjust gains off him, and ducks him in a certain hot Lake, +with sure intent to lodge him there to all eternity at last,--then +our Pamphleteer, and the huge portion of mankind that follow him, +are wrong. + +"More I will not say; being indeed quite tired of SPEAKING on that +subject. Not a subject which it concerns me to speak of; much as +it concerns me, and all men, to know the truth of it, and silently +in every hour and moment to do said truth. As indeed the sacred +voice of their own soul, if they listen, will conclusively +admonish all men; and truly if IT do not, there will be little use +in my logic to them. For my own share, I want no trade with men +who need to be convinced of that fact. If I am in their premises, +and discover such a thing of them, I will quit their premises; +if they are in mine, I will, as old Samuel advised, count my +spoons. Ingenious gentlemen who believe that Beelzebub made this +world, are not a class of gentlemen I can get profit from. +Let them keep at a distance, lest mischief fall out between us. +They are of the set deserving to be called--and this not in the +way of profane swearing, but of solemn wrath and pity, I say of +virtuous anger and inexorable reprobation--the damned set. For, in +very deed, they are doomed and damned, by Nature's oldest Act of +Parliament, they, and whatsoever thing they do or say or think; +unless they can escape from that devil-element. Which I still hope +they may!-- + +"But with regard to the facts themselves, 'DE NOTRE MAISON,' +I take leave to say, they too are without basis of truth. They are +not so false as the theory, because nothing can in falsity quite +equal that. 'NOTRE MAISON,' this Pamphleteer may learn, if he +please to make study and inquiry before speaking, did not rise by +worship of Beelzebub at all in this world; but by a quite opposite +line of conduct. It rose, in fact, by the course which all, except +fools, stockjobber stags, cheating gamblers, forging Pamphleteers +and other temporary creatures of the damned sort, have found from +of old to be the one way of permanently rising: by steady service, +namely, of the Opposite of Beelzebub. By conforming to the Laws of +this Universe; instead of trying by pettifogging to evade and +profitably contradict them. The Hohenzollerns too have a History +still articulate to the human mind, if you search sufficiently; +and this is what, even with some emphasis, it will teach us +concerning their adventures, and achievements of success in the +field of life. Resist the Devil, good reader, and he will flee +from you!"--So ends our indignant friend. + +How the Hohenzollerns got their big Territories, and came to what +they are in the world, will be seen. Probably they were not, any +of them, paragons of virtue. They did not walk in altogether +speckless Sunday pumps, or much clear-starched into consciousness +of the moral sublime; but in rugged practical boots, and by such +roads as there were. Concerning their moralities, and conformities +to the Laws of the Road and of the Universe, there will much +remain to be argued by pamphleteers and others. Men will have +their opinion, Men of more wisdom and of less; Apes by the +Dead-Sea also will have theirs. But what man that believed in such +a Universe as that of this Dead-Sea Pamphleteer could consent to +live in it at all? Who that believed in such a Universe, and did +not design to live like a Papin's-Digester, or PORCUS EPICURI, in +an extremely ugly manner in it, could avoid one of two things: +Going rapidly into Bedlam, or else blowing his brains out? +"It will not do for me at any rate, this infinite Dog-house; +not for me, ye Dryasdusts, and omnipotent Dog-monsters and +Mud-gods, whoever you are. One honorable thing I can do: +take leave of you and your Dog-establishment. Enough!"-- + + + +Chapter III. + +KURFURST FRIEDRICH II. + +The First Friedrich's successor was a younger son, Friedrich II.; +who lasted till 1471, above thirty years; and proved likewise a +notable manager and governor. Very capable to assert himself, and +his just rights, in this world. He was but Twenty-seven at his +accession; but the Berlin Burghers, attempting to take some +liberties with him, found he was old enough. He got the name +IRONTEETH. Friedrich FERRATIS DENTIBUS, from his decisive ways +then and afterwards. He had his share of brabbling with intricate +litigant neighbors; quarrels now and then not to be settled +without strokes. His worst war was with Pommern,--just claims +disputed there, and much confused bickering, sieging and harassing +in consequence: of which quarrel we must speak anon. It was he who +first built the conspicuous Schloss or Palace at Berlin, having +got the ground for it (same ground still covered by the actual +fine Edifice, which is a second edition of Friedrich's) from the +repentant Burghers; and took up his chief residence there. +[1442-1431 (Nicolari, i. 81).] + +But his principal achievement in Brandenburg History is his +recovery of the Province called the Neumark to that Electorate. +In the thriftless Sigismund times, the Neumark had been pledged, +had been sold; Teutsch Ritterdom, to whose dominions it lay +contiguous, had purchased it with money down. The Teutsch Ritters +were fallen moneyless enough since then; they offered to pledge +the Neumark to Friedrich, who accepted, and advanced the sum: +after a while the Teutsch Ritters, for a small farther sum, agreed +to sell Neumark. [Michaelis, i. 301.] Into which Transaction, with +its dates and circumstances, let us cast one glance, for our +behoof afterwards. The Teutsch Ritters were an opulent domineering +Body in Sigismund's early time; but they are now come well down in +Friedrich II.'s! And are coming ever lower. Sinking steadily, or +with desperate attempts to rise, which only increase the speed +downwards, ever since that fatal Tannenberg Business, 15th July, +1410. Here is the sad progress of their descent to the bottom; +divided into three stages or periods:-- + +"PERIOD FIRST is of Thirty years: 1410-1440. A peace with Poland +soon followed that Defeat of Tannenberg; humiliating peace, with +mulct in money, and slightly in territory, attached to it. +Which again was soon followed by war, and ever again; each new +peace more humiliating than its foregoer. Teutsch Order is +steadily sinking,--into debt, among other things; driven to severe +finance-measures (ultimately even to 'debase its coin'), which +produce irritation enough. Poland is gradually edging itself into +the territories and the interior troubles of Preussen; prefatory +to greater operations that lie ahead there. + +"SECOND PERIOD, of Fourteen years. So it had gone on, from bad to +worse, till 1440; when the general population, through its Heads, +the Landed Gentry and the Towns, wearied out with fiscal and other +oppressions from its domineering Ritterdom brought now to such a +pinch, began everywhere to stir themselves into vocal complaint. +Complaint emphatic enough: 'Where will you find a man that has not +suffered injury in his rights, perhaps in his person? Our friends +they have invited as guests, and under show of hospitality have +murdered them. Men, for the sake of their beautiful wives, have +been thrown into the river like dogs,'--and enough of the like +sort. [Voigt, vii. 747; quoting evidently, not an express +manifesto, but one manufactured by the old Chroniclers.] No want +of complaint, nor of complainants: Town of Thorn, Town of Dantzig, +Kulm, all manner of Towns and Baronages, proceeded now to form a +BUND, or general Covenant for complaining; to repugn, in hotter +and hotter form, against a domineering Ritterdom with back so +broken; in fine, to colleague with Poland,--what was most ominous +of all. Baronage, Burgherage, they were German mostly by blood, +and by culture were wholly German; but preferred Poland to a +Teutsch Ritterdom of that nature. Nothing but brabblings, +scufflings, objurgations; a great outbreak ripening itself. +Teutsch Ritterdom has to hire soldiers; no money to pay them. +It was in these sad years that the Teutsch Ritterdom, fallen +moneyless, offered to pledge the Neumark to our Kurfurst; 1444, +that operation was consummated. [Pauli, ii. 187,--does not name +the sum.] All this goes on, in hotter and hotter form, for ten +years longer. + +"PERIOD THIRD begins, early in 1454, with an important special +catastrophe; and ends, in the Thirteenth year after, with a still +more important universal one of the same nature. Prussian BUND, or +Anti-Oppression Covenant of the Towns and Landed Gentry, rising in +temperature for fourteen years at this rate, reached at last the +igniting point, and burst into fire. February 4th, 1454, the Town +of Thorn, darling first-child of Teutsch Ritterdom,--child 223 +years old at this time, ["Founded 1231, as a wooden Burg, just +across the river, on the Heathen side, mainly round the stem of an +immense old Oak that grew handy there,--Seven Barges always on the +river (Weichsel), to fly to our own side if quite overwhelmed" +<italic> Oak and Seven Barges <end italic> is still the Town's- +Arms of Thorn. See Kohler, <italic> Munzbelustigungen, <end +italic> xxii. 107; quoting Dusburg (a Priest of the Order) and his +old <italic> Chronica Terrae Prusciae, <end italic> written in +1326.] and grown very big, and now very angry,--suddenly took its +old parent by the throat, so to speak, and hurled him out to the +dogs; to the extraneous Polacks first of all. Town of Thorn, +namely, sent that day its 'Letter of Renunciation' to the +Hochmeister over at Marienburg; seized in a day or two more the +Hochmeister's Official Envoys, Dignitaries of the Order; led them +through the streets, amid universal storm of execrations, hootings +and unclean projectiles, straight, to jail; and besieged the +Hochmeister's Burg (BASTILLE of Thorn, with a few Ritters in it), +all the artillery and all the throats and hearts of the place +raging deliriously upon it. So that the poor Bitters, who had no +chance in resisting, were in few days obliged to surrender; [8th +February, 1454, says Voigt (viii. 361); 16th, says Kohler <italic> +(Munzbelustigungen, <end italic> xxii. 110).] had to come out in +bare jerkin; and Thorn ignominiously dismissed them into space +forevermore,--with actual 'kicks,' I have read in some Books, +though others veil that sad feature. Thorn threw out its old +parent in this manner; swore fealty to the King of Poland; +and invited other Towns and Knightages to follow the example. +To which all were willing, wherever able. + +"War hereupon, which blazed up over Preussen at large,--Prussian +Covenant and King of Poland VERSUS Teutsch Ritterdom,--and lasted +into the thirteenth year, before it could go out again; out by +lack of fuel mainly. One of the fellest wars on record, especially +for burning and ruining; above '300,000 fighting-men' are +calculated to have perished in it; and of towns, villages, +farmsteads, a cipher which makes the fancy, as it were, black and +ashy altogether. Ritterdom showed no lack of fighting energy; +but that could not save it, in the pass things were got to. +Enormous lack of wisdom, of reality and human veracity, there had +long been; and the hour was now come. Finance went out, to the +last coin. Large mercenary armies all along; and in the end not +the color of money to pay them with; mercenaries became desperate; +'besieged the Hochmeister and his Ritters in Marienburg;'--finally +sold the Country they held; formally made it over to the King of +Poland, to get their pay out of it. Hochmeister had to see such +things, and say little. Peace, or extinction for want of fuel, +came in the year 1466. Poland got to itself the whole of that fine +German Country, henceforth called 'WEST Preussen' to distinguish +it, which goes from the left bank of the Weichsel to the borders +of Brandenburg and Neumark;--would have got Neumark too, had not +Kurfurst Friedrich been there to save it. The Teutsch Order had to +go across the Weichsel, ignominiously driven; to content itself +with 'EAST Preussen,' the Konigsberg-Memel country, and even to do +homage to Poland for that. Which latter was the bitterest clause +of all: but it could not be helped, more than the others. In this +manner did its revolted children fling out Teutsch Ritterdom +ignominiously to the dogs, to the Polacks, first of all,--Thorn, +the eldest child, leading off or setting the example." + +And so the Teutsch Ritters are sunk beyond retrieval; and West +Preussen, called subsequently "Royal Preussen," NOT having homage +to pay as the "Ducal" or East Preussen had, is German no longer, +but Polish, Sclavic; not prospering by the change. [What Thorn had +sunk to, out of its palmy state, see in Nanke's <italic> +Wanderungen durch Preussen <end italic> (Hamburg & Altona, 1800), +ii. 177-200:--a pleasant little Rook, treating mainly of Natural +History; but drawing you, by its innocent simplicity and +geniality, to read with thanks whatever is in it.] And all that +fine German country, reduced to rebel against its unwise parent, +was cut away by the Polish sword, and remained with Poland, which +did not prove very wise either; till--till, in the Year 1773, it +was cut back by the German sword! All readers have heard of the +Partition of Poland: but of the Partition of Preussen, 307 years +before, all have not heard. + +It was in the second year of that final tribulation, marked above +as Period Third, that the Teutsch Ritters, famishing for money, +completed the Neumark transaction with Kurfurst Friedrich; +Neumark, already pawned to him ten years before, they in 1455, for +a small farther sum, agreed to sell; and he, long carefully +steering towards such an issue, and dexterously keeping out of the +main broil, failed not to buy. Friedrich could thenceforth, on his +own score, protect the Neumark; keep up an invisible but +impenetrable wall between it and the neighboring anarchic +conflagrations of thirteen years; and the Neumark has ever since +remained with Brandenburg, its original owner. + +As to Friedrich's Pomeranian quarrel, this is the figure of it. +Here is a scene from Rentsch, which falls out in Friedrich's time; +and which brought much battling and broiling to him and his. +Symbolical withal of much that befell in Brandenburg, from first +to last. Under the Hohenzollerns as before, Brandenburg grew by +aggregation, by assimilation; and we see here how difficult the +process often was. + +Pommern (POMERANIA), long Wendish, but peaceably so since the time +of Albert the Bear, and growing ever more German, had, in good +part, according to Friedrich's notion, if there were force in +human Treaties and Imperial Laws, fallen fairly to Brandenburg,-- +that is to say, the half of it, Stettin-Pommern had fairly +fallen,--in the year 1464, when Duke Otto of Stettin, the last +Wendish Duke, died without heirs. In that case by many bargains, +some with bloody crowns, it had been settled, If the Wendish Dukes +died out, the country was to fall to Brandenburg;--and here they +were dead. "At Duke Otto's burial, accordingly, in the High Church +of Stettin, when the coffin was lowered into its place, the +Stettin Burgermeister, Albrecht Glinde, took sword and helmet, and +threw the same into the grave, in token that the Line was extinct. +But Franz von Eichsted," apparently another Burgher instructed for +the nonce, "jumped into the grave, and picked them out again; +alleging, No, the Dukes of WOLGAST-Pommern were of kin; these +tokens we must send to his Grace at Wolgast, with offer of our +homage, said Franz von Eichsted." [Rentsch, p. 110 (whose printer +has put his date awry); Stenzel (i. 233) calls the man "LORENZ +Eikstetten, a resolute Gentleman."]--And sent they were, and +accepted by his Grace. And perhaps half-a-score of bargains, with +bloody crowns to some of them; and yet other chances, and +centuries, with the extinction of new Lines,--had to supervene, +before even Stettin-Pommern, and that in no complete state, could +be got. [1648, by Treaty of Westphalia.] As to Pommern at large, +Pommern not denied to be due, after such extinction and +re-extinction of native Ducal Lines, did not fall home for +centuries more; and what struggles and inextricable armed- +litigations there were for it, readers of Brandenburg-History too +wearisomely know. The process of assimilation not the least of an +easy one!-- + +This Friedrich was second son: his Father's outlook for him had, +at first, been towards a Polish Princess and the crown of Poland, +which was not then so elective as afterwards: and with such view +his early breeding had been chiefly in Poland; Johann, the eldest +son and heir-apparent, helping his Father at home in the mean +while. But these Polish outlooks went to nothing, the young +Princess having died; so that Friedrich came home; possessed +merely of the Polish language, and of what talents the gods had +given him, which were considerable. And now, in the mean while, +Johann, who at one time promised well in practical life, had taken +to Alchemy; and was busy with crucibles and speculations, to a +degree that seemed questionable. Father Friedrich, therefore, had +to interfere, and deal with this "Johann the Alchemist" (JOHANNES +ALCHEMISTA, so the Books still name him); who loyally renounced +the Electorship, at his Father's bidding, in favor of Friedrich; +accepted Baireuth (better half of the Culmbach Territory) for +apanage; and there peacefully distilled and sublimated at +discretion; the government there being an easier task, and fitter +for a soft speculative Herr. A third Brother, Albert by name, got +Anspach, on the Father's decease; very capable to do any fighting +there might be occasion for, in Culmbach. + +As to the Burggrafship, it was now done, all but the Title. +The First Friedrich, once he was got to be Elector, wisely parted +with it. The First Friedrich found his Electorship had dreadfully +real duties for him, and that this of the Burggrafship had fallen +mostly obsolete; so he sold it to the Nurnbergers for a round sum: +only the Principalities and Territories are retained in that +quarter. About which too, and their feudal duties, boundaries and +tolls, with a jealous litigious Nurnberg for neighbor, there at +length came quarrelling enough. But Albert the third Brother, over +at Anspach, took charge of all that; and nothing of it fell in +Johann's way. + +The good Alchemist died,--performed his last sublimation, poor +man,--six or seven years before his Brother Friedrich; age then +sixty-three. [14th November, 1464.] Friedrich, with his Iron Teeth +and faculties, only held out till fifty-eight,--10th February, +1471. The manner of his end was peculiar. In that War with +Pommern, he sat besieging a Pomeranian town, Uckermunde the name +of it: when at dinner one day, a cannon-ball plunged down upon the +table, [Michaelis, i. 303.] with such a crash as we can fancy;-- +which greatly confused the nerves of Friedrich; much injured his +hearing, and even his memory thenceforth. In a few months +afterwards he resigned, in favor of his Successor; retired to +Plassenburg, and there died in about a year more. + + + +Chapter IV. + +KURFURST ALBERT ACHILLES, AND HIS SUCCESSOR. + +Neither Friedrich nor Johann left other than daughters: so that +the united Heritage, Brandenburg and Culmbach both, came now to +the third Brother, Albert; who has been in Culmbath these many +years already. A tall, fiery, tough old gentleman, of formidable +talent for fighting, who was called the "ACHILLES OF GERMANY" in +his day; being then a very blazing far-seen character, dim as he +has now grown. [Born 1414; Kurfurst, 1471-1486.] This Albert +Achilles was the Third Elector; Ancestor he of all the Brandenburg +and Culmbach Hohenzollern Princes that have since figured in the +world. After him there is no break or shift in the succession, +down to the little Friedrich now born;--Friedrich the old +Grandfather, First KING, was the Twelfth KURFURST. + +We have to say, they followed generally in their Ancestors' steps, +and had success of the like kind, more or less; Hohenzollerns all +of them, by character and behavior as well as by descent. No lack +of quiet energy, of thrift, sound sense. There was likewise solid +fair-play in general, no founding of yourself on ground that will +not carry;--and there was instant, gentle but inexorable, crushing +of mutiny, if it showed itself; which, after the Second Elector, +or at most the Third, it had altogether ceased to do. Young +Friedrich II., upon whom those Berlin Burghers had tried to close +their gates, till he should sign some "Capitulation" to their +mind, got from them, and not quite in ill-humor, that name +IRONTEETH:--"Not the least a Nose-of-wax, this one! No use trying +here, then!"--which, with the humor attached to it, is itself +symbolical of Friedrich and these Hohenzollern Sovereigns. Albert, +his Brother, had plenty of fighting in his time: but it was in the +Nurnberg and other distant regions; no fighting, or hardly any, +needed in Brandenburg henceforth. + +With Nurnberg, and the Ex-Burggrafship there, now when a new +generation began to tug at the loose clauses of that Bargain with +Friedrich I., and all Free-Towns were going high upon their +privileges, Albert had at one time much trouble, and at length +actual furious War;--other Free-Towns countenancing and assisting +Nurnberg in the affair; numerous petty Princes, feudal Lords of +the vicinity, doing the like by Albert. Twenty years ago, all +this; and it did not last, so furious was it. "Eight victories," +they count on Albert's part,--furious successful skirmishes, call +them;--in one of which, I remember, Albert plunged in alone, his +Ritters being rather shy; and laid about him hugely, hanging by a +standard he had taken, till his life was nearly beaten out. [1449 +(Rentsch, p. 399).] Eight victories; and also one defeat, wherein +Albert got captured, and had to ransom himself. The captor was one +Kunz of Kauffungen, the Nurnberg hired General at the time: a man +known to some readers for his Stealing of the Saxon Princes +(PRINZENRAUB, they call it); a feat which cost Kunz his head. +[Carlyle's <italic> Miscellanies <end italic> (London, 1869), vi. +? PRINZENRAUB.] Albert, however, prevailed in the end, as he was +apt to do; and got his Nurnbergers fixed to clauses satisfactory +to him. + +In his early days he had fought against Poles, Bohemians and +others, as Imperial general. He was much concerned, all along, in +those abstruse armed-litigations of the Austrian House with its +dependencies; and diligently helped the Kaiser,--Friedrich III., +rather a weakish, but an eager and greedy Kaiser,--through most of +them. That inextricable Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish DONNYBROOK (so +we may call it) which Austria had on hand, one of Sigismund's +bequests to Austria; distressingly tumultuous Donnybrook, which +goes from 1440 to 1471, fighting in a fierce confused manner;-- +the Anti-Turk Hunniades, the Anti-Austrian Corvinus, the royal +Majesties George Podiebrad, Ladislaus POSTHUMUS, Ludwig OHNE HAUT +(Ludwig NO-SKIN), and other Ludwigs, Ladislauses and Vladislauses, +striking and getting struck at such a rate:--Albert was generally +what we may call chief-constable in all that; giving a knock here +and then one there, in the Kaiser's name. [Hormayr, ii. 138, 140 +(? HUNYADY CORVIN); Rentsch, pp. 389-422; Michaelis, i. 304-313.] +Almost from boyhood, he had learned soldiering, which he had never +afterwards leisure to forget. Great store of fighting he had,--say +half a century of it, off and on, during the seventy and odd years +he lasted in this world. With the Donnybrook we spoke of; with the +Nurnbergers; with the Dukes of Bavaria (endless bickerings with +these Dukes, Ludwig BEARDY, Ludwig SUPERBUS, Ludwig GIBBOSUS or +Hunchback, against them and about them, on his own and the +Kaiser's score); also with the French, already clutching at +Lorraine; also with Charles the Rash of Burgundy;--lastly with the +Bishop of Bamberg, who got him excommunicated and would not bury +the dead. + +Kurfurst Albert's Letter on this last emergency, to his Viceregent +in Culmbach, is a famed Piece still extant (date 1481); [Rentsch, +p. 409.] and his plan in such emergency, is a simple and likely +one: "Carry the dead bodies to the Parson's house; let him see +whether he will not bury them by and by!--One must fence off the +Devil by the Holy Cross," says Albert,--appeal to Heaven with what +honest mother-wit Heaven has vouchsafed one, means Albert. "These +fellows" (the Priests), continues he, "would fain have the +temporal sword as well as the spiritual. Had God wished there +should be only one sword, he could have contrived that as well as +the two. He surely did not want for intellect <italic>(Er war gar +ein weiser Mann)," <end italic>--want of intellect it clearly was +not!--In short, they had to bury the dead, and do reason; and +Albert hustled himself well clear of this broil, as he had done +of many. + +Battle enough, poor man, with steel and other weapons:--and we see +he did it with sharp insight, good forecast; now and then in a +wildly leonine or AQUILINE manner. A tall hook-nosed man, of lean, +sharp, rather taciturn aspect; nose and look are very aquiline; +and there is a cloudy sorrow in those old eyes, which seems +capable of sudden effulgence to a dangerous extent. He was a +considerable, diplomatist too: very great with the Kaiser, Old +Friedrich III. (Max's father, Charles V.'s Great-Grandfather); +[How admirahle Albert is, not to say "almost divine," to the +Kaiser's then Secretary, oily-mouthed AEneas Sylvius, afterwards +Pope, Rentsch can testify (pp. 401, 586); quoting AEneas's +eulogies and gossipries (<italic> Historia Rerum Frederici +Imperatoris, <end italic> I conclude, though no book is named). +Oily diligent AEneas, in his own young years and in Albert's +prime, had of course seen much of this "miracle" of Arms and Art, +--"miracle" and "almost divine," so to speak.] and managed many +things for him. Managed to get the thrice-lovely Heiress of the +Netherlands and Burgundy, Daughter of that Charles the Rash, with +her Seventeen Provinces, for Max, [1477]--who was thought +thereupon by everybody to be the luckiest man alive; though the +issue contradicted it before long. + +Kurfurst Albert died in 1486, March 11, aged seventy-two. It was +some months after Bosworth Fight, where our Crooked Richard got +his quietus here in England and brought the Wars of the Roses to +their finale:--a little chubby Boy, the son of poor parents at +Eisleben in Saxony, Martin Luther the name of him, was looking +into this abtruse Universe, with those strange eyes of his, in +what rough woollen or linsey-woolsey short-clothes we do not know. +[Born 10th November, 1483] + +Albert's funeral was very grand; the Kaiser himself, and all the +Magnates of the Diet and Reich attending him from Frankfurt to his +last resting-place, many miles of road. For he died at the Diet, +in Frankfurt-on-Mayn; having fallen ill there while busy,--perhaps +too busy for that age, in the harsh spring weather,--electing +Prince Maximilian ("lucky Max," who will be Kaiser too before +long, and is already deep in ILL-luck, tragical and other to be +King of the Romans. The old Kaiser had "looked in on him at +Onolzbach" (Anspach), and brought him along; such a man could not +be wanting on such an occasion. A man who "perhaps did more for +the German Empire than for the Electorate of Brandenburg," +hint some. The Kaiser himself, Friedrich III., was now getting +old; anxious to see Max secure, and to set his house in order. +A somewhat anxious, creaky, close-fisted, ineffectual old Kaiser; +[See Kohler (<italic> Munzbelustigungen, <end italic> vi. 393-401; +ii. 89-96, &c.) for a vivid account of him.] distinguished by his +luck in getting Max so provided for, and bringing the Seventeen +Provinces of the Netherlands to his House. He is the first of the +Hapsburg Kaisers who had what has since been called the "Austrian +lip"--protrusive under-jaw, with heavy lip disinclined to shut. +He got it from his Mother, and bequeathed it in a marked manner; +his posterity to this day bearing traces of it. Mother's name was +Cimburgis, a Polish Princess, "Duke of Masovia's daughter;" +a lady who had something of the MAULTASCHE in her, in character +as well as mouth.--In old Albert, the poor old Kaiser has lost +his right hand; and no doubt muses sadly as he rides in the +funeral procession. + +Albert is buried at Heilsbronn in Frankenland, among his +Ancestors,--burial in Brandenburg not yet common for these new +Kurfursts:--his skull, in an after-time, used to be shown there, +laid on the lid of the tomb; skull marvellous for strength, and +for "having no visible sutures," says Rentsch. Pious Brandenburg +Officiality at length put an end to that profanation, and restored +the skull to its place,--marvellous enough, with what had once +dwelt in it, whether it had sutures or not. + + +JOHANN THE CICERO IS FOURTH KURFURST, AND LEAVES TWO NOTABLE SONS. + +Albert's eldest Son, the Fourth Kurfurst, was Johannes Cicero +(1486-1499): Johannes was his natural name, to which the epithet +"Cicero of Germany (CICERO GERMANIAE)" was added by an admiring +public. He had commonly administered the Electorate during his +Father's absences; and done it with credit to himself. He was an +active man, nowise deficient as a Governor; creditably severe on +highway robbers, for one thing,--destroys you "fifteen baronial +robber-towers" at a stroke; was also concerned in the Hungarian- +Bohemian DONNYBROOK, and did that also well. But nothing struck a +discerning public like the talent he had for speaking. Spoke "four +hours at a stretch in Kaiser Max's Diets, in elegantly flowing +Latin;" with a fair share of meaning, too;--and had bursts of +parliamentary eloquence in him that were astonishing to hear. +A tall, square-headed man, of erect, cheerfully composed aspect, +head flung rather back if anything: his bursts of parliamentary +eloquence, once glorious as the day, procured him the name +"Johannes CICERO;" and that is what remains of them: for they are +sunk now, irretrievable he and they, into the belly of eternal +Night; the final resting-place, I do perceive, of much Ciceronian +ware in this world. Apparently he had, like some of his +Descendants, what would now be called "distinguished literary +talents,"--insignificant to mankind and us. I find he was likewise +called DER GROSSE, "John the GREAT;" but on investigation it +proves to be mere "John the BIG," a name coming from his tall +stature and ultimate fatness of body. + +For the rest, he left his family well off, connected with high +Potentates all around; and had increased his store, to a fair +degree, in his time. Besides his eldest Son who followed as +Elector, by name Joachim I., a burly gentleman of whom much is +written in Books, he left a second Son, Archbishop of Magdeburg, +who in time became Archbishop of Mainz and Cardinal of Holy +Church, [Ulrich van Hutten's grand "Panegyric" upon this Albert on +his first Entrance into Mainz (9th October, 1514),--"entrance with +a retinue of 2,000 horse, mainly furnished by the Brandenburg and +Culmbach kindred," say the old Books,--is in <italic> Ulrichi ab +Hutten Equitis Germani Opera <end italic> (Munch's edition; +Berlin, 1821), i. 276-310.]--and by accident got to be forever +memorable in Church-History, as we shall see anon. Archbishop of +Mainz means withal KUR-MAINZ, Elector of Mainz; who is Chief of +the Seven Electors, and as it were their President or "Speaker." +Albert was the name of this one; his elder Brother, the then +Kur-Brandenburg, was called Joachim. Cardinal Albert Kur-Mainz, +like his brother Joachim Kur-Brandenburg, figures much, and blazes +widely abroad, in the busy reign of Karl V., and the inextricable +Lutheran-Papal, Turk-Christian business it had. + +But the notable point in this Albert of Mainz was that of Leo X. +and the Indulgences. [Pauli, v. 496-499; Rentsch, p. 869.] Pope +Leo had permitted Albert to retain his Archbishopric of Magdeburg +and other dignities along with that of Mainz; which was an unusual +favor. But the Pope expected to be paid for it,--to have 30,000 +ducats (15,000 pounds), almost a King's ransom at that time, for +the "Pallium" to Mainz; PALLIUM, or little Bit of woollen Cloth, +on sale by the Pope, without which Mainz could not he held. +Albert, with all his dignities, was dreadfully short of money at +the time. Chapter of Mainz could or would do little or nothing, +having been drained lately; Magdeburg, Halberstadt, the like. +Albert tried various shifts; tried a little stroke of trade in +relics,--gathered in the Mainz district "some hundreds of +fractional sacred bones, and three whole bodies," which he sent to +Halle for pious purchase;--but nothing came of this branch. +The 15,000 pounds remained unpaid; and Pope Leo, building +St. Peter's, "furnishing a sister's toilet," and doing worse +things, was in extreme need of it. What is to be done? "I could +borrow the money from the Fuggers of Augsburg," said the +Archbishop hesitatingly; "but then--?"--"I could help you to repay +it." said his Holiness: "Could repay the half of it,--if only we +had (but they always make such clamor about these things) an +Indulgence published in Germany!"--"Well; it must be!" answered +Albert at last, agreeing to take the clamor on himself, and to do +the feat; being at his wits'-end for money. He draws out his Full- +Power, which, as first Spiritual Kurfurst, he has the privilege to +do; nominates (1516) one Tetzel for Chief Salesman, a Priest whose +hardness of face, and shiftiness of head and hand, were known to +him; and--here is one Hohenzollern that has a place in History! +Poor man, it was by accident, and from extreme tightness for +money. He was by no means a violent Churchman; he had himself +inclinations towards Luther, even of a practical sort, as the +thing went on. But there was no help for it. + +Cardinal Albert, Kur-Mainz, shows himself a copious dexterous +public speaker at the Diets and elsewhere in those times; a man +intent on avoiding violent methods;--uncomfortably fat in his +later years, to judge by the Portraits. Kur-Brandenburg, Kur-Mainz +(the younger now officially even greater than the elder), these +names are perpetually turning up in the German Histories of that +Reformation-Period; absent on no great occasion; and they at +length, from amid the meaningless bead-roll of Names, wearisomely +met with in such Books, emerge into Persons for us as above. + + + +Chapter V. + +OF THE BAIREUTH-ANSPACH BRANCH. + +Albert Achilles the Third Elector had, before his accession, been +Margraf of Anspach, and since his Brother the Alchemist's death, +Margraf of Baireuth too, or of the whole Principality,--"Margraf +of Culmbach" we will call it, for brevity's sake, though the +bewildering old Books have not steadily any name for it. +[A certain subaltern of this express title, "Margraf of Culmbach" +(a Cadet, with some temporary appanage there, who was once in the +service of him they call the Winter-King, and may again be +transiently heard of by us here), is the altogether Mysterious +Personage who prints himself "MARQUIS DE LULENBACH" in Bromley's +<italic> Collection of Royal Letters <end italic> (London, 1787), +pp. 52, &c.:--one of the most curious Books on the Thirty-Years +War; "edited" with a composed stupidity, and cheerful infinitude +of ignorance, which still farther distinguish it. The BROMLEY +Originals well worth a real editing, turn out, on inquiry, to have +been "sold as Autographs, and dispersed beyond recovery, about +fifty years ago."] After his accession, Albert Achilles naturally +held both Electorate and Principality during the rest of his life. +Which was an extremely rare predicament for the two Countries, the +big and the little. + +No other Elector held them both, for nearly a hundred years; nor +then, except as it were for a moment. The two countries, +Electorate and Principality, Hohenzollern both, and constituting +what the Hohenzollerns had in this world, continued intimately +connected; with affinity and clientship carefully kept, up, and +the lesser standing always under the express protection and as it +were COUSINSHIP of the greater. But they had their separate +Princes, Lines of Princes; and they only twice, in the time of +these Twelve Electors, came even temporarily under the same head. +And as to ultimate union, Brandenburg-Baireuth and Brandenburg- +Anspach were not incorporated with Brandenburg-Proper, and its new +fortunes, till almost our own day, namely in 1791; nor then either +to continue; having fallen to Bavaria, in the grand Congress of +Vienna, within the next five-and-twenty years. All which, with the +complexities and perplexities resulting from it here, we must, in +some brief way, endeavor to elucidate for the reader. + + +TWO LINES IN CULMBACH OR BAIREUTH-ANSPACH: THE GERA BOND OF 1598. + +Culmbach the Elector left, at his death, to his Second Son,-- +properly to two sons, but one of them soon died, and the other +became sole possessor;--Friedrich by name; who, as founder of the +Elder Line of Brandenburg-Culmbach Princes, must not be forgotten +by us. Founder of the First or Elder Line, for there are two +Lines; this of Friedrich's having gone out in about a hundred +years; and the Anspach-Baireuth territories having fallen home +again to Brandenburg;--where, however, they continued only during +the then Kurfurst's life.;ohann George (1525-1598), Seventh +Kurfurst, was he to whom Brandenburg-Culmbach fell home,--nay, +strictly speaking, it was but the sure prospect of it that fell +home, the thing itself did not quite fall in his time, though the +disposal of it did, ["Disposal," 1598; thing itself, 1603, in his +Son's time.]--to be conjoined again with Brandenburg-Proper. +Conjoined for the short potential remainder of his own life; +and then to be disposed of as an apanage again;--which latter +operation, as Johann George had three-and-twenty children, could +be no difficult one. + +Johann George, accordingly (Year 1598), split the Territory in +two; Brandenburg-Baireuth was for his second son, Brandenburg- +Anspach for his third: hereby again were two new progenitors of +Culmbach Princes introduced, and a New Line, Second or "Younger +Line" they call it (Line mostly split in two, as heretofore); +which--after complex adventures in its split condition, Baireuth +under one head, Anspach under another--continues active down to +our little Fritz's time and farther. As will become but too +apparent to us in the course of this History!