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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/2112-h.zip b/2112-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c7cd11 --- /dev/null +++ b/2112-h.zip diff --git a/2112-h/2112-h.htm b/2112-h/2112-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bdec7b --- /dev/null +++ b/2112-h/2112-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8226 @@ +<?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 XII. 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. +XII. (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. XII. (of XXI.) + Frederick The Great--First Silesian War, Awakening a General + European One, Begins--December, 1740-May, 1741 + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Release Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #2112] +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 OF PRUSSIA + </h1> + <h2> + FREDERICK THE GREAT <br /> <br /> By Thomas Carlyle + </h2> + <h3> + Volume XII. + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <div class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>BOOK XII. — FIRST SILESIAN WAR, + AWAKENING A GENERAL EUROPEAN ONE, BEGINS. — <br /> December, + 1740-May, 1741.</b></big> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> <b>Chapter + I. — OF SCHLESIEN, OR SILESIA.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> HISTORICAL EPOCHS OF SCHLESIEN;—AFTER + THE QUADS AND MARCHMEN. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> <b>Chapter II. — FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON + GLOGAU.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> FRIEDRICH AT CROSSEN, AND STILL IN HIS OWN + TERRITORY, 14th-16th DECEMBER;—STEPS INTO SCHLESIEN. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0006"> WHAT GLOGAU, AND THE GOVERNMENT AT BRESLAU, DID + UPON IT. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> MARCH TO WEICHAU (SATURDAY, + 17th, AND STAY SUNDAY THERE); TO MILKAU (MONDAY, 19th); GET TO + HERRENDORF, WITHIN SIGHT OF GLOGAU, DECEMBER 22d. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> <b>Chapter III. — PROBLEM OF GLOGAU.</b> + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> WHAT BERLIN IS SAYING; WHAT FRIEDRICH IS + THINKING. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> JORDAN TO THE KING </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> SCHWERIN AT LIEGNITZ; FRIEDRICH HUSHES UP THE + GLOGAU PROBLEM, AND STARTS WITH HIS BEST SPEED FOR BRESLAU. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> <b>Chapter IV. — BRESLAU UNDER SOFT + PRESSURE.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> KING ENTERS BRESLAW; STAYS THERE, GRACIOUS AND + VIGILANT, FOUR DAYS (Jan. 2d-6th, 1741). </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> <b>Chapter V. — FRIEDRICH PUSHES + FORWARD TOWARDS BRIEG AND NEISSE.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS + THERE, IN SURVEY OF NEISSE, TILL HIS CANNON COME. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> <b>Chapter VI. — NEISSE IS BOMBARDED.</b> + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> BROWNE VANISHES IN A SLIGHT FLASH OF FIRE. + </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> <b>Chapter VII. — AT VERSAILLES, THE + MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY CHANGES HIS SHIRT, AND BELLEISLE IS SEEN WITH + PAPERS.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> OF BELLEISLE AND HIS PLANS. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> <b>Chapter VIII. — PHENOMENA IN + PETERSBURG.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> <b>Chapter IX. + — FRIEDRICH RETURNS TO SILESIA.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> SKIRMISH OF BAUMGARTEN, 27th FEBRUARY, 1741. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> ASPECTS OF BRESLAU. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0024"> AUSTRIA IS STANDING TO ARMS. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0025"> THE YOUNG DESSAUER CAPTURES GLOGAU (MARCH 9th); + THE OLD DESSAUER, BY HIS CAMP OF GOTTIN (APRIL 2d), CHECKMATES CERTAIN + DESIGNING PERSONS. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> FRIEDRICH TAKES + THE FIELD, WITH SOME POMP; GOES INTO THE MOUNTAINS,—BUT COMES FAST + BACK. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> <b>Chapter X. — BATTLE OF MOLLWITZ.</b> + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> OF FRIEDRICH'S DISAPPEARANCE INTO FAIRYLAND, + IN THE INTERIM; AND OF MAUPERTUIS'S SIMILAR ADVENTURE. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> <b>Chapter XI. — THE BURSTING FORTH + OF BEDLAMS: BELLEISLE AND THE BREAKERS OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE AUSTRIAN-SUCCESSION + WAR? </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> HOW BELLEISLE MADE VISIT TO + TEUTSCHLAND; AND THERE WAS NO FIT HENRY THE FOWLER TO WELCOME HIM. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> DOWNBREAK OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION; MANNER OF THE + CHIEF ARTISTS IN HANDLING THEIR COVENANTS. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0033"> CONCERNING THE IMPERIAL ELECTION (Kaiserwahl) + THAT IS TO BE: CANDIDATES FOR KAISERSHIP. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0034"> TEUTSCHLAND TO BE CARVED INTO SOMETHING OF + SYMMETRY, SHOULD THE BELLEISLE ENTERPRISES SUCCEED. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0035"> BELLEISLE ON VISIT TO FRIEDRICH; SEES FRIEDRICH + BESIEGE BRIEG, WITH EFFECT. </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> <b>Chapter XII. — SORROWS OF HIS + BRITANNIC MAJESTY.</b> </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> No. 1. SNATCH OF PARLIAMENTARY ELOQUENCE BY + MR. VINER (19th April, 1741). </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> No. 2. + CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORIAN ON THE PHENOMENON OF WALPOLE IN ENGLAND. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> No. 3. OF THE SPANISH WAR, OR THE + JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> SUCCINCT + HISTORY OF THE SPANISH WAR, WHICH BEGAN IN 1739; AND ENDED—WHEN + DID IT END? </a><br /> + </div> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> <b>Chapter XIII. — SMALL-WAR: FIRST + EMERGENCE OF ZIETHEN THE HUSSAR GENERAL INTO NOTICE.</b> </a><br /> + </div> + <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> + <h1> + BOOK XII. — FIRST SILESIAN WAR, AWAKENING A GENERAL EUROPEAN ONE, + BEGINS. — December, 1740-May, 1741. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter I. — OF SCHLESIEN, OR SILESIA. + </h2> + <p> + Schlesien, what we call Silesia, lies in elliptic shape, spread on the top + of Europe, partly girt with mountains, like the crown or crest to that + part of the Earth;—highest table-land of Germany or of the Cisalpine + Countries; and sending rivers into all the seas. The summit or highest + level of it is in the southwest; longest diameter is from northwest to + southeast. From Crossen, whither Friedrich is now driving, to the Jablunka + Pass, which issues upon Hungary, is above 250 miles; the AXIS, therefore, + or longest diameter, of our Ellipse we may call 230 English miles;—its + shortest or conjugate diameter, from Friedland in Bohemia (Wallenstein's + old Friedland), by Breslau across the Oder to the Polish Frontier, is + about 100. The total area of Schlesien is counted to be some 20,000 square + miles, nearly the third of England Proper. + </p> + <p> + Schlesien—will the reader learn to call it by that name, on + occasion? for in these sad Manuscripts of ours the names alternate—is + a fine, fertile, useful and beautiful Country. It leans sloping, as we + hinted, to the East and to the North; a long curved buttress of Mountains + ("RIESENGEBIRGE, Giant Mountains," is their best-known name in foreign + countries) holding it up on the South and West sides. This Giant-Mountain + Range,—which is a kind of continuation of the Saxon-Bohemian "Metal + Mountains (ERZGEBIRGE)" and of the straggling Lausitz Mountains, to + westward of these,—shapes itself like a bill-hook (or elliptically, + as was said): handle and hook together may be some 200 miles in length. + The precipitous side of this is, in general, turned outwards, towards + Bohmen, Mahren, Ungarn (Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, in our dialects); and + Schlesien lies inside, irregularly sloping down, towards the Baltic and + towards the utmost East, From the Bohemian side of these Mountains there + rise two Rivers: Elbe, tending for the West; Morawa for the South;—Morawa, + crossing Moravia, gets into the Donau, and thence into the Black-Sea; + while Elbe, after intricate adventures among the mountains, and then + prosperously across the plains, is out, with its many ships, into the + Atlantic. Two rivers, we say, from the Bohemian or steep side: and again, + from the Silesian side, there rise other two, the Oder and the Weichsel + (VISTULA); which start pretty near one another in the Southeast, and, + after wide windings, get both into the Baltic, at a good distance apart. + </p> + <p> + For the first thirty, or in parts, fifty miles from the Mountains, Silesia + slopes somewhat rapidly; and is still to be called a Hill-country, rugged + extensive elevations diversifying it: but after that, the slope is gentle, + and at length insensible, or noticeable only by the way the waters run. + From the central part of it, Schlesien pictures itself to you as a plain; + growing ever flatter, ever sandier, as it abuts on the monotonous endless + sand-flats of Poland, and the Brandenburg territories; nothing but + Boundary Stones with their brass inscriptions marking where the transition + is; and only some Fortified Town, not far off, keeping the door of the + Country secure in that quarter. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, the Mountain part of Schlesien is very picturesque; not + of Alpine height anywhere (the Schnee-Koppe itself is under 5,000 feet), + so that verdure and forest wood fail almost nowhere among the Mountains; + and multiplex industry, besung by rushing torrents and the swift young + rivers, nestles itself high up; and from wheat husbandry, madder and maize + husbandry, to damask-weaving, metallurgy, charcoal-burning, + tar-distillery, Schlesien has many trades, and has long been expert and + busy at them to a high degree. A very pretty Ellipsis, or irregular Oval, + on the summit of the European Continent;—"like the palm of a left + hand well stretched out, with the Riesengebirge for thumb!" said a certain + Herr to me, stretching out his arm in that fashion towards the northwest. + Palm, well stretched out, measuring 250 miles; and the crossway 100. There + are still beavers in Schlesien; the Katzbach River has gold grains in it, + a kind of Pactolus not now worth working; and in the scraggy lonesome + pine-woods, grimy individuals, with kindled mounds of pine-branches and + smoke carefully kept down by sods, are sweating out a substance which they + inform you is to be tar. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HISTORICAL EPOCHS OF SCHLESIEN;—AFTER THE QUADS AND MARCHMEN. + </h2> + <p> + Who first lived in Schlesien, or lived long since in it, there is no use + in asking, nor in telling if one knew. "The QUADI and the Lygii," says + Dryasdust, in a groping manner: Quadi and consorts, in the fifth or sixth + Century, continues he with more confidence, shifted Rome-ward, following + the general track of contemporaneous mankind; weak remnant of Quadi was + thereupon overpowered by Slavic populations, and their Country became + Polish, which the eastern rim of it still essentially is. That was the end + of the Quadi in those parts, says History. But they cannot speak nor + appeal for themselves; History has them much at discretion. Rude burial + urns, with a handful of ashes in them, have been dug up in different + places; these are all the Archives and Histories the Quadi now have. It + appears their name signifies WICKED. They are those poor Quadi (WICKED + PEOPLE) who always go along with the Marcomanni (MARCHMEN), in the + bead-roll Histories one reads; and I almost guess they must have been of + the same stock: "Wickeds and Borderers;" considered, on both sides of the + Border, to belong to the Dangerous Classes in those times. Two things are + certain: First, QUAD and its derivatives have, to this day, in the speech + of rustic Germans, something of that meaning,—"nefarious," at least + "injurious," "hateful, and to be avoided:" for example, QUADdel, "a + nettle-burn;" QUETSchen, "to smash" (say, your thumb while hammering); + &c. &c. And then a second thing: The Polish equivalent word is ZLE + (Busching says ZLEXI); hence ZLEzien, SCHLEsien, meaning merely BADland, + QUADland, what we might called DAMAGitia, or Country where you get into + Trouble. That is the etymology, or what passes for such. As to the History + of Schlesien, hitherwards of these burial urns dug up in different places, + I notice, as not yet entirely buriable, Three Epochs. + </p> + <p> + FIRST EPOCH; CHRISTIANITY: A.D. 966. Introduction of Christianity; to the + length of founding a Bishopric that year, so hopeful were the aspects; + "Bishopric of Schmoger" (SchMAGram, dim little Village still discoverable + on the Polish frontier, not far from the Town of Namslau); Bishopric + which, after one removal farther inward, got across the Oder, to + "WRUTISLAV," which me now call Breslau; and sticks there, as Bishopric of + Breslau, to this day. Year 966: it was in Adalbert, our Prussian Saint and + Missionary's younger time. Preaching, by zealous Polacks, must have been + going on, while Adalbert, Bright in Nobleness, was studying at Magdeburg, + and ripening for high things in the general estimation. This was a new + gift from the Polacks, this of Christianity; an infinitely more important + one than that nickname of "ZLEZIEN," or "DAMAGitia," stuck upon the poor + Country, had been. + </p> + <p> + SECOND EPOCH; GET GRADUALLY CUT LOOSE FROM POLAND: A.D. 1139-1159. Twenty + years of great trouble in Poland, which were of lasting benefit to + Schlesien. In 1139 the Polack King, a very potent Majesty whom we could + name but do not, died; and left his Dominions shared by punctual bequest + among his five sons. Punctual bequest did avail: but the eldest Son (who + was King, and had Schlesien with much else to his share) began to + encroach, to grasp; upon which the others rose upon him, flung him out + into exile; redivided; and hoped now they might have quiet. Hoped, but + were disappointed; and could come to no sure bargain for the next twenty + years,—not till "the eldest brother," first author of these strifes, + "died an exile in Holstein," or was just about dying, and had agreed to + take Schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth. + </p> + <p> + His, this eldest's, three Sons did accordingly, in 1159, get Schlesien + instead of him; their uncles proving honorable. Schlesien thereby was + happy enough to get cut loose from Poland, and to continue loose; steering + a course of its own;—parting farther and farther from Poland and its + habits and fortunes. These three Sons, of the late Polish Majesty who died + in exile in Holstein, are the "Piast Dukes," much talked of in Silesian + Histories: of whose merits I specify this only, That they so soon as + possible strove to be German. They were Progenitors of all the "Piast + Dukes," Proprietors of Schlesien thenceforth, till the last of them died + out in 1675,—and a certain ERBVERBRUDERUNG they had entered into + could not take effect at that time. Their merits as Sovereign Dukes seem + to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom and nobleness of mind + not rare among them; and no doubt it was partly their merit, if partly + also their good luck, that they took to Germany, and leant thitherward; + steering looser and looser from Poland, in their new circumstances. They + themselves by degrees became altogether German; their Countries, by silent + immigration, introduction of the arts, the composures and sobrieties, + became essentially so. On the eastern rim there is still a Polack remnant, + its territories very sandy, its condition very bad; remnant which surely + ought to cease its Polack jargon, and learn some dialect of intelligible + Teutsch, as the first condition of improvement. In all other parts Teutsch + reigns; and Schlesien is a green abundant Country; full of metallurgy, + damask-weaving, grain-husbandry.—instead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, + rags, dirt, and NIE POZWALAM. + </p> + <p> + A.D. 1327; GET COMPLETELY CUT LOOSE. The Piast Dukes, who soon ceased to + be Polish, and hung rather upon Bohemia, and thereby upon Germany, made a + great step in that direction, when King Johann, old ICH-DIEN whom we ought + to recollect, persuaded most of them, all of them but two, "PRETIO AC + PRECE," to become Feudatories (Quasi-Feudatories, but of a sovereign sort) + to his Crown of Bohemia. The two who stood out, resisting prayer and + price, were the Duke of Jauer and the Duke of Schweidnitz,—lofty-minded + gentlemen, perhaps a thought too lofty. But these also Johann's son, + little Kaiser Karl IV., "marrying their heiress," contrived to bring in;—one + fruitful adventure of little Karl's, among the many wasteful he made, in + the German Reich. Schlesien is henceforth a bit of the Kingdom of Bohemia; + indissolubly hooked to Germany; and its progress in the arts and + composures, under wise Piasts with immigrating Germans, we guess to have + become doubly rapid. [Busching, <i>Erdbeschreibung,</i> viii. 725; Hubner, + t. 94.] + </p> + <p> + THIRD EPOCH; ADOPT THE REFORMATION: A.D. 1414-1517. Schlesien, hanging to + Bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted Huss's doctrines; still more + extensively Luther's; and that was a difficult element in its lot, though, + I believe, an unspeakably precious one. It cost above a Century of sad + tumults, Zisca Wars; nay above two Centuries, including the sad + Thirty-Years War;—which miseries, in Bohemia Proper, were sometimes + very sad and even horrible. But Schlesien, the outlying Country, did, in + all this, suffer less than Bohemia Proper; and did NOT lose its + Evangelical Doctrine in result, as unfortunate Bohemia did, and sink into + sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big Crucifixes of japanned Tin by the + wayside," though in the course of subsequent years, named of Peace, it was + near doing so. Here are the steps, or unavailing counter-steps, in that + latter direction:— + </p> + <p> + A.D. 1537. Occurred, as we know, the ERBVERBRUDERUNG; Duke of Liegnitz, + and of other extensive heritages, making Deed of Brotherhood with + Kur-Brandenburg;—Deed forbidden, and so far as might be, rubbed out + and annihilated by the then King of Bohemia, subsequently Kaiser Ferdinand + I., Karl V.'s Brother. Duke of Liegnitz had to give up his parchments, and + become zero in that matter: Kur-Brandenburg entirely refused to do so; + kept his parchments, to see if they would not turn to something. + </p> + <p> + A.D. 1624. Schlesien, especially the then Duke of Liegnitz (great-grandson + of the ERBVERBRUDERUNG one), and poor Johann George, Duke of Jagerndorf, + cadet of the then Kur-Brandenburg, went warmly ahead into the Winter-King + project, first fire of the Thirty-Years War; sufferings from Papal + encroachment, in high quarters, being really extreme. Warmly ahead; and + had to smart sharply for it;—poor Johann George with forfeiture of + Jagerndorf, with REICHES-ACHT (Ban of the Empire), and total ruin; + fighting against which he soon died. Act of Ban and Forfeiture was done + tyrannously, said most men; and it was persisted in equally so, till men + ceased speaking of it;—Jagerndorf Duchy, fruit of the Act, was held + by Austria, ever after, in defiance of the Laws of the Reich. Religious + Oppression lay heavy on Protestant Schlesien thenceforth; and many + lukewarm individualities were brought back to Orthodoxy by that method, + successful in the diligent skilled hands of Jesuit Reverend Fathers, with + fiscals and soldiers in the rear of them. + </p> + <p> + A.D. 1648. Treaty of Westphalia mended much of this, and set fair limits + to Papist encroachment;—had said Treaty been kept: but how could it? + By Orthodox Authority, anxious to recover lost souls, or at least to have + loyal subjects, it was publicly kept in name; and tacitly, in substance, + it was violated more and more. Of the "Blossoming of Silesian Literature," + spoken of in Books; of the Poet Opitz, Poets Logan, Hoffmannswaldau, who + burst into a kind of Song better or worse at this Period, we will remember + nothing; but request the reader to remember it, if he is tunefully given, + or thinks it a good symptom of Schlesien. + </p> + <p> + A.D. 1707. Treaty of Altranstadt: between Kaiser Joseph I. and Karl XII. + Swedish Karl, marching through those parts,—out of Poland, in chase + of August the Physically Strong, towards Saxony, there to beat him soft,—was + waited upon by Silesian Deputations of a lamentable nature; was entreated, + for the love of Christ and His Evangel, to "Protect us poor Protestants, + and get the Treaty of Westphalia observed on our behalf, and fair-play + shown!" Which Karl did; Kaiser Joseph, with such weight of French War + lying on him, being much struck with the tone of that dangerous Swede. The + Pope rebuked Kaiser Joseph for such compliance in the Silesian matter: + "Holy Father," answered this Kaiser (not of distinguished orthodoxy in the + House), "I am too glad he did not ask me to become Lutheran; I know not + how I should have helped myself!" [Pauli, <i> Allgemeine Preussische + Staats-Geschichte</i> (viii. 298-592); Busching, <i>Erdbeschreibung</i> + (viii. 700-739); &c.—Heinrich Wuttke, <i>Friedrichs des Grossen + Besitzergreifung von Schlesien</i> (Seizure of Silesia by Friedrich, 2 + vols. Leipzig, 1843), I mention only lest ingenuous readers should be + tempted by the Title to buy it. Wuttke begins at the Creation of the + World; and having, in two heavy volumes, at last struggled down close TO + the BESITZERGREIFUNG or Seizure in question, calls halt; and stands (at + ease, we will hope) immovably there for the seventeen years since.] + </p> + <p> + These are the Three Epochs;—most things, in respect of this Third or + Reformation Epoch, stepping steadily downward hitherto. As to the Fourth + Epoch, dating "13th Dec. 1740," which continues, up to our day and + farther, and is the final and crowning Epoch of Silesian History,—read + in the following Chapters. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II. — FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. + </h2> + <p> + At what hour Friedrich ceased dancing on that famous Ball-night of + Bielfeld's, and how long he slept after, or whether at all, no Bielfeld + even mythically says: but next morning, as is patent to all the world, + Tuesday, 13th December, 1740, at the stroke of nine, he steps into his + carriage; and with small escort rolls away towards Frankfurt-on-Oder; [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 452; Preuss, <i>Thronbesteigung,</i> p. 456.] out upon an Enterprise + which will have results for himself and others. + </p> + <p> + Two youngish military men, Adjutant-Generals both, were with him, + Wartensleben, Borck; both once fellow Captains in the Potsdam Giants, and + much in his intimacy ever since. Wartensleben we once saw at Brunswick, on + a Masonic occasion; Borck, whom we here see for the first time, is not the + Colonel Borck (properly Major-General) who did the Herstal Operation + lately; still less is he the venerable old Minister, Marlborough Veteran, + and now Field-Marshal Borck, whom Hotham treated with, on a certain + occasion. There are numerous Borcks always in the King's service; nor are + these three, except by loose cousinry, related to one another. The Borcks + all come from Stettin quarter; a brave kindred, and old enough,—"Old + as the Devil, DAS IST SO OLD ALS DE BORCKEN UND DE DUWEL," says the + Pomeranian Proverb;—the Adjutant-General, a junior member of the + clan, chances to be the notablest of them at this moment. Wartensleben, + Borck, and a certain Colonel von der Golz, whom also the King much + esteems, these are his company on this drive. For escort, or guard of + honor out of Berlin to the next stages, there is a small body of Hussars, + Life-guard and other Cavalry, "perhaps 500 horse in all." + </p> + <p> + They drive rapidly, through the gray winter; reach Frankfurt-on-Oder, + sixty miles or more; where no doubt there is military business waiting. + They are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, forty miles farther, at a + small Town called Crossen, which looks over into Silesia; and is, for the + present, headquarters to a Prussian Army, standing ready there and in the + environs. Standing ready, or hourly marching in, and rendezvousing; now + about 28,000 strong, horse and foot. A Rearguard of Ten or Twelve Thousand + will march from Berlin in two days, pause hereabouts, and follow according + to circumstances: Prussian Army will then be some 40,000 in all. Schwerin + has been Commander, manager and mainspring of the business hitherto: + henceforth it is to be the King; but Schwerin under him will still have a + Division of his own. + </p> + <p> + Among the Regiments, we notice "Schulenburg Horse-Grenadiers,"—come + along from Landsberg hither, these Horse-Grenadiers, with little + Schulenburg at the head of them;—"Dragoon Regiment Bayreuth," + "Lifeguard Carbineers," "Derschau of Foot;" and other Regiments and + figures slightly known to us, or that will be better known. [List in <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 453.] Rearguard, just getting under way at Berlin, has for leaders the + Prince of Holstein-Beck ("Holstein-VAISSELLE," say wags, since the + Principality went all to SILVER-PLATE) and the Hereditary Prince of + Anhalt-Dessau, whom we called the Young Dessauer, on the Strasburg Journey + lately: Rearguard, we say, is of 12,000; main Army is 28,000; Horse and + Foot are in the proportion of about 1 to 3. Artillery "consists of 20 + three-pounders; 4 twelve-pounders; 4 howitzers (HAUBITZEN); 4 big mortars, + calibre fifty pounds; and of Artillerymen 166 in all." + </p> + <p> + With this Force the young King has, on his own basis (pretty much in spite + of all the world, as we find now and afterwards), determined to invade + Silesia, and lay hold of the Property he has long had there;—not + computing, for none can compute, the sleeping whirlwinds he may chance to + awaken thereby. Thus lightly does a man enter upon Enterprises which prove + unexpectedly momentous, and shape the whole remainder of his days for him; + crossing the Rubicon as it were in his sleep. In Life, as on Railways at + certain points,—whether you know it or not, there is but an inch, + this way or that, into what tram you are shunted; but try to get out of it + again! "The man is mad, CET HOMME-LA EST FOL!" said Louis XV. when he + heard it. [Raumer, <i>Beitrage</i> (English Translation, called <i>Frederick + II. and his Times; from British Museum and State-Paper Office:</i>—a + very indistinct poor Book, in comparison with whet it might have been), p. + 73 (24th Dec. 1740).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRIEDRICH AT CROSSEN, AND STILL IN HIS OWN TERRITORY, 14th-16th DECEMBER;—STEPS + INTO SCHLESIEN. + </h2> + <p> + At all events, the man means to try;—and is here dining at Crossen, + noon of Wednesday, the 14th; certain important persons,—especially + two Silesian Gentlemen, deputed from Grunberg, the nearest Silesian Town, + who have come across the border on business,—having the honor to + dine with him. To whom his manner is lively and affable; lively in mood, + as if there lay no load upon his spirits. The business of these two + Silesian Gentlemen, a Baron von Hocke one of them, a Baron von Kestlitz + the other, was To present, on the part of the Town and Amt of Grunberg, a + solemn Protest against this meditated entrance on the Territory of + Schlesien; Government itself, from Breslau, ordering them to do so. + Protest was duly presented; Friedrich, as his manner is, and continues to + be on his march, glances politely into or at the Protest; hands it, in + silence, to some page or secretary to deposit in the due pigeon-hole or + waste-basket; and invites the two Silesian Gentlemen to dine with him; as, + we see, they have the honor to do. "He (ER) lives near Grunberg, then, + Mein Herr von Hocke?" "Close to it, IHRO MAJESTAT. My poor mansion, + Schloss of Deutsch-Kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; how infinitely at + your Majesty's service, should the march prove inevitable, and go that + way!"—"Well, perhaps!" I find Friedrich did dine, the second day + hence, with one of these Gentlemen; and lodged with the other. Government + at Breslau has ordered such Protest, on the part of the Frontier + populations and Official persons: and this is all that comes of it. + </p> + <p> + During these hours, it chanced that the big Bell of Crossen dropped from + its steeple,—fulness of time, or entire rottenness of axle-tree, + being at last completed, at this fateful moment. Perhaps an ominous thing? + Friedrich, as Caesar and others have done, cheerfully interprets the omen + to his own advantage: "Sign that the High is to be brought low!" says + Friedrich. Were the march-routes, wagon-trains, and multifarious + adjustments perfect to the last item here at Crossen, he will with much + cheerfulness step into Silesia, independent of all Grunberg Protests and + fallen Bells. + </p> + <p> + On the second day he does actually cross; "the regiments marching in, at + different points; some reaching as far as 25 miles in." It is Friday, 16th + December, 1740; there has a game begun which will last long! They went + through the Village of Lasgen; that was the first point of Silesian ground + ("Circle of Schwiebus," our old friend, is on the left near by); and + "Schwerin's Regiment was the foremost." Others cross more to the left or + right; "marching through the Village of Lessen," and other dim Villages + and little Towns, round and beyond Grunberg; all regiments and divisions + bearing upon Grunberg and the Great Road; but artistically portioned out,—several + miles in breadth (for the sake of quarters), and, as is generally the + rule, about a day's march in length. This evening nearly the whole Army + was on Silesian ground. + </p> + <p> + Printed "Patent" or Proclamation, briefly assuring all Silesians, of + whatever rank, condition or religion, "That we have come as friends to + them, and will protect all persons in their privileges, and molest no + peaceable mortal," is posted on Church-doors, and extensively distributed + by hand. Soldiers are forbidden, "under penalty of the rods," Officers + under that of "cassation with infamy," to take anything, without first + bargaining and paying ready money for it. On these terms the Silesian + villages cheerfully enough accept their new guests, interesting to the + rural mind; and though the billeting was rather heavy, "as many as 24 + soldiers to a common Farmer (GARTNER)," no complaints were made. In one + Schloss, where the owners had fled, and no human response was to be had by + the wayworn-soldiery, there did occur some breakages and impatient + kickings about; which it grieved his Majesty to hear of, next morning;—in + one, not in more. + </p> + <p> + Official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely passive. This was + the Burgermeister's course at Grunberg to-night; Grunberg, first Town on + the Frontier, sets an example of passivity which cannot be surpassed. + Prussian troops being at the Gate of Grunberg, Burgermeister and adjuncts + sitting in a tacit expectant condition in their Town-hall, there arrives a + Prussian Lieutenant requiring of the Burgermeister the Key of said Gate. + "To deliver such Key? Would to God I durst, Mein Herr Lieutenant; but how + dare I! There is the Key lying: but to GIVE it—You are not the Queen + of Hungary's Officer, I doubt?"—The Prussian Lieutenant has to put + out hand, and take the Key; which he readily does. And on the morrow, in + returning it, when the march recommences, there are the same phenomena: + Burgermeister or assistants dare not for the life of them touch that Key: + It lay on the table; and may again, in the course of Providence, come to + lie!—The Prussian Lieutenant lays it down accordingly, and hurries + out, with a grin on his face. There was much small laughter over this + transaction; Majesty himself laughing well at it. Higher perfection of + passivity no Burgermeister could show. + </p> + <p> + The march, as readers understand, is towards Glogau; a strongish Garrison + Town, now some 40 miles ahead; the key of Northern Schlesien. Grunberg + (where my readers once slept for the night, in the late King's time, + though they have forgotten it) is the first and only considerable Town on + the hither side of Glogau. On to Glogau, I rather perceive, the Army is in + good part provisioned before starting: after Glogau,—we must see. + Bread-wagons, Baggage-wagons, Ammunition-and-Artillery wagons, all is in + order; Army artistically portioned out. That is the form of march; with + Glogau ahead. King, as we said above, dines with his Baron von Hocke, at + the Schloss of Deutsch-Kessel, short way beyond Grunberg, this first day: + but he by no means loiters there;—cuts across, a dozen miles + westward, through a country where his vanguard on its various lines of + march ought to be arriving;—and goes to lodge, at the Schloss of + Schweinitz, with his other Baron, the Von Kestlitz of Wednesday at + Crossen. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 459.] This is Friday, 16th + December, his first night on Silesian ground. + </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> + WHAT GLOGAU, AND THE GOVERNMENT AT BRESLAU, DID UPON IT. + </h2> + <p> + Silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least prepared for him. A + month ago, there were not above 3,000 Austrian Foot and 600 Horse in the + whole Province: neither the military Governor Count Wallis, nor the + Imperial Court, nor any Official Person near or far, had the least + anticipation of such a Visit. Count Wallis, who commands in Glogau, did in + person, nine or ten days ago, as the rumors rose ever higher, run over to + Crossen; saw with his eyes the undeniable there; and has been zealously + endeavoring ever since, what he could, to take measures. Wallis is now + shut in Glogau; his second, the now Acting Governor, General Browne, a + still more reflective man, is doing likewise his utmost; but on forlorn + terms, and without the least guidance from Court. Browne has, by violent + industry, raked together, from Mahren and the neighboring countries, + certain fractions which raise his Force to 7,000 Foot: these he throws, in + small parties, into the defensible points; or, in larger, into the Chief + Garrisons. New Cavalry he cannot get; the old 600 Horse he keeps for + himself, all the marching Army he has. [Particulars in <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 465; total of Austrian Force seems to be 7,800 horse and foot.] + </p> + <p> + Fain would he get possession of Breslau, and throw in some garrison there; + but cannot. Neither he nor Wallis could compass that. Breslau is a City + divided against itself, on this matter; full of emotions, of expectations, + apprehensions for and against. There is a Supreme Silesian Government + (OBER-AMT "Head-Office," kind of Austrian Vice-Royalty) in Breslau; and + there is, on Breslau's own score, a Town-Rath; strictly Catholic both + these, Vienna the breath of their nostrils. But then also there are + forty-four Incorporated Trades; Oppressed Protestant in Majority; to whom + Vienna is not breath, but rather the want of it. Lastly, the City calls + itself Free; and has crabbed privileges still valid; a "JUS PROESIDII" (or + right to be one's own garrison) one of them, and the most inconvenient + just now. Breslau is a REICH-STADT; in theory, sovereign member of the + Reich, and supreme over its own affairs, even as Austria itself:—and + the truth is, old Theory and new Fact, resolved not to quarrel, have + lapsed into one another's arms in a quite inextricable way, in Breslau as + elsewhere! With a Head Government which can get no orders from Vienna, the + very Town-Rath has little alacrity, inclines rather to passivity like + Grunberg; and a silent population threatens to become vocal if you press + upon it. + </p> + <p> + Breslau, that is to say the OBER-AMT there, has sent courier on courier to + Vienna for weeks past: not even an answer;—what can Vienna answer, + with Kur-Baiern and others threatening war on it, and only 10,000 pounds + in its National Purse? Answer at last is, "Don't bother! Danger is not so + near. Why spend money on couriers, and get into such a taking?" General + Wallis came to Breslau, after what he had seen at Crossen; and urged + strongly, in the name of self-preservation, first law of Nature, to get an + Austrian real Garrison introduced; wished much (horrible to think of!) + "the suburbs should be burnt, and better ramparts raised:" but could not + succeed in any of these points, nor even mention some of them in a public + manner. "You shall have a Protestant for commandant," suggested Wallis; + "there is Count von Roth, Silesian-Lutheran, an excellent Soldier!"—"Thanks," + answered they, "we can defend ourselves; we had rather not have any!" And + the Breslau Burghers have, accordingly, set to drill themselves; are + bringing out old cannon in quantity; repairing breaches; very strict in + sentry-work: "Perfectly able to defend our City,—so far as we see + good!"—Tuesday last, December 13th (the very day Friedrich left + Berlin), as this matter of the Garrison, long urged by the Ober-Amt, had + at last been got agreed to by the Town-Rath, "on proviso of consulting the + Incorporated Trades", or at least consulting their Guild-Masters, who are + usually a silent folk,—the Guild-Masters suddenly became in part + vocal; and their forty-four Guilds unusually so:—and there was + tumult in Breslau, in the Salz-Ring (big central Square or market-place, + which they call RING) such as had not been; idle population, and + guild-brethren of suspicious humor, gathering in multitudes into and round + the fine old Town-hall there; questioning, answering, in louder and louder + key; at last bellowing quite in alt; and on the edge of flaming into one + knew not what: [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 469.]—till the matter + of Austrian Garrison (much more, of burning the suburbs!) had to be dropt; + settled in what way we see. + </p> + <p> + Head Government (OBER-AMT) has, through its Northern official people, sent + Protest, strict order to the Silesian Population to look sour on the + Prussians:—and we saw, in consequence, the two Silesian Gentlemen + did dine with Friedrich, and he has returned their visits; and the Mayor + of Grunberg would not touch his keys. Head Government is now redacting a + "Patent," or still more solemn Protest of its own; which likewise it will + affix in the Salz-Ring here, and present to King Friedrich: and this—except + "despatching by boat down the river a great deal of meal to Glogau", which + was an important quiet thing, of Wallis's enforcing—is pretty much + all it can do. No Austrian Garrison can be got in ("Perfectly able to + defend ourselves!")—let Government and Wallis or Browne contrive as + they may. And as to burning the suburbs, better not whisper of that again. + Breslau feels, or would fain feel itself "perfectly able;"—has at + any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains privately a great deal of + Protestant humor. Of all which, Friedrich, it is not doubted, has notice + more or less distinct; and quickens his march the more. + </p> + <p> + General Browne is at present in the Southern parts; an able active man and + soldier; but, with such a force what can he attempt to do? There are three + strong places in the Country, Glogau, then Brieg, both on the Oder river; + lastly Neisse, on the Neisse river, a branch of the Oder (one of the FOUR + Neisse rivers there are in Germany, mostly in Silesia,—not handy to + the accurate reader of German Books). Browne is in Neisse; and will start + into a strange stare when the flying post reaches him: Prussians actually + on march! Debate with them, if debate there is to be, Browne himself must + contrive to do; from Breslau, from Vienna, no Government Supreme or + Subordinate can yield his 8,000 and him the least help. + </p> + <p> + Glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least, General Wallis the + Commandant, does, in spite of the Glogau public; and is, with his whole + might, digging, palisading, getting in meal, salt meat and other + provender;—likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he, in the small + place; and clearing down the outside edifices and shelters, at a diligent + rate. Yesterday, 15th December, he burnt down the "three Oder-Mills, which + lie outside the big suburban Tavern, also the ZIEGEL-SCHEUNE + (Tile-Manufactory)," and other valuable buildings, careless of public + lamentation,—fire catching the Town itself, and needing to be + quenched again. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 473-475.] Nay, he was clear + for burning down, or blowing up, the Protestant Church, indispensable + sacred edifice which stands outside the walls: "Prussians will make a + block-house of it!" said Wallis. A chief Protestant, Baron von Something, + begged passionately for only twelve hours of respite,—to lay the + case before his Prussian Majesty. Respite conceded, he and another chief + Protestant had posted off accordingly; and did the next morning (Friday, + 16th), short way from Crossen, meet his Majesty's carriage; who graciously + pulled up for a few instants, and listened to their story. "MEINE HERREN, + you are the first that ask a favor of me on Silesian ground; it shall be + done you!" said the King; and straightway despatched, in polite style, his + written request to Wallis, engaging to make no military use whatever of + said Church, "but to attack by the other side, if attack were necessary." + Thus his Majesty saved the Church of Glogau; which of course was a popular + act. Getting to see this Church himself a few days hence, he said, "Why, + it must come down at any rate, and be rebuilt; so ugly a thing!" + </p> + <p> + Wallis is making strenuous preparation; forces the inhabitants, even the + upper kinds of them, to labor day and night by relays, in his rampartings, + palisadings; is for burning all the adjacent Villages,—and would + have done it, had not the peasants themselves turned out in a dangerous + state of mind. He has got together about 1,000 men. His powder, they say, + is fifty years old; but he has eatable provender from Breslau, and means + to hold out to the utmost. Readers must admit that the Austrian military, + Graf von Wallis to begin with,—still more, General Browne, who is a + younger man and has now the head charge,—behave well in their + present forsaken condition. Wallis (Graf FRANZ WENZEL this one, not to be + confounded with an older Wallis heard of in the late Turk War) is of + Scotch descent,—as all these Wallises are; "came to Austria long + generations ago; REICHSGRAFS since 1612:"—Browne is of Irish; age + now thirty-five, ten years younger than Wallis. Read this Note on the + distinguished Browne:— + </p> + <p> + "A German-Irish Gentleman, this General (ultimately Fieldmarshal) Graf von + Browne; one of those sad exiled Irish Jacobites, or sons of Jacobites, who + are fighting in foreign armies; able and notable men several of them, and + this Browne considerably the most so. We shall meet him repeatedly within + the next eighteen years. Maximilian-Ulysses Graf von Browne: I said he was + born German; Basel his birthplace (23d October, 1705), Father also a + soldier: he must not be confounded with a contemporary Cousin of his, who + is also 'Fieldmarshal Browne,' but serves in Russia, Governor of Riga for + a long time in the coming years. This Austrian General, Fieldmarshal + Browne, will by and by concern us somewhat; and the reader may take note + of him. + </p> + <p> + "Who the Irish Brothers Browne, the Fathers of these Marshals Browne, + were? I have looked in what Irish Peerages and printed Records there were, + but without the least result. One big dropsical Book, of languid quality, + called <i>King James's Irish Army-List,</i> has multitudes of Brownes and + others, in an indistinct form; but the one Browne wanted, the one Lacy, + almost the one Lally, like the part of HAMLET, are omitted. There are so + many Irish in the like case with these Brownes. A Lacy we once slightly + saw or heard of; busy in the Polish-Election time,—besieging Dantzig + (investing Dantzig, that Munnich might besiege it);—that Lacy, + 'Governor of Riga,' whom the RUSSIAN Browne will succeed, is also Irish: a + conspicuous Russian man; and will have a Son Lacy, conspicuous among the + Austrians. Maguires, Ogilvies (of the Irish stock), Lieutenants + 'Fitzgeral;' very many Irish; and there is not the least distinct account + to be had of any of them." [For Browne see "Anonymous of Hamburg" (so I + have had to label a J.F.S. <i>Geschichte des &c.</i>—in fact, + History of Seven-Years War, in successive volumes, done chiefly by the + scissors; Leipzig and Frankfurt, 1759, et seqq.), i. 123-131 n.: elaborate + Note of eight pages there; intimating withal that he, J.F.S., wrote the <i>"Life + of Browne,"</i> a Book I had in vain sought for; and can now guess to + consist of those same elaborate eight pages, PLUS water and lathering to + the due amount. Anonymous "of Hamburg" I call my J.F.S.,—having + fished him out of the dust-abysses in that City: a very poor take; yet + worth citing sometimes, being authentic, as even the darkest Germans + generally are.—For a glimpse of LACY (the Elder Lacy) see Busching, + <i>Beitrage,</i> vi. 162.—For WALLIS (tombstone Note on Wallis) see + (among others who are copious in that kind of article, and keep large + sacks of it, in admired disorder) Anonymous Seyfarth, <i>Geschichte + Friedrichs des Andern</i> (Leipzig, 1784-1788), i. 112 n.; and Anonymous, + <i>Leben der &c. Marie Theresie</i> (Leipzig, 1781), 27 n.: + laboriously authentic Books both; essentialy DICTIONARIES,—stuffed + as into a row of blind SACKS.] + </p> + <p> + Let us attend his Majesty on the next few marches towards Glogau, to see + the manner of the thing a little; after which it will behoove us to be + much more summary, and stick by the main incidents. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MARCH TO WEICHAU (SATURDAY, 17th, AND STAY SUNDAY THERE); TO MILKAU + (MONDAY, 19th); GET TO HERRENDORF, WITHIN SIGHT OF GLOGAU, DECEMBER 22d. + </h2> + <p> + Friedrich's march proceeds with speed and regularity. Strict discipline is + maintained; all things paid for, damage carefully avoided: "We come, not + as invasive enemies of you or of the Queen of Hungary, but as protective + friends of Silesia and of her Majesty's rights there;—her Majesty + once allowing us (as it is presumable she will) our own rights in this + Province, no man shall meddle with hers, while we continue here." To that + effect runs the little "Patent," or initiatory Proclamation, extensively + handed out, and posted in public places, as was said above; and the + practice is conformable. To all men, coming with Protests or otherwise, we + perceive, the young King is politeness itself; giving clear answer, and + promise which will be kept, on the above principle. Nothing angers him + except that gentlemen should disbelieve, and run away. That a mansion be + found deserted by its owners, is the one evil omen for such mansion. Thus, + at the Schloss of Weichau (which is still discoverable on the Map, across + the "Black Ochel" and the "White," muddy streams which saunter eastward + towards, the Oder there, nothing yet running westward for the Bober, our + other limitary river), next night after Schweinitz, second night in + Silesia, there was no Owner to be met with; and the look of his Majesty + grew FINSTER (dark); remembering what had passed yesternight, in like + case, at that other Schloss from which the owner with his best portable + furniture had vanished. At which Schloss, as above noticed, some disorders + were committed by angry parties of the march;—doors burst open + (doors standing impudently dumb to the rational proposals made them!), + inferior remainders of furniture smashed into firewood, and the like,—no + doubt to his Majesty's vexation. Here at Weichau stricter measures were + taken: and yet difficulties, risks were not wanting; and the AMTMANN + (Steward of the place) got pulled about, and once even a stroke or two. + Happily the young Herr of Weichau appeared in person on the morrow, + hearing his Majesty was still there: "Papa is old; lives at another + Schloss; could not wait upon your Majesty; nor, till now, could I have + that honor."—"Well; lucky that you have come: stay dinner!" Which + the young Count did, and drove home in the evening to reassure Papa; his + Majesty continuing there another night, and the risk over. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 459.] + </p> + <p> + This day, Sunday, 18th, the Army rests; their first Sunday in Silesia, + while the young Count pays his devoir: and here in Weichau, as elsewhere, + it is in the Church, Catholic nearly always, that the Heretic Army does + its devotions, safe from weather at least: such the Royal Order, they say; + which is taken note of, by the Heterodox and by the Orthodox. And ever + henceforth, this is the example followed; and in all places where there is + no Protestant Church and the Catholics have one, the Prussian + Army-Chaplain assembles his buff-belted audience in the latter: "No + offence, Reverend Fathers, but there are hours for us, and hours for you; + and such is the King's Order." There is regular divine-service in this + Prussian Army; and even a good deal of inarticulate religion, as one may + see on examining. + </p> + <p> + Country Gentlemen, Town Mayors and other civic Authorities, soon learn + that on these terms they are safe with his Majesty; march after march he + has interviews with such, to regulate the supplies, the necessities and + accidents of the quartering of his Troops. Clear, frank, open to + reasonable representation, correct to his promise; in fact, industriously + conciliatory and pacificatory: such is Friedrich to all Silesian men. + Provincial Authorities, who can get no instructions from Head-quarters; + Vienna saying nothing, Breslau nothing, and Deputy-Governor Browne being + far south in Neisse,—are naturally in difficulties: How shall they + act? Best not to act at all, if one can help it; and follow the Mayor of + Grunberg's unsurpassable pattern!— + </p> + <p> + "These Silesians," says an Excerpt I have made, "are still in majority + Protestant; especially in this Northern portion of the Province; they have + had to suffer much on that and other scores; and are secretly or openly in + favor of the Prussians. Official persons, all of the Catholic creed, have + leant heavy, not always conscious of doing it, against Protestant rights. + The Jesuits, consciously enough, have been and are busy with them; intent + to recall a Heretic Population by all methods, fair and unfair. We heard + of Charles XII.'s interference, three-and-thirty years ago; and how the + Kaiser, hard bested at that time, had to profess repentance and engage for + complete amendment. Amendment did, for the moment, accordingly take place. + Treaty of Westphalia in all its stipulations, with precautionary + improvements, was re-enacted as Treaty of Altranstadt; with faithful + intention of keeping it too, on Kaiser Joseph's part, who was not a + superstitious man: 'Holy Father, I was too glad he did not demand my own + conversion to the Protestant Heresy, bested as I am,—with Louis + Quatorze and Company upon the neck of me!' Some improvement of + performance, very marked at first, did ensue upon this Altranstadt Treaty. + But the sternly accurate Karl of Sweden soon disappeared from the scene; + Kaiser Joseph of Austria soon disappeared; and his Brother, Karl VI., was + a much more orthodox person. + </p> + <p> + "The Austrian Government, and Kaiser Karl's in particular, is not to be + called an intentionally unjust one; the contrary, I rather find; but it + is, beyond others, ponderous; based broad on such multiplex formalities, + old habitudes; and GRAVITATION has a great power over it. In brief, + Official human nature, with the best of Kaisers atop, flagitated + continually by Jesuit Confessors, does throw its weight on a certain side: + the sad fact is, in a few years the brightness of that Altranstadt + improvement began to wax dim; and now, under long Jesuit manipulation, + Silesian things are nearly at their old pass; and the patience of men is + heavily laden. To see your Chapel made a Soldiers' Barrack, your + Protestant School become a Jesuit one,—Men did not then think of + revolting under injuries; but the poor Silesian weaver, trudging twenty + miles for his Sunday sermon; and perceiving that, unless their Mother + could teach the art of reading, his boys, except under soul's peril, would + now never learn it: such a Silesian could not want for reflections. + Voiceless, hopeless, but heavy; and dwelling secretly, as under nightmare, + in a million hearts. Austrian Officiality, wilfully unjust, or not + wilfully so, is admitted to be in a most heavy-footed condition; can + administer nothing well. Good Government in any kind is not known here: + Possibly the Prussian will be better; who can say? + </p> + <p> + "The secret joy of these populations, as Friedrich advances among them, + becomes more and more a manifest one. Catholic Officials do not venture on + any definite hope, or definite balance of hope and fear, but adopt the + Mayor of Grunberg's course, and study to be passive and silent. The + Jesuit-Priest kind are clear in their minds for Austria; but think, + Perhaps Prussia itself will not prove very tyrannous? At all events, be + silent; it is unsafe to stir. We notice generally, it is only in the + Southern or Mountain regions of Silesia, where the Catholics are in + majority, that the population is not ardently on the Prussian side. + Passive, if they are on the other side; accurately passive at lowest, this + it is prescribed all prudent men to be." + </p> + <p> + On the 18th, while divine service went on at Weichau, there was at Breslau + another phenomenon observable. Provincial Government in Breslau had, at + length, after intense study, and across such difficulties as we have no + idea of, got its "Patent," or carefully worded Protestation against + Prussia, brought to paper; and does, this day, with considerable + solemnity, affix it to the Rathhaus door there, for the perusal of + mankind; despatching a Copy for his Prussian Majesty withal, by two + Messengers of dignity. It has needed courage screwed to the sticking-place + to venture on such a step, without instruction from Head-quarters; and the + utmost powers of the Official mind have been taxed to couch this Document + in language politely ambiguous, and yet strong enough;—too strong, + some of us now think it. In any case, here it now is; Provincial + Government's bolt, so to speak, is shot. The affixing took place under + dark weather-symptoms; actual outburst of thunder and rain at the moment, + not to speak of the other surer omens. So that, to the common mind at + Breslau, it did not seem there would much fruit come of this difficult + performance. Breslau is secretly a much-agitated City; and Prussian Hussar + Parties, shooting forth to great distances ahead, were, this day for the + first time, observed within sight of it. + </p> + <p> + And on the same Sunday we remark farther, what is still more important: + Herr von Gotter, Friedrich's special Envoy to Vienna, has his first + interview with the Queen of Hungary, or with Grand-Duke Franz the Queen's + Husband and Co-Regent; and presents there, from Friedrich's own hand, + written we remember when, brief distinct Note of his Prussian Majesty's + actual Proposals and real meaning in regard to this Silesian Affair. + Proposals anxiously conciliatory in tone, but the heavy purport of which + is known to us: Gotter had been despatched, time enough, with these + Proposals (written above a month ago); but was instructed not to arrive + with them, till after the actual entrance into Silesia. And now the + response to them is—? As good as nothing; perhaps worse. Let that + suffice us at present. Readers, on march for Glogau, would grudge to pause + over State-papers, though we shall have to read this of Friedrich's at + some freer moment. + </p> + <p> + Monday, 19th, before daybreak, the Army is astir again, simultaneously + wending forward; spread over wide areas, like a vast cloud (potential + thunder in it) steadily advancing on the winds. Length of the Army, + artistically portioned out, may be ten or fifteen miles, breadth already + more, and growing more; Schwerin always on the right or western wing, + close by the Bober River as yet, through Naumburg and the Towns on that + side,—Liegnitz and other important Towns lying ahead for Schwerin, + still farther apart from the main Body, were Glogau once settled. + </p> + <p> + So that the march is in two Columns; Schwerin, with the westernmost small + column, intending towards Liegnitz, and thence ever farther southward, + with his right leaning on the high lands which rise more and more into + mountains as you advance. Friedrich himself commands the other column, has + his left upon the Oder, in a country mounting continually towards the + South, but with less irregularity of level, and generally flat as yet. + From beginning to end, the entire field of march lies between the Oder and + its tributary the Bober; climbing slowly towards the sources of both. + Which two rivers, as the reader may observe, form here a rectangular or + trapezoidal space, ever widening as we go southward. Both rivers, coming + from the Giant Mountains, hasten directly north; but Oder, bulging out + easterly in his sandy course, is obliged to turn fairly westward again; + and at Glogau, and a good space farther, flows in that direction;—till + once Bober strikes in, almost at right angles, carrying Oder with HIM, + though he is but a branch, straight northward again. Northward, but ever + slower, to the swollen Pommern regions, and sluggish exit into the Baltic + there. + </p> + <p> + One of the worst features is the state of the weather. On Sunday, at + Breslau, we noticed thunder bursting out on an important occasion; + "ominous," some men thought;—omen, for one thing, that the weather + was breaking. At Weichau, that same day, rain began,—the young Herr + of Weichau, driving home to Papa from dinner with Majesty, would get his + share of it;—and on Monday, 19th, there was such a pour of rain as + kept most wayfarers, though it could not the Prussian Army, within doors. + Rain in plunges, fallen and falling, through that blessed day; making + roads into mere rivers of mud. The Prussian hosts marched on, all the + same. Head-quarters, with the van of the wet Army, that night, were at + Milkau;—from which place we have a Note of Friedrich's for Friend + Jordan, perhaps producible by and by. His Majesty lodged in some opulent + Jesuit Establishment there. And indeed he continued there, not idle, under + shelter, for a couple of days. The Jesuits, by their two head men, had + welcomed him with their choicest smiles; to whom the King was very + gracious, asking the two to dinner as usual, and styling them "Your + Reverence." Willing to ingratiate himself with persons of interest in this + Country; and likes talk, even with Jesuits of discernment. + </p> + <p> + On the morrow (20th), came to him, here at Milkau,—probably from + some near stage, for the rain was pouring worse than ever,—that + Breslau "Patent," or strongish Protestation, by its two Messengers of + dignity. The King looked over it "without visible anger" or change of + countenance; "handed it," we expressly see, "to a Page to reposit" in the + proper waste-basket;—spoke politely to the two gentlemen; asked each + or one of them, "Are you of the Ober-Amt at Breslau, then?"—using + the style of ER (He).—"No, your Majesty; we are only of the + Land-Stande" (Provincial Parliament, such as it is). "Upon which [do you + mark!] his Majesty became still more polite; asked them to dinner, and + used the style of SIE." For their PATENT, now lying safe in its + waste-basket, he gave them signed receipt; no other answer. + </p> + <p> + Rain still heavier, rain as of Noah, continued through this Tuesday, and + for days afterwards: but the Prussian hosts, hastening towards Glogau, + marched still on. This Tuesday's march, for the rearward of the Army, + 10,000 foot and 2,000 horse; march of ten hours long, from Weichau to the + hamlet Milkau (where his Majesty sits busy and affable),—is thought + to be the wettest on record. Waters all out, bridges down, the Country one + wild lake of eddying mud. Up to the knee for many miles together; up to + the middle for long spaces; sometimes even up to the chin or deeper, where + your bridge was washed away. The Prussians marched through it, as if they + had been slate or iron. Rank and file, nobody quitted his rank, nobody + looked sour in the face; they took the pouring of the skies, and the red + seas of terrestrial liquid, as matters that must be; cheered one another + with jocosities, with choral snatches (tobacco, I consider, would not + burn); and swashed unweariedly forward. Ten hours some of them were out, + their march being twenty or twenty-five miles; ten to fifteen was the + average distance come. Nor, singular to say, did any loss occur; except of + ALMOST one poor Army-Chaplain, and altogether of one poor Soldier's Wife;—sank + dangerously both of them, beyond redemption she, taking the wrong side of + some bridge-parapet. Poor Soldier's Wife, she is not named to me at all; + and has no history save this, and that "she was of the regiment Bredow." + But I perceive she washed herself away in a World-Transaction; and there + was one rough Bredower, who probably sat sad that night on getting to + quarters. His Majesty surveyed the damp battalions on the morrow (21st), + not without sympathy, not without satisfaction; allowed them a rest-day + here at Milkau, to get dry and bright again; and gave them "fifteen + thalers a company," which is about ninepence apiece, with some words of + praise. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i.482.] + </p> + <p> + Next day, Thursday, 22d, his Majesty and they marched on to Herrendorf; + which is only five miles from Glogau, and near enough for Head-quarters, + in the now humor of the place. Wallis has his messenger at Herrendorf, + "Sorry to warn your Majesty, That if there be the least hostility + committed, I shall have to resist it to the utmost." Head-quarters + continue six days at Herrendorf, Army (main body, or left Column, of the + Army) cantoned all round, till we consider what to do. + </p> + <p> + As to the right Column, or Schwerin's Division, that, after a rest-day or + two, gathers itself into more complete separation here, tucking in its + eastern skirts; and gets on march again, by its own route. Steadily + southward;—and from Liegnitz, and the upland Countries, there will + be news of Schwerin and it before long. Rain ending, there ensued a + ringing frost;—not favorable for Siege-operations on Glogau:—and + Silesia became all of flinty glass, with white peaks to the Southwest, + whither Schwerin is gone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III. — PROBLEM OF GLOGAU. + </h2> + <p> + Friedrich was over from Herrendorf with the first daylight, "reconnoitring + Glogau, and rode up to the very glacis;" scanning it on all sides. [Ib. i. + 484.] Since Wallis is so resolute, here is an intricate little problem for + Friedrich, with plenty of corollaries and conditions hanging to it. Shall + we besiege Glogau, then? We have no siege-cannon here. Time presses, + Breslau and all things in such crisis; and it will take time. By what + methods COULD Glogau be besieged?—Readers can consider what a blind + many-threaded coil of things, heaping itself here in wide welters round + Glogau, and straggling to the world's end, Friedrich has on hand: probably + those six days, of Head-quarters at Herrendorf, were the busiest he had + yet had. + </p> + <p> + One thing is evident, there ought to be siege-cannon got straightway; and, + still more immediate, the right posts and battering-places should be ready + against its coming.