-- + +From of old these Territories had been frequently divided: +each has its own little capital, Town of Anspach, Town of +Baireuth, [Populations about the same; 16,000 to 17,000 in our +time.] suitable for such arrangement. Frequently divided; +though always under the closest cousinship, and ready for +reuniting, if possible. Generally under the Elder Line too, under +Friedrich's posterity, which was rather numerous and often in need +of apanages, they had been in separate hands. But the understood +practice was not to divide farther; Baireuth by itself, Anspach by +itself (or still luckier if one hand could get hold of both),--and +especially Brandenburg by itself, uncut by any apanage: this, +I observe, was the received practice. But Johann George, wise +Kurfurst as he was, wished now to make it surer; and did so by a +famed Deed, called the Gera Bond (GERAISCHE VERTRAG), dated 1598, +[Michaelis, i. 345.] the last year of Johann George's life. + +Hereby, in a Family Conclave held at that Gera, a little town in +Thuringen, it was settled and indissolubly fixed, That their +Electorate, unlike all others in Germany, shall continue +indivisible; Law of Primogeniture, here if nowhere else, is to be +in full force; and only the Culmbach Territory (if otherwise +unoccupied) can be split off for younger sons. Culmbach can be +split off; and this again withal can be split, if need be, into +two (Baireuth and Anspach); but not in any case farther. +Which Household-Law was strictly obeyed henceforth. Date of it +1598; principal author, Johann George, Seventh Elector. This "Gera +Bond" the reader can note for himself as an excellent piece of +Hohenzollern thrift, and important in the Brandenburg annals. +On the whole, Brandenburg keeps continually growing under these +Twelve Hohenzollerns, we perceive; slower or faster, just as the +Burggrafdom had done, and by similar methods. A lucky outlay of +money (as in the case of Friedrich Ironteeth in the Neumark) +brings them one Province, lucky inheritance another:--good +management is always there, which is the mother of good luck. + +And so there goes on again, from Johann George downwards, a new +stream of Culmbach Princes, called the Younger or New Line,-- +properly two contemporary Lines, of Baireuthers and Anspachers;-- +always in close affinity to Brandenburg, and with ultimate +reversion to Brandenburg, should both Lines fail; but with mutual +inheritance if only one. They had intricate fortunes, service in +foreign armies, much wandering about, sometimes considerable +scarcity of cash: but, for a hundred and fifty years to come, +neither Line by any means failed,--rather the contrary, in fact. + +Of this latter or New Culmbach Line, or split Line, especially of +the Baireuth part of it, our little Wilhelmina, little Fritz's +Sister, who became Margravine there, has given all the world +notice. From the Anspach part of it (at that time in sore scarcity +of cash) came Queen Caroline, famed in our George the Second's +time. [See a Synoptic Diagram of these Genealogies, infra, +p. 388a.] From it too came an unmomentous Margraf, who married a +little Sister of Wilhelmina's and Fritz's; of whom we shall hear. +There is lastly a still more unmomentous Margraf, only son of said +Unmomentous and his said Spouse; who again combined the two +Territories, Baireuth having failed of heirs; and who, himself +without heirs, and with a frail Lady Craven as Margravine,--died +at Hammersmith, close by us, in 1806; and so ended the troublesome +affair. He had already, in 1791, sold off to Prussia all temporary +claims of his; and let Prussia have the Heritage at once without +waiting farther. Prussia, as we noticed, did not keep it long; +and it is now part of the Bavarian Dominion;--for the sake of +editors and readers, long may it so continue! + +Of this Younger Line, intrinsically rather insignificant to +mankind, we shall have enough to write in time and place; we must +at present direct our attention to the Elder Line. + + +THE ELDER LINE OF CULMBACH: FRIEDRICH AND HIS THREE NOTABLE SONS THERE. + +Kurfurst Albert Achilles's second son, Friedrich (1460-1536), +[Rentsch, pp. 593-602.] the founder of the Elder Culmbach Line, +ruled his country well for certain years, and was "a man famed for +strength of body and mind;" but claims little notice from us, +except for the sons he had. A quiet, commendable, honorable man,-- +with a certain pathetic dignity, visible even in the eclipsed +state he sank into. Poor old gentleman, after grand enough feats +in war and peace, he fell melancholy, fell imbecile, blind, soon +after middle life; and continued so for twenty years, till he +died. During which dark state, say the old Books, it was a +pleasure to see with what attention his Sons treated him, and how +reverently the eldest always led him out to dinner. [Ib. p. 612.] +They live and dine at that high Castle of Plassenburg, where old +Friedrich can behold the Red or White Mayn no more. Alas, alas, +Plassenburg is now a Correction-House, where male and female +scoundrels do beating of hemp; and pious Friedrich, like eloquent +Johann, has become a forgotten object. He was of the German +Reichs-Array, who marched to the Netherlands to deliver Max from +durance; Max, the King of the Romans, whom, for all his luck, the +mutinous Flemings had put under lock-and-key at one time. [1482 +(Pauli, ii. 389): his beautiful young Wife, "thrown from her +horse," had perished in a thrice-tragic way, short while before; +and the Seventeen Provinces were unruly under the guardianship of +Max.] That is his one feat memorable to me at present. + +He was Johann Cicero's HALF-brother, child by a second wife. +Like his Uncle Kurfurst Friedrich II., he had married a Polish +Princess; the sharp Achilles having perhaps an eye to crowns in +that direction, during that Hungarian-Bohemian-Polish Donnybrook. +But if so, there again came nothing of a crown with it; though it +was not without its good results for Friedrich's children by +and by. + +He had eight Sons that reached manhood; five or six of whom came +to something considerable in the world, and Three are memorable +down to this day. One of his daughters he married to the Duke of +Liegnitz in Silesia; which is among the first links I notice of a +connection that grew strong with that sovereign Duchy, and is +worth remarking by my readers here. Of the Three notable Sons it +is necessary that we say something. Casimir, George, Albert are +the names of these Three. + +Casimir, the eldest, [1481-1527.] whose share of heritage is +Baireuth, was originally intended for the Church; but inclining +rather to secular and military things, or his prospects of +promotion altering, he early quitted that; and took vigorously to +the career of arms and business. A truculent-looking Herr, with +thoughtful eyes, and hanging under-lip:--HAT of enviable softness; +loose disk of felt flung carelessly on, almost like a nightcap +artificially extended, so admirably soft;--and the look of the man +Casimir, between his cataract of black beard and this semi- +nightcap, is carelessly truculent. He had much fighting with the +Nurnbergers and others; laid it right terribly on, in the way of +strokes, when needful. He was especially truculent upon the +Revolt of Peasants in their BAUERNKRIEG (1525). Them in their +wildest rage he fronted; he, that others might rally to him: +"Unhappy mortals, will you shake the world to pieces, then, +because you have much to complain of?" and hanged the ringleaders +of them literally by the dozen, when quelled and captured. +A severe, rather truculent Herr. His brother George, who had +Anspach for heritage, and a right to half those prisoners, +admonished and forgave his half; and pleaded hard with Casimir for +mercy to the others, in a fine Letter still extant; [In Rentsch, +p. 627.] which produced no effect on Casimir. For the dog's sake, +and for all sakes, "let not the dog learn to eat LEATHER;" (of +which his indispensable leashes and muzzles are made)! That was +a proverb often heard on the occasion, in Luther's mouth among +the rest. + +Casimir died in 1527, age then towards fifty. For the last dozen +years or so, when the Father's malady became hopeless, he had +governed Culmbach, both parts of it; the Anspach part, which +belonged to his next brother George, going naturally, in almost +all things, along with Baireuth; and George, who was commonly +absent, not interfering, except on important occasions. +Casimir left one little Boy, age then only six, name Albert; +to whom George, henceforth practical sovereign of Culmbach, as his +Brother had been, was appointed Guardian. This youth, very full of +fire, wildfire too much of it, exploded dreadfully on Germany by +and by (Albert ALCIBIADES the name they gave him); nay, towards +the end of his nonage, he had been rather sputtery upon his Uncle, +the excellent Guardian who had charge of him. + + +FRIEDRICH'S SECOND SON, MARGRAF GEORGE OF ANSPACH. + +Uncle George of Anspach, Casimir's next Brother, had always been +of a peaceabler disposition than Casimir; not indeed without heat +of temper, and sufficient vivacity of every kind. As a youth, he +had aided Kaiser Max in two of his petty wars; but was always +rather given "to reading Latin," to Learning, and ingenious +pursuits. His Polish Mother, who, we perceive, had given "Casimir" +his name, proved much more important to George. At an early age he +went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia: for-- +Alas, after all, we shall have to cast a glance into that +unbeautiful Hungarian-Bohemian scramble, comparable to an "Irish +Donnybrook," where Albert Achilles long walked as Chief-Constable. +It behooves us, after all, to point out some of the tallest heads +in it; and whitherward, bludgeon in hand, they seem to be swaying +and struggling.--Courage, patient reader! + +George, then, at an early age went to his Uncle Vladislaus, King +of Hungary and Bohemia: for George's Mother, as we know, was of +royal kin; daughter of the Polish King, Casimir IV. (late mauler +of the Teutsch Ritters); which circumstance had results for George +and us. Daughter of Casimir IV. the Lady was; and therefore of the +Jagellon blood by her father, which amounts to little; but by her +mother she was Granddaughter of that Kaiser Albert II. who "got +Three Crowns in one year, and died the next;" whose posterity have +ever since,--up to the lips in trouble with their confused +competitive accompaniments, Hunniades, Corvinus, George Podiebrad +and others, not to speak of dragon Turks coiling ever closer round +you on the frontier,--been Kings of Hungary and Bohemia; TWO of +the crowns (the HERITABLE two) which were got by Kaiser Albert in +that memorable year. He got them, as the reader may remember, by +having the daughter of Kaiser Sigismund to wife,--Sigismund SUPER- +GRAMMATICAM, whom we left standing, red as a flamingo, in the +market-place of Constance a hundred years ago. Thus Time rolls on +in its many-colored manner, edacious and feracious. + +It is in this way that George's Uncle, Vladislaus, Albert's +daughter's son, is now King of Hungary and Bohemia: the last King +Vladislaus they had; and the last King but one, of any kind, as we +shall see anon. Vladislaus was heir of Poland too, could he have +managed to get it; but he gave up that to his brother, to various +younger brothers in succession; having his hands full with the +Hungarian and Bohemian difficulty. He was very fond of Nephew +George; well recognizing the ingenuous, wise and loyal nature of +the young man. He appointed George tutor of his poor son Ludwig; +whom he left at the early age of ten, in an evil world, and evil +position there. "Born without Skin," they say, that is, born in +the seventh month;--called Ludwig OHNE HAUT (Ludwig NO-Skin), on +that account. Born certainly, I can perceive, rather thin of skin; +and he would have needed one of a rhinoceros thickness! + +George did his function honestly, and with success: Ludwig grew up +a gallant, airy, brisk young King, in spite of difficulties, +constitutional and other; got a Sister of the great Kaiser +Karl V. to wife;--determined (A.D. 1526) to have a stroke at the +Turk dragon; which, was coiling round his frontier, and spitting +fire at an intolerable rate. Ludwig, a fine young man of twenty, +marched away with much Hungarian chivalry, right for the Turk +(Summer 1526); George meanwhile going busily to Bohemia, and there +with all his strength levying troops for reinforcement. Ludwig +fought and fenced, for some time, with the Turk outskirts; came at +last to a furious general battle with the Turk (29th August, +1526), at a place called Mohacz, far east in the flats of the +Lower Donau; and was there tragically beaten and ended. Seeing the +Battle gone, and his chivalry all in flight, Ludwig too had to +fly; galloping for life, he came upon bog which proved bottomless, +as good as bottomless; and Ludwig, horse and man, vanished in it +straightway from this world. Hapless young man, like a flash of +lightning suddenly going down there--and the Hungarian Sovereignty +along with him. For Hungary is part of Austria ever since; +having, with Bohemia, fallen to Karl V.'s Brother Ferdinand, as +now the nearest convenient heir of Albert with his Three Crowns. +Up to the lips in difficulties to this day!-- + +George meanwhile, with finely appointed reinforcements, was in +full march to join Ludwig; but the sad news of Mohacz met him: +he withdrew, as soon as might be, to his own territory, and +quitted Hungarian politics. This, I think, was George's third and +last trial of war. He by no means delighted in that art, or had +cultivated it like Casimir and some of his brothers.-- + +George by this time had considerable property; part of it +important to the readers of this History. Anspach we already know; +but the Duchy of Jagerndorf,--that and its pleasant valleys, fine +hunting-grounds and larch-clad heights, among the Giant Mountains +of Silesia,--that is to us the memorable territory. George got it +in this manner:-- + +Some ten or fifteen years ago, the late King Vladislaus, our Uncle +of blessed memory, loving George, and not having royal moneys at +command, permitted him to redeem with his own cash certain +Hungarian Domains, pledged at a ruinously cheap rate, but +unredeemable by Vladislaus. George did so; years ago, guess ten or +fifteen. George did not like the Hungarian Domains, with their +Turk and other inconveniences; he proposed to exchange them with +King Vladislaus for the Bohemian-Silesian Duchy of Jagerndorf; +which had just then, by failure of heirs, lapsed to the King. +This also Vladislaus, the beneficent cashless Uncle, liking George +more and more, permitted to be done. And done it was; I see not in +what year; only that the ultimate investiture (done, this part of +the affair, by Ludwig OHNE HAUT, and duly sanctioned by the +Kaiser) dates 1524, two years before the fatal Mohacz business. + +From the time of this purchase, and especially till Brother +Casimir's death, which happened in 1527, George resided oftener at +Jagerndorf than at Anspach. Anspach, by the side of Baireuth, +needed no management; and in Jagerndorf much probably required the +hand of a good Governor to put it straight again. The Castle of +Jagerndorf, which towers up there in a rather grand manner to this +day, George built: "the old Castle of the Schellenbergs" (extinct +predecessor Line) now gone to ruins, "stands on a Hill with +larches on it, some miles off." Margraf George was much esteemed +as Duke of Jagerndorf. What his actions in that region were, +I know not; but it seems he was so well thought of in Silesia, two +smaller neighboring Potentates, the Duke of Oppeln and the Duke of +Ratibor, who had no heirs of their body, bequeathed, with the +Kaiser's assent, these towns and territories to George: [Rentsch, +pp. 623, 127-131. Kaiser is Ferdinand, Karl V.'s Brother,--as yet +only KING of Bohemia and Hungary, but supreme in regard to such +points. His assent is dated "17th June, 1531" in Rentsch.]--in +mere love to their subjects (Rentsch intimates), that poor men +might be governed by a wise good Duke, in the time coming. +The Kaiser would have got the Duchies otherwise. + +Nay the Kaiser, in spite of his preliminary assent, proved +extortionate to George in this matter; and exacted heavy sums for +the actual possession of Oppeln and Ratibor. George, going so +zealously ahead in Protestant affairs, grew less and less a +favorite with Kaisers. But so, at any rate, on peaceable +unquestionable grounds, grounds valid as Imperial Law and ready +money, George is at last Lord of these two little Countries, in +the plain of South-Silesia, as of Jagerndorf among the Mountains +hard by. George has and holds the Duchy of Jagerndorf, with these +appendages (Jagerndorf since 1524, Ratibor and Oppeln since some +years later); and lives constantly, or at the due intervals, in +his own strong Mountain-Castle of Jagerndorf there,--we have no +doubt, to the marked benefit of good men in those parts. +Hereby has Jagerndorf joined itself to the Brandenburg +Territories: and the reader can note the circumstance, for it will +prove memorable one day. + +In the business of the Reformation, Margraf George was very noble. +A simple-hearted, truth-loving, modestly valiant man; rising +unconsciously, in that great element, into the heroic figure. +"George the Pious (DER FROMME)," "George the Confessor +(BEKENNER)," were the names he got from his countrymen. +Once this business had become practical, George interfered a +little more in the Culmbach Government; his brother Casimir, who +likewise had Reformation tendencies, rather hanging back in +comparison to George. + +In 1525 the Town-populations, in the Culmbach region, big Nurnberg +in the van, had gone quite ahead in the new Doctrine; and were +becoming irrepressibly impatient to clear out the old mendacities, +and have the Gospel preached freely to them. This was a +questionable step; feasible perhaps for a great Elector of +Saxony;--but for a Margraf of Anspach? George had come home from +Jagerndorf, some three hundred miles away, to look into it for +himself; found it, what with darkness all round, what with +precipices menacing on both hands, and zealous, inconsiderate +Town-populations threatening to take the bit between their teeth, +a frightfully intricate thing. George mounted his horse, one day +this year, day not dated farther, and "with only six attendants" +privately rode off, another two hundred miles, a good three days' +ride, to Wittenberg; and alighted at Dr. Martinus Lutherus's door. +[Rentsch, p. 625.] A notable passage; worth thinking of. But such +visits of high Princes, to that poor house of the Doctor's, were +not then uncommon. Luther cleared the doubts of George; George +returned with a resolution taken; "Ahead then, ye poor Voigtland +Gospel populations! I must lead you, we must on!"--And perils +enough there proved to be, and precipices on each hand: +BAUERNKRIEG, that is to say Peasants'-War, Anabaptistry and Red- +Republic, on the one hand; REICHS-ACHT, Ban of Empire, on the +other. But George, eagerly, solemnly attentive, with ever new +light rising on him, dealt with the perils as they came; and went +steadily on, in a simple, highly manful and courageous manner. + +He did not live to see the actual Wars that followed on Luther's +preaching:--he was of the same age with Luther, born few months +later, and died two years before Luther; [4th March, 1484,-- +27th Dec., 1543, George; 10th November, 1483--18th February, +1546, Luther.]--but in all the intermediate principal transactions +George is conspicuously present; "George of Brandenburg," as the +Books call him, or simply "Margraf George." + +At the Diet of Augsburg (1530), and the signing of the Augsburg +Confession there, he was sure to be. He rode thither with his +Anspach Knightage about him, "four hundred cavaliers,"-- +Seckendorfs, Huttens, Flanses and other known kindreds, +recognizable among the lists; [Rentsch, p. 633.]--and spoke there, +notbursts of parliamentary eloquence, but things that had meaning +in them. One speech of his, not in the Diet, but in the Kaiser's +Lodging (15th June, 1530; no doubt, in Anton Fugger's house, where +the Kaiser "lodged for year and day" this time but WITHOUT the +"fires of cinnamon" they talk of on other occasions [See Carlyle's +<italic> Miscellanies <end italic> (iii. 259 n.). The House is at +present an Inn, <italic> "Gasthaus zu den drei Mohren;" <end +italic> where tourists lodge, and are still shown the room which +the Kaiser occupied on such visits.]), is still very celebrated. +It was the evening of the Kaiser Karl Fifth's arrival at the Diet; +which was then already, some time since, assembled there. +And great had been the Kaiser's reception that morning; the flower +of Germany, all the Princes of the Empire, Protestant and Papal +alike, riding out to meet him, in the open country, at the Bridge +of the Lech. With high-flown speeches and benignities, on both +sides;--only that the Kaiser willed all men, Protestant and other, +should in the mean while do the Popish litanyings, waxlight +processionings and idolatrous stage-performances with him on the +morrow, which was CORPUS-CHRISTI Day; and the Protestants could +not nor would. Imperial hints there had already been, from +Innspruck; benign hopes, of the nature of commands, That loyal +Protestant Princes would in the interim avoid open discrepancies, +--perhaps be so loyal as keep their chaplains, peculiar divine- +services, private in the interim? These were hints;--and now this +of the CORPUS-CHRISTI, a still more pregnant hint! Loyal +Protestants refused it, therefore; flatly declined, though bidden +and again bidden. They attended in a body, old Johann of Saxony, +young Philip of Hessen, and the rest; Margraf George, as +spokesman, with eloquent simplicity stating their reasons,--to +somewhat this effect:-- + +Invinciblest all-gracious Kaiser, loyal are we to your high +Majesty, ready to do your bidding by night and by day. +But it is your bidding under God, not against God. Ask us not, +0 gracious Kaiser! I cannot, and we cannot; and we must not, and +dare not. And "before I would deny my God and his Evangel," these +are George's own words, "I would rather kneel down here before +your Majesty, and have my head struck off,"--hitting his +hind-head, or neck, with the edge of his hand, by way of +accompaniment; a strange radiance in the eyes of him, voice risen +into musical alt: <italic> "Ehe Ich wolte meinen Gott und sein +Evangelium verlaugnen, ehe wolte Ich hier vor Eurer Majestat +niderknien, und mir den Kopf abhauen lassen."--"Nit Kop ab, lover +Forst, nit Kop ab!" <end italic> answered Charles in his Flemish- +German; "Not head off, dear Furst, not head off!" said the Kaiser, +a faint smile enlightening those weighty gray eyes of his, and +imperceptibly animating the thick Austrian under-lip. [Rentsch, +p. 637. Marheineke, <italic> Geschichte der Teutschen Reformation +<end italic> (Berlin, 1831), ii. 487.] + +Speaker and company attended again on the morrow; Margraf George +still more eloquent. Whose Speech flew over Germany, like fire +over dry flax; and still exists,--both Speeches now oftenest +rolled into one by inaccurate editors. [As by Rentsch, ubi supra.] +And the CORPUS-CHRISTI idolatries were forborne the Margraf and +his company this time;--the Kaiser himself, however, walking, +nearly roasted in the sun, in heavy purple-velvet cloak, with a +big wax-candle, very superfluous, guttering and blubbering in the +right hand of him, along the streets of Augsburg. Kur-Brandenburg, +Kur-Mainz, high cousins of George, were at this Diet of Augsburg; +Kur-Brandenburg (Elector Joachim I., Cicero's son, of whom we have +spoken, and shall speak again) being often very loud on the +conservative side; and eloquent Kur-Mainz going on the +conciliatory tack. Kur-Brandenburg, in his zeal, had ridden on to +Innspruck, to meet the Kaiser there, and have a preliminary word +with him. Both these high Cousins spoke, and bestirred themselves, +a good deal, at this Diet. They had met the Kaiser on the plains +of the Lech, this morning; and, no doubt, gloomed unutterable +things on George and his Speech. George could not help it. + +Till his death in 1543, George is to be found always in the front +line of this high Movement, in the line where Kur-Sachsen, John +the Steadfast (DER BESTANDIGE), and young Philip the Magnanimous +of Hessen were, and where danger and difficulty were. Readers of +this enlightened gold-nugget generation can form to themselves no +conception of the spirit that then possessed the nobler kingly +mind. "The command of God endures through Eternity, <italic> +Verbum Dei Manet In AEternum," <end italic> was the Epigraph and +Life-motto which John the Steadfast had adopted for himself; +"V. D. M. I. AE.," these initials he had engraved on all the +furnitures of his existence, on his standards, pictures, plate, on +the very sleeves of his lackeys,--and I can perceive, on his own +deep heart first of all. V. D. M. I. E.:--or might it not be read +withal, as Philip of Hessen sometimes said (Philip, still a young +fellow, capable of sport in his magnanimous scorn), <italic> +"Verbum Diaboli Manet In Episcopis, <end italic> The Devil's Word +sticks fast in the Bishops"? + +We must now take leave of Margraf George and his fine procedures +in that crisis of World-History. He had got Jugerndorf, which +became important for his Family and others: but what was that to +the Promethean conquests (such we may call them) which he had the +honor to assist in making for his Family, and for his Country, and +for all men;--very unconscious he of "bringing fire from Heaven," +good modest simple man! So far as I can gather, there lived, in +that day, few truer specimens of the Honest Man. A rugged, +rough-hewn, rather blunt-nosed physiognomy: cheek-bones high, +cheeks somewhat bagged and wrinkly; eyes with a due shade of +anxiety and sadness in them; affectionate simplicity, +faithfulness, intelligence, veracity looking out of every feature +of him. Wears plentiful white beard short-cut, plentiful +gold-chains, ruffs, ermines;--a hat not to be approved of, in +comparison with brother Casimir's; miserable inverted-colander of +a hat; hanging at an angle of forty-five degrees; with band of +pearls round the top not the bottom of it; insecure upon the fine +head of George, and by no means to its embellishment. + +One of his Daughters he married to the Duke of Liegnitz, a new +link in that connection. He left one Boy, George Friedrich; +who came under ALCIBIADES, his Cousin of Baireuth's tutelage; +and suffered much by that connection, or indeed chiefly by his own +conspicuously Protestant turn, to punish which, the Alcibiades +connection was taken as a pretext. In riper years, George +Friedrich got his calamities brought well under; and lived to +do good work, Protestant and other, in the world. To which we +may perhaps allude again. The Line of Margraf George the Pious +ends in this George Friedrich, who had no children; the Line of +Margraf George, and the Elder Culmbach Line altogether (1603), +Albert Alcibiades, Casimir's one son, having likewise died +without posterity. + +"Of the younger Brothers," says my Authority, "some four were in +the Church; two of whom rose to be Prelates;--here are the four:-- + +"1. One, Wilhelm by name, was Bishop of Riga, in the remote +Prussian outskirts, and became Protestant;--among the first great +Prelates who took that heretical course; being favored by +circumstances to cast out the 'V. D. <italic> (Verbum Diaboli),' +<end italic> as Philip read it. He is a wise-looking man, with +magnificent beard, with something of contemptuous patience in the +meditative eyes of him. He had great troubles with his Riga +people,--as indeed was a perennial case between their Bishop and +them, of whatever creed he might be. + +"2. The other Prelate held fast by the Papal Orthodoxy: he had got +upon the ladder of promotion towards Magdeburg; hoping to follow +his Cousin KUR-MAINZ, the eloquent conciliatory Cardinal, in that +part of his pluralities. As he did,--little to his comfort, poor +man; having suffered a good deal in the sieges and religious +troubles of his Magdeburgers; who ended by ordering him away, +having openly declared themselves Protestant, at length. He had to +go; and occupy himself complaining, soliciting Aulic-Councils and +the like, for therest of his life. + +"3. The PROBST of Wurzburg (PROVOST, kind of Head-Canon there); +orthodox Papal he too; and often gave his Brother George trouble. + +"4. A still more orthodox specimen, the youngest member of the +family, who is likewise in orders: Gumbrecht ('Gumbertus, a +Canonicus of' Something or other, say the Books); who went early +to Rome, and became one of his Holiness Leo Tenth's Chamberlains; +--stood the 'Sack of Rome' (Constable de Bourbon's), and was +captured there and ransomed;--but died still young (1528). +These three were Catholics, he of Wurzburg a rather virulent one." + +Catholic also was JOHANNES, a fifth Brother, who followed the +soldiering and diplomatic professions, oftenest in Spain; +did Government-messages to Diets, and the like, for Karl V.; +a high man and well seen of his Kaiser;--he had wedded the young +Widow of old King Ferdinand in Spain; which proved, seemingly, a +troublous scene for poor Johannes. What we know is, he was +appointed Commandant of Valencia; and died there, still little +turned of thirty,--by poison it is supposed,--and left his young +Widow to marry a third time. + +These are the Five minor Brothers, four of them Catholic, sons of +old blind Friedrich of Plassenburg; who are not, for their own +sake, memorable, but are mentionable for the sake of the three +major Brothers. So many orthodox Catholics, while Brother George +and others went into the heresies at such a rate! A family much +split by religion:--and blind old Friedrich, dim of intellect, +knew nothing of it; and the excellent Polish Mother said and +thought, we know not what. A divided Time!-- + +Johannes of Valencia, and these Chief Priests, were all men of +mark; conspicuous to the able editors of their day: but the only +Brother now generally known to mankind is Albert, Hochmeister of +the Teutsch Ritterdom; by whom Preussen came into the Family. +Of him we must now speak a little. + + + +Chapter VI. + +HOCHMEISTER ALBERT, THIRD NOTABLE SON OF FRIEDRICH. + +Albert was born in 1490; George's junior by six years, Casimir's +by nine. He too had been meant for the Church; but soon quitted +that, other prospects and tendencies opening. He had always loved +the ingenuous arts; but the activities too had charms for him. +He early shone in his exercises spiritual and bodily; grew tall +above his fellows, expert in arts, especially in arms;--rode with +his Father to Kaiser Max's Court; was presented by him, as the +light of his eyes, to Kaiser Max; who thought him a very likely +young fellow; and bore him in mind, when the Mastership of the +Teutsch Ritterdom fell vacant. [Rentsch, pp. 840-863.] + +The Teutsch Ritterdom, ever since it got its back broken in that +Battle of Tannenberg in 1410, and was driven out of West-Preussen +with such ignominious kicks, has been lying bedrid, eating its +remaining revenues, or sprawling about in helpless efforts to rise +again, which require no notice from us. Hopeless of ever +recovering West-Preussen, it had quietly paid its homage to Poland +for the Eastern part of that Country; quietly for some couple of +generations. But, in the third or fourth generation after +Tannenberg, there began to rise murmurs,--in the Holy Roman Empire +first of all. "Preussen is a piece of the Reich," said hot, +inconsiderate people; "Preussen could not be alienated without +consent of the Reich!" To which discourses the afflicted Ritters +listened only too gladly; their dull eyes kindling into new false +hopes at sound of them. The point was, To choose as Hochmeister +some man of German influence, of power and connection in the +Country, who might help them to their so-called right. With this +view, they chose one and then another of such sort;--and did not +find it very hopeful, as we shall see. + +Albert was chosen Grand-Master of Preussen, in February, 1511; +age then twenty-one. Made his entry into Konigsberg, November next +year; in grand cavalcade, "dreadful storm of rain and wind at the +time,"--poor Albert all in black, and full of sorrow, for the loss +of his Mother, the good Polish Princess, who had died since he +left home. Twenty months of preparation he had held since his +Election, before doing anything: for indeed the case was +intricate. He, like his predecessor in office, had undertaken to +refuse that Homage to Poland; the Reich generally, and Kaiser Max +himself, in a loose way of talk, encouraging him: "A piece of the +Reich," said they all; "Teutsch Ritters had no power to give it +away in that manner." Which is a thing more easily said, than +made good in the way of doing. + +Albert's predecessor, chosen on this principle, was a Saxon +Prince, Friedrich of Meissen; cadet of Saxony; potently enough +connected, he too; who, in like manner, had undertaken to refuse +the Homage. And zealously did refuse it, though to his cost, poor +man. From the Reich, for all its big talking, he got no manner of +assistance; had to stave off a Polish War as he could, by fair- +speaking, by diplomacies and contrivances; and died at middle age, +worn down by the sorrows of that sad position. + +An idea prevails, in ill-informed circles, that our new Grand- +Master Albert was no better than a kind of cheat; that he took +this Grand-Mastership of Preussen; and then, in gayety of heart, +surreptitiously pocketed Preussen for his own behoof. Which is an +idle idea; inconsistent with the least inquiry, or real knowledge +how the matter stood. [Voigt, ix. 740-749; Pauli, iv. 404-407.] +By no means in gayety of heart, did Albert pocket Preussen; +nor till after as tough a struggle to do other with it as could +have been expected of any man. + +One thing not suspected by the Teutsch Ritters, and least of all +by their young Hochmeister, was, That the Teutsch Ritters had well +deserved that terrible down-come at Tannenberg, that ignominious +dismissal out of West-Preussen with kicks. Their insolence, +luxury, degeneracy had gone to great lengths. Nor did that +humiliation mend them at all; the reverse rather. It was deeply +hidden from the young Hochmeister as from them, That probably they +were now at length got to the end of their capability: and ready +to be withdrawn from the scene, as soon as any good way offered!-- +Of course, they Were reluctant enough to fulfil their bargain to +Poland; very loath they to do Homage now for Preussen, and own +themselves sunk to the second degree. For the Ritters had still +their old haughtiness of humor, their deepseated pride of place, +gone now into the unhappy CONSCIOUS state. That is usually the +last thing that deserts a sinking House: pride of place, gone to +the conscious state;--as if, in a reverse manner, the House felt +that it deserved to sink. + +For the rest, Albert's position among them was what Friedrich of +Sachsen's had been; worse, not better; and the main ultimate +difference was, he did not die of it, like Friedrich of Sachsen; +but found an outlet, not open in Friedrich's time, and lived. +To the Ritters, and vague Public which called itself the Reich, +Albert had promised he would refuse the Homage to Poland; on which +Ritters and Reich had clapt their hands: and that was pretty much +all the assistance he got of them. The Reich, as a formal body, +had never asserted its right to Preussen, nor indeed spoken +definitely on the subject: it was only the vague Public that had +spoken, in the name of the Reich. From the Reich, or from any +individual of it, Kaiser or Prince, when actually applied to, +Albert could get simply nothing. From what, Ritters were in +Preussen, he might perhaps expect promptitude to fight, if it came +to that; which was not much as things stood. But, from the great +body of the Ritters, scattered over Germany, with their rich +territories (BALLEYS, bailliwicks), safe resources, and +comfortable "Teutschmeister" over them, he got flat refusal: [The +titles HOCHMEISTER and TEUTSCHMEISTER are defined, in many Books +and in all manner of Dictionaries, as meaning the same thing. +But that is not quite the case. They were at first synonymous, so +far as I can see; and after Albert's time, they again became so; +but at the date where we now are, and for a long while back, they +represent different entities, and indeed oftenest, since the +Prussian DECLINE began, antagonistic ones. Teutschmeister, Sub- +president over the GERMAN affairs and possessions of the Order, +resides at Mergentheim in that Country: Hochmeister is Chief +President of the whole, but resident at Marienburg in Preussen, +and feels there acutely where the shoe pinches,--much too acutely, +thinks the Teutschmeister in his soft list-slippers, at +Mergentheim in the safe Wurzburg region.] "We will not be +concerned in the adventure at all; we wish you well through it!" +Never was a spirited young fellow placed in more impossible +position. His Brother Casimir (George was then in Hungary), his +Cousin Joachim Kur-Brandenburg, Friedrich Duke of Liegnitz, a +Silesian connection of the Family, ["Duke Friedrich II.:" comes by +mothers from Kurfurst Friedrich I.; marries Margraf George's +Daughter even now, 1519 (Hubner, tt. 179, 100, 101).] consulted, +advised, negotiated to all lengths, Albert's own effort was +incessant. "Agree with King Sigismund," said they; "Uncle +Sigismund, your good Mother's Brother; a King softly inclined to +us all!"--"How agree?" answered Albert: "He insists on the Homage, +which I have promised not to give!" Casimir went and came, to +Konigsberg, to Berlin; went once himself to Cracow, to the King, +on this errand: but it was a case of "Yes AND No;" not to be +solved by Casimir. + +As to King Sigismund, he was patient with it to a degree; made the +friendliest paternal professions;--testifying withal, That the +claim was undeniable; and could by him, Sigismund, never be +foregone with the least shadow of honor, and of course never +would: "My dear Nephew can consider whether his dissolute, +vain-minded, half-heretical Ritterdom, nay whether this Prussian +fraction of it, is in a condition to take Poland by the beard in +an unjust quarrel; or can hope to do Tannenberg over again in the +reverse way, by Beelzehub's help?"-- + +For seven years, Albert held out in this intermediate state, +neither peace nor war; moving Heaven and Earth to raise supplies, +that he might be able to defy Poland, and begin war. The Reich +answers, "We have really nothing for you." Teutschmeister answers +again and again, "I tell you we have nothing!" In the end, +Sigismund grew impatient; made (December, 1519) some movements of +a hostile nature. Albert did not yield; eager only to +procrastinate till he were ready. By superhuman efforts, of +borrowing, bargaining, soliciting, and galloping to and fro, +Albert did, about the end of next year, get up some appearance of +an Army: "14,000 German mercenaries horse and foot," so many in +theory; who, to the extent of 8,000 in actual result, came +marching towards him (October, 1520); to serve "for eight months." +With these he will besiege Dantzig, besiege Thorn; will plunge, +suddenly, like a fiery javelin, into the heart of Poland, and make +Poland surrender its claim. Whereupon King Sigismund bestirred +himself in earnest; came out with vast clouds of Polish chivalry; +overset Albert's 8,000;--who took to eating the country, instead +of fighting for it; being indeed in want of all things. One of the +gladdest days Albert had yet seen, was when he got the 8,000 sent +home again. + +What then is to be done? "Armistice for four years," Sigismund was +still kind enough to consent to that: "Truce for four years: try +everywhere, my poor Nephew; after that, your mind will perhaps +become pliant." Albert tried the Reich again: "Four years, +0 Princes, and then I must do it, or be eaten!" Reich, busy with +Lutheran-Papal, Turk-Christian quarrels, merely shrugged its +shoulders upon Albert. Teutschmeister did the like; everybody the +like. In Heaven or Earth, then, is there no hope for me? thought +Albert. And his stock of ready money--we will not speak of that! + +Meanwhile Dr. Osiander of Anspach had come to him; and the pious +young man was getting utterly shaken in his religion. Monkish +vows, Pope, Holy Church itself, what is one to think, Herr Doctor? +Albert, religious to an eminent degree, was getting deep into +Protestantism. In his many journeyings, to Nurnberg, to +Brandenburg, and up and down, he had been at Wittenberg too: +he saw Luther in person more than once there; corresponded with +Luther; in fine believed in the truth of Luther. The Culmbach +Brothers were both, at least George ardently was, inclined to +Protestantism, as we have seen; but Albert was foremost of the +three in this course. Osiander and flights of zealous Culmbach +Preachers made many converts in Preussen. In these circumstances +the Four Years came to a close. + +Albert, we may believe, is greatly at a loss; and deep +deliberations, Culmbach, Berlin, Liegnitz, Poland all called in, +are held:--a case beyond measure intricate. You have given your +word; word must be kept,--and cannot, without plain hurt, or ruin +even, to those that took it of you. Withdraw, therefore; fling it +up!--Fling it up? A valuable article to fling up; fling it up is +the last resource. Nay, in fact, to whom will you fling it up? +The Prussian Ritters themselves are getting greatly divided on the +point; and at last on all manner of points, Protestantism ever +more spreading among them. As for the German Brethren, they and +their comfortable Teutschmeister, who refused to partake in the +dangerous adventure at all; are they entitled to have much to say +in the settlement of it now?-- + +Among others, or as chief oracle of all, Luther was consulted. +"What would you have me do towards reforming the Teutsch Order?" +inquired Albert of his oracle. Luther's answer was, as may be +guessed, emphatic. "Luther," says one reporter, "has in his +Writings declared the Order to be 'a thing serviceable neither to +God nor man,' and the constitution of it 'a monstrous, frightful, +hermaphroditish, neither secular nor spiritual constitution.'" +[C. J. Weber, <italic> Daa Ritterwessen (Stuttgard, 1837), iii. +208.] We do not know what Luther's answer to Albert was;--but can +infer the purport of it: That such a Teutsch Ritterdom was not, at +any rate, a thing long for this world; that white cloaks with +black crosses on them would not, of themselves, profit any +Ritterdom; that solemn vows and high supramundane professions, +followed by such practice as was notorious, are an afflicting, +not to say a damnable, spectacle on God's Earth;--that a young +Herr had better marry; better have done with the wretched +Babylonian Nightmare of Papistry altogether; better shake oneself +awake, in God's name, and see if there are not still monitions in +the eternal sky as to what it is wise to do, and wise not to do!-- +This I imagine to have been, in modern language, the purport of +Dr. Luther's advice to Hochmeister Albrecht on the present +interesting occasion. + +It is certain, Albert, before long, took this course; Uncle +Sigismund and the resident Officials of the Ritterdom having made +agreement to it as the one practicable course. The manner as +follows: 1. Instead of Elected Hochmeister, let us be Hereditary +Duke of Preussen, and pay homage for it to Uncle Sigismund in that +character. 2. Such of the resident Officials of the Ritterdom as +are prepared to go along with us, we will in like manner +constitute permanent Feudal Proprietors of what they now possess +as Life-rent, and they shall be Sub-vassals under us as Hereditary +Duke. 3. In all which Uncle Sigismund and the Republic of Poland +engage to maintain us against the world. + +That is, in sum, the Transaction entered into, by King Sigismund +I. of Poland, on the one part, and Hochmeister Albert and his +Ritter Officials, such as went along with him, (which of course +none could do that were not Protestant), on the other part: +done at Cracow, 8th April, 1525. [Rentsch, p. 850.--Here, +certified by Rentsch, Voigt and others, is a worn-out patch of +Paper, which is perhaps worth printing:-- +1490, May 17, Albert is born. +1511, February 14, Hochmeister. +1519, December, King Sigismund's first hostile movements. +1520, October, German Mercenaries arrive. +1520, November, try Siege of Dantzig. +1520, November 17, give it up. +1521, April 10, Truce for Four Years. +1523, June, Albert consults Luther. +1524, November, sees Luther. +1525, April 8, Peace of Cracow, and Albert to be Duke of +Prussia.] Whereby Teutsch Ritterdom, the Prussian part of it, +vanished from the world; dissolving itself, and its "hermaphrodite +constitution," like a kind of Male Nunnery, as so many female ones +had done in those years. A Transaction giving rise to endless +criticism, then and afterwards. Transaction plainly not +reconcilable with the letter of the law; and liable to have logic +chopped upon it to any amount, and to all lengths of time. +The Teutschmeister and his German Brethren shrieked murder; +the whole world, then, and for long afterwards, had much to say +and argue. + +To us, now that the logic-chaff is all laid long since, the +question is substantial, not formal. If the Teutsch Ritterdom +was actually at this time DEAD, actually stumbling about as a mere +galvanized Lie beginning to be putrid,--then, sure enough, it +behooved that somebody should bury it, to avoid pestilential +effects in the neighborhood. Somebody or other;--first flaying the +skin off, as was natural, and taking that for his trouble. +All turns, in substance, on this latter question! If, again, the +Ritterdom was not dead--? + +And truly it struggled as hard as Partridge the Almanac- +maker to rebut that fatal accusation; complained (Teutschmeister +and German-Papist part of it) loudly at the Diets; got Albert and +his consorts put to the Ban (GEACHTET), fiercely menaced by the +Kaiser Karl V. But nothing came of all that; nothing but noise. +Albert maintained his point; Kaiser Karl always found his hands +full otherwise, and had nothing but stamped parchments and menaces +to fire off at Albert. Teutsch Ritterdom, the Popish part of it, +did enjoy its valuable bailliwicks, and very considerable rents in +various quarters of Germany and Europe, having lost only Preussen; +and walked about, for three centuries more, with money in its +pocket, and a solemn white gown with black cross on its back,--the +most opulent Social Club in existence, and an excellent place for +bestowing younger sons of sixteen quarters. But it was, and +continued through so many centuries, in every essential respect, +a solemn Hypocrisy; a functionless merely eating Phantasm, of the +nature of goblin, hungry ghost or ghoul (of which kind there are +many);--till Napoleon finally ordered it to vanish; its time, even +as Phantasm, being come. + +Albert, I can conjecture, had his own difficulties as Regent in +Preussen. [1525-1568.] Protestant Theology, to make matters worse +for him, had split itself furiously into 'DOXIES; and there was +an OSIANDERISM (Osiander being the Duke's chaplain), much flamed +upon by the more orthodox ISM. "Foreigners," too, German-Anspach +and other, were ill seen by the native gentlemen; yet sometimes +got encouragement. One Funccius, a shining Nurnberg immigrant +there, son-in-law of Osiander, who from Theology got into +Politics, had at last (1564) to be beheaded,--old Duke Albert +himself "bitterly weeping" about him; for it was none of Albert's +doing. Probably his new allodial Ritter gentlemen were not the +most submiss, when made hereditary? We can only hope the Duke was +a Hohenzollern, and not quite unequal to his task in this respect. +A man with high bald brow; magnificent spade-beard; air much- +pondering, almost gaunt,--gaunt kind of eyes especially, and a +slight cast in them, which adds to his severity of aspect. He kept +his possession well, every inch of it; and left all safe at his +decease in 1568. His age was then near eighty. It was the tenth +year of our Elizabeth as Queen; invincible Armada not yet built; +but Alba very busy, cutting off high heads in Brabant; +and stirring up the Dutch to such fury as was needful for +exploding Spain and him. + +This Duke Albert was a profoundly religious man, as all thoughtful +men then were. Much given to Theology, to Doctors of Divinity; +being eager to know God's Laws in this Universe, and wholesomely +certain of damnation if he should not follow them. Fond of the +profane Sciences too, especially of Astronomy: Erasmus Reinhold +and his <italic> Tabulae Prutenicae <end italic> were once very +celebrated; Erasmus Reinhold proclaims gratefully how these his +elaborate Tables (done according to the latest discoveries, 1551 +and onwards) were executed upon Duke Albert's high bounty; +for which reason they are dedicated to Duke Albert, and called +"PRUTENICAE," meaning PRUSSIAN. [Rentsch, p. 855.] The University +of Konigsberg was already founded several years before, in 1544. + +Albert had not failed to marry, as Luther counselled: by his first +Wife he had only daughters; by his second, one son, Albert +Friedrich, who, without opposition or difficulty, succeeded his +Father. Thus was Preussen acquired to the Hohenzollern Family; +for, before long, the Electoral branch managed to get MITBELEHNUNG +(Co-infeftment), that is to say, Eventual Succession; and Preussen +became a Family Heritage, as Anspach and Baireuth were. + + + +Chapter VII. + +ALBERT ALCIBIADES. + +One word must be spent on poor Albert, Casimir's son, [1522-1557] +already mentioned. This poor Albert, whom they call ALCIBIADES, +made a great noise in that epoch; being what some define as the +"Failure of a Fritz;" who has really features of him we are to +call "Friedrich the Great," but who burnt away his splendid +qualities as a mere temporary shine for the able editors, and +never came to anything. + +A high and gallant young fellow, left fatherless in childhood; +perhaps he came too early into power:--he came, at any rate, in +very volcanic times, when Germany was all in convulsion; the Old +Religion and the New having at length broken out into open battle, +with huge results to be hoped and feared; and the largest game +going on, in sight of an adventurous youth. How Albert staked in +it; how he played to immense heights of sudden gain, and finally +to utter bankruptcy, I cannot explain here: some German delineator +of human destinies, "Artist" worth the name, if there were any, +might find in him a fine subject. + +He was ward of his Uncle George; and the probable fact is, no +guardian could have been more faithful. Nevertheless, on +approaching the years of majority, of majority but not discretion, +he saw good to quarrel with his Uncle; claimed this and that, +which was not granted: quarrel lasting for years. Nay matters ran +so high at last, it was like to come to war between them, had not +George been wiser. The young fellow actually sent a cartel to his +Uncle; challenged him to mortal combat,--at which George only +wagged his old beard, we suppose, and said nothing. Neighbors +interposed, the Diet itself interposed; and the matter was got +quenched again. Leaving Albert, let us hope, a repentant young +man. We said he was full of fire, too much of it wildfire. + +His profession was Arms; he shone much in war; went slashing and +fighting through those Schmalkaldic broils, and others of his +time; a distinguished captain; cutting his way towards something +high, he saw not well what. He had great comradeship with Moritz +of Saxony in the wars: two sworn brothers they, and comrades in +arms:--it is the same dexterous Moritz, who, himself a Protestant, +managed to get his too Protestant Cousin's Electorate of Saxony +into his hand, by luck of the game; the Moritz, too, from whom +Albert by and by got his last defeat, giving Moritz his death in +return. That was the finale of their comradeship. All things end, +and nothing ceases changing till it end. + +He was by position originally on the Kaiser's side; had attained +great eminence, and done high feats of arms and generalship in his +service. But being a Protestant by creed, he changed after that +Schmalkaldic downfall (rout of Muhlberg, 24th April, 1547), which +brought Moritz an Electorate, and nearly cost Moritz's too +Protestant Cousin his life as well as lands. [Account of it in De +Wette, <italic> Lebensgeschichte der Herzoge zu Sachsen <end +italic> (Weimar, 1770), pp. 32-35.] The victorious Kaiser growing +now very high in his ways, there arose complaints against him from +all sides, very loud from the Protestant side; and Moritz and +Albert took to arms, with loud manifestos and the other phenomena. + +This was early in 1552, five years after Muhlberg Rout or Battle. +The there victorious Kaiser was now suddenly almost ruined; chased +like a partridge into the Innspruck Mountains,--could have been +caught, only Moritz would not; "had no cage to hold so big a +bird," he said. So the Treaty of Passau was made, and the Kaiser +came much down from his lofty ways. Famed TREATY OF PASSAU (22d +August, 1552), which was the finale of these broils, and hushed +them up for a Fourscore years to come. That was a memorable year +in German Reformation History. + +Albert, meanwhile, had been busy in the interior of the country; +blazing aloft in Frankenland, his native quarter, with a success +that astonished all men. For seven months he was virtually King of +Germany; ransomed Bamberg, ransomed Wurzburg, Nurnberg (places he +had a grudge at); ransomed all manner of towns and places,-- +especially rich Bishops and their towns, with VERBUM DIABOLI +sticking in them,--at enormous sums. King of the world for a brief +season;--must have had some strange thoughts to himself, had they +been recorded for us. A pious man, too; not in the least like +"Alcibiades," except in the sudden changes of fortune he +underwent. His Motto, or old rhymed Prayer, which he would repeat +on getting into the saddle for military work,--a rough rhyme of +his own composing,--is still preserved. Let us give it, with an +English fac-simile, or roughest mechanical pencil-tracing,--by way +of glimpse into the heart of a vanished Time and its Man-at-arms: +[Rentsch, p. 644.] +<italic> +Das Walt der Herr Jesus Christ, +Mit dem Vater, der uber uns ist: +Wer starker ist als dieser Mann, +Der komm und thu' ein Leid mir an. +<end italic> +Guide it the Lord Jesus Christ, [Read "Chris" or "Chriz," for the + rhyme's sake.] +And the Father, who over us is: +He that is stronger than that Man, [Sic.] +Let him do me a hurt when he can. + +He was at the Siege of Metz (end of that same 1552), and a +principal figure there. Readers have heard of the Siege of Metz: +How Henry II. of France fished up those "Three Bishoprics" (Metz, +Toul, Verdun, constituent part of Lorraine, a covetable fraction +of Teutschland) from the troubled sea of German things, by aid of +Moritz now KUR-SACHSEN, and of Albert; and would not throw them in +again, according to bargain, when Peace, the PEACE OF PASSAU came. +How Kaiser Karl determined to have them back before the year +ended, cost what it might; and Henry II. to keep them, cost what +it might. How Guise defended, with all the Chivalry of France; +and Kaiser Karl besieged, [19th October, 1552, and onwards.] with +an Army of 100,000 men, under Duke Alba for chief captain. +Siege protracted into midwinter; and the "sound of his cannon +heard at Strasburg," which is eighty miles off, "in the winter +nights." [Kohler, <italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> p. 453;-- +and more especially <italic> Munzbelustigungen <end italic> +(Nurnberg, 1729-1750), ix. 121-129. The Year of this Volume, and +of the Number in question, is 1737; the MUNZE or Medal "recreated +upon" in of Henri II.] + +It had depended upon Albert, who hung in the distance with an army +of his own, whether the Siege could even begin; but he joined the +Kaiser, being reconciled again; and the trenches opened. By the +valor of Guise and his Chivalry,--still more perhaps by the iron +frosts and by the sleety rains of Winter, and the hungers and the +hardships of a hundred thousand men, digging vainly at the +ice-bound earth, or trampling it when sleety into seas of mud, and +themselves sinking in it, of dysentery, famine, toil and despair, +as they cannonaded day and night,--Metz could not be taken. +"Impossible!" said the Generals with one voice, after trying it +for a couple of months. "Try it one other ten days," said the +Kaiser with a gloomy fixity; "let us all die, or else do it!" +They tried, with double desperation, another ten days; cannon +booming through the winter midnight far and wide, four score miles +round: "Cannot be done, your Majesty! Cannot,--the winter and the +mud, and Guise and the walls; man's strength cannot do it in this +season. We must march away!" Karl listened in silence; but the +tears were seen to run down his proud face, now not so young as it +once was: "Let us march, then!" he said, in a low voice, after +some pause. + +Alcibiades covered the retreat to Diedenhof (THIONVILLE) they now +call it): outmanoeuvred the French, retreated with success; he had +already captured a grand Due d'Aumale, a Prince of the Guises,-- +valuable ransom to be looked for there. It was thought he should +have made his bargain better with the Kaiser, before starting; +but he had neglected that. Albert's course was downward +thenceforth; Kaiser Karl's too. The French keep these "Three +Bishoprics (TROIS EVECHES)," and Teutschland laments the loss of +them, to this hour. Kaiser Karl, as some write, never smiled +again;--abdicated, not long after; retired into the Monastery of +St. Just, and there soon died. That is the siege of Metz, where +Alcibiades was helpful. His own bargain with the Kaiser should +have been better made beforehand. + +Dissatisfied with any bargain he could now get; dissatisfied with +the Treaty of Passau, with such a finale and hushing-up of the +Religious Controversy, and in general with himself and with the +world, Albert again drew sword; went loose at a high rate upon his +Bamberg-Wurzburg enemies, and, having raised supplies there, upon +Moritz and those Passau-Treatiers. He was beaten at last by +Moritz, "Sunday, 9th July, 1553," at a place called Sievershausen +in the Hanover Country, where Moritz himself perished in the +action.--Albert fled thereupon to France. No hope in France. +No luck in other small and desperate stakings of his: the game is +done. Albert returns to a Sister he had, to her Husband's Court in +Baden; a broken, bare and bankrupt man;--soon dies there, +childless, leaving the shadow of a name. [Here, chiefly from +Kohler <italic> (Munzbelustigungen, <end italic> iii. 414-416), is +the chronology of Albert's operations:-- +Seizure of Nurnberg &c., 11th May to 22d June, 1552; Innspruck +(with Treaty of Passau) follows. Then Siege of Metz, October to +December, 1552; Bamberg, Wurzburg and Nurnberg ransomed again, +April, 1553; Battle of Sievershausen, 9th July, 1553. Wurzburg &c. +explode against him; Ban of the Empire, 4th May, 1554. To France +thereupon; returns, hoping to negotiate, end of 1556; dies at +Pforzheim, at his Sister's, 8th January, 1557.--See Pauli, iii. +120-138. See also Dr. Kapp, <italic> Erinnerungen an diejenigen +Markgrafen &c. <end italic> (a reprint from the <italic> Archiv +fur Geschichte und Alterthumskunde in Ober-Franken, <end italic> +Year 1841).] + +His death brought huge troubles upon Baireuth and the Family +Possessions. So many neighbors, Bamberg, Wurzburg and the rest, +were eager for retaliation; a new Kaiser greedy for confiscating. +Plassenburg Castle was besieged, bombarded, taken by famine and +burnt; much was burnt and torn to waste. Nay, had it not been for +help from Berlin,the Family had gone to utter ruin in those parts. +For this Alcibiades had, in his turn, been Guardian to Uncle +George's Son, the George Friedrich we once spoke of, still a +minor, but well known afterwards; and it was attempted, by an +eager Kaiser Ferdinand, to involve this poor youth in his Cousin's +illegalities, as if Ward and Guardian had been one person. +Baireuth which had been Alcibiades's, Anspach which was the young +man's own, nay Jagerndorf with its Appendages, were at one time +all in the clutches of the hawk,--had not help from Berlin been +there. But in the end, the Law had to be allowed its course; +George Friedrich got his own Territories back (all but some +surreptitious nibblings in the Jagerndorf quarter, to be noticed +elsewhere), and also got Baireuth, his poor Cousin's Inheritance; +--sole heir, he now, in Culmbath, the Line of Casimir being out. + +One owns to a kind of love for poor Albert Alcibiades. In certain +sordid times, even a "Failure of a Fritz" is better than some +Successes that are going. A man of some real nobleness, this +Albert; though not with wisdom enough, not with good fortune +enough. Could he have continued to "rule the situation" (as our +French friends phrase it); to march the fanatical Papistries, and +Kaiser Karl, clear out of it, home to Spain and San Justo a little +earlier; to wave the coming Jesuitries away, as with a flaming +sword; to forbid beforehand the doleful Thirty-Years War, and the +still dolefuler spiritual atrophy (the flaccid Pedantry, ever +rummaging and rearranging among learned marine-stores, which +thinks itself Wisdom and Insight; the vague maunderings, flutings; +indolent, impotent daydreaming and tobacco-smoking, of poor Modern +Germany) which has followed therefrom,--ACH GOTT, he might have +been a "SUCCESS of a Fritz" three times over! He might have been a +German Cromwell; beckoning his People to fly, eagle-like, straight +towards the Sun; instead of screwing about it in that sad, +uncertain, and far too spiral manner!--But it lay not in him; +not in his capabilities or opportunities, after all: and we but +waste time in such speculations. + + + +Chapter VIII. + +HISTORICAL MEANING OF THE REFORMATION. + +The Culmbach Brothers, we observe, play a more important part in +that era than their seniors and chiefs of Brandenburg. These +Culmbachers, Margraf George aud Albert of Preussen at the head of +them, march valiantly forward in the Reformation business; +while KUR-BRANDENBURG, Joachim I., their senior Cousin, is talking +loud at Diets, galloping to Innspruck and the like, zealous on +the Conservative side; and Cardinal Albert, KUR-MAINZ, his +eloquent brother, is eager to make matters smooth and avoid +violent methods. + +The Reformation was the great Event of that Sixteenth Century; +according as a man did something in that, or did nothing and +obstructed doing, has he much claim to memory, or no claim, in +this age of ours. The more it becomes apparent that the +Reformation was the Event then transacting itself, was the thing +that Germany and Europe either did or refused to do, the more does +the historical significance of men attach itself to the phases of +that transaction. Accordingly we notice henceforth that the +memorable points of Brandenburg History, what of it sticks +naturally to the memory of a reader or student, connect themselves +of their own accord, almost all, with the History of the +Reformation. That has proved to be the Law of Nature in regard +to them, softly establishing itself; and it is ours to follow +that law. + +Brandenburg, not at first unanimously, by no means too +inconsiderately, but with overwhelming unanimity when the matter +became clear, was lucky enough to adopt the Reformation;--and +stands by it ever since in its ever-widening scope, amid such +difficulties as there might be. Brandenburg had felt somehow, that +it could do no other. And ever onwards through the times even of +our little Fritz and farther, if we will understand the word +"Reformation," Brandenburg so feels; being, at this day, to an +honorable degree, incapable of believing incredibilities, of +adopting solemn shams, or pretending to live on spiritual +moonshine. Which has been of uncountable advantage to Brandenburg: +--how could it fail? This was what we must call obeying the +audible voice of Heaven. To which same "voice," at that time, all +that did not give ear,--what has become of them since; have they +not signally had the penalties to pay! + +"Penalties:" quarrel not with the old phraseology, good reader; +attend rather to the thing it means. The word was heard of old, +with a right solemn meaning attached to it, from theological +pulpits and such places; and may still be heard there with a half- +meaning, or with no meaning, though it has rather become obsolete +to modern ears. But the THING should not have fallen obsolete; +the thing is a grand and solemn truth, expressive of a silent Law +of Heaven, which continues forever valid. The most untheological +of men may still assert the thing; and invite all men to notice +it, as a silent monition and prophecy in this Universe; to take +it, with more of awe than they are wont, as a correct reading of +the Will of the Eternal in respect of such matters; and, in their +modern sphere, to bear the same well in mind. For it is perfectly +certain, and may be seen with eyes in any quarter of Europe at +this day. + +Protestant or not Protestant? The question meant everywhere: +"Is there anything of nobleness in you, O Nation, or is there +nothing? Are there, in this Nation, enough of heroic men to +venture forward, and to battle for God's Truth VERSUS the Devil's +Falsehood, at the peril of life and more? Men who prefer death, +and all else, to living under Falsehood,--who, once for all, will +not live under Falsehood; but having drawn the sword against it +(the time being come for that rare and important step), throw +away the scabbard, and can say, in pious clearness, with their +whole soul: 'Come on, then! Life under Falsehood is not good for +me; and we will try it out now. Let it be to the death between +us, then!'" + +Once risen into this divine white-heat of temper, were it only for +a season and not again, the Nation is thenceforth considerable +through all its remaining history. What immensities of DROSS and +crypto-poisonous matter will it not burn out of itself in that +high temperature, in the course of a few years! Witness Cromwell +and his Puritans,--making England habitable even under the +Charles-Second terms for a couple of centuries more. Nations are +benefited, I believe, for ages, by being thrown once into divine +white-heat in this manner. And no Nation that has not had such +divine paroxysms at any time is apt to come to much. + +That was now, in this epoch, the English of "adopting +Protestantism;" and we need not wonder at the results which it has +had, and which the want of it has had. For the want of it is +literally the want of loyalty to the Maker of this Universe. +He who wants that, what else has he, or can he have? If you do +not, you Man or you Nation, love the Truth enough, but try to make +a Chapman-bargain with Truth, instead of giving yourself wholly +soul and body and life to her, Truth will not live with you, Truth +will depart from you; and only Logic, "Wit" (for example, "London +Wit"), Sophistry, Virtu, the AEsthetic Arts, and perhaps (for a +short while) Bookkeeping by Double Entry, will abide with you. +You will follow falsity, and think it truth, you unfortunate man +or nation. You will right surely, you for one, stumble to the +Devil; and are every day and hour, little as you imagine it, +making progress thither. + +Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Poland,--the offer of the +Reformation was made everywhere; and it is curious to see what has +become of the nations that would not hear it. In all countries +were some that accepted; but in many there were not enough, and +the rest, slowly or swiftly, with fatal difficult industry, +contrived to burn them out. Austria was once full of Protestants; +but the hide-bound Flemish-Spanish Kaiser-element presiding over +it, obstinately, for two centuries, kept saying, "No; we, with our +dull obstinate Cimburgis under-lip and lazy eyes, with our +ponderous Austrian depth of Habituality and indolence of +Intellect, we prefer steady Darkness to uncertain new Light!"--and +all men may see where Austria now is. Spain still more; +poor Spain, going about, at this time, making its +"PRONUNCIAMIENTOS;" all the factious attorneys in its little towns +assembling to PRONOUNCE virtually this, "The Old IS a lie, then;-- +good Heavens, after we so long tried hard, harder than any nation, +to think it a truth!--and if it be not Rights of Man, Red Republic +and Progress of the Species, we know not what now to believe or to +do; and are as a people stumbling on steep places, in the darkness +of midnight!"--They refused Truth when she came; and now Truth +knows nothing of them. All stars, and heavenly lights, have become +veiled to such men; they must now follow terrestrial IGNES FATUI, +and think them stars. That is the doom passed upon them. + +Italy too had its Protestants; but Italy killed them; managed to +extinguish Protestantism. Italy put up silently with Practical +Lies of all kinds; and, shrugging its shoulders, preferred going +into Dilettantism and the Fine Arts. The Italians, instead of the +sacred service of Fact and Performance, did Music, Painting, and +the like:--till even that has become impossible for them; and no +noble Nation, sunk from virtue to VIRTU, ever offered such a +spectacle before. He that will prefer Dilettantism in this world +for his outfit, shall have it; but all the gods will depart from +him; and manful veracity, earnestness of purpose, devout depth of +soul, shall no more be his. He can if he like make himself a +soprano, and sing for hire;--and probably that is the real goal +for him. + +But the sharpest-cut example is France;, to which we constantly +return for illustration. France, with its keen intellect, saw the +truth and saw the falsity, in those Protestant times; and, with +its ardor of generous impulse, was prone enough to adopt the +former. France was within a hair's-breadth of becoming actually +Protestant. But France saw good to massacre Protestantism, and end +it in the night of St. Bartholomew, 1572. The celestial Apparitor +of Heaven's Chancery, so we may speak, the Genius of Fact and +Veracity, had left his Writ of Summons; Writ was read;--and +replied to in this manner. The Genius of Fact and Veracity +accordingly withdrew;--was staved off, got kept away, for two +hundred years. But the writ of Summons had been served; +Heaven's Messenger could not stay away forever. No; he returned +duly; with accounts run up, on compound interest, to the actual +hour, in 1792;--and then, at last, there had to be a +"Protestantism;" and we know of what kind that was!-- + +Nations did not so understand it, nor did Brandenburg more than +the others; but the question of questions for them at that time, +decisive of their history for half a thousand years to come, was, +Will you obey the heavenly voice, or will you not? + + + +Chapter IX. + +KURFURST JOACHIM I. + +Brandenburg, in the matter of the Reformation, was at first--with +Albert of Mainz, Tetzel's friend, on the one side, and Pious +George of Anspach, "NIT KOP AB," on the other--certainly a divided +house. But, after the first act, it conspicuously ceased to be +divided; nay Kur-Brandenburg and Kur-Mainz themselves had known +tendencies to the Reformation, and were well aware that the Church +could not stand as it was. Nor did the cause want partisans in +Berlin, in Brandenburg,--hardly to be repressed from breaking into +flame, while Kurfurst Joachim was so prudent and conservative. +Of this loud Kurfurst Joachim I., here and there mentioned +already, let us now say a more express word. [1484, 1499, 1535: +birth, accession, death of Joachim.] + +Joachim I., Big John's son, hesitated hither and thither for some +time, trying if it would not do to follow the Kaiser Karl V.'s +lead; and at length, crossed in his temper perhaps by the speed +his friends were going at, declared formally against any farther +Reformation; and in his own family and country was strict upon the +point. He is a man, as I judge, by no means without a temper of +his own; very loud occasionally in the Diets and elsewhere;-- +reminds me a little of a certain King Friedrich Wilhelm, whom my +readers shall know by and by. A big, surly, rather bottle-nosed +man, with thick lips, abstruse wearied eyes, and no eyebrows to +speak of: not a beautiful man, when you cross him overmuch. + + +OF JOACHIM'S WIFE AND BROTHER-IN-LAW. + +His wife was a Danish Princess, Sister of poor Christian II., King +of that Country: dissolute Christian, who took up with a huckster- +woman's daughter,--"mother sold gingerbread," it would appear, +"at Bergen in Norway," where Christian was Viceroy; Christian made +acceptable love to the daughter, "DIVIKE (Dovekin, COLUMBINA)," +as he called her. Nay he made the gingerbread mother a kind of +prime-minister, said the angry public, justly scandalized at this +of the "Dovekin." He was married, meanwhile, to Karl V.'s own +Sister; but continued that other connection. [Here are the dates +of this poor Christian, in a lump. Born, 1481; King, 1513 (Dovekin +before); married, 1515; turned off, 1523; invades, taken prisoner, +1532; dies, 1559. Cousin, and then Cousin's Son, succeeded.] +He had rash notions, now for the Reformation, now against it, when +he got to be King; a very rash, unwise, explosive man. He made a +"Stockholm BLUTBAD" still famed in History (kind of open, ordered +or permitted, Massacre of eighty or a hundred of his chief enemies +there), "Bloodbath," so they name it; in Stockholm, where indeed +he was lawful King, and not without unlawful enemies, had a +bloodbath been the way to deal with them. Gustavus Vasa was a +young fellow there, who dexterously escaped this Bloodbath, and +afterwards came to something. + +In Denmark and Sweden, rash Christian made ever more enemies; +at length he was forced to run, and they chose another King or +successive pair of Kings. Christian fled to Kaiser Karl at +Brussels; complained to Kaiser Karl, his Brother-in-law,--whose +Sister he had not used well. Kaiser Karl listened to his +complaints, with hanging under-lip, with heavy, deep, +undecipherable eyes; evidently no help from Karl. + +Christian, after that, wandered about with inexecutable +speculations, and projects to recover his crown or crowns; +sheltering often with Kurfurst Joachim, who took a great deal of +trouble about him, first and last; or with the Elector of Saxony, +Friedrich the Wise, or after him, with Johann the Steadfast +("V. D. M. I. AE." whom we saw at Augsburg), who were his Mother's +Brothers, and beneficent men. He was in Saxony, on such terms, +coming and going, when a certain other Flight thither took place, +soon to be spoken of, which is the cause of our mentioning him +here.