—"Let the Young Dessauer with that Rearguard, or + Reserve of 10,000, which is now at Crossen, come up and assist here," + orders Friedrich; "and let him be swift, for the hours are pregnant!" On + farther reflection, perhaps on new rumors from Breslau, Friedrich + perceives that there can be no besieging of Glogau at this point of time; + that the Reserve, Half of the Reserve, must be left to "mask" it; to hold + it in strict blockade, with starvation daily advancing as an ally to us, + and with capture by bombarding possible when we like. That is the ultimate + decision;—arrived at through a welter of dubieties, counterpoisings + and perilous considerations, which we now take no account of. A most busy + week; Friedrich incessantly in motion, now here now there; and a great + deal of heavy work got well and rapidly done. The details of which, in + these exuberant Manuscripts, would but weary the reader. Choosing of the + proper posts and battering-places (post "on the other side of the River," + "on this side of it," "on the Island in the middle of it"), and obstinate + intrenching and preparing of the same in spite of frost; "wooden bridge + built" farther up; with "regulation of the river-boats, the Polish Ferry," + and much else: all this we omit; and will glance only at one pregnant + point, by way of sample:— + </p> + <p> + ... "Most indispensable of all, the King has to provide Subsistences:—and + enters now upon the new plan, which will have to be followed henceforth. + The Provincial Chief-men (LANDES-AELTESTEN, Land's-ELDESTS, their title) + are summoned, from nine or ten Circles which are likely to be interested: + they appear punctually, and in numbers,—lest contumacy worsen the + inevitable. King dines them, to start with; as many as 'ninety-five + covers,'—day not given, but probably one of the first in Herrendorf: + not Christmas itself, one hopes! + </p> + <p> + "Dinner done, the ninety-five Land's-Eldest are instructed by proper + parties, What the Infantry's ration is, in meat, in bread, exact to the + ounce; what the Cavalry's is, and that of the Cavalry's Horse. Tabular + statement, succinct, correct, clear to the simplest capacity, shows what + quanties of men on foot, and of men on horseback, or men with + draught-cattle, will march through their respective Circles; Lands-Eldests + conclude what amount of meal and butcher's-meat it will be indispensable + to have in readiness;—what Lands-Eldest can deny the fact? These + Papers still exist, at least the long-winded Summary of them does: and I + own the reading of it far less insupportable than that of the mountains of + Proclamatory, Manifesto and Diplomatic matter. Nay it leaves a certain + wholesome impression on the mind, as of business thoroughly well done; and + a matter, capable, if left in the chaotic state, of running to all manner + of depths and heights, compendiously forced to become cosmic in this + manner. + </p> + <p> + "These Lands-Eldest undertake, in a mildly resigned or even hopeful humor. + They will manage as required, in their own Circles; will communicate with + the Circles farther on; and everywhere the due proviants, prestations, + furtherances, shall be got together by fair apportionment on the Silesian + Community, and be punctually ready as the Army advances. Book-keeping + there is to be, legible record of everything; on all hands 'quittance' for + everything furnished; and a time is coming, when such quittance, presented + by any Silesian man, will be counted money paid by him, and remitted at + the next tax-day, or otherwise made good. Which promise also was + accurately kept, the hoped-for time having come. It must be owned the + Prussian Army understands business; and, with brevity, reduces to a + minimum its own trouble, and that of other people, non-fighters, who have + to do with it. Non-fighters, I say; to fighters we hope it will give a + respectable maximum of trouble when applied to!" [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 492-499.] + </p> + <p> + The Gotter Negotiation at Vienna, which we saw begin there that wet + Sunday, is now fast ending, as good as ended; without result except of a + negative kind. Gotter's Proposals,—would the reader wish to hear + these Proposals, which were so intensely interesting at one time? They are + fivefold; given with great brevity by Friedrich, by us with still greater:— + </p> + <p> + 1. "Will fling myself heartily into the Austrian scale, and endeavor for + the interest of Austria in this Pragmatic matter, with my whole strength + against every comer. + </p> + <p> + 2. "Will make treaty with Vienna, with Russia and the Sea-Powers, to that + effect. + </p> + <p> + 3. "Will help by vote, and with whole amount of interest will endeavor, to + have Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen's Husband, chosen Kaiser; and to maintain + such choice against all and sundry. Feel myself strong enough to + accomplish this result; and may, without exaggeration, venture to say it + shall be done. + </p> + <p> + 4. "To help the Court of Vienna in getting its affairs into good order and + fencible condition,—will present to it, on the shortest notice, Two + Million Gulden (200,000 pounds) ready money."—Infinitely welcome + this Fourth Proposition; and indeed all the other Three are welcome: but + they are saddled with a final condition, which pulls down all again. This, + which is studiously worded, politely evasive in phrase, and would fain + keep old controversies asleep, though in substance it is so fatally + distinct,—we give in the King's own words: + </p> + <p> + 5. "For such essential services as those to which I bind myself by the + above very onerous conditions, I naturally require a proportionate + recompense; some suitable assurance, as indemnity for all the dangers I + risk, and for the part (ROLE) I am ready to play: in short, I require + hereby the entire and complete cession of all Silesia, as reward for my + labors and dangers which I take upon myself in this course now to be + entered upon for the preservation and renown of the House of Austria;"—Silesia + all and whole; and we say nothing of our "rights" to it; politely evasive + to her Hungarian Majesty, though in substance we are so fatally distinct. + [Preuss, <i>Thronbesteigung,</i> p. 451; "from Olenschlager, <i>Geschichte + des Interegni</i> [Frankfurt, 1746], i. 134."] + </p> + <p> + These were Friedrich's Proposals; written down with his own hand at + Reinsberg, five or six weeks ago (November 17th is the date of it); in + what mood, and how wrought upon by Schwerin and Podewils, we saw above. + Gotter has fulfilled his instructions in regard to this important little + Document; and now the effect of it is—? Gotter can report no good + effect whatever. "Be cautious," Friedrich instructs him farther; "modify + that Fifth Proposal; I will take less than the whole, 'if attention is + paid to my just claims on Schlesien.'" To that effect writes Friedrich + once or twice. But it is to no purpose; nor can Gotter, with all his + industry, report other than worse and worse. Nay, he reports before long, + not refusal only, but refusal with mockery: "How strange that his Prussian + Majesty, whose official post in Germany, as Kur-Brandenburg and Kaiser's + Chamberlain, has been to present ewer and towel to the House of Austria, + should now set up for prescribing rules to it!" A piece of wit, which + could not but provoke Friedrich; and warn him that negotiation on this + matter might as well terminate. Such had been his own thought, from the + first; but in compliance with Schwerin and Podewils he was willing to try. + </p> + <p> + Better for Maria Theresa, and for all the world how much better, could she + have accepted this Fifth Proposition! But how could she,—the high + Imperial Lady, keystone of Europe, though by accident with only a few + pounds of ready money at present? Twenty years of bitter fighting, and + agony to herself and all the world, were necessary first; a new Fact of + Nature having turned up, a new European Kingdom with real King to it; NOT + recognizable as such, by the young Queen of Hungary or by any other + person, till it do its proofs. + </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> + WHAT BERLIN IS SAYING; WHAT FRIEDRICH IS THINKING. + </h2> + <p> + What Friedrich's own humor is, what Friedrich's own inner man is saying to + him, while all the world so babbles about his Silesian Adventure? Of this + too there are, though in diluted state, some glimmerings to be had,—chiefly + in the Correspondence with Jordan. + </p> + <p> + Ingenious Jordan, Inspector of the Poor at Berlin,—his thousand old + women at their wheels humming pleasantly in the background of our + imaginations, though he says nothing of that,—writes twice a week to + his Majesty: pleasant gossipy Letters, with an easy respectfulness not + going into sycophancy anywhere; which keep the campaigning King well + abreast of the Berlin news and rumors: something like the essence of an + Old Newspaper; not without worth in our present Enterprise. One specimen, + if we had room! + </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> + JORDAN TO THE KING (successively from Berlin,—somewhat abridged.) + </h2> + <p> + No. 1. "BERLIN, 14th DECEMBER, 1740 [day after his Majesty left]. + Everybody here is on tiptoe for the Event; of which both origin and end + are a riddle to the most. I am charmed to see a part of your Majesty's + Dominions in a state of Pyrrhonism; the disease is epidemical here at + present. Those who, in the style of theologians, consider themselves + entitled to be certain, maintain That your Majesty is expected with + religious impatience by the Protestants, and that the Catholics hope to + see themselves delivered from a multitude of imposts which cruelly tear up + the beautiful bosom of their Church. You cannot but succeed in your + valiant and stoical Enterprise, since both religion and worldly interest + rank themselves under your flag. + </p> + <p> + "Wallis," Austrian Commandant in Glogau, "they say, has punished a + Silesian Heretic of enthusiastic turn, as blasphemer, for announcing that + a new Messiah is just coming. I have a taste for that kind of martyrdom. + Critical persons consider the present step as directly opposed to certain + maxims in the ANTI-MACHIAVEL. + </p> + <p> + "The word MANIFESTO—[your Majesty's little PATENT on entering + Silesia, which no reader shall be troubled with at present]—is the + burden of every conversation. There is a short Piece of the kind to come + out to-day, by way of preface to a large complete exposition, which a + certain Jurisconsult is now busy with. People crowd to the Bookshops for + it, as if looking out for a celestial phenomenon that had been predicted.—This + is the beginning of my Gazette; can only come out twice a week, owing to + the arrangement of the Posts. Friday, the day your Majesty crosses into + Silesia, I shall spend in prayer and devotional exercises: Astronomers + pretend that Mars will that day enter"—no matter what. + </p> + <p> + NOTE, The above Manifesto rumor is correct; Jurisconsult is ponderous Herr + Ludwig, Kanzler (Chancellor) of Halle University, monster of law-learning,—who + has money also, and had to help once with a House in Berlin for one + Nussler, a son-in-law of his, transiently known to us;—ponderous + Ludwig, matchless or difficult to match in learning of this kind, will + write ample enough Deductions (which lie in print still, to the extent of + tons' weight), and explain the ERBVERBRUDERUNG and violence done upon it, + so that he who runs may read. Postpone him to a calmer time. + </p> + <p> + No. 2. "BERLIN, SATURDAY, 17th DECEMBER. Manifesto has appeared,"—can + be seen, under thick strata of cobwebs, in many Books; [In <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 448, 453 (what Jordan now alludes to); IB. 559-592 ["Deduction" itself, + Ludwig in all his strength, some three weeks hence; in OLENSCHLAGER + (doubtless); in &c. &c.] is not worth reading now: Incontestable + rights which our House has for ages had on Schlesien, and which doubtless + the Hungarian Majesty will recognize; not the slightest injury intended, + far indeed from that; and so on!—"people are surprised at its + brevity; and, studying it as theologians do a passage of Scripture, can + make almost nothing of it. Clear as crystal, says one; dexterously obscure + by design, says another. + </p> + <p> + "Rumor that the Grand-Duke of Lorraine," Maria Theresa's Husband, "was at + Reinsberg incognito lately," Grand-Duke a concerting party, think people + looking into the thing with strong spectacles on their nose! "M. de + Beauvau [French Ambassador Extraordinary, to whom the aces were promised + if they came] said one thing that surprised me: 'What put the King on + taking this step, I do not know; but perhaps it is not such a bad one.' + Surprising news that the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland, is fallen into + inconsolable remorse for changing his religion [to Papistry, on Papa's + hest, many long years ago] and that it is not to the Pope, but to the King + of Prussia, that he opens his heart to steady his staggering orthodoxy." + Very astonishing to Jordan. "One thing is certain, all Paris rings with + your Majesty's change of religion" (over to Catholicism, say those + astonishing people, first conjurers of the universe)! + </p> + <p> + No. 3. "BERLIN, 20th DECEMBER. M. de Beauvau," French Ambassador, "is + gone. Ended, yesterday, his survey of the Cabinet of Medals; charmed with + the same: charmed too, as the public is, with the rich present he has got + from said Cabinet [coronation medal or medals in gold, I could guess]: + people say the King of France's Medal given to our M. de Camas is nothing + to it. + </p> + <p> + "Rumor of alliance between your Majesty and France with Sweden,"—premature + rumor. Item, "Queen of Hungary dead in child-birth;"—ditto with + still more emphasis! "The day before yesterday, in all churches, was + prayer to Heaven for success to your Majesty's arms; interest of the + Protestant religion being the one cause of the War, or the only one + assigned by the reverend gentlemen. At sound of these words, the zeal of + the people kindles: 'Bless God for raising such a Defender! Who dared + suspect our King's indifference to Protestantism?'" + </p> + <p> + A right clever thing this last (O LE BEAU COUP D'ETAT)! exclaims Jordan,—though + it is not clever or the contrary, not being dramatically prearranged, as + Jordan exults to think. Jordan, though there are dregs of old devotion + lying asleep in him, which will start into new activity when stirred + again, is for the present a very unbelieving little gentleman, I can + perceive.—This is the substance of public rumor at Berlin for one + week. Friedrich answers:— + </p> + <p> + TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + </p> + <p> + "QUARTER AT MILKAU, TOWARDS GLOGAU, 19th DECEMBER, 1740 [comfortable + Jesuit-Establishment at Milkau, Friedrich just got in, out of the rain].—Seigneur + Jordan, thy Letter has given me a deal of pleasure in regard to all these + talkings thou reportest. To-morrow [not to-morrow, nor next day; wet + troops need a rest] I arrive at our last station this side Glogau, which + place I hope to get in a few days. All favors my designs: and I hope to + return to Berlin, after executing them gloriously and in a way to be + content with. Let the ignorant and the envious talk; it is not they that + shall ever serve as loadstar to my designs; not they, but Glory [LA + GLOIRE; Fame, depending not on them]: with the love of that I am + penetrated more than ever; my troops have their hearts big with it, and I + answer to thee for success. Adieu, dear Jordan. Write me all the ill that + the public says of thy Friend, and be persuaded that I love and will + esteem thee always."—F. + </p> + <p> + JORDAN TO THE KING. + </p> + <p> + No. 4; "BERLIN, 24th DECEMBER. Your Majesty's Letter fills me with joy and + contentment. The Town declared your Majesty to be already in Breslau; + founding on some Letter to a Merchant here. Ever since they think of your + Majesty acting for Protestantism, they make you step along with strides of + Achilles to the ends of Silesia.—Foreign Courts are all rating their + Ambassadors here for not finding you out. + </p> + <p> + "Wolf," his negotiations concluded at last, "has entered Halle almost like + the triumphant Entry to Jerusalem. A concourse of pedants escorted him to + his house. Lange [his old enemy, who accused him of Atheism and other + things] has called to see him, and loaded him with civilities, to the + astonishment of the old Orthodox." There let him rest, well buttoned in + gaiters, and avoiding to mount stairs.... "Madame de Roucoulles has sent + me the three objects adjoined, for your Majesty's behoof,"—woollen + achievements, done by the needle, good against the winter weather for one + she nursed. The good old soul. Enough now, of Jordan. [<i>OEuvres de + Frederic,</i> xvii. 75-78.] + </p> + <p> + Voltaire, who left Berlin 2d or 3d December, seems to have been stopt by + overflow of rivers about Cleve, then to have taken boat; and is, about + this very time, writing to Friedrich "from a vessel on the Coasts of + Zealand, where I am driven mad." (Intends, privately, for Paris before + long, to get his MAHOMET acted, if possible.) To Voltaire, here is a Note + coming: + </p> + <p> + KING TO H. DE VOLTAIRE (at Brussels, if once got thither). + </p> + <p> + "QUARTER OF HERRENDORF IN SILESIA, 23d December, 1740. + </p> + <p> + "MY DEAR VOLTAIRE,—I have received two of your Letters; but could + not answer sooner; I am like Charles Twelfth's Chess-King, who was always + kept on the move. For a fortnight past, we have been continually afoot and + under way, in such weather as you never saw. + </p> + <p> + "I am too tired to reply to your charming Verses; and shivering too much + with cold to taste all the charm of them: but that will come round again. + Do not ask poetry from a man who is actually doing the work of a wagoner, + and sometimes even of a wagoner stuck in the mud. Would you like to know + my way of life? We march from seven in the morning till four in the + afternoon. I dine then; afterwards I work, I receive tiresome visits; with + these comes a detail of insipid matters of business. 'Tis wrong-headed + men, punctiliously difficult, who are to be set right; heads too hot which + must be restrained, idle fellows that must be urged, impatient men that + must be rendered docile, plunderers to restrain within the bounds of + equity, babblers to hear babbling, dumb people to keep in talk: in fine, + one has to drink with those that like it, to eat with those that are + hungry; one has to become a Jew with Jews, a Pagan with Pagans. + </p> + <p> + "Such are my occupations;—which I would willingly make over to + another, if the Phantom they call Fame (GLOIRE) did not rise on me too + often. In truth, it is a great folly, but a folly difficult to cast away + when once you are smitten by it. [Phantom of GLOIRE somewhat rampant in + those first weeks; let us see whether it will not lay itself again, + forevermore, before long!] + </p> + <p> + "Adieu, my dear Voltaire; may Heaven preserve from misfortune the man I + should so like to sup with at night, after fighting in the morning! The + Swan of Padua [Algarotti, with his big hook-nose and dusky solemnly greedy + countenance] is going, I think, to Paris, to profit by my absence; the + Philosopher Geometer [big Maupertuis, in red wig and yellow frizzles, + vainest of human kind] is squaring curves; poor little Jordan [with the + kindly hazel eyes, and pen that pleasantly gossips to us] is doing + nothing, or probably something near it. Adieu once more, dear Voltaire; do + not forget the absent who love you. FREDERIC." [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> + xxii. 57.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCHWERIN AT LIEGNITZ; FRIEDRICH HUSHES UP THE GLOGAU PROBLEM, AND STARTS + WITH HIS BEST SPEED FOR BRESLAU. + </h2> + <p> + Meanwhile, on the Western road, and along the foot of the snowy peaks over + yonder, Schwerin with the small Right column is going prosperously + forwards. Two columns always, as the reader recollects,—two parallel + military currents, flowing steadily on, shooting out estafettes, or + horse-parties, on the right and left; steadily submerging all Silesia as + they flow forward. Left column or current is in slight pause at Glogau + here; but will directly be abreast again. On Tuesday, 27th, Schwerin is + within wind of Liegnitz; on Wednesday morning, while the fires are hardly + lighted, or the smoke of Liegnitz risen among the Hills, Schwerin has done + his feat with the usual deftness: Prussian grenadiers came softly on the + sentry, softly as a dream; but with sudden levelling of bayonets, sudden + beckoning, "To your Guard-house!"—and there, turn the key upon his + poor company and him. Whereupon the whole Prussian column marches in; + tramp tramp, without music, through the streets: in the Market-place they + fold themselves into a ranked mass, and explode into wind-harmony and + rolling of drums. Liegnitz, mostly in nightcap, looks cautiously out of + window: it is a deed done, IHR HERREN; Liegnitz ours, better late than + never; and after so many years, the King has his own again. Schwerin is + sumptuously lodged in the Jesuits, Palace: Liegnitz, essentially a + Protestant Town, has many thoughts upon this event, but as yet will be + stingy of speaking them. + </p> + <p> + Thus is Liegnitz managed. A pleasant Town, amid pleasant hills on the + rocky Katzbach; of which swift stream, and other towns and passes on it, + we shall yet hear more. Population, silently industrious in weaving and + otherwise, is now above 14,000; was then perhaps about half that number. + Patiently inarticulate, by no means bright in speech or sentiment; a + much-enduring, steady-going, frugal, pious and very desirable people. + </p> + <p> + The situation of Breslau, all this while, is very critical. Much bottled + emotion in the place; no Austrian Garrison admissible; Authorities dare + not again propose such a thing, though Browne is turning every stone for + it,—lest the emotion burst bottle, and take fire. I have dim account + that Browne has been there, has got 300 Austrian dragoons into the Dom + Insel (CATHEDRAL ISLAND; "Not in the City, you perceive!" says General + Browne: "no, separated by the Oder, on both sides, from the rest of the + City; that stately mass of edifices, and good military post");—and + had hoped to get the suburbs burnt, after all. But the bottled emotion was + too dangerous. For, underground, there are ANTI-Brownes: one especially; a + certain busy Deblin, Shoemaker by craft, whom Friedrich speaks of, but + gives no name to; this zealous Cordwainer, Deblin, and he is not the only + individual of like humor, operates on the guild-brothers and lower + populations: [Preuss, <i>Thronbesteigung,</i> p. 469; <i>OEuvres de + Frederic,</i> ii. 61. ] things seem to be looking worse and worse for the + Authorities, in spite of General Browne and his activities and dragoons. + </p> + <p> + What the issue will be? Judge if Friedrich wished the Young Dessauer come! + Friedrich's Hussar parties (or Schwerin's, instructed by Friedrich) go to + look if the Breslau suburbs are burnt. Far from it, if Friedrich knew;—the + suburbs merely sit quaking at such a proposal, and wish the Prussians were + here. "But there is time ahead of us," said everybody at Breslau; "Glogau + will take some sieging!" Browne, in the course of a day or two,—guessing, + I almost think, that Glogau was not to be besieged,—ranked his 300 + Austrian dragoons, and rode away; sending the Austrian State-Papers, in + half a score of wagons, ahead of him. "Archives of Breslau!" cried the + general population, at sight of these wagons; and largely turned out, with + emotion again like to unbottle itself. "Mere Tax-Ledgers, and records of + the Government Offices; come and convince yourselves!" answered the + Authorities. And the ten wagons went on; calling at Ohlau and Brieg, for + farther lading of the like kind. Which wagons the Prussian light-horse + chased, but could not catch. On to Mahren went these Archive-wagons; to + Brunn, far over the Giant Mountains;—did not come back for a long + while, nor to their former Proprietor at all. Tuesday, 27th, Leopold the + Young Dessauer does finally arrive, with his Reserve, at Glogau: never man + more welcome; such a fermentation going on at Breslau,—known to + Friedrich, and what it will issue in, if he delay, not known. With + despatch, Leopold is put into his charge; posts all yielded to him; orders + given,—blockade to be strictness itself, but no fighting if + avoidable; "starvation will soon do it, two months at most," hopes + Friedrich, too sanguine as it proved:—and with earliest daylight on + the 28th, Friedrich's Army, Friedrich himself in the van as usual, is on + march again; at its best speed for Breslau. Read this Note for Jordan:— + </p> + <p> + FRIEDRICH TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + </p> + <p> + "HERRENDORF, 27th Dec. 1740. + </p> + <p> + "SIEUR JORDAN,—I march to-morrow for Breslau; and shall be there in + four days [three, it happened; there rising, as would seem, new reason for + haste]. You Berliners [of the 24th last] have a spirit of prophecy, which + goes beyond me. In fine, I go my road; and thou wilt shortly see Silesia + ranked in the list of our Provinces. Adieu; this is all I have time to + tell thee. Religion [Silesian Protestantism, and Breslau's Cordwainer], + religion and our brave soldiers will do the rest. + </p> + <p> + "Tell Maupertuis I grant those Pensions he proposes for his Academicians; + and that I hope to find good subjects for that dignity in the Country + where I am, withal. Give him my compliments. + </p> + <p> + "FREDERIC." + </p> + <p> + The march was of the swiftest,—swifter even than had been expected;—which, + as Silesia is all ringing glass, becomes more achievable than lately. But + certain regiments outdid themselves in marching; "in three marches, near + upon seventy miles,"—with their baggage jingling in due proximity. + Through Glasersdorf, thence through Parchwitz, Neumarkt, Lissa, places + that will be better known to us;—on Saturday, last night of the + Year, his Majesty lodged at a Schloss called Pilsnitz, five miles to west + of Breslau; and van-ward regiments, a good few, quartered in the Western + and Southern suburbs of Breslau itself; suburbs decidedly glad to see + them, and escape conflagration. The Town-gates are hermetically shut;—plenty + of emotion bottled in the 100,000 hearts within. The sentries on the walls + presented arms; nay, it is affirmed, some could not help exclaiming, + "WILKOMMEN, IHR LIEBEN HERREN (Welcome, dear Sirs)!" [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 534.] + </p> + <p> + Colonel Posadowsky (active Horse Colonel whom we have seen before, who + perhaps has been in Breslau before) left orders "at the Scultet + Garden-House," that all must be ready and the rooms warmed, his Majesty + intending to arrive here early on the morrow. Which happened accordingly; + Majesty alighting duly at said Garden-House, near by the Schweidnitz Gate,—I + fancy almost before break of day. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV. — BRESLAU UNDER SOFT PRESSURE. + </h2> + <p> + The issue of this Breslau transaction is known, or could be stated in few + words; nor is the manner of it such as would, for Breslau's sake, deserve + many. But we are looking into Friedrich, wish to know his manners and + aspects: and here, ready to our hand, a Paper turns up, compiled by an + exact person with better leisure than ours, minutely detailing every part + of the affair. This Paper, after the question, Burn or insert? is to have + the lot of appearing here, with what abridgments are possible:— + </p> + <p> + "SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741. The King having established himself in Herrn + Scultet's Garden-House, not far from the Schweidnitz Gate, there began a + delicate and great operation. The Prussians, in a soft cautious manner, in + the gray of the morning, push out their sentries towards the three Gates + on this side of the Oder; seize any 'Excise House,' or the like, that may + be fit for a post; and softly put 'twenty grenadiers' in it. All this + before sunrise. Breslau is rigidly shut; Breslau thought always it could + stand upon its guard, if attacked;—is now, in Official quarters, + dismally uncertain if it can; general population becoming certain that it + cannot, and waiting anxious on the development of this grand drama. + </p> + <p> + "About 7 A.M. a Prussian subaltern advancing within cry of the Schweidnitz + Gate, requests of the Town-guard there, To send him out a Town-Officer. + Town-Officer appears; is informed, 'That Colonels Posadowsky and Borck, + Commissioners or plenipotentiary Messengers from his Prussian Majesty, + desire admittance to the Chief Magistrate of Breslau, for the purpose of + signifying what his Prussian Majesty's instructions are.' Town-Officer + bows, and goes upon his errand. Town-Officer is some considerable time + before he can return; City Authorities being, as we know, various, partly + Imperial, partly Civic; elderly; and some of them gone to church,—for + matins, or to be out of the way. However, he does at last return; admits + the two Colonels, and escorts them honorably, to the Chief RATHS-SYNDIC + (Lord-Mayor) old Herr von Gutzmar's; where the poor old "President of the + OBER AMT" (Von Schaffgotsch the name of this latter) is likewise in + attendance. + </p> + <p> + "Prussian Majesty's proposals are of the mildest sort: 'Nothing demanded + of Breslau but the plainly indispensable and indisputable, That Prussia be + in it what Austria has been. In all else, STATUS QUO. Strict neutrality to + Breslau, respect for its privileges as a Free City of the Reich; + protection to all its rights and privileges whatsoever. Shall be guarded + by its own Garrison; no Prussian soldier to enter except with sidearms; + only 30 guards for the King's person, who will visit the City for a few + days;—intends to form a Magazine, with guard of 1,000 men, but only + outside the City: no requisitions; ready money for everything. Chief + Syndic Gutzmar and President Schaffgotsch shall consider these points.' [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 537.] Syndic and President answer, Surely! Cannot, however, decide till + they have assembled the Town-Rath; the two Herren Colonels will please to + be guests of Breslau, and lodge in the City till then. + </p> + <p> + "And they lodged, accordingly, in the 'GROSSE RING' (called also + SALZ-RING, big Central Square, where the Rathhaus is); and they made and + received visits,—visited especially the Chief President's Office, + the Ober-Amt, and signified there, that his Prussian Majesty's expectation + was, They would give some account of that rather high Proclamation or + 'Patent' they had published against him the other day, amid thunder and + lightning here, and what they now thought would be expedient upon it? All + in grave official terms, but of such a purport as was not exhilarating to + everybody in those Ober-Amt localities. + </p> + <p> + "MONDAY MORNING, 2d JANUARY. The Rath is assembled; and consults,—consults + at great length. RATH-House and Syndic Gutzmar, in such crisis, would fain + have advice from AMT-House or President Schaffgotsch; but can get none: + considerable coming and going between them: at length, about 3 in the + afternoon, the Treaty is got drawn up; is signed by the due Breslau hands, + and by the two Prussian Colonels,—which latter ride out with it, + about 4 of the clock; victorious after thirty hours. Straight towards the + Scultet Garden ride they; Town-guard presenting Arms, at the Schweidnitz + Gate; nay Town-band breaking out into music, which is never done but to + Ambassadors and high people. By thirty hours of steady soft pressure, they + have brought it thus far. + </p> + <p> + "Friedrich had waited patiently all Sunday, keeping steady guard at the + Gates; but on Monday, naturally, the thirty hours began to hang heavy: at + all events, he perceived that it would be well to facilitate conclusions a + little from without. Breslau stands on the West, more strictly speaking, + on the South side of the Oder, which makes an elbow here, and thus bounds + it, or mostly bounds it, on two sides. The big drab-colored River spreads + out into Islands, of a confused sort, as it passes; which are partly built + upon, and constitute suburbs of the Town,—stretching over, here and + there, into straggles of farther suburb beyond the River, where a road + with its bridge happens to cross for the Eastern parts. The principal of + these Islands is the DOM INSEL,"—known to General Browne and us,—"on + which is the Cathedral, and the CLOSE with rich Canons and their edifices; + Island filled with strong high architecture; and a superior military post. + </p> + <p> + "Friedrich has already as good as possessed himself of the three landward + Gates, which look to the south and to the west; the riverward gates, or + those on the north and the east, he perceives that it were good now also + to have; these, and even perhaps something more? 'Gather all the + river-boats, make a bridge of them across the Oder; push across 400 men:' + this is done on Monday morning, under the King's own eye. This done, + 'March up to that riverward Gate, and also to that other, in a mild but + dangerous-looking manner; hew the beams of said Gate in two; start the big + locks; fling wide open said Gate and Gates:' this too is done; Town-guard + looking mournfully on. This done, 'March forward swiftly, in two halves, + without beat of drum,—whitherward you know!' + </p> + <p> + "Those three hundred Austrian Dragoons, we saw them leave the Dom Island, + three days ago; there are at present only Six Men, of the BISHOP'S Guard, + walking under arms there,—at the end of the chief bridge, on the + Townward side of their Dom Island. See, Prussian caps and muskets, ye six + men under arms! The six men clutch at their drawbridge, and hastily set + about hoisting:—alas, another Prussian corps, which has come + privately by the eastern (or Country-ward) Bridge, King himself with it, + taps them on the shoulder at this instant; mildly constrains the six into + their guard-house: the drawbridge falls; 400 Prussian grenadiers take + quiet possession of the Dom Island: King may return to the Scultet Garden, + having quickened the lazy hours in this manner. To such of the Canons as + he came upon, his Majesty was most polite; they most submiss. The six + soldiers of the drawbridge, having spoken a little loud,—still more + a too zealous beef-eater of old Schaffgotsch's found here, who had been + very loud,—were put under arrest; but more for form's sake; and were + let go, in a day or two." + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be gentler on Friedrich's part, and on that of his two + Colonels, than this delicate operation throughout:—and at 4 P.M., + after thirty hours of waiting, it is done, and nobody's skin scratched. + Old Syndic Gutzmar, and the Town-Rath, urged by perils and a Town + Population who are Protestant, have signed the Surrender with good-will, + at least with resignation, and a feeling of relief. The Ober-Amt Officials + have likewise had to sign; full of all the silent spleen and despondency + which is natural to the situation: spleen which, in the case of old + Schaffgotsch, weak with age, becomes passionately audible here and there. + He will have to give account of that injurious Proclamation, or Queen's + "Patent," to this King that has now come. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KING ENTERS BRESLAW; STAYS THERE, GRACIOUS AND VIGILANT, FOUR DAYS (Jan. + 2d-6th, 1741). + </h2> + <p> + In the Royal Entrance which took place next day, note these points. Syndic + Gutzmar and the Authorities came out, in grand coaches, at 8 in the + morning; had to wait awhile; the King, having ridden away to look after + his manifold affairs, did not get back till 10. Town Guard and Garrison + are all drawn out; Gates all flung open, Prussian sentries withdrawn from + them, and from the Excise-houses they had seized: King's + Kitchen-and-Proviant Carriages (four mules to each, with bells, with + uncommonly rich housings): King's Body-Coach very grand indeed, and + grandly escorted, the Thirty Body-guards riding ahead; but nothing in it, + only a most superfine cloak "lined wholly with ermine" flung upon the + seat. Other Coaches, more or less grandly escorted; Head Cup-bearers, + Seneschals, Princes, Margraves:—but where is the King? King had + ridden away, a second time, with chief Generals, taking survey of the Town + Walls, round as far as the ZIEGEL-THOR (Tile-Gate, extreme southeast, by + the river-edge): he has thus made the whole circuit of Breslau;—unwearied + in picking up useful knowledge, "though it was very cold," while that + Procession of Coaches went on. + </p> + <p> + At noon, his Majesty, thrifty of time, did enter: on horseback, Schwerin + riding with him; behind him miscellaneous chief Officers; Borck and + Posadowsky among others; some miscellany of Page-people following. With + this natural escort, he rode in; Town-Major (Commandant of Town-guard), + with drawn sword going ahead;—King wore his usual Cocked Hat, and + practical Blue Cloak, both a little dimmed by service: but his gray horse + was admirable; and four scarlet Footmen, grand as galloon and silver + fringe could make them, did the due magnificence in dress. He was very + gracious; saluting to this side and to that, where he noticed people of + condition in the windows. "Along Schweidnitz Street, across the Great + Ring, down Albrecht Street." He alighted, to lodge, at the + Count-Schlegenberg House; which used to be the Austrian Cardinal von + Sinzendorf Primate of Silesia's hired lodging,—Sinzendorf's + furniture is put gently aside, on this new occasion. King came on the + balcony; and stood there for some minutes, that everybody might see him. + The "immense shoutings," Dryasdust assures me, have been exaggerated; and + I am warned not to believe the KRIEGS-FAMA such and such a Number, except + after comparing it with him.—That day there was dinner of more than + thirty covers, Chief Syndic Gutzmar and other such guests; but as to the + viands, says my friend, these, owing to the haste, were nothing to speak + of. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 545-548.] + </p> + <p> + Dinner, better and better ordered, King more and more gracious, so it + continued all the four days of his Majesty's stay:—on the second day + he had to rise suddenly from table, and leave his guests with an apology; + something having gone awry, at one of the Gates. Awry there, between the + Town Authorities and a General Jeetz of his,—who is on march across + the River at this moment (on what errand we shall hear), and a little + mistakes the terms. His Majesty puts Jeetz right; and even waits, till he + sees his Brigade and him clear across. A junior Schaffgotsch, [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + ii. 159.] not the inconsolable Schaffgotsch senior, but his Nephew, was + one of the guests this second day; an ecclesiastic, but of witty + fashionable type, and I think a very worthless fellow, though of a family + important in the Province. Dinner falls about noon; does not last above + two hours or three, so that there is space for a ride ("to the Dom," the + first afternoon, "four runners" always), and for much indoor work, before + the supper-hour. + </p> + <p> + As the Austrian Authorities sat silent in their place, and gave no + explanation of that "Patent," affixed amid thunder and lightning,—they + got orders from his Majesty to go their ways next day; and went. In behalf + of old President von Schaffgotsch, a chief of the Silesian Nobility, and + man much loved, the Breslau people, and men from every guild and rank of + society, made petition That, he should be allowed to continue in his Town + House here. Which "first request of yours" his Majesty, with much grace, + is sorry to be obliged to refuse. The suppressed, and insuppressible, weak + indignation of old Schaffgotsch is visible on the occasion; nor, I think, + does Friedrich take it ill; only sends him out of the way with it, for the + time. The Austrian Ober-Amt vanished bodily from Breslau in this manner; + and never returned. Proper "War-Commission (FELD-KRIEGS-COMMISSARIAT)," + with Munchow, one of those skilful Custrin Munchows, at the top of it, + organized itself instead; which, almost of necessity, became Supreme + Government in a City ungoverned otherwise:—and truly there was + little regret of the Ober-Amt, in Breslau; and ever less, to a marked + extent, as the years went on. + </p> + <p> + On the 5th of January (fourth and last night here), his Majesty gave a + grand Ball. Had hired, or Colonel Posadowsky instead of him had hired, the + Assembly Rooms (REDOUTEN-SAAL), for the purpose: "Invite all the Nobility + high and low;"—expense by estimate is a ducat (half-guinea) each; do + it well, and his Majesty will pay. About 6 in the evening, his Majesty in + person did us the honor to drive over; opened the Ball with Madam the + Countess von Schlegenberg (I should guess, a Dowager Lady), in whose house + he lodges. I am not aware that his Majesty danced much farther; but he was + very condescending, and spoke and smiled up and down;—till, about 10 + P.M., an Officer came in with a Letter. Which Letter his Majesty having + read, and seemingly asked a question or two in regard to, put silently in + his pocket, as if it were a finished thing. Nevertheless, after a few + minutes, his Majesty was found to have silently withdrawn; and did not + return, not even to supper. Perceiving which, all the Prussian official + people gradually withdrew; though the dancing and supping continued not + the less, to a late hour. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 557.] + </p> + <p> + "Open the Austrian Mail-bag (FELLEISEN); see a little what they are saying + over there!" Such order had evidently been given, this night. In + consequence of which, people wrote by Dresden, and not the direct way, in + future; wishing to avoid that openable FELLEISEN. Next morning, January + 6th, his Majesty had left for Ohlau,—early, I suppose; though there + proved to be nothing dangerous ahead there, after all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V. — FRIEDRICH PUSHES FORWARD TOWARDS BRIEG AND NEISSE. + </h2> + <p> + Ohlau is a pleasant little Town, two marches southeast of Breslau; with + the Ohlau River on one side, and the Oder on the other; capable of some + defence, were there a garrison. Brieg the important Fortress, still on the + Oder, is some fifteen miles beyond Ohlau; after which, bending straight + south and quitting Oder, Neisse the still more important may be thirty + miles:—from Breslau to Neisse, by this route (which is BOW, not + STRING), sixty-five or seventy miles. One of my Topographers yields this + Note, if readers care for it:— + </p> + <p> + "Ohlau River, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well south of + Breslau, about Strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward towards the + Oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off to north, and + saunters along, irregularly parallel to Oder, for twenty miles farther, + before it can fall fairly in. To this circumstance both Breslau and a Town + of Ohlau owe their existence; Towns, both of them, 'between the waters,' + and otherwise well seated; Ohlau sheltering itself in the attempted + outfall of its little river; Breslau clustering itself about the actual + outfall: both very defensible places in the old rude time, and good for + trade in all times. Both Oder and Ohlau Rivers have split and spread + themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their place of meeting; + and even have changed their courses, and cut out new channels for + themselves, in the sandy country; making a very intricate watery network + of a site for Breslau: and indeed the Ohlau River here, for centuries + back, has been compelled into wide meanderings, mere filling of + rampart-ditches, so that it issues quite obscurely, and in an artificial + engineered condition, at Breslau." + </p> + <p> + Ohlau had been expected to make some defence; General Browne having thrown + 300 men into it, and done what he could for the works. And Ohlau did at + first threaten to make some; but thought better of it overnight, and in + effect made none; but was got (morning of January 9th) on the common + terms, by merely marching up to it in minatory posture. "Prisoners of War, + if you make resistance; Free Withdrawal [Liberty to march away, arms + shouldered, and not serve against us for a year], if you have made none:" + this is the common course, where there are Austrian Soldiers at all; the + course where none are, and only a few Syndics sit, with their Town-Key + laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we have already seen. + </p> + <p> + From Ohlau, proper Detachment, under General Kleist, is pushed forward to + summon Brieg; Jeetz from the other side of the river (whom we saw crossing + at Breslau the other day, interrupting his Majesty's dinner) is to + co-operate with Kleist in that enterprise,—were the Country once + cleared on his, Jeetz's, east side of Oder; especially were Namslau once + had, a small Town and Castle over there, which commands the Polish and + Hungarian road. Friedrich's hopes are buoyant; Schwerin is swiftly rolling + forward to rightward, nothing resisting him; Detachment is gone from + Schwerin, over the Hills, to Glatz (the GRAFSCHAFT, or County Glatz, an + Appendage to Schlesien), under excellent guidance; under guidance, namely, + of Colonel Camas, who has just come home from his Parisian Embassy, and + got launched among the wintry mountains, on a new operation,—which, + however, proves of non-effect for the present. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 678; Orlich, <i>Geschichte der beiden Schlesischen Kriege,</i> i. 49.] + </p> + <p> + Indeed, it is observable that southward of Breslau, the dispute, what + dispute there can be, properly begins; and that General Browne is there, + and shows himself a shining man in this difficult position. It must be + owned, no General could have made his small means go farther. Effective + garrisons, 1,600 each, put into Brieg and Neisse; works repaired, + magazines collected, there and elsewhere; the rest of his poor 7,000 + thriftily sprinkled about, in what good posts there are, and "capable of + being got together in six hours:" a superior soldier, this Browne, though + with a very bad task; and seems to have inspired everybody with something + of his own temper. So that there is marching, detaching, miscellaneous + difficulty for Friedrich in this quarter, more than had been expected. If + the fate of Brieg and Neisse be inevitable, Browne does wonders to delay + it. + </p> + <p> + Of the Prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate Dryasdust, + there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded one: the Stone + Pillar which, I see, the Kleist Detachment was sure to find, just now, on + the march from Ohlau to Brieg; last portion of that march, between the + village of Briesen and Brieg. The Oder, flowing on your left hand, is + hereabouts agreeably clothed with woods: the country, originally a swamp, + has been drained, and given to the plough, in an agreeable manner; and + there is an excellent road paved with solid whinstone,—quarried in + Strehlen, twenty miles away, among the Hills to the right yonder, as you + may guess;—road very visible to the Prussian soldier, though he does + not ask where quarried. These beautiful improvements, beautiful + humanities,—were done by whom? "Done in 1584," say the records, by + "George the Pious;" Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau; 156 years ago. + "Pious" his contemporaries called this George;—he was son of the + ERBVERBRUDERUNG Duke, who is so important to us; he was grandfather's + grandfather of the last Duke of all; after whom it was we that should have + got these fine Territories; they should all have fallen to the Great + Elector, had not the Austrian strong hand provided otherwise. George did + these plantations, recoveries to the plough; made this perennial whinstone + road across the swamps; upon which, notable to the roughest Prussian + (being "twelve feet high by eight feet square"), rises a Hewn Mass with + this Inscription on it,—not of the name or date of George; but of a + thought of his, which is not without a pious beauty to me:—<i>Straverunt + alii nobis, nos Posteritati; Omnibus at Christus stravit ad asra viam.</i> + Others have made roads for us; we make them for still others: Christ made + a road to the stars for us all. [Zollner, <i>Briefe uber Schlesien,</i> i. + 175; Hubner, i. t. 101.] + </p> + <p> + I know not how many Brandenburgers of General Kleist's Detachment, or + whether any, read this Stone; but they do all rustle past it there, + claiming the Heritage of this Pious George; and their mute dim interview + with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more memorable than orders + of the day, at this date. + </p> + <p> + It was on the 11th, two days after Ohlau, that General Kleist summoned + Brieg; and Brieg answered resolutely, No. There is a garrison of 1,600 + here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but to "mask" Brieg too; + Kleist on this side the River, Jeetz on that,—had Jeetz once done + with Namslau, which he has not by any means. Namslau's answer was likewise + stiffly in the negative; and Jeetz cannot do Namslau, at least not the + Castle, all at once; having no siege-cannon. Seeing such stiffness + everywhere, Friedrich writes to Glogau, to the Young Dessauer, + "Siege-artillery hither! Swift, by the Oder; you don't need it where you + are!" and wishes it were arrived, for behoof of Neisse and these stiff + humors. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS THERE, IN SURVEY OF NEISSE, TILL + HIS CANNON COME. + </h2> + <p> + The Prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time (9th + January, same day when Ohlau yielded), at a place called Ottmachau; a + considerable little Town and Castle on the Neisse River, not far west of + Neisse Town, almost at the very south of Silesia. It lay on the route of + Schwerin's Column; long distances ahead of Liegnitz,—say, by + straight highway a hundred miles;—during which, to right and to + left, there had been nothing but submission hitherto. No resistance was + expected here either, for there was not hope in any; only that Browne had + been here; industrious to create delay till Neisse were got fully ready. + He is, by every means, girding up the loins of Neisse for a tight defence; + has put 1,600 men into it, with proper stores for them, with a resolute + skilful Captain at the top of them: assiduous Browne had been at + Ottmachau, as the outpost of Neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, + had admonished them "Not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly + come to their relief." Which doubtless he would have done, had it been in + his power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? On the 9th of January, + when Schwerin comes up, Browne is again waiting hereabouts. Again in + defensive posture, but without force to undertake anything; stands on the + Southern Uplands, with Bohmen and Mahren and the Giant Mountains at his + back;—stands, so to speak, defensive at his own House-door, in this + manner; and will have, after SEEING Ottmachau's fate and Neisse's, to duck + in with a slam! At any rate, he had left these Towns in the above firm + humor, screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped else-whither + to screw and prepare. + </p> + <p> + And so the Ottmachau Austrians, "260 picked grenadiers" (400 dragoons + there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on the outskirts as + if for fighting, rode away), fire "DESPERAT," says my intricate friend; [<i>Helden-Geschichte</i>, + i. 672-677; Orlich, i. 50.] entirely refusing terms from Schwerin; kill + twelve of his people (Major de Rege, distinguished Engineer Major, one of + them): so that Schwerin has to bring petards upon them, four cannon upon + them; and burst in their Town Gate, almost their Castle Gate, and pretty + much their Castle itself;—wasting three days of his time upon this + paltry matter. Upon which they do signify a willingness for "Free + Withdrawal." "No, IHR HERREN" answers, Schwerin; "not now; after such mad + explosion. His Majesty will have to settle it." Majesty, who is by this + time not far off, comes over to Ottmachau (January 12th); gives words of + rebuke, rebuke not very inexorable; and admits them Prisoners of War. "The + officers were sent to Custrin, common men to Berlin;" the usual + arrangement in such case. Ottmachau Town belongs to the Right Reverend von + Sinzendorf, Bishop of Breslau, and Primate; whose especial Palace is in + Neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory Priests to do their + penance in the Schloss at Ottmachau here,"—and, I should say, had + better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under present aspects. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich continues at Ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth, till he + see Neisse settled. On the morrow, (13th) he learns that the Siege + Artillery is at Grotkau; well forward towards Neisse; halfway between + Brieg and it. Same day, Colonel Camas returns to him out of Glatz; five of + his men lost; and reports That Browne has had the roads torn up, that + Glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and that nothing can be made of it at + this season. Good news alternating with not so good. + </p> + <p> + The truth is, Friedrich has got no Strong Place in Schlesien; all + strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little Namslan itself cannot be + quite taken, Castle cannot, till Jeetz gets his siege-artillery,—which + does not come along so fast as that to Neisse does. Here is an Excerpt + from my Dryasdust, exact though abridged, concerning Jeetz:— + </p> + <p> + "JANUARY 24th, 1741. Prussians, masters of the Town for a couple of weeks + back, have got into the Church at Namslau, into the Cloister; are + preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes; diligent as + possible,—siege-guns now at last just coming. The Castle fires + fiercely on them, makes furious sallies, steals six of our oxen,—makes + insolent gestures from the walls; at least one soldier does, this day. + 'Sir, may I give that fellow a shot?' asks the Prussian sentry. 'Do, + then,' answers his Major: 'too insolent that one!' And the sentry explodes + on him; brings him plunging down, head foremost (HERUNTER PURZELTE); the + too insolent mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 703.]—Jeetz did get his cannon, though not till now, this very + day I think; and then, in a couple of days more, Jeetz finished off + Namslau ("officers to Custrin, Common men to Berlin"); and thereupon + blockades the Eastern side of Brieg, joining hands with Kleist on the + Western: whereby Brieg, like Glogau, is completely masked,—till the + season mend. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty with + Neisse. A "paltry hamlet (BICOQUE)" he playfully calls it; and, except + this, Silesia is now his. Neisse got (which would be the desirable thing), + or put under "mask" as Glogau is, and as Brieg is being, Austria possesses + not an inch of land within these borders. Here are some Epistolary + snatches; still in the light style, not to say the flimsy and uplifted; + but worth giving, so transparent are they; off hand, like words we had + heard his Majesty SPEAK, in his high mood:— + </p> + <p> + KING TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN (two successive Letters). + </p> + <p> + 1. "OTTMACHAU, 14th JANUARY, 1741 [second day after our arrival there]. My + dear Monsieur Jordan, my sweet Monsieur Jordan, my quiet Monsieur Jordan, + my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest Monsieur Jordan,—I + announce to Thy Serenity the conquest of Silesia; I warn thee of the + bombardment of Neisse [just getting ready], and I prepare thee for still + more important projects; and instruct thee of the happiest successes that + the womb of Fortune ever bore. + </p> + <p> + "This ought to suffice thee. Be my Cicero as to the justice of my cause, + and I will be thy Caesar as to the execution. Adieu: thou knowest whether + I am not, with the most cordial regard, thy faithful friend.—F." + </p> + <p> + 2. "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741. I have the honor to inform your + Humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard Neisse; and that if + the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must that it be beaten to + powder (NECESSITE SERA DE L'ABIMER). For the rest, our affairs go the best + in the world; and soon thou wilt hear nothing more of us. For in ten days + it will all be over; and I shall have the pleasure of seeing you and + hearing you, in about a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + "I have seen neither my Brother [August Wilhelm, not long ago at Strasburg + with us, and betrothed since then] nor Keyserling: I left them at Breslau, + not to expose them to the dangers of war. They perhaps will be a little + angry; but what can I do?—The rather as, on this occasion, one + cannot share in the glory, unless one is a mortar! + </p> + <p> + "Adieu, M. le Conseiller [Poor's-RATH, so styled]. Go and amuse yourself + with Horace, study Pausanias, and be gay over Anacreon. As to me, who for + amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and gabions, [Merlons are + mounds of earth placed behind the solid or blind parts of the parapet + (that is, between the embrasures) of a Fortification; fascines are bundles + of brushwood for filling up a ditch; gabions, baskets filled with earth to + be ranged in defence till you get trenches dug.] I pray God to grant me + soon a pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you health, satisfaction + and whatever your heart desires.—F." [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> + xvii. 84.] + </p> + <p> + KING FRIEDRICH TO M. LE COMTE ALGAROTTI (gone on a journey). + </p> + <p> + "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741 [same day as the above to Jordan]. I have + begun to settle the Figure of Prussia: the outline will not be altogether + regular; for the whole of Silesia is taken, except one miserable hamlet + (BICOQUE), which perhaps I shall have to keep blockaded till next spring. + </p> + <p> + "Up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only Twenty Men, and Two + Officers, one of whom is the poor De Rege, whom you have seen at Berlin,"—De + Rege, Engineer Major, killed here at Ottmachau, in Schwerin's late tussle. + </p> + <p> + "You are greatly wanting to me here. So soon as you have talked that + business over, write to me about it. [What is the business? Whither is the + dusky Swan of Padua gone?] In all these three hundred miles I have found + no human creature comparable to the Swan of Padua. I would willingly give + ten cubic leagues of ground for a genius similar to yours. But I perceive + I was about entreating you to return fast, and join me again,—while + you are not yet arrived where your errand was. Make haste to arrive, then; + to execute your commission, and fly back to me. I wish you had a + Fortunatus Hat; it is the only thing defective in your outfit. + </p> + <p> + "Adieu, dear Swan of Padua: think, I pray you, sometimes of those who are + getting themselves cut in slices [ECHINER, chined] for the sake of glory + here, and above all do not forget your friends who think a thousand times + of you. + </p> + <p> + "FREDERIC." [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> xviii. 28.] + </p> + <p> + The object of the dear Swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of it, + cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth + discovering. "Gone to Turin," we at last make out, "with secret + commissions:" [Denina, <i>La Prusse Litteraire</i> (Berlin, 1790), i. 198. + A poor vague Book; only worth consulting in case of extremity.] desirable + to sound the Sardinian Majesty a little, who is Doorkeeper of the Alps, + between France and Austria, and opens to the best bidder? No great things + of a meaning in this mission, we can guess, or Algarotti had not gone upon + it,—though he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by the + Gazetteer species. Nor was the Swan successful, it would seem; the more + the pity for our Swan! However, he comes back safe; attends Friedrich in + Silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see him, if any + reader wished it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI. — NEISSE IS BOMBARDED. + </h2> + <p> + Neisse, which Friedrich calls a paltry hamlet (BICOQUE) is a pleasant + strongly fortified Town, then of perhaps 6 or 8,000 inhabitants, now of + double that number; stands on the right or south bank of the Neisse,—at + this day, on both banks. Pleasant broad streets, high strong houses, + mostly of stone. Pleasantly encircled by green Hills, northward buttresses + of the Giant Mountains; itself standing low and level, on rich ground much + inclined to be swampy. A lesser river, Biele, or Bielau, coming from the + South, flows leisurely enough into the Neisse,—filling all the + Fortress ditches, by the road. Orchard-growth and meadow-growth are lordly + (HERRLICH); a land rich in fruit, and flowing with milk and honey. Much + given to weaving, brewing, stocking-making; and, moreover, trades greatly + in these articles, and above all in Wine. Yearly on St. Agnes Day, "21st + January, if not a Sunday," there is a Wine-fair here; Hungarian, of every + quality from Tokay downward, is gathered here for distribution into + Germany and all the Western Countries. While you drink your Tokay, know + that it comes through Neisse. St. Agnes Day falls but unhandily this year; + and I think the Fair will, as they say, AUSBLEIBEN, or not be held. + </p> + <p> + Neisse is a Nest of Priests (PFAFFEN-NEST), says Friedrich once; which + came in this way. About 600 years ago, an ill-conditioned Heir-Apparent of + the Liegnitz Sovereign to whom it then belonged, quarrelled with his + Father, quarrelled slightly with the Universe; and, after moping about for + some time, went into the Church. Having Neisse for an apanage already his + own, he gave it to the Bishop of Breslau; whose, in spite of the old + Father's protestings, it continued, and continues. Bishops of Breslau are + made very grand by it; Bishops of Breslau have had their own difficulties + here. Thus once (in our Perkin-Warbeck time, A.D. 1497), a Duke of Oppeln, + sitting in some Official Conclave or meeting of magnates here,—zealous + for country privilege, and feeling himself insufferably put upon,—started + up, openly defiant of Official men; glaring wrathfully into Duke Casimir + of Teschen (Bohemian-Austrian Captain of Silesia), and into the Bishop of + Breslau himself; nay at last, flashed out his sword upon those sublime + dignitaries. For which, by and by, he had to lay his head on the block, in + the great square here; and died penitent, we hope. + </p> + <p> + This place, my Dryasdust informs me, had many accidents by floodage and by + fire; was seized and re-seized in the Thirty-Years War especially, at a + great rate: Saxon Arnheim, Austrian Holk, Swedish Torstenson; no end to + the battering and burning poor Neisse had, to the big ransoms "in new + Reichs-thalers and 300 casks of wine." But it always rebuilt itself, and + began business again. How happy when it could get under some effectual + Protector, of the Liegnitz line, of the Austrian-Bohemian line, and this + or the other battering, just suffered, was to be the last for some time!—Here + again is a battering coming on it; the first of a series that are now + imminent. + </p> + <p> + The reader is requested to look at Neisse; for besides the Tokay wine, + there will things arrive there.—Neisse River, let us again mention, + is one of four bearing that name, and all belonging to the Oder:—could + not they be labelled, then, or NUMBERED, in some way? This Neisse, which + we could call Neisse the FIRST (and which careful readers may as well make + acquaintance with on their Map, where too they will find Neisse the + SECOND, "the WUTHENDE or Roaring Neisse," and two others which concern us + less), rises in the "Western Snow-Mountains (SCHNEEGEBIRGE)," Southwestern + or Glatz district of the Giant Mountains; drains Glatz County and grows + big there; washes the Town of Glatz; then eastward by Ottmachau, by Neisse + Town; whence turning rather abruptly north or northeast, it gets into the + Oder not far south of Brieg. + </p> + <p> + Neisse as a Place of Arms, the chief Fortress of Silesia and the nearest + to Austria, is extremely desirable for Friedrich; but there is no hope of + it without some kind of Siege; and Friedrich determines to try in that + way. From Ottmachau, accordingly, and from the other sides, the + Siege-Artillery being now at hand, due force gathers itself round Neisse, + Schwerin taking charge; and for above a week there is demonstrating and + posting, summoning and parleying; and then, for three days, with pauses + intervening, there is extremely furious bombardment, red-hot at times: + "Will you yield, then?"—with steady negative from Neisse. + Friedrich's quarter is at Ottmachau, twelve miles off; from which he can + ride over, to see and superintend. The fury of his bombardment, which + naturally grieved him, testifies the intensity of his wish. But it was to + no purpose. The Commandant, Colonel von Roth (the same who was proposed + for Breslau lately, a wise head and a stout, famed in defences) had + "poured water on his ramparts," after well repairing them,—made his + ramparts all ice and glass;—and done much else. Would the reader + care to look for a moment? Here, from our waste Paper-masses, is + abundance, requiring only to be abridged:— + </p> + <p> + "JANUARY, 1741: MONDAY, 9th-WEDNESDAY, 11th. Monday, 9th, day when that + sputter at Ottmachau began,—Prussian light-troops appeared + transiently on the heights about Neisse, for the first time. Directly on + sight of whom, Commandant Roth assembled the Burghers of the place; took a + new Oath of Fidelity from one and all; admonished them to do their utmost, + as they should see him do. The able-bodied and likeliest of them (say + about 400) he has had arranged into Militia Companies, with what drill + there could be in the interim; and since his coming, has employed every + moment in making ready. Wednesday, 11th, he locks all the Gates, and + stands strictly on his guard. The inhabitants are mostly Catholic; with + sumptuous Bishops of Breslau, with KREUZHERREN (imaginary Teutsch or other + Ritters with some reality of money), with Jesuit Dignitaries, Church and + Quasi-Church Officialities, resident among them: population, high and low, + is inclined by creed to the Queen of Hungary. Commandant Roth has only + 1,200 regular soldiers; at the outside 1,600 men under arms: but he has + gunpowder, he has meal; experience also and courage; and hopes these may + suffice him for a time. One of the most determined Commandants; expert in + the defence of strong places. A born Silesian (not Saxon, as some think),—and + is of the Augsburg Confession; but that circumstance is not important + here, though at Breslau Browne thought it was. + </p> + <p> + "THURSDAY, 12th. The Prussians, in regular force, appear on the Kaninchen + Berg (Cony Hill, so called from its rabbits), south of the River, + evidently taking post there. Roth fires a signal shot; the Southern + Suburbs of Neisse, as preappointed, go up in flame; crackle high and far; + in a lamentable manner (ERBARMLICH), through the grim winter air." This is + the day Friedrich came over to Ottmachau, and settled the sputter there. + </p> + <p> + "Next day, and next again, the same phenomena at Neisse; the Prussians + edging ever nearer, building their batteries, preparing to open their + cannonade. Whereupon Roth burns the remaining Suburbs, with lamentable + crackle; on all sides now are mere ashes. Bishop's Mill, Franciscan + Cloister, Bishop's Pleasure-garden, with its summer-houses; Bishop's + Hospital, and several Churches: Roth can spare none of these things, with + the Prussians nestling there. Surely the Bishop himself, respectable + Cardinal Graf von Sinzendorf, had better get out of these localities while + time yet is?" "Saturday, 14th," that was the day Friedrich, at Ottmachau, + wrote as above to Jordan (Letter No. 1), while the Neisse Suburbs crackled + lamentably, twelve miles off, "Schwerin gets order to break up, in person, + from Ottmachan to-morrow, and begin actual business on the Kaninchen Hill + yonder. + </p> + <p> + "SUNDAY, 15th. Schwerin does; marches across the River; takes post on the + south side of Neisse: notable to the Sunday rustics. Nothing but burnt + villages and black walls for Schwerin, in that Cony-Hill quarter, and all + round; and Roth salutes him with one twenty-four pounder, which did no + hurt. And so the cannonade begins, Sunday, 15th; and intermittently, on + both sides of the River, continues, always bursting out again at + intervals, till Wednesday; a mere preliminary cannonade on Schwerin's + part; making noise, doing little hurt: intended more to terrify, but + without effect that way on Roth or the Townsfolk. The poor Bishop did, on + the second day of it, come out, and make application to Schwerin; was + kindly conducted to his Majesty, who happened to be over there; was kept + to dinner; and easily had leave to retire to Freywalde, a Country-House he + has, in the safe distance. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 683.] There let + him be quiet, well out of these confused batterings and burnings of + property. + </p> + <p> + "His Majesty's Head-quarter is at Ottmachau, but in two hours he can be + here any day; and looks into everything; sorry that the cannonade does not + yet answer. And remnants of suburbs are still crackling into flame; high + Country-Houses of Kreuzherren, of Jesuits; a fanatic people seemingly all + set against us. 'If Neisse will not yield of good-will, needs is it must + be beaten to powder,' wrote his Majesty to Jordan in these circumstances, + as we read above. Roth is sorry to observe, the Prussians have still one + good Bishop's-mansion, in a place called the Karlau (Karl-Meadow), with + the Bishop's winter fuel all ready stacked there; but strives to take + order about the same. + </p> + <p> + "WEDNESDAY, 18th. This day two provocations happened. First, in the + morning by his Majesty's order, Colonel Borck (the same we saw at Herstal) + had gone with a Trumpeter towards Roth; intending to inform Roth how mild + the terms would be, how terrible the penalty of not accepting them. But + Roth or Roth's people singularly disregard Borck and his Parley Trumpet; + answer its blasts by musketry; fire upon it, nay again fire worse when it + advances a step farther; on these terms Borck and Trumpet had to return. + Which much angered his Majesty at Ottmachau that evening; as was natural. + Same evening, our fine quarters in the Karlau crackled up in flame, the + Bishop's winter firewood all along with it: this was provocation second. + Roth had taken order with the Karlau; and got a resolute Butcher to do the + feat, under pretext of bringing us beef. It is piercing cold; only + blackened walls for us now in the Karlau or elsewhere. His Majesty, + naturally much angered, orders for the morrow a dose of bomb-shells and + red-hot balls. Plant a few mortars on the North side too, orders his + Majesty. + </p> + <p> + "THURSDAY, 19th. Accordingly, by 8 of the clock, cannon batteries reawaken + with a mighty noise, and red-hot balls are noticeable; and at 10 the + actual bombarding bursts out, terrible to hear and see;—first shell + falling in Haubitz the Clothier's shop, but being happily got under. Roth + has his City Militia companies, organized with water-hose for quenching of + the red-hot balls: in which they became expert. So that though the fire + caught many houses, they always put it out. Late in the night, hearing no + word from Roth, the Prussians went to bed. + </p> + <p> + "FRIDAY, 20th. Still no word; on which, about 4 P.M., the Prussian + batteries awaken again: volcanic torrent of red-hot shot and shells, for + seven hours; still no word from Roth. About 11 at night his Majesty again + sends a Drum (Parley Trumpet or whatever it is) to the Gate; formally + summons Roth; asks him, 'If he has well considered what this can lead to? + Especially what he, Roth, meant by firing on our first Trumpet on + Wednesday last?' Roth answered, 'That as to the Trumpet, he had not heard + of it before. On the other hand, that this mode of sieging by red-hot + balls seems a little unusual; for the rest, that he has himself no order + or intention but that of resisting to the last.' Some say the Drum + hereupon by order talked of 'pounding Neisse into powder, mere + child's-play hitherto;' to which Roth answered only by respectful + dumb-show. + </p> + <p> + "SATURDAY, 21st-MONDAY, 23d. Midnight of Friday-Saturday, on this answer + coming, the fire-volcanoes open again;—nine hours long; shells, and + red-hot material, in terrible abundance. Which hit mostly the churches, + Jesuits' Seminariums and Collegiums; but produced no change in Roth. From + 9 A.M. the batteries are silent. Silent still, next morning: Divine + Service may proceed, if it like. But at 4 of the afternoon, the batteries + awaken worse than ever; from seven to nine bombs going at once. Universal + rage, of noise and horrid glare, making night hideous, till 10 of the + clock; Roth continuing inflexible. This is the last night of the Siege." + </p> + <p> + Friedrich perceived that Roth would not yield; that the utter + smashing-down of Neisse might more concern Friedrich than Roth;—that, + in fine, it would be better to desist till the weather altered. Next day, + "Monday, 23d, between noon and 1 o'clock," the Prussians drew back;—converted + the siege into a blockade. Neisse to be masked, like Brieg and Glogau + (Brieg only half done yet, Jeetz without cannon till to-morrow, 24th, and + little Namslau still gesticulating): "The only thing one could try upon it + was bombardment. A Nest of Priests (PFAFFEN-NEST); not many troops in it: + but it cannot well be forced at present. If spring were here, it will cost + a fortnight's work." [FRIEDRICH TO THE OLD DESSAUER: Fraction of Letter + (Ottmachau, 16th-21st January, 1741) cited by Orlich, i. 51;—from + the Dessau Archives, where Herr Orlich has industriously been. To all but + strictly military people these pieces of Letters are the valuable feature + of Orlich's Book; and a general reader laments that it does not all + consist of such, properly elucidated and labelled into accessibility.] + </p> + <p> + A noisy business; "King's high person much exposed: a bombardier and then + a sergeant were killed close by him, though in all he lost only five men." + [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 680-690.] + </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> + BROWNE VANISHES IN A SLIGHT FLASH OF FIRE. + </h2> + <p> + Browne all this while has hung on the Mountain-side, witnessing these + things; sending stores towards Glatz southwestward, and "ruining the ways" + behind them; waiting what would become of Neisse. Neisse done, Schwerin is + upon him; Browne makes off Southeastward, across the Mountains, for + Moravia and home; Schwerin following hard. At a little place called Gratz, + [The name, in old Slavic speech, signifies TOWN; and there are many + GRATZES: KONIGINgratz (QUEEN'S, which for brevity is now generally called + KONIGSgratz, in Bohemia); Gratz in Styria; WINDISCHgratz (Wendish-town); + &c.] on the Moravian border, Browne faced round, tried to defend the + Bridge of the Oppa, sharply though without effect; and there came (January + 25th) a hot sputter between them for a few minutes:—after which + Browne vanished into the interior, and we hear, in these parts, + comparatively little more of him during this War. Friend and foe must + admit that he has neglected nothing; and fairly made the best of a bad + business here. He is but an interim General, too; his Successor just + coming; and the Vienna Board of War is frequently troublesome,—to + whose windy speculations Browne replies with sagacious scepticism, and + here and there a touch of veiled sarcasm, which was not likely to + conciliate in high places. Had her Hungarian Majesty been able to retain + Browne in his post, instead of poor Neipperg who was sent instead, there + might have been a considerably different account to give of the sequel. + But Neipperg was Tutor (War-Tutor) to the Grand-Duke; Browne is still of + young standing (age only thirty-five), with a touch of veiled sarcasm; and + things must go their course. + </p> + <p> + In Schlesien, Schwerin is now to command in chief; the King going off to + Berlin for a little, naturally with plenty of errand there. The Prussian + Troops go into Winter-quarters; spread themselves wide; beset the good + points, especially the Passes of the Hills,—from Jagerndorf, + eastward to the Jablunka leading towards Hungary;—nay they can, and + before long do, spread into the Moravian Territories, on the other side; + and levy contributions, the Queen proving unreasonable. + </p> + <p> + It was Monday, 23d, when the Siege of Neisse was abandoned: on Wednesday, + Friedrich himself turns homeward; looks into Schweidnitz, looks into + Liegnitz; and arrives at Berlin as the week ends,—much acclamation + greeting him from the multitude. Except those three masked Fortresses, + capable of no defence to speak of, were Winter over, Silesia is now all + Friedrich's,—has fallen wholly to him in the space of about Seven + Weeks. The seizure has been easy; but the retaining of it, perhaps he + himself begins to see more clearly, will have difficulties! From this + point, the talk about GLOIRE nearly ceases in his Correspondence. In those + seven weeks he has, with GLOIRE or otherwise, cut out for himself such a + life of labor as no man of his Century had. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII. — AT VERSAILLES, THE MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY CHANGES HIS + SHIRT, AND BELLEISLE IS SEEN WITH PAPERS. + </h2> + <p> + While Friedrich was so busy in Silesia, the world was not asleep around + him; the world never is, though it often seems to be, round a man and what + action he does in it. That Sunday morning, First Day of the Year 1741, in + those same hours while Friedrich, with energy, with caution, was edging + himself into Breslau, there went on in the Court of Versailles an interior + Phenomenon; of which, having by chance got access to it face to face, we + propose to make the reader participant before going farther. + </p> + <p> + Readers are languidly aware that phenomena do go on round their Friedrich; + that their busy Friedrich, with his few Voltaires and renowned persons, + are not the only population of their Century, by any means. Everybody is + aware of that fact; yet, in practice, almost everybody is as good as not + aware; and the World all round one's Hero is a darkness, a dormant + vacancy. How strange when, as here, some Waste-paper spill (so to speak) + turns up, which you can KINDLE; and, by the brief flame of it, bid a + reader look with his own eyes!—From Herr Doctor Busching, who did + the GEOGRAPHY and about a Hundred other Books,—a man of great worth, + almost of genius, could he have elaborated his Hundred Books into Ten (or + distilled, into flasks of aqua-vitae, what otherwise lies tumbling as + tanks of mash and wort, now run very sour and mal-odorous);—it is + from Herr Busching that we gain the following rough Piece, illuminative if + one can kindle it:— + </p> + <p> + The Titular-Herr Baron Anton von Geusau, a gentleman of good parts, + scholastic by profession, and of Protestant creed, was accompanying as + Travelling Tutor, in those years, a young Graf von Reuss. Graf von Beuss + is one of those indistinct Counts Reuss, who always call themselves + "Henry;" and, being now at the eightieth and farther, with uncountable + collateral Henrys intertwisted, are become in effect anonymous, or of + nomenclature inscrutable to mankind. Nor is the young one otherwise of the + least interest to us;—except that Herr Anton, the Travelling Tutor, + punctually kept a Journal of everything. Which Journal, long afterwards, + came into the hands of Busching, also a punctual man; and was by him + abridged, and set forth in print in his <i>Beitrage.</i> Offering at + present a singular daguerrotype glimpse of the then actual world, wherever + Graf von Reuss and his Geusau happened to be. Nine-tenths of it, even in + Busching's Abridgment, are now fallen useless and wearisome; but to one + studying the days that then were, even the effete commonplace of it + occasionally becomes alive again. And how interesting to catch, here and + there, a Historical Figure on these conditions; Historical Figure's very + self, in his work-day attitude; eating his victuals; writing, receiving + letters, talking to his fellow-creatures; unaware that Posterity, + miraculously through some chink of the Travelling Tutor's producing, has + got its eye upon him. + </p> + <p> + "SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741, Geusau and his young Gentleman leave Paris, at + 5 in the morning, and drive out to Versailles; intending to see the + ceremonies of New-year's day there. Very wet weather it had been, all + Wednesday, and for days before; [See in <i>Barbier</i> (ii. 283 et seqq.) + what terrible Noah-like weather it had been; big houses, long in soak, + tumbling down at last into the Seine; CHASSE of St. Genevieve brought out + (two days ago), December 30th, to try it by miracle; &c. &c.] but + on this Sunday, New-year's morning, all is ice and glass; and they slid + about painfully by lamplight,—with unroughened horses, and on the + Hilly or Meudon road, having chosen that as fittest, the waters being out;—not + arriving at Court till 9. Nor finding very much to comfort them, except on + the side of curiosity, when there. Ushers, INTRODUCTEURS, Cabinet + Secretaries, were indeed assiduous to oblige; and the King's Levee will + be: but if you follow it, to the Chapel Royal to witness high mass, you + must kneel at elevation of the host; and this, as reformed Christians, + Reuss and his Tutor cannot undertake to do. They accept a dinner + invitation (12 the hour) from some good Samaritan of Quality; and, for + sights, will content themselves with the King's Levee itself, and + generally with what the King's Antechamber and the OEil-de-Boeuf can + exhibit to them. The Most Christian King's Levee [LEVER, literally here + his Getting out of Bed] is a daily miracle of these localities, only + grander on New-year's day; and it is to the following effect:— + </p> + <p> + "Till Majesty please to awaken, you saunter in the Salle des Ambassadeurs; + whole crowds jostling one another there; gossiping together in a diligent, + insipid manner;" gossip all reported; snatches of which have acquired a + certain flavor by long keeping;—which the reader shall imagine. + "Meanwhile you keep your eye on the Grate of the Inner Court, which as yet + is only ajar, Majesty inaccessible as yet. Behold, at last, Grate opens + itself wide; sign that Majesty is out of bed; that the privileged of + mankind may approach, and see the miracles." Geusau continues, abridged by + Busching and us:— + </p> + <p> + "The whole Assemblage passed now into the King's Anteroom; had to wait + there about half an hour more, before the King's bedroom was opened. But + then at last, lo you,—there is the King, visible to Geusau and + everybody, washing his hands. Which effected itself in this way: 'The King + was seated; a gentleman-in-waiting knelt, before him, and held the Ewer, a + square vessel silver-gilt, firm upon the King's breast; and another + gentleman-in-waiting poured water on the King's hands.' Merely an official + washing, we perceive; the real, it is to be hoped, had, in a much more + effectual way, been going on during the half-hour just elapsed. After + washing, the King rose for an instant; had his dressing-gown, a grand + yellow silky article with silver flowerings, pulled off, and flung round + his loins; upon which he sat down again, and,"—observe it, ye + privileged of mankind,—"the Change of Shirt took place! 'They put + the clean shirt down over his head,' says Anton, 'and plucked up the dirty + one from within, so that of the naked skin you saw little or nothing.'" + Here is a miracle worth getting out of bed to look at! + </p> + <p> + "His Majesty now quitted chair and dressing-gown; stood up before the + fire; and, after getting on the rest of his clothing, which, on account of + Czarina Anne's death [readers remember that], was of violet or mourning + color, he had the powder-mantle thrown round him, and sat down at the + Toilette to have his hair frizzled. The Toilette, a table with white cover + shoved into the middle of the room, had on it a mirror, a powder-knife, + and"—no mortal cares what. "The King," what all mortals note, as + they do the heavenly omens, "is somewhat talky; speaks sometimes with the + Dutch Ambassador, sometimes with the Pope's Nuncio, who seems a jocose + kind of gentleman; sometimes with different French Lords, and at last with + the Cardinal Fleury also,—to whom, however, he does not look + particularly gracious,"—not particularly this time. These are the + omens; happy who can read them!—Majesty then did his morning-prayer, + assisted only by the common Almoners-in-waiting (Cardinal took no hand, + much less any other); Majesty knelt before his bed, and finished the + business 'in less than six seconds.' After which mankind can ebb out to + the Anteroom again; pay their devoir to the Queen's Majesty, which all do; + or wait for the Transit to Morning Chapel, and see Mesdames of France and + the others flitting past in their sedans. + </p> + <p> + "Queen's Majesty was already altogether dressed," says Geusau, almost as + if with some disappointment; "all in black; a most affable courteous + Majesty; stands conversing with the Russian Ambassador, with the Dutch + ditto, with the Ladies about her, and at last, 'in a friendly and merry + tone,' with old Cardinal Fleury. Her Ladies, when the Queen spoke with + them, showed no constraint at all; leant loosely with their arms on the + fire-screens, and took things easy. Mesdames of France"—Geusau saw + Mesdames. Poor little souls, they are the LOQUE, the COCHON (Rag, Pig, so + Papa would call them, dear Papa), who become tragically visible again in + the Revolution time:—all blooming young children as yet (Queen's + Majesty some thirty-seven gone), and little dreaming what lies fifty years + ahead! King Louis's career of extraneous gallantries, which ended in the + Parc-aux-Cerfs, is now just beginning: think of that too; and of her + Majesty's fine behavior under it; so affable, so patient, silent, now and + always!—"In a little while, their Majesties go along the Great + Gallery to Chapel;" whither the Protestant mind cannot with comfort + accompany. [Busching, <i>Beitrage,</i> ii. 59-78.] + </p> + <p> + This is the daily miracle done at Versailles to the believing multitude; + only that on New-year's day, and certain supreme occasions, the shirt is + handed by a Prince of the Blood, and the towel for drying the royal hands + by a ditto, with other improvements; and the thing comes out in its + highest power of effulgence,—especially if you could see high mass + withal. In the Antechamber and (OEil-de-Boeuf, Geusau), among hundreds of + phenomena fallen dead to us, saw the Four following, which have still some + life:—1. Many Knights of the Holy Ghost (CHEVALIERS DU SAINT ESPRIT) + are about; magnificently piebald people, indistinct to us, and fallen dead + to us: but there, among the company, do not we indisputably see, "in full + Cardinal's costume," Fleury the ancient Prime Minister talking to her + Majesty? Blandly smiling; soft as milk, yet with a flavor of alcoholic wit + in him here and there. That is a man worth looking at, had they painted + him at all. Red hat, red stockings; a serenely definite old gentleman, + with something of prudent wisdom, and a touch of imperceptible jocosity at + times; mildly inexpugnable in manner: this King, whose Tutor he was twenty + years ago, still looks to him as his father; Fleury is the real King of + France at present. His age is eighty-seven gone; the King's is thirty + (seven years younger than his Queen): and the Cardinal has red stockings + and red hat; veritably there, successively in both Antechambers, seen by + Geusau, January 1st, 1741: that is all I know. 2. The Prince de Clermont, + a Prince of the Blood, "handed the shirt," TESTE Geusau. Some other + Prince, notable to Geusau, and to us nameless, had the honor of the + "towel:" but this Prince de Clermont, a dissolute fellow of wasted parts, + kind of Priest, kind of Soldier too, is seen visibly handing the shirt + there;—whom the reader and I, if we cared about it, shall again see, + getting beaten by Prince Ferdinand, at Crefeld, within twenty years hence. + These are points first and second, slightly noticeable, slightly if at + all. + </p> + <p> + Of the actual transit to high mass, transit very visible in the Great + Gallery or OEil-de-Boeuf, why should a human being now say anything? + Queen, poor Stanislaus's Daughter, and her Ladies, in their sublime + sedans, one flood of jewels, sail first; next sails King Louis, shirt warm + on his back, with "thirty-four Chevaliers of the Holy Ghost" escorting; + next "the Dauphin" (Boy of eleven, Louis XVI.'s. Father), and "Mesdames of + France, with"—but even Geusau stops short. Protestants cannot enter + that Chapel, without peril of idolatry; wherefore Geusau and Pupil kept + strolling in the general (OEil-de-Boeuf),—and "the Dutch Ambassador + approved of it," he for one. And here now is another point, slightly + noticeable:—3. High mass over, his Majesty sails back from Chapel, + in the same magnificently piebald manner; and vanishes into the interior; + leaving his Knights of the Holy Ghost, and other Courtier multitude, to + simmer about, and ebb away as they found good. Geusau and his young Reuss + had now the honor of being introduced to various people; among others "to + the Prince de Soubise." Prince de Soubise: frivolous, insignificant being; + of whom I have no portrait that is not nearly blank, and content to be so;—though + Herr von Geusau would have one, with features and costume to it, when he + heard of the Beating at Rossbach, long after! Prince de Soubise is pretty + much a blank to everybody:—and no sooner are we loose of him, than + (what every reader will do well to note) 4. Our Herren Travellers are + introduced to a real Notability: Monseigneur, soon to be Marechal, the + Comte de Belleisle; whom my readers and I are to be much concerned with, + in time coming. "A tall lean man (LANGER HAGERER MANN), without much air + of quality," thinks Geusau; but with much swift intellect and energy, and + a distinguished character, whatever Geusau might think. "Comte de + Belleisle was very civil; but apologized, in a courtly and kind way, for + the hurry he was in; regretting the impossibility of doing the honors to + the Comte de Reuss in this Country,—his, Belleisle's, Journey into + Germany, which was close at hand, overwhelming him with occupations and + engagements at present. And indeed, even while he spoke to us," says + Geusau, "all manner of Papers were put into his hand." [Busching, ii. 79; + see Barbier, ii. 282, 287.] + </p> + <p> + "Journey to Germany, Papers put into his hand:" there is perhaps no Human + Figure in the world, this Sunday (except the one Figure now in those same + moments over at Breslau, gently pressing upon the locked Gates there), who + is so momentous for our Silesian Operations; and indeed he will kindle all + Europe into delirium; and produce mere thunder and lightning, for seven + years to come,—with almost no result in it, except Silesia! A tall + lean man; there stands he, age now fifty-six, just about setting out on + such errand. Whom one is thankful to have seen for a moment, even in that + slight manner. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OF BELLEISLE AND HIS PLANS. + </h2> + <p> + Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Comte de Belleisle, is Grandson of that + Intendant Fouquet, sumptuous Financier, whom Louis XIV. at last threw out, + and locked into the Fortress of Pignerol, amid the Savoy Alps, there to + meditate for life, which lasted thirty years longer. It was never + understood that the sumptuous Fouquet had altogether stolen public moneys, + nor indeed rightly what he had done to merit Pignerol; and always, though + fallen somehow into such dire disfavor, he was pitied and respected by a + good portion of the public. "Has angered Colbert," said the public; + "dangerous rivalry to Colbert; that is what has brought Pignerol upon + him." Out of Pignerol that Fouquet never came; but his Family bloomed up + into light again; had its adventures, sometimes its troubles, in the + Regency time, but was always in a rising way:—and here, in this tall + lean man getting papers put into his hand, it has risen very high indeed. + Going as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Germanic Diet, "to assist good + neighbors, as a neighbor and Most Christian Majesty should, in choosing + their new Kaiser to the best advantage:" that is the official color his + mission is to have. Surely a proud mission;—and Belleisle intends to + execute it in a way that will surprise the Germanic Diet and mankind. + Privately, Belleisle intends that he, by his own industries, shall himself + choose the right Kaiser, such Kaiser as will suit the Most Christian + Majesty and him; he intends to make a new French thing of Germany in + general; and carries in his head plans of an amazing nature! He and a + Brother he has, called the Chevalier de Belleisle, who is also a + distinguished man, and seconds M. le Comte with eloquent fire and zeal in + all things, are grandsons of that old Fouquet, and the most shining men in + France at present. France little dreams how much better it perhaps were, + had they also been kept safe in Pignerol!— + </p> + <p> + The Count, lean and growing old, is not healthy; is ever and anon + tormented, and laid up for weeks, with rheumatisms, gouts and ailments: + but otherwise he is still a swift ardent elastic spirit; with grand + schemes, with fiery notions and convictions, which captivate and hurry off + men's minds more than eloquence could, so intensely true are they to the + Count himself;—and then his Brother the Chevalier is always there to + put them into the due language and logic, where needed. [Voltaire, xxviii. + 74; xxix. 392; &c.] A magnanimous high-flown spirit; thought to be of + supreme skill both in War and in Diplomacy; fit for many things; and is + still full of ambition to distinguish himself, and tell the world at all + moments, "ME VOILA; World, I too am here!"—His plans, just now, + which are dim even to himself, except on the hither skirt of them, stretch + out immeasurable, and lie piled up high as the skies. The hither skirt of + them, which will suffice the reader at present, is:— + </p> + <p> + That your Grand-Duke Franz, Maria Theresa's Husband, shall in no wise, as + the world and Duke Franz expect, be the Kaiser chosen. Not he, but another + who will suit France better: "Kur-Sachsen perhaps, the so-called King of + Poland? Or say it were Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, the hereditary friend and + dependent of France? We are not tied to a man: only, at any and at all + rates, not Grand-Duke Franz." This is the grand, essential and + indispensable point, alpha and omega of points; very clear this one to + Belleisle,—and towards this the first steps, if as yet only the + first, are also clear to him. Namely that "the 27th of February next",—which + is the time set by Kur-Mainz and the native Officials for the actual + meeting of their Reichstag to begin Election Business, will be too early a + time; and must be got postponed. [Adelung, ii. 185 ("27th February-1st + March, 1741, at Frankfurt-on-Mayn," appointed by Kur-Mainz + "Arch-Chancellor of the REICH," under date November 3d, 1740);—ib. + 236 ("Delay for a month or two," suggests Kur-Pfalz, on January 12th, + seconded by others in the French interest);—upon which the + appointment, after some arguing, collapsed into the vague, and there + ensued delay enough; actual Election not till January 24th, 1742.] + Postponed; which will be possible, perhaps for long; one knows not for how + long: that is a first step definitely clear to Belleisle. Towards which, + as preliminary to it and to all the others in a dimmer state, there is a + second thing clear, and has even been officially settled (all but the + day): That, in the mean while, and surely the sooner the better, he, + Belleisle, Most Christian Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary to the + Reichstag coming,—do, in his most dazzling and persuasive manner, + make a Tour among German Courts. Let us visit, in our highest and yet in + our softest splendor, the accessible German Courts, especially the likely + or well-disposed: Mainz, Koln, Trier, these, the three called Spiritual, + lie on our very route; then Pfalz, Baiern, Sachsen:—we will tour + diligently up and down; try whether, by optic machinery and art-magic of + the mind, one cannot bring them round. + </p> + <p> + In all these preliminary steps and points, and even in that alpha and + omega of excluding Grand-Duke Franz, and getting a Kaiser of his own, + Belleisle succeeded. With painful results to himself and to millions of + his fellow-creatures, to readers of this History, among others. And became + in consequence the most famous of mankind; and filled the whole world with + rumor of Belleisle, in those years.—A man of such intrinsic + distinction as Belleisle, whom Friedrich afterwards deliberately called a + great Captain, and the only Frenchman with a genius for war; and who, for + some time, played in Europe at large a part like that of Warwick the + Kingmaker: how has he fallen into such oblivion? Many of my readers never + heard of him before; nor, in writing or otherwise, is there symptom that + any living memory now harbors him, or has the least approach to an image + of him! "For the times are babbly," says Goethe," And then again the times + are dumb:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Denn geschwatzig sind die Zeiten, + Und sie sind auch wieder stumm." +</pre> + <p> + Alas, if a man sow only chaff, in never so sublime a manner, with the + whole Earth and the long-eared populations looking on, and chorally + singing approval, rendering night hideous,—it will avail him + nothing. And that, to a lamentable extent, was Belleisle's case. His + scheme of action was in most felicitously just accordance with the + national sense of France, but by no means so with the Laws of Nature and + of Fact; his aim, grandiose, patriotic, what you will, was unluckily false + and not true. How could "the times" continue talking of him? They found + they had already talked too much. Not to say that the French Revolution + has since come; and has blown all that into the air, miles aloft,—where + even the solid part of it, which must be recovered one day, much more the + gaseous, which we trust is forever irrecoverable, now wanders and whirls; + and many things are abolished, for the present, of more value than + Belleisle!— + </p> + <p> + For my own share, being, as it were, forced accidentally to look at him + again, I find in Belleisle a really notable man; far superior to the + vulgar of noted men, in his time or ours. Sad destiny for such a man! But + when the general Life-element becomes so unspeakably phantasmal as under + Louis XV., it is difficult for any man to be real; to be other than a + play-actor, more or less eminent, and artistically dressed. Sad enough, + surely, when the truth of your relation to the Universe, and the + tragically earnest meaning of your Life, is quite lied out of you, by a + world sunk in lies; and you can, with effort, attain to nothing but to be + a more or less splendid lie along with it! Your very existence all become + a vesture, a hypocrisy, and hearsay; nothing left of you but this sad + faculty of sowing chaff in the fashionable manner! After Friedrich and + Voltaire, in both of whom, under the given circumstances, one finds a + perennial reality, more or less,—Belleisle is next; none FAILS to + escape the mournful common lot by a nearer miss than Belleisle. + </p> + <p> + Beyond doubt, there are in this man the biggest projects any French head + has carried, since Louis XIV. with his sublime periwig first took to + striking the stars. How the indolent Louis XV. and the pacific Fleury have + been got into this sublimely adventurous mood? By Belleisle chiefly, men + say;—and by King Louis's first Mistresses, blown upon by Belleisle; + poor Louis having now, at length, left his poor Queen to her reflections, + and taken into that sad line, in which by degrees he carried it so far. + There are three of them, it seems;—the first female souls that could + ever manage to kindle, into flame or into smoke: in this or any other + kind, that poor torpid male soul: those Mailly Sisters, three in number (I + am shocked to hear), successive, nay in part simultaneous! They are proud + women, especially the two younger; with ambition in them, with a bravura + magnanimity, of the theatrical or operatic kind; of whom Louis is very + fond. "To raise France to its place, your Majesty; the top of the + Universe, namely!" "Well; if it could be done,—and quite without + trouble?" thinks Louis. Bravura magnanimity, blown upon by Belleisle, + prevails among these high Improper Females, and generally in the Younger + Circles of the Court; so that poor old Fleury has had no choice but to + obey it or retire. And so Belleisle stalks across the OEil-de-Boeuf in + that important manner, visibly to Geusau; and is the shining object in + Paris, and much the topic there at present. + </p> + <p> + A few weeks hence, he is farther—a little out of the common turn, + but not beyond his military merits or capabilities—made Marechal de + France; [<i>Fastes de Louis XV.,</i> i. 356 (12th February, 1741).] by way + of giving him a new splendor in the German Political World, and assisting + in his operations there, which depend much upon the laws of vision. French + epigrams circulate in consequence, and there are witty criticisms; to + which Belleisle, such a dusky world of Possibility lying ahead, is grandly + indifferent. Marechal de France;—and Geusau hears (what is a fact) + that there are to be "thirty young French Lords in his suite;" his very + "Livery," or mere plush retinue, "to consist of 110 persons;" such an + outfit for magnificence as was never seen before. And in this equipment, + "early in March" (exact day not given), magnificence of outside + corresponding to grandiosity of faculty and idea, Belleisle, we shall + find, does practically set off towards Germany;—like a kind of + French Belus, or God of the Sun; capable to dazzle weak German Courts, by + optical machinery, and to set much rotten thatch on fire!— + </p> + <p> + "There are curious daguerrotype glimpses of old Paris to be found in that + Notebook of Geusau's", says another Excerpt; "which come strangely home to + us, like reality at first-hand;—and a rather unexpected Paris it is, + to most readers; many things then alive there, which are now deep + underground. Much Jansenist Theology afloat; grand French Ladies piously + eager to convert a young Protestant Nobleman like Reuss; sublime Dorcases, + who do not rouge, or dress high, but eschew the evil world, and are + thrifty for the Poor's sake, redeeming the time. There is a Cardinal de + Polignac, venerable sage and ex-political person, of astonishing + erudition, collector of Antiques (with whom we dined); there is the + Chevalier Ramsay, theological Scotch Jacobite, late Tutor of the young + Turenne. So many shining persons, now fallen indistinct again. And then, + besides gossip, which is of mild quality and in fair proportion,—what + talk, casuistic and other, about the Moral Duties, the still feasible + Pieties, the Constitution Unigenitus! All this alive, resonant at + dinner-tables of Conservative stamp; the Miracles of Abbe Paris much a + topic there:—and not a whisper of Infidel Philosophies; the very + name of Voltaire not once mentioned in the Reuss section of Parisian + things. + </p> + <p> + "There is rumor now and then of a 'Comte de Rothenbourg,' conspicuous in + the Parisian circles; a shining military man, but seemingly in want of + employment; who has lost in gambling, within the last four years, upwards + of 50,000 pounds (1,300,000 livres, the exact cipher given). This is the + Graf von Rothenburg whom Friedrich made acquaintance with, in the Rhine + Campaign six years ago, and has ever since had in his eye;—whom, in + a few weeks hence, Friedrich beckons over to him into the Prussian States: + 'Hither, and you shall have work!' Which Rothenburg accepts; with manifold + advantage to both parties:—one of Friedrich's most distinguished + friends for the rest of his life. + </p> + <p> + "Of Cardinal Polignac there is much said, and several dinners with him are + transacted, dialogue partly given: a pious wise old gentleman really, in + his kind (age now eighty-four); looking mildly forth upon a world just + about to overset itself and go topsy-turvy, as he sees it will. His + ANTI-LUCRETIUS was once such a Poem!—but we mention him here because + his fine Cabinet of Antiques came to Berlin on his death, Friedrich + purchasing; and one often hears of it (if one cared to hear) from the + Prussian Dryasdust in subsequent years. [Came to Charlottenburg, August, + 1742 (old Polignac had died November last, ten months after those Geusau + times): cost of the Polignac Cabinet was 40,000 thalers (6,000 pounds) say + some, 90,000 livres (under 4,000 pounds) say others; cheap at either + price;—and, by chance, came opportunely, "a fire having just burnt + down the Academy Edifice," and destroyed much ware of that kind. + Rodenbeck, i. 73; Seyfarth (Anonymous), <i>Geschichte Friedrichs des + Andern,</i> i. 236.] + </p> + <p> + "Of Friedrich's unexpected Invasion of Silesia there are also talkings and + surmisings, but in a mild indifferent tone, and much in the vague. And in + the best-informed circles it is thought Belleisle will manage to HAVE + Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen of Hungary's Husband, chosen Kaiser, and, in + some mild good way, put an end to all that;"—which is far indeed + from Belleisle's intention! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII. — PHENOMENA IN PETERSBURG. + </h2> + <p> + I know not whether Major Winterfeld, who was sent to Petersburg in + December last, had got back to Berlin in February, now while Friedrich is + there: but for certain the good news of him had, That he had been + completely successful, and was coming speedily, to resume his soldier + duties in right time. As Winterfeld is an important man (nearly buried + into darkness in the dull Prussian Books), let us pause for a moment on + this Negotiation of his;—and on the mad Russian vicissitudes which + preceded and followed, so far as they concern us. Russia, a big + demi-savage neighbor next door, with such caprices, such humors and + interests, is always an important, rather delicate object to Friedrich; + and Fortune's mad wheel is plunging and canting in a strange headlong way + there, of late. Czarina Anne, we know, is dead; the Autocrat of All the + Russias following the Kaiser of the Romans within eight days. Iwan, her + little Nephew, still in swaddling-clothes, is now Autocrat of All the + Russias if he knew it, poor little red-colored creature; and Anton Ulrich + and his Mecklenburg Russian Princess—But let us take up the matter + where our Notebooks left it, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time:— + </p> + <p> + "Czarina Anne with the big cheek," continues that Notebook, [Supra, p. + 129.] "was extremely delighted to see little Iwan; but enjoyed him only + two months; being herself in dying circumstances. She appointed little + Iwan her Successor, his Mother and Father to be Guardians over him; but + one Bieren (who writes himself Biron, and "Duke of Courland,' being + Czarina's Quasi-Husband these many years) to be Guardian, as it were, over + both them and him. Such had been the truculent insatiable Bieren's demand + on his Czarina. 'You are running on your destruction,' said she, with + tears; but complied, as she had been wont. + </p> + <p> + "Czarina Anne died 28th October, 1740; leaving a Czar in his cradle; + little Czar Ivan of two months, with Mother and Father to preside over + him, and to be themselves presided over by Bieren, in this manner. + [Mannstein, pp. 264-267 (28th October, by Russian or Old Style, is "17th;" + we TRANSLATE, in this and other cases, Russian or English, into New Style, + unless the contrary is indicated)]. This was the first great change for + Anton Ulrich; but others greater are coming. Little Anton, readers know, + is Friedrich's Brother-in-law, much patronized by Austria; Anton's spouse + is the Half-Russian Princess Catherine of Mecklenburg (now wholly Russian, + and called Princess Anne), whom Friedrich at one time thought of applying + for, in his distress about a Wife. These two, will they side with Prussia, + will they side with Austria? It was hardly worth inquiry, had not + Fortune's wheel made suddenly a great cant, and pitched them to the top, + for the time being. + </p> + <p> + "Bieren lasted only twenty days. He was very high and arbitrary upon + everybody; Anne and Anton Ulrich suffering naturally most from him. They + took counsel with Feldmarschall Munnich on the matter; who, after study, + declared it a remediable case. Friday, 18th November, Munnich had, by + invitation, to dine with Duke Bieren; Munnich went accordingly that day, + and dined; Duke looking a little flurried, they say: and the same evening, + dinner being quite over, and midnight come, Munnich had his measures all + taken, soldiers ready, warrant in hand;—and arrested Bieren in his + bed; mere Siberia, before sunrise, looming upon Bieren. Never was such a + change as this from 18th day to 19th with a supreme Bieren. Our friend + Mannstein, excellent punctual Aide-de-Camp of Munnich, was the executor of + the feat; and has left punctual record of it, as he does of everything,—-what + Bieren said, and what Madam Bieren, who was a little obstreperous on the + occasion. [Mannstein, p. 268.] What side Anton Ulrich and Spouse will take + in a quarrel between Prussia and Austria, is now well worth asking. + </p> + <p> + "Anton Ulrich and Wife Anne, that is to say, 'Regent Anne' and + 'Generalissimo Anton Ulrich,' now ruled, with Munnich for right-hand man; + and these were high times for Anton Ulrich, Generalissimo and + Czar's-Father; who indeed was modest, and did not often interfere in + words, though grieved at the foolish ways his Wife had. An indolent flabby + kind of creature, she, unfit for an Autocrat; sat in her private + apartments, all in a huddle of undress; had foolish notions,—especially + had soubrettes who led her about by the ear. And then there was a + 'Princess Elizabeth,' Cousin-german of Regent Anne,—daughter, that + is to say, last child there now was, of Peter the Great and his little + brown Catherine:—who should have been better seen to. Harmless + foolish Princess, not without cunning; young, plump, and following merely + her flirtations and her orthodox devotions; very orthodox and soft, but + capable of becoming dangerous, as a centre of the disaffected. As 'Czarina + Elizabeth' before long, and ultimately as 'INFAME CATIN DU NORD, she—" + But let us not anticipate! + </p> + <p> + It was in this posture of affairs, about a month after it had begun, that + Winterfeld arrived in Petersburg; and addressed himself to Munnich, on the + Prussian errand. Winterfeld was Munnich's Son-in-law (properly + stepson-in-law, having married Munnich's stepdaughter, a Fraulein von + Malzahn, of good Prussian kin); was acquainted with the latitudes and + longitudes here, and well equipped for the operation in hand. To Madam + Munnich, once Madam Malzahn, his Mother-in-law, he carried a diamond ring + of 1,200 pounds, "small testimony of his Prussian Majesty's regard to so + high a Prussian Lady;" to Munnich's Son and Madam's a present of 3,000 + pounds on the like score: and the wheels being oiled in this way, and the + steam so strong (son Winterfeld an ardent man, father Munnich the like, + supreme in Russia, and the thing itself a salutary thing), the diplomatic + speed obtained was great. Winterfeld had arrived in Petersburg December + 19th: Treaty of Alliance to the effect, "Firm friends and good neighbors, + we Two, Majesties of Prussia and of All the Russias; will help each the + other, if attacked, with 12,000 men,"—was signed on the 27th: whole + Transaction, so important to Friedrich, complete in eight days. Austrian + Botta, directly on the heel of those unsatisfactory Dialogues about + Silesian roads, about troops that were pretty, but had never looked the + wolf in the face,—had rushed off, full speed, for Petersburg, in + hopes of running athwart such a Treaty as Winterfeld's, and getting one + for Austria instead. But he arrived too late; and perhaps could have done + nothing had he been in time. Botta tried his utmost for years afterwards, + above ground and below, to obstruct and reverse this thing; but it was to + no purpose, and even to less; and only, in result, brought Botta himself + into flagrant diplomatic trouble and scandal; which made noise enough in + the then Gazetteer world, and was the finale of Botta's Russian efforts, + [Adelung, iii. ii. 289; Mannstein, p. 375 ("Lapuschin Plot," of Botta's + raising, found out "August, 1743;"—Botta put in arrest, &c.).] + though not worth mentioning now. + </p> + <p> + The Russian Notebook continues:— + </p> + <p> + "Munnich, supreme in Russia since Bieren's removal, had wise counsels for + the Regent Anne and her Husband; though perhaps, being a high old military + gentleman, he might be somewhat abrupt in his ways. And there were + domestic Ostermanns, foreign Bottas, La Chetardies, and dangerous + Intriguers and Opposition figures, to improve any grudge that might arise. + Sure enough, in March, 1741, Feldmarschall Munnich was forbid the Court + (some Ostermann succeeding him there): 'Ever true to your Two Highnesses, + though no longer needed;'—and withdrew, in a lofty friendly strain; + his Son continuing at Court, though Papa had withdrawn. Supreme Munnich + had lasted about four months; Supreme Bieren hardly three weeks;—and + Siberia is still agape. + </p> + <p> + "Munnich being gone to his own Town-Mansion, and Regent Anne sitting in + hers in a huddle of undress; little accessible to her long-headed + melancholic Ostermann, and too accessible to her Livonian maid: with poor + little Anton Ulrich pouting and remonstrating, but unable to help,—this + state of matters, with such intrigues undermining it, could not last + forever. And had not Princess Elizabeth been of indolent luxurious nature, + intent upon her prayers and flirtations, it would have ended sooner even + than it did. Princess Elizabeth had a Surgeon called L'Estoc; a Marquis de + la Chetardie, a high-flown French Excellency (who used to be at Berlin, to + our young Friedrich's delight), was her—What shall I say? La + Chetardie himself had no scruple to say it! These two plotted for her; + these were ready,—could she have been got ready; which was not so + easy. Regent Anne had her suspicions; but the Princess was so indolent, so + good: at last, when directly taxed with such a thing, the Princess burst + into ingenuous weeping; quite disarmed Regent Anne's suspicions;—but + found she had now better take L'Estoc's advice, and proceed at once. Which + she did. + </p> + <p> + "And so, on the morrow morning, 5th December, 1741, by aid of the + Preobrazinsky Regiment, and the motions usual on such occasions,—in + fact by merely pulling out the props from an undermined state of matters,—she + reduced said state gently to ruin, ready for carting to Siberia, like its + foregoers; and was hereby Czarina of All the Russias, prosperously enough + for the rest of her life. Twenty years or rather more. An indolent, + orthodox, plump creature, disinclined to cruelty; 'not an ounce of nun's + flesh in her composition,' said the wits. She maintained the Friedrich + Treaty, indignant at Botta and his plots; was well with Friedrich, or + might have been kept so by management, for there was no cause of quarrel, + but the reverse, between the Countries,—could Friedrich have held + his witty tongue, when eavesdroppers were by. But he could not always; + though he tried. And sarcastic quizzing (especially if it be truth too), + on certain female topics, what Improper Female, Czarina of All the + Russias, could stand it? The history is but a distressing one, a + disgusting one, in human affairs. Elizabeth was orthodox, too, and + Friedrich not, 'the horrid man!' The fact is,—fact dismally + indubitable, though it is huddled into discreet dimness, and all details + of it (as to what Friedrich's witticisms were, and the like) are refused + us in the Prussian Books,—indignation, owing to such dismal cause, + became fixed hate on the Czarina's part, and there followed terrible + results at last: A Czarina risen to the cannibal pitch upon a man, in his + extreme need;—'INFAME CATIN DU NORD,' thinks the man! Friedrich's + wit cost him dear; him, and half a million others still dearer, twenty + years hence."—Till which time we will gladly leave the Czarina and + it. + </p> + <p> + Major von Winterfeld had been in Russia before this; and had wooed his + fair Malzahn there. He is the same Winterfeld whom we once saw dining by + the wayside with the late Friedrich Wilhelm, on that last Review-Journey + his Majesty made. A Captain in the Potsdam Giants at that time; always in + great favor with the late King; and in still greater with the present,—who + finds in him, we can dimly discover, and pretty much in him alone, a soul + somewhat like his own; the one real "peer" he had about him. A man of + little education; bred in camps; yet of a proud natural eminency, and + rugged nobleness of genius and mind. Let readers mark this fiery + hero-spirit, lying buried in those dull Books, like lightning among clay. + Here is another anecdote of his Russian business:— + </p> + <p> + "Winterfeld had gone, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time, with a party of + Prussian drill-sergeants for Petersburg [year not given]; and duly + delivered them there. He naturally saw much of Feldmarschall Munnich, + naturally saw the Step-daughter of the Feldmarschall, a shining beauty in + Petersburg; Winterfeld himself a man of shining gifts, and character; and + one of the handsomest tall men in the world. Mutual love between the + Fraulein and him was the rapid result. But how to obtain marriage? + Winterfeld cannot marry, without leave had of his superiors: you, fair + Malzahn, are Hof-Dame of Princess Elizabeth, all your fortune the jewels + you wear; and it is too possible she will not let you go! + </p> + <p> + "They agreed to be patient, to be silent; to watch warily till Winterfeld + got home to Prussia, till the Fraulein Malzahn could also contrive to get + home. Winterfeld once home, and the King's consent had, the Fraulein + applied to Princess Elizabeth for leave of absence: 'A few months, to see + my friends in Deutschland, your Highness!' Princess Elizabeth looked hard + at her; answered evasively this and that. At last, being often importuned, + she answered plainly, 'I almost feel convinced thou wilt never come back!' + Protestations from the Fraulein were not wanting:—'Well then,' said + Elizabeth, 'if thou art so sure of it, leave me thy jewels in pledge. Why + not?' The poor Fraulein could not say why; had to leave her jewels, which + were her whole fine fortune, 'worth 100,000 rubles' (20,000 pounds); and + is now the brave Wife of Winterfeld;—but could never, by direct + entreaty or circuitous interest and negotiation, get back the least item + of her jewels. Elizabeth, as Princess and as Czarina, was alike deaf on + that subject. Now or henceforth that proved an impossible private + enterprise for Winterfeld, though he had so easily succeeded in the public + one." [Retzow, <i>Charakteristik des siebenjahrigen Krieges</i> (Berlin, + 1802), i. 45 n.] + </p> + <p> + The new Czarina was not unmerciful. Munnich and Company were tried for + life; were condemned to die, and did appear on the scaffold (29th January, + 1742), ready for that extreme penalty; but were there, on the sudden, + pardoned or half-pardoned by a merciful new Czarina, and sent to Siberia + and outer darkness. Whither Bieren had preceded them. To outer darkness + also, though a milder destiny had been intended them at first, went Anton + Ulrich and his Household. Towards native Germany at first; they had got as + far as Riga on the way to Germany, but were detained there, for a long + while (owing to suspicions, to Botta Plots, or I know not what), till + finally they were recalled into Russian exile. Strict enough exile, + seclusion about Archangel and elsewhere; in convents, in obscure + uncomfortable places:—little Iwan, after vicissitudes, even went + underground; grew to manhood, and got killed (partly by accident, not + quite by murder), some twenty-three years hence, in his dungeon in the + Fortress of Schlusselburg, below the level of the Ladoga waters there. + Unluckier Household, which once seemed the luckiest of the world, was + never known. Canted suddenly, in this way, from the very top of Fortune's + wheel to the very bottom; never to rise more;—and did not even die, + at least not all die, for thirty or forty years after. [Anton Ulrich, not + till 15th May, 1775 (two Daughters of his went, after this, to "Horstens, + a poor Country-House in Jutland," whither Catherine II. had manumitted + them, with pension;—she had wished Anton Ulrich to go home, many + years before; but he would not, from shame).—Iwan had perished 5th + August, 1764 (Catherine II. blamed for his death, but without cause); + Iwan's Mother, Princess Anne, (mercifully) 18th March, 1746. See Russian + Histories, TOOKE, CASTERA, &c.,—none of which, except MANNSTEIN, + is good for much, or to be trusted without scrutiny.] + </p> + <p> + This is the Chetardie-L'Estoc conspiracy, of 5th December, 1741; the + pitching up of Princess Elizabeth, and the pitching down of Anton Ulrich + and his Munnichs, who had before pitched Bieren down. After which, matters + remained more stationary at Petersburg: Czarina Elizabeth, fat indolent + soul, floated with a certain native buoyancy, with something of bulky + steadiness, in the turbid plunge of things, and did not sink. On the + contrary, her reign, so called, was prosperous, though stupid; her big + dark Countries, kindled already into growth, went on growing rather. And, + for certain, she herself went on growing, in orthodox devotions of + spiritual type (and in strangely heterodox ditto of NONspiritual!); in + indolent mansuetudes (fell rages, if you cut on the RAWS at all!); in + perpetual incongruity; and, alas, at last, in brandy-and-water,—till, + as "INFAME CATIN DU NORD," she became terribly important to some persons! + </p> + <p> + At her accession, and for two years following, Czarina Elizabeth, in spite + of real disinclination that way, had a War on her hands: the Swedish War + (August, 1741-August, 1743), which, after long threatening on the Swedish + side, had broken out into unwelcome actuality, in Anton Ulrich's time; and + which could not, with all the Czarina's industry, be got rid of or staved + off; Sweden being bent upon the thing, reason or no reason. War not to be + spoken of, except on compulsion, in the most voluminous History! It was + the unwisest of wars, we should say, and in practice probably the + contemptiblest; if there were not one other Swedish War coming, which vies + with it in these particulars, of which we shall be obliged to speak, more + or less, at a future stage. Of this present Russian-Swedish war, having + happily almost nothing to do with it, we can, except in the way of + transient chronology, refrain altogether from speaking or thinking. + </p> + <p> + Poor Sweden, since it shot Karl XII. in the trenches at Fredericshall, + could not get a King again; and is very anarchic under its Phantasm King + and free National Palaver,—Senate with subaltern Houses;—which + generally has French gold in its pocket, and noise instead of wisdom in + its head. Scandalous to think of or behold. The French, desirous to keep + Russia in play during these high Belleisle adventures now on foot, had, + after much egging, bribing, flattering, persuaded vain Sweden into this + War with Russia. "At Narva they were 80,000, we 8,000; and what became of + them!" cry the Swedes always. Yes, my friends, but you had a Captain at + Narva; you had not yet shot your Captain when you did Narva! "Faction of + Hats," "Faction of Caps" (that is, NIGHT-caps, as being somnolent and + disinclined to France and War): seldom did a once-valiant far-shining + Nation sink to such depths, since they shot their Captain, and said to + Anarchy, "THOU art Captaincy, we see, and the Divine thing!" Of the Wars + and businesses of such a set of mortals let us shun speaking, where + possible. + </p> + <p> + Mannstein gives impartial account, pleasantly clear and compact, to such + as may be curious about this Swedish-Russian War; and, in the didactic + point of view, it is not without value. To us the interesting circumstance + is, that it does not interfere with our Silesian operations at all; and + may be figured as a mere accompaniment of rumbling discord, or vacant + far-off noise, going on in those Northern parts,—to which therefore + we hope to be strangers in time coming. Here are some dates, which the + reader may take with him, should they chance to illustrate anything:— + </p> + <p> + "AUGUST 4th, 1741. The Swedes declare War: 'Will recover their lost + portions of Finland, will,' &c. &c. They had long been meditating + it; they had Turk negotiations going on, diligent emissaries to the Turk + (a certain Major Sinclair for one, whom the Russians waylaid and + assassinated to get sight of his Papers) during the late Turk-Russian War; + but could conclude nothing while that was in activity; concluded only + after that was done,—striking the iron when grown COLD. A chief + point in their Manifesto was the assassination of this Sinclair; scandal + and atrocity, of which there is no doubt now the Russians were guilty. + Various pretexts for the War:—prime movers to it, practically, were + the French, intent on keeping Russia employed while their Belleisle German + adventure went on, and who had even bargained with third parties to get up + a War there, as we shall see. + </p> + <p> + "SEPTEMBER 3d, 1741. At Wilmanstrand,—key of Wyborg, their frontier + stronghold in Finland, which was under Siege,—the Swedes (about + 5,000 of them, for they had nothing to live upon, and lay scattered about + in fractions) made fight, or skirmish, against a Russian attacking party: + Swedes, rather victorious on their hill-top, rushed down; and totally lost + their bit of victory, their Wilmanstrand, their Wyborg, and even the War + itself;—for this was, in literal truth, the only fighting done by + them in the entire course of it, which lasted near two years more. The + rest of it was retreat, capitulation, loss on loss without stroke struck; + till they had lost all Finland, and were like to lose Sweden itself,—Dalecarlian + mutiny bursting out ('Ye traitors, misgovernors, worthy of death!'), with + invasive Danes to rear of it;—and had to call in the very Russians + to save them from worse. Czarina Elizabeth at the time of her accession, + six months after Wilmanstrand, had made truce, was eager to make peace: + 'By no means!' answered Sweden, taking arms again, or rather taking legs + again; and rushing ruin-ward, at the old rate, still without stroke. + </p> + <p> + "JUNE 28th, 1743. They did halt; made Peace of Abo (Truce and + Preliminaries signed there, that day: Peace itself, August 17th); Czarina + magnanimously restoring most of their Finland (thinking to herself, 'Not + done enough for me yet; cook it a little yet!');—and settling who + their next King was to be, among other friendly things. And in November + following, Keith, in his Russian galleys, with some 10,000 Russians on + board, arrived in Stockholm; protective against Danes and mutinous + Dalecarles: stayed there till June of next year, 1744." [Adelung, ii. 445. + Mannstein, pp. 297 (Wilmanstrand Affair, himself present), 365 (Peace), + 373 (Keith's RETURN with his galleys). Comte de Hordt (present also, on + the Swedish side, and subsequently a Soldier of Friedrich's) <i>Memoires</i> + (Berlin, 1789), i. 18-88. The murder of Sinclair (done by "four Russian + subalterns, two miles from Naumberg in Silesia, 17th June, 1739, about 7 + P.M.") is amply detailed from Documents, in a late Book: Weber, <i>Aus + Vier Jahrhunderten</i> (Leipzig, 1858), i. 274-279.] Is not this a War! + </p> + <p> + On the Russian side, General Keith, under Field-marshal Lacy as chief in + command (the same Keith whom we saw at Oczakow under Munnich, some time + ago), had a great deal of the work and management; which was of a highly + miscellaneous kind, commanding fleets of gunboats, and much else; and + readers of MANNSTEIN can still judge,—much more could King + Friedrich, earnestly watching the affair itself as it went on,—whether + Keith did not do it in a solid and quietly eminent and valiant manner. + Sagacious, skilful, imperturbable, without fear and without noise; a man + quietly ever ready. He had quelled, once, walking direct into the heart of + it, a ferocious Russian mutiny, or uproar from below, which would have + ruined everything in few minutes more. (Mannstein, p. 130 (no date, + April-May, 1742.) He suffered, with excellent silence, now and afterwards, + much ill-usage from above withal;—till Friedrich himself, in the + third year hence, was lucky enough to get him as General. Friedrich's + Sister Ulrique, the marriage of Princess Ulrique,—that also, as it + chanced, had something to do with this Peace of Abo. But we anticipate too + far. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX. — FRIEDRICH RETURNS TO SILESIA. + </h2> + <p> + Friedrich stayed only three weeks at home; moving about, from Berlin to + Potsdam, to Reinsberg and back: all the gay world is in Berlin, at this + Carnival time; but Friedrich has more to do with business, of a manifold + and over-earnest nature, than with Carnival gayeties. French Valori is + here, "my fat Valori," who is beginning to be rather a favorite of + Friedrich's: with Excellency Valori, and with the other Foreign + Excellencies, there was diplomatic passaging in these weeks; and we gather + from Valori, in the inverse way (Valori fallen sulky), that it was not ill + done on Friedrich's part. He had some private consultation with the Old + Dessauer, too; "probably on military points," thinks Valori. At least + there was noticed more of the drill-sergeant than before, in his handling + of the Army, when he returned to Silesia, continues the sulky one. "Troops + and generals did not know him again,"—so excessively strict was he + grown, on the sudden. And truly "he got into details which were beneath, + not only a Prince who has great views, but even a simple Captain of + Infantry,"—according to my (Valori's) military notions and + experiences! [Valori, i. 99.]— + </p> + <p> + The truth is, Friedrich begins to see, more clearly than he did with + GLOIRE dazzling him, that his position is an exceedingly grave one, full + of risk, in the then mood and condition of the world; that he, in the + whole world, has no sure friend but his Army; and that in regard to IT he + cannot be too vigilant! The world is ominous to this youngest of the Kings + more than to another. Sounds as of general Political Earthquake grumble + audibly to him from the deeps: all Europe likely, in any event, to get to + loggerheads on this Austrian Pragmatic matter; the Nations all watching + HIM, to see what he will make of it:—fugleman he to the European + Nations, just about bursting up on such an adventure. It may be a glorious + position, or a not glorious; but, for certain, it is a dangerous one, and + awfully solitary!— + </p> + <p> + Fuglemen the world and its Nations always have, when simultaneously bent + any-whither, wisely or unwisely; and it is natural that the most + adventurous spirit take that post. Friedrich has not sought the post; but + following his own objects, has got it; and will be ignominiously lost, and + trampled to annihilation under the hoofs of the world, if he do not mind! + To keep well ahead;—to be rapid as possible; that were good:—to + step aside were still better! And Friedrich we find is very anxious for + that; "would be content with the Duchy of Glogau, and join Austria;" but + there is not the least chance that way. His Special Envoy to Vienna, + Gotter, and along with him Borck the regular Minister, are come home; all + negotiation hopeless at Vienna; and nothing but indignant war-preparation + going on there, with the most animated diligence, and more success than + had seemed possible. That is the law of Friedrich's Silesian Adventure: + "Forward, therefore, on these terms; others there are not: waste no + words!" Friedrich recognizes to himself what the law is; pushes stiffly + forward, with a fine silence on all that is not practical, really with a + fine steadiness of hope, and audacity against discouragements. Of his + anxieties, which could not well be wanting, but which it is royal to keep + strictly under lock and key, of these there is no hint to Jordan or to + anybody; and only through accidental chinks, on close scrutiny, can we + discover that they exist. Symptom of despondency, of misgiving or + repenting about his Enterprise, there is none anywhere, Friedrich's fine + gifts of SILENCE (which go deeper than the lips) are noticeable here, as + always; and highly they availed Friedrich in leading his life, though now + inconvenient to Biographers writing of the same!