--In the end (A.D. 1532) he did get some force together, and +made sail to Norway; but could do no execution whatever there;--on +the contrary, was frozen in on the coast during winter; seized, +carried to Copenhagen, and packed into the "Castle of Sonderburg," +a grim sea-lodging on the shore of Schleswig,--prisoner for the +rest of his life, which lasted long enough. Six-and-twenty years +of prison; the first seventeen years of it strict and hard, almost +of the dungeon sort; the remainder, on his fairly abdicating, was +in another Castle, that of Callundborg in the Island of Zealand, +"with fine apartments and conveniences," and even "a good bouse of +liquor now and then," at discretion of the old soul. That was the +end of headlong Christian II.; he lasted in this manner to the age +of seventy-eight. [Kohler, <italic> Munzbelustigungen, <end +italic> xi. 47, 48; Holberg, <italic> Danemarckische Staats-und +Reichs-Historie <end italic> (Copenhagen, 1731, NOT the hig Book +by Holberg), p. 241; Buddaus, <italic> Allgemeines Historisches +Lexicon <end italic> (Leipzig, 1709),? Christianus II.] + +His Sister Elizabeth at Brandenburg is perhaps, in regard to +natural character, recognizably of the same kin as Christian; +but her behavior is far different from his. She too is zealous for +the Reformation; but she has a right to be so, and her notions +that way are steady; and she has hitherto, though in a difficult +position, done honor to her creed. Surly Joachim is difficult to +deal with; is very positive now that he has declared himself: +"In my house at least shall be nothing farther of that unblessed +stuff." Poor Lady, I see domestic difficulties very thick upon +her; nothing but division, the very children ranging themselves in +parties. She can pray to Heaven; she must do her wisest. + +She partook once, by some secret opportunity, of the "communion +under both kinds;" one of her Daughters noticed and knew; +told Father of it. Father knits up his thick lips; rolls his +abstruse dissatisfied eyes, in an ominous manner: the poor Lady, +probably possessed of an excitable imagination too, trembles for +herself. "It is thought, His DURCHLAUCHT will wall you up for +life, my Serene Lady; dark prison for life, which probably may not +be long!" These surmises were of no credibility: but there and +then the poor Lady, in a shiver of terror, decides that she must +run; goes off actually, one night ("Monday after the LAETARE," +which we find is 24th March) in the year 1528, [Pauli (ii. 584); +who cites Seckendorf, and this fraction of a Letter of Luther's, +to one "LINCKUS" or Lincke, written on the Friday following (28th +March, 1528):-- +"The Electress [MARGRAVINE he calls her] has fled from Berlin, by +help of her Brother the King of Denmark [poor Christian II.] to +our Prince [Johann the Steadfast], because her Elector had +determined to wall her up, as is reported, on account of the +Eucharist under both species. Pray for our Prince; <italic> the +pious man and affectionate soul gets a great deal of trouble with +his kindred." <end italic> Or thus in the Original:-- +<italic> "Marchionissa aufugit a Berlin, auxilio fratris, Regis +Daniae, ad nostrum Principem, quod Marchio statuerat eam immurare +(ut dicitur) propter Eucharistiam utriusque speciei. Ora pro +nostro Principe; <end italic> der fromme Mann und herzliche Mensch +ist doch ja wohl geplaget" (Seckendorf, <italic> Historia +Lutheranismi, <end italic> ii.? 62, No. 8, p. 122).] in a mean +vehicle under cloud of darkness, with only one maid and groom,-- +driving for life. That is very certain: she too is on flight +towards Saxony, to shelter with her uncle Kurfurst Johann,--unless +for reasons of state he scruple? On the dark road her vehicle +broke down; a spoke given way,--"Not a bit of rope to splice it," +said the improvident groom. "Take my lace-veil here," said the +poor Princess; and in this guise she got to Torgau (I could guess, +her poor Brother's lodging),--and thence, in short time, to the +fine Schloss of Lichtenberg hard by; Uncle Johann, to whom she had +zealously left an option of refusal, having as zealously permitted +and invited her to continue there. Which she did for many years. + +Nor did she get the least molestation from Husband Joachim;--who I +conjecture had intended, though a man of a certain temper, and +strict in his own house, something short of walling up for life:-- +poor Joachim withal! "However, since you are gone, Madam, go!" +Nor did he concern himself with Christian II. farther, but let him +lie in prison at his leisure. As for the Lady, he even let his +children visit her at Lichtenberg; Crypto-Protestants all; and, +among them, the repentant Daughter who had peached upon her. + +Poor Joachim, he makes a pious speech on his death-bed, solemnly +warning his Son against these new-fangled heresies; the Son being +already possessed of them in his heart. [Speech given in Rentsch, +pp. 484-439.] What could Father do more? Both Father and Son, +I suppose, were weeping. This was in 1535, this last scene; +things looking now more ominous than ever. Of Kurfurst Joachim +I will remember nothing farther, except that once, twenty-three +years before, he "held a Tourney in Neu-Ruppin," year 1612; +Tourney on the most magnificent scale, and in New-Ruppin, [Pauli, +ii. 466.] a place we shall know by and by. + +As to the Lady, she lived eighteen years in that fine Schloss of +Lichtenberg; saw her children as we said; and, silently or +otherwise, rejoiced in the creed they were getting. She saw +Luther's self sometimes; "had him several times to dinner;" +he would call at her Mansion, when his journeys lay that way. +She corresponded with him diligently; nay once, for a three +months, she herself went across and lodged with Dr. Luther and his +Kate; as a royal Lady might with a heroic Sage,--though the Sage's +income was only Twenty-four pounds sterling annually. There is no +doubt about that visit of three months; one thinks of it, as of +something human, something homely, ingenuous and pretty. +Nothing in surly Joachim's history is half so memorable to me, or +indeed memorable at all in the stage we are now come to. + +The Lady survived Joachim twenty years; of these she spent eleven +still at Lichtenberg, in no over-haste to return. However, her +Son, the new Elector, declaring for Protestantism, she at length +yielded to his invitations: came back (1546), and ended her days +at Berlin in a peaceable and venerable manner. Luckless Brother +Christian is lying under lock-and-key all this while; smuggling +out messages, and so on; like a voice from the land of Dreams or +of Nightmares, painful, impracticable, coming now and then. + + + +Chapter X. + +KURFURST JOACHIM II. + +Joachim II., Sixth Elector, no doubt after painful study, and +intricate silent consideration ever since his twelfth year when +Luther was first heard of over the world, came gradually, and +before his Father's death had already come, to the conclusion of +adopting the Confession of Augsburg, as the true Interpretation of +this Universe, so far as we had yet got; and did so, publicly, in +the year 1539. [Rentsch, p. 452.] To the great joy of Berlin and +the Brandenburg populations generally, who had been of a +Protestaut humor, hardly restrainable by Law, for some years past. +By this decision Joachim held fast, with a stout, weighty grasp; +nothing spasmodic in his way of handling the matter, and yet a +heartiness which is agreeable to see. He could not join in the +Schmalkaldic War; seeing, it is probable, small chance for such a +War, of many chiefs and little counsel; nor was he willing yet to +part from the Kaiser Karl V., who was otherwise very good to him. + +He had fought personally for this Kaiser, twice over, against the +Turks; first as Brandenburg Captain, learning his art; and +afterwards as Kaiser's Generalissimo, in 1542. He did no good upon +the Turks, on that latter occasion; as indeed what good was to be +done, in such a quagmire of futilities as Joachim's element there +was? "Too sumptuous in his dinners, too much wine withal!" hint +some calumniously. [Paulus Jovius, &c. See Pauli, iii. 70-73.] +"Hector of Germany!" say others. He tried some small prefatory +Siege or scalade of Pesth; could not do it; and came his ways home +again, as the best course. Pedant Chroniclers give him the name +HECTOR, "Joachim Hector,"--to match that of CICERO and that of +ACHILLES. A man of solid structure, this our Hector, in body and +mind: extensive cheeks, very large heavy-laden face; capable of +terrible bursts of anger, as his kind generally were. + +The Schmalkaldic War went to water, as the Germans phrase it: +Kur-Sachsen,--that is, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, Son of +Johann "V. D. M. I. AE.," and Nephew of Friedrich the Wise,--had +his sorrowfully valid reasons for the War; large force too, plenty +of zealous copartners, Philip of Hessen and others; but no +generalship, or not enough, for such a business. Big Army, as is +apt enough to happen, fell short of food; Kaiser Karl hung on the +outskirts, waiting confidently till it came to famine. Johann +Friedrich would attempt nothing decisive while provender lasted;-- +and having in the end, strangely enough, and somewhat deaf to +advice, divided his big Army into three separate parts;--Johann +Friedrich was himself, with one of those parts, surprised at +Muhlberg, on a Sunday when at church (24th April, 1547); and was +there beaten to sudden ruin, and even taken captive, like to have +his head cut off, by the triumphant angry Kaiser. Philip of +Hessen, somewhat wiser, was home to Marburg, safe with HIS part, +in the interim.--Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg had good +reason to rejoice in his own cautious reluctances on this +occasion. However, he did now come valiantly up, hearing what +severities were in the wind. + +He pleaded earnestly, passionately, he and Cousin or already +"Elector" Moritz, [Pauli, iii. 102.]--who was just getting Johann +Friedrich's Electorship fished away from him out of these +troubles, [Kurfurst, 4th June, 1547.]--for Johann Friedrich of +Saxony's life, first of all. For Johann's life FIRST; this is a +thing not to be dispensed with, your Majesty, on any terms +whatever; a <italic> sine qua non, [end italic] this life to +Protestant Germany at large. To which the Kaiser indicated, +"He would see; not immediate death at any rate; we will see." +A life that could not and must not be taken in this manner: +this was the FIRST point. Then, SECONDLY, that Philip of Hessen, +now home again at Marburg,--not a bad or disloyal man, though +headlong, and with two wives,--might not be forfeited; but that +peace and pardon might be granted him, on his entire submission. +To which second point the Kaiser answered, "Yes, then, on his +submission." These were the two points. These pleadings went on at +Halle, where the Kaiser now lies, in triumphantly victorious +humor, in the early days of June, Year 1547. Johann Friedrich of +Saxony had been, by some Imperial Court-Council or other,-- +Spanish merely, I suppose,--doomed to die. Sentence was signified +to him while he sat at chess: "Can wait till we end the game," +thought Johann;--"PERGAMUS," said he to his comrade, "Let us go +on, then!" Sentence not to be executed till one see. + +With Philip of Hessen things had a more conclusive aspect. +Philip had accepted the terms procured for him; which had been +laboriously negotiated, brought to paper, and now wanted only the +sign-manual to them: <italic> "Ohne einigen Gefangniss <end +italic> (without any imprisonment)," one of the chief clauses. +And so Philip now came over to Halle; was met and welcomed by his +two friends, Joachim and Moritz, at Naumburg, a stage before +Halle;--clear now to make his submission, and beg pardon of the +Kaiser, according to bargain. On the morrow, 19th June, 1547, the +Papers were got signed. And next day, 20th June, Philip did, +according to bargain, openly beg pardon of the Kaiser, in his +Majesty's Hall of Audience (Town House of Halle, I suppose); +"knelt at the Kaiser's feet publicly on both knees, while his +Kanzler read the submission and entreaty, as agreed upon;" and, +alas, then the Kaiser said nothing at all to him.! Kaiser looked +haughtily, with impenetrable eyes and shelf-lip, over the head of +him; gave him no hand to kiss; and left poor Philip kneeling +there. An awkward position indeed;--which any German Painter that +there were, might make a Picture of, I have sometimes thought. +Picture of some real meaning, more or less,--if for symbolic. +Towers of Babel, medieval mythologies, and extensive smearings of +that kind, he could find leisure!--Philip having knelt a +reasonable time, and finding there was no help for it, rose in the +dread silence (some say, with too sturdy an expression of +countenance); and retired from the affair, having at least done +his part of it. + +The next practical thing was now supper, or as we of this age +should call it, dinner. Uncommonly select and high supper: +host the Duke of Alba; where Joachim, Elector Moritz, and another +high Official, the Bishop of Arras, were to welcome poor Philip +after his troubles. How the grand supper went, I do not hear: +possibly a little constrained; the Kaiser's strange silence +sitting on all men's thoughts; not to be spoken of in the present +company. At length the guests rose to go away. Philip's lodging is +with Moritz (who is his son-in-law, as learned readers know): +"You Philip, your lodging is mine; my lodging is yours,--I should +say! Cannot we ride together?"--"Philip is not permitted to go," +said Imperial Officiality; "Philip is to continue here, and we +fear go to prison."--"Prison?" cried they all: "OHNE EINIGEN +GEFANGNISS (without ANY imprisonment)!"--"As we read the words, +it is 'OHNE EWIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ETERNAL imprisonment),'" +answer the others. And so, according to popular tradition, which +has little or no credibility, though printed in many Books, their +false Secretary had actually modified it. + +"No intention of imprisoning his DURCHLAUCHT of Hessen FOREVER; +not forever!" answered they. And Kurfurst Joachim, in astonished +indignation, after some remonstrating and arguing, louder and +louder, which profited nothing, blazed out into a very whirlwind +of rage; drew his sword, it is whispered with a shudder,--drew his +sword, or was for drawing it, upon the Duke of Alba; and would +have done, God knows what, had not friends flung themselves +between, and got the Duke away, or him away. {Pauli, iii. 103.] +Other accounts bear, that it was upon the Bishop of Arras he drew +his sword; which is a somewhat different matter. Perhaps he drew +it on both; or on men and things in general;--for his indignation +knew no bounds. The heavy solid man; yet with a human heart in him +after all, and a Hohenzollern abhorrence of chicanery, capable of +rising to the transcendent pitch! His wars against the Turks, and +his other Hectorships, I will forget; but this, of a face so +extensive kindled all into divine fire for poor Philip's sake, +shall be memorable to me. + +Philip got out by and by, though with difficulty; the Kaiser +proving very stiff in the matter; and only yielding to obstinate +pressures, and the force of time and events. Philip got away; +and then how Johann Friedrich of Sachsen, after being led about +for five years, in the Kaiser's train, a condemned man, liable to +be executed any day, did likewise at last get away, with his head +safe and Electorate gone: these are known Historical events, which +we glanced at already, on another score. + +For, by and by, the Kaiser found tougher solicitation than this of +Joachim's. The Kaiser, by his high carriage in this and other such +matters, had at length kindled a new War round him; and he then +soon found himself reduced to extremities again; chased to the +Tyrol Mountains, and obliged to comply with many things. New War, +of quite other emphasis and management than the Schmalkaldic one; +managed by Elector Moritz and our poor friend Albert Alcibiades as +principals. A Kaiser chased into the mountains, capable of being +seized by a little spurring;--"Capture him?" said Albert. "I have +no cage big enough for such a bird!" answered Moritz; and the +Kaiser was let run. How he ran then towards Treaty of Passau +(1552), towards Siege of Metz and other sad conclusions, +"Abdication" the finale of them: these also are known phases in +the Reformation History, as hinted at above. + +Here at Halle, in the year 1547, the great Kaiser, with +Protestantism manacled at his feet, and many things going +prosperous, was at his culminating point. He published his +INTERIM (1548, What you troublesome Protestants are to do, in the +mean time, while the Council of Trent is sitting, and till it and +I decide for you); and in short, drove and reined-in the Reich +with a high hand and a sharp whip, for the time being. Troublesome +Protestants mostly rejected the Interim; Moritz and Alcibiades, +with France in the rear of them, took to arms in that way; took to +ransoming fat Bishoprics <italic> ("Verbum Diaboli Manet," we know +where!);--took to chasing Kaisers into the mountains;--and times +came soon round again. In all these latter broils Kurfurst Joachim +II., deeply interested, as we may fancy, strove to keep quiet; and +to prevail, by weight of influence and wise counsel, rather than +by fighting with his Kaiser. + +One sad little anecdote I recollect of Joachim: an Accident, which +happened in those Passau-Interim days, a year or two after that +drawing of the sword on Alba. Kurfurst Joachim unfortunately once +fell through a staircase, in that time; being, as I guess, a heavy +man. It was in the Castle of Grimnitz, one of his many Castles, +a spacious enough old Hunting-seat, the repairs of which had not +been well attended to. The good Herr, weighty of foot, was leading +down his Electress to dinner one day in this Schloss of Grimnitz; +broad stair climbs round a grand Hall, hung with stag-trophies, +groups of weapons, and the like hall-furniture. An unlucky timber +yielded; yawning chasm in the staircase; Joachim and his good +Princess sank by gravitation; Joachim to the floor with little +hurt; his poor Princess (horrible to think of), being next the +wall, came upon the stag-horns and boar-spears down below! [Pauli, +iii. 112.] The poor Lady's hurt was indescribable: she walked lame +all the rest of her clays; and Joachim, I hope (hope, but not with +confidence), [Ib. iii. 194.] loved her all the better for it. +This unfortunate old Schloss of Grimnitz, some thirty miles +northward of Berlin, was--by the Eighth Kurfurst, Joachim +Friedrich, Grandson of this one, with great renown to himself and +to it--converted into an Endowed High School: the famed <italic> +Joachimsthal Gymnasium, <end italic> still famed, though now under +some change of circumstances, and removed to Berlin itself. +[Nicolai, p. 725.] + +Joachim's first Wife, from whom descend the following Kurfursts, +was a daughter of that Duke George of Saxony, Luther's celebrated +friend, "If it rained Duke-Georges nine days running." + + +JOACHIM GETS CO-INFEFTMENT IN PREUSSEN. + +This second Wife, she of the accident at Grimnitz, was Hedwig, +King Sigismund of Poland's daughter; which connection, it is +thought, helped Joachim well in getting what they call the +MITBELEHNUNG of Preussen (for it was he that achieved this +point) from King Sigismund. + +MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment) in Preussen;--whereby is solemnly +acknowledged the right of Joachim and his Posterity to the +reversion of Preussen, should the Culmbach Line of Duke Albert +happen to fail. It was a thing Joachim long strove for; till at +length his Father-in-law did, some twenty years hence, concede it +him. [Date, Lublin, 19th July, 1568: Pauli, iii. 177-179, 193; +Rentsch, p. 457; Stenzel, i. 341, 342.] Should Albert's Line fail, +then, the other Culmbachers get Preussen; should the Culmbachers +all fail, the Berlin Brandenburgers get it. The Culmbachers are at +this time rather scarce of heirs: poor Alcibiades died childless, +as we know, and Casimir's Line is extinct; Duke Albert himself has +left only one Son, who now succeeds in Preussen; still young, and +not of the best omens. Margraf George the Pious, he left only +George Friedrich; an excellent man, who is now prosperous in the +world, and wedded long since, but has no children. So that, +between Joachim's Line and Preussen there are only two +intermediate heirs;--and it was a thing eminently worth looking +after. Nor has it wanted that. And so Kurfurst Joachim, almost at +the end of his course, has now made sure of it. + + +JOACHIM MAKES "HERITAGE-BROTHERHOOD" WITH THE DUKE OF LIEGNITZ. + +Another feat of like nature Joachim II. had long ago achieved; +which likewise in the long-run proved important in his Family, and +in the History of the world: an "ERBVERBRUDERUNG," so they term +it, with the Duke of Liegnitz,--date 1537. ERBVERBRUDERUNG +("Heritage-brotherhood," meaning Covenant to succeed reciprocally +on Failure of Heirs to either) had in all times been a common +paction among German Princes well affected to each other. +Friedrich II., the then Duke of Liegnitz, we have transiently +seen, was related to the Family; he had been extremely helpful in +bringing his young friend Albert of Preussen's affairs to a good +issue,--whose Niece, withal, he had wedded:--in fact, he was a +close friend of this our Joachim's; and there had long been a +growing connection between the two Houses, by intermarriages and +good offices. + +The Dukes of Liegnitz were Sovereign-Princes, come of the old +Piasts of Poland; and had perfect right to enter into this +transaction of an ERBVERBRUDERUNG with whom they liked. +True, they had, above two hundred years before, in the days of +King Johann ICH-DIEN (A.D. 1329), voluntarily constituted +themselves Vassals of the Crown of Bohemia: [Pauli, iii. 22.] but +the right to dispose of their Lands as they pleased had, all +along, been carefully acknowledged, and saved entire. And, so late +as 1521, just sixteen years ago, the Bohemian King Vladislaus +the Last, our good Margraf George's friend, had expressly, in a +Deed still extant, confirmed to them, with all the emphasis and +amplitude that Law-Phraseology could bring to bear upon it, the +right to dispose of said Lands in any manner of way: "by written +testament, or by verbal on their death-bed, they can, as they see +wisest, give away, sell, pawn, dispose of, and exchange <italic> +(vergeben, verkaufen, versetzen, verschaffen, verwechseln) <end +italic> these said lands," to all lengths, and with all manner of +freedom. Which privilege had likewise been confirmed, twice over +(1522, 1524), by Ludwig the next King, Ludwig OHNE-HAUT, who +perished in the bogs of Mohacz, and ended the native Line of +Bohemian-Hungarian Kings. Nay, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, Karl +V.'s Brother, afterwards Kaiser, who absorbed that Bohemian Crown +among the others, had himself, by implication, sanctioned or +admitted the privilege, in 1529, only eight years ago. [Stenzel, +i. 323.] The right to make the ERBVERBRUDERUNG could not seem +doubtful to anybody. + +And made accordingly it was: signed, sealed, drawn out on the +proper parchments, 18th October, 1537; to the following clear +effect: "That if Duke Friedrich's Line should die out, all his +Liegnitz countries, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, should fall to the +Hohenzollern Brandenburgers: and that, if the Line of Hohenzollern +Brandenburg should first fail, then all and singular the Bohemian +Fiefs of Brandenburg (as Crossen, Zullichau and seven others there +enumerated) should fall to the House of Liegnitz." [Stenzel, i. +320.] It seemed a clear Paction, questionable by no mortal. +Double-marriage between the two Houses (eldest Son, on each side, +to suitable Princess on the other) was to follow: and did follow, +after some delays, 17th February, 1545. So that the matter seemed +now complete: secure on all points, and a matter of quiet +satisfaction to both the Houses and to their friends. + +But Ferdinand, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia and Hungary, +and coming to be Emperor one day, was not of that sentiment. +Ferdinand had once implicitly recognized the privilege, but +Ferdinand, now when he saw the privilege turned to use, and such a +territory as Liegnitz exposed to the possibility of falling into +inconvenient hands, explicitly took other thoughts: and gradually +determined to prohibit this ERBVERBRUDERUNG. The States of +Bohemia, accordingly, in 1544 (it is not doubtful, by Ferdinand's +suggestion), were moved to make inquiries as to this Heritage- +Fraternity of Liegnitz. [Ib. i. 322.] On which hint King Ferdinand +straightway informed the Duke of Liegnitz that the act was not +justifiable, and must be revoked. The Duke of Liegnitz, grieved to +the heart, had no means of resisting. Ferdinand, King of the +Romans, backed by Kaiser Karl, with the States of Bohemia barking +at his wink, were too strong for poor Duke Friedrich of Liegnitz. +Great corresponding between Berlin, Liegnitz, Prag ensued on this +matter: but the end was a summons to Duke Friedrich,--summons from +King Ferdinand in March, 1546, "To appear in the Imperial Hall +(KAISERHOF) at Breslau," and to submit that Deed of +EBVERBRUDERUNG to the examination of the States there. The States, +already up to the affair, soon finished their examination of it +(8th May, 1546). The deed was annihilated: and Friedrich was +ordered, furthermore, to produce proofs within six months that his +subjects too were absolved of all oaths or the like regarding it, +and that in fact the Transaction was entirely abolished and +reduced to zero. Friedrich complied, had to comply: very much +chagrined, he returned home: and died next year,--it is supposed, +of heartbreak from this business. He had yielded outwardly: but to +force only. In a Codicil appended to his last Will, some months +afterwards (which Will, written years ago, had treated the +ERBVERBRUDERUNG as a Fact settled), he indicates, as with his last +breath, that he considered the thing still valid, though overruled +by the hand of power. Let the reader mark this matter; for it will +assuredly become memorable, one day. + +The hand of power, namely, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, had +applied in like manner to Joachim of Brandenburg to surrender his +portion of the Deed, and annihilate on his side too this +ERBVERBRUDERUNG. But Joachim refused steadily, and all his +successors steadily, to give up this Bit of Written Parchment: +kept the same, among their precious documents, against some day +that might come (and I suppose it lies in the Archives of Berlin +even now): silently, or in words, asserting that the Deed of +Heritage-Brothership was good, and that though some hands might +have the power, no hand could have the right to abolish it on +those terms. + +How King Ferdinand permitted himself such a procedure? Ferdinand, +says one of his latest apologists in this matter, "considered the +privileges granted by his Predecessors, in respect to rights of +Sovereignty, as fallen extinct on their death." [Stenzel, i. 323.] +Which--if Reality and Fact would but likewise be so kind as +"consider" it so--was no doubt convenient for Ferdinand! + +Joachim was not so great with Ferdinand as he had been with +Charles the Imperial Brother. Joachim and Ferdinand had many +debates of this kind, some of them rather stiff. Jagerndorf, for +instance, and the Baireuth-Anspach confiscations, in George +Friedrich's minority. Ferdinand, now Kaiser, had snatched +Jagerndorf from poor young George Friedrich, son of excellent +Margraf George whom we knew: "Part of the spoils of Albert +Alcibiades," thought Ferdinand, "and a good windfall,"--though +young George Friedrich had merely been the Ward of Cousin +Alcibiades, and totally without concern in those political +explosions. "Excellent windfall," thought Ferdinand: and held his +grip. But Joachim, in his weighty steady way, intervened: +Joachim, emphatic in the Diets and elsewhere, made Ferdinand quit +grip, and produce Jagerndorf again. Jagerndorf and the rest had +all to be restored: and, except some filchings in the Jagerndorf +Appendages (Ratibor and Oppeln, "restored" only in semblance, and +at length juggled away altogether), [Rentsch, pp. 129, 130.] +everything came to its right owner again. Nor would Joachim rest +till Alcibiades's Territories too were all punctually given back, +to this same George Friedrich: to whom, by law and justice, they +belonged, In these points Joachim prevailed against a strong- +handed Kaiser, apt to "consider one's rights fallen extinct" now +and then. In this of Liegnitz all he could do was to keep the +Deed, in steady protest silent or vocal. + +But enough now of Joachim Hector, Sixth Kurfurst, and of his +workings and his strugglings. He walked through this world, +treading as softly as might be, yet with a strong weighty step: +rending the jungle steadily asunder; well seeing whither he was +bound. Rather an expensive Herr: built a good deal, completion of +the Schloss at Berlin one example: [Nicolai, p. 82.] and was not +otherwise afraid of outlay, in the Reich's Politics, or in what +seemed needful: If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, +it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn! + +Joachim was always a conspicuous Public Man, a busy Politician in +the Reich: stanch to his kindred, and by no means blind to himself +or his own interests. Stanch also, we must grant, and ever active, +though generally in a cautious, weighty, never in a rash swift +way, to the great Cause of Protestantism, and to all good causes. +He was himself a solemnly devout man; deep awe-stricken reverence +dwelling in his view of this Universe. Most serious, though with a +jocose dialect commonly, having a cheerful wit in speaking to men. +Luther's Books he called his SEELENSCHATZ (Soul's-treasure): +Luther and the Bible were his chief reading. Fond of profane +learning too, and of the useful or ornamental Arts; given to +music, and "would himself sing aloud" when he had a melodious +leisure-hour. Excellent old gentleman: he died, rather suddenly, +but with much nobleness, 3d January, 1571; age sixty-six. +Old Rentsch's account of this event is still worth reading: +[Rentsch, p. 458.] Joachim's death-scene has a mild pious beauty +which does not depend on creed. + +He had a Brother too, not a little occupied with Politics, and +always on the good side: a wise pious man, whose fame was in all +the churches: "Johann of Custrin," called also "Johann THE WISE," +who busied himself zealously in Protestant matters, second only in +piety and zeal to his Cousin, Margraf George the Pious; and was +not so held back by official considerations as his Brother the +Elector now and then. Johann of Custrin is a very famous man in +the old Books: Johann was the first that fortified Custrin: built +himself an illustrious Schloss, and "roofed it with copper," in +Custrin (which is a place we shall be well acquainted with by and +by); and lived there, with the Neumark for apanage, a true man's +life;--mostly with a good deal of business, warlike and other, on +his hands; with good Books, good Deeds, and occasionally good Men, +coming to enliven it,--according to the terms then given. + + + +Chapter XI. + +SEVENTH KURFURST, JOHANN GEORGE. + +Kaiser Karl, we said, was very good to Joachim; who always strove, +sometimes with a stretch upon his very conscience, to keep well +with the Kaiser. The Kaiser took Joachim's young Prince along with +him to those Schmalkaldic Wars (not the comfortable side for +Joachim's conscience, but the safe side for an anxious Father); +Kaiser made a Knight of this young Prince, on one occasion of +distinction; he wrote often to Papa about him, what a promising +young hero he was,--seems really to have liked the young man. +It was Johann George, Elector afterwards, Seventh Elector.--This +little incident is known to me on evidence. [Rentsch, p. 465.] +A small thing that certainly befell, at the siege of Wittenberg +(A.D. 1547), during those Philip-of-Hessen Negotiations, three +hundred and odd years ago. + +The Schmalkaldic War having come all to nothing, the Saxon Elector +sitting captive with sword overhead in the way we saw, Saxon +Wittenberg was besieged, and the Kaiser was in great hurry to get +it. Kaiser in person, and young Johann George for sole attendant, +rode round the place one day, to take a view of the works, and +judge how soon, or whether ever, it could be compelled to give in. +Gunners noticed them from the battlements; gunners Saxon- +Protestant most likely, and in just gloom at the perils and +indignities now lying on their pious Kurfurst Johann Friedrich the +Magnanimous. "Lo, you! Kaiser's self riding yonder, and one of his +silk JUNKERS. Suppose we gave the Kaiser's self a shot, then?" +said the gunner, or thought: "It might help a better man from his +life-perils, if such shot did--!" In fact the gun flashed off, +with due outburst, and almost with due effect. The ball struck the +ground among the very horses' feet of the two riders; so that they +were thrown, or nearly so, and covered from sight with a cloud of +earth and sand;--and the gunners thought, for some instants, an +unjust, obstinate Kaiser's life was gone; and a pious Elector's +saved. But it proved not so. Kaiser Karl and Johann George both +emerged, in a minute or two, little the worse;--Kaiser Karl +perhaps blushing somewhat, and flurried this time, I think, in the +impenetrable eyes; and his Cimburgis lip closed for the moment;-- +and galloped out of shot-range. "I never forget this little +incident," exclaims Smelfungus: "It is one of the few times I can +get, after all my reading about that surprising Karl V., I do not +say the least understanding or practical conception of him and his +character and his affairs, but the least ocular view or +imagination of him, as a fact among facts!" Which is unlucky for +Smelfungus.--Johann George, still more emphatically, never to the +end of HIS life forgot this incident. And indeed it must be owned, +had the shot taken effect as intended, the whole course of human +things would have been surprisingly altered;--and for one thing, +neither FREDERICH THE GREAT, nor the present HISTORY OF FRIEDRICH, +had ever risen above ground, or troubled an enlightened public +or me! + +Of Johann George, this Seventh Elector, [1525; 1571-1598.] who +proved a good Governor, and carried on the Family Affairs in the +old style of slow steady success, I will remember nothing more, +except that he had the surprising number of Three-and-Twenty +children; one of them posthumous, though he died at the age of +seventy-three.-- + +He is Founder of the New Culmbach line: two sons of these twenty- +three children he settled, one in Baireuth, the other in Anspach; +from whom come all the subsequent Heads of that Principality, till +the last of them died in Hammersmith in 1806, as above said. +[Rentsch, p. 475 (CHRISTIAN to Baireuth; JOACHIM ERNST to +Anspach);--8ee Genealogical Diagram, inra, p. 309a.] He was a +prudent, thrifty Herr; no mistresses, no luxuries allowed; at the +sight of a new-fashioned coat, he would fly out on an unhappy +youth, and pack him from his presence. Very strict in point of +justice: a peasant once appealing to him, in one of his +inspection-journeys through the country, "Grant me justice, +DURCHLAUCHT, against So-and-so; I am your highness's born +subject!"--"Thou shouldst have it, man, wert thou a born Turk!" +answered Johann George.--There is something anxious, grave and, as +it were, surprised in the look of this good Herr. He made the GERA +BOND above spoken of;--founded the Younger Culmbach Line, with +that important Law of Primogeniture strictly superadded. +A conspicuous thrift, veracity, modest solidity, looks through the +conduct of this Herr;--a determined Protestant he too, as indeed +all the following were and are. [Rentsch, pp. 470, 471.] + +Of Joachim Friedrich, his eldest Son, who at one time was +Archbishop of Magdeburg,--called home from the wars to fill that +valuable Heirloom, which had suddenly fallen vacant by an Uncle's +death, and keep it warm;--and who afterwards, in due course, +carried on a LOBLICHE REGIERUNG of the old style and physiognomy, +as Eighth Kurfurst, from his fiftieth to his sixtieth year +(1598-1608): [Born, 1547; Magdehurg, 1566-1598 (when his Third Son +got it,--very unlucky in the Thirty-Years War afterwards).] of him +we already noticed the fine "JOACHIMS-thal Gymnasium," or +Foundation for learned purposes, in the old Schloss of Grimnitz, +where his serene Grandmother got lamed; and will notice nothing +farther, in this place, except his very great anxiety to profit by +the Prussian MITBELEHNUNG,--that Co-infeftment in Preussen, +achieved by his Grandfather Joachim II., which was now about +coming to its full maturity. Joachim Friedrich had already married +his eldest Prince to the daughter of Albert Friedrich, Second +Duke of Preussen, who it was by this time evident would be the +last Duke there of his Line. Joachim Friedrich, having himself +fallen a widower, did next year, though now counting fifty-six-- +But it will be better if we explain first, a little, how matters +now stood with Preussen. + + + +Chapter XII. + +OF ALBERT FRIEDRICH, THE SECOND DUKE OF PREUSSEN. + +Duke Albert died in 1568, laden with years, and in his latter time +greatly broken down by other troubles. His Prussian RATHS +(Councillors) were disobedient, his Osianders and Lutheran- +Calvinist Theologians were all in fire and flame against each +other: the poor old man, with the best dispositions, but without +power to realize them, had much to do and to suffer. Pious, just +and honorable, intending the best; but losing his memory, and +incapable of business, as he now complained. In his sixtieth year +he had married a second time, a young Brunswick Princess, with +whose foolish Brother, Eric, he had much trouble; and who at last +herself took so ill with the insolence and violence of these +intrusive Councillors and Theologians, that the household-life she +led beside her old Husband and them became intolerable to her; +and she withdrew to another residence,--a little Hunting-seat at +Neuhausen, half a dozen miles from Konigsberg;--and there, or at +Labiau still farther off, lived mostly, in a separate condition, +for the rest of her life. Separate for life:--nevertheless they +happened to die on the same day; 20th March, 1568, they were +simultaneously delivered from their troubles in this world. +[Hubner, t. 181; Stenzel, i. 342.] + +Albert left one Son; the second child of this last Wife: his one +child by the former Wife, a daughter now of good years, was +married to the Duke of Mecklenburg. Son's name was Albert +Friedrich; age, at his Father's death, fifteen. A promising young +Prince, but of sensitive abstruse temper;--held under heavy +tutelage by his Raths and Theologians; and spurting up against +them, in explosive rebellion, from time to time. He now (1568) +was to be sovereign Duke of Preussen, and the one representative +of the Culmbach Line in that fine Territory; Margraf George +Friedrich of Anspach, the only other Culmbacher, being childless, +though wedded. + +We need not doubt, the Brandenburg House--old Kurfurst Joachim II. +still alive, and thrifty Johann George the Heir-Apparent--kept a +watchful eye on those emergencies. But it was difficult to +interfere directly; the native Prussian Raths were very jealous, +and Poland itself was a ticklish Sovereignty to deal with. +Albert Friedrich being still a Minor, the Polish King, Sigismund, +proposed to undertake the guardianship of him, as became a +superior lord to a subject vassal on such an occasion. But the +Prussian Raths assured his Majesty, "Their young Prince was of +such a lively intellect, he was perfectly fit to conduct the +affairs of the Government," especially with such a Body of expert +Councillors to help him, "and might be at once declared of age." +Which was accordingly the course followed; Poland caring little +for it; Brandenburg digesting the arrangement as it could. +And thus it continued for some years, even under new difficulties +that arose; the official Clique of Raths being the real Government +of the Country; and poor young Albert Friedrich bursting out +occasionally into tears against them, occasionally into futile +humors of a fiery nature. Osiander-Theology, and the battle of +the 'DOXIES, ran very high; nor was Prussian Officiality a +beautiful thing. + +These Prussian Raths, and the Prussian RITTERSCHAFT generally +(Knightage, Land-Aristocracy), which had its STANDE (States: +or meetings of Parliament after a sort), were all along of a +mutinous, contumacious humor. The idea had got into their minds, +That they were by birth what the ancient Ritters by election had +been; entitled, fit or not fit, to share the Government promotions +among them: "The Duke is hereditary in his office; why not we? +All Offices, are they not, by nature, ours to share among us?" +The Duke's notion, again, was to have the work of his Offices +effectually done; small matter by whom: the Ritters looked less to +that side of the question;--regarded any "Foreigner" (German- +Anspacher, or other Non-Prussian), whatever his merit, as an +intruder, usurper, or kind of thief, when seen in office. +Their contentions, contumacies and pretensions were accordingly +manifold. They had dreams of an "Aristocratic Republic, with the +Sovereign reduced to zero," like what their Polish neighbors grew +to. They had various dreams; and individuals among them broke out, +from time to time, into high acts of insolence and mutiny. It took +a hundred and fifty years of Brandenbufg horse-breaking, sometimes +with sharp manipulation and a potent curb-bit, to dispossess them +of that notion, and make them go steadily in harness. Which also, +however, was at last got done by the Hohenzollerns. + + +OF DUKE ALBERT FRIEDRICH'S MARRIAGE: WHO HIS WIFE WAS, +AND WHAT HER POSSIBLE DOWRY. + +In a year or two, there came to be question of the marrying of +young Duke Albert Friedrich. After due consultation, the Princess +fixed upon was Maria Eleonora, eldest Daughter of the then Duke of +Cleve: to him a proper Embassy was sent with that object; and came +back with Yes for answer. Duke of Cleve, at that time, was +Wilhelm, called "the Rich" in History-Books; a Sovereign of some +extent in those lower Rhine countries. Whom I can connect with the +English reader's memory in no readier way than by the fact, That +he was younger brother, one year younger, of a certain "Anne of +Cleves;"--a large fat Lady, who was rather scurvily used in this +country; being called, by Henry VIII. and us, a "great Flanders +mare," unsuitable for espousal with a King of delicate feelings! +This Anne of Cleves, who took matters quietly and lived on her +pension, when rejected by King Henry, was Aunt of the young Lady +now in question for Preussen. She was still alive here in England, +pleasantly quiet, "at Burley on the Hill," till Maria Eleonora was +seven years old;--who possibly enough still reads in her memory +some fading vestige of new black frocks or trimmings, and brief +court-mourning, on the death of poor Aunt Anne over seas.-- +Another Aunt is more honorably distinguished; Sibylla, Wife of our +noble Saxon Elector, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost +his Electorate and almost his Life for religion's sake, as we have +seen; by whom, in his perils and distresses, Sibylla stood always, +like a very true and noble Wife. + +Duke Wilhelm himself was a man of considerable mark in his day. +His Duchy of Cleve included not only Cleve-Proper, but Julich +(JULIERS), Berg, which latter pair of Duchies were a better thing +than Cleve-Proper:--Julich, Berg and various other small +Principalities, which, gradually agglomerating by marriage, +heritage and the chance of events in successive centuries, had at +length come all into Wilhelm's hands; so that he got the name of +Wilhelm the Rich among his contemporaries. He seems to have been +of a headlong, blustery, uncertain disposition; much tossed about +in the controversies of his day. At one time he was a Protestant +declared; not without reasons of various kinds. The Duchy of +Geldern (what we call GUELDERS) had fallen to him, by express +bequest of the last Owner, whose Line was out; and Wilhelm took +possession. But the Kaiser Karl V. quite refused to let him keep +possession. Whereupon Wilhelm had joined with the French (it was +in the Moritz-Alcibiades time); had declared war, and taken other +high measures: but it came to nothing, or to less. The end was, +Wilhelm had to "come upon his knees" before the Kaiser, and beg +forgiveness; quite renouncing Geldern, which accordingly has gone +its own different road ever since. Wilhelm was zealously +Protestant in those days; as his people are, and as he still is, +at the period we treat of. But he went into Papistry, not long +after; and made other sudden turns and misventures: to all +appearance, rather an abrupt, blustery, uncertain Herr. It is to +him that Albert Friedrich, the young Duke of Preussen, guided by +his Council, now (Year 1572) sends an Embassy, demanding his +eldest Daughter, Maria Eleonora, to wife. + +Duke Wilhelm answered Yea; "sent a Counter-Embassy," with whatever +else was necessary; and in due time the young Bride, with her +Father, set out towards Preussen, such being the arrangement, +there to complete the matter. They had got as far as "Berlin, +warmly welcomed by the Kurfurst Johann George; when, from +Konigsberg, a sad message reached them: namely, that the young +Duke had suddenly been seized with an invincible depression and +overclouding of mind, not quite to be characterized by the name of +madness, but still less by that of perfect sanity. His eagerness +to see his Bride was the same as formerly; but his spiritual +health was in the questionable state described. The young Lady +paused for a little, in such mood as we may fancy. She had already +lost two offers, Bridegrooms snatched away by death, says Pauli; +[Pauli, iv. 512.] and thought it might be ominous to refuse the +third. So she decided to go on; dashed aside her father's doubts; +sent her unhealthy Bridegroom "a flower-garland as love-token," +who duly responded; and Father Wilhelm and she proceeded, as if +nothing were wrong. The spiritual state of the Prince, she found, +had not been exaggerated to her. His humors and ways were strange, +questionable; other than one could have wished. Such as he was, +however, she wedded him on the appointed terms;--hoping probably +for a recovery, which never came. + +The case of Albert's malady is to this day dim; and strange tales +are current as to the origin of it, which the curious in +Physiology may consult; they are not fit for reporting here. +[Ib. iv. 476.] It seems to have consisted in an overclouding, +rather than a total ruin of the mind. Incurable depression there +was; gloomy torpor alternating with fits of vehement activity or +suffering; great discontinuity at all times:--evident unfitness +for business. It was long hoped he might recover. And Doctors in +Divinity and in Medicine undertook him: Theologians, Exorcists, +Physicians, Quacks; but no cure came of it, nothing but mutual +condemnations, violences and even execrations, from the said +Doctors and their respective Official patrons, lay and clerical. +Must have been such a sceue for a young Wife as has seldom +occurred, in romance or reality! Children continued to be born; +daughter after daughter; but no son that lived. + + + MARGRAF GEORGE FRIEDRICH COMES TO PREUSSEN TO ADMINISTER. + +After five years' space, in 1578, [Pauli, iv. 476, 481, 482.] cure +being now hopeless, and the very Council admitting that the Duke +was incapable of business,--George Friedrich of Anspach-Baireuth +came into the country to take charge of him; having already, he +and the other Brandenburgers, negotiated the matter with the King +of Poland, in whose power it mostly lay. + +George Friedrich was by no means welcome to the Prussian Council, +nor to the Wife, nor to the Landed Aristocracy;--other than +welcome, for reasons we can guess. But he proved, in the judgment +of all fair witnesses, an excellent Governor; and, for six-and- +twenty years, administered the country with great and lasting +advantage to it. His Portraits represent to us a large ponderous +figure of a man, very fat in his latter years; with an air of +honest sense, dignity, composed solidity;--very fit for the task +now on hand. + +He resolutely, though in mild form, smoothed down the flaming +fires of his Clergy; commanding now this controversy and then that +other controversy <italic> ("de concreto et de inconcreto," <end +italic> or whatever they were) to fall strictly silent; to carry +themselves on by thought and meditation merely, and without words. +He tamed the mutinous Aristocracy, the mutinous Burgermeisters, +Town-Council of Konigsberg, whatever mutiny there was. He drained +bogs, says old Rentsch; he felled woods, made roads, established +inns. Prussia was well governed till George's death; which +happened in the year 1603. [Rentsch, pp. 666-688.] Anspach, in the +mean while, Anspach, Baireuth and Jagerndorf, which were latterly +all his, he had governed by deputy; no need of visiting those +quiet countries, except for purposes of kindly recreation, or for +a swift general supervision, now and then. By all accounts, an +excellent, steadfast, wise and just man, this fat George +Friedrich; worthy of the Father that produced him <italic> ("Nit +Kop ab, lover Forst, nit Kop ab!"),---<end italic> and that is +saying much. + +By his death without children much territory fell home to the +Elder House; to be disposed of as was settled in the GERA BOND +five years before. Anspach and Baireuth went to two Brothers of +the now Elector, Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, sons of Johann George +of blessed memory: founders, they, of the "New Line," of whom we +know. Jagerndorf the Elector himself got; and he, not long after, +settled it on one of his own sons, a new Johann George, who at +that time was fallen rather landless and out of a career: "Johann +George of Jagerndorf," so called thenceforth: whose history will +concern us by and by. Preussen was to be incorporated with the +Electorate,--were possession of it once had. But that is a +ticklish point; still ticklish in spite of rights, and liable to +perverse accidents that may arise. + +Joachim Friedrich, as we intimated once, was not wanting to +himself on this occasion. But the affair was full of intricacies; +a very wasps'-nest of angry humors; and required to be handled +with delicacy, though with force and decision. Joachim Friedrich's +eldest Son, Johann Sigismund, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg, had +already, in 1594, married one of Albert Friedrich the +hypochondriac Duke of Preussen's daughters; and there was a +promising family of children; no lack of children. Nevertheless +prudent Joachim Friedrich himself, now a widower, age towards +sixty, did farther, in the present emergency, marry another of +these Princesses, a younger Sister of his Son's Wife,--seven +months after George Friedrich's death,--to make assurance doubly +sure, A man not to be balked, if he can help it. By virtue of +excellent management,--Duchess, Prussian STANDE (States), and +Polish Crown, needing all to be oontented,--Joachim Friedrich, +with gentle strong pressure, did furthermore squeeze his way into +the actual Guardianship of Preussen and the imbecile Duke, which +was his by right. This latter feat he achieved in the course of +another year (11th March, 1605); [Stenzel, i. 358.] and thereby +fairly got hold of Preussen; which he grasped, "knuckles-white," +as we may say; and which his descendants have never quitted since. + +Good management was very necessary. The thing was difficult;--and +also was of more importance than we yet altogether see. +Not Preussen only, but a still better country, the Duchy of Cleve, +Cleve-Julich, Duke Wilhelm's Heritage down in the Rhineland,-- +Heritage turning out now to be of right his eldest Daughter's +here, and likely now to drop soon,--is involved in the thing. +This first crisis, of getting into the Prussian Administratorship, +fallen vacant, our vigilant Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich has +successfully managed; and he holds his grip, knuckles-white. +Before long, a second crisis comes; where also he will have to +grasp decisively in,--he, or those that stand for him, and whose +knuckles can still hold, But that may go to a new Chapter. + + + +Chapter XIII. + +NINTH KURFURST, JOHANN SIGISMUND. + +In the summer of 1608 (23d May, 1608) Johann Sigismund's (and his +Father's) Mother-in-law, the poor Wife of the poor imbecile Duke +of Preussen, died. [Maria Eleonora, Duke Wilhelm of Cleve's eldest +Daughter: 1550, 1573, 1608 (Hubner, t. 286).] Upon which Johann +Sigismund, Heir-Apparent of Brandenburg and its expectancies, was +instantly despatched from Berlin, to gather up the threads cut +loose by that event, and see that the matter took no damage. +On the road thither news reached him that his own Father, old +Joachim Friedrich, was dead (18th July, 1608); that he himself was +now Kurfurst; [1572, 1608-1619.] and that numerous threads were +loose at both ends of his affairs. + +The "young man"--not now so young, being full thirty-five and of +fair experience--was in difficulty, under these overwhelming +tidings; and puzzled, for a little, whether to advance or to +return. He decided to advance, and settle Prussian matters, +where the peril and the risk were; Brandenburg business he could +do by rescripts. + +His difficulties in Preussen, and at the Polish Court, were in +fact immense. But after a space of eight or nine months, he did, +by excellent management, not sparing money judiciously laid out on +individuals, arrive at some adjustment, better or worse, and got +Preussen in hand; [29th April, 1609. Stenzel, i. 370.] legal +Administrator of the imbecile Duke, as his Father had been. +After which he had to run for Brandenburg, without loss of time: +great matters being there in the wind. Nothing wrong in +Brandenburg, indeed; but the great Cleve Heritage is dropping, has +dropped; over in Cleve, an immense expectancy is now come to the +point of deciding itself. + + + + +TAKE IN MAPS-------------------------------------------- + + + + + +HOW THE CLEVE HERITAGE DROPPED, AND MANY SPRANG TO PICK IT UP. + +Wilhelm of Cleve, the explosive Duke, whom we saw at Berlin and +Konigsberg at the wedding of this poor Lady now deceased, had in +the marriage-contract, as he did in all subsequent contracts and +deeds of like nature, announced a Settlement of his Estates, which +was now become of the highest moment for Johann Sigismund. +The Country at that time called Duchy of Cleve, consisted, as we +said above, not only of Cleve-Proper, but of two other still +better Duchies, Julich and Berg; then of the GRAFSCHAFT (County) +of Ravensburg, County of Mark, Lordship of---In fact it was a +multifarious agglomerate of many little countries, gathered by +marriage, heritage and luck, in the course of centuries, and now +united in the hand of this Duke Wilhelm. It amounted perhaps to +two Yorkshires in extent. [See Busching, <italic> Erdbeschreibung, +<end italic> v. 642-734.] A naturally opulent Country, of fertile +meadows, shipping capabilities, metalliferous hills; and, at this +time, in consequence of the Dutch-Spanish War, and the multitude +of Protestant refugees, it was getting filled with ingenious +industries; and rising to be, what it still is, the busiest +quarter of Germany. A Country lowing with kine; the hum of the +flax-spindle heard in its cottages, in those old days,--"much of +the linen called Hollands is made in Julich, and only bleached, +stamped and sold, by the Dutch," says Busching. A Country, in our +days, which is shrouded at short intervals with the due canopy of +coal-smoke, and loud with sounds of the anvil and the loom. + +This Duchy of Cleve, all this fine agglomerate of Duchies, Duke +Wilhelm settled, were to be inherited in a piece, by his eldest +(or indeed, as it soon proved, his only) Son and the heirs of that +Son, if there were any. Failing heirs of that only Son, then the +entire Duchy of Cleve was to go to Maria Eleonora as eldest +Daughter, now marrying to Friedrich Albert, Duke of Prussia, and +to their heirs lawfully begotten: heirs female, if there happened +to be no male. The other Sisters, of whom there were three, were +none of them to have the least pretence to inherit Cleve or any +part of it. On the contrary, they were, in such event, of the +eldest Daughter or her heirs coming to inherit Cleve, to have each +of them a sum of ready money paid ["200,000 GOLDGULDEN," about +100,000 pounds; Pauli, vi. 542; iii. 504.] by the said inheritrix +of Cleve or her heirs; and on receiving that, were to consider +their claims entirely fulfilled, and to cease thinking of Cleve +for the future. + +This Settlement, by express privilege of Kaiser Karl V., nay of +Kaiser Maximilian before him, and the Laws of the Reich, Duke +Wilhelm doubted not he was entitled to make; and this Settlement +he made; his Lawyers writing down the terms, in their wearisome +way, perhaps six times over; and struggling by all methods to +guard against the least misunderstanding. Cleve with all its +appurtenances, Julich, Berg and the rest, goes to the eldest +Sister and her heirs, male or female: If she have no heirs, male +or female, then, but not till then, the next Sister steps into her +shoes in that matter: but if she have, then, we repeat for the +sixth and last time, no Sister or Sister's Representative has the +least word to say to it, but takes her 100,000 pounds, and ceases +thinking of Cleve. + +The other three Sisters were all gradually married;--one of them +to Pfalz-Neuburg, an eminent Prince, in the Bavarian region called +the OBER-PFALZ (Upper Palatinate), who, or at least whose eldest +Son, is much worth mentioning and remembering by us here;--and, in +all these marriage-contracts, Wilhelm and his Lawyers expressed +themselves to the like effect, and in the like elaborate sixfold +manner: so that Wilhelm and they thought there could nowhere in +the world be any doubt about it. + +Shortly after signing the last of these marriage-contracts, or +perhaps it was in the course of signing them, Duke Wilhelm had a +stroke of palsy. He had, before that, gone into Papistry again, +poor man. The truth is, he had repeated strokes; and being an +abrupt, explosive Herr, he at last quite yielded to palsy; +and sank slowly out of the world, in a cloud of semi-insanity, +which lasted almost twenty years. [Died 25th January, 1592, age +76.] Duke Wilhelm did leave a Son, Johann Wilhelm, who succeeded +him as Duke. But this Son also proved explosive; went half and at +length wholly insane. Jesuit Priests, and their intrigues to bring +back a Protestant country to the bosom of the Church, wrapped the +poor man, all his days, as in a burning Nessus'-Shirt; and he did +little but mischief in the world. He married, had no children; +he accused his innocent Wife, the Jesuits and he, of infidelity. +Got her judged, not properly sentenced; and then strangled her, he +and they, in her bed:--"Jacobea of Baden (1597);" a thrice-tragic +history. Then he married again; Jesuits being extremely anxious +for an Orthodox heir: but again there came no heir; there came +only new blazings of the Nessus'-Shirt. In fine, the poor man died +(Spring, 1609), and made the world rid of him. Died 25th March, +1609; that is the precise date;--about a month before our new +Elector, Johann Sigismund, got his affairs winded up at the Polish +Court, and came galloping home in such haste. There was pressing +need of him in the Cleve regions. + +For the painful exactitude of Duke Wilhelm and his Lawyers has +profited little; and there are claimants on claimants rising for +that valuable Cleve Country. As indeed Johann Sigismund had +anticipated, and been warned from all quarters, to expect. +For months past, he has had his faculties bent, with lynx-eyed +attention, on that scene of things; doubly and trebly impatient to +get Preussen soldered up, ever since this other matter came to the +bursting-point. What could be done by the utmost vigilance of his +Deputies, he had done. It was the 25th of March when the mad Duke +died: on the 4th of April, Johann Sigismund's Deputy, attended by +a Notary to record the act, "fixed up the Brandenburg Arms on the +Government-House of Cleve;" [Pauli, vi. 566.] on the 5th, they did +the same at Dusseldorf; on the following days, at Julich and the +other Towns. But already on the 5th, they had hardly got done at +Dusseldorf, when there appeared--young Wolfgang Wilhelm, Heir- +Apparent of that eminent Pfalz-Neuburg, he in person, to put up +the Pfalz-Neuburg Arms! Pfalz-Neuburg, who married the Second +Daughter, he is actually claiming, then;--the whole, or part? +Both are sensible that possession is nine points in law. + +Pfalz-Neuburg's claim was for the whole Duchy. "All my serene +Mother's!" cried the young Heir of Pfalz-Neuburg: "Properly all +mine!" cried he. "Is not she NEAREST of kin? Second Daughter, +true; but the Daughter; not Daughter OF a Daughter, as you are (as +your Serene Electress is), O DURCHLAUCHT of Brandenburg:-- +consider, besides, you are female, I am male!" That was Pfalz- +Neuburg's logic: none of the best, I think, in forensic genealogy. +His tenth point was perhaps rather weak; but he had possession, +co-possession, and the nine points good. The other Two Sisters, by +their Sons or Husbands, claimed likewise; but not the whole: +"Divide it," said they: "that surely is the real meaning of +Karl V.'s Deed of Privilege to make such a Testament. Divide it +among the Four Daughters or their representatives, and let us all +have shares!" + +Nor were these four claimants by any means all. The Saxon Princes +next claimed; two sets of Saxon Princes. First the minor set, +Gotha-Weimar and the rest, the Ernestine Line so called; +representatives of Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, who lost the +Electorate for religion's sake at Muhlberg in the past century, +and from MAJOR became MINOR in Saxon Genealogy. "Magnanimous +Johann Friedrich," said they, "had to wife an Aunt of the now +deceased Duke of Cleve; Wife Sibylla (sister of the Flanders +Mare), of famous memory, our lineal Ancestress. In favor of whom +HER Father, the then reigning Duke of Cleve, made a marriage- +contract of precisely similar import to this your Prussian one: +he, and barred all his descendants, if contracts are to be valid." +This is the claim of the Ernestine Line of Saxon Princes; not like +to go for much, in their present disintegrated condition. + +But the Albertine Line, the present Elector of Saxony, also +claims: "Here is a Deed," said he, "executed by Kaiser Friedrich +III. in the year 1483, [Pauli, ubi supra; Hubner, t. 286.] +generations before your Kaiser Karl; Deed solemnly granting to +Albert, junior of Sachsen, and to his heirs, the reversion of +those same Duchies, should the Male Line happen to fail, as it was +then likely to do. How could Kaiser Max revoke his Father's deed, +or Kaiser Karl his Great-grandfather's? Little Albert, the Albert +of the PRINZENRAUB, he who grew big, and fought lion-like for his +Kaiser in the Netherlands and Western Countries; he and his have +clearly the heirship of Cleve by right; and we, now grown +Electors, and Seniors of Saxony, demand it of a grateful House +of Hapsburg,--and will study to make ourselves convenient +in return."-- + +"Nay, if that is your rule, that old Laws and Deeds are to come in +bar of new, we," cry a multitude of persons,--French Dukes of +Nevers, and all manner of remote, exotic figures among them,-- +"we are the real heirs! Ravensburg, Mark, Berg, Ravenstein, this +patch and the other of that large Duchy of yours, were they not +from primeval time expressly limited to heirs-male? Heirs-male; +and we now are the nearest heirs-male of said patches and +portions; and will prove it!"--In short, there never was such +a Lawsuit,--so fat an affair for the attorney species, if that +had been the way of managing it,--as this of Cleve was likely +to prove. + + +THE KAISER'S THOUGHTS ABOUT IT, AND THE WORLD'S. + +What greatly complicated the affair, too, was the interest the +Kaiser took in it. The Kaiser could not well brook a powerful +Protestant in that country; still less could his Cousin the +Spaniard. Spaniards, worn to the ground, coercing that world- +famous Dutch Revolt, and astonished to find that they could not +coerce it at all, had resolved at this time to take breath before +trying farther. Spaniards and Dutch, after Fifty years of such +fighting as we know, have made a Twelve-years' Truce (1609): but +the battled Spaniard, panting, pale in his futile rage and sweat, +has not given up the matter; he is only taking breath, and will +try it again. Now Cleve is his road into Holland, in such +adventure; no success possible if Cleve be not in good hands. +Brandenburg is Protestant, powerful; Brandenburg will not do for +a neighbor there. + +Nor will Pfalz-Neuburg. A Protestant of Protestants, this Palatine +Neuburg too,--junior branch, possible heir in time coming, of +KUR-PFALZ (Elector Palatine) himself, in the Rhine Countries; +of Kur-Pfalz, who is acknowledged Chief Protestant: official +"President" of the "Evangelical Union" they have lately made among +them in these menacing times;--Pfalz-Neuburg too, this young +Wolfgang Wilhelm, if he do not break off kind, might be very +awkward to the Kaiser in Cleve-Julich. Nay Saxony itself; for they +are all Protestants:--unless perhaps Saxony might become pliant, +and try to make itself useful to a munificent Imperial House? + +Evidently what would best suit the Kaiser and Spaniards, were +this, That no strong Power whatever got footing in Cleve, to grow +stronger by the possession of such a country:--BETTER than best it +would suit, if he, the Kaiser, could himself get it smuggled into +his hands, and there hold it fast! Which privately was the course +resolved upon at headquarters.--In this way the "Succession +Controversy of the Cleve Duchies" is coming to be a very high +matter; mixing itself, up with the grand Protestant-Papal +Controversy, the general armed-lawsuit of mankind in that +generation. Kaiser, Spaniard, Dutch, English, French Henri IV. and +all mortals, are getting concerned in the decision of it. + + + +Chapter XIV. + +SYMPTOMS OF A GREAT WAR COMING. + +Meanwhile Brandenburg and Neuburg both hold grip of Cleve in that +manner, with a mutually menacing inquiring expression of +countenance; each grasps it (so to speak) convulsively with the +one hand, and has with the other hand his sword by the hilt, ready +to fly out. But to understand this Brandenburg-Neuburg phenomenon +and the then significance of the Cleve-Julich Controversy, we must +take the following bits of Chronology along with us. For the +German Empire, with Protestant complaints, and Papist usurpations +and severities, was at this time all a continent of sour thick +smoke,already breaking out into dull-red flashes here and there,-- +symptoms of the universal conflagration of a Thirty-Years War, +which followed. SYMPTON FIRST is that of Donauworth, and dates +above a year back. + + +FIRST SYMPTOM; DONAUWORTH, 1608. + +Donauworth, a Protestant Imperial Free-town, in the Bavarian +regions, had been, for some fault on the part of the populace +against a flaring Mass-procession which had no business to be +there, put under Ban of the Empire; had been seized accordingly +(December, 1607), and much cuffed, and shaken about, by Duke +Maximilian of Bavaria, as executor of the said Ban; [Michaeelis, +ii. 216; Buddaei LEXICON, i. 853.]--who, what was still worse, +would by no means give up the Town when he had done with it; +Town being handy to him, and the man being stout and violently +Papist. Hence the "Evangelical Union" which we saw,--which has +not taken Donauworth yet. Nor ever will! Donauworth never was +retaken; but is Bavarian at this hour, A Town namable in History +ever since. Not to say withal, that it is where Marlborough, did +"the Lines of Schellenberg" long after: Schellenberg ("Jingle- +Hill," so to render it) looks down across the Danube or Donau +River, upon Donauworth,--its "Lines," and other histories, now +much abolished, and quiet under grass. + +But now all Protestantism sounding everywhere, in angry mournful +tone, "Donauwarth! Give up Donauworth!"--and an "Evangelical +Union," with moneys, with theoretic contingents of force, being on +foot for that and the like objects;--we can fancy what a scramble +this of Cleve-Julich was like to be; and especially what effect +this duelling attitude of Brandenburg and Neuburg had on the +Protestant mind. Protestant neighbors, Landgraf Moritz of +Hessen-Cassel at their head, intervene in tremulous haste, in the +Cleve-Julich affair: "Peace, O friends! Some bargain; peaceable +joint-possession; any temporary bargain, till we see! Can two +Protestants fall to slashing one another, in such an aspect of the +Reich and its Jesuitries?"--And they did agree (Dortmund, 10th +May, 1609) the first of their innumerable "agreements," to some +temporary joint-possession;--the thrice-thankful Country doing +homage to both, "with oath to the one that SHALL be found +genuine." And they did endeavor to govern jointly, and to keep the +peace on those terms, though it was not easy. + +For the Kaiser had already said (or his Aulic Council and Spanish +Cousin, poor Kaiser Rodolf caring too little about these things, +[Rodolf II. (Kepler's too insolvent "Patron"), 1576-1612; then +Matthias, Rodolf's Brother, 1612-1619, rather tolerant to +Protestants;--then Ferdinand II. his Uncle's Son, 1619-1637, much +the reverse of tolerant, by whom mainly came the Thirty-Years +War,--were the Kaisers of this Period. + Ferdinand III., Son of II: (1637-1657), who finished out the +Thirty-Years War, partly by fighting of his own in young days +(Battle of Nordlingen his grandest feat), was Father of + Kaiser Leopold (1658-1705),--whose Two Sons were + Kaiser Joseph (1705-1711) and Kaiser Karl VI. (1711-1740), Maria +Theresa's Father.] had already said), Cleve must absolutely not go +into wrong hands. For which what safe method is there, but that +the Kaiser himself become proprietor? A Letter is yet extant, from +the Aulic Council to their Vice-Chancellor, who had been sent to +negotiate this matter with the parties; Letter to the effect, That +such result was the only good one; that it must be achieved; +"that he must devise all manner of quirks <italic> (alle +Spitzfindigkeiten auffordern sollte)," <end italic> and achieve +it. [Pauli, iii. 5055.] This curious Letter of a sublime Aulic +Council, or Imperial HOF-RATH, to its VICE-KANZLER, still exists. + +And accordingly quirks did not prove undevisable on behalf of the +Kaiser. "Since you cannot agree," said the Kaiser, "and there are +so many of you who claim (we having privately stirred up several +of you to the feat), there will be nothing for it, but the Kaiser +must put the Country under sequestration, and take possession of +it with his own troops, till a decision be arrived at,--which +probably will not be soon!" + + +SECOND SYMPTOM; SEIZURE OF JULICH BY THE KAISER, AND SIEGE +AND RECAPTURE OF IT BY THE PROTESTANT PARTIES, 1610. WHEREUPON +WHEREUPON "CATHOLIC LEAGUE," TO BALANCEE "EVANGELICAL UNION." + +And the Kaiser forthwith did as he had said; sent Archduke Leopold +with troops, who forcibly took the Castle of Julich; commanding +all other castles and places to surrender and sequestrate +themselves, in like fashion; threatening Brandenburg and Neuburg, +in a dreadful manner, with REICHS-ACHT (Ban of the Empire), if +they presumed to show contumacy. Upon which Brandenburg and +Neuburg, ranking themselves together, showed decided contumacy; +"tore down the Kaiser's Proclamation," [Ib. iii. 524. Emperor's +Proclamation, in Dusseldorf, 23d July, 1609,--taken down solemnly, +1st August, 1609,] having good help at their back. + +And accordingly, "on the 4th of September, 1610," after a +two-months' siege, they, or the Dutch, French, and Evangelical +Union Troops bombarding along with them, and "many English +volunteers" to help, retook Julich, and packed Leopold away again. +[Ib. iii. 527.] The Dutch and the French were especially anxious +about this Cleve business,--poor Henri IV. was just putting those +French troops in motion towards Julich, when Ravaillac, the +distracted Devil's-Jesuit, did his stroke upon him; so that +another than Henri had to lead in that expedition. The actual +Captain at the Siege was Prince Christian of Anhalt, by repute the +first soldier of Germany at that period: he had a horse shot under +him, the business being very hot and furious;--he had still worse +fortune in the course of years. There were "many English +volunteers" at this Siege; English nation hugely interested in it, +though their King would not act except diplomatically. It was the +talk of all the then world,--the evening song and the morning +prayer of Protestants especially,--till it was got ended in this +manner. It deserves to rank as SYMPTON SECOND in this business; +far bigger flare of dull red in the universal smoke-continent, +than that of Donauworth had been. Are there no memorials left of +those "English volunteers," then? [In Carlyle's <italic> +Miscellanies <end italic> (vi. ? "Two Hundred and Fifty Years ago: +a Fragment about Duels") is one small scene belonging to them.] +Alas, they might get edited as Bromley's <italic> Royal Letters +<end italic> are;--and had better lie quiet! + +"Evangelical Union," formed some two years before, with what cause +we saw, has Kur-Pfalz [Winter-King's Father; died 9th September, +1610, few days after this recapture of Julich.] at the head of it: +but its troops or operations were never of a very forcible +character. Kur-Brandenburg now joined it formally, as did many +more; Kur-Sachsen, anxious to make himself convenient in other +quarters, never would. Add to these phenomena, the now decisive +appearance of a "Catholic LIGA" (League of Catholic Princes), +which, by way of counterpoise to the "Union," had been got up by +Duke Maximilian of Bavaria several months ago; and which now, +under the same guidance, in these bad circumstances, took a great +expansion of figure. Duke Maximilian, "DONAUWORTH Max," finding +the Evangelical Union go so very high, and his own Kaiser like to +be good for little in such business (poor hypochondriac Kaiser +Rodolf II., more taken up with turning-looms and blow-pipes +than with matters political, who accordingly is swept out of +Julich in such summary way),--Donauworth Max has seen this a +necessary institution in the present aspect.--Both "Union" and +"League" rapidly waxed under the sound of the Julich cannon, as +was natural. + +Kur-Sachsen, for standing so well aloof from the Union, got from +the thankful Kaiser written Titles for these Duchies of Cleve and +Julich; Imperial parchments and infeftments of due extent; +but never any Territory in those parts. He never offered fight for +his pretensions; and Brandenburg and Neuburg--Neuburg especially-- +always answered him, "No!" with sword half-drawn. So Kur-Sachsen +faded out again, and took only parchments by the adventure. +Practically there was no private Competitor of moment to +Brandenburg, except this Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg; +he alone having clutched hold.--But we hasten to SYMPTOM THIRD, +which particularly concerns us, and will be intelligible now +at last. + + +SYMPTOM THIRD: A DINNER-SCENE AT DUSSELDORF, 1613: +SPANIARDS AND DUTCH SHOULDER ARMS IN CLEVE. + +Brandenburg and Neuburg stood together against third parties; +but their joint-government was apt to fall in two, when left to +itself, and the pressure of danger withdrawn. "They governed by +the RATHS and STANDE of the Country;" old methods and old official +men: each of the two had his own Vice-Regent (STATTHALTER) present +on the ground, who jointly presided as they could. Jarrings were +unavoidable; but how mend it? Settle the litigated Territory +itself, and end their big lawsuit, they could not; often as they +tried it, with the whole world encouraging and urging them. +[Old Sir Henry Wotton, Provost of Eton in his old days, remembers +how he went Ambassador on this errand,--as on many others equally +bootless;--and writes himself "Legatus," not only "thrice to +Venice, twice to" &c. &c., but also "once to Holland in the +Juliers matter <italic> (semel in Juliacensi negotio):" <end +italic> see <italic> Reliquiae Wottonianae <end italic> (London, +1672), Preface. It was "in 1614," say the Biographies vaguely. +His Despatches, are they in the Paper-Office still? His good old +Book deserves new editing, his good old genially pious life a +proper elucidation, by some faithful man.] The meetings they had, +and the treaties and temporary bargains they made, and kept, and +could not keep, in these and in the following years and +generations, pass our power of recording. + +In 1613 the Brandenburg STATTHALTER was Ernst, the Elector's +younger Brother, Wolfgang Wilhelm in person, for his Father, or +rather for himself as heir of his Mother, represented Pfalz- +Neuburg. Ernst of Brandenburg had adopted Calvinism as his creed; +a thing hateful and horrible to the Lutheran mind (of which sort +was Wolfgang Wilhelm), to a degree now altogether inconceivable. +Discord arose in consequence between the STATTHALTERS, as to +official appointments, sacred and secular: "You are for promoting +Calvinists!"