— + </p> + <p> + It was not on matters of drill, as Valori supposes, that Friedrich had + been consulting with the Old Dessauer: this time it was on another matter. + Friedrich has two next Neighbors greatly interested, none more so, in the + Pragmatic Question: Kur-Sachsen, Polish King, a foolish greedy creature, + who is extremely uncertain about his course in it (and indeed always + continued so, now against Friedrich, now for him, and again against); and + Kur-Hanover, our little George of England, whose course is certain as that + of the very stars, and direct against Friedrich at this time, as indeed, + at all times not exceptional, it is apt to be. Both these Potentates must + be attended to, in one's absence; method to be gentle but effectual; the + Old Dessauer to do it:—and this is what these consultings had turned + upon; and in a month or two, readers, and an astonished Gazetteer world, + will see what comes of them. + </p> + <p> + It was February 19th when Friedrich left Berlin; the 21st he spends at + Glogau, inspecting the Blockade there, and not ill content with the + measures taken: "Press that Wallis all you can," enjoins he: "Hunger seems + to be slow about it! Summon him again, were your new Artillery come up; + threaten with bombardment; but spare the Town, if possible. Artillery is + coming: let us have done here, and soon!" Next day he arrives, not at + Breslau as some had expected, but at Schweidnitz sidewards; a strong + little Town, at least an elaborately fortified, of which we shall hear + much in time coming. It lies a day's ride west of Breslau: and will be + quieter for business than a big gazing Capital would be,—were + Breslau even one's own city; which it is not, though perhaps tending to + be. Breslau is in transition circumstances at present; a little uncertain + WHOSE it is, under its Munchows and new managers: Breslau he did not visit + at all on this occasion. To Schweidnitz certain new regiments had been + ordered, there to be disposed of in reinforcing: there, "in the Count + Hoberg's Mansion," he principally lodges for six weeks to come; shooting + out on continual excursions; but always returning to Schweidnitz, as the + centre, again. + </p> + <p> + Algarotti, home from Turin (not much of a success there, but always + melodious for talk), had travelled with him; Algarotti, and not long + after, Jordan and Maupertuis, bear him company, that the vacant moments + too be beautiful. We can fancy he has a very busy, very anxious, but not + an unpleasant time. He goes rapidly about, visiting his posts,—chiefly + about the Neisse Valley; Neisse being the prime object, were the weather + once come for siege-work. He is in many Towns (specified in RODENBECK and + the Books, but which may be anonymous here); doubtless on many Steeples + and Hill-tops; questioning intelligent natives, diligently using his own + eyes: intent to make personal acquaintance with this new Country,—where, + little as he yet dreams of it, the deadly struggles of his Life lie + waiting him, and which he will know to great perfection before all is + done! + </p> + <p> + Neisse lies deep enough in Prussian environment; like Brieg, like Glogau, + strictly blockaded; our posts thereabouts, among the Mountains, thought to + be impregnable. Nevertheless, what new thing is this? Here are swarms of + loose Hussar-Pandour people, wild Austrian Irregulars, who come pouring + out of Glatz Country; disturbing the Prussian posts towards that quarter; + and do not let us want for Small War (KLEINE KRIEG) so called. General + Browne, it appears, is got back to Glatz at this early season, he and a + General Lentulus busy there; and these are the compliments they send! A + very troublesome set of fellows, infesting one's purlieus in winged + predatory fashion; swooping down like a cloud of vulturous harpies on the + sudden; fierce enough, if the chance favor; then to wing again, if it do + not. Communication, especially reconnoitring, is not safe in their + neighborhood. Prussian Infantry, even in small parties, generally beats + them; Prussian Horse not, but is oftener beaten,—not drilled for + this rabble and their ways. In pitched fight they are not dangerous, + rather are despicable to the disciplined man; but can, on occasion, do a + great deal of mischief. + </p> + <p> + Thus, it was not long after Friedrich's coming into these parts, when he + learnt with sorrow that a Body of "500 Horse and 500 Foot" (or say it were + only 300 of each kind, which is the fact [Orlich, i. 79; <i>OEuvres de + Frederic,</i> ii. 68.]) had eluded our posts in the Mountains, and + actually got into Neisse. "The Foot will be of little consequence," writes + Friedrich; "but the Horse, which will disturb our communications, are a + considerable mischief." This was on the 5th of March. And about a week + before, on the 27th of February, there had well-nigh a far graver thing + befallen,—namely the capture of Friedrich himself, and the sudden + end of all these operations. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SKIRMISH OF BAUMGARTEN, 27th FEBRUARY, 1741. + </h2> + <p> + In most of the Anecdote-Books there used to figure, and still does, + insisting on some belief from simple persons, a wonderful Story in very + vague condition: How once "in the Silesian Wars," the King, in those Upper + Neisse regions, in the Wartha district between Glatz and Neisse, was, one + day, within an inch of being taken,—clouds of Hussars suddenly + rising round him, as he rode reconnoitring, with next to no escort, only + an adjutant or so in attendance. How he shot away, keeping well in the + shade; and erelong whisked into a Convent or Abbey, the beautiful Abbey of + Kamenz in those parts; and found Tobias Stusche, excellent Abbot of the + place, to whom he candidly disclosed his situation. How the excellent + Tobias thereupon instantly ordered the bells to be rung for a mass + extraordinary, Monks not knowing why; and, after bells, made his + appearance in high costume, much to the wonder of his Monks, with a SECOND + Abbot, also in high costume, but of shortish stature, whom they never saw + before or after. Which two Abbots, or at least Tobias, proceeded to do the + so-called divine office there and then; letting loose the big chant + especially, and the growl of organs, in a singularly expressive manner. + How the Pandours arrived in clouds meanwhile; entered, in searching + parties, more or less reverent of the mass; searched high and low; but + found nothing, and were obliged to take Tobias's blessing at last, and go + their ways. How the Second Abbot thereupon swore eternal friendship with + Tobias, in the private apartments; and rode off as—as a rescued + Majesty, determined to be more cautious in Pandour Countries for the + future! [Hildebrandt, <i>Anekdoten,</i> i. 1-7. Pandour proper is a + FOOT-soldier (tall raw-boned ill-washed biped, in copious Turk breeches, + rather barish in the top parts of him; carries a very long musket, and has + several pistols and butcher's-knives stuck in his girdle): specifically a + footman; but readers will permit me to use him withal, as here, in the + generic sense.]—Which story, as to the body of it, is all myth; + though, as is oftenest the case, there lies in it some soul of fact too. + The History-Books, which had not much heeded the little fact, would have + nothing to do with this account of it. Nevertheless the people stuck to + their Myth; so that Dryasdust (in punishment for his sinful blindness to + the human and divine significance of facts) was driven to investigate the + business; and did at last victoriously bring it home to the small + occurrence now called SKIRMISH OF BAUMGARTEN, which had nearly become so + great in the History of the World,—to the following effect. + </p> + <p> + There are two Valleys with roads that lead from that Southwest quarter of + Silesia towards Glatz, each with a little Town at the end of it, looking + up into it: Wartha the name of the one: Silberberg that of the other. + Through the Wartha Valley, which is southernmost, young Neisse River comes + rushing down,—the blue mountains thereabouts very pretty, on a clear + spring day, says my touring friend. Both at Wartha, and at Silberberg the + little Town which looks into the mouth of the northernmost Valley, the + Prussians have a post. Old Derschau, Malplaquet Derschau, with + headquarters at Frankenstein, some seven or eight miles nearer + Schweidnitz, has not failed in that precaution. Friedrich wished to visit + Silberberg and Wartha; set out accordingly, 27th February, with small + escort, carelessly as usual: the Pandour people had wind of it; knew his + habits on such occasions; and, gliding through other roadless valleys, + under an adventurous Captain, had determined to whirl him off. And they + were in fact not far from succeeding, had not a mistake happened. + </p> + <p> + Silberberg, and Wartha the southernmost, which stands upon the Neisse + River (rushing out there into the plainer country), are each about seven + or eight miles from Frankenstein, the Head-quarters; and there are relays + of posts, capable of supporting one another, all the way from Frankenstein + to each. Friedrich rode to Silberberg first; examined the post, found it + right; then rode across to Wartha, seven or eight miles southward; + examined Wartha likewise; after which, he sat down to dinner in that + little Town, with an Officer or two for company,—having, I suppose, + found all right in both the posts. In the way hither, he had made some + change in the relay arrangements, which at first involved some diminution + of his own escort, and then some marching about and redistributing: so + that, externally, it seemed as if the Principal Relay-party were now + marching on Baumgarten, an intermediate Village,—at least so the + Pandour Captain understands the movements going on; and crouches into the + due thickets in consequence, not doubting but the King himself is for + Baumgarten, and will be at hand presently. Principal relay-party, a + squadron of Schulenburg's Dragoons, with a stupid Major over them, is not + quite got into Baumgarten, when "with horrible cries the Pandour Captain + with about 500 horse," plunges out of cover, direct upon the throat of it: + and Friedrich, at Wartha, is but just begun dining when tumult of distant + musketry breaks in upon him. With Friedrich himself, at this time, as I + count, there might be 150 Horse; in Wartha post itself are at least "forty + hussars and fifty foot." By no means "nothing but a single adjutant," as + the Myth bears. + </p> + <p> + The stupid Major ought to have beaten this rabble, though above two to one + of him. But he could not, though he tried considerably; on the contrary, + he was himself beaten; obliged to make off, leaving "ten dragoons killed, + sixteen prisoners, one standard and two kettle-drums:"—victory and + all this plunder, ye Pandour gentry; but evidently no King. The Pandour + gentry, on the instant, made off too, alarm being abroad; got into some + side-valley, with their prisoners and drum-and-standard honors, and + vanished from view of mankind. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich had started from dinner; got his escort under way, with the + forty hussars and the fifty foot, and what small force was attainable; and + hurried towards the scene. He did see, by the road, another strongish + party of Pandours; dashed them across the Neisse River out of sight;—but, + getting to Baumgarten, found the field silent, and ten dead men upon it. + "I always told you those Schulenburg Dragoons were good for nothing!" + writes he to the Old Dessauer; but gradually withal, on comparing notes, + finds what a danger he had run, and how rash and foolish he had been. "An + ETOURDERIE (foolish trick)," he calls it, writing to Jordan; "a black + eye;" and will avoid the like. Vienna got its two kettle-drums and flag; + extremely glad to see them; and even sang TE-DEUM upon them, to general + edification. [Orlich, i. 62-64.] This is the naked primordial substance + out of which the above Myth grew to its present luxuriance in the popular + imagination. Place, the little Village of Baumgarten; day, 27th February, + 1741. Of Tobias Stusche or the Convent of Kamenz, not one authentic word + on this occasion. Tobias did get promotions, favors in coming years: a + worthy Abbot, deserving promotion on general grounds; and master of a + Convent very picturesque, but twelve miles from the present scene of + action. + </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> + ASPECTS OF BRESLAU. + </h2> + <p> + Friedrich avoided visiting Breslau, probably for the reasons above given; + though there are important interests of his there, especially his chief + Magazine; and issues of moment are silently working forward. Here are + contemporary Excerpts (in abridged form), which are authentic, and of + significance to a lively reader:— + </p> + <p> + "BRESLAU, MIDDLE OF JANUARY, 1741. The Prussian Envoy, Herr von Gotter, + had appeared here, returning from Vienna; Gotter, and then Borck, who made + no secret in Breslau society, That not the slightest hope of a peaceable + result existed, as society might have flattered itself; but that war and + battle would have to decide this matter. A Saxon Ambassador was also here, + waiting some time; message thought to be insignificant:—probably + some vague admonitory stuff again from Kur-Sachsen (Polish King, son of + August the Strong, a very insignificant man), who acts as REICHS-VICARIUS + in those Northern parts." For the reader is to know, there are + Reichs-Vicars more than one (nay more than two on this occasion, with + considerable jarring going on about them); and I could say much about + their dignities, limits, duties, [Adelung, ii. 143, &c.; Kohler, <i>Reichs-Historie,</i> + pp. 585-589.]—if indeed there were any duties, except dramatic ones! + But the Reich itself, and Vicarship along with it, are fallen into a + nearly imaginary condition; and the Regensburg Diet (not Princes now, but + mere Delegates of Princes, mostly Bombazine People), which, "ever since + 1663," has sat continual, instead of now and then, is become an Enchanted + Piggery, strange to look upon, under those earnest stars. "As King + Friedrich did not call at Greslau," after those Neisse bombardments, but + rolled past, straight homewards, the three Excellencies all departed,—Borck + and Gotter to Berlin, the Saxon home again with his insignificant message. + </p> + <p> + "JANUARY 19th. Schwerin too was here in the course of the winter, to see + how the magazines and other war-preparations were going on: Breslau + outwardly and inwardly is whirling with business, and offers phenomena. + For instance, it is known that the Army-Chest, heaps of silver and gold in + it, lies in the Scultet Garden-House, where the King lodged; and that only + one sentry walks there, and that in the guard-house itself, which is some + way off, there are only thirty men. January 19th, about 9 of the clock, [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 700.] alarm rises, That 2,000 DIEBS-GESINDEL (Collective Thief-rabble + of Breslau and dependencies) are close by; intending a stroke upon said + Garden-House and Army-Chest! Perhaps this rumor sprang of its own accord;—or + perhaps not quite? It had been very rife; and ran high; not without + remonstrances in Town-Hall, and the like, which we can imagine. Issue was, + The Officer on post at Scultet's loaded his treasure in carts; conveyed + it, that same night, to the interior of the City, in fact to the + OBERAMTS-HAUS (Government-House that was);—which doubtless was a + step in the right direction. For now the Two Feld-Kriegs-Commissariat + Gentlemen (one of whom is the expert Munchow, son of our old Custrin + friend), supreme Prussian Authorities here, do likewise shift out of their + inns; and take old Schaffgotsch's apartments in the same Oberamts-Haus; + mutely symbolling that perhaps THEY are likely to become a kind of + Government. And the reader can conceive how, in such an element, the + function of governing would of itself fall more and more into their hands. + They were consummately polite, discreet, friendly towards all people; and + did in effect manage their business, tax-gatherings in money and in kind, + with a perfection and precision which made the evil a minimum. + </p> + <p> + "FEBRUARY 17th.... This day also, there arrived at Breslau, by boat up the + Oder, ten heavy cannon, three mortars, and ammunition of powder, + bombshells, balls, as much as loaded fifty wagons; the whole of which + were, in like manner, forwarded to Ohlau. This day, as on other days + before and after. Great Magazines forming here; the Military chiefly at + Ohlau; at Breslau the Provender part,—and this latter under + noteworthy circumstances. In the Dom-Island, namely; which is definable + (in a case of such necessity) as being 'outside the walls.' Especially as + the Reverend Fathers have mostly glided into corners, and left the place + vacant. In the Dom-Island, it certainly is; and such a stock,—all + bought for money down, and spurred forward while the roads were under + frost,—'such a stock as was not thought to be in all Silesia,' says + exaggerative wonder. The vacant edifices in the Dom-Island are filled to + the neck with meal and corn; the Prussian brigade now quartering there + ('without the walls,' in a sense) to guard the same. And in the Bishop's + Garden [poor Sinzendorf, far enough away and in no want of it just now] + are mere hay-mows, bigger than houses: who can object,—in a case of + necessity? No man, unless he politically meddle, is meddled with; + politically meddling, you are at once picked up; as one or two are,—clapped + into gentle arrest, or, like old Schaffgotsch, and even Sinzendorf before + long, requested to leave the Country till it get settled. Rigor there is, + but not intentional injustice on Munchow's part, and there is a studious + avoidance of harsh manner. + </p> + <p> + "FEBRUARY-MARCH. Considerable recruiting in Schlesien: six hundred + recruits have enlisted in Breslau alone. Also his Prussian Majesty has + sent a supply of Protestant Preachers, ordained for the occasion, to + minister where needed;—which is piously acknowledged as a godsend in + various parts of Silesia. Twelve came first, all Berliners; soon + afterwards, others from different parts, till, in the end, there were + about Sixty in all. Rigorous, punctilious avoidance of offence to the + Catholic minorities, or of whatever least thing Silesian Law does not + permit, is enjoined upon them; 'to preach in barns or town-halls, where by + Law you have no Church.' Their salary is about 30 pounds a year; they are + all put under supervision of the Chaplain of Margraf Karl's Regiment" (a + judicious Chaplain, I have no doubt, and fit to be a Bishop); and so far + as appears, mere benefit is got of them by Schlesien as well as by + Friedrich, in this function. Friedrich is careful to keep the balance + level between Catholic and Protestant; but it has hung at such an angle, + for a long while past! In general, we observe the Catholic Dignitaries, + and the zealous or fanatic of that creed, especially the Jesuits, are apt + to be against him: as for the non-fanatic, they expect better government, + secular advantage; these latter weigh doubtfully, and with less weight + whichever way. In the general population, who are Protestant, he + recognizes friends;—and has sent them Sixty Preachers, which by Law + was their due long since. Here follow two little traits, comic or + tragi-comic, with which we can conclude:— + </p> + <p> + "Detached Jesuit parties, here and there, seem to have mischief in hand in + a small way, encouraging deserters and the like;—and we keep an eye + on them. No discontent elsewhere, at least none audible; on the contrary, + much enlisting on the part of the Silesian youth, with other good + symptoms. But in the Dom, there is, singular to say, a Goblin found + walking, one night;—advancing, not with airs from Heaven, upon the + Prussian sentry there! The Prussian sentry handles arms; pokes + determinedly into the Goblin, and finding him solid, ever more + determinedly, till the Goblin shrieked 'Jesus Maria!' and was hauled to + the Guard-house for investigation." A weak Goblin; doubtless of the valet + kind; worth only a little whipping; but testifies what the spirit is. + </p> + <p> + "Another time, two deserter Frenchmen getting hanged [such the law in + aggravated cases], certain polite Jesuits, who had by permission been + praying and extreme-unctioning about them, came to thank the Colonel after + all was over. Colonel, a grave practical man, needs no 'thanks;' would, + however, 'advise your Reverences to teach your people that perjury is not + permissible, that an oath sworn ought to be kept;' and in fine 'would + advise you Holy Fathers hereabouts, and others, to have a care lest you + get into'—And twitching his reins, rode away without saying into + what." [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 723.] + </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> + AUSTRIA IS STANDING TO ARMS. + </h2> + <p> + Schwerin has been doing his best in this interim; collecting magazines + with double diligence while the roads are hard, taking up the + Key-positions far and wide, from the Jablunka round to the Frontier + Valleys of Glatz again. He was through Jablunka, at one time; on into + Mahren, as far as Olmutz; levying contributions, emitting patents: but as + to intimidating her Hungarian Majesty, if that was the intention, or + changing her mind at all, that is not the issue got. Austria has still + strength, and Pragmatic Sanction and the Laws of Nature have! Very fixed + is her Hungarian Majesty's determination, to part with no inch of + Territory, but to drive the intrusive Prussians home well punished. + </p> + <p> + How she has got the funds is, to this day, a mystery;—unless George + and Walpole, from their Secret-Service Moneys, have smuggled her somewhat? + For the Parliament is not sitting, and there will be such jargonings, such + delays: a preliminary 100,000 pounds, say by degrees 200,000 pounds,—we + should not miss it, and in her Majesty's hands it would go far! Hints in + the English Dryasdust we have; but nothing definite; and we are left to + our guesses. [Tindal (XX. 497) says expressly 200,000 pounds, but gives no + date or other particular.] A romantic story, first set current by + Voltaire, has gone the round of the world, and still appears in all + Histories: How in England there was a Subscription set on foot for her + Hungarian Majesty; outcome of the enthusiasm of English Ladies of quality,—old + Sarah Duchess of Marlborough putting down her name for 40,000 pounds, or + indeed putting down the ready sum itself; magnanimous veteran that she + was. Voltaire says, omitting date and circumstance, but speaking as if it + were indubitable, and a thing you could see with eyes: "The Duchess of + Marlborough, widow of him who had fought for Karl VI. [and with such + signal returns of gratitude from the said Karl VI.], assembled the + principal Ladies of London; who engaged to furnish 100,000 pounds among + them; the Duchess herself putting down [EN DEPOSA, tabling IN CORPORE] + 40,000 pounds of it. The Queen of Hungary had the greatness of soul to + refuse this money;—needing only, as she intimated, what the Nation + in Parliament assembled might please to offer her." [Voltaire, <i>OEuvres + (Siecle de Louis XV.,</i> c. 6), xxviii. 79.] + </p> + <p> + One is sorry to run athwart such a piece of mutual magnanimity; but the + fact is, on considering a little and asking evidence, it turns out to be + mythical. One Dilworth, an innocent English soul (from whom our + grandfathers used to learn ARITHMETIC, I think), writing on the spot some + years after Voltaire, has this useful passage: "It is the great failing of + a strong imagination to catch greedily at wonders. Voltaire was + misinformed; and would perhaps learn, by a second inquiry, a truth less + splendid and amusing. A Contribution was, by News-writers upon their own + authority, fruitlessly proposed. It ended in nothing: the Parliament voted + a supply;"—that did it, Mr. Dilworth; supplies enough, and many of + them! "Fruitlessly, by News-writers on their own authority;" that is the + sad fact. [<i>The Life and Heroick Actions of Frederick III.</i> (SIC, a + common blunder), by W. H. Dilworth, M.A. (London, 1758), p. 25. A poor + little Book, one of many coming out on that subject just then (for a + reason we shall see on getting thither); which contains, of available now, + the above sentence and no more. Indeed its brethren, one of them by Samnel + Johnson (IMPRANSUS, the imprisoned giant), do not even contain that, and + have gone wholly to zero.—Neither little Dilworth nor big Voltaire + give the least shadow of specific date; but both evidently mean Spring, + 1742 (not 1741).] + </p> + <p> + It is certain, little George, who considers Pragmatic Sanction as the + Keystone of Nature in a manner, has been venturing far deeper than purse + for that adorable object; and indeed has been diving, secretly, in muddier + waters than we expected, to a dangerous extent, on behalf of it, at this + very time. In the first days of March, Friedrich has heard from his + Minister at Petersburg of a DETESTABLE PROJECT, [Orlich, i. 83 (scrap of + Note to Old Dessauer; no date allowed us; "early in March").]—project + for "Partitioning the Prussian Kingdom," no less; for fairly cutting into + Friedrich, and paring him down to the safe pitch, as an enemy to Pragmatic + and mankind. They say, a Treaty, Draught of a Treaty, for that express + object, is now ready; and lies at Petersburg, only waiting signature. Here + is a Project! Contracting parties (Russian signature still wanting) are: + Kur-Sachsen; her Hungarian Majesty; King George; and that Regent Anne + (MRS. Anton Ulrich, so to speak), who sits in a huddle of undress, + impatient of Political objects, but sensible to the charms of handsome + men. To the charms of Count Lynar, especially: the handsomest of Danish + noblemen (more an ancient Roman than a Dane), whom the Polish Majesty, + calculating cause and effect, had despatched to her, with that view, in + the dead of winter lately. To whom she has given ear;—dismissing her + Munnich, as we saw above;—and is ready for signing, or perhaps has + signed! [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> ii. 68.] Friedrich's astonishment, on + hearing of this "detestable Project," was great. However, he takes his + measures on it;—right lucky that he has the Old Dessauer, and + machinery for acting on Kur-Sachsen and the Britannic Majesty. "Get your + machinery in gear!" is naturally his first order. And the Old Dessauer + does it, with effect: of which by and by. + </p> + <p> + Never did I hear, before or since, of such a plunge into the muddy + unfathomable, on the part of little George, who was an honorable creature, + and dubitative to excess: and truly this rash plunge might have cost him + dear, had not he directly scrambled out again. Or did Friedrich exaggerate + to himself his Uncle's real share in the matter? I always guess, there had + been more of loose talk, of hypothesis and fond hope, in regard to + George's share, than of determinate fact or procedure on his own part. The + transaction, having had to be dropped on the sudden, remains somewhat + dark; but, in substance, it is not doubtful; [Tindal, xx. 497.] and + Parliament itself took afterwards to poking into it, though with little + effect. Kur-Sachsen's objects in the adventure were of the earth, earthy; + but on George's part it was pure adoration of Pragmatic Sanction, anxiety + for the Keystone of Nature, and lest Chaos come again. In comparison with + such transcendent divings, what is a little Secret-Service money!— + </p> + <p> + The Count Lynar of this adventure, who had well-nigh done such a feat in + Diplomacy, may turn up transiently again. A conspicuous, more or less + ridiculous person of those times. Busching (our Geographical friend) had + gone with him, as Excellency's Chaplain, in this Russian Journey; which is + a memorable one to Busching; and still presents vividly, through his Book, + those haggard Baltic Coasts in midwinter, to readers who have business + there. Such a journey for grimness of outlook, upon pine-tufts and frozen + sand; for cold (the Count's very tobacco-pipe freezing in his mouth), for + hardship, for bad lodging, and extremity of dirt in the unfreezable kinds, + as seldom was. They met, one day on the road, a Lord Hyndford, English + Ambassador just returning from Petersburg, with his fourgons and vehicles, + and arrangements for sleep and victual, in an enviably luxurious + condition,—whom we shall meet, to our cost. They saw, in the body, + old Field-marshal Lacy, and dined with him, at Riga; who advised brandy + schnapps; a recipe rejected by Busching. And other memorabilia, which by + accident hang about this Lynar. [Busching, <i>Beitrage,</i> vi. 132-164.]—All + through Regent Anne's time he continued a dangerous object to Friedrich; + and it was a relief when Elizabeth CATIN became Autocrat, instead of + Deshabille Anne and her Lynar. Adieu to him, for fifteen years or more. + </p> + <p> + Of Friedrich's military operations, of his magazines, posts, diligent + plannings and gallopings about, in those weeks; of all this the reader can + form some notion by looking on the map and remembering what has gone + before: but that subterranean growling which attended him, prophetic of + Earthquake, that universal breaking forth of Bedlams, now fallen so + extinct, no reader can imagine. Bedlams totally extinct to everybody; but + which were then very real, and raged wide as the world, high as the stars, + to a hideous degree among the then sons of men;—unimaginable now by + any mortal. + </p> + <p> + And, alas, this is one of the grand difficulties for my readers and me; + Friedrich's Life-element having fallen into such a dismal condition. Most + dismal, dark, ugly, that Austrian-Succession Business, and its world-wide + battlings, throttlings and intriguings: not Dismal Swamp, under a coverlid + of London Fog, could be uglier! A Section of "History" so called, which + human nature shrinks from; of which the extant generation already knows + nothing, and is impatient of hearing anything! Truly, Oblivion is very due + to such an Epoch: and from me far be it to awaken, beyond need, its sordid + Bedlams, happily extinct. But without Life-element, no Life can be + intelligible; and till Friedrich and one or two others are extricated from + it, Dismal Swamp cannot be quite filled in. Courage, reader!—Our + Constitutional Historian makes this farther reflection:— + </p> + <p> + "English moneys, desperate Russian intrigues, Treaties made and Treaties + broken—If instead of Pragmatic Sanction with eleven Potentates + guaranteeing, Maria Theresa had at this time had 200,000 soldiers and a + full treasury (as Prince Eugene used to advise the late Kaiser), how + different might it have been with her, and with the whole world that fell + upon one another's throats in her quarrel! Some eight years of the most + disastrous War; and except the falling of Silesia to its new place, no + result gained by it. War at any rate inevitable, you object? + English-Spanish War having been obliged to kindle itself; French sure to + fall in, on the Spanish side; sure to fall upon Hanover, so soon as beaten + at sea, and thus to involve all Europe? Well, it is too likely. But, even + in that case, the poor English would have gone upon their necessary + Spanish War, by the direct road and with their eyes open, instead of + somnambulating and stumbling over the chimney-tops; and the settlement + might have come far sooner, and far cheaper to mankind.—Nay, we are + to admit that the new place for Silesia was, likewise, the place appointed + it by just Heaven; and Friedrich's too was a necessary War. Heaven makes + use of Shadow-hunting Kaisers too; and its ways in this mad world are + through the great Deep." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE YOUNG DESSAUER CAPTURES GLOGAU (MARCH 9th); THE OLD DESSAUER, BY HIS + CAMP OF GOTTIN (APRIL 2d), CHECKMATES CERTAIN DESIGNING PERSONS. + </h2> + <p> + Money somewhere her Hungarian Majesty has got; that is one thing evident. + She has an actual Army on foot, "drawn out of Italy," or whence she could; + formidable Army, says rumor, and getting well equipped;—and here are + the Pandour Precursors of it, coming down like storm-clouds through the + Glatz valleys;—nearly finishing the War for her at a stroke, the + other day, had accident favored;—and have thrown reinforcement of + 600 into Neisse. Friedrich is not insensible to these things; and amid + such alarms from far and from near, is becoming eager to have, at least, + Glogau in his hand. Glogau, he is of opinion, could now, and should, + straightway be done. + </p> + <p> + Glogau is not a strong place; after all the repairing, it could stand + little siege, were we careless of hurting it. But Wallis is obstinate; + refuses Free Withdrawal; will hold out to the uttermost, though his meal + is running low. He pretends there is relief coming; relief just at hand; + and once, in midnight time, "lets off a rocket and fires six guns," + alarming Prince Leopold as if relief were just in the neighborhood. A + tough industrious military man; stiff to his purpose, and not without + shift. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich thinks the place might be had by assault: "Open trenches; set + your batteries going, which need not injure the Town; need only alarm + Wallis, and TERRIFY it; then, under cover of this noise and feint of + cannonading, storm with vigor." Leopold, the Young Dessauer, is cautious; + wants petards if he must storm, wants two new battalions if he must open + trenches;—he gets these requisites, and is still cunctatory. + Friedrich has himself got the notion, "from clear intelligence," true or + not, that relief to Glogau is actually on way; and under such imminences, + Russian and other, in so ticklish a state of the world, he becomes more + and more impatient that this thing were done. In the first week of March, + still hurrying about on inspection-business, he writes, from four or five + different places ("Mollwitz near Brieg" is one of them, a Village we shall + soon know better), Note after Note to Leopold; who still makes + difficulties, and is not yet perfect to the last finish in his + preparations. "Preparations!" answers Friedrich impatiently (date + MOLLWITZ, 5th MARCH, the third or fourth impatient Note he has sent); and + adds, just while quitting Mollwitz for Ohlau, this Postscript in his own + hand:— + </p> + <p> + P.S. "I am sorry you have not understood me! They have, in Bohmen, a + regular enterprise on hand for the rescue of Glogau. I have Infantry + enough to meet them; but Cavalry is quite wanting. You must therefore, + without delay, begin the siege. Let us finish there, I pray you!" [Orlich, + i. 70.] + </p> + <p> + And next day, Monday 6th, to cut the matter short, he despatches his + General-Adjutant Goltz in person (the distance is above seventy miles), + with this Note wholly in autograph, which nothing vocal on Leopold's part + will answer:— + </p> + <p> + "OHLAU, 6th MARCH. As I am certainly informed that the Enemy will make + some attempt, I hereby with all distinctness command, That, so soon as the + petards are come [which they are], you attack Glogau. And you must make + your Arrangement (DISPOSITION) for more than one attack; so that if one + fail, the other shall certainly succeed. I hope you will put off no + longer;—otherwise the blame of all the mischief that might arise out + of longer delay must lie on you alone." [Ib. i. 71.] + </p> + <p> + Goltz arrived with this emphatic Piece, Tuesday Evening, after his course + of seventy miles: this did at last rouse our cautious Young Dessauer; and + so there is next obtainable, on much compression, the following authentic + Excerpt:— + </p> + <p> + "GLOGAU, 8th MARCH, 1741. His Durchlaucht the Prince Leopold summoned all + the Generals at noon; and informed them That, this very night, Glogau must + be won. He gave them their Instructions in writing: where each was to post + himself; with what detachments; how to proceed. There are to be three + Attacks: one up stream, coming on with the River to its right; one down + stream, River to its left; and a third from the landward side, + perpendicular to the other two. The very captains that shall go foremost + are specified; at what hour each is to leave quarters, so that all be + ready simultaneously, waiting in the posts assigned;—against what + points to advance out of these, and storm Rampart and Wall. Places, times, + particulars, everything is fixed with mathematical exactitude: 'Be steady, + be correct, especially be silent; and so far as Law of Nature will permit, + be simultaneous! When the big steeple of Glogau peals Midnight,—Forward, + with the first stroke; with the second, much more with the twelfth stroke, + be one and all of you, in the utmost silence, advancing! And, under pain + of death, two things: Not one shot till you are in; No plundering when you + are.'—In this manner is the silent three-sided avalanche to be let + go. Whereupon", says my Dryasdust, "the Generals retired; and had, for one + item, their fire-arms all cleaned and new-loaded." [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> + i. 823; ii. 165.] + </p> + <p> + Without plans of Glogau, and more detail and study than the reader would + consent to, there can no Narrative be given. Glogau has Ramparts, due + Ring-fence, palisaded and repaired by Wallis; inside of this is an old + Town-Wall, which will need petards: there are about 1,000 men under + Wallis, and altogether on the works, not to count a mortar or two, + fifty-eight big guns. The reader must conceive a poor Town under blockade, + in the wintry night-time, with its tough Count Wallis; ill-off for the + necessaries of life; Town shrouded in darkness, and creeping quietly to + its bed. This on the one hand: and on the other hand, Prussian battalions + marching up, at 10 o'clock or later, with the utmost softness of step; + "taking post behind the ordinary field-watches;" and at length, all + standing ranked, in the invisible dark; silent, like machinery, like a + sleeping avalanche: Husht!—No sentry from the walls dreams of such a + thing. "Twelve!" sings out the steeple of Glogau; and in grim whisper the + word is, "VORWARTS!" and the three-winged avalanche is in motion. + </p> + <p> + They reach their glacises, their ditches, covered ways, correct as + mathematics; tear out chevaux-de-frise, hew down palisades, in the given + number of minutes: Swift, ye Regiment's-carpenters; smite your best! Four + cannon-shot do now boom out upon them; which go high over their heads, + little dreaming how close at hand they are. The glacis is thirty feet + high, of stiff slope, and slippery with frost: no matter, the avalanche, + led on by Leopold in person, by Margraf Karl the King's Cousin, by + Adjutant Goltz and the chief personages, rushes up with strange impetus; + hews down a second palisade; surges in;—Wallis's sentries extinct, + or driven to their main guards. There is a singular fire in the besieging + party. For example, Four Grenadiers,—I think of this First Column, + which succeeded sooner, certainly of the Regiment Glasenapp,—four + grenadiers, owing to slippery or other accidents, in climbing the glacis, + had fallen a few steps behind the general body; and on getting to the top, + took the wrong course, and rushed along rightward instead of leftward. + Rightward, the first thing they come upon is a mass of Austrians still + ranked in arms; fifty-two men, as it turned out, with their Captain over + them. Slight stutter ensues on the part of the Four Grenadiers; but they + give one another the hint, and dash forward: "Prisoners?" ask they + sternly, as if all Prussia had been at their rear. The fifty-two, in the + darkness, in the danger and alarm, answer "Yes."—"Pile arms, then!" + Three of the grenadiers stand to see that done; the fourth runs off for + force, and happily gets back with it before the comedy had become tragic + for his comrades. "I must make acquaintance with these four men," writes + Friedrich, on hearing of it; and he did reward them by present, by + promotion to sergeantcy (to ensigncy one of them), or what else they were + fit for. Grenadiers of Glasenapp: these are the men Friedrich heard + swearing-in under his window, one memorable morning when he burst into + tears! At half-past Twelve, the Ramparts, on all sides, are ours. + </p> + <p> + The Gates of the Town, under axe and petard, can make little resistance, + to Leopold's Column or the other two. A hole is soon cut in the Town-Gate, + where Leopold is; and gallant Wallis, who had rallied behind it, with his + Artillery-General and what they could get together, fires through the + opening, kills four men; but is then (by order, and not till then) fired + upon, and obliged to draw back, with his Artillery-General mortally hurt. + Inside he attempts another rally, some 200 with him; and here and there + perhaps a house-window tries to give shot; but it is to no purpose, not + the least stand can be made. Poor Wallis is rapidly swept back, into the + Market-place, into the Main Guard-house; and there piles arms: "Glogau + yours, Ihr Herren, and we prisoners of War!" The steeple had not yet quite + struck One. Here has been a good hour's-work! + </p> + <p> + Glogau, as in a dream, or half awake, and timidly peeping from behind + window-curtains, finds that it is a Town taken. Glogau easily consoles + itself, I hear, or even is generally glad; Prussian discipline being so + perfect, and ingress now free for the necessaries of life. There was no + plundering; not the least insult: no townsman was hurt; not even in houses + where soldiers had tried firing from windows. The Prussian Battalions + rendezvous in the Market-place, and go peaceably about their patrolling, + and other business; and meddle with nothing else. They lost, in killed, + ten men; had of killed and wounded, forty-eight; the Austrians rather + more. [Orlich, i. 75, 78; <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 829; irreconcilable + otherwise, in some slight points.] Wallis was to have been set free on + parole; but was not,—in retaliation for some severity of General + Browne's in the interim (picking up of two Silesian Noblemen, suspected of + Prussian tendency, and locking them in Brunn over the Hills),—and + had to go to Berlin, till that was repaired. To the wounded + Artillery-General there was every tenderness shown, but he died in few + days.—The other Prisoners were marched to the Custrin-Stettin + quarter; "and many of them took Prussian service." + </p> + <p> + And this is the Scalade of Glogau: a shining feat of those days; which had + great rumor in the Gazettes, and over all the then feverish Nations, + though it has now fallen dim again, as feats do. Its importance at that + time, its utility to Friedrich's affairs, was undeniable; and it filled + Friedrich with the highest satisfaction, and with admiration to + overflowing. Done 9th March, 1741; in one hour, the very earliest of the + day. + </p> + <p> + Goltz posted back to Schweidnitz with the news; got thither about 5 P.M.; + and was received, naturally, with open arms. Friedrich in person marched + out, next morning, to make FEU-DE-JOIE and TE-DEUM-ing;—there was + Royal Letter to Leopold, which flamed through all the Newspapers, and can + still be read in innumerable Books; Letter omissible in this place. We + remark only how punctual the King is, to reward in money as well as + praise, and not the high only, but the low that had deserved: to Prince + Leopold he presents 2,000 pounds; to each private soldier who had been of + the storm, say half a guinea,—doubling and quadrupling, in the + special cases, to as high as twenty guineas, of our present money. To the + old Gazetteers, and their readers everywhere, this of Glogau is a very + effulgent business; bursting out on them, like sudden Bude-light, in the + uncertain stagnancy and expectancy of mankind. Friedrich himself writes of + it to the Old Dessauer:— + </p> + <p> + "The more I think of the Glogau business, the more important I find it. + Prince Leopold has achieved the prettiest military stroke (DIE SCHONSTE + ACTION) that has been done in this Century. From my heart I congratulate + you on having such a Son. In boldness of resolution, in plan, in + execution, it is alike admirable; and quite gives a turn to my affairs." + [Date, 13th March, 1741 (Orlich, i. 77).] + </p> + <p> + And indeed, it is a perfect example of Prussian discipline, and military + quality in all kinds; such as it would be difficult to match elsewhere. + Most potently correct; coming out everywhere with the completeness and + exactitude of mathematics; and has in it such a fund of martial fire, not + only ready to blaze out (which can be exampled elsewhere), but capable of + bottling itself IN, and of lying silently ready. Which is much rarer; and + very essential in soldiering! Due a little to the OLD Dessauer, may we not + say, as well as to the Young? Friedrich Wilhelm is fallen silent; but his + heavy labors, and military and other drillings to Prussian mankind, still + speak with an audible voice. + </p> + <p> + About three weeks after this of Glogau, Leopold the Old Dessauer, over in + Brandenburg, does another thing which is important to Friedrich, and of + great rumor in the world. Steps out, namely, with a force of 36,000 men, + horse, foot and artillery, completely equipped in all points; and takes + Camp, at this early season, at a place called Gottin, not far from + Magdeburg, handy at once for Saxony and for Hanover; and continues there + encamped,—"merely for review purposes." Readers can figure what an + astonishment it was to Kur-Sachsen and British George; and how it struck + the wind out of their Russian Partition-Dream, and awoke them to a sense + of the awful fact!—Capable of being slit in pieces, and themselves + partitioned, at a day's warning, as it were! It was on April 2d, that + Leopold, with the first division of the 36,000, planted his flag near + Gottin. No doubt it was the "detestable Project" that had brought him out, + at so early a season for tent-life, and nobody could then guess why. He + steadily paraded here, all summer; keeping his 36,000 well in drill, since + there was nothing else needed of him. + </p> + <p> + The Camp at Gottin flamed greatly abroad through the timorous imaginations + of mankind, that Year; and in the Newspapers are many details of it. And, + besides the important general fact, there is still one little point worth + special mention: namely, that old Field-marshal Katte (Father of poor + Lieutenant Katte whom we knew) was of it; and perhaps even got his death + by it: "Chief Commander of the Cavalry here," such honor had he; but died + at his post, in a couple of months, "at Rekahn, May 31st;" [<i>Militair-Lexikon,</i> + ii. 254.] poor old gentleman, perhaps unequal to the hardships of + field-life at so early a season of the year. + </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> + FRIEDRICH TAKES THE FIELD, WITH SOME POMP; GOES INTO THE MOUNTAINS,—BUT + COMES FAST BACK. + </h2> + <p> + At Glogau there was Homaging, on the very morrow after the storm; on the + second day, the superfluous regiments marched off: no want of vigorous + activity to settle matters on their new footing there. General Kalkstein + (Friedrich's old Tutor, whom readers have forgotten again) is to be + Commandant of Glogau; an office of honor, which can be done by deputy + except in cases of real stress. The place is to be thoroughly + new-fortified,—which important point they commit to Engineer + Wallrave, a strong-headed heavy-built Dutch Officer, long since acquired + to the service, on account of his excellence in that line; who did, now + and afterwards, a great deal of excellent engineering for Friedrich; but + for himself (being of deep stomach withal, and of life too dissolute) made + a tragic thing of it ultimately. As will be seen, if we have leisure. + </p> + <p> + In seven or eight days, Prince Leopold having wound up his Glogau affairs, + and completed the new preliminaries there, joins the King at Schweidnitz. + In the highest favor, as was natural. Kalkstein is to take a main hand in + the Siege of Neisse; for which operation it is hoped there will soon be + weather, if not favorable yet supportable. What of the force was + superfluous at Glogau had at once marched off, as we observed; and is now + getting re-distributed where needful. There is much shifting about; + strengthening of posts, giving up of posts: the whole of which readers + shall imagine for themselves,—except only two points that are worth + remembering: FIRST, that Kalkstein with about 12,000 takes post at + Grotkau, some twenty-five miles north of Neisse, ready to move on, and + open trenches, when required: and SECOND, that Holstein-Beck gets posted + at Frankenstein (chief place of that Baumgarten Skirmish), say thirty-five + miles west-by-north of Neisse; and has some 8 or 10,000 Horse and Foot + thereabouts, spread up and down,—who will be much wanted, and not + procurable, on an occasion that is coming. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich has given up the Jablunka Pass; called in the Jablunka and + remoter posts; anxious to concentrate, before the Enemy get nigh. That is + the King's notion; and surely a reasonable one; the AREA of the Prussian + Army, as I guess it from the Maps, being above 2,000 square miles, + beginning at Breslau only, and leaving out Glogau. Schwerin thinks + differently, but without good basis. Both are agreed, "The Austrian Army + cannot take the field till the forage come," till the new grass spring, + which its cavalry find convenient. That is the fair supposition; but in + that both are mistaken, and Schwerin the more dangerously of the two.—Meanwhile, + the Pandour swarms are observably getting rifer, and of stormier quality; + and they seem to harbor farther to the East than formerly, and not to come + all out of Glatz. Which perhaps are symptomatic circumstances? The worst + effect of these preliminary Pandour clouds is, Your scout-service cannot + live among them; they hinder reconnoitring, and keep the Enemy veiled from + you. Of that sore mischief Friedrich had, first and last, ample experience + at their hands! This is but the first instalment of Pandours to Friedrich; + and the mere foretaste of what they can do in the veiling way. + </p> + <p> + Behind the Mountains, in this manner, all is inane darkness to Friedrich + and Schwerin. They know only that Neipperg is rendezvousing at Olmutz; and + judge that he will still spend many weeks upon it; the real facts being: + That Neipperg—"who arrived in Olmutz on the 10th of March," the very + day while Glogau was homaging—has been, he and those above him and + those under him, driving preparations forward at a furious rate. That + Neipperg held—I think at Steinberg his hithermost post, some twenty + miles hither of Olmutz—a Council of War, "all the Generals and even + Lentulus from Glatz, present at it," day not given; where the unanimous + decision was, "March straightway; save Neisse, since Glogau is gone!"—and + in fine, That on the 26th, Neipperg took the road accordingly, "in spite + of furious snow blowing in his face;" and is ever since (30,000 strong, + says rumor, but perhaps 10,000 of them mere Pandours) unweariedly climbing + the Mountains, laboriously jingling forward with his heavy guns and + ammunition-wagons; "contending with the steep snowy icy roads;" intent + upon saving Neisse. This is the fact; profoundly unknown to Friedrich and + Schwerin; who will be much surprised, when it becomes patent to them at + the wrong time. + </p> + <p> + SCHWEIDNITZ, 27th MARCH. This day Friedrich, with considerable apparatus, + pomp and processional cymballing, greatly the reverse of his ulterior use + and wont in such cases, quitted Schweidnitz and his Algarottis; solemnly + opening Campaign in this manner; and drove off for Ottmachau, having work + there for to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + The Siege of Neisse is now to proceed forthwith; trenches to be opened + April 4th. Friedrich is still of opinion, that his posts lie too wide + apart; that especially Schwerin, who is spread among the Hills in + Jagerndorf Country, ought to come down, and take closer order for covering + the siege. [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> ii. 70.] Schwerin answers, That if + the King will spare him a reinforcement of eight squadrons and nine + battalions (say 1,200 Horse, 9,000 Foot), he will maintain himself where + he is, and no Enemy shall get across the Mountains at all. That is + Schwerin's notion; who surely is something of a judge. Friedrich assents; + will himself conduct the reinforcement to Schwerin, and survey matters, + with his own eyes, up yonder. Friedrich marches from Ottmachau, + accordingly, 29th March;—Kalkstein, Holstein-Beck, and others are to + be rendezvoused before Neisse, in the interim; trenches ready for opening + on the sixth day hence;—and in this manner, climbs these Mountains, + and sees Jagerndorf Country for the first time. + </p> + <p> + Beautiful blue world of Hills, ridge piled on ridge behind that Neisse + region; fruitful valleys lapped in them, with grim stone Castles and busy + little Towns disclosing themselves as we advance: that is Jagerndorf + Country,—which Uncle George of Anspach, hundreds of years ago, + purchased with his own money; which we have now come to lay hold of as his + Heir! Friedrich, I believe, thinks little of all this, and does not + remember Uncle George at all. But such are the facts; and the Country, + regarded or not, is very blue and beautiful, with the Spring sun shining + on it; or with the sudden Spring storms gathering wildly on the peaks, as + if for permanent investiture, but vanishing again straightway, leaving + only a powdering of snow. + </p> + <p> + He met Schwerin at Neustadt, half-way to Jagerndorf; whither they + proceeded next day. "What news have you of the Enemy?" was Friedrich's + first question. Schwerin has no news whatever; only that the Enemy is far + off, hanging in long thin straggle from Olmutz westward. "I have a spy + out," said Schwerin; "but he has not returned yet,"—nor ever will, + he might have added. If diligent readers will now take to their Map, and + attend day by day, an invincible Predecessor has compelled what next + follows into human intelligibility, and into the Diary Form, for their + behoof;—readers of an idler turn can skip: but this confused + hurry-scurry of marches issues in something which all will have to attend + to. + </p> + <p> + "JAGERNDORF, 2d APRIL, 1741. This is the day when the Old Dessauer makes + appearance with the first brigades of his Camp at Gottin. Friedrich is + satisfied with what he has seen of Jagerndorf matters; and intends + returning towards Neisse, there to commence on the 4th. He is giving his + final orders, and on the point of setting off, when—Seven Austrian + Deserters, 'Dragoons of Lichtenstein,' come in; and report, That + Neipperg's Army is within a few miles! And scarcely had they done + answering and explaining, when sounds rise of musketry and cannon, from + our outposts on that side; intimating that here is Neipperg's Army itself. + Seldom in his life was Friedrich in an uglier situation. In Jagerndorf, an + open Town, are only some three or four thousand men, 'with three + field-pieces, and as much powder as will charge them forty times.' Happily + these proved only the Pandour outskirts of Neipperg's Army, scouring about + to reconnoitre, and not difficult to beat; the real body of it is + ascertained to be at Freudenthal, fifteen miles to westward, + southwestward; making towards Neisse, it is guessed, by the other or + western road, which is the nearer to Glatz and to the Austrian force + there. + </p> + <p> + "Had Neipperg known what was in Jagerndorf—! But he does not know. + He marches on, next morning, at his usual slow rate; wide clouds of + Pandours accompanying and preceding him; skirmishing in upon all places + [upon Jagerndorf, for instance, though fifteen miles wide of their road], + to ascertain if Prussians are there. One can judge whether Friedrich and + Schwerin were thankful when the huge alarm produced nothing! 'The + mountain,' as Friedrich says, 'gave birth to a mouse;'—nay it was a + 'mouse' of essential vital use to Friedrich and Schwerin; a warning, That + they must instantly collect themselves, men and goods; and begone one and + all out of these parts, double-quick towards Neisse. Not now with the hope + of besieging Neisse,—far from that;—but of getting their + wide-scattered posts together thereabouts, and escaping destruction in + detail! + </p> + <p> + "APRIL 4th, HEAD-QUARTERS NEUSTADT. By violent exertion, with the + sacrifice only of some remote little storehouses, all is rendezvoused at + Jagerndorf, within two days; and this day they march; King and vanguard + reaching Neustadt, some twenty-five miles forward, some twenty still from + Neisse. At Neustadt, the posts that had stood in that neighborhood are all + assembled, and march with the King to-morrow. Of Neipperg, except by + transitory contact with his Pandour clouds, they have seen nothing: his + road is pretty much parallel to theirs, and some fifteen miles leftward, + Glatzward; goes through Zuckmantel, Ziegenhals, straight upon Neisse. + [Zuckmantel, "Twitch-Cloak," occurs more than once as a Town's name in + those regions: name which, says my Dryasdust without smile visible, it got + from robberies done on travellers, "twitchings of your cloak," with + stand-and-deliver, as you cross those wild mountain spaces. (Zeiller, <i>Beschreibung + des Konigreichs Boheim,</i> Frankfurt, 1650;—a rather worthless old + Book, like the rest of Zeiller's in that kind.)] Neipperg's men are + wearied with the long climb out of Mahren; and he struggles towards Neisse + as the first object;—holding upon Glatz and Lentulus with his left. + Numerous orders have been speeded from the King's quarters, at Jagerndorf, + and here at Neustadt; order especially to Holstein-Beck at Frankenstein, + and to Kalkstein at Grotkau, How they are to unite, first with one + another; and then to cross Neisse River, and unite with the King,—to + which end there is already a Bridge laid for them, or about to be laid in + good time. + </p> + <p> + "APRIL 5th, HEAD-QUARTERS STEINAU. Steinau is a little Town twenty miles + east of Neisse, on the road to Kosel [strongish place, on the Oder, some + forty miles farther east]: here Friedrich, with the main body, take their + quarters; rearguard being still at Neustadt. Temporary Bridge there is, + ready or all but ready, at Sorgau [twelve miles to north of us, on our + left]: by this Kalkstein, with his 10,000, comes punctually across; while + other brigades from the Kosel side are also punctual in getting in; which + is a great comfort: but of Holstein-Beck there is no vestige, nor did + there ever appear any. Holstein, 'whom none of the repeated orders sent + him could reach,' says Friedrich, 'remained comfortably in his quarters; + and looked at the Enemy rushing past him to right and left, without + troubling his head with them.' [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> ii. 70.] The + too easy-minded Holstein! Austrian Deserters inform us, That General + Neipperg arrived to-day with his Army in Neisse; and has there been joined + by Lentulus with the Glatz force, chiefly cavalry, a good many thousands. + We may be attacked, then, this very night, if they are diligent? Friedrich + marks out ground and plan in such case, and how and where each is to rank + himself. There came nothing of attack; but the poor little Village of + Steinau, with so many troops in it and baggage-drivers stumbling about, + takes fire; burns to ashes; 'and we had great difficulty in saving the + artillery and powder through the narrow streets, with the houses all + burning on each hand.'" Fancy it,—and the poor shrieking + inhabitants; gone to silence long since with their shrieks, not the least + whisper left of them. "The Prussians bivouac on the field, each in the + place that has been marked out. Night extremely cold." + </p> + <p> + In this poor Steinau was a Schloss, which also went up in fire; disclosing + certain mysteries of an almost mythical nature to the German Public. It + was the Schloss of a Grafin von Callenberg, a dreadful old Dowager of + Medea-Messalina type, who "always wore pistols about her;" pistols, and + latterly, with more and more constancy, a brandy-bottle;—who has + been much on the tongues of men for a generation back. Herr Nussler + (readers recollect shifty Nussler) knew her, in the way of business, at + one time; with pity, if also with horror. Some weeks ago, she was, by the + Austrian Commandant at Neisse, summoned out of this Schloss, as in + correspondence with Prussian Officers: peasants breaking in, tied her with + ropes to the bed where she was; put bed and her into a farm-cart, and in + that scandalous manner delivered her at Neisse to the Commandant; by which + adventure, and its rages and unspeakabilities, the poor old Callenberg is + since dead. And now the very Schloss is dead; and there is finis to a + human dust-vortex, such as is sometimes noisy for a time. Perhaps Nussler + may again pass that way, if we wait. [Busching, <i>Beitrage,</i> ii.273 et + seqq.] + </p> + <p> + "APRIL 6th, HEAD-QUARTERS FRIEDLAND. To Friedland on the 6th.,—and + do not, as expected, get away next morning. Friedland is ten miles down + the Neisse, which makes a bend of near ninety degrees opposite Steinau; + and runs thence straight north for the Oder, which it reaches some dozen + miles or more above Brieg. Both Steinau and Friedland are a good distance + from the River; Friedland, the nearer of the two, with Sorgau Bridge + direct west of it, is perhaps eight miles from that important structure. + There, being now tolerably rendezvoused, and in strength for action, + Friedrich purposes to cross Neisse River to-morrow; hoping perhaps to meet + Holstein-Beck, and incorporate him; anxious, at any rate, to get between + the Austrians and Ohlau, where his heavy Artillery, his Ammunition, not to + mention other indispensables, are lying. The peculiarity of Neipperg at + this time is, that the ground he occupies bears no proportion to the + ground he commands. His regular Horse are supposed to be the best in the + world; and of the Pandour kind, who live, horse and man, mainly upon + nothing (which means upon theft), his supplies are unlimited. He sits like + a volcanic reservoir, therefore, not like a common fire of such and such + intensity and power to burn;—casts the ashes of him, on all sides, + to many miles distance. + </p> + <p> + "FRIDAY 7th APRIL, FRIEDLAND (still Head-quarters). Unluckily, on trying, + there is no passage to be had at Sorgau. The Officer on charge there still + holds the Bridge, but has been obliged to break away the farther end of + it; 'Lentulus and Dragoons, several thousands strong' (such is the + report), having taken post there. Friedrich commands that the Bridge be + reinstated; field-pieces to defend it; Prince Leopold to cross, and clear + the ways. All Friday, Friedrich waiting at Friedland, was spent in these + details. Leopold in due force started for Sorgau, himself with Cavalry in + the van; Leopold did storm across, and go charging and fencing, some + space, on the other side; but, seeing that it was in truth Lentulus, and + Dragoons without limit, had to send report accordingly; and then to wind + himself to this side again, on new order from the King. What is to be + done, then? Here is no crossing. Friedrich decides to go down the River; + he himself to Lowen, perhaps near twenty miles farther down, but where + there is a Bridge and Highway leading over; Prince Leopold, with the + heavier divisions and baggages, to Michelau, some miles nearer, and there + to build his Pontoons and cross. Which was effected, with success. And so, + </p> + <p> + "SATURDAY, 8th APRIL, With great punctuality, the King and Leopold met at + Michelau, both well across the Neisse. Here on Pontoons, Leopold had got + across about noon; and precisely as he was finishing, the King's Column, + which had crossed at Lowen, and come up the left bank again, arrived. The + King, much content with Leopold's behavior, nominates him General of + Infantry, a stage higher in promotion, there and then. Brieg Blockade is, + as natural, given up; the Blockading Body joining with the King, this + morning, while he passed that way. From Holstein-Beck not the least + whisper,—nor to him, if we knew it. + </p> + <p> + "Neipperg has quitted Neisse; but walks invisible within clouds of + Pandours; nothing but guessing as to Neipperg's motions. Rightly swift, + and awake to his business, Neipperg might have done, might still do, a + stroke upon us here. But he takes it easy; marches hardly five miles a + day, since he quitted Neisse again. From Michelau, Friedrich for his part + turns southwestward, in quest of Holstein and other interests; marches + towards Grotkau, not intending much farther that night. Thick snow blowing + in their faces, nothing to be seen ahead, the Prussian column tramps + along. [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> ii. 156.] In Leipe, a little Hamlet + sidewards of the road, short way from Grotkau, our Hussar Vanguard had + found Austrian Hussars; captured forty, and from them learned that the + Austrian Army is in Grotkau; that they took Grotkau half an hour before, + and are there! A poor Lieutenant Mitschepfal (whom I think Friedrich used + to know in Reinsberg) lay in Grotkau, 'with some sixty recruits and + deserters,' says Friedrich,—and with several hundreds of + camp-laborers (intended for the trenches, which will not now be opened):—Mitschepfal + made a stout defence; but, after three hours of it, had to give in: and + there is nothing now for us at Grotkau. 