--"And you, I see, are for promoting Lutherans!"-- +Johann Sigismund himself had to intervene: Wolfgang Wilhelm and he +had their meetings, friendly colloquies:--the final celloquy of +which is still memorable; and issues in SYMPTOM THIRD. + +We said, a strong flame of choler burnt in all these +Hohenzollerns, though they held it well down. Johann Sigismund, an +excellent man of business, knew how essential a mild tone is: +nevertheless he found, as this colloquy went on, that human +patience might at length get too much. The scene, after some +examination, is conceivable in this wise: Place Dusseldorf, +Elector's apartment in the Schloss there; time late in the Year +1613, Day not discoverable by me. The two sat at dinner, after +much colloquy all morning: Johann Sigismund, a middle-aged, +big-headed, stern-faced, honest-looking man; hair cropped, +I observe; and eyelids slightly contracted, as if for sharper +vision into matters: Wolfgang Wilhelm, of features fallen dim to +me; an airy gentleman, well out of his teens, but, I doubt, not of +wisdom sufficient; evidently very high and stiff in his ways. + +His proposal, by way of final settlement, and end to all these +brabbles, was this, and he insisted on it: "Give me your eldest +Princess to wife; let her dowry be your whole claim on Cleve- +Julich; I will marry her on that condition, and we shall be +friends!" Here evidently is a gentleman that does not want for +conceit in himself:--consider too, in Johann Sigismund's opinion, +he had no right to a square inch of these Territories, though for +peace' sake a joint share had been allowed him for the time! +"On that condition, jackanapes?' thought Johann Sigismund: +"My girl is not a monster; nor at a loss for husbands fully better +than you, I should hope!" This he thought, and could not help +thinking; but endeavored to say nothing of it. The young +jackanapes went on, insisting. Nature at last prevailed; Johann +Sigismund lifted his hand (princely etiquettes melting all into +smoke on the sudden), and gave the young jackanapes a slap over +the face. Veritable slap; which opened in a dreadful manner the +eyes of young Pfalz-Neuburg to his real situation; and sent him +off high-flaming, vowing never-imagined vengeance. A remarkable +slap; well testified to,--though the old Histories, struck blank +with terror, reverence and astonishment, can for most part only +symbol it in dumb-show; [Pufendorf <italic> (Rer. Brandenb. <end +italic> lib. iv. ? 16, p. 213), and many others, are in this case. +Tobias Pfanner <italic> (Historia Pacis Westphalicae, <end italic> +lib. i. ? 9, p. 26) is explicit: <italic> "Neque, ut infida +regnandi societas est, Brandenburgio et Neoburgio diu conveniebat; +eorumque jurgia, cum matrimonii faedere pacari posse propinqui +ipsorum credidissent, acrius ezarsere; inter epulas, quibus +futurum generum Septemvir <end italic> (the "Sevensman," or +Elector, "One of The Seven") <italic> excipiebat, hujus enim filia +Wolfgango sperabatur, ob nescio quos sermones eo inter utrumque +altercalione provecta, ut Elector irae impotestior, nulla +dignitatis, hospitii, cognationis, affinitatisve verecundia +cohibitus, intenderit Neoburgio manus, et contra tendentis os +verberaverit. Ita, quae apud concordes vincula caritatis, +incitamenta irarum apud infensos erant." <end italic> (Cited in +Kohler, <italic> Munzbelustiqungen, <end italic> xxi. 341; +who refers also to Levassor, <italic> Histoire de Louis XII.)<end +italic>--Pauli (iii. 542) bedomes qnite vaporous.] a slap that had +important consequences in this world. + +For now Wolfgang Wilhelm, flaming off in never-imagined vengeance, +posted straight to Munchen, to Max of Bavaria there; declared +himself convinced, or nearly so, of the Roman-Catholic Religion; +wooed, and in a few weeks (10th November, 1613) wedded Max's +younger Sister; and soon after, at Dusseldorf, pompously professed +such his blessed change of Belief,--with immense flourish of +trumpeting, and jubilant pamphleteering, from Holy Church. +[Kohler, ubi supra.] His poor old Father, the devoutest of +Protestants, wailed aloud his "Ichabod! the glory is departed!"-- +holding "weekly fast and humiliation" ever after,--and died in few +months of a broken heart. The Catholic League has now a new Member +on those terms. + +And on the other hand, Johann Sigismund, nearly with the like +haste (25th December, 1613), declared himself convinced of +Calvinism, his younger Brother's creed; [Pauli, iii. 546.]--which +continues ever since the Brandenburg Court-creed, that of the +People being mostly Lutheran. Men said, it was to please the +Dutch, to please the Julichers, most of whom are Calvinist. +Apologetic Pauli is elaborate, but inconclusive. It was very ill +taken at Berlin, where even popular riot arose on the matter. +In Prussia too it had its drawbacks. [Ib. iii. 544; Michaelis, +i. 349.] + +And now, all being full of mutation, rearrangement and infinite +rumor, there marched next year (1614), on slight pretext, resting +on great suspicions, Spanish troops into the Julich-Cleve country, +and, countenanced by Neuburg, began seizing garrisons there. +Whereupon Dutch troops likewise marched, countenanced by +Brandenburg, and occupied other fortresses and garrisons: and so, +in every strong-place, these were either Papist-Spaniards or +Calvinist-Dutch; who stood there, fronting one another, and could +not by treatying be got out again;--like clouds positively +electric VERSUS clouds negatively. As indeed was getting to be the +case of Germany in general; case fatally visible in every +Province, Principality and Parish there: till a thunder-storm, and +succession of thunder-storms, of Thirty Years' continuance, broke +out. Of which these huge rumors and mutations, and menacings of +war, springing out of that final colloquy and slap in the face, +are to be taken as the THIRD premonitory Symptom. Spaniards and +Dutch stand electrically fronting one another in Cleve for seven +years, till their Truce is out, before they clash together; +Germany does not wait so long by a couple of years. + + + SYMPTOM FOURTH, AND CATASTROPHE UPON THE HEELS OF IT. + +Five years more (1618), and there will have come a FOURTH Symptom, +biggest of all, rapidly consummating the process;--Symptom still +famed, of the following external figure: Three Official Gentlemen +descending from a window in the Castle of Prag: hurled out by +impatient Bohemian Protestantism, a depth of seventy feet,-- +happily only into dung, and without loss of life. From which +follows a "King of Bohemia" elected there, King not unknown to +us;--"thunder-clouds" all in one huge clash, and the "continent of +sour smoke" blazing all into a continent of thunderous fire: +THIRTY-YEARS WAR, as they now call it! Such a conflagration as +poor Germany never saw before or since. + +These were the FOUR preliminary SYMPTOMS of that dismal business. +"As to the primary CAUSES of it," says one of my Authorities, +"these lie deep, deep almost as those of Original Sin. But the +proximate causes seem to me to have been these two: FIRST, That +the Jesuit-Priests and Principalities had vowed and resolved to +have, by God's help and by the Devil's (this was the peculiarity +of it), Europe made Orthodox again: and then SECONDLY, The fact +that a Max of Bavaria existed at that time, whose fiery character, +cunning but rash head, and fanatically Papist heart disposed him +to attempt that enterprise, him with such resources and +capacities, under their bad guidance." + +Johann Sigismund did many swift decisive strokes of business in +his time, businesses of extensive and important nature; but this +of the slap to Neuburg has stuck best in the idle memory of +mankind. Dusseldorf, Year 1613: it was precisely in the time when +that same Friedrioh, not yet by any means "King of Bohemia," but +already Kur-Pfalz (Cousin of this Neuburg, and head man of the +Protestants), was over here in England, on a fine errand;--namely, +had married the fair Elizabeth (14th February, 1613), James the +First's Princess; "Goody Palsgrave," as her Mother floutingly +called her, not liking the connection. What kind of a "King of +Bohemia" this Friedrich made, five or six years after, and +what sea of troubles he and his entered into, we know; +the "WINTER-KONIG" (Winter-King, fallen in times of FROST, or +built of mere frost, a SNOW-king altogether soluble again) is the +name he gets in German Histories. But here is another hook to hang +Chronology upon. + +This brief Bohemian Kingship had not yet exploded on the +Weissenberg of Prag, [Battle there, Sunday 8th November, 1620.] +when old Sir Henry Wotton being sent as Ambassador "to LIE abroad" +(as he wittily called it, to his cost) in that Business, saw, in +the City of Lintz in the picturesque green country by the shores +of the Donau there, an ingenious person, who is now recognizable +as one of the remarkablest of mankind, Mr. John Kepler, namely: +Keplar as Wotton writes him; addressing the great Lord Bacon +(unhappily without strict date of any kind) on that among other +subjects. Mr. John's now ever-memorable watching of those <italic> +Motions of the Star Mars, <end italic> [<italic> De Motibus Stellae Martis; <end italic> Prag, 1609.] with "calculations +repeated seventy times," and also with Discovery of the Planetary +Laws of this Universe, some, ten years ago, appears to be unknown +to Wotton and Bacon; but there is something else of Mr. John's +devising [It seems, Baptista Porta (of Naples, dead some years +before) must have given him the essential hint,--of whom, or +whose hint, Mr. John does not happen to inform his Excellency +at present.] which deserves attention from an Instaurator +of Philosophy:-- + +"He hath a little black Tent (of what stuff is not much +importing)," says the Ambassador, "which he can suddenly set +up where he will in a Field; and it is convertible (like a +windmill) to all quarters at pleasure; capable of not much more +than one man, as I conceive, and perhaps at no great ease; exactly +close and dark,--save at one hole, about an inch and a half in the +diameter, to which he applies a long perspective Trunk, with the +convex glass fitted to the said hole, and the concave taken out at +the other end, which extendeth to about the middle of this erected +Tent: through which the visible radiations of all the Objects +without are intromitted, falling upon a Paper, which is +accommodated to receive them; and so he traceth them with his pen +in their natural appearance; turning his little Tent round by +degrees, till he hath designed the whole Aspect of the Field." +[<italic> Reliqui Wottonianae, <end italic> (london 1672), +p. 300.]--In fact he hath a CAMERA OBSCURA, and is exhibiting the +same for the delectation of Imperial gentlemen lounging that way. +Mr. John invents such toys, writes almanacs, practises medicine, +for good reasons; his encouragement from the Holy Roman Empire and +mankind being only a pension of 18 pounds a year, and that hardly +ever paid. An ingenious person, truly, if there ever was one among +Adam's Posterity. Just turned of fifty and ill off for cash. This +glimpse of him, in his little black tent with perspective glasses, +while the Thirty-Years War blazes out, is welcome as a date. + + +WHAT BECAME OF THE CLEVE-JULICH HERITAGE, AND OF THE PREUSSEN ONE. + +In the Cleve Duchies joint government had now become more +difficult than ever: but it had to be persisted in,--under mutual +offences, suspicions and outbreaks hardly repressed;--no final +Bargain of Settlement proving by any method possible. Treaties +enough, and conferences and pleadings, manifestoings:--Could not +some painful German collector of Statistics try to give us the +approximate quantity of impracticable treaties, futile +conferences, manifestoes correspondences; in brief, some +authentical cipher (say in round millions) of idle Words spoken by +official human creatures and approximately (in square miles) the +extent of Law Stationery and other Paper written, first and last, +about this Controversy of the Cleve Duchies? In that form it might +have a momentary interest. + +When the Winter-King's explosion took place, [Crowned at Prag, +4th November N.S. 1619; beaten to ruin there, and obliged to +gallop (almost before dinner done), Sunday, 8th November, 1620.] +and his own unfortunate Pfalz (Palatinate) became the theatre of +war (Tilly, Spinola, VERSUS Pfalzers, English, Dutch), involving +all the neighboring regions, Cleve-Julich did not escape its fate. +The Spaniards and the Dutch, who had long sat in gloomy armed- +truce, occupying with obstinate precaution the main Fortresses of +these Julich-Cleve countries, did now straightway, their Twelve- +Years' truce being out (1621), [Pauli, vi. 578-580.] fall to +fighting and besieging one another there; the huge War, which +proved of Thirty Years, being now all ablaze. What the country +suffered in the interim may be imagined. + +In 1624, in pity to all parties, some attempt at practical +Division of the Territory was again made: Neuburg to have Berg and +Julich, Brandenburg to have Cleve, Mark, Ravensburg and the minor +appurtenances: and Treaty to that effect was got signed (11th May, +1624). But it was not well kept, nor could be; and the statistic +cipher of new treaties, manifestoes, conferences, and approximate +written area of Law-Paper goes on increasing. + +It was not till forty-two years after, in 1666, as will be more +minutely noticeable by and by, that an effective partition could +be practically brought about. Nor in this state was the Lawsuit by +any means ended,--as we shall wearisomely see, in times long +following that. In fact there never was, in the German Chanceries +or out of them, such a Lawsuit, Armed or Wigged, as this of the +Cleve Duchies first and last. And the sentence was not practically +given, till the Congress of Vienna (1815) in our own day gave it; +and the thing Johann Sigismund had claimed legally in 1609 was +actually handed over to Johann Sigismund's Descendant in the +seventh generation, after two hundred and six years. Handed over +to him then,--and a liberal rate of interest allowed. These +litigated Duchies are now the Prussian Province Julich-Berg-Cleve, +and the nucleus of Prussia's possessions in the Rhine country. + +A year before Johann Sigismund's death, Albert Friedrich, the poor +eclipsed Duke of Prussia, died (8th August, 1618): upon which our +swift Kurfurst, not without need of his dexterities there too, got +peaceable possession of Prussia;--nor has his Family lost hold of +that, up to the present time. Next year (23d December, 1619), he +himself closed a swift busy life (labor enough in it for him +perhaps, though only an age of forty-nine); and sank to his long +rest, his works following him,--unalterable thenceforth, not +unfruitful some of them. + + + +Chapter XV. + +TENTH KURFURST, GEORGE WILHELM. + +By far the unluckiest of these Electors, whether the most unworthy +of them or not, was George Wilhelm, Tenth Elector, who now +succeeded Johann Sigismund his Father. The Father's eyes had +closed when this great flame was breaking out; and the Son's days +were all spent amid the hot ashes and fierce blazings of it. + +The position of Brandenburg during this sad Thirty-Years War was +passive rather than active; distinguished only in the former way, +and as far as possible from being glorious or victorious. +Never since the Hohenzollerns came to that Country had Brandenburg +such a time. Difficult to have mended it; impossible to have quite +avoided it;--and Kurfurst George Wilhelm was not a man so superior +to all his neighbors, that he could clearly see his way in such an +element. The perfect or ideal course was clear: To have frankly +drawn sword for his Religion and his Rights, so soon as the battle +fairly opened; and to have fought for these same, till he got +either them or died. Alas, that is easily said and written; but it +is, for a George Wilhelm especially, difficult to do! His +capability in all kinds was limited; his connections, with +this side and that, were very intricate. Gustavus and the +Winter-King were his Brothers-in-law; Gustavus wedded to his +Sister, he to Winter-King's. His relations to Poland, feudal +superior of Preussen, were delicate; and Gustavus was in deadly +quarrel with Poland. And then Gustavus's sudden laying-hold of +Pommern, which had just escaped from Wallenstein and the Kaiser? +It must be granted, poor George Wilhelm's case demanded +circumspectness. + +One can forgive him for declining the Bohemian-King speculation, +though his Uncle of Jagerndorf and his Cousins of Liegnitz were so +hearty and forward in it. Pardonable in him to decline the +Bohemian speculation;--though surely it is very sad that he found +himself so short of "butter and firewood" when the poor Ex-King, +and his young Wife, then in a specially interesting state, came to +take shelter with him! [Solltl <italic> (Geschichte des +Dreissigjahrigen Krieges, <end italic>--a trivial modern Book) +gives a notable memorial from the Brandenburg RATHS, concerning +these their difficulties of housekeeping. Their real object, we +perceive, was to get rid of a Guest so dangerous as the Ex-King, +under Ban of the Empire, had now become.] But when Gustavus +landed, and flung out upon the winds such a banner as that of +his,--truly it was required of a Protestant Governor of men to be +able to read said banner in a certain degree. A Governor, not too +IMperfect, would have recognized this Gustavus, what his purposes +and likelihoods were; the feeling would have been, checked by due +circumspectness: "Up, my men, let us follow this man; let us live +and die in the Cause this man goes for! Live otherwise with honor, +or die otherwise with honor, we cannot, in the pass things have +come to!"--And thus, at the very worst, Brandenburg would have had +only one class of enemies to ravage it; and might have escaped +with, arithmetically speaking, HALF the harrying it got in that +long Business. + +But Protestant Germany--sad shame to it, which proved lasting +sorrow as well--was all alike torpid; Brandenburg not an +exceptional case. No Prince stood up as beseemed: or only one, and +he not a great one; Landgraf Wilhelm of Hessen, who, and his brave +Widow after him, seemed always to know what hour it was. +Wilhelm of Hessen all along;--and a few wild hands, Christian of +Brunswick, Christian of Anhalt, Johann George of Jagerndorf, who +stormed out tumultuously at first, but were soon blown away by the +Tilly-Wallenstein TRADE-WINDS and regulated armaments:--the rest +sat still, and tried all they could to keep out of harm's way. +The "Evangelical Union" did a great deal of manifestoing, +pathetic, indignant and other; held solemn Meetings at Heilbronn, +old Sir Henry Wotton going as Ambassador to them; but never got +any redress. Had the Evangelical Union shut up its inkhorns +sooner; girt on its fighting-tools when the time came, and done +some little execution with them then, instead of none at all,-- +we may fancy the Evangelical Union would have better discharged +its function. It might have saved immense wretchedness to Germany. +But its course went not that way. + +In fact, had there been no better Protestantism than that of +Germany, all was over with Protestantism; and Max of Bavaria, with +fanatical Ferdinand II. as Kaiser over him, and Father Lammerlein +at his right hand and Father Hyacinth at his left, had got their +own sweet way in this world. But Protestant Germany was not +Protestant Europe, after all. Over seas there dwelt and reigned a +certain King in Sweden; there farmed, and walked musing by the +shores of the Ouse in Huntingdonshire, a certain man;--there was a +Gustav Adolf over seas, an Oliver Cromwell over seas; +and "a company of poor men" were found capable of taking Lucifer +by the beard,--who accordingly, with his Lammerleins, Hyacinths, +Habernfeldts and others, was forced to withdraw, after a +tough struggle!-- + + + +Chapter XVI. + +THIRTY-YEARS WAR. + +The enormous Thirty-Years War, most intricate of modern +Occurrences in the domain of Dryasdust, divides itself, after some +unravelling, into Three principal Acts or Epochs; in all of which, +one after the other, our Kurfurst had an interest mounting +progressively, but continuing to be a passive interest. + +Act FIRST goes from 1620 to 1624; and might be entitled "The +Bohemian King Made and Demolished." Personally the Bohemian King +was soon demolished. His Kingship may be said to have gone off by +explosion; by one Fight, namely, done on the Weissenberg near Prag +(Sunday, 8th November, 1620), while he sat at dinner in the City, +the boom of the cannon coming in with interest upon his high +guests and him. He had to run, in hot haste, that night, leaving +many of his important papers,--and becomes a Winter-King. Winter- +King's account was soon settled. But the extirpating of his +Adherents, and capturing of his Hereditary Lands, Palatinate and +Upper-Palatinate, took three years more. Hard fighting for the +Palatinate; Tilly and Company against the "Evangelical-Union +Troops, and the English under Sir Horace Vere." Evangelical-Union +Troops, though marching about there, under an Uncle of our +Kurfurst (Margraf Joachim Ernst, that lucky Anspach Uncle, founder +of "the Line"), who professed some skill in soldiering, were a +mere Picture of an Army; would only "observe," and would not fight +at all. So that the whole fighting fell to Sir Horace and his poor +handful of English; of whose grim posture "in Frankendale" +[Frankenthal, a little Town in the Palatinate, N.W. from Mannheim +a short way.] and other Strongholds, for months long, there is +talk enough in the old English History-Books. + +Then there were certain stern War-Captains, who rallied from the +Weissenberg Defeat:--Christian of Brunswick, the chief of them, +titular Bishop of Halberstadt, a high-flown, fiery young fellow, +of terrible fighting gifts; he flamed up considerably, with "the +Queen of Bohemia's glove stuck in his Hat:" "Bright Lady, it shall +stick there, till I get you your own again, or die!" [1621-1623, +age not yet twenty-five; died (by poison), 1626, having again +become supremely important just then. <italic> "Gottes Freund, der +Pfaffen Feind <end italic> (God's Friend, Priests' Foe);" <italic> +"Alles fur Ruhm und Ihr (All for Glory and Her," <end italic> +--the bright Elizabeth, become Ex-Queen), were mottoes of his.-- +Buddaus IN VOCE (i. 649); Michaelis, i. 110.] Christian of +Brunswick, George of Jagerndorf (our Kurfurst's Uncle), Count +Mansfeldt and others, made stormy fight once and again, hanging +upon this central "Frankendale" Business, till they and it became +hopeless. For the Kaiser and his Jesuits were not in doubt; +a Kaiser very proud, unscrupulous; now clearly superior in force, +--and all along of great superiority in fraud. + +Christian of Brunswick, Johann George and Mansfeldt were got rid +of: Christian by poison; Johann George and Mansfeldt by other +methods,--chiefly by playing upon poor King James of England, and +leading him by the long nose he was found to have. The Palatinate +became the Kaiser's for the time being; Upper Palatinate (OBER- +PFALZ) Duke Max of Bavaria, lying contiguous to it, had easily +taken. "Incorporate the Ober-Pfalz with your Bavaria," said the +Kaiser, "you, illustrious, thrice-serviceable Max! And let +Lammerlein and Hyacinth, with their Gospel of Ignatius, loose upon +it. Nay, as a still richer reward, be yours the forfeited KUR +(Electorship) of this mad Kur-Pfalz, or Winter-King. I will hold +his Rhine-Lands, his UNTER-PFALZ: his Electorship and OBER-PFALZ, +I say, are yours, Duke, henceforth KURFURST Maximilian!" [Kohler, +<italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> p. 520.] Which was a hard +saying in the ears of Brandenburg, Saxony and the other Five, and +of the Reich in general; but they had all to comply, after +wincing. For the Kaiser proceeded with a high hand. He had put the +Ex-King under Ban of the Empire (never asking "the Empire" about +it); put his Three principal Adherents, Johann George of +Jagerndorf one of them, Prince Christian of Anhalt (once captain +at the Siege of Juliers) another, likewise under Ban of the +Empire; [22d Jan. 1621 (ibid. p. 518).] and in short had flung +about, and was flinging, his thunder-bolts in a very Olympian +manner. Under all which, what could Brandenburg and the others do; +but whimper some trembling protest, "Clear against Law!"--and sit +obedient? The Evangelical Union did not now any more than formerly +draw out its fighting-tools. In fact, the Evangelical Union now +fairly dissolved itself; melted into a deliquium of terror under +these thunder-bolts that were flying, and was no more heard of in +the world.-- + + +SECOND ACT, OR EPOCH, 1624-1629. A SECOND UNCLE PUT TO +THE BAN, AND POMMERN SNATCHED AWAY. + +Except in the "NETHER-SAXON CIRCLE" (distant Northwest region, +with its Hanover, Mecklenburg, with its rich Hamburgs, Lubecks, +Magdeburgs, all Protestant, and abutting on the Protestant North), +trembling Germany lay ridden over as the Kaiser willed. Foreign +League got up by France, King James, Christian IV. of Denmark +(James's Brother-in-law, with whom he had such "drinking" in +Somerset House, long ago, on Christian's visit hither [Old +Histories of James I. (Wilson, &c.)]), went to water, or worse. +Only the "Nether-Saxon Circle" showed some life; was levying an +army; and had appointed Christian of Brunswick its Captain, till +he was got poisoned;--upon which the drinking King of Denmark took +the command. + +Act SECOND goes from 1624 to 1627 or even 1629; and contains +drunken Christian's Exploits. Which were unfortunate, almost to +the ruin of Denmark itself, as well as of the Nether-Saxon +Circle;--till in the latter of these years he slightly rallied, +and got a supportable Peace granted him (Peace of Lubeck, 1629); +after which he sits quiet, contemplative, with an evil eye upon +Sweden now and then. The beatings he got, in quite regular +succession, from Tilly and Consorts, are not worth mentioning: +the only thing one now remembers of him is his alarming accident +on the ramparts of Hameln, just at the opening of these Campaigns. +At Hameln, which was to be a strong post, drunken Christian rode +out once, on a summer afternoon (1624), to see that the ramparts +were all right, or getting all right;--and tumbled, horse and self +(self in liquor, it is thought), in an ominous alarming manner. +Taken up for dead;--nay some of the vague Histories seem to think +he was really dead:--but he lived to be often beaten after that, +and had many moist years more. + +Our Kurfurst had another Uncle put to the Ban in this Second Act, +--Christian Wilhelm Archbishop of Magdeburg, "for assisting the +Danish King;" nor was Ban all the ruin that fell on this poor +Archbishop. What could an unfortunate Kurfurst do, but tremble and +obey? There was still a worse smart got by our poor Kurfurst out +of Act Second; the glaring injustice done him in Pommern. + +Does the reader remember that scene in the High Church of Stettin +a hundred and fifty years ago? How the Burgermeister threw sword +and helmet into the grave of the last Duke of Pommern-Stettin +there; and a forward Citizen picked them out again in favor of a +Collateral Branch? Never since, any more than then, could +Brandenburg get Pommern according to claim. Collateral Branch, in +spite of Friedrich Ironteeth, in spite even of Albert Achilles and +some fighting of his; contrived, by pleading at the Diets and +stirring up noise, to maintain its pretensions: and Treaties +without end ensued, as usual; Treaties refreshed and new-signed by +every Successor of Albert, to a wearisome degree. The sum of which +always was: "Pommern does actual homage to Brandenburg; vassal +of Brandenburg;--and falls home to it, if the now Extant Line go +extinct." Nay there is an ERBVERBRUDERUNG (Heritage-Fraternity) +over and above, established this long time, and wearisomely +renewed at every new Accession. Hundreds of Treaties, oppressive +to think of:--and now the last Duke, old Bogislaus, is here, +without hope of children; and the fruit of all that haggling, +actual Pommern to wit, will at last fall home? Alas, no; +far otherwise. + +For the Kaiser having so triumphantly swept off the Winter-King, +and Christian IV. in the rear of him, and got Germany ready for +converting to Orthodoxy,--wished now to have some hold of the +Seaboard, thereby to punish Denmark; nay thereby, as is hoped, to +extend the blessings of Orthodoxy into England, Sweden, Holland, +and the other Heretic States, in due time. For our plans go far! +This is the Kaiser's fixed wish, rising to the rank of hope now +and then: all Europe shall become Papist again by the help of God +and the Devil. So the Kaiser, on hardly any pretext, seized +Mecklenburg from the Proprietors,--"Traitors, how durst you join +Danish Christian?"--and made Wallenstein Duke of it. Duke of +Mecklenburg, "Admiral of the EAST SEA (Baltic);" and set to +"building ships of war in Rostock,"--his plans going far. [Kohler, +<italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> pp, 524, 525.] This done, +he seized Pommern, which also is a fine Sea-country,--stirring up +Max of Bavaria to make some idle pretence to Pommern, that so the +Kaiser might seize it "in sequestration till decided on." +Under which hard treatment, George Wilhelm had to sit sad and +silent,--though the Stralsunders would not. Hence the world-famous +Siege of Stralsund (1628); fierce Wallenstein declaring, "I will +have the Town, if it hung by a chain from Heaven;" but finding he +could not get it; owing to the Swedish succor, to the stubborn +temper prevalent among the Townsfolk, and also greatly to the +rains and peat-bogs. + +A second Uncle of George Wilhelm's, that unlucky Archbishop of +Magdeburg above mentioned, the Kaiser, once more by his own +arbitrary will, put under Ban of the Empire, in this Second Act: +"Traitor, how durst you join with the Danes?" The result of which +was Tilly's Sack of Magdeburg (10-12th May, 1631), a transaction +never forgettable by mankind.--As for Pommern, Gustav Adolf, on +his intervening in these matters, landed there: Pommern was now +seized by Gustav Adolf, as a landing-place and place-of-arms, +indispensable for Sweden in the present emergency; and was so held +thenceforth. Pommern will not fall to George Wilhelm at this time. + + +THIRD ACT, AND WHAT THE KURFURST SUFFERED IN IT. + +And now we are at Act THIRD:--Landing of Gustav Adolf "in the Isle +of Usedom, 24th June, 1630," and onward for Eighteen Years till +the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648;--on which, as probably better +known to the reader, we will not here go into details. In this +Third Act too, George Wilhelm followed his old scheme, peace at +any price;--as shy of Gustav as he had been of other Champions of +the Cause; and except complaining, petitioning and manifestoing, +studiously did nothing. + +Poor man, it was his fate to stand in the range of these huge +collisions,--Bridge of Dessau, Siege of Stralsund, Sack of +Magdeburg, Battle of Leipzig,--where the Titans were bowling rocks +at one another; and he hoped, by dexterous skipping, to escape +share of the game. To keep well with his Kaiser,--and such a +Kaiser to Germany and to him,--this, for George Wilhelm, was +always the first commandment. If the Kaiser confiscate your +Uncles, against law; seize your Pommern; rob you on the public +highways,--George Wilhelm, even in such case, is full of +dubitations. Nay his Prime-Minister, one Schwartzenberg, a +Catholic, an Austrian Official at one time,--Progenitor of the +Austrian Schwartzenbergs that now are,--was secretly in the +Kaiser's interest, and is even thought to have been in the +Kaiser's pay, all along. + +Gustav, at his first landing, had seized Pommern, and swept it +clear of Austrians, for himself and for his own wants; not too +regardful of George Wilhelm's claims on it. He cleared out +Frankfurt-on-Oder, Custrin and other Brandenburg Towns, in a +similar manner,--by cannon and storm, when needful;--drove the +Imperialists and Tilly forth of these countries. Advancing, next +year, to save Magdeburg, now shrieking under Tilly's bombardment, +Gustav insisted on having, if not some bond of union from his +Brother-in-law of Brandenburg, at least the temporary cession of +two Places of War for himself, Spandau and Custrin, indispensable +in any farther operation. Which cession Kurfurst George Wilhelm, +though giving all his prayers to the Good Cause, could by no means +grant. Gustav had to insist, with more and more emphasis; +advancing at last, with military menace, upon Berlin itself. +He was met by George Wilhelm and his Council, "in the woods of +Copenick," short way to the east of that City: there George +Wilhelm and his Council wandered about, sending messages, +hopelessly consulting; saying among each other, <italic> "Que +faire; ils ont des canons, <end italic> what can one do; they have +got cannon?" [<italic> OEvres de Frederic le Grand <end italic> +(Berlin, 1846-1856 et seqq.: <italic> Memoires de Brandebourg <end +italic>), i. 38. For the rest, Friedrich's Account of the +Transaction is very loose and scanty: see Pauli (iv. 568) and his +minute details.] For many hours so; round the inflexible Gustav,-- +who was there like a fixed milestone, and to all questions and +comers had only one answer!--<italic> "Que faire; ils ont des +canons?" <end italic> This was the 3d May, 1631. This probably +is about the nadir-point of the Brandenburg-Hohenzollern History. +The little Friedrich, who became Frederick the Great, in writing +of it, has a certain grim banter in his tone; and looks rather +with mockery on the perplexities of his poor Ancestor, so fatally +ignorant of the time of day it had now become. + +On the whole, George Wilhelm did what is to be called nothing, in +the Thirty-Years War; his function was only that of suffering. +He followed always the bad lead of Johann George, Elector of +Saxony; a man of no strength, devoutness or adequate human worth; +who proved, on these negative grounds, and without flagrancy of +positive badness, an unspeakable curse to Germany. Not till the +Kaiser fulminated forth his Restitution-Edict, and showed he was +in earnest about it (1629-1631), "Restore to our Holy Church what +you have taken from her since the Peace of Passau!"--could this +Johann George prevail upon himself to join Sweden, or even to do +other than hate it for reasons he saw. Seized by the throat in +this manner, and ordered to DELIVER, Kur-Sachsen did, and +Brandenburg along with him, make Treaty with the Swede. [8th +February, 1631 (Kohler, <italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> +pp. 526-531.] in consequence of which they two, some months after, +by way of co-operating with Gustav on his great march Vienna-ward, +sent an invading force into Bohemia, Brandenburg contributing some +poor 3,000 to it; who took Prag, and some other open Towns; +but "did almost nothing there," say the Histories, "except dine +and drink." It is clear enough they were instantly scattered home +[October, 1633 (Stenzel, i. 503).] at the first glimpse of +Wallenstein dawning on the horizon again in those parts. + +Gustav having vanished (Field of Lutzen, 6th November, 1632 +[Pauli, iv. 576.]), Oxenstiern, with his high attitude, and +"Presidency" of the "Union of Heilbronn," was rather an offence to +Kur-Sachsen, who used to be foremost man on such occasions. +Kur-Sachsen broke away again; made his Peace of Prag, [1635, 20th +May (Stenzel, i. 513).] whom Brandenburg again followed; +Brandenburg and gradually all the others, except the noble Wilhelm +of Hessen-Cassel alone. Miserable Peace; bit of Chaos clouted up, +and done over with Official varnish;--which proved to be the +signal for continuing the War beyond visible limits, and rendering +peace impossible. + +After this, George Wilhelm retires from the scene; lives in +Custrin mainly; mere miserable days, which shall be invisible to +us. He died in 1640; and, except producing an active brave Son +very unlike himself, did nothing considerable in the world. +<italic> "Que faire; ils ont des canons!" <end italic> + +Among the innumerable sanguinary tusslings of this War are counted +Three great Battles, Leipzig, Lutzen, Nordlingen. Under one great +Captain, Swedish Gustav, and the two or three other considerable +Captains, who appeared in it, high passages of furious valor, of +fine strategy and tactic, are on record. But on the whole, the +grand weapon in it, and towards the latter times the exclusive +one, was Hunger. The opposing Armies tried to starve one another; +at lowest, tried each not to starve. Each trying to eat the +country, or at any rate to leave nothing eatable in it: what that +will mean for the country, we may consider. As the Armies too +frequently, and the Kaiser's Armies habitually, lived without +commissariat, often enough without pay, all horrors of war and of +being a seat of war, that have been since heard of, are poor to +those then practised. The detail of which is still horrible to +read. Germany, in all eatable quarters of it, had to undergo the +process;--tortured, torn to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a +mortar under the iron mace of war. [Curious incidental details of +the state it was reduced to, in the Rhine and Danube Countries, +turn up in the Earl of Arundel and Surrey's TRAVELS ("Arundel of +the Marbles") as <italic> Ambassador Extraordinary to the Emperor +Ferdinando II. in 1636 <end italic> (a small Volume, or Pamphlet, +London, 1637).] Brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its +country populations driven to despair, by the one party and the +other. Three times,--first in the. Wallenstein Mecklenburg period, +while fire and sword were the weapons, and again, twice over, in +the ultimate stages of the struggle, when starvation had become +the method--Brandenburg fell to be the principal theatre of +conflict, where all forms of the dismal were at their height. +In 1638, three years after that precious "Peace of Prag," the +Swedes (Banier VERSUS Gallas) starving out the Imperialists in +those Northwestern parts, the ravages of the starving Gallas and +his Imperialists excelled all precedent; and the "famine about +Tangermunde had risen so high that men ate human flesh, nay human +creatures ate their own children." [1638: Pauli, iv. 604.] +<italic> "Que faire; ils ont des canons!" + + + +Chapter XVII. + +DUCHY OF JAGERNDORF. + +This unfortunate George Wilhelm failed in getting Pommern when +due; Pommern, firmly held by the Swedes, was far from him. +But that was not the only loss of territory he had. Jagerndorf,-- +we have heard of Johann George of Jagerndorf, Uncle of this George +Wilhelm, how old Joachim Friedrich put him into Jagerndorf, long +since, when it fell home to the Electoral House. Jagerndorf is now +lost; Johann George is under REICHS-ACHT (Ban of Empire), ever +since the Winter-King's explosion, and the thunder-bolts that +followed; and wanders landless;--nay he is long since dead, and + +has six feet of earth for a territory, far away in Transylvania, +or the RIESEN-GEBIRGE (Giant Mountains) somewhere. Concerning whom +a word now. + + +DUKE OF JAGERNDORF, ELECTOR'S UNCLE, IS PUT UNDER BAN. + +Johann George, a frank-hearted valiant man, concerning whom only +good actions, and no bad one, are on record, had notable troubles +in the world; bad troubles to begin with, and worse to end in. +He was second Son of Kurfurst Joachim Friedrich, who had meant him +for the Church. [1577-1624: Rentsch, p. 486.] The young fellow was +Coadjutor of Strasburg, almost from the time of getting into +short-clothes. He was then, still very young, elected Bishop there +(1592); Bishop of Strasburg,--but only by the Protestant part of +the Canons; the Catholic part, unable to submit longer, and +thinking it a good time for revolt against a Protestant population +and obstinately heterodox majority, elected another Bishop,--one +"Karl of the House of Lorraine;" and there came to be dispute, and +came even to be fighting needed. Fighting; which prudent Papa +would not enter into, except faintly at second-hand, through the +Anspach Cousins, or others that were in the humor. Troublesome +times for the young man; which lasted a dozen years or more. +At last a Bargain was made (1604); Protestant and Catholic Canons +splitting the difference in some way; and the House of Lorraine +paying Johann George a great deal of money to go home again. +[<italic> OEuvres completes de Voltaire, <end italic> 97 vols. +(Paris, 1825-1832), xxxiii. 284.--Kohler (<italic> Reichs- +Historie, <end italic> p. 487) gives the authentic particulars.] +Poor Johann George came out of it in that way; not second-best, +think several. + +He was then (1606) put into Jagerndorf, which had just fallen +vacant; our excellent fat friend, George Friedrich of Anspach, +Administrator of Preussen, having lately died, and left it vacant, +as we saw. George Friedrich's death yielded fine apanages, three +of them in all: FIRST Anspach, SECOND, Baireuth, and this THIRD of +Jagerndorf for a still younger Brother. There was still a fourth +younger Brother, Uncle of George Wilhelm; Archbishop of Magdeburg +this one; who also, as we have seen, got into REICHS-ACHT, into +deep trouble in the Thirty-Years War. He was in Tilly's thrice- +murderous Storm of Magdeburg (10th May, 1631); was captured, +tumbled about by the wild soldiery, and nearly killed there. +Poor man, with his mitre and rochets left in such a state! In the +end he even became CATHOLIC,--from conviction, as was evident, and +bewilderment of mind;--and lived in Austria on a pension; +occasionally publishing polemical pamphlets. [1587; 1628; 1665 +(Rentsch, pp. 905-910).]-- + +As to Johann George, he much repaired and beautified the Castle of +Jagerndorf, says Rentsch: but he unfortunately went ahead into the +Winter-King's adventure; which, in that sad battle of the +Weissenberg, made total shipwreck of itself, drawing Johann George +and much else along with it. Johann George was straightway +tyrannously put to the Ban, forfeited of life and lands: [22d +January, 1621 (Kohler, <italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> +p. 518: and rectify Hubner, t. 178).] Johann George disowned the +said Ban; stood out fiercely for self and Winter-King; and did +good fighting in the Silesian strongholds and mountain-passes: +but was forced to seek temporary shelter in SIEBENBURGEN +(Transylvania); and died far away, in a year or two (1624), while +returning to try it again. Sleeps, I think, in the "Jablunka +Pass;" the dumb Giant-Mountains (RIESEN-GEBIRGE) shrouding up his +sad shipwreck and him. + +Jagerndorf was thus seized by Ferdinand II. of the House of +Hapsburg; and though it was contrary to all law that the Kaiser +should keep it,--poor Johann George having left Sons very innocent +of treason, and Brothers, and an Electoral. Nephew, very +innocent,--to whom, by old compacts and new, the Heritage in +defect of him was to fall,--neither Kaiser Ferdinand II. nor +Kaiser Ferdinand III. nor any Kaiser would let go the hold; +but kept Jagerndorf fast clenched, deaf to all pleadings, and +monitions of gods or men. Till at length, in the fourth generation +afterwards, one "Friedrich the Second," not unknown to us,-- +a sharp little man, little in stature, but large in faculty and +renown, who is now called "Frederick the Great,"--clutched hold of +the Imperial fist (so to speak), seizing his opportunity in 1740; +and so wrenched and twisted said close fist, that not only +Jagerndorf dropped out of it, but the whole of Silesia along with +Jagerndorf, there being other claims withal. And the account was +at last settled, with compound interest,--as in fact such accounts +are sure to be, one way or other. And so we leave Johann George +among the dumb Giant-Mountains again. + + + +Chapter XVIII. + + FRIEDRICH WILHELM, THE GREAT KURFURST, ELEVENTH OF THE SERIES. + +Brandenburg had again sunk very low under the Tenth Elector, in +the unutterable troubles of the times. But it was gloriously +raised up again by his Son Friedrich Wilhelm, who succeeded in +1640. This is he whom they call the "Great Elector (GROSSE +KURFURST);" of whom there is much writing and celebrating in +Prussian Books. As for the epithet, it is not uncommon among petty +German populations, and many times does not mean too much: +thus Max of Bavaria, with his Jesuit Lambkins and Hyacinths, is, +by Bavarians, called "Maximilian the Great." Friedrich Wilhelm, +both by his intrinsic qualities and the success he met with, +deserves it better than most. His success, if we look where he +started and where he ended, was beyond that of any other man in +his day. He found Brandenburg annihilated, and he left Brandenburg +sound and flourishing; a great country, or already on the way +towards greatness. Undoubtedly a most rapid, clear-eyed, active +man. There was a stroke in him swift as lightning, well-aimed +mostly, and of a respectable weight, withal; which shattered +asunder a whole world of impediments for him, by assiduous +repetition of it for fifty years. [1620; 1640; 1688.] + +There hardly ever came to sovereign power a young man of twenty +under more distressing, hopeless-looking circumstances. Political +significance Brandenburg had none; a mere Protestant appendage +dragged about by a Papist Kaiser. His Father's Prime-Minister, as +we have seen, was in the interest of his enemies; not +Brandenburg's servant, but Austria's. The very Commandants of his +Fortresses, Commandant of Spandau more especially, refused to obey +Friedrich Wilhelm, on his accession; "were bound to obey the +Kaiser in the first place." He had to proceed softly as well +as swiftly; with the most delicate hand to get him of Spandau +by the collar, and put him under lock-and-key, him as a warning +to others. + +For twenty years past, Brandenburg had been scoured by hostile +armies, which, especially the Kaiser's part of which, committed +outrages new in human history. In a year or two hence, Brandenburg +became again the theatre of business; Austrian Gallas advancing +thither again (1644), with intent "to shut up Torstenson and his +Swedes in Jutland," where they had been chastising old Christian +IV., now meddlesome again, for the last time, and never a good +neighbor to Sweden. Gallas could by no means do what he intended: +on the contrary, he had to run from Torstenson, what feet could +do; was hunted, he and his MERODE-BRUDER (beautiful inventors of +the "Marauding" Art), "till they pretty much all died +(CREPERTIN)," says Koh1er. [<italic> Reichs-Historie, <end +italic> p. 556; Pauli, v. 24.] No great loss to society, the +death of these Artists: but we can fancy what their life, and +especially what the process of their dying, may have cost poor +Brandenburg again!-- + +Friedrich Wilhelm's aim, in this as in other emergencies, was +sun-clear to himself, but for most part dim to everybody else. +He had to walk very warily, Sweden on one hand of him, suspicious +Kaiser on the other; he had to wear semblances, to be ready with +evasive words; and advance noiselessly by many circuits. +More delicate operation could not be imagined. But advance he did: +advance and arrive. With extraordinary talent, diligence and +felicity the young man wound himself out of this first fatal +position: got those foreign Armies pushed out of his Country, and +kept them out. His first concern had been to find some vestige of +revenue, to put that upon a clear footing; and by loans or +otherwise to scrape a little ready money together. On the strength +of which a small body of soldiers could be collected about him, +and drilled into real ability to fight and obey. This as a basis: +on this followed all manner of things: freedom from Swedish- +Austrian invasions, as the first thing. + +He was himself, as appeared by and by, a fighter of the first +quality, when it came to that: but never was willing to fight if +he could help it. Preferred rather to shift, manoeuvre and +negotiate; which he did in a most vigilant, adroit and masterly +manner. But by degrees he had grown to have, and could maintain +it, an Army of 24,000 men: among the best troops then in being. +With or without his will, he was in all the great Wars of his +time,--the time of Louis XIV., who kindled Europe four times over, +thrice in our Kurfurst's day. The Kurfurst's Dominions, a long +straggling country, reaching from Memel to Wesel, could hardly +keep out of the way of any war that might rise. He made himself +available, never against the good cause of Protestantism and +German Freedom, yet always in the place and way where his own best +advantage was to be had. Louis XIV. had often much need of him: +still oftener, and more pressingly, had Kaiser Leopold, the little +Gentleman "in scarlet stockings, with a red feather in his hat," +whom Mr. Savage used to see majestically walking about, with +Austrian lip that said nothing at all. [<italic> A Compleat +History of Germany, <end italic> by Mr. Savage (8vo, London, +1702), p. 553. Who this Mr. Savage was, we have no trace. +Prefixed to the volume is the Portrait of a solid Gentleman of +forty: gloomily polite, with ample wig and cravat,--in all +likelihood some studious subaltern Diplomatist in the Succession +War. His little Book is very lean and barren: but faithfully +compiled,--and might have some illumination in it, where utter +darkness is so prevalent. Most likely, Addison picked his story of +the <italic> Siege of Weinsberg <end italic> ("Women carrying out +their Husbands on their back,"--one of his best SPECTATORS) out of +this poor Book.] His 24,000 excellent fighting-men, thrown in at +the right time, were often a thing that could turn the balance +in great questions. They required to be allowed for at a high +rate,--which he well knew how to adjust himself for exacting and +securing always. + + +WHAT BECAME OF POMMERN AT THE PEACE; FINAL GLANCE INTO CLEVE-JULICH. + +When the Peace of Westphalia (1648) concluded that Thirty-Years +Conflagration, and swept the ashes of it into order again, +Friedrich Wilhelm's right to Pommern was admitted by everybody: +and well insisted on by himself: but right had to yield to reason +of state, and he could not get it. The Swedes insisted on their +expenses: the Swedes held Pommern, had all along held it,--in +pawn, they said, for their expenses. Nothing for it but to give +the Swedes the better half of Pommern. FORE-Pommern (so they call +it, "Swedish Pomerania" thenceforth), which lies next the Sea: +this, with some Towns and cuttings over and above, was Sweden's +share: Friedrich Wilhelm had to put up with HINDER-Pommern, docked +furthermore of the Town of Stettin, and of other valuable +cuttings, in favor of Sweden. Much to Friedrich Wilhelm's grief +and just anger, could he have helped it. + +They gave him Three secularized Bishoprics, Magdeburg, +Halberstadt, Minden, with other small remnants, for compensation; +and he had to be content with these for the present. But he never +gave up the idea of Pommern: much of the effort of his life was +spent upon recovering Fore-Pommern: thrice-eager upon that, +whenever lawful opportunity offered. To no purpose then: he never +could recover Swedish Pommern; only his late descendants, and that +by slowish degrees, could recover it all. Readers remember that +Burgermeister of Stettin, with the helmet and sword flung into the +grave and picked out again:--and can judge whether Brandenburg got +its good luck quite by lying in bed!-- + +Once, and once only, he had a voluntary purpose towards War, and +it remained a purpose only. Soon after the Peace of Westphalia, +old Pfalz-Neuburg, the same who got the slap on the face, went +into tyrannous proceedings against the Protestant part of his +subjects in Julich-Cleve: who called to Friedrich Wilhelm for +help. Friedrich Wilhelm, a zealous Protestant, made remonstrances, +retaliations: ere long the thought struck him, "Suppose, backed by +the Dutch, we threw out this fantastic old gentleman, his +Papistries, and pretended claims and self, clear out of it?" +This was Friedrich Wilhelm's thought; and he suddenly marched +troops into the Territory, with that view. But Europe was in +alarm, the Dutch grew faint: Friedrich Wilhelm saw it would not +do. He had a conference with old Pfalz-Neuburg: "Young gentleman, +we remember how your Grandfather made free with us and our august +countenance! Nevertheless we--" In fine, the "statistic of +Treaties" was increased by One: and there the matter rested till +calmer times. + +In 1666, as already said, an effective Partition of these +litigated Territories was accomplished: Prussia to have the Duchy +of Cleve-Proper, the Counties of Mark and Ravensburg, with other +Patches and Pertinents: Neuburg, what was the better share, to +have Julich Duchy and Berg Duchy. Furthermore, if either of the +Lines failed, in no sort was a collateral to be admitted: +but Brandenburg was to inherit Neuburg, or Neuburg Brandenburg, as +the case might be. [Pauli, v. 120-129.] A clear Bargain this at +last: and in the times that had come, it proved executable so far. +But if the reader fancies the Lawsuit was at last out in this way, +he will be a simple reader! In the days of our little Fritz, the +Line of Pfalz-Neuburg was evidently ending: but that Brandenburg +and not a collateral should succeed it, there lay the quarrel,-- +open still, as if it had never been shut: and we shall hear enough +about it!-- + + +THE GREAT KURFURST'S WARS: WHAT HE ACHIEVED IN WAR AND PEACE. + +Friedrich Wilhelm's first actual appearance in War, Polish- +Swedish War (1655-1660), was involuntary in the highest degree: +forced upon him for the sake of his Preussen, which bade fair to +be lost or ruined, without blame of his or its. Nevertheless, here +too he made his benefit of the affair. The big King of Sweden had +a standing quarrel with his big Cousin of Poland, which broke out +into hot War; little Preussen lay between them, and was like to be +crushed in the collision. Swedish King was Karl Gustav, +Christina's Cousin, Charles Twelfth's Grandfather; a great and +mighty man, lion of the North in his time: Polish King was one +John Casimir; chivalrous enough, and with clouds of forward Polish +chivalry about him, glittering with barbaric gold. Frederick III., +Danish King for the time being, he also was much involved in the +thing. Fain would Friedrich Wilhelm have kept out of it, but he +could not. Karl Gustav as good as forced him to join: he joined; +fought along with Karl Gustav an illustrious Battle; "Battle of +Warsaw," three days long (28-30th July, l656), on the skirts of +Warsaw,--crowds "looking from the upper windows" there; Polish +chivalry, broken at last, going like chaff upon the winds, and +John Casimir nearly ruined. + +Shortly after which, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had shone much in the +Battle, changed sides. An inconsistent, treacherous man? +Perhaps not, O reader; perhaps a man advancing "in circuits," the +only way he has; spirally, face now to east, now to west, with his +own reasonable private aim sun-clear to him all the while? + +John Casimir agreed to give up the "Homage of Preussen" for this +service; a grand prize for Friedrich Wilhelm. [Treaty of Labiau, +10th November, 1656 (Pauli, v. 73-75); 20th November (Stenzel, iv. +128,--who always uses NEW STYLE).] What the Teutsch Ritters strove +for in vain, and lost their existence in striving for, the shifty +Kurfurst has now got: Ducal Prussia, which is also called East +Prussia, is now a free sovereignty,--and will become as "Royal" as +the other Polish part. Or perhaps even more so, in the course of +time!--Karl Gustav, in a high frame of mind, informs the Kurfurst, +that he has him on his books, and will pay the debt one day! + +A dangerous debtor in such matters, this Karl Gustav. In these +same months, busy with the Danish part of the Controversy, he was +doing a feat of war, which set all Europe in astonishment. +In January, 1658, Karl Gustav marches his Army, horse, foot and +artillery, to the extent of twenty thousand, across the Baltic +ice, and takes an Island without shipping,--Island of Funen, +across the Little Belt; three miles of ice; and a part of the sea +open, which has to be crossed on planks. Nay, forward from Funen, +when once there, he achieves ten whole miles more of ice; +and takes Zealand itself, [Holberg's <italic> Danemarkische +Reichs-Historie, <end italic> pp. 406-409.]--to the wonder of all +mankind. An imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man; who had +dreamed of a new Goth Empire: The mean Hypocrites and Fribbles of +the South to be coerced again by noble Norse valor, and taught a +new lesson. Has been known to lay his hand on his sword while +apprising an Ambassador (Dutch High-Mightiness) what his royal +intentions were: "Not the sale or purchase of groceries, observe +you, Sir! My aims go higher!"--Charles Twelfth's Grandfather, +and somewhat the same type of man. + +But Karl Gustav died, short while after; [13th February, 1660, age +38.] left his big wide-raging Northern Controversy to collapse in +what way it could. Sweden and the fighting-parties made their +"Peace of Oliva" (Abbey of Oliva, near Dantzig, 1st May, 1660); +and this of Preussen was ratified, in all form, among the other +points. No homage more; nothing now above Ducal Prussia but the +Heavens; and great times coming for it. This was one of the +successfulest strokes of business ever done by Friedrich Wilhelm; +who had been forced, by sheer compulsion, to embark in that big +game.--"Royal Prussia," the Western or POLISH Prussia: this too, +as all Newspapers know, has, in our times, gone the same road as +the other. Which probably, after all, it may have had, in Nature, +some tendency to do? Cut away, for reasons, by the Polish sword, +in that Battle of Tannenberg, long since; and then, also for +reasons, cut back again! That is the fact;--not unexampled in +human History. + +Old Johann Casimir, not long after that Peace of Oliva, getting +tired of his unruly Polish chivalry and their ways, abdicated;-- +retired to Paris; and "lived much with Ninon de 1'Enclos and her +circle," for the rest of his life. He used to complain of his +Polish chivalry, that there was no solidity in them; nothing but +outside glitter, with tumult and anarchic noise; fatal want of one +essential talent, the talent of Obeying; and has been heard to +prophesy that a glorious Republic, persisting in such courses, +would arrive at results which would surprise it. + +Onward from this time, Friedrich Wilhelm figures in the world; +public men watching his procedure; Kings anxious to secure him,-- +Dutch printsellers sticking up his Portraits for a hero- +worshipping Public. Fighting hero, had the Public known it, was +not his essential character, though he had to fight a great deal. +He was essentially an Industrial man; great in organizing, +regulating, in constraining chaotic heaps to become cosmic for +him. He drains bogs, settles colonies in the waste-places of his +Dominions, cuts canals; unweariedly encourages trade and work. +The FRIEDRICH-WILHELM'S CANAL, which still carries tonnage from +the Oder to the Spree, [Executed, 1662-1668; fifteen English miles +long (Busching, ERDBESCHREIBUNG, vi, 2193).] is a monument of his +zeal in this way; creditable, with the means he had. To the poor +French Protestants, in the Edict-of-Nantes Affair, he was like an +express Benefit of Heaven: one Helper appointed, to whom the help +itself was profitable. He munificently welcomed them to +Brandenburg; showed really a noble piety and human pity, as well +as judgment; nor did Brandenburg and he want their reward. +Some 20,000 nimble French souls, evidently of the best French +quality, found a home there;--made "waste sands about Berlin into +potherb gardens;" and in the spiritual Brandenburg, too, did +something of horticulture, which is still noticeable. [Erman (weak +Biographer of Queen Sophie-Charlotte, already cited), <italic> +Memoires pour sevir a l'Histoire den Refugies Francais dans +les Etats du Roi de Prusse <end italic> (Berlin, 1782-1794), +8 tt. 8vo.] + +Certainly this Elector was one of the shiftiest of men. Not an +unjust man either. A pious, God-fearing man rather, stanch to his +Protestantism and his Bible; not unjust by any means,--nor, on the +other hand, by any means thick-skinned in his interpretings of +justice: Fair-play to myself always; or occasionally even the +Height of Fair-play! On the whole, by constant energy, vigilance, +adroit activity, by an ever-ready insight and audacity to seize +the passing fact by its right handle, he fought his way well in +the world; left Brandenburg a flourishing and greatly increased +Country, and his own name famous enough. + +A thick-set stalwart figure; with brisk eyes, and high strong +irregularly Roman nose. Good bronze Statue of him, by Schluter, +once a famed man, still rides on the LANGE-BRUCKE (Long-Bridge) at +Berlin; and his Portrait, in huge frizzled Louis-Quatorze wig, is +frequently met with in German Galleries. Collectors of Dutch +Prints, too, know him: here a gallant, eagle-featured little +gentleman, brisk in the smiles of youth, with plumes, with +truncheon, caprioling on his war-charger, view of tents in the +distance;--there a sedate, ponderous, wrinkly old man, eyes +slightly puckered (eyes BUSIER than mouth); a face well-ploughed +by Time, and not found unfruitful; one of the largest, most +laborious, potent faces (in an ocean of circumambient periwig) to +be met with in that Century. [Both Prints are Dutch; the Younger, +my copy of the Younger, has lost the Engraver's Name (Kurfurst's +age is twenty-seven); the Elder is by MASSON, 1633, when Friedrich +Wilhelm was sixty-three.] There are many Histories about him, too; +but they are not comfortable to read. [G. D. Geyler, <italic> +Leben und Thaten Friedrich Wihelms des Grossen <end italic> +(Frankfort and Leipzig, 1703), folio. Franz Horn, <italic> Das +Leben Friedrich Wilhelms des Grossen <end italic> (Berlin, 1814). +Pauli, <italic> Staats-Geschichte, <end italic> Band v. (Halle, +1764). Pufendorf, <italic> De rebus gestis Friderici Wilhelmi +Magni Electoris Brandenburgensis Commentaria <end italic> (Lips. +et Berol. 1733, fol.)] He also has wanted a sacred Poet; and found +only a bewildering Dryasdust. + +His Two grand Feats that dwell in the Prussian memory are perhaps +none of his greatest, but were of a kind to strike the +imagination. They both relate to what was the central problem of +his life,--the recovery of Pommern from the Swedes. Exploit First +is the famed "Battle of FEHRBELLIN (Ferry of BellEEN)," fought on +the 18th June, 1675. Fehrbellin is an inconsiderable Town still +standing in those peaty regions, some five-and-thirty miles +northwest of Berlin; and had for ages plied its poor Ferry over +the oily-looking, brown, sluggish stream called Rhin, or Rhein in +those parts, without the least notice from mankind, till this fell +out. It is a place of pilgrimage to patriotic Prussians, ever +since Friedrich Wilhelm's exploit there. The matter went thus:-- + +Friedrich Wilhelm was fighting, far south in Alsace, on Kaiser +Leopold's side, in the Louis-Fourteenth War; that second one, +which ended in the treaty of Nimwegen. Doing his best there,--when +the Swedes, egged on by Louis XIV., made war upon him; crossed the +Pomeranian marches, troop after troop, and invaded his Brandenburg +Territory with a force which at length amounted to some 16,000 +men. No help for the moment: Friedrich Wilhelm could not be spared +from his post. The Swedes, who had at first professed well, +gradually went into plunder, roving, harrying, at their own will; +and a melancholy time they made of it for Friedrich Wilhelm and +his People. Lucky if temporary harm were all the ill they were +likely to do; lucky if--! He stood steady, however; in his solid +manner, finishing the thing in hand first, since that was +feasible. He then even retired into winter-quarters, to rest his +men; and seemed to have left the Swedish 16,000 autocrats of the +situation; who accordingly went storming about at a great rate. + +Not so, however; very far indeed from so. Having rested his men +for certain months, Friedrich Wilhelm silently in the first days +of June (1675) gets them under march again; marches, his Cavalry +and he as first instalment, with best speed from Schweinfurt, +[Stenzel, ii. 347.] which is on the river Main, to Magdeburg; +a distance of two hundred miles. At Magdeburg, where he rests +three days, waiting for the first handful of foot and a field- +piece or two, he learns that the Swedes are in three parties wide +asunder; the middle party of them within forty miles of him. +Probably stronger, even this middle one, than his small body (of +"six thousand Horse, twelve hundred Foot and three guns");-- +stronger, but capable perhaps of being surprised, of being cut in +pieces, before the others can come up? Rathenau is the nearest +skirt of this middle party: thither goes the Kurfurst, softly, +swiftly, in the June night (16-17th June, 1675); gets into +Rathenau, by brisk stratagem; tumbles out the Swedish Horse- +regiment there, drives it back towards Fehrbellin. + +He himself follows hard;--swift riding enough, in the summer +night, through those damp Havel lands, in the old Hohenzollern +fashion: and indeed old Freisack Castle, as it chances,--Freisack, +scene of Dietrich von Quitzow and LAZY PEG long since,--is close +by! Follows hard, we say: strikes in upon this midmost party +(nearly twice his number, but Infantry for the most part); +and after fierce fight, done with good talent on both sides, cuts +it into utter ruin, as proposed. Thereby he has left the Swedish +Army as a mere head and tail WITHOUT body; has entirely demolished +the Swedish Army. [Stenzel, ii. 350-357.] Same feat intrinsically +as that done by Cromwell, on Hamilton and the Scots, in 1648. +It was, so to speak, the last visit Sweden paid to Brandenburg, or +the last of any consequence; and ended the domination of the +Swedes in those quarters. A thing justly to be forever remembered +by Brandenburg;--on a smallish modern scale, the Bannockburn, +Sempach, Marathon, of Brandenburg. [See Pauli, v. 161-169; +Stenzel, ii. 335, 340-347, 354; Kausler, <italic> Atlas des +plus memorables Batailles, Combats et Sieges, <end italic> or +<italic> Atlas der merkwurdigsten Schlachten, Treffen und +Belagerungen <end italic> (German and French, Carlsruhe and +Freiburg, 1831), p. 417, Blatt 62.] + +Exploit Second was four years later; in some sort a corollary to +this; and a winding-up of the Swedish business. The Swedes, in +farther prosecution of their Louis-Fourteenth speculation, had +invaded Preussen this time, and were doing sad havoc there. It was +in the dead of winter, Christmas, 1678, more than four hundred +miles off; and the Swedes, to say nothing of their other havoc, +were in a case to take Konigsberg, and ruin Prussia altogether, if +not prevented. Friedrich Wilhelm starts from Berlin, with the +opening Year, on his long march; the Horse-troops first, Foot to +follow at their swiftest; he himself (his Wife, his ever-true +"Louisa," accompanying, as her wont was) travels, towards the end, +at the rate of "sixty miles a day." He gets in still in time, +finds Konigsberg unscathed. Nay it is even said, the Swedes are +extensively falling sick; having, after a long famine, found +infinite "pigs, near Insterburg," in those remote regions, and +indulged in the fresh pork overmuch. + +I will not describe the subsequent manoeuvres, which would +interest nobody: enough if I say that on the 16th of January, +1679, it had become of the highest moment for Friedrich Wilhelm to +get from Carwe (Village near Elbing) on the shore of the FRISCHE +HAF, where he was, through Konigsberg, to Gilge on the CURISCHE +HAF, where the Swedes are,--in a minimum of time. Distance, as the +crow flies, is about a hundred miles; road, which skirts the two +HAFS [Pauli, v. 215-222; Stenzel, ii. 392-397.] (wide shallow +WASHES, as we should name them), is of rough quality, and +naturally circuitous. It is ringing frost to-day, and for days +back:--Friedrich Wilhelm hastily gathers all the sledges, all the +horses of the district; mounts some four thousand men in sledges; +starts, with the speed of light, in that fashion. Scours along all +day, and after the intervening bit of land, again along; awakening +the ice-bound silences. Gloomy Frische Haf, wrapt in its Winter +cloud-coverlids, with its wastes of tumbled sand, its poor frost- +bound fishing-hamlets, pine-hillocks,--desolate-looking, stern as +Greenland or more so, says Busching, who travelled there in +winter-time, [Busching's <italic> Beitrage <end italic> (Halle, +1789), vi. 160.]--hears unexpected human noises, and huge grinding +and trampling; the four thousand, in long fleet of sledges, +scouring across it, in that manner. All day they rush along,--out +of the rimy hazes of morning into the olive-colored clouds of +evening again,--with huge loud-grinding rumble;--and do arrive in +time at Gilge. A notable streak of things, shooting across those +frozen solitudes, in the New-Year, 1679;--little short of Karl +Gustav's feat, which we heard of, in the other or Danish end of +the Baltic, twenty years ago, when he took Islands without ships. + +This Second Exploit--suggested or not by that prior one of Karl +Gustav on the ice--is still a thing to be remembered by +Hohenzollerns and Prussians. The Swedes were beaten here, on +Friedrich Wilhelm's rapid arrival; were driven into disastrous +rapid retreat Northward; which they executed, in hunger and cold; +fighting continually, like Northern bears, under the grim sky; +Friedrich Wilhelm sticking to their skirts,--holding by their +tail, like an angry bear-ward with steel whip in his hand. A thing +which, on the small scale, reminds one of Napoleon's experiences. +Not till Napoleon's huge fighting-flight, a hundred and thirty- +four years after, did I read of such a transaction in those parts. +The Swedish invasion of Preussen has gone utterly to ruin. + +And this, then, is the end of Sweden, and its bad neighborhood on +these shores, where it has tyrannously sat on our skirts so long? +Swedish Pommern the Elector already had: last year, coming towards +it ever since the Exploit of Fehrbellin, he had invaded Swedish +Pommern; had besieged and taken Stettin, nay Stralsund too, where +Wallenstein had failed;--cleared Pommern altogether of its Swedish +guests. Who had tried next in Preussen, with what luck we see. +Of Swedish Pommern the Elector might now say: "Surely it is mine; +again mine, as it long was; well won a second time, since the +first would not do!" But no:--Louis XIV. proved a gentleman to his +Swedes. Louis, now that the Peace of Nimwegen had come, and only +the Elector of Brandenburg was still in harness, said steadily, +though anxious enough to keep well with the Elector: "They are my +allies, these Swedes; it was on my bidding they invaded you: can I +leave them in such a pass? It must not be!" So Pommern had to be +given back. A miss which was infinitely grievous to Friedrich +Wilhelm. The most victorious Elector cannot hit always, were his +right never so good. + +Another miss which he had to put up with, in spite of his rights, +and his good services, was that of the Silesian Duchies. +The Heritage-Fraternity with Liegnitz had at length, in 1675, come +to fruit. The last Duke of Liegnitz was dead: Duchies of Liegnitz, +of Brieg, Wohlau, are Brandenburg's, if there were right done! +But Kaiser Leopold in the scarlet stockings will not hear of +Heritage-Fraternity. "Nonsense!" answers Kaiser Leopold: "A thing +suppressed at once, ages ago; by Imperial power: flat ZERO of a +thing at this time;--and you, I again bid you, return me your +Papers upon it!" This latter act of duty Friedrich Wilhelm would +not do; but continued insisting. [Pauli, v. 321.] "Jagerndorf at +least, O Kaiser of the world," said he; "Jagerndorf, there is no +color for your keeping that!" To which the Kaiser again answers, +"Nonsense!"--and even falls upon astonishing schemes about it, as +we shall see;--but gives nothing. Ducal Preussen is sovereign, +Cleve is at Peace, Hinter-Pommern ours;--this Elector has +conquered much: but the Silesian Heritages and Vor-Pommern, and +some other things, he will have to do without. Louis XIV., it is +thought, once offered to get him made King; [Ib. vii. 215.] but +that he declined for the present. + +His married and domestic life is very fine and human; especially +with that Oranien-Nassau Princess, who was his first Wife +(1646-1667); Princess Louisa of Nassau-Orange; Aunt to our own +Dutch William, King William III., in time coming. An excellent +wise Princess; from whom came the Orange Heritages, which +afterwards proved difficult to settle:--Orange was at last +exchanged for the small Principality of Neufchatel in Switzerland, +which is Prussia's ever since. "Oranienburg (ORANGE-BURG)," a +Royal Country-house, still standing, some twenty miles northwards +from Berlin, was this Louisa's place: she had trimmed it up into a +little jewel, of the Dutch type,--potherb gardens, training- +schools for young girls, and the like;--a favorite abode of hers, +when she was at liberty for recreation. But her life was busy and +earnest: she was helpmate, not in name only, to an ever-busy man. +They were married young; a marriage of love withal. +Young Friedrich Wilhelm's courtship, wedding in Holland; +the honest trustful walk and conversation of the two Sovereign +Spouses, their journeyings together, their mutual hopes, fears and +manifold vicissitudes; till Death, with stern beauty, shut it in: +--all is human, true and wholesome in it; interesting to look +upon, and rare among sovereign persons. + +Not but that he had his troubles with his womankind. Even with +this his first Wife, whom he loved truly, and who truly loved him, +there were scenes; the Lady having a judgment of her own about +everything that passed, and the Man being choleric withal. +Sometimes, I have heard, "he would dash his hat at her feet," +saying symbolically, "Govern you, then, Madam! Not the +Kurfurst-Hat; a Coif is my wear, it seems!" [Forster, <italic> +Friedrich Wilhelm I. Konig von Preussen <end italic> (Potsdam, +1834), i. 177.] Yet her judgment was good; and he liked to have it +on the weightiest things, though her powers of silence might halt +now and then. He has been known, on occasion, to run from his +Privy-Council to her apartment, while a complex matter was +debating, to ask her opinion, hers too, before it was decided. +Excellent Louisa; Princess full of beautiful piety, good-sense and +affection; a touch of the Nassau-Heroic in her. At the moment of +her death, it is said, when speech had fled, he felt, from her +hand which lay in his, three slight, slight pressures: "Farewell!" +thrice mutely spoken in that manner,--not easy to forget in this +world. [Wegfuhrer, <italic> Leben der Kurfurstin Luise <end +italic> (Leipzig, 1838), p. 175.] + +His second Wife, Dorothea,--who planted the Lindens in Berlin, and +did other husbandries, of whom we have heard, fell far short of +Louisa in many things; but not in tendency to advise, to +remonstrate, and plaintively reflect on the finished and +unalterable. Dreadfully thrifty lady, moreover; did much in dairy +produce, farming of town-rates, provision-taxes: not to speak +again of that Tavern she was thought to have in Berlin, and to +draw custom to in an oblique manner! What scenes she had with +Friedrich her stepson, we have seen. "Ah, I have not my Louisa +now; to whom now shall I run for advice or help!" would the poor +Kurfurst at times exclaim. + +He had some trouble, considerable trouble now and then, with +mutinous spirits in Preussen; men standing on antique Prussian +franchises and parchments; refusing to see that the same were now +antiquated, incompatible, not to say impossible, as the new +Sovereign alleged; and carrying themselves very stiffly at times. +But the Hohenzollerns had been used to such things; a Hohenzollern +like this one would evidently take his measures, soft but strong, +and ever stronger to the needful pitch, with mutinous spirits. +One Burgermeister of Konigsberg, after much stroking on the back, +was at length seized in open Hall, by Electoral writ,--soldiers +having first gently barricaded the principal streets, and brought +cannon to bear upon them. This Burgermeister, seized in such brief +way, lay prisoner for life; refusing to ask his liberty, though it +was thought he might have had it on asking. [Horn, <italic> Das +Leben Friedrich Wilhelms des Grossen <end italic> (Berlin, 1814), +p. 68.] + +Another gentleman, a Baron von Kalkstein, of old Teutsch-Bitter +kin, of very high ways, in the Provincial Estates (STANDE) and +elsewhere, got into lofty almost solitary opposition, and at +length into mutiny proper, against the new "Non-Polish SOVEREIGN," +and flatly refused to do homage at his accession in that new +capacity. [Supra, pp. 383, et seqq.] Refused, Kalkstein did, for +his share; fled to Warsaw; and very fiercely, in a loud manner, +carried on his mutinies in the Diets and Court-Conclaves there; +his plea being, or plea for the time, "Poland is our liege lord +[which it was not always], and we cannot be transferred to you, +except by our consent asked and given," which too had been a +little neglected on the former occasion of transfer. So that the +Great Elector knew not what to do with Kalkstein; and at length +(as the case was pressing) had him kidnapped by his Ambassador at +Warsaw; had him "rolled into a carpet" there, and carried swiftly +in the Ambassador's coach, in the form of luggage, over the +frontier, into his native Province, there to be judged, and, in +the end (since nothing else would serve him), to have the sentence +executed, and his head cut off. For the case was pressing! [Horn, +pp. 80-82.]