'Halt,' therefore! Neipperg is + evidently pushing towards Ohlau, towards Breslau, though in a leisurely + way; there it will behoove us to get the start of him, if humanly + possible: To the right about, therefore, without delay! The Prussians + repass Leipe (much to the wonder of its simple people); get along, some + seven miles farther, on the road for Ohlau; and quarter, that night, in + what handy villages there are; the King's Corps in two Villages, which he + calls 'Pogrel and Alsen,'"—which are to be found still on the Map as + "Pogarell and Alzenau," on the road from Lowen towards Ohlau. + </p> + <p> + This is the end of that March into the Mountains, with Neisse Siege + hanging triumphant ahead. These are the King's quarters, this wintry + Spring night, Saturday, 8th April, 1741; and it is to be guessed there is + more of care than of sleep provided for him there. Seldom, in his life, + was Friedrich in a more critical position; and he well knows it, none + better. And could have his remorses upon it,—were these of the least + use in present circumstances. Here are two Letters which he wrote that + night; veiling, we perceive, a very grim world of thoughts; betokening, + however, a mind made up. Jordan, Prince August Wilhelm Heir-Apparent, and + other fine individuals who shone in the Schweidnitz circle lately, are in + Breslau, safe sheltered against this bad juncture; Maupertuis was not so + lucky as to go with them. + </p> + <p> + THE KING TO PRINCE AUGUST WILHELM (in Breslau). + </p> + <p> + "POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + </p> + <p> + "MY DEAREST BROTHER,—The Enemy has just got into Silesia; we are not + more than a mile (QUART DE MILLE) from them. To-morrow must decide our + fortune. + </p> + <p> + "If I die, do not forget a Brother who has always loved you very tenderly. + I recommend to you my most dear Mother, my Domestics, and my First + Battalion [LIFEGUARD OF FOOT, men picked from his own old Ruppin Regiment + and from the disbanded Giants, star of all the Battalions]. [See Preuss, + i. 144, iv. 309; Nicolai, <i>Beschreibung von Berlin,</i> iii, 1252.] + Eichel and Schuhmacher [Two of the Three Clerks] are informed of all my + testamentary wishes. Remember me always, you; but console yourself for my + death: the glory of the Prussian Arms, and the honor of the House have set + me in action, and will guide me to my last moment. You are my sole Heir: I + recommend to you, in dying, those whom I have the most loved during my + life: Keyserling, Jordan, Wartensleben; Hacke, who is a very honest man; + Fredersdorf [Factotum], and Eichel, in whom you may place entire + confidence. I bequeath 8,000 crowns (1,200 pounds, which I have with me), + to my Domestics; but all that I have elsewhere depends on you. To each of + my Brothers and Sisters make a present in my name; a thousand affectionate + regards (AMITIES ET COMPLIMENTS) to my Sister of Baireuth. You know what I + think on their score; and you know better than I could tell you, the + tenderness and all the sentiments of most inviolable friendship with which + I am, dearest Brother, + </p> + <p> + "Your faithful Brother and Servant till death, + </p> + <p> + "FEDERIC." [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> xxvi. 85; List of Friedrich's + Testamentary arrangements in Note there,—Six in all, at different + times, besides this.] + </p> + <p> + THE KING TO M. JORDAN (in Breslau). + </p> + <p> + "POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + </p> + <p> + "My DEAR JORDAN,—-We are going to fight to-morrow. Thou knowest the + chances of war; the life of Kings not more regarded than that of private + people. I know not what will happen to me. + </p> + <p> + "If my destiny is finished, remember a friend, who loves thee always + tenderly: if Heaven prolong my days, I will write to thee after to-morrow, + and thou wilt hear of our victory. Adieu, dear friend; I shall love thee + till death. + </p> + <p> + "FEDERIC." [Ib. xvii. 98.] + </p> + <p> + The King, we incidentally discover somewhere, "had no sleep that night;" + none, "nor the next night either,"—such a crisis coming, still not + come. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X. — BATTLE OF MOLLWITZ. + </h2> + <p> + "To-morrow," Sunday, did not prove the Day of Fight, after all. Being a + day of wild drifting snow, so that you could not see twenty paces, there + was nothing for it but to sit quiet. The King makes all his dispositions; + sketches out punctually, to the last item, where each is to station + himself, how the Army is to advance in Four Columns, ready for Neipperg + wherever he may be,—towards Ohlau at any rate, whither it is not + doubted Neipperg is bent. These snowy six-and-thirty hours at Pogarell + were probably, since the Custrin time, the most anxious of Friedrich's + life. + </p> + <p> + Neipperg, for his part, struggles forward a few miles, this Sunday, April + 9th; the Prussians rest under shelter in the wild weather. Neipperg's + head-quarters, this night, are a small Village or Hamlet, called Mollwitz: + there and in the adjacent Hamlets, chiefly in Laugwitz and Gruningen, his + Army lodges itself:—he is now fairly got between us and Ohlau,—if, + in the blowing drift, we knew it, or he knew it. But, in this confusion of + the elements, neither party knows of the other: Neipperg has appointed + that to-morrow, Monday, 10th, shall be a rest-day:—appointment which + could by no means be kept, as it turned out! + </p> + <p> + Friedrich had despatched messengers to Ohlau, that the force there should + join him; messengers are all captured. The like message had already gone + to Brieg, some days before, and the Blockading Body, a good few thousand + strong, quitted Brieg, as we saw, and effected their junction with him. + All day, this Sunday, 9th, it still snows and blows; you cannot see a yard + before you. No hope now of Holstein-Beck. Not the least news from any + quarter; Ohlau uncertain, too likely the wrong way: What is to be done? We + are cut off from our Magazines, have only provision for one other day. + "Had this weather lasted," says an Austrian reporter of these things, "his + Majesty would have passed his time very ill." [<i>Feldzuge der Preussen</i> + (the complete Title is, <i>Sammlung ungedruckter Nachrichten so die + Geschichte der Feldzuge der Preussen von 1740 bis 1779 erlautern,</i> or + in English words, <i>Collection of unprinted Narratives which elucidate + the Prussian Campaigns from 1740 to 1779:</i> 5 vols. Dresden, 1782-1785), + i. 33. Excellent Narratives, modest, brief, effective (from Private + Diaries and the like; many of them given also in SEYFARTH); well worth + perusal by the studious military man, and creditably characteristic of the + Prussian writers of them and actors in them.] + </p> + <p> + Of the Battle of Mollwitz, as indeed of all Friedrich's Battles, there are + ample accounts new and old, of perfect authenticity and scientific + exactitude; so that in regard to military points the due clearness is, on + study, completely attainable. But as to personal or human details, we are + driven back upon a miscellany of sources; most of which, indeed all of + which except Nicolai, when he sparingly gives us anything, are of + questionable nature; and, without intending to be dishonest, do run out + into the mythical, and require to be used with caution. The latest and + notablest of these, in regard to Mollwitz, is the pamphlet of a Dr. Fuchs; + from which, in spite of its amazing quality, we expect to glean a + serviceable item here and there. [<i>Jubelschrift zur Feier</i> + (Centenary) <i>der Schlacht bei Mollwitz, 10 April, 1741,</i> von Dr. + Medicinae Fuchs (Brieg, 10th April, 1841).] It is definable as probably + the most chaotic Pamphlet ever written; and in many places, by dint of + uncorrected printing, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad sense, and in short, + of intrinsic darkness in so vivacious a humor, it has become abstruse as + Sanscrit; and really is a sharp test of what knowledge you otherwise have + of the subject. Might perhaps be used in that way, by the Examining + Military Boards, in Prussia and elsewhere, if no other use lie in it? + Fuchs's own contributions, mere ignorance, folly and credulity, are not + worth interpreting: but he has printed, and in the same abstruse form, one + or two curious Parish Manuscripts, particularly a "HISTORY" of this War, + privately jotted down by the then Schoolmaster of Mollwitz, a good simple + accurate old fellow-creature; through whose eyes it is here and there + worth while to look. In regard to Fuchs himself, a late Tourist says:— + </p> + <p> + "This 'Centenary-Celebration Pamphlet' (Celebration itself, so obtuse was + the Country, did not take effect) was by a zealous, noisy but not wise, + old Medical Gentleman of these parts, called Dr. Fuchs (FOX); who had set + his heart on raising, by subscription, a proper National Monument on the + Field of Mollwitz, and so closing his old career. Subscriptions did not + take, in that April, 1841, nor in the following months or twelve-months: + the zealous Doctor, therefore, indignantly drew his own purse; got a big + Obelisk of Granite hewn ready, with suitable Inscription on it; carted his + big Obelisk from the quarries of Strehlen; assembled the Country round it, + on Mollwitz Field; and passionately discoursed and pleaded, That at least + the Country should bring block-and-tackle, with proper framework, and set + up this Obelisk on the pedestal he had there built for it. The Country + listened cheerfully (for the old Doctor was a popular man, clever though + flighty); but the Country was again obtuse in the way of active + furtherance, and would not even bring block-and-tackle. The old Doctor had + to answer, 'Well, then!' and go on his way on more serious errands. The + cattle have much undermined, and rubbed down, his poor Pedestal, which is + of rubble-work; his Obelisk still lies mournfully horizontal, uninjured;—and + really ought to be set up, by some parish-rate, or effort of the community + otherwise." [Tourist's Note (Brieg, 1858).] + </p> + <p> + From the old Mollwitz Schoolmaster we distil the following:— + </p> + <p> + "MOLLWITZ, SUNDAY, 9th APRIL. Country for two days back: was in new alarm + by the Austrian Garrison of Brieg now left at liberty, who sallied out + upon the Villages about, and plundered black-cattle, sheep, grain, and + whatever they could come at. But this day (Sunday) in Mollwitz the whole + Austrian Army was upon us. First, there went 300 Hussars through the + Village to Gruningen, who quartered themselves there; and rushed hither + and thither into houses, robbing and plundering. From one they took his + best horses, from another they took linen, clothes, and other furnitures + and victual. General Neuburg [Neipperg] halted here at Mollwitz, with the + whole Army; before the Village, in mind to quarter. And quarter was + settled, so that a BAUER [Plough-Farmer] got four to five companies to + lodge, and a GARTNER [Spade-Farmer] two or three hundred cavalry..The + houses were full of Officers, the GARTE [Garths] and the Fields full of + horsemen and baggage; and all round, you saw nothing but fires burning; + the ZAUNE [wooden railings] were instantly torn down for firewood; the + hay, straw, barley and haver, were eaten away, and brought to nothing; and + everything from the barns was carried out. And, as the whole Army could + not lodge itself with us, 1,100 Infantry quartered at Laugwitz; Barzdorf + got 400 Cavalry; and this day, nobody knew what would come of it." + [Extract in FUCHS, p. 6.] + </p> + <p> + Monday morning, the Prussians are up betimes; King Friedrich, as above + noted, had not, or had hardly at all, slept during those two nights, such + his anxieties. This morning, all is calm, sleeked out into spotless white; + Pogarell and the world are wrapt as in a winding-sheet, near two feet of + snow on the ground. Air hard and crisp; a hot sun possible about noon + season. "By daybreak" we are all astir, rendezvousing, ranking,—into + Four Columns; ready to advance in that fashion for battle, or for + deploying into battle, wherever the Enemy turn up. The orders were all + given overnight, two nights ago; were all understood, too, and known to be + rhadamanthine; and, down to the lowest pioneer, no man is uncertain what + to do. If we but knew where the Enemy is; on which side of us; what doing, + what intending? + </p> + <p> + Scouts, General-Adjutants are out on the quest; to no purpose hitherto. + One young General-Adjutant, Saldern, whose name we shall know again, has + ridden northward, has pulled bridle some way north of Pogarell; hangs, + gazing diligently through his spy-glass, there;—can see nothing but + a Plain of silent snow, with sparse bearding of bushes (nothing like a + hedge in these countries), and here and there a tree, the miserable + skeleton of a poplar:—when happily, owing to an Austrian Dragoon—Be + pleased to accept (in abridged form) the poor old Schoolmaster's account + of a small thing:— + </p> + <p> + "Austrian Dragoon of the regiment Althan, native of Kriesewitz in this + neighborhood, who was billeted in Christopher Schonwitz's, had been much + in want of a clean shirt, and other interior outfit; and had, last night, + imperatively despatched the man Scholzke, a farm-servant of the said + Christopher's, off to his, the Dragoon's, Father in Kriesewitz, to procure + such shirt or outfit, and to return early with the same; under penalty of—Scholzke + and his master dare not think under what penalty. Scholzke, floundering + homewards with the outfit from Kriesewitz, flounders at this moment into + Saldern's sphere of vision: 'Whence, whither?' asks Saldern: 'Dost thou + know where the Austrians are?' (RECHT GUT: in Mollwitz), whither I am + going!' Saldern takes him to the King,—and that was the first clear + light his Majesty had on the matter." [Fuchs, pp. 6, 7.] That or something + equivalent, indisputably was; Saldern and "a Peasant," the account of it + in all the Books. + </p> + <p> + The King says to this Peasant, "Thou shalt ride with me to-day!" And + Scholzke, Ploschke others call him,—heavy-footed rational biped + knowing the ground there practically, every yard of it,—did, as + appears, attend the King all morning; and do service, that was + recognizable long years afterwards. "For always," say the Books, "when the + King held review here, Ploschke failed not to make appearance on the field + of Pogarell, and get recognition and a gift from his Majesty." + </p> + <p> + At break of day the ranking and arranging began. Pogarell clock is near + striking ten, when the last squadron or battalion quits Pogarell; and the + Four Columns, punctiliously correct, are all under way. Two on each side + of Ohlau Highway; steadily advancing, with pioneers ahead to clear any + obstacle there may be. Few obstacles; here and there a little ditch (where + Ploschke's advice may be good, under the sleek of the snow), no fences, + smooth wide Plain, nothing you would even call a knoll in it for many + miles ahead and around. Mollwitz is some seven miles north from Pogarell; + intermediate lie dusty fractions of Villages more than one; two miles or + more from Mollwitz we come to Pampitz on our left, the next considerable, + if any of them can be counted considerable. + </p> + <p> + "All these Dorfs, and indeed most German ones," says my Tourist, "are made + on one type; an agglomerate of dusty farmyards, with their stalls and + barns; all the farmyards huddled together in two rows; a broad negligent + road between, seldom mended, never swept except by the elements. Generally + there is nothing to be seen, on each hand, but thatched roofs, dead clay + walls and rude wooden gates; sometimes a poor public-house, with probable + beer in it; never any shop, nowhere any patch of swept pavement, or trim + gathering-place for natives of a social gossipy turn: the road lies + sleepy, littery, good only for utilitarian purposes. In the middle of the + Village stands Church and Churchyard, with probably some gnarled trees + around it: Church often larger than you expected; the Churchyard, always + fenced with high stone-and-mortar wall, is usually the principal military + post of the place. Mollwitz, at the present day, has something of + whitewash here and there; one of the farmer people, or more, wearing a + civilized prosperous look. The belfry offers you a pleasant view: the + roofs and steeples of Brieg, pleasantly visible to eastward; villages + dotted about, Laugwitz, Barzdorf, Hermsdorf, clear to your inquiring: and + to westward, and to southward, tops of Hill-country in the distance. + Westward, twenty miles off, are pleasant Hills; and among them, if you + look well, shadowy Town-spires, which you are assured are Strehlen, a + place also of interest in Friedrich's History.—Your belfry itself, + in Mollwitz, is old, but not unsound; and the big iron clock grunts + heavily at your ear, or perhaps bursts out in a too deafening manner, + while you study the topographies. Pampitz, too, seems prosperous, in its + littery way; the Church is bigger and newer,"—owing to an accident + we shall hear of soon;—"Country all about seems farmed with some + industry, but with shallow ploughing; liable to drought. It is very sandy + in quality; shorn of umbrage; painfully naked to an English eye." That is + the big champaign, coated with two feet of snow, where a great Action is + now to go forward. + </p> + <p> + Neipperg, all this while, is much at his ease on this white resting-day, + He is just sitting down to dinner at the Dorfschulze's (Village Provost, + or miniature Mayor of Mollwitz), a composed man; when—rockets or + projectiles, and successive anxious sputterings from the steeple-tops of + Brieg, are hastily reported: what can it mean? Means little perhaps;—Neipperg + sends out a Hussar party to ascertain, and composedly sets himself to + dine. In a little while his Hussar party will come galloping back, faster + than it went; faster and fewer;—and there will be news for Neipperg + during dinner! Better here looking out, though it was a rest-day?— + </p> + <p> + The truth is, the Prussian advance goes on with punctilious exactitude, by + no means rapidly. Colonel Count van Rothenburg,—the same whom we + lately heard of in Paris as a miracle of gambling,—he now here, in a + new capacity, is warily leading the Vanguard of Dragoons; warily, with the + Four Columns well to rear of him: the Austrian Hussar party came upon + Rothenburg, not two miles from Mollwitz; and suddenly drew bridle. Them + Rothenburg tumbles to the right-about, and chases;—finds, on + advancing, the Austrian Army totally unaware. It is thought, had + Rothenburg dashed forward, and sent word to the rearward to dash forward + at their swiftest, the Austrian Army might have been cut in pieces here, + and never have got together to try battle at all. But Rothenburg had no + orders; nay, had orders Not to get into fighting;—nor had Friedrich + himself, in this his first Battle, learned that feline or leonine + promptitude of spring which he subsequently manifested. Far from it! + Indeed this punctilious deliberation, and slow exactitude as on the + review-ground, is wonderful and noteworthy at the first start of + Friedrich;—the faithful apprentice-hand still rigorous to the rules + of the old shop. Ten years hence, twenty years hence, had Friedrich found + Neipperg in this condition, Neipperg's account had been soon settled!— + Rothenburg drove back the Hussars, all manner of successive Hussar + parties, and kept steadily ahead of the main battle, as he had been + bidden. + </p> + <p> + Pampitz Village being now passed, and in rear of them to left, the + Prussian Columns halt for some instants; burst into field-music; take to + deploying themselves into line. There is solemn wheeling, shooting out to + right and left, done with spotless precision: once in line,—in two + lines, "each three men deep," lines many yards apart,—they will + advance on Mollwitz; still solemnly, field-music guiding, and banners + spread. Which will be a work of time. That the King's frugal field-dinner + was shot away, from its camp-table near Pampitz (as Fuchs has heard), is + evidently mythical; and even impossible, the Austrians having yet no + cannon within miles of him; and being intent on dining comfortably + themselves, not on firing at other people's dinners. + </p> + <p> + Fancy Neipperg's state of mind, busy beginning dinner in the little + Schulze's, or Town-Provost's house, when the Hussars dashed in at full + gallop, shouting "DER FEIND, The Enemy! All in march there; vanguard this + side of Pampitz; killed forty of us!"—Quick, your Plan of Battle, + then? Whitherward; How; What? answer or perish! Neipperg was infinitely + struck; dropt knife and fork: "Send for Romer, General of the Horse!" + Romer did the indispensable: a swift man, not apt to lose head. Romer's + battle-plan, I should hope, is already made; or it will fare ill with + Neipperg and him. But beat, ye drummers; gallop, ye aides-de-camp as for + life! The first thing is to get our Force together; and it lies scattered + about in three other Villages besides Mollwitz, miles apart. Neipperg's + trumpets clangor, his aides-de-camp gallop: he has his left wing formed, + and the other parts in a state of rapid genesis, Horse and Foot pouring in + from Laugwitz, Barzdorf, Gruningen, before the Prussians have quite done + deploying themselves, and got well within shot of him. Romer, by birth a + Saxon gentleman, by all accounts a superior soldier and excellent General + of Horse, commands this Austrian left wing, General Goldlein, [(Anonymous) + MARIA THERESA (already cited), p. 8 n.] a Swiss veteran of good parts, + presiding over the Infantry in that quarter. Neipperg himself, were he + once complete, will command the right wing. + </p> + <p> + Neipperg is to be in two lines, as the Prussians are, with horse on each + wing, which is orthodox military order. His length of front, I should + guess, must have been something better than two English miles: a sluggish + Brook, called of Laugwitz, from the Village of that name which lies some + way across, is on his right hand; sluggish, boggy; stagnating towards the + Oder in those parts:—improved farming has, in our time, mostly dried + the strip of bog, and made it into coarse meadow, which is rather a relief + amid the dry sandy element. Neipperg's right is covered by that. His left + rests on the Hamlet of Gruningen, a mile-and-half northeast of Mollwitz;—meant + to have rested on Hermsdorf nearly east, but the Prussians have already + taken that up. The sun coming more and more round to west of south (for it + is now past noon) shines right in Neipperg's face, and is against him: how + the wind is, nobody mentions,—probably there was no wind. His + regular Cavalry, 8,600, outnumbers twice or more that of the Prussians, + not to mention their quality; and he has fewer Infantry, somewhat in + proportion;—the entire force on each side is scarcely above 20,000, + the Prussians slightly in majority by count. In field-pieces Neipperg is + greatly outnumbered; the Prussians having about threescore, he only + eighteen. [Kausler, <i>Atlas der merkwurdigsten Schlachten,</i> p. 232.] + And now here ARE the Prussians, close upon our left wing, not yet in + contact with the right,—which in fact is not yet got into existence;—thank + Heaven they have not come before our left got into existence, as our right + (if you knew it) has not yet quite finished doing!— + </p> + <p> + The Prussians, though so ready for deploying, have had their own + difficulties and delays. Between the boggy Brook of Laugwitz on their + left, and the Village of Hermsdorf, two miles distant, on which their + right wing is to lean, there proves not to be room enough; [<i>OEuvres de + Frederic,</i> ii. 73.] and then, owing to mistake of Schulenburg (our old + pipe-clay friend, who commands the right wing of Horse here, and is not up + in time), there is too much room. Not room enough, for all the Infantry, + we say: the last three Battalions of the front line therefore, the three + on the utmost right, wheel round, and stand athwart; EN POTENCE (as + soldiers say), or at right angles to the first line; hanging to it like a + kind of lid in that part,—between Schulenburg and them,—had + Schulenburg come up. Thus are the three battalions got rid of at least; + "they cap the First Prussian line rectangularly, like a lid," says my + authority,—lid which does not reach to the Second Line by a good + way. This accidental arrangement had material effects on the right wing. + Unfortunate Schulenburg did at last come up:—had he miscalculated + the distances, then? Once on the ground, he will find he does not reach to + Hermsdorf after all, and that there is now too much room! What his degree + of fault was I know not; Friedrich has long been dissatisfied with these + Dragoons of Schulenburg; "good for nothing, I always told you" (at that + Skirmish of Baumgarten): and now here is the General himself fallen + blundering!—In respect of Horse, the Austrians are more than two to + one; to make out our deficiency, the King, imitating something he had read + about Gustavus Adolphus, intercalates the Horse-Squadrons, on each wing, + with two Battalions of Grenadiers, and SO lengthens them;—"a + manoeuvre not likely to be again imitated," he admits. + </p> + <p> + All these movements and arrangements are effected above a mile from + Mollwitz, no enemy yet visible. Once effected, we advance again with music + sounding, sixty pieces of artillery well in front,—steady, steady!—across + the floor of snow which is soon beaten smooth enough, the stage, this day, + of a great adventure. And now there is the Enemy's left wing, Romer and + his Horse; their right wing wider away, and not yet, by a good space, + within cannon-range of us. It is towards Two of the afternoon; Schulenburg + now on his ground, laments that he will not reach to Hermsdorf;—but + it may be dangerous now to attempt repairing that error? At Two of the + clock, being now fairly within distance, we salute Romer and the Austrian + left, with all our sixty cannon; and the sound of drums and clarinets is + drowned in universal artillery thunder. Incessant, for they take (by + order) to "swift-shooting," which is almost of the swiftness of musketry + in our Prussian practice; and from sixty cannon, going at that rate, we + may fancy some effect. The Austrian Horse of the left wing do not like it; + all the less as the Austrians, rather short of artillery, have nothing yet + to reply with. + </p> + <p> + No Cavalry can stand long there, getting shivered in that way; in such a + noise, were there nothing more. "Are we to stand here like milestones, + then, and be all shot without a stroke struck?" "Steady!" answers Romer. + But nothing can keep them steady: "To be shot like dogs (WIE HUNDE)! For + God's sake (URN GOTTES WILLEN), lead us forward, then, to have a stroke at + them!"—in tones ever more plangent, plaintively indignant; growing + ungovernable. And Romer can get no orders; Neipperg is on the extreme + right, many things still to settle there; and here is the cannon-thunder + going, and soon their very musketry will open. And—and there is + Schulenburg, for one thing, stretching himself out eastwards (rightwards) + to get hold of Hermsdorf; thinking this an opportunity for the manoeuvre. + "Forward!" cries Romer; and his thirty Squadrons, like bottled whirlwind + now at last let loose, dash upon Schulenburg's poor ten (five of them of + Schulenburg's own regiment),—who are turned sideways too, trotting + towards Hermsdorf, at the wrong moment,—and dash them into wild + ruin. That must have been a charge! That was the beginning of hours of + chaos, seemingly irretrievable, in that Prussian right wing. + </p> + <p> + For the Prussian Horse fly wildly; and it is in vain to rally. The King is + among them; has come in hot haste, conjuring and commanding: poor + Schulenburg addresses his own regiment, "Oh, shame, shame! shall it be + told, then?" rallies his own regiment, and some others; charges fiercely + in with them again; gets a sabre-slash across the face,—does not + mind the sabre-slash, small bandaging will do;—gets a bullet through + the head (or through the heart, it is not said which); [<i>Helden-Geschichte, + </i> i. 899.] and falls down dead; his regiment going to the winds again, + and HIS care of it and of other things concluding in this honorable + manner. Nothing can rally that right wing; or the more you rally, the + worse it fares: they are clearly no match for Romer, these Prussian Horse. + They fly along the front of their own First Line of Infantry, they fly + between the two Lines; Romer chasing,—till the fire of the Infantry + (intolerable to our enemies, and hitting some even of our fugitive + friends) repels him. For the notable point in all this was the conduct of + the Infantry; and how it stood in these wild vortexes of ruin; + impregnable, immovable, as if every man of it were stone; and steadily + poured out deluges of fire,—"five Prussian shots for two Austrian:"—such + is perfect discipline against imperfect; and the iron ramrod against the + wooden. + </p> + <p> + The intolerable fire repels Romer, when he trenches on the Infantry: + however, he captures nine of the Prussian sixty guns; has scattered their + Horse to the winds; and charges again and again, hoping to break the + Infantry too,—till a bullet kills him, the gallant Romer; and some + other has to charge and try. It was thought, had Goldlein with his + Austrian Infantry advanced to support Romer at this juncture, the Battle + had been gained. Five times, before Romer fell and after, the Austrians + charged here; tried the Second Line too; tried once to take Prince Leopold + in rear there. But Prince Leopold faced round, gave intolerable fire; on + one face as on the other, he, or the Prussian Infantry anywhere, is not to + be broken. "Prince Friedrich", one of the Margraves of Schwedt, King's + Cousin, whom we did not know before, fell in these wild rallyings and + wrestlings; "by a cannon-ball, at the King's hand," not said otherwise + where. He had come as Volunteer, few weeks ago, out of Holland, where he + was a rising General: he has met his fate here,—and Margraf Karl, + his Brother, who also gets wounded, will be a mournful man to-night. + </p> + <p> + The Prussian Horse, this right wing of it, is a ruined body; boiling in + wild disorder, flooding rapidly away to rearward,—which is the + safest direction to retreat upon. They "sweep away the King's person with + them," say some cautious people; others say, what is the fact, that + Schwerin entreated, and as it were commanded, the King to go; the Battle + being, to all appearance, irretrievable. Go he did, with small escort, and + on a long ride,—to Oppeln, a Prussian post, thirty-five miles + rearward, where there is a Bridge over the Oder and a safe country beyond. + So much is indubitable; and that he despatched an Aide-de-camp to gallop + into Brandenburg, and tell the Old Dessauer, "Bestir yourself! Here all + seems lost!"—and vanished from the Field, doubtless in very + desperate humor. Upon which the extraneous world has babbled a good deal, + "Cowardice! Wanted courage: Haha!" in its usual foolish way; not worth + answer from him or from us. Friedrich's demeanor, in that disaster of his + right wing, was furious despair rather; and neither Schulenburg nor + Margraf Friedrich, nor any of the captains, killed or left living, was + supposed to have sinned by "cowardice" in a visible degree!— + </p> + <p> + Indisputable it is, though there is deep mystery upon it, the King + vanishes from Mollwitz Field at this point for sixteen hours, into the + regions of Myth, "into Fairyland," as would once have been said; but + reappears unharmed in to-morrow's daylight: at which time, not sooner, + readers shall hear what little is to be said of this obscure and + much-disfigured small affair. For the present we hasten back to Mollwitz,—where + the murderous thunder rages unabated all this while; the very noise of it + alarming mankind for thirty miles round. At Breslau, which is thirty good + miles off, horrible dull grumble was heard from the southern quarter + ("still better, if you put a staff in the ground, and set your ear to + it"); and from the steeple-tops, there was dim cloudland of powder-smoke + discernible in the horizon there. "At Liegnitz," which is twice the + distance, "the earth sensibly shook," [<i>Helden-Geschichte;</i> and + Jordan's Letter, infra.]—at least the air did, and the nerves of + men. + </p> + <p> + "Had Goldlein but advanced with his Foot, in support of gallant Romer!" + say the Austrian Books. But Goldlein did not advance; nor is it certain he + would have found advantage in so doing: Goldlein, where he stands, has + difficulty enough to hold his own. For the notable circumstance, + miraculous to military men, still is, How the Prussian Foot (men who had + never been in fire, but whom Friedrich Wilhelm had drilled for twenty + years) stand their ground, in this distraction of the Horse. Not even the + two outlying Grenadier Battalions will give way: those poor intercalated + Grenadiers, when their Horse fled on the right and on the left, they stand + there, like a fixed stone-dam in that wild whirlpool of ruin. They fix + bayonets, "bring their two field-pieces to flank" (Winterfeld was Captain + there), and, from small arms and big, deliver such a fire as was very + unexpected. Nothing to be made of Winterfeld and them. They invincibly + hurl back charge after charge; and, with dogged steadiness, manoeuvre + themselves into the general Line again; or into contact with the three + superfluous Battalions, arranged EN POTENCE, whom we heard of. Those + three, ranked athwart in this right wing ("like a lid," between First Line + and second), maintained themselves in like impregnable fashion,—Winterfeld + commanding;—and proved unexpectedly, thinks Friedrich, the saving of + the whole. For they also stood their ground immovable, like rocks; + steadily spouting fire-torrents. Five successive charges storm upon them, + fruitless: "Steady, MEINE KINDER; fix bayonets, handle ramrods! There is + the Horse-deluge thundering in upon you; reserve your fire, till you see + the whites of their eyes, and get the word; then give it them, and again + give it them: see whether any man or any horse can stand it!" + </p> + <p> + Neipperg, soon after Romer fell, had ordered Goldlein forward: Goldlein + with his Infantry did advance, gallantly enough; but to no purpose. + Goldlein was soon shot dead; and his Infantry had to fall back again, + ineffectual or worse. Iron ramrods against wooden; five shots to two: what + is there but falling back? Neipperg sent fresh Horse from his right wing, + with Berlichingen, a new famed General of Horse; Neipperg is furiously + bent to improve his advantage, to break those Prussians, who are mere + musketeers left bare, and thinks that will settle the account: but it + could in no wise be done. The Austrian Horse, after their fifth trial, + renounce charging; fairly refuse to charge any more; and withdraw + dispirited out of ball-range, or in search of things not impracticable. + The Hussar part of them did something of plunder to rearward;—and, + besides poor Maupertuis's adventure (of which by and by), and an attempt + on the Prussian baggage and knapsacks, which proved to be "too well + guarded,"—"burnt the Church of Pampitz," as some small consolation. + The Prussians had stript their knapsacks, and left them in Pampitz: the + Austrians, it was noticed, stript theirs in the Field; built walls of + them, and fired behind, the same, in a kneeling, more or less protected + posture,—which did not avail them much. + </p> + <p> + In fact, the Austrian Infantry too, all Austrians, hour after hour, are + getting wearier of it: neither Infantry nor Cavalry can stand being + riddled by swift shot in that manner. In spite of their knapsack walls, + various regiments have shrunk out of ball-range; and several cannot, by + any persuasion, be got to come into it again. Others, who do reluctantly + advance,—see what a figure they make; man after man edging away as + he can, so that the regiment "stands forty to eighty men deep, with lanes + through it every two or three yards;" permeable everywhere to Cavalry, if + we had them; and turning nothing to the Enemy but color-sergeants and bare + poles of a regiment! And Romer is dead, and Goldlein of the Infantry is + dead. And on their right wing, skirted by that marshy Brook of Laugwitz,—Austrian + right wing had been weakened by detachments, when Berlichingen rode off to + succeed Romer,—the Austrians are suffering: Posadowsky's Horse + (among whom is Rothenburg, once vanguard), strengthened by remnants who + have rallied here, are at last prospering, after reverses. And the + Prussian fire of small arms, at such rate, has lasted now for five hours. + The Austrian Army, becoming instead of a web a mere series of flying + tatters, forming into stripes or lanes in the way we see, appears to have + had about enough. + </p> + <p> + These symptoms are not hidden from Schwerin. His own ammunition, too, he + knows is running scarce, and fighters here and there are searching the + slain for cartridges:—Schwerin closes his ranks, trims and tightens + himself a little; breaks forth into universal field-music, and with + banners spread, starts in mass wholly, "Forwards!" Forwards towards these + Austrians and the setting sun. + </p> + <p> + An intelligent Austrian Officer, writing next week from Neisse, [<i>Feldzuge + der Preussen</i> (above cited), i. 38.]' confesses he never saw anything + more beautiful. "I can well say, I never in my life saw anything more + beautiful. They marched with the greatest steadiness, arrow-straight, and + their front like a line (SCHNURGLEICH), as if they had been upon parade. + The glitter of their clear arms shone strangely in the setting sun, and + the fire from them went on no otherwise than a continued peal of thunder." + Grand picture indeed; but not to be enjoyed as a Work of Art, for it is + coming upon us! "The spirits of our Army sank altogether", continues he; + "the Foot plainly giving way, Horse refusing to come forward, all things + wavering towards dissolution:"—so that Neipperg, to avoid worse, + gives the word to go;—and they roll off at double-quick time, + through Mollwitz, over Laugwitz Bridge and Brook, towards Grotkau by what + routes they can. The sun is just sunk; a quarter to eight, says the + intelligent Austrian Officer,—while the Austrian Army, much to its + amazement, tumbles forth in this bad fashion. + </p> + <p> + They had lost nine of their own cannon, and all of those Prussian nine + which they once had, except one: eight cannon MINUS, in all. Prisoners of + them were few, and none of much mark: two Field-marshals, Romer and + Goldlein, lie among the dead; four more of that rank are wounded. Four + standards too are gone; certain kettle-drums and the like trophies, not in + great number. Lieutenant-General Browne was of these retreating Austrians; + a little fact worth noting: of his actions this day, or of his thoughts + (which latter surely must have been considerable), no hint anywhere. The + Austrians were not much chased; though they might have been,—fresh + Cavalry (two Ohlau regiments, drawn hither by the sound [Interesting + correct account of their movements and adventures this day and some + previous days, in Nicolai, <i>Anekdoten,</i> ii. 142-148.]) having hung + about to rear of them, for some time past; unable to get into the Fight, + or to do any good till now. Schwerin, they say, though he had two wounds, + was for pursuing vigorously: but Leopold of Anhalt over-persuaded him; + urged the darkness, the uncertainty. Berlichingen, with their own Horse, + still partly covered their rear; and the Prussians, Ohlauers included, + were but weak in that branch of the service. Pursuit lasted little more + than two miles, and was never hot. The loss of men, on both sides, was not + far from equal, and rather in favor of the Austrian side:—Austrians + counted in killed, wounded and missing, 4,410 men; Prussians 4,613; + [Orlich, i. 108; Kansler, p. 235, correct; <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. + 895, incorrect.]—but the Prussians bivouacked on the ground, or + quartered in these Villages, with victory to crown them, and the thought + that their hard day's work had been well done. Besides Margraf Friedrich, + Volunteer from Holland, there lay among the slain Colonel Count von + Finkenstein (Old Tutor's Son), King's friend from boyhood, and much loved. + He was of the six whom we saw consulting at the door at Reinsberg, during + a certain ague-fit; and he now rests silent here, while the matter has + only come thus far. + </p> + <p> + Such was Mollwitz, the first Battle for Silesia; which had to cost many + Battles first and last. Silesia will be gained, we can expect, by fighting + of this kind in an honest cause. But here is something already gained, + which is considerable, and about which there is no doubt. A new Military + Power, it would appear, has come upon the scene; the + Gazetteer-and-Diplomatic world will have to make itself familiar with a + name not much heard of hitherto among the Nations. "A Nation which can + fight," think the Gazetteers; "fight almost as the very Swedes did; and is + led on by its King too,—who may prove, in his way, a very Charles + XII., or small Macedonia's Madman, for aught one knows?" In which latter + branch of their prognostic the Gazetteers were much out.— + </p> + <p> + The Fame of this Battle, which is now so sunk out of memory, was great in + Europe; and struck, like a huge war-gong, with long resonance, through the + general ear. M. de Voltaire had run across to Lille in those Spring days: + there is a good Troop of Players in Lille; a Niece, Madame Denis, wife of + some Military Commissariat Denis, important in those parts, can lodge the + divine Emilie and me;—and one could at last see MAHOMET, after five + years of struggling, get upon the boards, if not yet in Paris by a great + way, yet in Lille, which is something. MAHOMET is getting upon the boards + on those terms; and has proceeded, not amiss, through an Act or two, when + a Note from the King of Prussia was handed to Voltaire, announcing the + victory of Mollwitz. Which delightful Note Voltaire stopt the performance + till he read to the Audience: "Bravissimo!" answered the Audience. "You + will see," said M. de Voltaire to the friends about him, "this Piece at + Mollwitz will make mine succeed:" which proved to be the fact. [Voltaire, + <i>OEuvres (Vie Privee),</i> ii. 74.] For the French are Anti-Austrian; + and smell great things in the wind. "That man is mad, your Most Christian + Majesty?" "Not quite; or at any rate not mad only!" think Louis and his + Belleisles now. + </p> + <p> + Dimly poring in those old Books, and squeezing one's way into face-to-face + view of the extinct Time, we begin to notice what a clangorous rumor was + in Mollwitz to the then generation of mankind;—betokening many + things; universal European War, as the first thing. Which duly came to + pass; as did, at a slower rate, the ulterior thing, not yet so apparent, + that indeed a new hour had struck on the Time Horologe, that a New Epoch + had risen. Yes, my friends. New Charles XII. or not, here truly has a new + Man and King come upon the scene: capable perhaps of doing something? + Slumberous Europe, rotting amid its blind pedantries, its lazy + hypocrisies, conscious and unconscious: this man is capable of shaking it + a little out of its stupid refuges of lies, and ignominious wrappages and + bed-clothes, which will be its grave-clothes otherwise; and of intimating + to it, afar off, that there is still a Veracity in Things, and a Mendacity + in Sham-Things, and that the difference of the two is infinitely more + considerable than was supposed. + </p> + <p> + This Mollwitz is a most deliberate, regulated, ponderously impressive + (GRAVITATISCH) Feat of Arms, as the reader sees; done all by Regulation + methods, with orthodox exactitude; in a slow, weighty, almost pedantic, + but highly irrefragable manner. It is the triumph of Prussian Discipline; + of military orthodoxy well put in practice: the honest outcome of good + natural stuff in those Brandenburgers, and of the supreme virtues of + Drill. Neipperg and his Austrians had much despised Prussian soldiering: + "Keep our soup hot," cried they, on running out this day to rank + themselves; "hot a little, till we drive these fellows to the Devil!" That + was their opinion, about noon this day: but that is an opinion they have + renounced for all remaining days and years.—It is a Victory due + properly to Friedrich Wilhelm and the Old Dessauer, who are far away from + it. Friedrich Wilhelm, though dead, fights here, and the others only do + his bidding on this occasion. His Son, as yet, adds nothing of his own; + though he will ever henceforth begin largely adding,—right careful + withal to lose nothing, for the Friedrich Wilhelm contribution is + invaluable, and the basis of everything;—but it is curious to see in + what contrast this first Battle of Friedrich's is with his latter and last + ones. + </p> + <p> + Considering the Battle of Mollwitz, and then, in contrast, the intricate + Pragmatic Sanction, and what their consequences were and their + antecedents, it is curious once more! This, then, is what the Pragmatic + Sanction has come to? Twenty years of world-wide diplomacy, cunningly + devised spider-threads overnetting all the world, have issued here. Your + Congresses of Cambray, of Soissons, your Grumkow-Seckendorf Machiavelisms, + all these might as well have lain in their bed. Real Pragmatic Sanction + would have been, A well-trained Army and your Treasury full. Your Treasury + is empty (nothing in it but those foolish 200,000 English guineas, and the + passionate cry for more): and your Army is not trained as this Prussian + one; cannot keep its ground against this one. Of all those long-headed + Potentates, simple Friedrich Wilhelm, son of Nature, who had the honesty + to do what Nature taught him, has come out, gainer. You all laughed at him + as a fool: do you begin to see now who was wise, who fool? He has an Army + that "advances on you with glittering musketry, steady as on the + parade-ground, and pours out fire like one continuous thunder-peal;" so + that, strange as it seems, you find there will actually be nothing for you + but—taking to your heels, shall we say?—rolling off with + despatch, as second-best! These things are of singular omen. Here stands + one that will avenge Friedrich Wilhelm,—if Friedrich Wilhelm were + not already sufficiently avenged by the mere verdict of facts, which is + palpably coming out, as Time peels the wiggeries away from them more and + more. Mollwitz and such places are full of veracity; and no head is so + thick as to resist conviction in that kind. + </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> + OF FRIEDRICH'S DISAPPEARANCE INTO FAIRYLAND, IN THE INTERIM; AND OF + MAUPERTUIS'S SIMILAR ADVENTURE. + </h2> + <p> + Of the King's Flight, or sudden disappearance into Fairyland, during this + first Battle, the King himself, who alone could have told us fully, + maintained always rigorous silence, and nowhere drops the least hint. So + that the small fact has come down to us involved in a great bulk of + fabulous cobwebs, mostly of an ill-natured character, set agoing by + Voltaire, Valori and others (which fabulous process, in the good-natured + form, still continues itself); and, except for Nicolai's good industry (in + his ANEKDOTEN-Book), we should have difficulty even in guessing, not to + say understanding, as is now partly possible. The few real particulars—and + those do verify themselves, and hang perfectly together, when the big + globe of fable is burnt off from them—are to the following effect. + </p> + <p> + "Battle lost," said Schwerin: "but what is the loss of a Battle to that of + your Majesty's own Person? For Heaven's sake, go; get across the Oder; be + you safe, till this decide itself!" That was reasonable counsel. If + defeated, Schwerin can hope to retreat upon Ohlau, upon Breslau, and save + the Magazines. This side the Oder, all will be movements, a whirlpool of + Hussars; but beyond the Oder, all is quiet, open. To Ohlau, to Glogau, nay + home to Brandenburg and the Old Dessauer with his Camp at Gottin, the road + is free, by the other side of the Oder.—Schwerin and Prince Leopold + urging him, the King did ride away; at what hour, with what suite, or with + what adventures (not mostly fabulous) is not known:—but it was + towards Lowen, fifteen miles off (where he crossed Neisse River, the other + day); and thence towards Oppeln, on the Oder, eighteen miles farther; and + the pace was swift. Leopold, on reflection, ordered off a Squadron of + Gens-d'Armes to overtake his Majesty, at Lowen or sooner; which they never + did. Passing Pampitz, the King threw Fredersdorf a word, who was among the + baggage there: "To Oppeln; bring the Purse, the Privy Writings!" Which + Fredersdorf, and the Clerks (and another Herr, who became Nicolai's + Father-in-law in after years) did; and joined the King at Lowen; but I + hope stopped there. + </p> + <p> + The King's suite was small, names not given; but by the time he got to + Lowen, being joined by cavalry fugitives and the like, it had got to be + seventy persons: too many for the King. He selected what was his of them; + ordered the gates to be shut behind him on all others, and again rode + away. The Leopold Squadron of Gens-d'Armes did not arrive till after his + departure; and having here lost trace of him, called halt, and billeted + for the night. The King speeds silently to Oppeln on his excellent bay + horse, the worse-mounted gradually giving in. At Oppeln is a Bridge over + the Oder, a free Country beyond: Regiment La Motte lay, and as the King + thinks, still lies in Oppeln;—but in that he is mistaken. Regiment + La Motte is with the baggage at Pampitz, all this day; and a wandering + Hussar Party, some sixty Austrians, have taken possession of Oppeln. The + King, and the few who had not yet broken down, arrive at the Gate of + Oppeln, late, under cloud of night: "Who goes?" cried the sentry from + within. "Prussians! A Prussian Courier!" answer they;—and are fired + upon through the gratings; and immediately draw back, and vanish unhurt + into Night again. "Had those Hussars only let him in!" said Austria + afterwards: but they had not such luck. It was at this point, according to + Valori, that the King burst forth into audible ejaculations of a + lamentable nature. There is no getting over, then, even to Brandenburg, + and in an insolvent condition. Not open insolvency and bankrupt disgrace; + no, ruin, and an Austrian jail, is the one outlook. "O MON DIEU, O God, it + is too much (C'EN EST TROP)!" with other the like snatches of lamentation; + [Valori, i. 104.] which are not inconceivable in a young man, sleepless + for the third night, in these circumstances; but which Valori knows + nothing of, except by malicious rumor from the valet class,—who have + misinformed Valori about several other points. + </p> + <p> + The King riding diligently, with or without ejaculations, back towards + Lowen, comes at an early hour to the Mill of Hilbersdorf, within a + mile-and-half of that place. He alights at the Mill; sends one of his + attendants, almost the only one now left, to inquire what is in Lowen. The + answer, we know, is: "A squadron of Gens-d'Armes there; furthermore, a + Prussian Adjutant come to say, Victory at Mollwitz!" Upon which the King + mounts again;—issues into daylight, and concludes these mythical + adventures. That "in Lowen, in the shop at the corner of the Market-place, + Widow Panzern, subsequently Wife Something-else, made his Majesty a cup of + coffee, and served a roast fowl along with it," cannot but be welcome + news, if true; and that his Majesty got to Mollwitz again before dark that + same "day," [Fuchs, p. 11.] is liable to no controversy. + </p> + <p> + In this way was Friedrich snatched by Morgante into Fairyland, carried by + Diana to the top of Pindus (or even by Proserpine to Tartarus, through a + bad sixteen hours), till the Battle whirlwind subsided. Friendly + imaginative spirits would, in the antique time, have so construed it: but + these moderns were malicious-valetish, not friendly; and wrapped the + matter in mere stupid worlds of cobweb, which require burning. Friedrich + himself was stone-silent on this matter, all his life after; but is + understood never quite to have pardoned Schwerin for the ill-luck of + giving him such advice. [Nicolai, ii. 180-195 (the one true account); + Laveaux, i. 194; Valori, i. 104; &c., &c. (the myth in various + stages). Most distractedly mythical of all, with the truth clear before + it, is the latest version, just come out, in <i>Was sich die Schlesier vom + alten Fritz erzahlen</i> (Brieg, 1860), pp. 113-125.] + </p> + <p> + Friedrich's adventure is not the only one of that kind at Mollwitz; there + is another equally indubitable,—which will remain obscure, + half-mythical to the end of the world. The truth is, that Right Wing of + the Prussian Army was fallen chaotic, ruined; and no man, not even one who + had seen it, can give account of what went on there. The sage Maupertuis, + for example, had climbed some tree or place of impregnability ("tree" + Voltaire calls it, though that is hardly probable), hoping to see the + Battle there. And he did see it, much too clearly at last! In such a tide + of charging and chasing, on that Right Wing and round all the Field in the + Prussian rear; in such wide bickering and boiling of Horse-currents,—which + fling out, round all the Prussian rear quarters, such a spray of Austrian + Hussars for one element,—Maupertuis, I have no doubt, wishes much he + were at home, doing his sines and tangents. An Austrian Hussar-party gets + sight of him, on his tree or other standpoint (Voltaire says elsewhere he + was mounted on an ass, the malicious spirit!)—too certain, the + Austrian Hussars got sight of him: his purse, gold watch, all he has of + movable is given frankly; all will not do. There are frills about the man, + fine laces, cloth; a goodish yellow wig on him, for one thing:—their + Slavonic dialect, too fatally intelligible by the pantomime accompanying + it, forces sage Maupertuis from his tree or standpoint; the big red face + flurried into scarlet, I can fancy; or scarlet and ashy-white mixed; and—Let + us draw a veil over it! He is next seen shirtless, the once very haughty, + blustery, and now much-humiliated man; still conscious of supreme acumen, + insight and pure science; and, though an Austrian prisoner and a monster + of rags, struggling to believe that he is a genius and the Trismegistus of + mankind. What a pickle! The sage Maupertuis, as was natural, keeps + passionately asking, of gods and men, for an Officer with some tincture of + philosophy, or even who could speak French. Such Officer is at last found; + humanely advances him money, a shirt and suit of clothes; but can in + nowise dispense with his going to Vienna as prisoner. Thither he went + accordingly; still in a mythical condition. Of Voltaire's laughing, there + is no end; and he changes the myth from time to time, on new rumors + coming; and there is no truth to be had from him. [Voltaire, <i>OEuvres + (Vie Prive),</i> ii. 33-34; and see his LETTERS for some were after the + event.] + </p> + <p> + This much is certain: at Vienna, Maupertuis, prisoner on parole, glided + about for some time in deep eclipse, till the Newspapers began babbling of + him. He confessed then that he was Maupertuis, Flattener of the Earth; but + for the rest, "told rather a blind story about himself," says Robinson; + spoke as if he had been of the King's suite, "riding with the King," when + that Hussar accident befell;—rather a blind story, true story being + too sad. The Vienna Sovereignties, in the turn things had taken, were + extremely kind; Grand-Duke Franz handsomely pulled out his own watch, + hearing what road the Maupertuis one had gone; dismissed the Maupertuis, + with that and other gifts, home:—to Brittany (not to Prussia), till + times calmed for engrafting the Sciences. [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. + 902; Robinson's Despatch (Vienna, 22d April, 1741, n.s.); Voltaire, ubi + supra.] + </p> + <p> + On Wednesday, Friedrich writes this Note to his Sister; the first + utterance we have from him since those wild roamings about Oppeln and + Hilbersdorf Mill:— + </p> + <p> + KING TO WILHELMINA (at Baireuth; two days after Mollwitz). + </p> + <p> + "OHLAU, 12th April, 1741. + </p> + <p> + "MY DEAREST SISTER,—I have the satisfaction to inform you that we + have yesterday [day before yesterday; but some of us have only had one + sleep!] totally beaten the Austrians. They have lost more than 5,000 men, + killed, wounded and prisoners. We have lost Prince Friedrich, Brother of + Margraf Karl; General Schulenburg, Wartensleben of the Carabineers, and + many other Officers. Our troops did miracles; and the result shows as + much. It was one of the rudest Battles fought within memory of man. + </p> + <p> + "I am sure you will take part in this happiness; and that you will not + doubt of the tenderness with which I am, my dearest Sister,—Yours + wholly, FEDERIC." [<i>OEuvres,</i> xxvii. i. 101.] + </p> + <p> + And on the same day there comes, from Breslau, Jordan's Answer to the late + anxious little Note from Pogarell; anxieties now gone, and smoky misery + changed into splendor of flame: + </p> + <p> + JORDAN TO THE KING (finds him at Ohlau). + </p> + <p> + "BRESLAU, 11th April, 1741. "SIRE,—Yesterday I was in terrible + alarms. The sound of the cannon heard, the smoke of powder visible from + the steeple-tops here; all led us to suspect that there was a Battle going + on. Glorious confirmation of it this morning! Nothing but rejoicing among + all the Protestant inhabitants; who had begun to be in apprehension, from + the rumors which the other party took pleasure in spreading. Persons who + were in the Battle cannot enough celebrate the coolness and bravery of + your Majesty. For myself, I am at the overflowing point. I have run about + all day, announcing this glorious news to the Berliners who are here. In + my life I have never felt a more perfect satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + "M. de Camas is here, very ill for the last two days; attack of fever—the + Doctor hopes to bring him through,"—which proved beyond the Doctor: + the good Camas died here three days hence (age sixty-three); an excellent + German-Frenchman, of much sense, dignity and honesty; familiar to + Friedrich from infancy onwards, and no doubt regretted by him as deserved. + The Widow Camas, a fine old Lady, German by birth, will again come in + view. Jordan continues:— + </p> + <p> + "One finds, at the corner of every street, an orator of the Plebs + celebrating the warlike feats of your Majesty's troops. I have often, in + my idleness, assisted at these discourses: not artistic eloquence, it must + be owned, but spurting rude from the heart...." + </p> + <p> + Jordan adds in his next Note: "This morning (14th) I quitted M. de Camas; + who, it is thought, cannot last the day. I have hardly left him during his + illness:" [<i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> xvii. 99.]—and so let that + scene close. + </p> + <p> + Neipperg, meanwhile, had fallen back on Neisse; taken up a strong + encampment in that neighborhood; he lies thereabouts all summer; stretched + out, as it were, in a kind of vigilant dog-sleep on the threshold, keeping + watch over Neisse, and tries fighting no more at this time, or indeed ever + after, to speak of. And always, I think, with disadvantage, when he does + try a little. He had been Grand-Duke Franz's Tutor in War-matters; had got + into trouble at Belgrade once before, and was almost hanged by the Turks. + George II. had occasionally the benefit of him, in coming years. Be not + too severe on the poor man, as the Vienna public was; he had some faculty, + though not enough. "Governor of Luxemburg," before long: there, for most + part, let him peacefully drill, and spend the remainder of his poor life. + Friedrich says, neither Neipperg nor himself, at this time, knew the least + of War; and that it would be hard to settle which of them made the more + blunders in their Silesian tussle. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich, in about three weeks hence, was fully ready for opening + trenches upon Brieg; did open trenches, accordingly, by moonlight, in a + grand nocturnal manner (as readers shall see anon); and, by vigorous + cannonading,—Marechal de Belleisle having come, by this time, to + enjoy the fine spectacle,—soon got possession of Brieg, and held it + thenceforth. Neisse now alone remained, with Neipperg vigilantly stretched + upon the threshold of it. But the Marechal de Belleisle, we say, had come; + that was the weighty circumstance. And before Neisse can be thought of, + there is a whole Europe, bickering aloft into conflict; embattling itself + from end to end, in sequel of Mollwitz Battle; and such a preliminary sea + of negotiating, diplomatic finessing, pulse-feeling, projecting and + palavering, with Friedrich for centre all summer, as—as I wish + readers could imagine without my speaking of it farther! But they cannot. + </p> + <p> + [MAP ON PAGE 75 GOES HEREABOUTS—missing] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XI. — THE BURSTING FORTH OF BEDLAMS: BELLEISLE AND THE + BREAKERS OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION. + </h2> + <p> + The Battle of Mollwitz went off like a signal-shot among the Nations; + intimating that they were, one and all, to go battling. Which they did, + with a witness; making a terrible thing of it, over all the world, for + above seven years to come. Foolish Nations; doomed to settle their jarring + accounts in that terrible manner! Nay, the fewest of them had any + accounts, except imaginary ones, to settle there at all; and they went + into the adventure GRATIS, spurred on by spectralities of the sick brain, + by phantasms of hope, phantasms of terror; and had, strictly speaking, no + actual business in it whatever. + </p> + <p> + Not that Mollwitz kindled Europe; Europe was already kindled for some two + years past;—especially since the late Kaiser died, and his Pragmatic + Sanction was superadded to the other troubles afoot. But ever since that + Image of JENKINS'S EAR had at last blazed up in the slow English brain, + like a fiery constellation or Sign in the Heavens, symbolic of such + injustices and unendurabilities, and had lighted the Spanish-English War, + Europe was slowly but pretty surely taking fire. France "could not see + Spain humbled," she said: England (in its own dim feeling, and also in the + fact of things) could not do at all without considerably humbling Spain. + France, endlessly interested in that Spanish-English matter, was already + sending out fleets, firing shots,—almost, or altogether, putting + forth her hand in it. "In which case, will not, must not, Austria help + us?" thought England,—and was asking, daily, at Vienna (with intense + earnestness, but without the least result), through Excellency Robinson + there, when the late Kaiser died. Died, poor gentleman;—and left his + big Austrian Heritages lying, as it were, in the open market-place; + elaborately tied by diplomatic packthread and Pragmatic Sanction; but not + otherwise protected against the assembled cupidities of mankind! + Independently of Mollwitz, or of Silesia altogether, it was next to + impossible that Europe could long avoid blazing out; especially unless the + Spanish-English quarrel got quenched, of which there was no likelihood. + </p> + <p> + But if not as cause, then as signal, or as signal and cause together + (which it properly was), the Battle of Mollwitz gave the finishing stroke, + and set all in motion. This was "the little stone broken loose from the + mountain;" this, rather than the late Kaiser's Death, which Friedrich + defined in that manner. Or at least, this was the first LEAP it took; + hitting other stones big and little, which again hit others with their + leaping and rolling,—till the whole mountain-side is in motion under + law of gravity, and you behold one wide stone-torrent thundering towards + the valleys; shivering woods, farms, habitations clean away with it: fatal + to any Image of composite Clay and Brass which it may meet! + </p> + <p> + There is, accordingly, from this point, a change in Friedrich's Silesian + Adventure; which becomes infinitely more complicated for him,—and + for those that write of him, no less! Friedrich's business henceforth is + not to be done by direct fighting, but rather by waiting to see how, and + on what side, others will fight: nor can we describe or understand + Friedrich's business, except as in connection with the immense, obsolete, + and indeed delirious Phenomenon called Austrian-Succession War, upon which + it is difficult to say any human word. If History, driven upon Dismal + Swamp with its horrors and perils, can get across unsunk, she will be + lucky! + </p> + <p> + For, directly on the back of Mollwitz, there ensued, first, an explosion + of Diplomatic activity such as was never seen before; Excellencies from + the four winds taking wing towards Friedrich; and talking and insinuating, + and fencing and fugling, after their sort, in that Silesian Camp of his, + the centre being there. A universal rookery of Diplomatists;—whose + loud cackle and cawing is now as if gone mad to us; their work wholly + fallen putrescent and avoidable, dead to all creatures. And secondly, in + the train of that, there ensued a universal European War, the French and + the English being chief parties in it; which abounds in battles and feats + of arms, spirited but delirious, and cannot be got stilled for seven or + eight years to come; and in which Friedrich and his War swim only as an + intermittent Episode henceforth. What to do with such a War; how extricate + the Episode, and leave the War lying? The War was at first a good deal + mad; and is now, to men's imagination, fallen wholly so; who indeed have + managed mostly to forget it; only the Episode (reduced thereby to an + UNintelligible state) retaining still some claims on them. + </p> + <p> + It is singular into what oblivion the huge Phenomenon called + Austrian-Succession War has fallen; which, within a hundred years ago or + little more, filled all mortal hearts! The English were principals on one + side; did themselves fight in it, with their customary fire, and their + customary guidance ("courageous Wooden Pole with Cocked Hat," as our + friend called it); and paid all the expenses, which were extremely + considerable, and are felt in men's pockets to this day: but the English + have more completely forgotten it than any other People. "Battle of + Dettingen, Battle of Fontenay,—what, in the Devil's name, were we + ever doing there?" the impatient Englishman asks; and can give no answer, + except the general one: "Fit of insanity; DELIRIUM TREMENS, perhaps + FURENS;—don't think of it!" Of Philippi and Arbela educated + Englishmen can render account; and I am told young gentlemen entering the + Army are pointedly required to say who commanded at Aigos-Potamos and + wrecked the Peloponnesian War: but of Dettingen and Fontenoy, where is the + living Englishman that has the least notion, or seeks for any? The + Austrian-Succession War did veritably rage for eight years, at a terrific + rate, deforming the face of Earth and Heaven; the English paying the piper + always, and founding their National Debt thereby:—but not even that + could prove mnemonic to them; and they have dropped the + Austrian-Succession War, with one accord, into the general dustbin, and + are content it should lie there. They have not, in their language, the + least approach to an intelligible account of it: How it went on, + whitherward, whence; why it was there at all,—are points dark to the + English, and on which they do not wish to be informed. They have quitted + the matter, as an unintelligible huge English-and-Foreign Delirium (which + in good part it was); Delirium unintelligible to them; tedious, not to say + in parts, as those of the Austrian Subsidies, hideous and disgusting to + them; happily now fallen extinct; and capable of being skipped, in one's + inquiries into the wonders of this England and this World. Which, in fact, + is a practical conclusion not so unwise as it looks. + </p> + <p> + "Wars are not memorable," says Sauerteig, "however big they may have been, + whatever rages and miseries they may have occasioned, or however many + hundreds of thousands they may have been the death of,—except when + they have something of World-History in them withal. If they are found to + have been the travail-throes of great or considerable changes, which + continue permanent in the world, men of some curiosity cannot but inquire + into them, keep memory of them. But if they were travail-throes that had + no birth, who of mortals would remember them? Unless perhaps the feats of + prowess, virtue, valor and endurance, they might accidentally give rise + to, were very great indeed. Much greater than the most were, which came + out in that Austrian-Succession case! Wars otherwise are mere futile + transitory dust-whirlwinds stilled in blood; extensive fits of human + insanity, such as we know are too apt to break out;—such as it + rather beseems a faithful Son of the House of Adam NOT to speak about + again; as in houses where the grandfather was hanged, the topic of ropes + is fitly avoided. + </p> + <p> + "Never again will that War, with its deliriums, mad outlays of blood, + treasure, and of hope and terror, and far-spread human destruction, rise + into visual life in any imagination of living man. In vain shall Dryasdust + strive: things mad, chaotic and without ascertainable purpose or result, + cannot be fixed into human memories. Fix them there by never so many + Documentary Histories, elaborate long-eared Pedantries, and cunning + threads, the poor human memory has an alchemy against such ill usage;—it + forgets them again; grows to know them as a mere torpor, a stupidity and + horror, and instinctively flies from Dryasdust and them." + </p> + <p> + Alive to any considerable degree, in the poor human imagination, this + Editor does not expect or even wish the Austrian-Succession War to be. + Enough for him if it could be understood sufficiently to render his poor + History of Friedrich intelligible. For it enwraps Friedrich like a + world-vortex henceforth; modifies every step of his existence henceforth; + and apart from it, there is no understanding of his business or him. "So + much as sticks to Friedrich:" that was our original bargain! Assist + loyally, O reader, and we will try to make the indispensable a minimum for + you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE AUSTRIAN-SUCCESSION WAR? + </h2> + <p> + The first point to be noted is, Where did it originate? To which the + answer mainly is, With that lean Gentleman whom we saw with Papers in the + OEil-de-Boeuf on New-year's day last. With Monseigneur the Marechal de + Belleisle principally; with the ambitious cupidities and baseless vanities + of the French Court and Nation, as represented by Belleisle. George II.'s + Spanish War, if you will examine, had a real necessity in it. Jenkins's + Ear was the ridiculous outside figure this matter had: Jenkins's Ear was + one final item of it; but the poor English People, in their wrath and + bellowings about that small item, were intrinsically meaning: "Settle the + account; let us have that account cleared up and liquidated; it has lain + too long!" And seldom were a People more in the right, as readers shall + yet see. + </p> + <p> + The English-Spanish War had a basis to stand on in this Universe. The like + had the Prussian-Austrian one; so all men now admit. If Friedrich had not + business there, what man ever had in an enterprise he ventured on? + Friedrich, after such trial and proof as has seldom been, got his claims + on Schlesien allowed by the Destinies. His claims on Schlesien;—and + on infinitely higher things; which were found to be his and his Nation's, + though he had not been consciously thinking of them in making that + adventure. For, as my poor Friend insists, there ARE Laws valid in Earth + and in Heaven; and the great soul of the world is just. Friedrich had + business in this War; and Maria Theresa VERSUS Friedrich had likewise + cause to appear in court, and do her utmost pleading against him. + </p> + <p> + But if we ask, What Belleisle or France and Louis XV. had to do there? the + answer is rigorously, Nothing. Their own windy vanities, ambitions, + sanctioned not by fact and the Almighty Powers, but by phantasm and the + babble of Versailles; transcendent self-conceit, intrinsically insane; + pretensions over their fellow-creatures which were without basis anywhere + in Nature, except in the French brain alone: it was this that brought + Belleisle and France into a German War. And Belleisle and France having + gone into an Anti-Pragmatic War, the unlucky George and his England were + dragged into a Pragmatic one,—quitting their own business, on the + Spanish Main, and hurrying to Germany,—in terror as at Doomsday, and + zeal to save the Keystone of Nature these. That is the notable point in + regard to this War: That France is to be called the author of it, who, + alone of all the parties, had no business there whatever. And the wages + due to France for such a piece of industry,—the reader will yet see + what wages France and the other parties got, at the tail of the affair. + For that too is apparent in our day. + </p> + <p> + We have often said, the Spanish-English War was itself likely to have + kindled Europe; and again Friedrich's Silesian War was itself likely,—France + being nearly sure to interfere. But if both these Wars were necessary + ones, and if France interfered in either of them on the wrong side, the + blame will be to France, not to the necessary Wars. France could, in no + way, have interfered in a more barefacedly unjust and gratuitous manner + than she now did; nor, on any terms, have so palpably made herself the + author of the conflagration of deliriums that ensued for above Seven years + henceforth. Nay for above Twenty years,—the settlement of this + Silesian Pragmatic-Antipragmatic matter (and of Jenkins's Ear, + incidentally, ALONG with this!) not having fairly completed itself till + 1763. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOW BELLEISLE MADE VISIT TO TEUTSCHLAND; AND THERE WAS NO FIT HENRY THE + FOWLER TO WELCOME HIM. + </h2> + <p> + It is very wrong to keep Enchanted Wiggeries sitting in this world, as if + they were things still alive! By a species of "conservatism," which gets + praised in our Time, but which is only a slothful cowardice, base + indifference to truth, and hatred to trouble in comparison with lies that + sit quiet, men now extensively practise this method of procedure;—little + dreaming how bad and fatal it at all times is. When the brains are out, + things really ought to die;—no matter what lovely things they were, + and still affect to be, the brains being out, they actually ought in all + cases to die, and with their best speed get buried. Men had noses, at one + time; and smelt the horror of a deceased reality fallen putrid, of a once + dear verity become mendacious, phantasmal; but they have, to an immense + degree, lost that organ since, and are now living comfortably + cheek-by-jowl with lies. Lies of that sad "conservative" kind,—and + indeed of all kinds whatsoever: for that kind is a general mother; and + BREEDS, with a fecundity that is appalling, did you heed it much!— + </p> + <p> + It was pity that the "Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation," had not got + itself buried some ages before. Once it had brains and life, but now they + were out. Under the sway of Barbarossa, under our old anti-chaotic friend + Henry the Fowler, how different had it been! No field for a Belleisle to + come and sow tares in; no rotten thatch for a French Sun-god to go sailing + about in the middle of, and set fire to! Henry, when the Hungarian + Pan-Slavonic Savagery came upon him, had got ready in the interim; and a + mangy dog was the "tribute" he gave them; followed by the due extent of + broken crowns, since they would not be content with that. That was the due + of Belleisle too,—had there been a Henry to meet him with it, on his + crossing the marches, in Trier Country, in Spring, 1741: "There, you + anarchic Upholstery-Belus, fancying yourself God of the Sun; there is what + Teutschland owes you. Go home with that; and mind your own business, which + I am told is plentiful, if you had eye for it!" + </p> + <p> + But the sad truth is, for above Four Centuries now,—and especially + for Three, since little Kaiser Karl IV. "gave away all the moneys of it," + in his pressing occasions, this Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation, has + been more and ever more becoming an imaginary quantity; the Kaisership of + it not capable of being worn by anybody, except a Hapsburger who had + resources otherwise his own. The fact is palpable. And Austria, and + Anti-Reformation Entity, "conservative" in that bad sense, of slothfully + abhorring trouble in comparison with lies, had not found the poison more + mal-odorous in this particular than in many others. And had cherished its + "Holy Romish Reich" grown UNholy, phantasmal, like so much else in + Austrian things; and had held firm grip of it, these Three Hundred years; + and found it a furthersome and suitable thing, though sensible it was more + and more becoming an Enchanted Wiggery pure and simple. Nor have the + consequences failed; they never do. Belleisle, Louis XIV., Henri II., + Francois I.: it is long since the French have known this state of matters; + and been in the habit of breaking in upon it, fomenting internal + discontents, getting up unjust Wars,—with or without advantage to + France, but with endless disadvantage to Germany. Schmalkaldic War; + Thirty-Years War; Louis XIV.'s Wars, which brought Alsace and the other + fine cuttings; late Polish-Election War, and its Lorraine; + Austrian-Succession War: many are the wars kindled on poor Teutschland by + neighbor France; and large is the sum of woes to Europe and to it, + chargeable to that score. Which appears even yet not to be completed?—Perhaps + not, even yet. For it is the penalty of being loyal to Enchanted + Wiggeries; of living cheek-by-jowl with lies of a peaceable quality, and + stuffing your nostrils, and searing your soul, against the accursed odor + they all have!—For I can assure you the curse of Heaven does dwell + in one and all of them; and the son of Adam cannot too soon get quit of + their bad partnership, cost him what it may. + </p> + <p> + Belleisle's Journey as Sun-god began in March,—"end of March, 1741," + no date of a day to be had for that memorable thing:—and he went + gyrating about, through the German Courts, for almost a year afterwards; + his course rather erratic, but always in a splendor as of Belus, with + those hundred and thirty French Lords and Valets, and the glory of Most + Christian King irradiating him. Very diligent for the first six months, + till September or October next, which we may call his SEED-TIME; and by no + means resting after nine or twelve months, while the harrowing and hoeing + went on. In January, 1742, he had the great satisfaction to see a Bavarian + Kaiser got, instead of an Austrian; and everywhere the fruit of his + diligent husbandry begin to BEARD fairly above ground, into a crop of + facts (like armed men from dragon's teeth), and "the pleasure of the"—WHOM + was it the pleasure of?—"prosper in his hands." Belleisle was a + pretty man; but I doubt it was not "the Lord" he was doing the pleasure + of, on this occasion, but a very Different Personage, disguised to + resemble him in poor Belleisle's eyes!— + </p> + <p> + Austria was not dangerous to France in late times, and now least of all; + how far from it,—humbled by the loss of Lorraine; and now as it were + bankrupt, itself in danger from all the world. And France, so far as + express Treaties could bind a Nation, was bound to maintain Austria in its + present possessions. The bitter loss of Lorraine had been sweetened to the + late Kaiser by that solitary drop of consolation;—as his Failure of + a Life had been, poor man: "Failure the most of me has been; but I have + got Pragmatic Sanction, thanks to Heaven, and even France has signed it!" + Loss of Lorraine, loss of Elsass, loss of the Three Bishoprics; since Karl + V.'s times, not to speak of earlier, there has been mere loss on loss:—and + now is the time to consummate it, think Belleisle and France, in spite of + Treaties. + </p> + <p> + Towards humbling or extinguishing Austria, Belleisle has two preliminary + things to do: FIRST, Break the Pragmatic Sanction, and get everybody to + break it; SECOND, Guide the KAISERWAHL (Election of a Kaiser), so that it + issue, not in Grand-Duke Franz, Maria Theresa's Husband, as all expect it + will, but in another party friendly to France:—say in Karl Albert of + Bavaria, whose Family have long been good clients of ours, dependent on us + for a living in the Political World. Belleisle, there is little doubt, had + from the first cast his eye on this unlucky Karl Albert for Kaiser; but is + uncertain as to carrying him. Belleisle will take another if he must; + Kur-Sachsen, for example;—any other, and all others, only not the + Grand-Duke: that is a point already fixed with Belleisle, though he keeps + it well in the background, and is careful not to hint it till the time + come. + </p> + <p> + In regard to Pragmatic Sanction, Belleisle and France found no difficulty,—or + the difficulty only (which we hope must have been considerable) of eating + their own Covenant in behalf of Pragmatic Sanction; and declaring, which + they did without visible blush, That it was a Covenant including, if not + expressly, then tacitly, as all human covenants do, this clause, "SALVO + JURE TERTII (Saving the rights of Third Parties),"—that is, of + Electors of Bavaria, and others who may object, against it! O soul of + honor, O first Nation of the Universe, was there ever such a subterfuge? + Here is a field of flowering corn, the biggest in the world, begirt with + elaborate ring-fence, many miles of firm oak-paling pitched and + buttressed;—the poor gentleman now dead gave you his Lorraine, and + almost his life, for swearing to keep up said paling. And you do keep it + up,—all except six yards; through which the biggest team on the + highway can drive freely, and the paltriest cadger's ass can step in for a + bellyful! + </p> + <p> + It appears, the first Nation of the Universe had, at an early period of + their consultations, hit upon this of SALVO JURE TERTII, as the method of + eating their Covenant, before an enlightened public. [20th January, 1741, + in their Note of Ceremony, recognizing Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary, + Note which had been due so very long (ADELUNG, ii. 206), there is ominous + silence on Pragmatic Sanction; "beginning of March," there is virtual + avowal of SALVO JURE (ib. 279);—open avowal on Belleisle's advent + (ib. 305).] And they persisted in it, there being no other for them. An + enlightened public grinned sardonically, and was not taken in; but, as so + many others were eating their Covenants, under equally poor subterfuges, + the enlightened public could not grin long on any individual,—could + only gape mutely, with astonishment, on all. A glorious example of + veracity and human nobleness, set by the gods of this lower world to their + gazing populations, who could read in the Gazettes! What is truth, + falsity, human Kingship, human Swindlership? Are the Ten Commandments only + a figure of speech, then? And it was some beggarly Attorney-Devil that + built this sublunary world and us? Questions might rise; had long been + rising;—but now there was about enough, and the response to them was + falling due; and Belleisle himself, what is very notable, had been + appointed to get ready the response. Belleisle (little as Belleisle dreamt + of it, in these high Enterprises) was ushering in, by way of response, a + RAGNAROK, or Twilight of the Gods, which, as "French Revolution, or + Apotheosis of SANSCULOTTISM," is now well known;—and that is + something to consider of! + </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> + DOWNBREAK OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION; MANNER OF THE CHIEF ARTISTS IN HANDLING + THEIR COVENANTS. + </h2> + <p> + The operation once accomplished on its own Pragmatic Covenant, France + found no difficulty with the others. Everybody was disposed to eat his + Covenant, who could see advantage in so doing, after that admirable + example. The difficulty of France and Belleisle rather was, to keep the + hungry parties back: "Don't eat your Covenant TILL the proper time; + patience, we say!" A most sad Miscellany of Royalties, coming all to the + point, "Will you eat your Covenant, Will you keep it?"—and eating, + nearly all; in fact, wholly all that needed to eat. + </p> + <p> + On the first Invasion of Silesia, Maria Theresa had indignantly complained + in every Court; and pointing to Pragmatic Sanction, had demanded that such + Law of Nature be complied with, according to covenant. What Maria Theresa + got by this circuit of the Courts, everybody still knows. Except England, + which was willing, and Holland, which was unwilling, all Courts had + answered, more or less uneasily: "Law of Nature,—humph: yes!"—and, + far from doing anything, not one of them would with certainty promise to + do anything. From England alone and her little King (to whom Pragmatic + Sanction is the Palladium of Human Freedoms and the Keystone of Nature) + could she get the least help. The rest hung back; would not open heart or + pocket; waited till they saw. They do now see; now that Belleisle has done + his feat of Covenant-eating!— + </p> + <p> + Eleven great Powers, some count Thirteen, some Twelve, [Scholl, ii. 286; + Adelung, LIST, ii. 127.]—but no two agree, and hardly one agrees + with himself;—enough, the Powers of Europe, from Naples and Madrid + to Russia and Sweden, have all signed it, let us say a Dozen or a + Baker's-Dozen of them. And except our little English Paladin alone, whose + interest and indeed salvation seemed to him to lie that way, and who + needed no Pragmatic Covenant to guide him, nobody whatever distinguished + himself by keeping it. Between December, 1740, when Maria Theresa set up + her cries in all Courts, on to April, 1741, England, painfully dragging + Holland with her, had alone of the Baker's-Dozen spoken word of + disapproval; much less done act of hindrance. Two especially (France and + Bavaria, not to mention Spain) had done the reverse, and disowned, and + declared against, Pragmatic Sanction. And after the Battle of Mollwitz, + when the "little stone" took its first leap, and set all thundering, then + came, like the inrush of a fashion, throughout that high Miscellany or + Baker's-Dozen, the general eating of Covenants (which was again quickened + in August, for a reason we shall see): and before November of that Year, + there was no Covenant left to eat. Of the Baker's-Dozen nobody remained + but little George the Paladin, dragging Holland painfully along with him;—and + Pragmatic Sanction had gone to water, like ice in a June day, and its + beautiful crystalline qualities and prismatic colors were forever vanished + from the world. Will the reader note a point or two, a personage or two, + in this sordid process,—not for the process's sake, which is very + sordid and smells badly, but for his own sake, to elucidate his own course + a little in the intricacies now coming or come upon him and me? + </p> + <p> + 1. ELECTOR OF BAVARIA.—Karl Albert of Baiern is by some counted as a + Signer of the Pragmatic Sanction, and by others not; which occasions that + discrepancy of sum-total in the Books. And he did once, in a sense, sign + it, he and his Brother of Koln; but, before the late Kaiser's death, he + had openly drawn back from it again; and counted himself a Non-signer. + Signer or not, he, for his part, lost no moment (but rather the contrary) + in openly protesting against it, and signifying that he never would + acknowledge it. Of this the reader saw something, at the time of her + Hungarian Majesty's Accession. Date and circumstances of it, which deserve + remembering, are more precisely these: October 20th, 1740, Karl Albert's + Ambassador, Perusa by name, wrote to Karl from Vienna, announcing that the + Kaiser was just dead. From Munchen, on the 21st, Karl Albert, anticipating + such an event, but not yet knowing it, orders Perusa, in CASE of the + Kaiser's decease, which was considered probable at Munchen, to demand + instant audience of the proper party (Kanzler Sinzendorf), and there + openly lodge his Protest. Which Perusa did, punctually in all points,—no + moment LOST, but rather the contrary, as we said! Let poor Karl Albert + have what benefit there is in that fact. He was, of all the Anti-Pragmatic + Covenant-Breakers (if he ever fairly were such), the only one that + proceeded honorably, openly and at once, in the matter; and he was, of + them all, by far the most unfortunate. + </p> + <p> + This is the poor gentleman whom Belleisle had settled on for being Kaiser. + And Kaiser he became; to his frightful sorrow, as it proved: his crown + like a crown of burning iron, or little better! There is little of him in + the Books, nor does one desire much: a tall aquiline type of man; much the + gentleman in aspect; and in reality, of decorous serious deportment, and + the wish to be high and dignified. He had a kind of right, too, in the + Anti-Pragmatic sense; and was come of Imperial kindred,—Kaiser + Ludwig the Bavarian, and Kaiser Rupert of the Pfalz, called Rupert KLEMM, + or Rupert Smith's-vice, if any reader now remember him, were both of his + ancestors. He might fairly pretend to Kaisership and to Austrian + ownership,—had he otherwise been equal to such enterprises. But, in + all ambitions and attempts, howsoever grounded otherwise, there is this + strict question on the threshold: "Are you of weight for the adventure; + are not you far too light for it?" Ambitious persons often slur this + question; and get squelched to pieces, by bringing the Twelve Labors of + Hercules on Unherculean backs! Not every one is so lucky as our Friedrich + in that particular,—whose back, though with difficulty, held out. + Which poor Karl Albert's never had much likelihood to do. Few mortals in + any age have offered such an example of the tragedies which Ambition has + in store for her votaries; and what a matter Hope FULFILLED may be to the + unreflecting Son of Adam. + </p> + <p> + We said, he had a kind of right to Austria, withal. He descended by the + female line from Kaiser Ferdinand I. (as did Kur-Sachsen, though by a + younger Daughter than Karl Albert's Ancestress); and he appealed to Kaiser + Ferdinand's Settlement of the Succession, as a higher than any subsequent + Pragmatic could be. Upon which there hangs an incident; still famous to + German readers. Karl Albert, getting into Public Argument in this way, + naturally instructed Perusa to demand sight of Kaiser Ferdinand's Last + Will, the tenor of which was known by authentic Copy in Munchen, if not + elsewhere among the kindred. After some delay, Perusa (4th November, + 1740), summoning the other excellencies to witness, got sight of the Will: + to his horror, there stood, in the cardinal passage, instead of + "MUNNLICHE" (male descendants), "EHELICHE" (lawfully begotten + descendants),—fatal to Karl Albert's claim! Nor could he PROVE that + the Parchment had been scraped or altered, though he kept trying and + examining for some days. He withdrew thereupon, by order, straightway from + Vienna; testifying in dumb-show what he thought. "It is your Copy that is + false," cried the Vienna people: "it has been foisted on you, with this + wrong word in it; done by somebody (your friend, the Excellency Herr von + Hartmann, shall we guess?), wishing to curry favor with ambitious foolish + persons!" Such was the Austrian story. Perhaps in Munchen itself their + Copyist was not known;—for aught I learn, the Copy was made long + since, and the Copyist dead. Hartmann, named as Copyist by the Vienna + people, made emphatic public answer: "Never did I copy it, or see it!" And + there rose great argument, which is not yet quite ended, as to the + question, "Original falsified, or Copy falsified?"—and the modern + vote, I believe, rather clearly is, That the Austrian Officials had done + it—in a case of necessity. [Adelung, ii. 150-154 (14th-20th + November, 1740), gives the public facts, without commentary. Hormayr (<i>Anemonen + aus dem Tagebuch eines alten Pilgersmannes,</i> Jena, 1845, i. 162-169,—our + old Hormayr of the AUSTRIAN PLUTARCH, but now Anonymous, and in Opposition + humor) considers the case nearly proved against Austria, and that + Bartenstein and one Bessel, a pillar of the Church, were concerned in it.] + Possible? "But you will lose your soul!" said the Parson once to a poor + old Gentlewoman, English by Nation, who refused, in dying, to contradict + some domestic fiction, to give up some domestic secret: "But you will lose + your soul, Madam!"—"Tush, what signifies my poor silly soul compared + with the honor of the family?"— + </p> + <p> + 2. KING FRIEDRICH;—King Friedrich may be taken as the Anti-Pragmatic + next in order of time. He too lost not a moment, and proceeded openly; no + quirking to be charged upon him. His account of himself in this matter + always was: "By the Treaty of Wusterhausen, 1726, unquestionably Prussia + undertook to guarantee Pragmatic Sanction; the late Kaiser undertaking in + return, by the same Treaty, to secure Berg and Julich to Prussia, and to + have some progress made in it within six months from signing. And + unquestionably also, the late Kaiser did thereupon, or even had already + done, precisely the reverse; namely, secured, so far as in him was + possible, Berg and Julich to Kur-Pfalz. Such Treaty, having in this way + done suicide, is dead and become zero: and I am free, in respect of + Pragmatic Sanction, to do whatever shall seem good to me. My wish was, and + would still be, To maintain Pragmatic Sanction, and even to support it by + 100,000 men, and secure the Election of the Grand-Duke to the Kaisership,—were + my claims on Silesia once liquidated. But these have no concern with + Pragmatic Sanction, for or against: these are good against whoever may + fall Heir to the House of Austria, or to Silesia: and my intention is, + that the strong hand, so long clenched upon my rights, shall open itself + by this favorable opportunity, and give them out." That is Friedrich's + case. And in truth the jury everywhere has to find,—so soon as + instructed, which is a long process in some sections of it (in England, + for example),—That Pragmatic Sanction has not, except helpless + lamentations, "Alas that YOU should be here to insist upon your rights, + and to open fists long closed!"—the least, word to say to Friedrich. + </p> + <p> + 3. TERMAGANT OF SPAIN.—Perhaps the most distracted of the + Anti-Pragmatic subterfuges was that used by Spain, when the She-dragon or + Termagant saw good to eat her Covenant; which was at a very early stage. + The Termagant's poor Husband is a Bourbon, not a Hapsburg at all: "But has + not he fallen heir to the Spanish Hapsburgs; become all one as they, an + ALTER-EGO of the Spanish Hapsburgs?" asks she. "And the Austrian Hapsburgs + being out, do not the Spanish Hapsburgs come in? He, I say, this + BOURBON-Hapsburg, he is the real Hapsburg, now that the Austrian Branch is + gone; President he of the Golden Fleece [which a certain "Archduchess," + Maria Theresa, had been meddling with]; Proprietor, he, of Austrian Italy, + and of all or most things Austrian!"—and produces Documentary + Covenants of Philip II. with his Austrian Cousins; "to which Philip," said + the Termagant, "we Bourbons surely, if you consider it, are Heir and + Alter-Ego!" Is not, this a curious case of testamentary right; human greed + obliterating personal identity itself? + </p> + <p> + Belleisle had a great deal of difficulty, keeping the Termagant back till + things were ripe. Her hope practically was, Baby Carlos being prosperous + King of Naples this long while, to get the Milanese for another Baby she + has,—Baby Philip, whom she once thought of making Pope;—and + she is eager beyond measure to have a stroke at the Milanese. "Wait!" + hoarsely whispers Belleisle to her; and she can scarcely wait. Maria + Theresa's Note of Announcement "New Queen of Hungary, may it please you!" + the French, as we saw, were very long in answering. The Termagant did not + answer it at all; complained on the contrary, "What is this, Madam! Golden + Fleece, you?"—and, early in March, informed mankind that she was + Spanish Hapsburg, the genuine article; and sent off Excellency Montijos, a + little man of great expense, to assist at the Election of a proper Kaiser, + and be useful to Belleisle in the great things now ahead. [Spain's + Golden-Fleece pretensions, 17th January, 1741 (Adelung, ii. 233, 234); + "Publishes at Paris," in March (ib. 293); and on the 23d March accredits + Montijos (ib. 293): Italian War, held back by Belleisle and the English + Fleets, cannot get begun till October following.] + </p> + <p> + 4. KING OF POLAND.—The most ticklish card in Belleisle's game, and + probably the greatest fool of these Anti-Pragmatic Dozen, was Kur-Sachsen, + King of Poland. He, like Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, derives from Kaiser + Ferdinand, though by a YOUNGER Daughter, and has a like claim on the + Austrian Succession; claim nullified, however, by that small circumstance + itself, but which he would fain mend by one makeshift or another; and + thinks always it must surely be good for something. This is August III., + this King of Poland, as readers know; son of August the Strong: Papa made + him change to the Catholic religion so called,—for the sake of + getting Poland, which proves a very poor possession to him. Who knows what + damage the poor creature may have got by that sad operation;—which + all Saxony sighed to the heart on hearing of; for it was always hoped he + had some real religion, and would deliver them from that Babylonish + Captivity again! He married Kaiser Joseph I.'s Daughter,—Maria + Theresa's Cousin, and by an Elder Brother;—this, too, ought surely + to be something in the Anti-Pragmatic line? It is true, Kur-Baiern has to + Wife another Daughter of Kaiser Joseph's; but she is the younger: "I am + senior THERE, at least!" thinks the foolish man. + </p> + <p> + Too true, he had finally, in past years, to sign Pragmatic Sanction; no + help for it, no hope without it, in that Polish-Election time. He will + have to eat his Covenant, therefore, as the first step in Anti-Pragmatism; + and he is extremely in doubt as to the How, sometimes as to the Whether. + And shifts and whirls, accordingly, at a great rate, in these months and + years; now on Maria Theresa's side, deluded by shadows from Vienna, and + getting into Russian Partition-Treaties; anon tickled by Belleisle into + the reverse posture; then again reversing. An idle, easy-tempered, yet + greedy creature, who, what with religious apostasy in early manhood, what + with flaccid ambitions since, and idle gapings after shadows, has lost + helm in this world; and will make a very bad voyage for self and country. + </p> + <p> + His Palinurus and chief Counsellor, at present and afterwards, is a Count + von Bruhl, once page to August the Strong; now risen to such height: Bruhl + of the three hundred and sixty-five suits of clothes; whom it has grown + wearisome even to laugh at. A cunning little wretch, they say, and of deft + tongue; but surely among the unwisest of all the Sons of Adam in that day, + and such a Palinurus as seldom steered before. Kur-Sachsen, being + Reichs-Vicar in the Northern Parts,—(Kur-Baiern and Kur-Pfalz, as + friends and good Wittelsbacher Cousins surely ought, in a crisis like + this, have agreed to be JOINT-Vicars in the Southern Parts, and no longer + quarrel upon it),—Kur-Sachsen has a good deal to do in the Election + preludings, formalities and prearrangements; and is capable, as Kur-Pfalz + and Cousin always are, of serving as chisel to Belleisle's mallet, in such + points, which will plentifully turn up. + </p> + <p> + 5. KING OF SARDINIA.—Reichs-Vicar in the Italian Parts is Charles + Amadeus King of Sardinia (tough old Victor's Son, whom we have heard of): + an office mostly honorary; suitable to the important individual who keeps + the Door of the Alps. Charles Amadeus had signed the Pragmatic Sanction; + but eats his Covenant, like the others, on example of France;—having, + as he now bethinks himself, claims on the Milanese. There are two + claimants on the Milanese, then; the Spanish Termagant, and he? Yes; and + they will have their difficulties, their extensive tusslings in Italian + War and otherwise, to make an adjustment of it; and will give Belleisle + (at least the Doorkeeper will) an immensity of trouble, in years coming. + </p> + <p> + In this way do the Pragmatic people eat their own Covenant, one after the + other, and are not ashamed;—till all have eaten, or as good as + eaten; and, almost within year and day, Pragmatic Sanction is a vanished + quantity; and poor Kaiser Karl's life-labor is not worth the sheepskin and + stationery it cost him. History reports in sum, That "nobody kept the + Pragmatic Sanction; that the few [strictly speaking, the one] who acted by + it, would have done precisely the same, though there had never been such a + Document in existence." To George II., it is, was and will be, the + Keystone of Nature, the true Anti-French palladium of mankind; and he, + dragging the unwilling Dutch after him, will do great things for it: but + nobody else does anything at all. Might we hope to bid adieu to it, in + this manner, and never to mention it again!— + </p> + <p> + Document more futile there had not been in Nature, nor will be. Friedrich + had not yet fought at Mollwitz in assertion of his Silesian claim, when + the poor Pope—poor soul, who had no Covenant to eat, but took + pattern by others—claimed, in solemn Allocution, Parma and Piacenza + for the Holy See. [Adelung, ii. 376 (5th April, 1741)] All the world is + claiming. Of the Court of Wurtemberg and its Protestings, and "extensive + Deduction" about nothing at all, we do not speak; [Ib. ii. 195, 403.] nor + of Montmorency claiming Luxemburg, of which he is Titular "Duke;" nor of + Monsignore di Guastalla claiming Mantua; nor of—In brief, the fences + are now down; a broad French gap in those miles of elaborate paling, which + are good only as firewood henceforth, and any ass may rush in and claim a + bellyful. Great are the works of Belleisle!— + </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> + CONCERNING THE IMPERIAL ELECTION (Kaiserwahl) THAT IS TO BE: CANDIDATES + FOR KAISERSHIP. + </h2> + <p> + At equal step with the ruining of Pragmatic Sanction goes on that spoiling + of Grand-Duke Franz's Election to the Kaisership: these two operations run + parallel; or rather, under different forms, they are one and the same + operation. "To assist, as a Most Christian neighbor ought, in picking out + the fit Kaiser," was Belleisle's ostensible mission; and indeed this does + include virtually his whole errand. Till three months after Belleisle's + appearance in the business, Grand-Duke Franz never doubted but he should + be Kaiser; Friedrich's offers to, help him in it he had scorned, as the + offer of a fifth wheel to his chariot, already rushing on with four. "Here + is Kur-Bohmen, Austria's own vote," counts the Grand-Duke; "Kur-Sachsen, + doing Prussian-Partition Treaties for us; Kur-Trier, our fat little + Schonborn, Austrian to the bone; Kur-Mainz, important chairman, regulator + of the Conclave; here are Four Electors for us: then also Kur-Pfalz, he + surely, in return for the Berg-Julich service; finally, and liable to no + question Kur-Hanover, little George of England with his endless guineas + and resources, a little Jack-the-Giantkiller, greater than all Giants, + Paladin of the Pragmatic and us: here are Six Electors of the Nine. Let + Brandenburg and the Bavarian Couple, Kur-Baiern and Kur-Koln, do their + pleasure!" This was Grand-Duke Franz's calculation. + </p> + <p> + By the time Belleisle had been three months in Germany, the Grand-Duke's + notion had changed; and he began "applying to the Sea-Powers," "to + Russia," and all round. In Belleisle's sixth month, the Grand-Duke, after + such demolition of Pragmatic, and such disasters and contradictions as had + been, saw his case to be desperate; though he still stuck to it, + Austrian-like,—or rather, Austria for him stuck to it, the + Grand-Duke being careless of such things;—and indeed, privately, + never did give in, even AFTER the Election, as we shall have to note. + </p> + <p> + The Reich itself being mainly a Phantasm or Enchanted Wiggery, its + "Kaiser-Choosing" (KAISERWAHL),—now getting under way at Frankfurt, + with preliminary outskirts at Regensburg, and in the Chancery of Mainz—is + very phantasmal, not to say ghastly; and forbidding, not inviting, to the + human eye. Nine Kurfursts, Choosers of Teutschland's real Captain, in none + of whom is there much thought for Teutschland or its interests,—and + indeed in hardly more than One of whom (Prussian Friedrich, if readers + will know it) is there the least thought that way; but, in general, much + indifference to things divine or diabolic, and thought for one's own + paltry profits and losses only! So it has long been; and so it now is, + more than usual.—Consider again, are Enchanted Wiggeries a beautiful + thing, in this extremely earnest World?— + </p> + <p> + The Kaiserwahl is an affair depending much on processions, proclamations, + on delusions optical, acoustic; on palaverings, manoeuvrings, holdings + back, then hasty pushings forward; and indeed is mainly, in more senses + than one, under guidance of the Prince of the Power of the Air. + Unbeautiful, like a World-Parliament of Nightmares (if the reader could + conceive such a thing); huge formless, tongueless monsters of that + species, doing their "three readings,"—under Presidency or + chief-pipership as above! Belleisle, for his part, is consummately + skilful, and manages as only himself could. Keeps his game well hidden, + not a hint or whisper of it except in studied proportions; spreads out his + lines, his birdlime; tickles, entices, astonishes; goes his rounds, like a + subtle Fowler, taking captive the minds of men; a Phoebus-Apollo, god of + melody and of the sun, filling his net with birds. + </p> + <p> + I believe, old Kur-Pfalz, for the sake of French neighborhood, and + Berg-and-Julich, were there nothing more, was very helpful to him;—in + March past, when the Election was to have been, when it would have gone at + once in favor of the Grand-Duke, Kur-Pfalz got the Election "postponed a + little." Postponing, procrastinating; then again pushing violently on, + when things are ripe: Belleisle has only to give signal to a fit + Kur-Pfalz. In all Kurfurst Courts, the French Ambassadors sing diligently + to the tune Belleisle sets them; and Courts give ear, or will do, when the + charmer himself arrives. + </p> + <p> + Kur-Sachsen, as above hinted, was his most delicate operation, in the + charming or trout-tickling way. And Kur-Sachsen—and poor Saxony, + ever since—knows if he did not do it well! "Deduct this Kur-Sachsen + from the Austrian side," calculates Belleisle; "add him to ours, it is + almost an equality of votes. Kur-Baiern, our own Imperial Candidate; + Kur-Koln, his Brother; Kur-Pfalz, by genealogy his Cousin (not to mention + Berg-Julich matters); here are three Wittelsbachers, knit together; three + sure votes; King Friedrich, Kur-Brandenburg, there is a fourth; and if + Kur-Sachsen would join?" But who knows if Kur-Sachsen will! The poor soul + has himself thoughts of being Kaiser; then no thoughts, and again some: + thoughts which Belleisle knows how to handle. "Yes, Kaiser you, your + Majesty; excellent!" And sets to consider the methods: "Hm, ha, hm! Think, + your Majesty: ought not that Bohemian Vote to be excluded, for one thing? + Kur-Bohmen is fallen into the distaff, Maria Theresa herself cannot vote. + Surely question will rise, Whether distaff can, validly, hand it over to + distaff's husband, as they are about doing? Whether, in fact, Kur-Bohmen + is not in abeyance for this time?" "So!" answered Kur-Sachsen, + Reichs-Vicarius. And thereupon meetings were summoned; Nightmare + Committees sat on this matter under the Reichs-Vicar, slowly hatching it; + and at length brought out, "Kur-Bohmen NOT transferable by the distaff; + Kur-Bohmen in abeyance for this time." Greatly to the joy of Belleisle; + infinitely to the chagrin of her Hungarian Majesty,—who declared it + a crying injustice (though I believe legally done in every point); and by + and by, even made it a plea of Nullity, destructive to the Election + altogether, when her Hungarian Majesty's affairs looked up again, and the + world would listen to Austrian sophistries and obstinacies. This was an + essential service from Kur-Sachsen. [Began, indistinctly, "in March" + (1741); languid "for some months" (Adelung, ii. 292); "November 4th," was + settled in the negative, "Kur-Bohmen not to have a vote" (<i>Maria + Theresiens Leben,</i> p. 47 n.)]. + </p> + <p> + After which Kur-Sachsen's own poor Kaisership died away into "Hm, ha, hm!" + again, with a grateful Belleisle. Who nevertheless dexterously retained + Kur-Sachsen as ally; tickling the poor wretch with other baits. Of the + Kaiser he had really meant all along, there was dead silence, except + between the parties; no whisper heard, for six months after it had been + agreed upon; none, for two or near three months after formal settlement, + and signing and sealing. Karl Albert's Treaty with Belleisle was 18th May, + 1741; and he did not declare himself a Candidate till 1st-4th July + following. [Adelung, ii. 357, 421.] Belleisle understands the Nightmare + Parliaments, the electioneering art, and how to deal with Enchanted + Wiggeries. More perfect master, in that sad art, has not turned up on + record to one's afflicted mind. Such a Sun-god, and doing such a + Scavengerism! Belleisle, in the sixth month (end of August, 1741), feels + sure of a majority. How Belleisle managed, after that, to checkmate George + of England, and make even George vote for him, and the Kaiserwahl to be + unanimous against Grand-Duke Franz, will be seen. Great are Belleisle's + doings in this world, if they were useful either to God or man, or to + Belleisle himself first of all!— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TEUTSCHLAND TO BE CARVED INTO SOMETHING OF SYMMETRY, SHOULD THE BELLEISLE + ENTERPRISES SUCCEED. + </h2> + <p> + Belleisle's schemes, in the rear of all this labor, are grandiose to a + degree. Men wonder at the First Napoleon's mad notions in that kind. But + no Napoleon, in the fire of the revolutionary element; no Sham-Napoleon, + in the ashes of it: hardly a Parisian Journalist of imaginative turn, + speculating on the First Nation of the Universe and what its place is,—could + go higher than did this grandiose Belleisle; a man with clear thoughts in + his head, under a torpid Louis XV. Let me see, thinks Belleisle. Germany + with our Bavarian for Kaiser; Germany to be cut into, say, Four little + Kingdoms: 1. Bavaria with the lean Kaiserhood; 2. Saxony, fattened by its + share of Austria; 3. Prussia the like; 4. Austria itself, shorn down as + above, and shoved out to the remote Hungarian parts: VOILA. These, not + reckoning Hanover, which perhaps we cannot get just yet, are Four pretty + Sovereignties. Three, or Two, of these hireable by gold, it is to be + hoped. And will not France have a glorious time of it; playing master of + the revels there, egging one against the other! Yes, Germany is then, what + Nature designed it, a Province of France: little George of Hanover + himself, and who knows but England after him, may one day find their fate + inevitable, like the others. O Louis, O my King, is not this an outlook? + Louis le Grand was great; but you are likely to be Louis the Grandest; and + here is a World shaped, at last, after the real pattern! + </p> + <p> + Such are, in sad truth, Belleisle's schemes; not yet entirely hatched into + daylight or articulation; but becoming articulate, to himself and others, + more and more. Reader, keep them well in mind: I had rather not speak of + them again. They are essential to our Story; but they are afflictively + vain, contrary to the Laws of Fact; and can, now or henceforth, in nowise + be. My friend, it was not Beelzebub, nor Mephistopheles, nor + Autolyeus-Apollo that built this world and us; it was Another. And you + will get your crown well rapped, M. le Marechal, for so forgetting that + fact! France is an extremely pretty creature; but this of making France + the supreme Governor and God's-Vicegerent of Nations, is, was, and + remains, one of the maddest notions. France at its ideal BEST, and with a + demi-god for King over it, were by no means fit for such function; nay of + many Nations is eminently the unfittest for it. And France at its WORST or + nearly so, with a Louis XV. over it by way of demi-god—O Belleisle, + what kind of France is this; shining in your grandiose imagination, in + such contrast to the stingy fact: like a creature consisting of two + enormous wings, five hundred yards in potential extent, and no body bigger + than that of a common cock, weighing three pounds avoirdupois. Cock with + his own gizzard much out of sorts, too! + </p> + <p> + It was "early in March" [Adelung, ii. 305.] when Belleisle, the Artificial + Sun-god, quitted Paris on this errand. He came by the Moselle road; called + on the Rhine Kurfursts, Koln, Trier, Mainz; dazzling them, so far as + possible, with his splendor for the mind and for the eye. He proceeded + next to Dresden, which is a main card: and where there is immense + manipulation needed, and the most delicate trout-tickling; this being a + skittish fish, and an important, though a foolish. Belleisle was at + Dresden when the Battle of Mollwitz fell out: what a windfall into + Belleisle's game! He ran across to Friedrich at Mollwitz, to congratulate, + to consult,—as we shall see anon. + </p> + <p> + Belleisle, I am informed, in this preliminary Tour of his, speaks only, or + hints only (except in the proper quarters), of Election Business; of the + need there perhaps is, on the part of an Age growing in liberal ideas, to + exclude the Austrian Grand-Duke; to curb that ponderous, harsh, ungenerous + House of Austria, too long lording it over generous Germany; and to set up + some better House,—Bavaria, for example; Saxony, for example? Of his + plans in the rear of this he is silent; speaks only by hints, by + innuendoes, to the proper parties. But ripening or ripe, plans do lie to + rear; far-stretching, high-soaring; in part, dark even at Versailles; + darkly fermenting, not yet developed, in Belleisle's own head; only the + Future Kaiser a luminous fixed point, shooting beams across the grandiose + Creation-Process going on there. + </p> + <p> + By the end of August, 1741, Belleisle had become certain of his game; 24th + January, 1742, he saw himself as if winner. Before August, 1741, he had + got his Electors manipulated, tickled to his purpose, by the witchery of a + Phoebus-Autolycus or Diplomatic Sun-god; majority secured for a Bavarian + Kaiser, and against an Austrian one. And in the course of that month,—what + was still more considerable!—he was getting, under mild pretexts, + about a hundred thousand armed Frenchmen gently wafted over upon the soil + of Germany. Two complete French Armies, 40,000 each (PLUS their Reserves), + one over the Upper Rhine, one over the Lower; about which we shall hear a + great deal in time coming! Under mild pretexts: "Peaceable as lambs, don't + you observe? Merely to protect Freedom of Election, in this fine neighbor + country; and as allies to our Friend of Bavaria, should he chance to be + new Kaiser, and to persist in his modest claims otherwise." This was his + crowning stroke. Which finished straightway the remnants of Pragmatic + Sanction and of every obstacle; and in a shining manner swept the roads + clear. And so, on January 24th following, the Election, long held back by + Belleisle's manoeuvrings, actually takes effect,—in favor of Karl + Albert, our invaluable Bavarian Friend. Austria is left solitary in the + Reich; Pragmatic Sanction, Keystone of Nature, which Belleisle and France + had sworn to keep in, is openly torn out by Belleisle and by France and + the majority of mankind; and Belleisle sees himself, to all appearance, + winner. + </p> + <p> + This was the harvest reaped by Belleisle, within year and day; after + endless manoeuvring, such as only a Belleisle in the character of + Diplomatic Sun-god could do. Beyond question, the distracted ambitions of + several German Princes have been kindled by Belleisle; what we called the + rotten thatch of Germany is well on fire. This diligent sowing in the + Reich—to judge by the 100,000, armed men here, and the counter + hundreds of thousands arming—has been a pretty stroke of + dragon's-teeth husbandry on Belleisle's part. + </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> + BELLEISLE ON VISIT TO FRIEDRICH; SEES FRIEDRICH BESIEGE BRIEG, WITH + EFFECT. + </h2> + <p> + It was April 26th when Marechal de Belleisle, with his Brother the + Chevalier, with Valori and other bright accompaniment, arrived in + Friedrich's Camp. "Camp of Mollwitz" so named; between Mollwitz and Brieg; + where Friedrich is still resting, in a vigilant expectant condition; and, + except it be the taking of Brieg, has nothing military on hand. Wednesday, + 26th April, the distinguished Excellency—escorted for the last three + miles by 120 Horse, and the other customary ceremonies—makes his + appearance: no doubt an interesting one to Friedrich, for this and the + days next following. Their talk is not reported anywhere: nor is it said + with exactitude how far, whether wholly now, or only in part now, + Belleisle expounded his sublime ideas to Friedrich; or what precise + reception they got. Friedrich himself writes long afterwards of the event; + but, as usual, without precision, except in general effect. Now, or some + time after, Friedrich says he found Belleisle, one morning, with brow + clouded, knit into intense meditation: "Have you had bad news, M. le + Marechal?" asks Friedrich. "No, oh no! I am considering what we shall make + of that Moravia?"—"Moravia; Hm!" Friedrich suppresses the glance + that is rising to his eyes: "Can't you give it to Saxony, then? Buy Saxony + into the Plan with it!" "Excellent," answers Belleisle, and unpuckers his + stern brow again. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich thinks highly, and about this time often says so, of the man + Belleisle: but as to the man's effulgencies, and wide-winged Plans, none + is less seduced by them than Friedrich: "Your chickens are not hatched, M. + le Marechal; some of us hope they never will be,—though the + incubation-process may have uses for some of us!" Friedrich knows that the + Kaisership given to any other than Grand-Duke Franz will be mostly an + imaginary quantity. "A grand Symbolic Cloak in the eyes of the vulgar; but + empty of all things, empty even of cash, for the last Two Hundred Years: + Austria can wear it to advantage; no other mortal. Hang it on Austria, + which is a solid human figure,—so." And Friedrich wishes, and hopes + always, Maria Theresa will agree with him, and get it for her Husband. + "But to hang it on Bavaria, which is a lean bare pole? Oh, M. le Marechal!—And + those Four Kingdoms of yours: what a brood of poultry, those! Chickens + happily yet UNhatched;—eggs addle, I should venture to hope:—only + do go on incubating, M. le Marechal!" That is Friedrich's notion of the + thing. Belleisle stayed with Friedrich "a few days," say the Books. After + which, Friedrich, finding Belleisle too winged a creature, corresponded, + in preference, with Fleury and the Head Sources;—who are always + intensely enough concerned about those "aces" falling to him, and how the + same are to be "shared." [Details in <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 912, + 962, 916; in <i>OEuvres de Frederic,</i> ii. 79, 80; &c.] + </p> + <p> + Instead of parade or review in honor of Belleisle, there happened to be a + far grander military show, of the practical kind. The Siege of Brieg, the + Opening of the Trenches before Brieg, chanced to be just ready, on + Belleisle's arrival:—and would have taken effect, we find, that very + night, April 26th, had not a sudden wintry outburst, or "tempest of + extraordinary violence," prevented. Next night, night of the 27th-28th, + under shine of the full Moon, in the open champaign country, on both sides + of the River, it did take effect. An uncommonly fine thing of its sort; as + one can still see by reading Friedrich's strict Program for it,—a + most minute, precise and all-anticipating Program, which still interests + military men, as Friedrich's first Piece in that kind,—and comparing + therewith the Narratives of the performance which ensued. [<i>Ordre und + Dispositiones (SIC), wornach sich der General-Lieutenant von Kalckstein + bei Eroffnung der Trancheen, &c. (Oeuvres de Frederic,</i> xxx. + 39-44): the Program. <i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. 916-928: the Narrative.] + </p> + <p> + Kalkstein, Friedrich's old Tutor, is Captain of the Siege; under him + Jeetz, long used to blockading about Brieg. The silvery Oder has its due + bridges for communication; all is in readiness, and waiting manifold as in + the slip,—and there is Engineer Walrave, our Glogau Dutch friend, + who shall, at the right instant, "with his straw-rope (STROHSEIL) mark out + the first parallel," and be swift about it! There are 2,000 diggers, with + the due implements, fascines, equipments; duly divided, into Twelve equal + Parties, and "always two spademen to one pickman" (which indicates soft + sandy ground): these, with the escorting or covering battalions, Twelve + Parties they also, on both sides of the River, are to be in their several + stations at the fixed moments; man, musket, mattock, strictly exact. They + are to advance at Midnight; the covering battalions so many yards ahead: + no speaking is permissible, nor the least tobacco-smoking; no drum to be + allowed for fear of accident; no firing, unless you are fired on. The + covering battalions are all to "lie flat, so soon as they get to their + ground, all but the Officers and sentries." To rear of these stand Walrave + and assistants, silent, with their straw-rope;—silent, then anon + swift, and in whisper or almost by dumb-show, "Now, then!" After whom the + diggers, fascine-men, workers, each in his kind, shall fall to, silently, + and dig and work as for life. + </p> + <p> + All which is done; exact as clock-work: beautiful to see, or half see, and + speak of to your Belleisle, in the serene moonlight! Half an hour's + marching, half an hour's swift digging: the Town-clock of Brieg was hardly + striking One, when "they had dug themselves in." And, before daybreak, + they had, in two batteries, fifty cannon in position, with a proper set of + mortars (other side the River),—ready to astonish Piccolomini and + his Austrians; who had not had the least whisper of them, all night, + though it was full moon. Graf von Piccolomini, an active gallant person, + had refused terms, some time before; and was hopefully intent on doing his + best. And now, suddenly, there rose round Piccolomini such a tornado of + cannonading and bombardment, day after day, always "three guns of ours + playing against one of theirs," that his guns got ruined; that "his + hay-magazines took fire,"—and the Schloss itself, which was adjacent + to them, took fire (a sad thing to Friedrich, who commanded pause, that + they might try quenching, but in vain):—and that, in short, + Piccolomini could not stand it; but on the 4th of May, precisely after one + week's experience, hung out the white flag, and "beat chamade at 3 of the + afternoon." He was allowed to march out next morning, with escort to + Neisse; parole pledged, Not to serve against us for two years coming. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich in person (I rather guess, Belleisle not now at his side) saw + the Garrison march out;—kept Piccolomini to dinner; a gallant + Piccolomini, who had hoped to do better, but could not. This was a pretty + enough piece of Siege-practice. Torstenson, with his Swedes, had furiously + besieged Brieg in 1642, a hundred years ago; and could do nothing to it. + Nothing, but withdraw again, futile; leaving 1,400 of his people dead. + Friedrich, the Austrian Garrison once out, set instantly about repairing + the works, and improving them into impregnability,—our ugly friend + Walrave presiding over that operation too. + </p> + <p> + Belleisle, we may believe, so long as he continued, was full of polite + wonder over these things; perhaps had critical advices here and there, + which would be politely received. It is certain he came out extremely + brilliant, gifted and agreeable, in the eyes of Friedrich; who often + afterwards, not in the very strictest language, calls him a great man, + great soldier, and by far the considerablest person you French have. It is + no less certain, Belleisle displayed, so far as displayable, his + magnificent Diplomatic Ware to the best advantage. To which, we perceive, + the young King answered, "Magnificent, indeed!" but would not bite all at + once; and rather preferred corresponding with Fleury, on business points, + keeping the matter dexterously hanging, in an illuminated element of hope + and contingency, for the present. + </p> + <p> + Belleisle, after we know not how many days, returned to Dresden; perfected + his work at Dresden, or shoved it well forward, with "that Moravia" as + bait. "Yes, King of Moravia, you, your Polish Majesty, shall be!"—and + it is said the simple creature did so style himself, by and by, in certain + rare Manifestoes, which still exist in the cabinets of the curious. + Belleisle next, after only a few days, went to Munchen; to operate on Karl + Albert Kur-Baiern, a willing subject. And, in short, Belleisle whirled + along incessantly, torch in hand; making his "circuit of the German + Courts,"—details of said circuit not to be followed by us farther. + One small thing only I have found rememberable; probably true, though + vague. At Munchen, still more out at Nymphenburg, the fine Country-Palace + not far off, there was of course long conferencing, long consulting, + secret and intense, between Belleisle with his people and Karl Albert with + his. Karl Albert, as we know, was himself willing. But a certain Baron von + Unertl—heavy-built Bavarian of the old type, an old stager in the + Bavarian Ministries—was of far other disposition. One day, out at + Nymphenburg, Unertl got to the Council-room, while Belleisle and Company + were there: Unertl found the apartment locked, absolutely no admittance; + and heard voices, the Kurfurst's and French voices, eagerly at work + inside. "Admit me, Gracious Herr; UM GOTTES WILLEN, me!" No admission. + Unertl, in despair, rushed round to the garden side of the Apartment; + desperately snatched a ladder, set it up to the window, and conjured the + Gracious Highness: "For the love of Heaven, my ALLERGNADIGSTER, don't! + Have no trade with those French! Remember your illustrious Father, + Kurfurst Max, in the Eugene-Marlborough time, what a job he made of it, + building actual architecture on THEIR big promises, which proved mere + acres of gilt balloon!" [Hormayr, <i>Anemonen</i> (cited above), ii. 152.] + Words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect on Karl Albert. + </p> + <p> + The rest of Belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and extensive + travellings, for he had many first and last in this matter, shall be left + to the fancy of the reader. May 18th, he made formal Treaty with Karl + Albert: Treaty of Nymphenburg, "Karl Albert to be Kaiser; Bavaria, with + Austria Proper added to it, a Kingdom; French armies, French moneys, and + other fine items." [Given in Adelung, ii. 359.] Treaty to be kept dead + secret; King Friedrich, for the present, would not accede. [Given in + Adelung, ii. 421.] June 25th, after some preliminary survey of the place, + Belleisle made his Entry into Frankfurt: magnificent in the extreme. And + still did not rest there; but had to rush about, back to Versailles, to + Dresden, hither, thither: it was not till the last day of July that he + fairly took up his abode in Frankfurt; and—the Election eggs, so to + speak, being now all laid—set himself to hatch the same. A process + which lasted him six months longer, with curious phenomena to mankind. Not + till the middle of August did he bring those 80,000 Armed Frenchmen across + the Rhine, "to secure peace in those parts, and freedom of voting." Not + till November 4th had Kur-Sachsen, with the Nightmares, finished that + important problem of the Bohemian Vote, "Bohemian Vote EXCLUDED for this + time;"—after which all was ready, though still not in the least + hurry. November 20th, came the first actual "Election-Conference + (WAHL-CONFERENZ)" in the Romer at Frankfurt; to which succeeded Two Months + more of conferrings (upon almost nothing at all): and finally, 24th + January, 1742, came the Election itself, Karl Albert the man; poor wretch, + who never saw another good day in this world. + </p> + <p> + Belleisle during those six months was rather high and airy, extremely + magnificent; but did not want discretion: "more like a Kurfurst than an + Ambassador;" capable of "visiting Kur-Mainz, with servants purposely in + OLD liveries,"—where the case needed old, where Kur-Mainz needed + snubbing; not otherwise. [Buchholz, ii. 57 n.] "The Marechal de + Belleisle," says an Eye-witness, of some fame in those days, "comes out in + a variety of parts, among us here; plays now the General, now the + Philosopher, now the Minister of State, now the French Marquis;—and + does them all to perfection. Surely a master in his art. His Brother the + Chevalier is one of the sensiblest and best-trained persons you can see. + He has a penetrating intellect; is always occupied, and full of great + schemes; and has nevertheless a staid kind of manner. He is one of the + most important Personages here; and in all things his Brother's right + hand." [Von Loen, <i>Kleine Schriften</i> (cited in Adelung, ii. 400).] In + Frankfurt, both Belleisle and his Brother were much respected, the Brother + especially, as men of dignified behavior and shining qualities; but as to + their hundred and thirty French Lords and other Valetry, these by their + extravagances and excesses (AUSSCHWEIFUNGEN) made themselves extremely + detestable, it would appear. [Buchholz, ii. 54; in Adelung, ii. 398 n., a + French BROCARD on the subject, of sufficient emphasis.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XII. — SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. + </h2> + <p> + George II. did not hear of Mollwitz for above a fortnight after it fell + out; but he had no need of Mollwitz to kindle his wrath or his activity in + that matter. [Mollwitz first heard of in London, April 25th (14th); + Subsidy of 300,000 pounds voted same day. <i>London Gazette</i> (April + 11th-14th, 1741); <i>Commons Journals,</i> xxiii. 705.] George II. had + seen, all along, with natural manifold aversion and indignation, these + high attempts of his Nephew. "Who is this new little King, that will not + let himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the nose, as his Father + did; but seems to be taking a road of his own, and tacitly defying us all? + A very high conduct indeed, for a Sovereign of that magnitude. Aspires + seemingly to be the leader among German Princes; to reduce Hanover and us,—us, + with the gold of England in our breeches-pocket,—to the second + place? A reverend old Bishop of Liege, twitched by the rochet, and shaken + hither and thither, like a reverend old clothes-screen, till he agree to + stand still and conform. And now a Silesia seized upon; a Pragmatic + Sanction kicked to the winds: the whole world to be turned topsy-turvy, + and Hanover and us, with our breeches-pocket, reduced to—?" + </p> + <p> + The emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted procedures of his + Britannic Majesty, of which we have ourselves seen somewhat, in this + fermentation of the elements, are copiously set down for us by the English + Dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except for sane purposes, + one must be careful not to dwell on them, to the sorrow of readers. Seldom + was there such a feat of Somnambulism, as that by the English and their + King in the next twenty Years. To extract the particle of sanity from it, + and see how the poor English did get their own errand done withal, and + Jenkins's Ear avenged,—that is the one interesting point; Dryasdust + and the Nightmares shall, to all time, be welcome to the others. Here are + some Excerpts, a select few; which will perhaps be our readiest expedient. + These do, under certain main aspects, shadow forth the intricate posture + of King George and his Nation, when Belleisle, as Protagonistes or Chief + Bully, stept down into the ring, in that manner; asking, "Is there an + Antagonistes, then, or Chief Defender?" I will label them, number them; + and, with the minimum of needful commentary, leave them to imaginative + readers. + </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> + No. 1. SNATCH OF PARLIAMENTARY ELOQUENCE BY MR. VINER (19th April, 1741). + </h2> + <p> + The fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which went on in + Parliament and in English society, against Friedrich's Silesian + Enterprise, for long years from this date, are now all dead and avoidable,—though + they have left their effects among us to this day. Perhaps readers would + like to see the one reasonable word I have fallen in with, of opposite + tendency; Mr. Viner's word, at the first starting of that question: + plainly sensible word, which, had it been attended to (as it was not), + might have saved us so much nonsense, not of idle talk only, but of + extremely serious deed which ensued thereupon! + </p> + <p> + "LONDON, 19th APRIL, 1741. This day [Mollwitz not yet known, Camp of + Gottin too well known!] King George, in his own high person, comes down to + the House of Lords,—which, like the Other House, is sunk painfully + in Walpole Controversies, Spanish-War Controversies, of a merely domestic + nature;—and informs both Honorable Houses, with extreme caution, + naming nobody, That he much wishes they would think of helping him in + these alarming circumstances of the Celestial Balance, ready apparently to + go heels uppermost. To which the general answer is, 'Yes, surely!'