--These things, especially this of Kalkstein, with a +boisterous Polish Diet and parliamentary eloquence in the rear of +him, gave rise to criticism; and required management on the part +of the Great Elector. + +Of all his Ancestors, our little Fritz, when he grew big, admired +this oue. A man made like himself in many points. He seems really +to have loved and honored this one. In the year 1750 there had +been a new Cathedral got finished at Berlin; the ancestral bones +had to be shifted over from the vaults of the old one,--the +burying-place ever since Joachim II., that Joachim who drew his +sword on Alba. "King Friedrich, with some attendants, witnessed +the operation, January, 1750. When the Great Kurfurst's coffin +came, he made them open it; gazed in silence on the features for +some time, which were perfectly recognizable; laid his hand on the +hand long dead, and said, <italic> 'Messieurs, celui-ci a fait de +grandes choses <end italic> (This one did a great work)!'" [See +Preuss, i. 270.] + +He died 29th April, 1688;--looking with intense interest upon +Dutch William's preparations to produce a Glorious Revolution in +this Island; being always of an ardent Protestant feeling, and a +sincerely religious man. Friedrich, Crown-Prince, age then +thirty-one, and already married a second time, was of course left +Chief Heir;--who, as we see, has not declined the Kingship, when a +chance for it offered. There were four Half-brothers of Friedrich, +too, who got apanages, appointments. They had at one time +confidently looked for much more, their Mother being busy; +but were obliged to be content, and conform to the GERA BOND and +fundamental Laws of the Country. They are entitled Margraves; +two of whom left children, Margraves of Brandenburg-Schwedt, +HEERMEISTERS (Head of the Malta-Knighthood) at Sonnenburg, +Statthalters in Magdeburg, or I know not what; whose names turn up +confusedly in the Prussian Books; and, except as temporary +genealogical puzzles, are not of much moment to the Foreign +reader. Happily there is nothing else in the way of Princes of the +Blood, in our little Friedrich's time; and happily what concern he +had with these, or how he was related to them, will not be +abstruse to us, if occasion rise. + + + +Chapter XIX. + +KING FRIEDRICH I. AGAIN. + +We said the Great Elector never could work his Silesian Duchies +out of Kaiser Leopold's grip: to all his urgencies the little +Kaiser in red stockings answered only in evasions, refusals; +and would quit nothing. We noticed also what quarrels the young +Electoral Prince, Friedrich, afterwards King, had got into with +his Stepmother; suddenly feeling poisoned after dinner, running to +his Aunt at Cassel, coming back on treaty, and the like. These are +two facts which the reader knows: and out of these two grew a +third, which it is fit he should know. + +In his last years, the Great Elector, worn out with labor, and +harassed with such domestic troubles over and above, had evidently +fallen much under his Wife's management; cutting out large +apanages (clear against the GERA BOND) for her children;--longing +probably for quiet in his family at any price. As to the poor +young Prince, negotiated back from Cassel, he lived remote, and +had fallen into open disfavor,--with a very ill effect upon his +funds, for one thing. His father kept him somewhat tight on the +money-side, it is alleged; and he had rather a turn for spending +money handsomely. He was also in some alarm about the proposed +apanages to his Half-brothers, the Margraves above mentioned, of +which there were rumors going. + + +HOW AUSTRIA SETTLED THE SILESIAN CLAIMS. + +Now in these circumstances the Austrian Court, who at this time +(1685) greatly needed the Elector's help against Turks and others, +and found him very urgent about these Silesian Duchies of his, +fell upon what I must call a very extraordinary shift for getting +rid of the Silesian question. "Serene Highness," said they, by +their Ambassador at Berlin, "to end these troublesome talks, and +to liquidate all claims, admissible and inadmissible, about +Silesia, the Imperial Majesty will give you an actual bit of +Territory, valuable, though not so large as you expected!" +The Elector listens with both ears: What Territory, then? +The "Circle of Schwiebus," hanging on the northwestern edge of +Silesia, contiguous to the Elector's own Dominions in these +Frankfurt-on-Oder regions: this the generous Imperial Majesty +proposes to give in fee-simple to Friedrich Wilhelm, and so to end +the matter. Truly a most small patch of Territory in comparison; +not bigger than an English Rutlandshire, to say nothing of soil +and climate! But then again it was an actual patch of territory; +not a mere parchment shadow of one: this last was a tempting point +to the old harassed Elector. Such friendly offer they made him, +I think, in 1685, at the time they were getting 8,000 of his +troops to march against the Turks for them; a very needful service +at the moment. "By the bye, do not march through Silesia, you!-- +Or march faster!" said the cautious Austrians on this occasion: +"Other roads will answer better than Silesia!" said they. [Pauli, +v. 327, 332.] Baron Freytag, their Ambassador at Berlin, had +negotiated the affair so far: "Circle of Schwiebus," said Freytag, +"and let us have done with these thorny talks!" + +But Baron Freytag had been busy, in the mean while, with the young +Prince; secretly offering Sympathy, counsel, help; of all which +the poor Prince stood in need enough. "We will help you in that +dangerous matter of the Apanages," said Freytag; "Help you in all +things,"--I suppose he would say,--"necessary pocket-money is not +a thing your Highness need want!" And thus Baron Freytag, what is +very curious, had managed to bargain beforehand with the young +Prince, That directly on coming to power, he would give up +Schwiebus again, SHOULD the offer of Schwiebus be accepted by +Papa. To which effect Baron Freytag held a signed Bond, duly +executed by the young man, before Papa had concluded at all. +Which is very curious indeed!-- + +Poor old Papa, worn out with troubles, accepted Schwiebus in +liquidation of all claims (8th April, 1686), and a few days after +set his men on march against the Turks:--and, exactly two months +beforehand, on the 8th of February last, the Prince had signed HIS +secret engagement, That Schwiebus should be a mere phantasm to +Papa; that he, the Prince, would restore it on his accession. +Both these singular Parcbments, signed, sealed and done in the due +legal form, lay simultaneously in Freytag's hand; and probably +enough they exist yet, in some dusty corner, among the solemn +sheepskins of the world. This is literally the plan hit upon +by an Imperial Court, to assist a young Prince in his pecuniary +and other difllculties, and get rid of Silesian claims. +Plan actually not unlike that of swindling money-lenders to a +young gentleman in difficulties, and of manageable turn, who has +got into their hands. + +The Great Elector died two years after; Schwiebus then in his +hand. The new Elector, once instructed as to the nature of the +affair, refused to give up Schwiebus; [19th September, 1689 +Pauli, vii. 74).] declared the transaction a swindle:--and in +fact, for seven years more, retained possession of Schwiebus. +But the Austrian Court insisted, with emphasis, at length with +threats (no insuperable pressure from Louis, or the Turks, at this +time); the poor cheated Elector had, at last, to give up +Schwiebus, in terms of his promise. [31st December, 1694.] He took +act that it had been a surreptitious transaction, palmed upon him +while ignorant, and while without the least authority or power to +make such a promise; that he was not bound by it, nor would be, +except on compulsion thus far: and as to binding Brandenburg by +it, how could he, at that period of his history, bind Brandenburg? +Brandenburg was not then his to bind, any more than China was. + +His Raths had advised Friedrich against giving up Schwiebus in +that manner. But his answer is on record: "I must, I will and +shall keep my own word. But my rights on Silesia, which I could +not, and do not in these unjust circumstances, compromise, I leave +intact for my posterity to prosecute. If God and the course of +events order it no otherwise than now, we must be content. But if +God shall one day send the opportunity, those that come after me +will know what they have to do in such case." [Pauli, vii. 150.] +And so Schwiebus was given up, the Austrians paying back what +Brandenburg had laid out in improving it, "250,000 GULDEN (25,000 +pounds);"--and the Hand of Power had in this way, finally as it +hoped, settled an old troublesome account of Brandenburg's. +Settled the Silesian-Duchies Claim, by the temporary Phantasm of a +Gift of Schwiebus. That is literally the Liegnitz-Jagerndorf case; +and the reader is to note it and remember it. For it will turn up +again in History. The Hand of Power is very strong: but a stronger +may perhaps get hold of its knuckles one day, at an advantageous +time, and do a feat upon it. + +The "eventual succession to East Friesland," which had been +promised by the Reich, some ten years ago, to the Great Elector, +"for what he had done against the Turks, and what he had suffered +from those Swedish Invasions, in the Common Cause:" this shadow of +Succession, the Kaiser now said, should not be haggled with any +more; but be actually realized, and the Imperial sanction to it +now given,--effect to follow IF the Friesland Line died out. +Let this be some consolation for the loss of Schwiebus and your +Silesian Duchies. Here in Friesland is the ghost of a coming +possession; there in Schwiebus was the ghost of a going one: +phantasms you shall not want for; but the Hand of Power parts not +with its realities, however come by. + + +HIS REAL CHARACTER. + +Poor Friedrich led a conspicuous life as Elector and King; but no +public feat he did now concerns us like this private one of +Schwiebus. Historically important, this, and requiring to be +remembered, while so much else demands mere oblivion from us. +He was a spirited man; did soldierings, fine Siege of Bonn +(July-October, 1689), sieges and campaignings, in person,--valiant +in action, royal especially in patience there,--during that Third +War of Louis-Fourteenth's, the Treaty-of-Ryswick one. All through +the Fourth, or Spanish Succession-War, his Prussian Ten-Thousand, +led by fit generals, showed eminently what stuff they were made +of. Witness Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau (still a YOUNG Dessauer) on +the field of Blenheim;--Leopold had the right wing there, and +saved Prince Eugene who was otherwise blown to pieces, while +Marlborough stormed and conquered on the left. Witness the same +Dessauer on the field of Hochstadt the year before, [Varnhagen von +Ense, <italic> Biographische Denkmale <end italic> (Berlin, 1845), +ii, 155.] how he managed the retreat there. Or see him at the +Bridge of Cassano (1705); in the Lines of Turin (1706); [<italic> +Des weltberuhnden Furstens Leopoldi von Anhult-Dessau Leben und +Thaten <end italic> (Leipzig, 1742, anonymous, by one MICHAEL +RANFFT), pp. 53, 61.] wherever hot service was on hand. +At Malplaquet, in those murderous inexpugnable French Lines, +bloodiest of obstinate Fights (upwards of thirty thousand left on +the ground), the Prussians brag that it was they who picked their +way through a certain peat-bog, reckoned impassable; and got +fairly in upon the French wing,--to the huge comfort of +Marlborough, and little Eugene his brisk comrade on that occasion. +Marlborough knew well the worth of these Prussian troops, and also +how to stroke his Majesty into continuing them in the field. + +He was an expensive King, surrounded by cabals, by Wartenbergs +male and female, by whirlpools of intrigues, which, now that the +game is over, become very forgettable. But one finds he was a +strictly honorable man; with a certain height and generosity of +mind, capable of other nobleness than the upholstery kind. He had +what we may call a hard life of it; did and suffered a good deal +in his day and generation, not at all in a dishonest or unmanful +manner. In fact, he is quite recognizably a Hohenzollern,--with +his back half broken. Readers recollect that sad accident: how the +Nurse, in one of those headlong journeys which his Father and +Mother were always making, let the poor child fall or jerk +backward; and spoiled him much, and indeed was thought to have +killed him, by that piece of inattention. He was not yet +Hereditary Prince, he was only second son: but the elder died; +and he became Elector, King; and had to go with his spine +distorted,--distortion not glaringly conspicuous, though +undeniable;--and to act the Hohenzollern SO. Nay who knows but it +was this very jerk, and the half-ruin of his nervous system,--this +doubled wish to be beautiful, and this crooked back capable of +being hid or decorated into straightness,--that first set the poor +man on thinking of expensive ornamentalities, and Kingships in +particular? History will forgive the Nurse in that case. + +Perhaps History has dwelt too much on the blind side of this +expensive King. Toland, on entering his country, was struck rather +with the signs of good administration everywhere. No sooner have +you crossed the Prussian Border, out of Westphalia, says Toland, +than smooth highways, well-tilled fields, and a general air of +industry and regularity, are evident: solid milestones, +brass-bound, and with brass inscription, tell the traveller where +he is; who finds due guidance of finger-posts, too, and the +blessing of habitable inns. The people seem all to be busy, +diligently occupied; villages reasonably swept and whitewashed;-- +never was a better set of Parish Churches; whether new-built or +old, they are all in brand-new repair. The contrast with +Westphalia is immediate and great; but indeed that was a sad +country, to anybody but a patient Toland, who knows the causes of +phenomena. No inns there, except of the naturally savage sort. +"A man is very happy if he finds clean straw to sleep on, without +expecting sheets or coverings; let him readily dispense with +plates, forks and napkins, if he can get anything to eat. . . . +He must be content to have the cows, swine and poultry for his +fellow-lodgers, and to go in at the same passage that the smoke +comes out at, for there's no other vent for it but the door; +which makes foreigners commonly say that the people of Westphalia +enter their houses by the chimney." And observe withal: "This is +the reason why their beef and hams are so finely prepared and +ripened; for the fireplace being backwards, the smoke must spread +over all the house before it gets to the door; which makes +everything within of a russet or sable color, not excepting the +hands and faces of the meaner sort." [<italic> An Account of the +Courts of Prussia and Hanover, <end italic> by Mr. Toland (cited +already), p. 4.] If Prussia yield to Westphalia in ham, in all +else she is strikingly superior. + +He founded Universities, this poor King; University of Halle; +Royal Academy of Berlin, Leibnitz presiding: he fought for +Protestantism;--did what he could for the cause of Cosmos VERSUS +Chaos, after his fashion. The magnificences of his +Charlottenburgs, Oranienburgs and numerous Country-houses make +Toland almost poetic. An affable kindly man withal, though quick +of temper; his word sacred to him. A man of many troubles, and +acquainted with "the infinitely little (L'INFINIMENT PETIT)," +as his Queen termed it. + + + +Chapter XX. + +DEATH OF KING FRIEDRICH I. + +Old King Friedrich I. had not much more to do in the world, after +witnessing the christening of his Grandson of like name. +His leading forth or sending forth of troops, his multiplex +negotiations, solemn ceremonials, sad changes of ministry, +sometimes transacted "with tears," are mostly ended; +the ever-whirling dust-vortex of intrigues, of which he has been +the centre for a five-and-twenty years, is settling down finally +towards everlasting rest. No more will Marlborough come and +dexterously talk him over,--proud to "serve as cupbearer," on +occasion, to so high a King--for new bodies of men to help in the +next campaign: we have ceased to be a King worthy of such a +cupbearer, and Marlborough's campaigns too are all ended. + +Much is ended. They are doing the sorrowful Treaty of Utrecht; +Louis XIV. himself is ending; mournfully shrunk into the corner, +with his Missal and his Maintenon; looking back with just horror +on Europe four times set ablaze for the sake of one poor mortal in +big periwig, to no purpose. Lucky if perhaps Missal-work, orthodox +litanies, and even Protestant Dragonnades, can have virtue to wipe +out such a score against a man! Unhappy Louis: the sun-bright gold +has become dim as copper; we rose in storms, and we are setting +in watery clouds. The Kaiser himself (Karl VI., Leopold's Son, +Joseph I.'s younger Brother) will have to conform to this Treaty +of Utrecht: what other possibility for him? + +The English, always a wonderful Nation, fought and subsidied from +side to side of Europe for this Spanish-Suceession business; +fought ten years, such fighting as they never did before or since, +under "John Duke of Marlborough," who, as is well known, "beat the +French thorough and thorough." French entirely beaten at last, not +without heroic difficulty and as noble talent as was ever shown in +diplomacy and war, are ready to do your will in all things; +in this of giving up Spain, among others:--whereupon the English +turn round, with a sudden new thought, "No, we will not have our +WILL done; it shall be the other way, the way it WAS,--now that +we bethink ourselves, after all this fighting for our will!" +And make Peace on those terms, as if no war had been; and accuse +the great Marlborough of many things, of theft for one. +A wonderful People; and in their Continental Politics (which +indeed consist chiefly of Subsidies) thrice wonderful. So the +Treaty of Utrecht is transacting itself; which that of Rastadt, +on the part of Kaiser and Empire, unable to get on without +Subsidies, will have to follow: and after such quantities of +powder burnt, and courageous lives wasted, general AS-YOU-WERE is +the result arrived at. + +Old Friedrich's Ambassadors are present at Utrecht, jangling and +pleading among the rest; at Berlin too the despatch of business +goes lumbering on; but what thing, in the shape of business, at +Utrecht or at Berlin, is of much importance to the old man? +Seems as if Enrope itself were waxing dim, and sinking to stupid +sleep,--as we, in our poor royal person, full surely are. A Crown +has been achieved, and diamond buttons worth 1,500 pounds apiece; +but what is a Crown, and what are buttons, after all?--I suppose +the tattle and SINGERIES of little Wilhelmina, whom he would spend +whole days with; this and occasional visits to a young Fritzchen's +cradle, who is thriving moderately, and will speak and do aperies +one day,--are his main solacements in the days that are passing. +Much of this Friedrich's life has gone off like the smoke of +fire-works, has faded sorrowfully, and proved phantasmal. Here is +an old Autograph Note, written by him at the side of that Cradle, +and touching on a slight event there; which, as it connects two +venerable Correspondents and their Seventeenth Century with a +grand Phenomenon of the Eighteenth, we will insert here. The old +King addresses his older Mother-in-law, famed Electress Sophie of +Hanover, in these terms (spelling corrected):-- + +"CHARLOTTENBURG, den 30 August, 1712. + + "Ew. Churf. Durchlaucht werden sich zweifelsohne mit uns +erfreuen, dass der kleine Printz (PRINZ) Fritz nuhnmero (NUNMEHR) +6 Zehne (ZAHNE) hat und ohne die geringste incommoditet (-TAT). +Daraus kann man auch die PREDESTINATION sehen, dass alle seine +Bruder haben daran sterben mussen, dieser aber bekommt sie ohne +Muhe wie seine Schwester. Gott erhalte ihn uns noch lange zum +trohst (TROST), in dessen Schutz ich dieselbe ergebe und +lebenslang verbleibe, + + "Ew. Churf. Durchl. gehorsamster Diener und treuer Sohn, + +"FRIEDRICH R." + +[Preuss, <italic> Friedrich der Grosse (Historische Skizze, <end +italic> Berlin, 1838), p. 380. + +Of which this is the literal English:-- + "Your Electoral Serenity will doubtless rejoice with us that the +little Prince Fritz has now got his sixth tooth without the least +INCOMMODITE. And therein we may trace a pre-destination, inasmuch +as his Brothers died of teething [<italic> Not of cannon-sound and +weight of head-gear, then, your Majesty thinks? That were a +painful thought? <end italic>]; and this one, as his Sister +[WILHELMINA] did, gets them [THE TEETH] without trouble. +God preserve him long for a comfort to us:--to whose protection +I commit DIESELBE [<italic> Your Electoral Highness, in the third +person <end italic>], and remain lifelong, + + "Your Electoral Highness's most obedient Servant and true Son, + +"FRIEDRICH REX." + +One of Friedrich Rex's worst adventures was his latest; commenced +some five or six years ago (1708), and now not far from +terminating. He was a Widower, of weakly constitution, towards +fifty: his beautiful ingenious "Serena," with all her Theologies, +pinch-of-snuff Coronations and other earthly troubles, was dead; +and the task of continuing the Hohenzollern progeny, given over to +Friedrich Wilhelm the Prince Royal, was thought to be in good +hands. Majesty Friedrich with the weak back had retired, in 1708, +to Karlsbad, to rest from his cares; to take the salutary waters, +and recruit his weak nerves a little. Here, in the course of +confidential promenadings, it was hinted, it was represented to +him by some pickthank of a courtier, That the task of continuing +the Hohenzollern progeny did not seem to prosper in the present +good hands; that Sophie Dorothee, Princess Royal, had already +borne two royal infants which had speedily died: that in fact it +was to be gathered from the medical men, if not from their words, +then from their looks and cautious innuendoes, that Sophie +Dorothee, Princess Royal, would never produce a Prince or even +Princess that would live; which task, therefore, did now again +seem to devolve upon his Majesty, if his Majesty had not +insuperable objections? Majesty had no insuperable objections; +old Majesty listened to the flattering tale; and, sure enough, he +smarted for it in a signal manner. + +By due industry, a Princess was fixed upon for Bride, Princess +Sophie Louisa of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, age now twenty-four: +she was got as Wife, and came home to Berlin in all pomp;--but +good came not with her to anybody there. Not only did she bring +the poor old man no children, which was a fault to be overlooked, +considering Sophie Dorothee's success; but she brought a +querulous, weak and self-sufficient female humor; found his +religion heterodox,--he being Calvinist, and perhaps even +lax-Calvinist, she Lutheran as the Prussian Nation is, and strict +to the bone:--heterodox wholly, to the length of no salvation +possible; and times rose on the Berlin Court such as had never +been seen before! "No salvation possible, says my Dearest? Hah! +And an innocent Court-Mask or Dancing Soiree is criminal in the +sight of God and of the Queen? And we are children of wrath +wholly, and a frivolous generation; and the Queen will see +us all--!" + +The end was, his Majesty, through sad solitary days and nights, +repented bitterly that he had wedded such a She-Dominic; +grew quite estranged from her; the poor She-Dominic giving him due +return in her way,--namely, living altogether in her own +apartments, upon orthodoxy, jealousy and other bad nourishment. +Till at length she went quite mad; and, except the due medical and +other attendants, nobody saw her, or spoke of her, at Berlin. +Was this a cheering issue of such an adventure to the poor old +expensive Gentleman? He endeavored to digest in silence the bitter +morsel he had cooked for himself; but reflected often, as an old +King might, What dirt have I eaten! + +In this way stands that matter in the Schloss of Berlin, when +little Friedrich, who will one day be called the Great, is born. +Habits of the expensive King, hours of rising, modes of dressing, +and so forth, are to be found in Pollnitz; [Pollnitz, <italic> +Memoiren zur Lebens- und Regierungs-Geschichte der Vier letzten +Regenten des Preussischen Staats <end italic> (Berlin, 1791). +A vague, inexact, but not quite uninstructive or uninteresting +Book: Printed also in FRENCH, which was the Original, same place +and time.] but we charitably omit them all. Even from foolish +Pollnitz a good eye will gather, what was above intimated, that +this feeble-backed, heavy-laden old King was of humane and just +disposition; had dignity in his demeanor; had reticence, patience; +and, though hot-tempered like all the Hohenzollerns, that he bore +himself like a perfect gentleman for one thing; and tottered along +his high-lying lonesome road not in an unmanful manner at all. +Had not his nerves been damaged by that fall in infancy, who knows +but we might have had something else to read of him than that he +was regardless of expense in this world! + +His last scene, of date February, 1713, is the tragical ultimatum +of that fine Karlsbad adventure of the Second marriage,--Third +marriage, in fact, though the First, anterior to "Serena," is apt +to be forgotten, having lasted short while, and produced only a +Daughter, not memorable except by accident. This Third marriage, +which had brought so many sorrows to him, proved at length the +death of the old man. For he sat one morning, in the chill +February days of the Year 1713, in his Apartment, as usual; +weak of nerves, but thinking no special evil; when, suddenly with +huge jingle, the glass door of his room went to sherds; and there +rushed in--bleeding and dishevelled, the fatal "White Lady" +(WEISSE FRAU), who is understood to walk that Schloss at Berlin, +and announce Death to the Boyal inhabitants. Majesty had fainted, +or was fainting. "Weisse Frau? Oh no, your Majesty!"--not that; +but indeed something almost worse.--Mad Queen, in her Apartments, +had been seized, that day, when half or quarter dressed; +with unusual orthodoxy or unusual jealousy. Watching her +opportunity, she had whisked into the corridor, in extreme +deshabille; and gone, like the wild roe, towards Majesty's Suite +of Rooms; through Majesty's glass door, like a catapult; +and emerged as we saw,--in petticoat and shift, with hair +streaming, eyes glittering, arms cut, and the other sad trimmings. +O Heaven, who could laugh? There are tears due to Kings and to all +men. It was deep misery; deep enough "SIN and misery," as Calvin +well says, on the one side and the other! The poor old King was +carried to bed; and never rose again, but died in a few days. +The date of the WEISSE FRAU'S death, one might have hoped, was not +distant either; but she lasted, in her sad state, for above twenty +years coming. + +Old King Friedrich's death-day was 25th February, 1713; +the unconscious little Grandson being then in his Fourteenth +month. To whom, after this long, voyage round the world, we now +gladly return. + +* By way of reinforcement to any recollection the reader may have +of these Twelve Hohenzollern Kurfursts, I will append a continuous +list of them, with here and there an indication. + + +THE TWELVE HOHENZOLLERN ELECTORS. + +1. FRIEDRICH I. (as Burggraf, was Friedrich VI.): born, it is +inferred, 1372 (Rentsch, p. 350); accession, 18th April, 1417; +died 21st September, 1440. Had come to Brandenburg, 1412, as +Statthalter. The Quitzows and HEAVY PEG. +2. FRIEDRICH II.: 19th November, 1413; 21st September, 1440; +10th February, 1472. Friedrich IRONTEETH; tames the Berlin +Burghers. Spoke Polish, was to have been Polish King. Cannon-shot +upon his dinner-table shatters his nerves so, that he abdicates, +and soon dies. JOHANNES ALCHYMISTA his elder Brother; ALBERT +ACHILLES his younger. +3. ALBERT (Achilles): 24th November, 1414; 10th February, 1471; +11th March, 1486. Third son of Friedrich I.; is lineal Progenitor +of all the rest. + Eldest Son, JOHANN CICERO, follows as Kurfurst; a Younger Son, +FRIEDRICH (by a different Mother), got Culmbach, and produced the +Elder Line there. (See Genealogical Diagram.) +4. JOHANN (Cicero): 2d August, 1455; 11th March, 1486; 9th +January, 1499. Big John. Friedrich of Culmbach's elder (Half-) +Brother. +5. JOACHIM I.: 21st February, 1484; 9th January, 1499; 11th July, +1535. Loud in the Reformation times; finally declares peremptorily +for the Conservative side. Wife (Sister of Christian II. of +Denmark) runs away. + Younger Brother Albert Kur-Mainz, whom Hutten celebrated; born +1490; Archbishop of Magdeburg and Halberstadt 1513, of Maim 1514; +died 1545: set Tetzel, and the Indulgence, on foot. +6. JOACHIM II. (Hector): 9th January, 1505; 11th July, 1535; +3d January, 1571. Sword drawn on Alba once. ERBVERBRUDERUNG with +Liegnitz. Staircase at Grimnitz. A weighty industrious Kurfurst. + Declared himself Protestant, 1539. First Wife (mother of his +Successor) was Daughter to Duke George of Saxony, Luther's "If it +rained Duke Georges."--Johann of Custrin was a younger Brother of +his: died ten days after Joachim; left no Son. +7. JOHANN GEORGE: 11th September, 1525; 3d January, 1571; +8th January, 1598. Cannon-shot, at Siege of Wittenberg, upon +Kaiser Karl and him. Gera Bond. + Married a Silesian Duke of Liegnitz's Daughter (result of the +ERBVERBRUDERUNG there,--Antea, p. 231). Had twenty-three children. +It was to him that Baireuth and Anspach fell home: he settled them +on his second and his third sons, Christian and Joachim Ernst; +founders of the New Line of Baireuth and Anspach. (See +Genealogical Diagram.) +8. JOACHIM FRIEDRICH: 27th January, 1546; 8th January, 1598; +18th July, 1608. Archbishop of Magdeburg first of all,--to keep +the place filled. Joachimsthal School at old Castle of Grimnitz. +Very vigilant for Preussen; which was near falling due. + Two of his Younger Sons, Johann George (1577-1624) to whom he +gave JAGERNDORF, and that Archbishop of Magdeburg, who was present +in Tilly's storm, got both wrecked in the Thirty-Years War;--not +without results, in the Jagerndorf case. +9. JOHANN SIGISMUND: 8th November, 1572; 18th July, 1608; +23d December, 1619. Preussen: Cleve; Slap on the face to Neuburg. +10. GEORGE WILHELM: 3d November, 1595; 22d November, 1619; +21st November, 1640. The unfortunate of the Thirty-Years War. +<italic> "Que faire; ils ont des canons!" <end italic> +11. FRIEDRICH WILHELM: 6th February, 1620; 21st November, 1640; +29th April, 1688. The Great Elector. +12. FRIEDRICH III.: 1st July, 1657; 29th April, 1688; +25th February, 1713. First King (18th January, 1701). + + + +GENEALOGICAL DIAGRAM: THE TWO CULMBACH LINES. + +3d KURFURST (1471-1486) +ALBERT ACHILLES. + ELDER CULMBACH LINE. + +FRIEDRICH, second son of Kurfurst Albert Achilles, younger Brother +of Johannes Cicero, got CULMBACH: Anspach first, then Baireuth on +the death of a younger Brother. Born 1460; got Anspach 1486; +Baireuth 1495; followed Max in his VENETIAN CAMPAIGN, 1508; +fell IMBECILE 1515; died 1536. Had a Polish Wife; from whom came +interests in Hungary as well as Poland to his children. Friedrich +had Three notable Sons, + +1. CASIMIR, who got BAIREUTH (1515): born 1481; died 1527. +Very truculent in the Peasants' War. + ALBERT ALEIBIADES: a man of great mark in his day (1522-1557); +never married. Two Sisters, with one of whom he took shelter at +last; no Brother. + +2. GEORGE THE PIOUS, who got ANSPACH (1515): born 1484; died 1543; +got Jagerndorf, by purchase, from his Mother's Hungarian +connection, 1524. Protestant declared, 1528; and makes honorable +figure in the Histories thenceforth. The George of Kaiser Karl's +<italic> "Nit-Kop-ab." <end italic> One Son, + GEORGE FRIEDRICH; born 1539; went to administer Preussen when +Cousin became incompetent; died 1603. Heir to his Father in +ANSPACH and JAGERNDORF; also to his Cousin Alcibiades in BAIREUTH. +Had been left a minor (boy of 4, as the reader sees); +Alcibiades his Guardian for a little while: from which came great +difficulties, and unjust ruin would have come, had not Kurfurst +Joachim I. been helpful and vigorous in his behalf. +George Friedrich got at length most of his Territories into hand: +Anspach and Baireuth unimpaired, Jagerndorf too, except that +Ratibor and Oppeln were much eaten into by the Imperial +chicaneries in that quarter. Died 1603, without children;--upon +which his Territories all reverted to the main Brandenburg line, +namely, to Johann George Seventh Kurfurst, or his representatives, +according to the GERA BOND; and the "Elder Culmbach Line" had +ended in this manner. + +3. ALBERT; born 1490; Hochmeister of the Teutsch Ritters, 1511; +declares himself Protestant, and Duke of Prussia, 1525; died 1568. + One Son, ALBERT FRIEDRICH: born 1553; follows as Duke 1568, +declared MELANCHOLIC 1573; died 1618. His Cousin George Friedrich +administered for him till 1603; after which Joachim Friedrich; +and then, lastly, Joachim Friedrich's Son, Johann Sigismund the +Ninth Kurfurst. Had married the Heiress of Cleve (whence came a +celebrated Cleve Controversy in after-times). No son; a good many +daughters; eldest of whom was married to Kurfurst Johann +Sigismund; from her came the controverted Cleve Property. + + +7th KURFURST (1571-1598), +JOHANN GEORGE. + YOUNGER CULMBACH LINE. + +Kurfurst Johann George settled Baireuth and Anspach on Two of his +Younger Sons, who are Founders of the "Younger Culmbach Line" +(SPLIT Line or Pair of LINES). Jagerndorf the new Kurfurst, +Joachim Friedrich, kept; settled it on one of his younger sons. +Here are the two new Founders in Baireuth and Anspach, and some +indication of their "Lines," so far as important to us at present: + + + BAIREUTH. + +(1.) CHRISTIAN, second son of Kurfurst Johann George: born 1581; +got Baireuth 1603; died 1655. A distinguished Governor in his +sphere. Had two sons; the elder died before him, but left a son, +Christian Ernst; who (2.) succeeded, and (3.) whose son, George +Wilhelm: 1644, 1655, 1712; 1678, 1712, 1726 (are BIRTH, ACCESSION, +END of these two); the latter of whom had no son that lived. + Upon which the posterity of Christian's second son succeeded. +Second son of Christian notable to us in two little ways: +FIRST, That HE, George Albert, Margraf of CULMbach, is the +inscrutable "Marquis de LULENbach" of <italic> Bromley's Letters +<end italic> (antea p. 184, let the Commentators take comfort!); +SECOND and better, That from him came our little Wilhelmina's +Husband,--as will be afterwards explained. It was his grandson +(4.) that succeeded in Baireuth, George Friedrich Karl (1688, +1726, 1735); Father of Wilhelmina's Husband. After whom (5.) his +Son Friedrich (1711, 1735, 1763), Wilhelmina's Husband; +who leaving (1763) nothing hut a daughter, Baireuth fell to +Anspach, 1769, after an old Uncle (6.), childless, had also died. +SIX Baireuth Margraves of this Line; FIVE generations; and then to Anspach, in 1769. + + + ANSPACH. + +(1.) JOACHIM ERNST, third son of Kurfurst Johann George: born +1583; got Anspach 1603; died 1625. Had military tendencies, +experiences; did not thrive as Captain of the EVANGELICAL UNION +(1619-1620) when WINTER-KING came up and THIRTY-YEARS WAR along +with him. Left two sons; elder of whom, (2.) Friedrich, nominally +Sovereign, age still only eighteen, fell in the Battle of +Nordlingen (worst battle of the Thirty-Years War, 1634); and the +younger of whom, (3.) Albert, succeeded (1620, 1634, 1667), and +his son, (4.) Johann Friedrich (1654, 1667, 1686); and (5, 6, 7.) +no fewer than three grandsons,--children mostly, though entitled +"sovereign"--in a PARALLEL way (Christian Albert, 1675, 1686, +1692; George Friedrich, 1678, 1692, 1703; Wilhelm Friedrich, 1685, +1703, 1723). Two little points notable here also, and no third: + FIRST, That one of the grand-DAUGHTERS, full-sister of the last +of these three parallel figures, half-sister of the two former, +was--Queen Caroline, George II.'s wife, who has still some fame +with us. + SECOND, That the youngest of said three grandsons, Queen +Caroline's full-brother, left a son then minor, who became major, +(8.) and wedded a Sister of our dear little Wilhelmina's, of whom +we shall hear (Karl Wilhelm Friedrich, 1712, 1723, 1757); +unmomentous Margraf otherwise. His and her one son it was, +(9.) Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander (1736, 1757, 1806), who +inherited Baireuth, inherited Actress Clairon, Lady Craven, and at +Hammersmith (House once Bubb Doddington's, if that has any charm) +ended the affair. + NINE Anspach Margraves; in FIVE generations: end, 1806. + + +END OF BOOK III + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 3 + diff --git a/old/03frd10.zip b/old/03frd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..781dcac --- /dev/null +++ b/old/03frd10.zip |