—with + a vote of 300,000 pounds for her Hungarian Majesty, a few days hence. From + those continents of Parliamentary tufa, now fallen so waste and mournful, + here is one little piece which ought to be extricated into daylight:— + </p> + <p> + "MR. VINER (on his legs):... 'If I mistake not the true intention of the + Address proposed,' in answer to his Majesty's most gracious Speech from + the Throne, 'we are invited to declare that we will oppose the King of + Prussia in his attempts upon Silesia: a declaration in which I see not how + any man can concur who KNOWS NOT the nature of his Prussian Majesty's + Claim, and the Laws of the German Empire [NOR DO I, MR. V.]! It ought + therefore, Sir, to have been the first endeavor of those by whom this + Address has been so zealously supported, to show that his Prussian + Majesty's Claim, so publicly explained [BY KAUZLER LUDWIG, OF HALLE, WHO, + IT SEEMS, HAS STAGGERED OR CONVINCED MR. VINER], so firmly urged and so + strongly supported, is without foundation and reason, and is only one of + those imaginary titles which Ambition may always find to the dominions of + another.' (HEAR MR VINER!)" [Tindal, xx. 491, gives the Royal Speech (DATE + in a very slobbery condition); see also Coxe, <i>House of Austria,</i> + iii. 365. Viner's Fragment of a Speech is in Thackeray, <i>Life of + Chatham,</i> i. 87.]... + </p> + <p> + A most indispensable thing, surely. Which was never done, nor can ever be + done; but was assumed as either unnecessary or else done of its own + accord, by that Collective Wisdom of England (with a sage George II. at + the head of it); who plunged into Dettingen, Fontenoy, Austrian Subsidies, + Aix-la-Chapelle, and foundation of the English National Debt, among other + strange things, in consequence!— + </p> + <p> + Upon that of Kanzler Ludwig, and the "so public Explanation" (which we + slightly heard of long since), here is another Note,—unless readers + prefer to skip it:— + </p> + <p> + "That the Diplomatic and Political world is universally in travail at this + time, no reader need be told; Europe everywhere in dim anxiety, + heavy-laden expectation (which to us has fallen so vacant); looking + towards inevitable changes and the huge inane. All in travail;—and + already uttering printed Manifestoes, Patents, Deductions, and other + public travail-SHRIEKS of that kind. Printed; not to speak of the + unprinted, of the oral which vanished on the spot; or even of the written + which were shot forth by breathless estafettes, and unhappily did not + vanish, but lie in archives, still humming upon us, "Won't you read me, + then?"—Alas, except on compulsion, No! Life being precious (and + time, which is the stuff of life), No!— + </p> + <p> + "At Reinsberg as elsewhere, at Reinsberg first of all, it had been felt, + in October last, that there would be Manifestoes needed; learned Proof, + the more irrefragable the better, of our Right to Silesia. It was settled + there, Let Ludwig, Kanzler of the University of Halle, do it. [Herr + Kanzler Ludwig, monster of Antiquarian, Legal and other Learning there: + wealthy, too, and close-fisted; whom we have seen obliged to open his + closed fist, and to do building in the Friedrich Strasse, before now; + Nussler, his son-in-law, having no money:—as careless readers have + perhaps forgotten?] Ludwig set about his new task with a proud joy. Ludwig + knows that story, if he know anything. Long years ago he put forth a + Chapter upon it; weighty Chapter; in a Book of weight, said Judges;—Book + weighing, in pounds avoirdupois and otherwise, none of us now knows what: + [Title of this weighty Performance (see Preuss, <i>Thronbesteigung,</i> p. + 432) is, or was (size not given), <i>Germania Princeps</i> (Halae, 1702). + Preuss says farther, "That Book ii. c. 3 handles the Prussian claims: + Jagerndorf being? 13; Liegnitz,? 14; Oppeln and Ratibor,? 16;—and + that Ludwig had sent a Copy of this Argument [weighty Performance + altogether? Or Book ii. c. 3 of it, which would have had a better chance?] + to King Friedrich, on the death of Kaiser Karl VI."]—but, in after + years, it used to be said by flatterers of the Kanzler, 'Herr Kanzler, see + the effect of Learning. It was you, it was your weighty Book, that caused + all this World-tumult, and flung the Nations into one another's hair!' + Upon which the old Kanzler would blush: 'You do me too much honor!' + </p> + <p> + "Ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his documents again, in the + King's name this time; and promised something weighty by New-year's day at + latest." Doubtless to the joy of Nussler, who has still no regular + appointment, though well deserving one. "And sure enough, on January 7th, + at Berlin, 'in three languages,' Ludwig's DEDUCTION had come out; an eager + Public waiting for it: [Title is, <i>Rechtsgegrundetes Eigenthum</i> (in + the Latin copies, <i>Patrimonium,</i> and <i>Propriete fondee en Droit</i> + in the French copies) <i>des &c.,</i>—that is to say, <i>Legal + Right of Property in the Royal-Electoral House of Brandenburg to the + Duchies and Principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau</i> + (Berlin, 7th January, 1741).]—and at Berlin it was generally thought + to be conclusive. I have looked into Ludwig's Deduction, stern duty + urging, in this instance for one: such portions as I read are nothing like + so stupid as was expected; and, in fact, are not to be called stupid at + all, but fit for their purpose, and moderately intelligible to those who + need them,"—which happily we do not in this place. + </p> + <p> + Judicious Mr. Viner availed nothing against the Proposed Address; any more + than he would against the Atlantic Tide, coming in unanimous, under + influence of the Moon itself,—as indeed this Address, and the + triumphant Subsidy which was voted in the rear of it, may be said to have + done. [Coxe, iii. 265.] Subsidy of 300,000 pounds to her Hungarian + Majesty; which, with the 200,000 pounds already gone that road, makes a + handsome Half-million for the present Year. The first gush of the + Britannia Fountain,—which flowed like an Amalthea's Horn for seven + years to come; refreshing Austria, and all thirsty Pragmatic Nations, to + defend the Keystone of this Universe. Unluckily every guinea of it went, + at the same time, to encourage Austria in scorning King Friedrich's offers + to it; which perhaps are just offers, thinks Mr. Viner; which once + listened to, Pragmatic Sanction would be safe. [Mr. Viner was of Pupham, + or Pupholm, in Lincolnshire, for which County he sat then, and for many + years before and after,—from about 1713 till 1761, when he died. A + solid, instructed man, say his contemporaries. "He was a friend of + Bolingbroke's, and had a house near Bolingbroke's Battersea one." He is + Great great-grandfather to the present Mr. Viner, and to the Countess de + Grey and Ripon; which is an interesting little fact.] + </p> + <p> + This Parliament is strong for Pragmatic Sanction, and has high resentments + against Walpole; in both which points the New Parliament, just getting + elected, will rival and surpass it,—especially in the latter point, + that of uprooting Walpole, which the Nation is bent on, with a singular + fury. Pragmatic Sanction like to be ruined; and Walpole furiously thrown + out: what a pair of sorrows for poor George! During his late Caroline's + time, all went peaceably, and that of "governing" was a mere pleasure; + Walpole and Caroline cunningly doing that for him, and making him believe + he was doing it. But now has come the crisis, the collapse; and his poor + Majesty left alone to deal with 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> + No. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORIAN ON THE PHENOMENON OF WALPOLE IN ENGLAND. + </h2> + <p> + "For above Ten Years, Walpole himself", says my Constitutional Historian + (unpublished), "for almost Twenty Years, Walpole virtually and through + others, has what they call 'governed' England; that is to say, has + adjusted the conflicting Parliamentary Chaos into counterpoise, by what + methods he had; and allowed England, with Walpole atop, to jumble whither + it would and could. Of crooked things made straight by Walpole, of heroic + performance or intention, legislative or administrative, by Walpole, + nobody ever heard; never of the least hand-breadth gained from the + Night-realm in England, on Walpole's part: enough if he could manage to + keep the Parish Constable walking, and himself float atop. Which task + (though intrinsically zero for the Community, but all-important to the + Walpole, of Constitutional Countries) is a task almost beyond the faculty + of man, if the careless reader knew it! + </p> + <p> + "This task Walpole did,—in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-headed, + John-Bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. A man of very forcible + natural eyesight, strong natural heart,—courage in him to all + lengths; a very block of oak, or of oakroot, for natural strength. He was + always very quiet with it, too; given to digest his victuals, and be + peaceable with everybody. He had one rule, that stood in place of many: To + keep out of every business which it was possible for human wisdom to stave + aside. 'What good will you get of going into that? Parliamentary + criticism, argument and botheration? Leave well alone. And even leave ill + alone:—are you the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in England? You + will not want for work. Mind your pudding, and say little!' At home and + abroad, that was the safe secret. For, in Foreign Politics, his rule was + analogous: 'Mind your own affairs. You are an Island, you can do without + Foreign Politics; Peace, keep Peace with everybody: what, in the Devil's + name, have you to do with those dog-worryings over Seas? Once more, mind + your pudding!' Not so bad a rule; indeed it is the better part of an + extremely good one;—and you might reckon it the real rule for a + pious Rritannic Island (reverent of God, and contemptuous of the Devil) in + times of general Down-break and Spiritual Bankruptcy, when quarrellings of + Sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings and Devil's work, not good to + interfere in. + </p> + <p> + "In this manner, Walpole, by solid John-Bull faculty (and methods of his + own), had balanced the Parliamentary swaggings and clashings, for a great + while; and England had jumbled whither it could, always in a stupid, but + also in a peaceable way. As to those same 'methods of his own' they were—in + fact they were Bribery. Actual purchase of votes by money slipt into the + hand. Go straight to the point. 'The direct real method this,' thinks + Walpole: 'is there in reality any other?' A terrible question to + Constitutional Countries; which, I hear, has never been resolved in the + negative, by the modern improvements of science. Changes of form have + introduced themselves; the outward process, I hear, is now quite + different. According as the fashions and conditions alter,—according + as you have a Fourth Estate developed, or a Fourth Estate still in the + grub stage and only developing,—much variation of outward process is + conceivable. + </p> + <p> + "But Votes, under pain of Death Official, are necessary to your poor + Walpole: and votes, I hear, are still bidden for, and bought. You may buy + them by money down (which is felony, and theft simple, against the poor + Nation); or by preferments and appointments of the unmeritorious man,—which + is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, though more refined), and theft + most compound; theft, not of the poor Nation's money, but of its soul and + body so far, and of ALL its moneys and temporal and spiritual interests + whatsoever; theft, you may say, of collops cut from its side, and poison + put into its heart, poor Nation! Or again, you may buy, not of the Third + Estate in such ways, but of the Fourth, or of the Fourth and Third + together, in other still more felonious and deadly, though refined ways. + By doing clap-traps, namely; letting off Parliamentary blue-lights, to + awaken the Sleeping Swineries, and charm them into diapason for you,—what + a music! Or, without clap-trap or previous felony of your own, you may + feloniously, in the pinch of things, make truce with the evident + Demagogos, and Son of Nox and of Perdition, who has got 'within those + walls' of yours, and is grown important to you by the Awakened Swineries, + risen into alt, that follow him. Him you may, in your dire hunger of + votes, consent to comply with; his Anarchies you will pass for him into + 'Laws,' as you are pleased to term them;—instead of pointing to the + whipping-post, and to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to be nailed + there, and of sternly recommending silence, which were the salutary thing.—Buying + may be done in a great variety of ways. The question, How you buy? is not, + on the moral side, an important one. Nay, as there is a beauty in going + straight to the point, and by that course there is likely to be the + minimum of mendacity for you, perhaps the direct money-method is a shade + less damnable than any of the others since discovered;—while, in + regard to practical damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in + comparison! + </p> + <p> + "That was Walpole's method; with this to aid his great natural faculty, + long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the English Parliament and Nation, + he went along with perfect success for ten or twenty years. And it might + have been for longer,—had not the English Nation accidentally come + to wish, that it should CEASE jumbling NO-whither; and try to jumble + SOME-whither, at least for a little while, on important business that had + risen for England in a certain quarter. Had it not been for Jenkins's Ear + blazing out in the dark English brain, Walpole might have lasted still a + long while. But his fate lay there:—the first Business vital to + England which might turn up; and this chanced to be the Spanish War. How + vital, readers shall see anon. Walpole, knowing well enough in what state + his War-apparatus was, and that of all his Apparatuses there was none in a + working state, but the Parliamentary one,—resisted the Spanish War; + stood in the door against it, with a rhinoceros determination, nay almost + something of a mastiff's; resolute not to admit it, to admit death as + soon. Doubtless he had a feeling it would be death, the sagacious man;—and + such it is now proving; the Walpole Ministry dying by inches from it; + dying hard, but irremediably. + </p> + <p> + "The English Nation was immensely astonished, which Walpole was not, any + more than at the other Laws of Nature, to find Walpole's War-apparatus in + such a condition. All his Apparatuses, Walpole guesses, are in no better, + if it be not the Parliamentary one. The English Nation is immensely + astonished, which Walpole again is not, to find that his Parliamentary + Apparatus has been kept in gear and smooth-going by the use of OIL: + 'Miraculous Scandal of Scandals!' thinks the English Nation. 'Miracle? Law + of Nature, you fools!' thinks Walpole. And in fact there is such a storm + roaring in England, in those and in the late and the coming months, as + threatens to be dangerous to high roofs,—dangerous to Walpole's head + at one time. Storm such as had not been witnessed in men's memory; all + manner of Counties and Constituencies, with solemn indignation, charging + their representatives to search into that miraculous Scandal of Scandals, + Law of Nature, or whatever it may be; and abate the same, at their peril. + </p> + <p> + "To the now reader there is something almost pathetic in these solemn + indignations, and high resolves to have Purity of Parliament and thorough + Administrative Reform, in spite of Nature and the Constitutional Stars;—and + nothing I have met with, not even the Prussian Dryasdust, is so + unsufferably wearisome, or can pretend to equal in depth of dull inanity, + to ingenuous living readers, our poor English Dryasdust's interminable, + often-repeated Narratives, volume after volume, of the debatings and + colleaguings, the tossings and tumults, fruitless and endless, in Nation + and National Palaver, which ensued thereupon. Walpole (in about a year + hence), [February 13th (2d), 1742, quitting the House after bad usage + there, said he would never enter it again; nor did: February 22d, resigned + in favor of Pulteney and Company (Tindal, xx. 530; Thackeray, i. 45).] + though he struck to the ground like a rhinoceros, was got rolled out. And + a Successor, and series of Successors, in the bright brand-new state, was + got rolled in; with immense shouting from mankind:—but up to this + date we have no reason to believe that the Laws of Nature were got + abrogated on that occasion, or that the constitutional stars have much + altered their courses since." + </p> + <p> + That Walpole will probably be lost, goes much home to the Royal bosom, in + these troublous Spring months of 1741, as it has done and will do. And + here, emerging from the Spanish Main just now, is a second sorrow, which + might quite transfix the Royal bosom, and drive Majesty itself to despair; + awakening such insoluble questions,—furnishing such proof, that + Walpole and a good few other persons (persons, and also things, and ideas + and practices, deep-rooted in the Country) stand much in need of being + lost, if England is to go a good road! + </p> + <p> + The Spanish War being of moment to us here, we will let our Constitutional + Historian explain, in his own dialect, How it was so vital to England; and + shall even subjoin what he gives as History of it, such being so admirably + succinct, for one quality. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + No. 3. OF THE SPANISH WAR, OR THE JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION. + </h2> + <p> + "There was real cause for a War with Spain. It is one of the few cases, + this, of a war from necessity. Spain, by Decree of the Pope,—some + Pope long ago, whose name we will not remember, in solemn Conclave, + drawing accurately 'his Meridian Line,' on I know not what Telluric or + Uranic principles, no doubt with great accuracy 'between Portugal and + Spain,'—was proprietor of all those Seas and Continents. And now + England, in the interim, by Decree of the Eternal Destinies, had clearly + come to have property there, too; and to be practically much concerned in + that theoretic question of the Pope's Meridian. There was no reconciling + of theory with fact. 'Ours indisputably,' said Spain, with loud articulate + voice; 'Holiness the Pope made it ours!'—while fact and the English, + by Decree of the Eternal Destinies, had been grumbling inarticulately the + other way, for almost two hundred years past, and no result had. + </p> + <p> + "In Oliver Cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'With Spain, in Europe, + there may be peace or war; but between the Tropics it is always war.' A + state of things well recognized by Oliver, and acted on, according to his + opportunities. No settlement was had in Oliver's brief time; nor could any + be got since, when it was becoming yearly more pressing. Bucaniers, + desperate naval gentlemen living on BOUCAN, or hung beef; who are also + called Flibustiers (FLIBUTIERS, 'Freebooters,' in French pronunciation, + which is since grown strangely into FILIBUSTERS, Fillibustiers, and other + mad forms, in the Yankee Newspapers now current): readers have heard of + those dumb methods of protest. Dumb and furious; which could bring no + settlement; but which did astonish the Pope's Decree, slashing it with + cutlasses and sea-cannon, in that manner, and circuitously forwarded a + settlement. Settlement was becoming yearly more needful: and, ever since + the Treaty of Utrecht especially, there had been an incessant haggle going + on, to produce one; without the least effect hitherto. What embassyings, + bargainings, bargain-breakings; what galloping of estafettes; acres of + diplomatic paper, now fallen to the spiders, who always privately were the + real owners! Not in the Treaty of Utrecht, not in the Congresses of + Cambray, of Soissons, Convention of Pardo, by Ripperda, Horace Walpole, or + the wagging of wigs, could this matter be settled at all. Near two hundred + years of chronic misery;—and had there been, under any of those + wigs, a Head capable of reading the Heavenly Mandates, with heart capable + of following them, the misery might have been briefly ended, by a direct + method. With what immense saving in all kinds, compared with the oblique + method gone upon! In quantity of bloodshed needed, of money, of idle talk + and estafettes, not to speak of higher considerations, the saving had been + incalculable. For it was England's one Cause of War during the Century we + are now upon; and poor England's course, when at last driven into it, went + ambiguously circling round the whole Universe, instead of straight to the + mark. Had Oliver Cromwell lived ten years longer;—but Oliver + Cromwell did not live; and, instead of Heroic Heads, there came in + Constitutional Wigs, which makes a great difference. + </p> + <p> + "The pretensions of Spain to keep Half the World locked up in embargo were + entirely chimerical; plainly contradictory to the Laws of Nature; and no + amount of Pope's Donation Acts, or Ceremonial in Rota or Propaganda, could + redeem them from untenability, in the modern days. To lie like a dog in + the manger over South America, and say snarling, 'None of you shall trade + here, though I cannot!'—what Pope or body of Popes can sanction such + a procedure? Had England had a Head, instead of Wigs, amid its + diplomatists, England, as the chief party interested, would have long + since intimated gently to such dog in the manger: 'Dog, will you be so + obliging as rise! I am grieved to say, we shall have to do unpleasant + things otherwise. Dogs have doors for their hutches: but to pretend + barring the Tropic of Cancer,—that is too big a door for any dog. + Can nobody but you have business here, then, which is not displeasing to + the gods? We bid you rise!' And in this mode there is no doubt the dog, + bark and bite as he might, would have ended by rising; not only England, + but all the Universe being against him. And furthermore, I compute with + certainty, the quantity of fighting needed to obtain such result would, by + this mode, have been a minimum. The clear right being there, and now also + the clear might, why take refuge in diplomatic wiggeries, in Assiento + Treaties, and Arrangements which are NOT analogous to the facts; which are + but wigged mendacities, therefore; and will but aggravate in quantity and + in quality the fighting yet needed? Fighting is but (as has been well + said) a battering out of the mendacities, pretences, and imaginary + elements: well battered-out, these, like dust and chaff, fly torrent-wise + along the winds, and darken all the sky; but these once gone, there remain + the facts and their visible relation to one another, and peace is sure. + </p> + <p> + "The Assiento Treaty being fixed upon, the English ought to have kept it. + But the English did not, in any measure; nor could pretend to have done. + They were entitled to supply Negroes, in such and such number, annually to + the Spanish Plantations; and besides this delightful branch of trade, to + have the privilege of selling certain quantities of their manufactured + articles on those coasts; quantities regulated briefly by this + stipulation, That their Assiento Ship was to be of 600 tons burden, so + many and no more. The Assiento Ship was duly of 600 tons accordingly, + promise kept faithfully to the eye; but the Assiento Ship was attended and + escorted by provision-sloops, small craft said to be of the most + indispensable nature to it. Which provision-sloops, and indispensable + small craft, not only carried merchandise as well, but went and came to + Jamaica and back, under various pretexts, with ever new supplies of + merchandise; converting the Assiento Ship into a Floating Shop, the Tons + burden and Tons sale of which set arithmetic at defiance. This was the + fact, perfectly well known in England, veiled over by mere smuggler + pretences, and obstinately persisted in, so profitable was it. Perfectly + well known in Spain also, and to the Spanish Guarda-Costas and + Sea-Captains in those parts; who were naturally kept in a perennial state + of rage by it,—and disposed to fly out into flame upon it, when a + bad case turned up! Such a case that of Jenkins had seemed to them; and + their mode of treating it, by tearing off Mr. Jenkins's Ear, proved to be—bad + shall we say, or good?—intolerable to England's thick skin; and + brought matters to a crisis, in the ways we saw."... + </p> + <p> + The Jenkins's-Ear Question, which then looked so mad to everybody, how + sane has it now grown to my Constitutional Friend! In abstruse ludicrous + form there lay immense questions involved in it; which were serious + enough, certain enough, though invisible to everybody. Half the World lay + hidden in embryo under it. Colonial-Empire, whose is it to be? Shall Half + the World be England's, for industrial purposes; which is innocent, + laudable, conformable to the Multiplication-table at least, and other + plain Laws? Or shall it be Spain's for arrogant-torpid sham-devotional + purposes, contradictory to every Law? The incalculable Yankee Nation + itself, biggest Phenomenon (once thought beautifulest) of these Ages,—this + too, little as careless readers on either side of the sea now know it, lay + involved. Shall there be a Yankee Nation, shall there not be; shall the + New World be of Spanish type, shall it be of English? Issues which we may + call immense. Among the then extant Sons of Adam, where was he who could + in the faintest degree surmise what issues lay in the Jenkins's-Ear + Question? And it is curious to consider now, with what fierce + deep-breathed doggedness the poor English Nation, drawn by their + instincts, held fast upon it, and would take no denial, as if THEY had + surmised and seen. For the instincts of simple guileless persons (liable + to be counted STUPID, by the unwary) are sometimes of prophetic nature, + and spring from the deep places of this Universe!—My Constitutional + Friend entitles his next Section CARTHAGENA; but might more fitly have + headed it (for such in reality it is, Carthagena proving the evanescent + point of that sad business), + </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> + SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE SPANISH WAR, WHICH BEGAN IN 1739; AND ENDED—WHEN + DID IT END? + </h2> + <p> + 1. WAR, AND PORTO-BELLO (NOVEMBER, 1739-MARCH, 1740).—"November 4th, + 1739, War was at length (after above four months' obscure quasi-declaring + of it, in the shape of Orders in Council, Letters of Marque, and so on) + got openly declared; 'Heralds at Arms at the usual places' blowing + trumpets upon it, and reading the royal Manifesto, date of which is five + days earlier, 'Kensington, October 30th (19th).' The principal Events that + ensue, arrange themselves under Three Heads, this of Porto-Bello being the + FIRST; and (by intense smelting) are datable as follows:—[<i>Gentleman's + Magazine,</i> ix. 551, x. 124, 142, 144, 350; Tindal, xx. 430-433, 442; + &c.] + </p> + <p> + "Tuesday Evening, 1st December, 1739, Admiral Vernon, our chosen + Anti-Spaniard, finding, a while ago, that he had missed the Azogue Ships + on the Coast of Spain, and must try America and the Spanish Main, in that + view arrives at Porto-Bello. Next day, December 2d, Vernon attacks + Porto-Bello; attacks certain Castles so called, with furious broadsiding, + followed by scalading; gets surrender (on the 3d);—seamen have + allowance instead of plunder;—blows up what Castles there are; and + returns to Port Royal in Jamaica. + </p> + <p> + "Never-imagined joy in England, and fame to Vernon, when the news came: + 'Took it with Six Ships,' cry they; 'the scurvy Ministry, who had heard + him, in the fire of Parliamentary debate, say Six, would grant him no + more: invincible Vernon!' Nay, next Year, I see, 'London was illuminated + on the Anniversary of Porto-Bello:'—day settled in permanence as one + of the High-tides of the Calendar, it would appear. And 'Vernon's + Birthday' withal—how touching is stupidity when loyal!—was + celebrated amazingly in all the chief Towns, like a kind of Christmas, + when it came round; Nature having deigned to produce such a man, for a + poor Nation in difficulties. Invincible Vernon, it is thought by + Gazetteers, 'will look in at Carthagena shortly;' much more important + Place, where a certain Governor Don Blas has been insolent withal, and + written Vernon letters. + </p> + <p> + "2. PRELIMINARIES TO CARTHAGENA (MARCH-NOVEMBER, 1740).—Monday, 14th + March, 1740, Vernon did, accordingly, look in on Carthagena; [<i>Gentleman's + Magazine,</i> x. 350.] cast anchor in the shallow waste of surfs there, + that Monday; and tried some bombarding, with bomb-ketches and the like, + from Thursday till Saturday following. Vernon hopes he did hit the + Jesuits' College, South Bastion, Custom-house and other principal + edifices; but found that there was no getting near enough on that seaward + side. Found that you must force the Interior Harbor,—a big Inland + Gulf or Lake, which gushes in by what they call LITTLE-MOUTH (Boca-Chica), + and has its Booms, Castles and Defences, which are numerous and strongish;—and + that, for this end, you must have seven or eight thousand Land Forces, as + well as an addition of Ships. On Saturday Evening, therefore, Vernon calls + in his bomb-ketches; sails past, examining these things; and goes forth on + other small adventures. For example,— + </p> + <p> + "Sunday, 3d April, 1740, 'about 10 at night' opens cannonade on Chagres + (place often enough taken, by cutlass and pistol, in the Bucanier times); + and, on Tuesday, 5th, gets surrender of Chagres: 'Custom-house crammed + with goods, which we set fire to.' On news of which, there is again, in + England, joy over the day of small things. The poor English People are set + on this business of avenging Jenkins's Ear, and of having the Ocean + Highway unbarred; and hope always it can be done by the Walpole + Apparatuses, which ought to be in working order, and are not. 'Support + this hero, you Walpole and Company, in his Carthagena views: it will be + better for you!" + </p> + <p> + "Walpole and Company, aware of that fact, do take some trouble about it; + and now, may not we say, PAULLO MAJORA CANAMUS? All through that Summer, + 1740,"—while King Friedrich went rushing about, to Strasburg, to + Wesel; doing his Herstals and Practicalities, with a light high hand, in + almost an entertaining manner; and intent, still more, on his Voltaires + and a Life to the Muses,—"there was, in England, serious heavy + tumult of activity, secret and public. In the Dockyards, on the + Drill-grounds, what a stir: Camp in the Isle of Wight, not to mention + Portsmouth and the Sea-Industries; 6,000 Marines are to be embarked, as + well as Land Regiments,—can anybody guess whither? America itself is + to furnish 'one Regiment, with Scotch Officers to discipline it,' if they + can. + </p> + <p> + "Here is real haste and effort; but by no means such speed as could be + wished; multiplex confusions and contradictions occurring, as is usual, + when your machinery runs foul. Nor are the Gazetteers without their + guesses, though they study to be discreet. 'Here is something considerable + in the wind; a grand idea, for certain;'—and to men of discernment + it points surely towards Carthagena and heroic Vernon out yonder? + Government is dumb altogether; and lays occasional embargo; trying hard + (without success), in the delays that occurred, to keep it secret from Don + Blas and others. The outcome of all which was, + </p> + <p> + "3. CARTHAGENA ITSELF (NOVEMBER, 1740—APRIL, 1741).—On + November 6th,—by no means 'July 3d,' as your first fond program + bore; which delay was itself likely to be fatal, unless the Almanac, and + course of the Tropical Seasons would delay along with you!—we say, + On Sunday, 6th November, 1740 [Kaiser Karl's Funeral just over, and great + thoughts going on at Reinsberg], Rear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle,—so + many weeks and months after the set time,—does sail from St. Helen's + (guessed, for Carthagena); all people sending blessings with him. + Twenty-five big Ships of the Line, with three Half-Regiments on board; + fireships, bomb-ketches, in abundance; and eighty Transports, with 6,000 + drilled Marines: a Sea-and-Land Force fit to strengthen Hero Vernon with a + witness, and realize his Carthagena views. A very great day at Portsmouth + and St. Helen's for these Sunday folk. [Tindal, xx. 463 (LISTS, &c. + there; date wrong, "31st October," instead of 26th (o.s.),—many + things wrong, and all things left loose and flabby, and not right! As is + poor Tindal's way).] + </p> + <p> + "Most obscure among the other items in that Armada of Sir Chaloner's, just + taking leave of England; most obscure of the items then, but now most + noticeable, or almost alone noticeable, is a young Surgeon's-Mate,—one + Tobias Smollett; looking over the waters there and the fading coasts, not + without thoughts. A proud, soft-hearted, though somewhat stern-visaged, + caustic and indignant young gentleman. Apt to be caustic in speech, having + sorrows of his own under lock and key, on this and subsequent occasions. + Excellent Tobias; he has, little as he hopes it, something considerable by + way of mission in this Expedition, and in this Universe generally. Mission + to take Portraiture of English Seamanhood, with the due grimness, due + fidelity; and convey the same to remote generations, before it vanish. + Courage, my brave young Tobias; through endless sorrows, contradictions, + toils and confusions, you will do your errand in some measure; and that + will be something!— + </p> + <p> + "Five weeks before (29th September, 1740, which was also several months + beyond time set), there had sailed, strictly hidden by embargoes which + were little effectual, another Expedition, all Naval; intended to be + subsidiary to this one: Commodore Anson's, of three inconsiderable Ships; + who is to go round Cape Horn, if he can; to bombard Spanish America from + the other side; and stretch out a hand to Vernon in his grand Carthagena + or ulterior views. Together they may do some execution, if we judge by the + old Bucanier and Queen-Elizabeth experiences? Anson's Expedition has + become famous in the world, though Vernon got no good of it." + </p> + <p> + Well! Here truly was a business; not so ill-contrived. Somebody of head + must have been at the centre of this: and it might, in result, have + astonished the Spaniard, and tumbled him much topsy-turvy in those + latitudes,—had the machinery for executing it been well in gear. + Under Friedrich Wilhelm's captaincy and management, every person, every + item, correct to its time, to its place, to its function, what a thing! + But with mere Walpole Machinery: alas, it was far too wide a Plan for + Machinery of that kind, habitually out of order, and only used to be as + correct as—as it could. Those DELAYS themselves, first to Anson, + then to Ogle, since the Tropical Almanac would not delay along with them, + had thrown both Enterprises into weather such as all but meant + impossibility in those latitudes! This was irremediable;—had not + been remediable, by efforts and pushings here and there. The best of + management, as under Anson, could not get the better of this; worst of + management, as in the other case, was likely to make a fine thing of it! + Let us hasten on:— + </p> + <p> + "January 20th, 1741, We arrive, through much rough weather and other + confused hardships, at Port Royal in Jamaica; find Vernon waiting on the + slip; the American Regiment, tolerably drilled by the Scotch Lieutenants, + in full readiness and equipment; a body of Negroes superadded, by way of + pioneer laborers fit for those hot climates. One sad loss there had been + on the voyage hither: Land forces had lost their Commander, and did not + find another. General Cathcart had died of sickness on the voyage; a + Charles Lord Cathcart, who was understood to possess some knowledge of his + business; and his Successor, one Wentworth, did not happen to have any. + Which was reckoned unlucky, by the more observant. Vernon, though in haste + for Carthagena, is in some anxiety about a powerful French Fleet which has + been manoeuvring in those waters for some time; intent on no good that + Vernon can imagine. The first thing now is, See into that French Fleet. + French Fleet, on our going to look in the proper Island, is found to be + all off for home; men 'mostly starved or otherwise dead,' we hear; so that + now, after this last short delay,—To Carthagena with all sail. + </p> + <p> + "Wednesday Evening, 15th March, 1741, We anchor in the Playa Grande, the + waste surfy Shallow which washes Carthagena seaward: 124 sail of us, big + and little. We find Don Blas in a very prepared posture. Don Blas has been + doing his best, this twelvemonth past; plugging up that Boca-Chica (LITTLE + MOUTH) Ingate, with batteries, booms, great ships; and has castles not a + few thereabouts and in the Interior Lake or Harbor; all which he has put + in tolerable defence, so far as can be judged: not an inactive, if an + insolent Don. We spend the next five days in considering and surveying + these Performances of his: What is to be done with them; how, in the first + place, we may force Boca-Chica; and get in upon his Interior Castles and + him. After consideration, and plan fixed: + </p> + <p> + "Monday, 20th March, Sir Chaloner, with broadsides, sweeps away some small + defences which lie to left of Boca-Chica [to our LEFT, to Boca-Chica's + RIGHT, if anybody cares to be particular]. Whereupon the Troops land, some + of them that same evening; and, within the next two days, are all ashore, + implements, Negroes and the rest; building batteries, felling wood; intent + to capture Boca-Chica Castle, and demolish the War-Ships, Booms, and fry + of Fascine and other Batteries; and thereby to get in upon Don Blas, and + have a stroke at his Interior Castles and Carthagena itself. Till April + 5th, here are sixteen days of furious intricate work; not ill done:—the + physical labor itself, the building of batteries, with Boca-Chica firing + on you over the woods, is scarcely do-able by Europeans in that season; + and the Negroes who are able for it, 'fling down their burdens, and + scamper, whenever a gun goes off.' Furious fighting, too, there was, by + seamen and landsmen; not ill done, considering circumstances. + </p> + <p> + "On the sixteenth day, April 5th [King Friedrich hurrying from the + Mountains that same day, towards Steinau, which took fire with him at + night], Boca-Chica Castle and the intricate War-Ships, Booms, and Castles + thereabouts (Don Blas running off when the push became intense), are at + last got. So that now, through Boca-Chica, we enter the Interior Harbor or + Harbors. 'Harbors' which are of wide extent, and deep enough: being in + fact a Lake, or rather Pair of Lakes, with Castles (CASTILLO GRANDE, + 'Castle Grand,' the chief of them), with War-Ships sunk or afloat, and + miscellaneous obstructions: beyond all which, at the farther shore, some + five miles off, Carthagena itself does at last lie potentially accessible; + and we hope to get in upon Don Blas and it. There ensue five days of + intricate sea-work; not much of broadsiding, mainly tugging out of sunk + War-Ships, and the like, to get alongside of Castle Grand, which is the + chief obstruction. + </p> + <p> + "April 10, Castle Grand itself is got; nobody found in it when we storm. + Don Blas and the Spaniards seem much in terror; burning any Ships they + still have, near Carthagena; as if there were no chance now left." This is + the very day of Mollwitz Battle; near about the hour when Schwerin broke + into field-music, and advanced with thunderous glitter against the evening + sun! Carthagena Expedition is, at length, fairly in contact with its + Problem,—the question rising, 'Do you understand it, then?' + </p> + <p> + "Up to this point, mistakes of management had been made good by obstinate + energy of execution; clear victory had gone on so far, the Capture of + Carthagena now seemingly at hand. One thing was unfortunate: 'the able Mr. + Moor [meritorious Captain of Foot, who, by accident, had spent some study + on his business], the one real Engineer we had,' got killed in that + Boca-Chica struggle: an end to poor Moor! So that the Siege of Carthagena + will have to go on WITHOUT Engineer science henceforth. May be important, + that,—who knows? Another thing was still more palpably important: + Sea-General Vernon had an undisguised contempt for Land-General Wentworth. + 'A mere blockhead, whose Brother has a Borough,' thinks Vernon (himself an + Opposition Member, of high-sniffing, angry, not too magnanimous turn);—and + withdraws now to his Ships; intimating: 'Do your Problem, then; I have set + you down beside it, which was my part of the affair!'—Let us give + the attack of Fort Lazar, and end this sad business. + </p> + <p> + "Sunday, 16th April, Wentworth, once master of the Uppermost Lake or + Harbor (what the Natives call the SURGIDERO, or Anchorage Proper), had + disembarked, high up to the right, a good way south of Carthagena; meaning + to attack there-from a certain Fort Lazar, which stands on a Hill between + Carthagena and him: this Hill and Fort once his, he has Carthagena under + his cannon; Carthagena in his pocket, as it were. 'Fort not to be had + without batteries,' thinks Wentworth; though the sickly rainy season has + set in. 'Batteries? Scaling-ladders, you mean!' answers Vernon, with + undisguised contempt. For the two are, by this time, almost in open + quarrel. Wentworth starts building batteries, in spite of the + rain-deluges; then stops building;—decides to do it by scalade, + after all. And, at two in the morning of this Sunday, April 16th, sets + forth, in certain columns,—by roads ill-known, with arrangements + that do NOT fit like clock-work,—to storm said Hill and Fort. The + English are an obstinate people; and strenuous execution will sometimes + amend defects of plan,—sometimes not. + </p> + <p> + "The obstinate English, nothing in them but sullen fire of valor, which + has to burn UNluminous, did, after mistake on mistake, climb the rocks or + heights of Lazar Hill, in spite of the world and Don Blas's cannonading; + but found, when atop, That Fort Lazar, raining cannon-shot, was still + divided from them by chasms; that the scaling-ladders had not come (never + did come, owing to indiscipline somewhere),—and that, without wings + as of eagles, they could not reach Fort Lazar at all! For about four + hours, they struggled with a desperate doggedness, to overcome the chasms, + to wrench aside the Laws of Nature, and do something useful for + themselves; patiently, though sulkily; regardless of the storm of shot + which killed 600 of them, the while. At length, finding the Laws of Nature + too strong for them, they descended gloomily: 'in gloomy silence' marched + home to their tents again,—in a humor too deep for words. + </p> + <p> + "Yes; and we find they fell sick in multitudes, that night; and, 'in two + days more, were reduced from 6,645 to 3,200 effective;' Vernon, from the + sea, looking disdainfully on:—and it became evident that the big + Project had gone to water; and that nothing would remain but to return + straightway to Jamaica, in bankrupt condition. Which accordingly was set + about. And ten days hence (April 26th)) the final party of them did get on + board,—punctual to take 'three tents,' their last rag of + Siege-furniture, along with them; 'lest Don Blas have trophies,' thinks + poor Wentworth. And sailed away, with their sad Siege finished in such + fashion. Strenuous Siege; which, had the War-Sciences been foolishness, + and the Laws of Nature and the rigors of Arithmetic and Geometry been + stretchable entities, might have succeeded better!" [Smollett's Account, + <i>Miscellaneous Works</i> (Edinburgh, 1806), iv. 445-469, is that of a + highly intelligent Eye-witness, credible and intelligible in every + particular.] + </p> + <p> + "Evening of April 26th:"—I perceive it was in the very hours while + Belleisle arrived in Friedrich's Camp at Mollwitz; eve of that Siege of + Brieg, which we saw performing itself with punctual regard to said Laws + and rigors, and issuing in so different a manner! Nothing that my + Constitutional Historian has said equals in pungent enormity the + matter-of-fact Picture, left by Tobias Smollett, of the sick and wounded, + in the interim which follow&d that attempt on Fort Lazar and the Laws + of Nature:— + </p> + <p> + "As for the sick and wounded", says Tobias, "they were, next day, sent on + board of the transports and vessels called hospital-ships; where they + languished in want of every necessary comfort and accommodation. They were + destitute of surgeons, nurses, cooks and proper provision; they were pent + up between decks in small vessels, where they had not room to sit upright; + they wallowed in filth; myriads of maggots were hatched in the + putrefaction of their sores, which had no other dressing than that of + being washed by themselves with their own allowance of brandy; and nothing + was heard but groans, lamentations and the language of despair, invoking + death to deliver them from their miseries. What served to encourage this + despondence, was the prospect of those poor wretches who had strength and + opportunity to look around them; for there they beheld the naked bodies of + their fellow-soldiers and comrades floating up and down the harbor, + affording prey to the carrion-crows and sharks, which tore them in pieces + without interruption, and contributing by their stench to the mortality + that prevailed. + </p> + <p> + "This picture cannot fail to be shocking to the humane reader, especially + when he is informed, that while those miserable objects cried in vain for + assistance, and actually perished for want of proper attendance, every + ship of war in the fleet could have spared a couple of surgeons for their + relief; and many young gentlemen of that profession solicited their + captains in pain for leave to go and administer help to the sick and + wounded. The necessities of the poor people were well known; the remedy + was easy and apparent; but the discord between the chiefs was inflamed to + such a degree of diabolical rancor, that the one chose rather to see his + men perish than ask help of the other, who disdained to offer his + assistance unasked, though it might have saved the lives of his + fellow-subjects." [Smollett, IBID. (Anderson's Edition), iv. 466.] + </p> + <p> + In such an amazing condition is the English Fighting Apparatus under + Walpole, being important for England's self only; while the Talking + Apparatus, important for Walpole, is in such excellent gearing, so well + kept in repair and oil! By Wentworth's blame, who had no knowledge of war; + by Vernon's, who sat famous on the Opposition side, yet wanted loyalty of + mind; by one's blame and another's, WHOSE it is idle arguing, here is how + your Fighting Apparatus performs in the hour when needed. Unfortunate + General, or General's Cocked-Hat (a brave heart too, they say, though of + brain too vacant, too opaque); unfortunate Admiral (much blown away by + vanity, in-nature and Parliamentary wind);—doubly unfortunate + Nation, that employs such to lead its armaments! How the English Nation + took it? The English Nation has had much of this kind to take, first and + last; and apparently will yet have. "Gloomy silence," like that of the + poor men going home to their tents, is our only dialect towards it. + </p> + <p> + This is a dreadful business, this of the wrecked Carthagena Expedition; + such a force of war-munitions in every kind,—including the rare + kind, human Courage and force of heart, only not human Captaincy, the + rarest kind,—as could have swallowed South America at discretion, + had there been Captains over it. Has gone blundering down into Orcus and + the shark's belly, in that unutterable manner. Might have been didactic to + England, more than it was; England's skin being very thick against lessons + of that nature. Might have broken the heart of a little Sovereign + Gentleman Curator of England, had he gone hypochondriacally into it; which + he was far from doing, brisk little Gentleman; looking out else-whither, + with those eyes A FLEUR DE TETE, and nothing of insoluble admitted into + the brain that dwelt inside. + </p> + <p> + What became subsequently of the Spanish War, we in vain inquire of + History-Books. The War did not die for many years to come, but neither did + it publicly live; it disappears at this point: a River Niger, seen once + flowing broad enough; but issuing—Does it issue nowhere, then? Where + does it issue? Except for my Constitutional Historian, still unpublished, + I should never have known where.—By the time these disastrous + Carthagena tidings reached England, his Britannic Majesty was in Hanover; + involved, he, and all his State doctors, English and Hanoverian, in awful + contemplation on Pragmatic Sanction, Kaiserwahl, Celestial Balance, and + the saving of Nature's Keystone, should this still prove possible to human + effort and contrivance. In which Imminency of Doomsday itself, the small + English-Spanish matter, which the Official people, and his Majesty as much + as any, had bitterly disliked, was quite let go, and dropped out of view. + Forgotten by Official people; left to the dumb English Nation, whose + concern it was, to administer as IT could. + </p> + <p> + Anson—with his three ships gone to two, gone ultimately to one—is + henceforth what Spanish War there officially is. Anson could not meet + those Vernon-Wentworth gentlemen "from the other side of the Isthmus of + Darien," the gentlemen, with their Enterprise, being already bankrupt and + away. Anson, with three inconsiderable ships, which rotted gradually into + one, could not himself settle the Spanish War: but he did, on his own + score, a series of things, ending in beautiful finis of the Acapulco Ship, + which were of considerable detriment, and of highly considerable disgrace, + to Spain;—and were, and are long likely to be, memorable among the + Sea-heroisms of the world. Giving proof that real Captains, taciturn Sons + of Anak, are still born in England; and Sea-kings, equal to any that were. + Luckily, too, he had some chaplain or ship's-surgeon on board, who saw + good to write account of that memorable VOYAGE of his; and did it, in + brief, perspicuous terms, wise and credible: a real Poem in its kind, or + Romance all Fact; one of the pleasantest little Books in the World's + Library at this date. Anson sheds some tincture of heroic beauty over that + otherwise altogether hideous puddle of mismanagement, platitude, disaster; + and vindicates, in a pathetically potential way, the honor of his poor + Nation a little. + </p> + <p> + Apart from Official Anson, the Spanish War fell mainly, we may say, into + the hands of—of Mr. Jenkins himself, and such Friends of his, at + Wapping, Bristol and the Seaports, as might be disposed to go + privateering. In which course, after some crosses at first, and great + complaints of losses to Spanish Privateers, Wapping and Bristol did at + length eminently get the upper hand; and thus carried on this Spanish War + (or Spanish-French, Spain and France having got into one boat), for long + years coming; in an entirely inarticulate, but by no means quite + ineffectual manner,—indeed, to the ultimate clearance of the Seas + from both French and Spaniard, within the next twenty years. Readers shall + take this little Excerpt, dated Three Years hence, and set it twinkling in + the night of their imaginations:— + </p> + <p> + BRISTOL, MONDAY, 21st (10th) SEPTEMBER, 1744.... "Nothing is to be seen + here but rejoicings for the number of French prizes brought into this + port. Our Sailors are in high spirits, and full of money; and while on + shore, spend their whole time in carousing, visiting their mistresses, + going to plays, serenading, &c., dressed out with laced hats, tossels + (SIC), swords with sword-knots, and every other way of spending their + money." [Extract of a Letter from Bristol, in <i>Gentleman's Magazine,</i> + xiv. 504.] + </p> + <p> + Carthagena, Walpole, Viners: here are Sorrows for a Britannic Majesty;—and + these are nothing like all. But poor readers should have some respite; + brief breathing-time, were it only to use their pocket-handkerchiefs, and + summon new courage! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIII. — SMALL-WAR: FIRST EMERGENCE OF ZIETHEN THE HUSSAR + GENERAL INTO NOTICE. + </h2> + <p> + After Brieg, Friedrich undertook nothing military, except strict vigilance + of Neipperg, for a couple of months or more. Military, especially + offensive operations, are not the methods just now. Rest on your oars; see + how this seething Ocean of European Politics, and Peace or War, will + settle itself into currents, into set winds; by which of them a man may + steer, who happens to have a fixed port in view. Neipperg, too, is glad to + be quiescent; "my Infantry hopelessly inferior," he writes to + head-quarters: "Could not one hire 10,000 Saxons, think you,"—or do + several other chimerical things, for help? Except with his Pandour people, + working what mischief they can, Neipperg does nothing. But this Hungarian + rabble is extensively industrious, scouring the country far and wide; and + gives a great deal of trouble both to Friedrich and the peaceable + inhabitants. So that there is plenty of Small War always going on:—not + mentionable here, any passage of it, except perhaps one, at a place called + Rothschloss; which concerns a remarkable Prussian Hussar Major, their + famed Ziethen, and is still remembered by the Prussian public. + </p> + <p> + We have heard of Captain, now Major Ziethen, how Friedrich Wilhelm sent + him to the Rhine Campaign, six years ago, to learn the Hussar Art from the + Austrians there. One Baronay (BARONIAY, or even BARANYAI, as others write + him), an excellent hand, taught him the Art;—and how well he has + learned, Baronay now sadly experiences. The affair of Rothschloss (in + abridged form) befell as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "In these Small-War businesses, Baronay, Austrian Major-General of + Hussars, had been exceedingly mischievous hitherto. It was but the other + day, a Prussian regular party had to go out upon him, just in time; and to + RE-wrench 'sixty cart-loads of meal,' wrenched by him from suffering + individuals; with which he was making off to Neisse, when the Prussians + [from their Camp of Mollwitz, where they still are] came in sight. + </p> + <p> + "And now again (May 16th) news is, That Baronay, and 1,400 Hussars with + him, has another considerable set of meal-carts,—in the Village of + Rothschloss, about twenty miles southward, Frankenstein way; and means to + march with them Neisse-ward to-morrow. Two marches or so will bring him + home; if Prussian diligence prevent not. 'Go instantly,' orders Friedrich,—appointing + Winterfeld to do it: Winterfeld with 300 dragoons, with Ziethen and + Hussars to the amount of 600; which is more than one to two of Austrians. + </p> + <p> + "Winterfeld and Ziethen march that same day; are in the neighborhood of + Rothschloss by nightfall; and take their measures,—block the road to + Neisse, and do other necessary things. And go in upon Baronay next + morning, at the due rate, fiery men both of them; sweep poor Baronay away, + MINUS the meal; who finds even his road blocked (bridge bursting into + cannon-shot upon him, at one point), instead of bridge, a stream, or slow + current of quagmire for him,—and is in imminent hazard. Ziethen's + behavior was superlative (details of it unintelligible off the ground); + and Baronay fled totally in wreck;—his own horse shot, and at the + moment no other to be had; swam the quagmire, or swashed through it, 'by + help of a tree;' and had a near miss of capture. Recovering himself on the + other side, Baronay, we can fancy, gave a grin of various expression, as + he got into saddle again: 'The arrow so near killing was feathered from + one's own wing, too!'—And indeed, a day or two after, he wrote + Ziethen a handsome Letter to that effect." [<i>Helden-Geschichte,</i> i. + 927; Orlich, i. 120. <i>The Life of General de Zieten</i> (English + Translation, very ill printed, Berlin, 1803), BY FRAU VON BLUMENTHAL (a + vaguish eloquent Lady, but with access to information, being a connection + of Z.'s), p. 84.] + </p> + <p> + Ziethen, for minor good feats, had been made Lieutenant-Colonel, the very + day he marched; his Commission dates May 16th, 1741; and on the morrow he + handsels it in this pretty manner. He is now forty-two; much held down + hitherto; being a man of inarticulate turn, hot and abrupt in his ways,—liable + always to multifarious obstruction, and unjust contradiction from his + fellow-creatures. But Winterfeld's report on this occasion was emphatic; + and Ziethen shoots rapidly up henceforth; Colonel within the year, General + in 1744; and more and more esteemed by Friedrich during their subsequent + long life together. + </p> + <p> + Though perhaps the two most opposite men in Nature, and standing so far + apart, they fully recognized one another in their several spheres. For + Ziethen too had good eyesight, though in abstruse sort:—rugged + simple son of the moorlands; nourished, body and soul, on orthodox frugal + oatmeal (so to speak), with a large sprinkling of fire and iron thrown in! + A man born poor: son of some poor Squirelet in the Ruppin Country;—"used + to walk five miles into Ruppin on Saturday nights," in early life, "and + have his hair done into club, which had to last him till the week + following." [<i>Militair-Lexikon,</i> iv. 310.] A big-headed, + thick-lipped, decidedly ugly little man. And yet so beautiful in his + ugliness: wise, resolute, true, with a dash of high uncomplaining sorrow + in him;—not the "bleached nigger" at all, as Print-Collectors + sometimes call him! No; but (on those oatmeal terms) the + Socrates-Odysseus, the valiant pious Stoic, and much-enduring man. One of + the best Hussar Captains ever built. By degrees King Friedrich and he grew + to be,—with considerable tiffs now and then, and intervals of gloom + and eclipse,—what we might call sworn friends. On which and on + general grounds, Ziethen has become, like Friedrich himself, a kind of + mythical person with the soldiery and common people; more of a demi-god + than any other of Friedrich's Captains. + </p> + <p> + Friedrich is always eagerly in quest of men like Ziethen; specially so at + this time. He has meditated much on the bad figure his Cavalry made at + Mollwitz; and is already drilling them anew in multiplex ways, during + those leisure days he now has,—with evident success on the next + trial, this very Summer. And, as his wont is, will not rest satisfied + there. But strives incessantly, for a series of summers and years to come, + till he bring them to perfection; or to the likeness of his own thought, + which probably was not far from that. Till at length it can be said his + success became world-famous; and he had such Seidlitzes and Ziethens as + were not seen before or since. + </p> + <p> + [MAP FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND SILESIAN WAR HERE—missing] + </p> + <p> + END OF BOOK 12 <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, +Vol. XII. 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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. XII. (of XXI.) + Frederick The Great--First Silesian War, Awakening a General + European One, Begins--December, 1740-May, 1741 + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Posting Date: June 13, 2008 [EBook #2112] +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 + +Volume XII. + + + + + +BOOK XII. -- FIRST SILESIAN WAR, AWAKENING A GENERAL EUROPEAN ONE, +BEGINS. -- December, 1740-May, 1741. + + + + +Chapter I. -- OF SCHLESIEN, OR SILESIA. + +Schlesien, what we call Silesia, lies in elliptic shape, spread on the +top of Europe, partly girt with mountains, like the crown or crest +to that part of the Earth;--highest table-land of Germany or of the +Cisalpine Countries; and sending rivers into all the seas. The summit +or highest level of it is in the southwest; longest diameter is from +northwest to southeast. From Crossen, whither Friedrich is now driving, +to the Jablunka Pass, which issues upon Hungary, is above 250 miles; +the AXIS, therefore, or longest diameter, of our Ellipse we may call 230 +English miles;--its shortest or conjugate diameter, from Friedland in +Bohemia (Wallenstein's old Friedland), by Breslau across the Oder to the +Polish Frontier, is about 100. The total area of Schlesien is counted to +be some 20,000 square miles, nearly the third of England Proper. + +Schlesien--will the reader learn to call it by that name, on occasion? +for in these sad Manuscripts of ours the names alternate--is a fine, +fertile, useful and beautiful Country. It leans sloping, as we hinted, +to the East and to the North; a long curved buttress of Mountains +("RIESENGEBIRGE, Giant Mountains," is their best-known name in +foreign countries) holding it up on the South and West sides. +This Giant-Mountain Range,--which is a kind of continuation of the +Saxon-Bohemian "Metal Mountains (ERZGEBIRGE)" and of the straggling +Lausitz Mountains, to westward of these,--shapes itself like a bill-hook +(or elliptically, as was said): handle and hook together may be some +200 miles in length. The precipitous side of this is, in general, turned +outwards, towards Bohmen, Mahren, Ungarn (Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, +in our dialects); and Schlesien lies inside, irregularly sloping down, +towards the Baltic and towards the utmost East, From the Bohemian side +of these Mountains there rise two Rivers: Elbe, tending for the West; +Morawa for the South;--Morawa, crossing Moravia, gets into the Donau, +and thence into the Black-Sea; while Elbe, after intricate adventures +among the mountains, and then prosperously across the plains, is out, +with its many ships, into the Atlantic. Two rivers, we say, from the +Bohemian or steep side: and again, from the Silesian side, there rise +other two, the Oder and the Weichsel (VISTULA); which start pretty near +one another in the Southeast, and, after wide windings, get both into +the Baltic, at a good distance apart. + +For the first thirty, or in parts, fifty miles from the Mountains, +Silesia slopes somewhat rapidly; and is still to be called a +Hill-country, rugged extensive elevations diversifying it: but after +that, the slope is gentle, and at length insensible, or noticeable +only by the way the waters run. From the central part of it, Schlesien +pictures itself to you as a plain; growing ever flatter, ever sandier, +as it abuts on the monotonous endless sand-flats of Poland, and the +Brandenburg territories; nothing but Boundary Stones with their brass +inscriptions marking where the transition is; and only some Fortified +Town, not far off, keeping the door of the Country secure in that +quarter. + +On the other hand, the Mountain part of Schlesien is very picturesque; +not of Alpine height anywhere (the Schnee-Koppe itself is under 5,000 +feet), so that verdure and forest wood fail almost nowhere among the +Mountains; and multiplex industry, besung by rushing torrents and the +swift young rivers, nestles itself high up; and from wheat +husbandry, madder and maize husbandry, to damask-weaving, metallurgy, +charcoal-burning, tar-distillery, Schlesien has many trades, and has +long been expert and busy at them to a high degree. A very +pretty Ellipsis, or irregular Oval, on the summit of the European +Continent;--"like the palm of a left hand well stretched out, with the +Riesengebirge for thumb!" said a certain Herr to me, stretching out his +arm in that fashion towards the northwest. Palm, well stretched out, +measuring 250 miles; and the crossway 100. There are still beavers in +Schlesien; the Katzbach River has gold grains in it, a kind of Pactolus +not now worth working; and in the scraggy lonesome pine-woods, grimy +individuals, with kindled mounds of pine-branches and smoke carefully +kept down by sods, are sweating out a substance which they inform you is +to be tar. + + + + +HISTORICAL EPOCHS OF SCHLESIEN;--AFTER THE QUADS AND MARCHMEN. + +Who first lived in Schlesien, or lived long since in it, there is no use +in asking, nor in telling if one knew. "The QUADI and the Lygii," says +Dryasdust, in a groping manner: Quadi and consorts, in the fifth or +sixth Century, continues he with more confidence, shifted Rome-ward, +following the general track of contemporaneous mankind; weak remnant of +Quadi was thereupon overpowered by Slavic populations, and their Country +became Polish, which the eastern rim of it still essentially is. That +was the end of the Quadi in those parts, says History. But they cannot +speak nor appeal for themselves; History has them much at discretion. +Rude burial urns, with a handful of ashes in them, have been dug up in +different places; these are all the Archives and Histories the Quadi now +have. It appears their name signifies WICKED. They are those poor Quadi +(WICKED PEOPLE) who always go along with the Marcomanni (MARCHMEN), in +the bead-roll Histories one reads; and I almost guess they must have +been of the same stock: "Wickeds and Borderers;" considered, on both +sides of the Border, to belong to the Dangerous Classes in those times. +Two things are certain: First, QUAD and its derivatives have, to +this day, in the speech of rustic Germans, something of that +meaning,--"nefarious," at least "injurious," "hateful, and to be +avoided:" for example, QUADdel, "a nettle-burn;" QUETSchen, "to smash" +(say, your thumb while hammering); &c. &c. And then a second thing: +The Polish equivalent word is ZLE (Busching says ZLEXI); hence ZLEzien, +SCHLEsien, meaning merely BADland, QUADland, what we might called +DAMAGitia, or Country where you get into Trouble. That is the etymology, +or what passes for such. As to the History of Schlesien, hitherwards +of these burial urns dug up in different places, I notice, as not yet +entirely buriable, Three Epochs. + +FIRST EPOCH; CHRISTIANITY: A.D. 966. Introduction of Christianity; +to the length of founding a Bishopric that year, so hopeful were the +aspects; "Bishopric of Schmoger" (SchMAGram, dim little Village still +discoverable on the Polish frontier, not far from the Town of Namslau); +Bishopric which, after one removal farther inward, got across the +Oder, to "WRUTISLAV," which me now call Breslau; and sticks there, as +Bishopric of Breslau, to this day. Year 966: it was in Adalbert, our +Prussian Saint and Missionary's younger time. Preaching, by zealous +Polacks, must have been going on, while Adalbert, Bright in Nobleness, +was studying at Magdeburg, and ripening for high things in the general +estimation. This was a new gift from the Polacks, this of Christianity; +an infinitely more important one than that nickname of "ZLEZIEN," or +"DAMAGitia," stuck upon the poor Country, had been. + +SECOND EPOCH; GET GRADUALLY CUT LOOSE FROM POLAND: A.D. 1139-1159. +Twenty years of great trouble in Poland, which were of lasting benefit +to Schlesien. In 1139 the Polack King, a very potent Majesty whom we +could name but do not, died; and left his Dominions shared by punctual +bequest among his five sons. Punctual bequest did avail: but the eldest +Son (who was King, and had Schlesien with much else to his share) began +to encroach, to grasp; upon which the others rose upon him, flung him +out into exile; redivided; and hoped now they might have quiet. Hoped, +but were disappointed; and could come to no sure bargain for the next +twenty years,--not till "the eldest brother," first author of these +strifes, "died an exile in Holstein," or was just about dying, and had +agreed to take Schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth. + +His, this eldest's, three Sons did accordingly, in 1159, get Schlesien +instead of him; their uncles proving honorable. Schlesien thereby +was happy enough to get cut loose from Poland, and to continue loose; +steering a course of its own;--parting farther and farther from Poland +and its habits and fortunes. These three Sons, of the late Polish +Majesty who died in exile in Holstein, are the "Piast Dukes," much +talked of in Silesian Histories: of whose merits I specify this only, +That they so soon as possible strove to be German. They were Progenitors +of all the "Piast Dukes," Proprietors of Schlesien thenceforth, till the +last of them died out in 1675,--and a certain ERBVERBRUDERUNG they +had entered into could not take effect at that time. Their merits as +Sovereign Dukes seem to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom +and nobleness of mind not rare among them; and no doubt it was partly +their merit, if partly also their good luck, that they took to Germany, +and leant thitherward; steering looser and looser from Poland, in their +new circumstances. They themselves by degrees became altogether German; +their Countries, by silent immigration, introduction of the arts, the +composures and sobrieties, became essentially so. On the eastern +rim there is still a Polack remnant, its territories very sandy, its +condition very bad; remnant which surely ought to cease its Polack +jargon, and learn some dialect of intelligible Teutsch, as the first +condition of improvement. In all other parts Teutsch reigns; +and Schlesien is a green abundant Country; full of metallurgy, +damask-weaving, grain-husbandry.--instead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, +rags, dirt, and NIE POZWALAM. + +A.D. 1327; GET COMPLETELY CUT LOOSE. The Piast Dukes, who soon ceased to +be Polish, and hung rather upon Bohemia, and thereby upon Germany, made +a great step in that direction, when King Johann, old ICH-DIEN whom we +ought to recollect, persuaded most of them, all of them but two, "PRETIO +AC PRECE," to become Feudatories (Quasi-Feudatories, but of a sovereign +sort) to his Crown of Bohemia. The two who stood out, resisting +prayer and price, were the Duke of Jauer and the Duke of +Schweidnitz,--lofty-minded gentlemen, perhaps a thought too lofty. +But these also Johann's son, little Kaiser Karl IV., "marrying their +heiress," contrived to bring in;--one fruitful adventure of little +Karl's, among the many wasteful he made, in the German Reich. Schlesien +is henceforth a bit of the Kingdom of Bohemia; indissolubly hooked to +Germany; and its progress in the arts and composures, under wise +Piasts with immigrating Germans, we guess to have become doubly rapid. +[Busching, _Erdbeschreibung,_ viii. 725; Hubner, t. 94.] + +THIRD EPOCH; ADOPT THE REFORMATION: A.D. 1414-1517. Schlesien, hanging +to Bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted Huss's doctrines; still +more extensively Luther's; and that was a difficult element in its lot, +though, I believe, an unspeakably precious one. It cost above a Century +of sad tumults, Zisca Wars; nay above two Centuries, including the sad +Thirty-Years War;--which miseries, in Bohemia Proper, were sometimes +very sad and even horrible. But Schlesien, the outlying Country, did, +in all this, suffer less than Bohemia Proper; and did NOT lose its +Evangelical Doctrine in result, as unfortunate Bohemia did, and sink +into sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big Crucifixes of japanned Tin by +the wayside," though in the course of subsequent years, named of Peace, +it was near doing so. Here are the steps, or unavailing counter-steps, +in that latter direction:-- + +A.D. 1537. Occurred, as we know, the ERBVERBRUDERUNG; Duke of Liegnitz, +and of other extensive heritages, making Deed of Brotherhood with +Kur-Brandenburg;--Deed forbidden, and so far as might be, rubbed out and +annihilated by the then King of Bohemia, subsequently Kaiser Ferdinand +I., Karl V.'s Brother. Duke of Liegnitz had to give up his parchments, +and become zero in that matter: Kur-Brandenburg entirely refused to do +so; kept his parchments, to see if they would not turn to something. + +A.D. 1624. Schlesien, especially the then Duke of Liegnitz +(great-grandson of the ERBVERBRUDERUNG one), and poor Johann George, +Duke of Jagerndorf, cadet of the then Kur-Brandenburg, went warmly +ahead into the Winter-King project, first fire of the Thirty-Years +War; sufferings from Papal encroachment, in high quarters, being really +extreme. Warmly ahead; and had to smart sharply for it;--poor Johann +George with forfeiture of Jagerndorf, with REICHES-ACHT (Ban of the +Empire), and total ruin; fighting against which he soon died. Act of Ban +and Forfeiture was done tyrannously, said most men; and it was persisted +in equally so, till men ceased speaking of it;--Jagerndorf Duchy, fruit +of the Act, was held by Austria, ever after, in defiance of the Laws +of the Reich. Religious Oppression lay heavy on Protestant Schlesien +thenceforth; and many lukewarm individualities were brought back to +Orthodoxy by that method, successful in the diligent skilled hands of +Jesuit Reverend Fathers, with fiscals and soldiers in the rear of them. + +A.D. 1648. Treaty of Westphalia mended much of this, and set fair limits +to Papist encroachment;--had said Treaty been kept: but how could it? By +Orthodox Authority, anxious to recover lost souls, or at least to have +loyal subjects, it was publicly kept in name; and tacitly, in +substance, it was violated more and more. Of the "Blossoming of Silesian +Literature," spoken of in Books; of the Poet Opitz, Poets Logan, +Hoffmannswaldau, who burst into a kind of Song better or worse at this +Period, we will remember nothing; but request the reader to remember it, +if he is tunefully given, or thinks it a good symptom of Schlesien. + +A.D. 1707. Treaty of Altranstadt: between Kaiser Joseph I. and Karl XII. +Swedish Karl, marching through those parts,--out of Poland, in chase +of August the Physically Strong, towards Saxony, there to beat him +soft,--was waited upon by Silesian Deputations of a lamentable nature; +was entreated, for the love of Christ and His Evangel, to "Protect +us poor Protestants, and get the Treaty of Westphalia observed on our +behalf, and fair-play shown!" Which Karl did; Kaiser Joseph, with such +weight of French War lying on him, being much struck with the tone of +that dangerous Swede. The Pope rebuked Kaiser Joseph for such compliance +in the Silesian matter: "Holy Father," answered this Kaiser (not of +distinguished orthodoxy in the House), "I am too glad he did not ask me +to become Lutheran; I know not how I should have helped myself!" [Pauli, +_ Allgemeine Preussische Staats-Geschichte_ (viii. 298-592); Busching, +_Erdbeschreibung_ (viii. 700-739); &c.--Heinrich Wuttke, _Friedrichs +des Grossen Besitzergreifung von Schlesien_ (Seizure of Silesia by +Friedrich, 2 vols. Leipzig, 1843), I mention only lest ingenuous readers +should be tempted by the Title to buy it. Wuttke begins at the Creation +of the World; and having, in two heavy volumes, at last struggled down +close TO the BESITZERGREIFUNG or Seizure in question, calls halt; and +stands (at ease, we will hope) immovably there for the seventeen years +since.] + +These are the Three Epochs;--most things, in respect of this Third or +Reformation Epoch, stepping steadily downward hitherto. As to the Fourth +Epoch, dating "13th Dec. 1740," which continues, up to our day and +farther, and is the final and crowning Epoch of Silesian History,--read +in the following Chapters. + + + + +Chapter II. -- FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. + +At what hour Friedrich ceased dancing on that famous Ball-night of +Bielfeld's, and how long he slept after, or whether at all, no Bielfeld +even mythically says: but next morning, as is patent to all the world, +Tuesday, 13th December, 1740, at the stroke of nine, he steps into his +carriage; and with small escort rolls away towards Frankfurt-on-Oder; +[_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 452; Preuss, _Thronbesteigung,_ p. 456.] out +upon an Enterprise which will have results for himself and others. + +Two youngish military men, Adjutant-Generals both, were with him, +Wartensleben, Borck; both once fellow Captains in the Potsdam Giants, +and much in his intimacy ever since. Wartensleben we once saw at +Brunswick, on a Masonic occasion; Borck, whom we here see for the first +time, is not the Colonel Borck (properly Major-General) who did the +Herstal Operation lately; still less is he the venerable old Minister, +Marlborough Veteran, and now Field-Marshal Borck, whom Hotham treated +with, on a certain occasion. There are numerous Borcks always in the +King's service; nor are these three, except by loose cousinry, related +to one another. The Borcks all come from Stettin quarter; a brave +kindred, and old enough,--"Old as the Devil, DAS IST SO OLD ALS +DE BORCKEN UND DE DUWEL," says the Pomeranian Proverb;--the +Adjutant-General, a junior member of the clan, chances to be the +notablest of them at this moment. Wartensleben, Borck, and a certain +Colonel von der Golz, whom also the King much esteems, these are his +company on this drive. For escort, or guard of honor out of Berlin to +the next stages, there is a small body of Hussars, Life-guard and other +Cavalry, "perhaps 500 horse in all." + +They drive rapidly, through the gray winter; reach Frankfurt-on-Oder, +sixty miles or more; where no doubt there is military business waiting. +They are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, forty miles farther, at a +small Town called Crossen, which looks over into Silesia; and is, for +the present, headquarters to a Prussian Army, standing ready there +and in the environs. Standing ready, or hourly marching in, and +rendezvousing; now about 28,000 strong, horse and foot. A Rearguard +of Ten or Twelve Thousand will march from Berlin in two days, pause +hereabouts, and follow according to circumstances: Prussian Army will +then be some 40,000 in all. Schwerin has been Commander, manager and +mainspring of the business hitherto: henceforth it is to be the King; +but Schwerin under him will still have a Division of his own. + +Among the Regiments, we notice "Schulenburg Horse-Grenadiers,"--come +along from Landsberg hither, these Horse-Grenadiers, with little +Schulenburg at the head of them;--"Dragoon Regiment Bayreuth," +"Lifeguard Carbineers," "Derschau of Foot;" and other Regiments and +figures slightly known to us, or that will be better known. [List in +_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 453.] Rearguard, just getting under +way at Berlin, has for leaders the Prince of Holstein-Beck +("Holstein-VAISSELLE," say wags, since the Principality went all to +SILVER-PLATE) and the Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, whom we called +the Young Dessauer, on the Strasburg Journey lately: Rearguard, we say, +is of 12,000; main Army is 28,000; Horse and Foot are in the +proportion of about 1 to 3. Artillery "consists of 20 three-pounders; 4 +twelve-pounders; 4 howitzers (HAUBITZEN); 4 big mortars, calibre fifty +pounds; and of Artillerymen 166 in all." + +With this Force the young King has, on his own basis (pretty much in +spite of all the world, as we find now and afterwards), determined to +invade Silesia, and lay hold of the Property he has long had there;--not +computing, for none can compute, the sleeping whirlwinds he may chance +to awaken thereby. Thus lightly does a man enter upon Enterprises which +prove unexpectedly momentous, and shape the whole remainder of his days +for him; crossing the Rubicon as it were in his sleep. In Life, as on +Railways at certain points,--whether you know it or not, there is but an +inch, this way or that, into what tram you are shunted; but try to get +out of it again! "The man is mad, CET HOMME-LA EST FOL!" said Louis +XV. when he heard it. [Raumer, _Beitrage_ (English Translation, called +_Frederick II. and his Times; from British Museum and State-Paper +Office:_--a very indistinct poor Book, in comparison with whet it might +have been), p. 73 (24th Dec. 1740).] + + + + +FRIEDRICH AT CROSSEN, AND STILL IN HIS OWN TERRITORY, 14th-16th +DECEMBER;--STEPS INTO SCHLESIEN. + +At all events, the man means to try;--and is here dining at Crossen, +noon of Wednesday, the 14th; certain important persons,--especially two +Silesian Gentlemen, deputed from Grunberg, the nearest Silesian Town, +who have come across the border on business,--having the honor to dine +with him. To whom his manner is lively and affable; lively in mood, +as if there lay no load upon his spirits. The business of these two +Silesian Gentlemen, a Baron von Hocke one of them, a Baron von Kestlitz +the other, was To present, on the part of the Town and Amt of Grunberg, +a solemn Protest against this meditated entrance on the Territory of +Schlesien; Government itself, from Breslau, ordering them to do so. +Protest was duly presented; Friedrich, as his manner is, and continues +to be on his march, glances politely into or at the Protest; hands it, +in silence, to some page or secretary to deposit in the due pigeon-hole +or waste-basket; and invites the two Silesian Gentlemen to dine +with him; as, we see, they have the honor to do. "He (ER) lives near +Grunberg, then, Mein Herr von Hocke?" "Close to it, IHRO MAJESTAT. My +poor mansion, Schloss of Deutsch-Kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; +how infinitely at your Majesty's service, should the march prove +inevitable, and go that way!"--"Well, perhaps!" I find Friedrich did +dine, the second day hence, with one of these Gentlemen; and lodged with +the other. Government at Breslau has ordered such Protest, on the part +of the Frontier populations and Official persons: and this is all that +comes of it. + +During these hours, it chanced that the big Bell of Crossen dropped from +its steeple,--fulness of time, or entire rottenness of axle-tree, being +at last completed, at this fateful moment. Perhaps an ominous thing? +Friedrich, as Caesar and others have done, cheerfully interprets the +omen to his own advantage: "Sign that the High is to be brought low!" +says Friedrich. Were the march-routes, wagon-trains, and multifarious +adjustments perfect to the last item here at Crossen, he will with much +cheerfulness step into Silesia, independent of all Grunberg Protests and +fallen Bells. + +On the second day he does actually cross; "the regiments marching in, +at different points; some reaching as far as 25 miles in." It is Friday, +16th December, 1740; there has a game begun which will last long! They +went through the Village of Lasgen; that was the first point of Silesian +ground ("Circle of Schwiebus," our old friend, is on the left near by); +and "Schwerin's Regiment was the foremost." Others cross more to the +left or right; "marching through the Village of Lessen," and other dim +Villages and little Towns, round and beyond Grunberg; all regiments and +divisions bearing upon Grunberg and the Great Road; but artistically +portioned out,--several miles in breadth (for the sake of quarters), +and, as is generally the rule, about a day's march in length. This +evening nearly the whole Army was on Silesian ground. + +Printed "Patent" or Proclamation, briefly assuring all Silesians, of +whatever rank, condition or religion, "That we have come as friends to +them, and will protect all persons in their privileges, and molest +no peaceable mortal," is posted on Church-doors, and extensively +distributed by hand. Soldiers are forbidden, "under penalty of the +rods," Officers under that of "cassation with infamy," to take anything, +without first bargaining and paying ready money for it. On these +terms the Silesian villages cheerfully enough accept their new guests, +interesting to the rural mind; and though the billeting was rather +heavy, "as many as 24 soldiers to a common Farmer (GARTNER)," no +complaints were made. In one Schloss, where the owners had fled, and no +human response was to be had by the wayworn-soldiery, there did occur +some breakages and impatient kickings about; which it grieved his +Majesty to hear of, next morning;--in one, not in more. + +Official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely passive. This was +the Burgermeister's course at Grunberg to-night; Grunberg, first Town +on the Frontier, sets an example of passivity which cannot be surpassed. +Prussian troops being at the Gate of Grunberg, Burgermeister and +adjuncts sitting in a tacit expectant condition in their Town-hall, +there arrives a Prussian Lieutenant requiring of the Burgermeister the +Key of said Gate. "To deliver such Key? Would to God I durst, Mein Herr +Lieutenant; but how dare I! There is the Key lying: but to GIVE +it--You are not the Queen of Hungary's Officer, I doubt?"--The Prussian +Lieutenant has to put out hand, and take the Key; which he readily does. +And on the morrow, in returning it, when the march recommences, there +are the same phenomena: Burgermeister or assistants dare not for the +life of them touch that Key: It lay on the table; and may again, in the +course of Providence, come to lie!--The Prussian Lieutenant lays it down +accordingly, and hurries out, with a grin on his face. There was much +small laughter over this transaction; Majesty himself laughing well at +it. Higher perfection of passivity no Burgermeister could show. + +The march, as readers understand, is towards Glogau; a strongish +Garrison Town, now some 40 miles ahead; the key of Northern Schlesien. +Grunberg (where my readers once slept for the night, in the late King's +time, though they have forgotten it) is the first and only considerable +Town on the hither side of Glogau. On to Glogau, I rather perceive, the +Army is in good part provisioned before starting: after Glogau,--we must +see. Bread-wagons, Baggage-wagons, Ammunition-and-Artillery wagons, all +is in order; Army artistically portioned out. That is the form of march; +with Glogau ahead. King, as we said above, dines with his Baron von +Hocke, at the Schloss of Deutsch-Kessel, short way beyond Grunberg, this +first day: but he by no means loiters there;--cuts across, a dozen miles +westward, through a country where his vanguard on its various lines +of march ought to be arriving;--and goes to lodge, at the Schloss of +Schweinitz, with his other Baron, the Von Kestlitz of Wednesday at +Crossen. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 459.] This is Friday, 16th December, +his first night on Silesian ground. + + + + +WHAT GLOGAU, AND THE GOVERNMENT AT BRESLAU, DID UPON IT. + +Silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least prepared for him. +A month ago, there were not above 3,000 Austrian Foot and 600 Horse in +the whole Province: neither the military Governor Count Wallis, nor +the Imperial Court, nor any Official Person near or far, had the least +anticipation of such a Visit. Count Wallis, who commands in Glogau, did +in person, nine or ten days ago, as the rumors rose ever higher, run +over to Crossen; saw with his eyes the undeniable there; and has been +zealously endeavoring ever since, what he could, to take measures. +Wallis is now shut in Glogau; his second, the now Acting Governor, +General Browne, a still more reflective man, is doing likewise his +utmost; but on forlorn terms, and without the least guidance from Court. +Browne has, by violent industry, raked together, from Mahren and the +neighboring countries, certain fractions which raise his Force to 7,000 +Foot: these he throws, in small parties, into the defensible points; or, +in larger, into the Chief Garrisons. New Cavalry he cannot get; the +old 600 Horse he keeps for himself, all the marching Army he has. +[Particulars in _Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 465; total of Austrian Force +seems to be 7,800 horse and foot.] + +Fain would he get possession of Breslau, and throw in some garrison +there; but cannot. Neither he nor Wallis could compass that. Breslau +is a City divided against itself, on this matter; full of emotions, of +expectations, apprehensions for and against. There is a Supreme Silesian +Government (OBER-AMT "Head-Office," kind of Austrian Vice-Royalty) in +Breslau; and there is, on Breslau's own score, a Town-Rath; strictly +Catholic both these, Vienna the breath of their nostrils. But then +also there are forty-four Incorporated Trades; Oppressed Protestant +in Majority; to whom Vienna is not breath, but rather the want of it. +Lastly, the City calls itself Free; and has crabbed privileges still +valid; a "JUS PROESIDII" (or right to be one's own garrison) one of +them, and the most inconvenient just now. Breslau is a REICH-STADT; in +theory, sovereign member of the Reich, and supreme over its own affairs, +even as Austria itself:--and the truth is, old Theory and new Fact, +resolved not to quarrel, have lapsed into one another's arms in a quite +inextricable way, in Breslau as elsewhere! With a Head Government which +can get no orders from Vienna, the very Town-Rath has little alacrity, +inclines rather to passivity like Grunberg; and a silent population +threatens to become vocal if you press upon it. + +Breslau, that is to say the OBER-AMT there, has sent courier on courier +to Vienna for weeks past: not even an answer;--what can Vienna answer, +with Kur-Baiern and others threatening war on it, and only 10,000 pounds +in its National Purse? Answer at last is, "Don't bother! Danger is +not so near. Why spend money on couriers, and get into such a taking?" +General Wallis came to Breslau, after what he had seen at Crossen; and +urged strongly, in the name of self-preservation, first law of Nature, +to get an Austrian real Garrison introduced; wished much (horrible to +think of!) "the suburbs should be burnt, and better ramparts raised:" +but could not succeed in any of these points, nor even mention some of +them in a public manner. "You shall have a Protestant for commandant," +suggested Wallis; "there is Count von Roth, Silesian-Lutheran, an +excellent Soldier!"--"Thanks," answered they, "we can defend ourselves; +we had rather not have any!" And the Breslau Burghers have, accordingly, +set to drill themselves; are bringing out old cannon in quantity; +repairing breaches; very strict in sentry-work: "Perfectly able to +defend our City,--so far as we see good!"--Tuesday last, December 13th +(the very day Friedrich left Berlin), as this matter of the Garrison, +long urged by the Ober-Amt, had at last been got agreed to by the +Town-Rath, "on proviso of consulting the Incorporated Trades", or +at least consulting their Guild-Masters, who are usually a silent +folk,--the Guild-Masters suddenly became in part vocal; and their +forty-four Guilds unusually so:--and there was tumult in Breslau, in +the Salz-Ring (big central Square or market-place, which they call RING) +such as had not been; idle population, and guild-brethren of suspicious +humor, gathering in multitudes into and round the fine old Town-hall +there; questioning, answering, in louder and louder key; at last +bellowing quite in alt; and on the edge of flaming into one knew not +what: [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 469.]--till the matter of Austrian +Garrison (much more, of burning the suburbs!) had to be dropt; settled +in what way we see. + +Head Government (OBER-AMT) has, through its Northern official people, +sent Protest, strict order to the Silesian Population to look sour on +the Prussians:--and we saw, in consequence, the two Silesian Gentlemen +did dine with Friedrich, and he has returned their visits; and the Mayor +of Grunberg would not touch his keys. Head Government is now redacting +a "Patent," or still more solemn Protest of its own; which likewise it +will affix in the Salz-Ring here, and present to King Friedrich: and +this--except "despatching by boat down the river a great deal of meal to +Glogau", which was an important quiet thing, of Wallis's enforcing--is +pretty much all it can do. No Austrian Garrison can be got in +("Perfectly able to defend ourselves!")--let Government and Wallis or +Browne contrive as they may. And as to burning the suburbs, better +not whisper of that again. Breslau feels, or would fain feel itself +"perfectly able;"--has at any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains +privately a great deal of Protestant humor. Of all which, Friedrich, it +is not doubted, has notice more or less distinct; and quickens his march +the more. + +General Browne is at present in the Southern parts; an able active man +and soldier; but, with such a force what can he attempt to do? There are +three strong places in the Country, Glogau, then Brieg, both on the Oder +river; lastly Neisse, on the Neisse river, a branch of the Oder (one +of the FOUR Neisse rivers there are in Germany, mostly in Silesia,--not +handy to the accurate reader of German Books). Browne is in Neisse; +and will start into a strange stare when the flying post reaches him: +Prussians actually on march! Debate with them, if debate there is to +be, Browne himself must contrive to do; from Breslau, from Vienna, no +Government Supreme or Subordinate can yield his 8,000 and him the least +help. + +Glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least, General Wallis the +Commandant, does, in spite of the Glogau public; and is, with his +whole might, digging, palisading, getting in meal, salt meat and other +provender;--likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he, in the small +place; and clearing down the outside edifices and shelters, at a +diligent rate. Yesterday, 15th December, he burnt down the "three +Oder-Mills, which lie outside the big suburban Tavern, also the +ZIEGEL-SCHEUNE (Tile-Manufactory)," and other valuable buildings, +careless of public lamentation,--fire catching the Town itself, and +needing to be quenched again. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 473-475.] Nay, +he was clear for burning down, or blowing up, the Protestant Church, +indispensable sacred edifice which stands outside the walls: "Prussians +will make a block-house of it!" said Wallis. A chief Protestant, Baron +von Something, begged passionately for only twelve hours of respite,--to +lay the case before his Prussian Majesty. Respite conceded, he and +another chief Protestant had posted off accordingly; and did the next +morning (Friday, 16th), short way from Crossen, meet his Majesty's +carriage; who graciously pulled up for a few instants, and listened to +their story. "MEINE HERREN, you are the first that ask a favor of me on +Silesian ground; it shall be done you!" said the King; and straightway +despatched, in polite style, his written request to Wallis, engaging +to make no military use whatever of said Church, "but to attack by the +other side, if attack were necessary." Thus his Majesty saved the Church +of Glogau; which of course was a popular act. Getting to see this Church +himself a few days hence, he said, "Why, it must come down at any rate, +and be rebuilt; so ugly a thing!" + +Wallis is making strenuous preparation; forces the inhabitants, even +the upper kinds of them, to labor day and night by relays, in his +rampartings, palisadings; is for burning all the adjacent Villages,--and +would have done it, had not the peasants themselves turned out in +a dangerous state of mind. He has got together about 1,000 men. His +powder, they say, is fifty years old; but he has eatable provender from +Breslau, and means to hold out to the utmost. Readers must admit that +the Austrian military, Graf von Wallis to begin with,--still +more, General Browne, who is a younger man and has now the head +charge,--behave well in their present forsaken condition. Wallis (Graf +FRANZ WENZEL this one, not to be confounded with an older Wallis heard +of in the late Turk War) is of Scotch descent,--as all these Wallises +are; "came to Austria long generations ago; REICHSGRAFS since +1612:"--Browne is of Irish; age now thirty-five, ten years younger than +Wallis. Read this Note on the distinguished Browne:-- + +"A German-Irish Gentleman, this General (ultimately Fieldmarshal) +Graf von Browne; one of those sad exiled Irish Jacobites, or sons of +Jacobites, who are fighting in foreign armies; able and notable men +several of them, and this Browne considerably the most so. We shall meet +him repeatedly within the next eighteen years. Maximilian-Ulysses +Graf von Browne: I said he was born German; Basel his birthplace (23d +October, 1705), Father also a soldier: he must not be confounded with +a contemporary Cousin of his, who is also 'Fieldmarshal Browne,' but +serves in Russia, Governor of Riga for a long time in the coming years. +This Austrian General, Fieldmarshal Browne, will by and by concern us +somewhat; and the reader may take note of him. + +"Who the Irish Brothers Browne, the Fathers of these Marshals Browne, +were? I have looked in what Irish Peerages and printed Records there +were, but without the least result. One big dropsical Book, of languid +quality, called _King James's Irish Army-List,_ has multitudes of +Brownes and others, in an indistinct form; but the one Browne wanted, +the one Lacy, almost the one Lally, like the part of HAMLET, are +omitted. There are so many Irish in the like case with these Brownes. +A Lacy we once slightly saw or heard of; busy in the Polish-Election +time,--besieging Dantzig (investing Dantzig, that Munnich might besiege +it);--that Lacy, 'Governor of Riga,' whom the RUSSIAN Browne will +succeed, is also Irish: a conspicuous Russian man; and will have a Son +Lacy, conspicuous among the Austrians. Maguires, Ogilvies (of the Irish +stock), Lieutenants 'Fitzgeral;' very many Irish; and there is not +the least distinct account to be had of any of them." [For Browne see +"Anonymous of Hamburg" (so I have had to label a J.F.S. _Geschichte des +&c._--in fact, History of Seven-Years War, in successive volumes, done +chiefly by the scissors; Leipzig and Frankfurt, 1759, et seqq.), i. +123-131 n.: elaborate Note of eight pages there; intimating withal that +he, J.F.S., wrote the _"Life of Browne,"_ a Book I had in vain sought +for; and can now guess to consist of those same elaborate eight pages, +PLUS water and lathering to the due amount. Anonymous "of Hamburg" I +call my J.F.S.,--having fished him out of the dust-abysses in that City: +a very poor take; yet worth citing sometimes, being authentic, as even +the darkest Germans generally are.--For a glimpse of LACY (the Elder +Lacy) see Busching, _Beitrage,_ vi. 162.--For WALLIS (tombstone Note on +Wallis) see (among others who are copious in that kind of article, +and keep large sacks of it, in admired disorder) Anonymous Seyfarth, +_Geschichte Friedrichs des Andern_ (Leipzig, 1784-1788), i. 112 n.; +and Anonymous, _Leben der &c. Marie Theresie_ (Leipzig, 1781), 27 n.: +laboriously authentic Books both; essentialy DICTIONARIES,--stuffed as +into a row of blind SACKS.] + +Let us attend his Majesty on the next few marches towards Glogau, to see +the manner of the thing a little; after which it will behoove us to be +much more summary, and stick by the main incidents. + + + + +MARCH TO WEICHAU (SATURDAY, 17th, AND STAY SUNDAY THERE); TO MILKAU +(MONDAY, 19th); GET TO HERRENDORF, WITHIN SIGHT OF GLOGAU, DECEMBER 22d. + +Friedrich's march proceeds with speed and regularity. Strict discipline +is maintained; all things paid for, damage carefully avoided: "We +come, not as invasive enemies of you or of the Queen of Hungary, but as +protective friends of Silesia and of her Majesty's rights there;--her +Majesty once allowing us (as it is presumable she will) our own rights +in this Province, no man shall meddle with hers, while we continue +here." To that effect runs the little "Patent," or initiatory +Proclamation, extensively handed out, and posted in public places, as +was said above; and the practice is conformable. To all men, coming with +Protests or otherwise, we perceive, the young King is politeness itself; +giving clear answer, and promise which will be kept, on the above +principle. Nothing angers him except that gentlemen should disbelieve, +and run away. That a mansion be found deserted by its owners, is the one +evil omen for such mansion. Thus, at the Schloss of Weichau (which is +still discoverable on the Map, across the "Black Ochel" and the "White," +muddy streams which saunter eastward towards, the Oder there, nothing +yet running westward for the Bober, our other limitary river), next +night after Schweinitz, second night in Silesia, there was no Owner +to be met with; and the look of his Majesty grew FINSTER (dark); +remembering what had passed yesternight, in like case, at that other +Schloss from which the owner with his best portable furniture had +vanished. At which Schloss, as above noticed, some disorders were +committed by angry parties of the march;--doors burst open (doors +standing impudently dumb to the rational proposals made them!), inferior +remainders of furniture smashed into firewood, and the like,--no doubt +to his Majesty's vexation. Here at Weichau stricter measures were taken: +and yet difficulties, risks were not wanting; and the AMTMANN (Steward +of the place) got pulled about, and once even a stroke or two. Happily +the young Herr of Weichau appeared in person on the morrow, hearing his +Majesty was still there: "Papa is old; lives at another Schloss; +could not wait upon your Majesty; nor, till now, could I have that +honor."--"Well; lucky that you have come: stay dinner!" Which the young +Count did, and drove home in the evening to reassure Papa; his Majesty +continuing there another night, and the risk over. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ +i. 459.] + +This day, Sunday, 18th, the Army rests; their first Sunday in Silesia, +while the young Count pays his devoir: and here in Weichau, as +elsewhere, it is in the Church, Catholic nearly always, that the Heretic +Army does its devotions, safe from weather at least: such the Royal +Order, they say; which is taken note of, by the Heterodox and by the +Orthodox. And ever henceforth, this is the example followed; and in all +places where there is no Protestant Church and the Catholics have one, +the Prussian Army-Chaplain assembles his buff-belted audience in the +latter: "No offence, Reverend Fathers, but there are hours for us, +and hours for you; and such is the King's Order." There is regular +divine-service in this Prussian Army; and even a good deal of +inarticulate religion, as one may see on examining. + +Country Gentlemen, Town Mayors and other civic Authorities, soon learn +that on these terms they are safe with his Majesty; march after march he +has interviews with such, to regulate the supplies, the necessities +and accidents of the quartering of his Troops. Clear, frank, open +to reasonable representation, correct to his promise; in fact, +industriously conciliatory and pacificatory: such is Friedrich to all +Silesian men. Provincial Authorities, who can get no instructions +from Head-quarters; Vienna saying nothing, Breslau nothing, and +Deputy-Governor Browne being far south in Neisse,--are naturally in +difficulties: How shall they act? Best not to act at all, if one can +help it; and follow the Mayor of Grunberg's unsurpassable pattern!-- + +"These Silesians," says an Excerpt I have made, "are still in majority +Protestant; especially in this Northern portion of the Province; they +have had to suffer much on that and other scores; and are secretly or +openly in favor of the Prussians. Official persons, all of the Catholic +creed, have leant heavy, not always conscious of doing it, against +Protestant rights. The Jesuits, consciously enough, have been and are +busy with them; intent to recall a Heretic Population by all +methods, fair and unfair. We heard of Charles XII.'s interference, +three-and-thirty years ago; and how the Kaiser, hard bested at that +time, had to profess repentance and engage for complete amendment. +Amendment did, for the moment, accordingly take place. Treaty of +Westphalia in all its stipulations, with precautionary improvements, was +re-enacted as Treaty of Altranstadt; with faithful intention of keeping +it too, on Kaiser Joseph's part, who was not a superstitious man: +'Holy Father, I was too glad he did not demand my own conversion to the +Protestant Heresy, bested as I am,--with Louis Quatorze and Company upon +the neck of me!' Some improvement of performance, very marked at first, +did ensue upon this Altranstadt Treaty. But the sternly accurate Karl +of Sweden soon disappeared from the scene; Kaiser Joseph of Austria soon +disappeared; and his Brother, Karl VI., was a much more orthodox person. + +"The Austrian Government, and Kaiser Karl's in particular, is not to be +called an intentionally unjust one; the contrary, I rather find; but it +is, beyond others, ponderous; based broad on such multiplex formalities, +old habitudes; and GRAVITATION has a great power over it. In brief, +Official human nature, with the best of Kaisers atop, flagitated +continually by Jesuit Confessors, does throw its weight on a certain +side: the sad fact is, in a few years the brightness of that Altranstadt +improvement began to wax dim; and now, under long Jesuit manipulation, +Silesian things are nearly at their old pass; and the patience of men +is heavily laden. To see your Chapel made a Soldiers' Barrack, your +Protestant School become a Jesuit one,--Men did not then think of +revolting under injuries; but the poor Silesian weaver, trudging twenty +miles for his Sunday sermon; and perceiving that, unless their Mother +could teach the art of reading, his boys, except under soul's +peril, would now never learn it: such a Silesian could not want for +reflections. Voiceless, hopeless, but heavy; and dwelling secretly, as +under nightmare, in a million hearts. Austrian Officiality, wilfully +unjust, or not wilfully so, is admitted to be in a most heavy-footed +condition; can administer nothing well. Good Government in any kind is +not known here: Possibly the Prussian will be better; who can say? + +"The secret joy of these populations, as Friedrich advances among them, +becomes more and more a manifest one. Catholic Officials do not venture +on any definite hope, or definite balance of hope and fear, but adopt +the Mayor of Grunberg's course, and study to be passive and silent. +The Jesuit-Priest kind are clear in their minds for Austria; but think, +Perhaps Prussia itself will not prove very tyrannous? At all events, +be silent; it is unsafe to stir. We notice generally, it is only in +the Southern or Mountain regions of Silesia, where the Catholics are +in majority, that the population is not ardently on the Prussian side. +Passive, if they are on the other side; accurately passive at lowest, +this it is prescribed all prudent men to be." + +On the 18th, while divine service went on at Weichau, there was at +Breslau another phenomenon observable. Provincial Government in Breslau +had, at length, after intense study, and across such difficulties as +we have no idea of, got its "Patent," or carefully worded Protestation +against Prussia, brought to paper; and does, this day, with considerable +solemnity, affix it to the Rathhaus door there, for the perusal of +mankind; despatching a Copy for his Prussian Majesty withal, by +two Messengers of dignity. It has needed courage screwed to the +sticking-place to venture on such a step, without instruction from +Head-quarters; and the utmost powers of the Official mind have been +taxed to couch this Document in language politely ambiguous, and yet +strong enough;--too strong, some of us now think it. In any case, here +it now is; Provincial Government's bolt, so to speak, is shot. The +affixing took place under dark weather-symptoms; actual outburst of +thunder and rain at the moment, not to speak of the other surer omens. +So that, to the common mind at Breslau, it did not seem there would +much fruit come of this difficult performance. Breslau is secretly a +much-agitated City; and Prussian Hussar Parties, shooting forth to great +distances ahead, were, this day for the first time, observed within +sight of it. + +And on the same Sunday we remark farther, what is still more important: +Herr von Gotter, Friedrich's special Envoy to Vienna, has his first +interview with the Queen of Hungary, or with Grand-Duke Franz the +Queen's Husband and Co-Regent; and presents there, from Friedrich's +own hand, written we remember when, brief distinct Note of his Prussian +Majesty's actual Proposals and real meaning in regard to this Silesian +Affair. Proposals anxiously conciliatory in tone, but the heavy purport +of which is known to us: Gotter had been despatched, time enough, with +these Proposals (written above a month ago); but was instructed not to +arrive with them, till after the actual entrance into Silesia. And now +the response to them is--? As good as nothing; perhaps worse. Let that +suffice us at present. Readers, on march for Glogau, would grudge +to pause over State-papers, though we shall have to read this of +Friedrich's at some freer moment. + +Monday, 19th, before daybreak, the Army is astir again, simultaneously +wending forward; spread over wide areas, like a vast cloud (potential +thunder in it) steadily advancing on the winds. Length of the Army, +artistically portioned out, may be ten or fifteen miles, breadth already +more, and growing more; Schwerin always on the right or western wing, +close by the Bober River as yet, through Naumburg and the Towns on that +side,--Liegnitz and other important Towns lying ahead for Schwerin, +still farther apart from the main Body, were Glogau once settled. + +So that the march is in two Columns; Schwerin, with the westernmost +small column, intending towards Liegnitz, and thence ever farther +southward, with his right leaning on the high lands which rise more and +more into mountains as you advance. Friedrich himself commands the other +column, has his left upon the Oder, in a country mounting continually +towards the South, but with less irregularity of level, and generally +flat as yet. From beginning to end, the entire field of march lies +between the Oder and its tributary the Bober; climbing slowly towards +the sources of both. Which two rivers, as the reader may observe, +form here a rectangular or trapezoidal space, ever widening as we go +southward. Both rivers, coming from the Giant Mountains, hasten directly +north; but Oder, bulging out easterly in his sandy course, is obliged +to turn fairly westward again; and at Glogau, and a good space farther, +flows in that direction;--till once Bober strikes in, almost at right +angles, carrying Oder with HIM, though he is but a branch, straight +northward again. Northward, but ever slower, to the swollen Pommern +regions, and sluggish exit into the Baltic there. + +One of the worst features is the state of the weather. On Sunday, at +Breslau, we noticed thunder bursting out on an important occasion; +"ominous," some men thought;--omen, for one thing, that the weather +was breaking. At Weichau, that same day, rain began,--the young Herr of +Weichau, driving home to Papa from dinner with Majesty, would get his +share of it;--and on Monday, 19th, there was such a pour of rain as kept +most wayfarers, though it could not the Prussian Army, within doors. +Rain in plunges, fallen and falling, through that blessed day; making +roads into mere rivers of mud. The Prussian hosts marched on, all the +same. Head-quarters, with the van of the wet Army, that night, were +at Milkau;--from which place we have a Note of Friedrich's for Friend +Jordan, perhaps producible by and by. His Majesty lodged in some opulent +Jesuit Establishment there. And indeed he continued there, not idle, +under shelter, for a couple of days. The Jesuits, by their two head men, +had welcomed him with their choicest smiles; to whom the King was very +gracious, asking the two to dinner as usual, and styling them "Your +Reverence." Willing to ingratiate himself with persons of interest in +this Country; and likes talk, even with Jesuits of discernment. + +On the morrow (20th), came to him, here at Milkau,--probably from some +near stage, for the rain was pouring worse than ever,--that Breslau +"Patent," or strongish Protestation, by its two Messengers of +dignity. The King looked over it "without visible anger" or change of +countenance; "handed it," we expressly see, "to a Page to reposit" in +the proper waste-basket;--spoke politely to the two gentlemen; asked +each or one of them, "Are you of the Ober-Amt at Breslau, then?"--using +the style of ER (He).--"No, your Majesty; we are only of the +Land-Stande" (Provincial Parliament, such as it is). "Upon which [do you +mark!] his Majesty became still more polite; asked them to dinner, +and used the style of SIE." For their PATENT, now lying safe in its +waste-basket, he gave them signed receipt; no other answer. + +Rain still heavier, rain as of Noah, continued through this Tuesday, and +for days afterwards: but the Prussian hosts, hastening towards Glogau, +marched still on. This Tuesday's march, for the rearward of the Army, +10,000 foot and 2,000 horse; march of ten hours long, from Weichau to +the hamlet Milkau (where his Majesty sits busy and affable),--is thought +to be the wettest on record. Waters all out, bridges down, the Country +one wild lake of eddying mud. Up to the knee for many miles together; up +to the middle for long spaces; sometimes even up to the chin or deeper, +where your bridge was washed away. The Prussians marched through it, as +if they had been slate or iron. Rank and file, nobody quitted his rank, +nobody looked sour in the face; they took the pouring of the skies, and +the red seas of terrestrial liquid, as matters that must be; cheered +one another with jocosities, with choral snatches (tobacco, I consider, +would not burn); and swashed unweariedly forward. Ten hours some of them +were out, their march being twenty or twenty-five miles; ten to fifteen +was the average distance come. Nor, singular to say, did any loss occur; +except of ALMOST one poor Army-Chaplain, and altogether of one poor +Soldier's Wife;--sank dangerously both of them, beyond redemption she, +taking the wrong side of some bridge-parapet. Poor Soldier's Wife, she +is not named to me at all; and has no history save this, and that "she +was of the regiment Bredow." But I perceive she washed herself away in +a World-Transaction; and there was one rough Bredower, who probably sat +sad that night on getting to quarters. His Majesty surveyed the damp +battalions on the morrow (21st), not without sympathy, not without +satisfaction; allowed them a rest-day here at Milkau, to get dry and +bright again; and gave them "fifteen thalers a company," which is about +ninepence apiece, with some words of praise. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ +i.482.] + +Next day, Thursday, 22d, his Majesty and they marched on to Herrendorf; +which is only five miles from Glogau, and near enough for Head-quarters, +in the now humor of the place. Wallis has his messenger at Herrendorf, +"Sorry to warn your Majesty, That if there be the least hostility +committed, I shall have to resist it to the utmost." Head-quarters +continue six days at Herrendorf, Army (main body, or left Column, of the +Army) cantoned all round, till we consider what to do. + +As to the right Column, or Schwerin's Division, that, after a rest-day +or two, gathers itself into more complete separation here, tucking in +its eastern skirts; and gets on march again, by its own route. Steadily +southward;--and from Liegnitz, and the upland Countries, there will be +news of Schwerin and it before long. Rain ending, there ensued a ringing +frost;--not favorable for Siege-operations on Glogau:--and Silesia +became all of flinty glass, with white peaks to the Southwest, whither +Schwerin is gone. + + + + +Chapter III. -- PROBLEM OF GLOGAU. + +Friedrich was over from Herrendorf with the first daylight, +"reconnoitring Glogau, and rode up to the very glacis;" scanning it +on all sides. [Ib. i. 484.] Since Wallis is so resolute, here is an +intricate little problem for Friedrich, with plenty of corollaries and +conditions hanging to it. Shall we besiege Glogau, then? We have no +siege-cannon here. Time presses, Breslau and all things in such +crisis; and it will take time. By what methods COULD Glogau be +besieged?--Readers can consider what a blind many-threaded coil of +things, heaping itself here in wide welters round Glogau, and straggling +to the world's end, Friedrich has on hand: probably those six days, of +Head-quarters at Herrendorf, were the busiest he had yet had. + +One thing is evident, there ought to be siege-cannon got straightway; +and, still more immediate, the right posts and battering-places +should be ready against its coming.--"Let the Young Dessauer with that +Rearguard, or Reserve of 10,000, which is now at Crossen, come up and +assist here," orders Friedrich; "and let him be swift, for the hours are +pregnant!" On farther reflection, perhaps on new rumors from Breslau, +Friedrich perceives that there can be no besieging of Glogau at this +point of time; that the Reserve, Half of the Reserve, must be left +to "mask" it; to hold it in strict blockade, with starvation daily +advancing as an ally to us, and with capture by bombarding possible when +we like. That is the ultimate decision;--arrived at through a welter +of dubieties, counterpoisings and perilous considerations, which we now +take no account of. A most busy week; Friedrich incessantly in motion, +now here now there; and a great deal of heavy work got well and rapidly +done. The details of which, in these exuberant Manuscripts, would but +weary the reader. Choosing of the proper posts and battering-places +(post "on the other side of the River," "on this side of it," "on the +Island in the middle of it"), and obstinate intrenching and preparing +of the same in spite of frost; "wooden bridge built" farther up; with +"regulation of the river-boats, the Polish Ferry," and much else: all +this we omit; and will glance only at one pregnant point, by way of +sample:-- + +... "Most indispensable of all, the King has to provide +Subsistences:--and enters now upon the new plan, which will have to +be followed henceforth. The Provincial Chief-men (LANDES-AELTESTEN, +Land's-ELDESTS, their title) are summoned, from nine or ten Circles +which are likely to be interested: they appear punctually, and in +numbers,--lest contumacy worsen the inevitable. King dines them, +to start with; as many as 'ninety-five covers,'--day not given, but +probably one of the first in Herrendorf: not Christmas itself, one +hopes! + +"Dinner done, the ninety-five Land's-Eldest are instructed by proper +parties, What the Infantry's ration is, in meat, in bread, exact to the +ounce; what the Cavalry's is, and that of the Cavalry's Horse. Tabular +statement, succinct, correct, clear to the simplest capacity, shows +what quanties of men on foot, and of men on horseback, or men +with draught-cattle, will march through their respective Circles; +Lands-Eldests conclude what amount of meal and butcher's-meat it will +be indispensable to have in readiness;--what Lands-Eldest can deny the +fact? These Papers still exist, at least the long-winded Summary of them +does: and I own the reading of it far less insupportable than that of +the mountains of Proclamatory, Manifesto and Diplomatic matter. Nay +it leaves a certain wholesome impression on the mind, as of business +thoroughly well done; and a matter, capable, if left in the chaotic +state, of running to all manner of depths and heights, compendiously +forced to become cosmic in this manner. + +"These Lands-Eldest undertake, in a mildly resigned or even hopeful +humor. They will manage as required, in their own Circles; will +communicate with the Circles farther on; and everywhere the due +proviants, prestations, furtherances, shall be got together by fair +apportionment on the Silesian Community, and be punctually ready as +the Army advances. Book-keeping there is to be, legible record of +everything; on all hands 'quittance' for everything furnished; and a +time is coming, when such quittance, presented by any Silesian man, +will be counted money paid by him, and remitted at the next tax-day, +or otherwise made good. Which promise also was accurately kept, +the hoped-for time having come. It must be owned the Prussian Army +understands business; and, with brevity, reduces to a minimum its own +trouble, and that of other people, non-fighters, who have to do with +it. Non-fighters, I say; to fighters we hope it will give a respectable +maximum of trouble when applied to!" [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 492-499.] + +The Gotter Negotiation at Vienna, which we saw begin there that wet +Sunday, is now fast ending, as good as ended; without result except of a +negative kind. Gotter's Proposals,--would the reader wish to hear these +Proposals, which were so intensely interesting at one time? They are +fivefold; given with great brevity by Friedrich, by us with still +greater:-- + +1. "Will fling myself heartily into the Austrian scale, and endeavor for +the interest of Austria in this Pragmatic matter, with my whole strength +against every comer. + +2. "Will make treaty with Vienna, with Russia and the Sea-Powers, to +that effect. + +3. "Will help by vote, and with whole amount of interest will endeavor, +to have Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen's Husband, chosen Kaiser; and to +maintain such choice against all and sundry. Feel myself strong enough +to accomplish this result; and may, without exaggeration, venture to say +it shall be done. + +4. "To help the Court of Vienna in getting its affairs into good order +and fencible condition,--will present to it, on the shortest notice, Two +Million Gulden (200,000 pounds) ready money."--Infinitely welcome this +Fourth Proposition; and indeed all the other Three are welcome: but they +are saddled with a final condition, which pulls down all again. This, +which is studiously worded, politely evasive in phrase, and would fain +keep old controversies asleep, though in substance it is so fatally +distinct,--we give in the King's own words: + +5. "For such essential services as those to which I bind myself by +the above very onerous conditions, I naturally require a proportionate +recompense; some suitable assurance, as indemnity for all the dangers +I risk, and for the part (ROLE) I am ready to play: in short, I require +hereby the entire and complete cession of all Silesia, as reward for +my labors and dangers which I take upon myself in this course now to +be entered upon for the preservation and renown of the House of +Austria;"--Silesia all and whole; and we say nothing of our "rights" to +it; politely evasive to her Hungarian Majesty, though in substance +we are so fatally distinct. [Preuss, _Thronbesteigung,_ p. 451; "from +Olenschlager, _Geschichte des Interegni_ [Frankfurt, 1746], i. 134."] + +These were Friedrich's Proposals; written down with his own hand at +Reinsberg, five or six weeks ago (November 17th is the date of it); in +what mood, and how wrought upon by Schwerin and Podewils, we saw above. +Gotter has fulfilled his instructions in regard to this important little +Document; and now the effect of it is--? Gotter can report no good +effect whatever. "Be cautious," Friedrich instructs him farther; "modify +that Fifth Proposal; I will take less than the whole, 'if attention is +paid to my just claims on Schlesien.'" To that effect writes Friedrich +once or twice. But it is to no purpose; nor can Gotter, with all his +industry, report other than worse and worse. Nay, he reports before +long, not refusal only, but refusal with mockery: "How strange that his +Prussian Majesty, whose official post in Germany, as Kur-Brandenburg and +Kaiser's Chamberlain, has been to present ewer and towel to the House of +Austria, should now set up for prescribing rules to it!" A piece of wit, +which could not but provoke Friedrich; and warn him that negotiation on +this matter might as well terminate. Such had been his own thought, from +the first; but in compliance with Schwerin and Podewils he was willing +to try. + +Better for Maria Theresa, and for all the world how much better, could +she have accepted this Fifth Proposition! But how could she,--the high +Imperial Lady, keystone of Europe, though by accident with only a few +pounds of ready money at present? Twenty years of bitter fighting, and +agony to herself and all the world, were necessary first; a new Fact of +Nature having turned up, a new European Kingdom with real King to it; +NOT recognizable as such, by the young Queen of Hungary or by any other +person, till it do its proofs. + + + + +WHAT BERLIN IS SAYING; WHAT FRIEDRICH IS THINKING. + +What Friedrich's own humor is, what Friedrich's own inner man is saying +to him, while all the world so babbles about his Silesian Adventure? +Of this too there are, though in diluted state, some glimmerings to be +had,--chiefly in the Correspondence with Jordan. + +Ingenious Jordan, Inspector of the Poor at Berlin,--his thousand old +women at their wheels humming pleasantly in the background of our +imaginations, though he says nothing of that,--writes twice a week to +his Majesty: pleasant gossipy Letters, with an easy respectfulness not +going into sycophancy anywhere; which keep the campaigning King well +abreast of the Berlin news and rumors: something like the essence of +an Old Newspaper; not without worth in our present Enterprise. One +specimen, if we had room! + + + + +JORDAN TO THE KING (successively from Berlin,--somewhat abridged.) + +No. 1. "BERLIN, 14th DECEMBER, 1740 [day after his Majesty left]. +Everybody here is on tiptoe for the Event; of which both origin and end +are a riddle to the most. I am charmed to see a part of your Majesty's +Dominions in a state of Pyrrhonism; the disease is epidemical here at +present. Those who, in the style of theologians, consider themselves +entitled to be certain, maintain That your Majesty is expected with +religious impatience by the Protestants, and that the Catholics hope to +see themselves delivered from a multitude of imposts which cruelly tear +up the beautiful bosom of their Church. You cannot but succeed in your +valiant and stoical Enterprise, since both religion and worldly interest +rank themselves under your flag. + +"Wallis," Austrian Commandant in Glogau, "they say, has punished a +Silesian Heretic of enthusiastic turn, as blasphemer, for announcing +that a new Messiah is just coming. I have a taste for that kind of +martyrdom. Critical persons consider the present step as directly +opposed to certain maxims in the ANTI-MACHIAVEL. + +"The word MANIFESTO--[your Majesty's little PATENT on entering Silesia, +which no reader shall be troubled with at present]--is the burden of +every conversation. There is a short Piece of the kind to come out +to-day, by way of preface to a large complete exposition, which a +certain Jurisconsult is now busy with. People crowd to the Bookshops +for it, as if looking out for a celestial phenomenon that had been +predicted.--This is the beginning of my Gazette; can only come out twice +a week, owing to the arrangement of the Posts. Friday, the day your +Majesty crosses into Silesia, I shall spend in prayer and devotional +exercises: Astronomers pretend that Mars will that day enter"--no matter +what. + +NOTE, The above Manifesto rumor is correct; Jurisconsult is ponderous +Herr Ludwig, Kanzler (Chancellor) of Halle University, monster of +law-learning,--who has money also, and had to help once with a House +in Berlin for one Nussler, a son-in-law of his, transiently known to +us;--ponderous Ludwig, matchless or difficult to match in learning of +this kind, will write ample enough Deductions (which lie in print still, +to the extent of tons' weight), and explain the ERBVERBRUDERUNG and +violence done upon it, so that he who runs may read. Postpone him to a +calmer time. + +No. 2. "BERLIN, SATURDAY, 17th DECEMBER. Manifesto has appeared,"--can +be seen, under thick strata of cobwebs, in many Books; [In +_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 448, 453 (what Jordan now alludes to); IB. +559-592 ["Deduction" itself, Ludwig in all his strength, some three +weeks hence; in OLENSCHLAGER (doubtless); in &c. &c.] is not worth +reading now: Incontestable rights which our House has for ages had on +Schlesien, and which doubtless the Hungarian Majesty will recognize; not +the slightest injury intended, far indeed from that; and so on!--"people +are surprised at its brevity; and, studying it as theologians do a +passage of Scripture, can make almost nothing of it. Clear as crystal, +says one; dexterously obscure by design, says another. + +"Rumor that the Grand-Duke of Lorraine," Maria Theresa's Husband, "was +at Reinsberg incognito lately," Grand-Duke a concerting party, think +people looking into the thing with strong spectacles on their nose! +"M. de Beauvau [French Ambassador Extraordinary, to whom the aces were +promised if they came] said one thing that surprised me: 'What put the +King on taking this step, I do not know; but perhaps it is not such a +bad one.' Surprising news that the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland, is +fallen into inconsolable remorse for changing his religion [to Papistry, +on Papa's hest, many long years ago] and that it is not to the Pope, but +to the King of Prussia, that he opens his heart to steady his staggering +orthodoxy." Very astonishing to Jordan. "One thing is certain, all Paris +rings with your Majesty's change of religion" (over to Catholicism, say +those astonishing people, first conjurers of the universe)! + +No. 3. "BERLIN, 20th DECEMBER. M. de Beauvau," French Ambassador, "is +gone. Ended, yesterday, his survey of the Cabinet of Medals; charmed +with the same: charmed too, as the public is, with the rich present he +has got from said Cabinet [coronation medal or medals in gold, I could +guess]: people say the King of France's Medal given to our M. de Camas +is nothing to it. + +"Rumor of alliance between your Majesty and France with +Sweden,"--premature rumor. Item, "Queen of Hungary dead in +child-birth;"--ditto with still more emphasis! "The day before yesterday, +in all churches, was prayer to Heaven for success to your Majesty's +arms; interest of the Protestant religion being the one cause of the +War, or the only one assigned by the reverend gentlemen. At sound of +these words, the zeal of the people kindles: 'Bless God for raising +such a Defender! Who dared suspect our King's indifference to +Protestantism?'" + +A right clever thing this last (O LE BEAU COUP D'ETAT)! exclaims +Jordan,--though it is not clever or the contrary, not being dramatically +prearranged, as Jordan exults to think. Jordan, though there are dregs +of old devotion lying asleep in him, which will start into new activity +when stirred again, is for the present a very unbelieving little +gentleman, I can perceive.--This is the substance of public rumor at +Berlin for one week. Friedrich answers:-- + +TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + +"QUARTER AT MILKAU, TOWARDS GLOGAU, 19th DECEMBER, 1740 [comfortable +Jesuit-Establishment at Milkau, Friedrich just got in, out of the +rain].--Seigneur Jordan, thy Letter has given me a deal of pleasure in +regard to all these talkings thou reportest. To-morrow [not to-morrow, +nor next day; wet troops need a rest] I arrive at our last station this +side Glogau, which place I hope to get in a few days. All favors my +designs: and I hope to return to Berlin, after executing them gloriously +and in a way to be content with. Let the ignorant and the envious talk; +it is not they that shall ever serve as loadstar to my designs; not +they, but Glory [LA GLOIRE; Fame, depending not on them]: with the love +of that I am penetrated more than ever; my troops have their hearts big +with it, and I answer to thee for success. Adieu, dear Jordan. Write me +all the ill that the public says of thy Friend, and be persuaded that I +love and will esteem thee always."--F. + +JORDAN TO THE KING. + +No. 4; "BERLIN, 24th DECEMBER. Your Majesty's Letter fills me with +joy and contentment. The Town declared your Majesty to be already in +Breslau; founding on some Letter to a Merchant here. Ever since they +think of your Majesty acting for Protestantism, they make you step along +with strides of Achilles to the ends of Silesia.--Foreign Courts are all +rating their Ambassadors here for not finding you out. + +"Wolf," his negotiations concluded at last, "has entered Halle almost +like the triumphant Entry to Jerusalem. A concourse of pedants escorted +him to his house. Lange [his old enemy, who accused him of Atheism and +other things] has called to see him, and loaded him with civilities, to +the astonishment of the old Orthodox." There let him rest, well buttoned +in gaiters, and avoiding to mount stairs.... "Madame de Roucoulles has +sent me the three objects adjoined, for your Majesty's behoof,"--woollen +achievements, done by the needle, good against the winter weather for +one she nursed. The good old soul. Enough now, of Jordan. [_OEuvres de +Frederic,_ xvii. 75-78.] + +Voltaire, who left Berlin 2d or 3d December, seems to have been stopt by +overflow of rivers about Cleve, then to have taken boat; and is, about +this very time, writing to Friedrich "from a vessel on the Coasts of +Zealand, where I am driven mad." (Intends, privately, for Paris before +long, to get his MAHOMET acted, if possible.) To Voltaire, here is a +Note coming: + +KING TO H. DE VOLTAIRE (at Brussels, if once got thither). + +"QUARTER OF HERRENDORF IN SILESIA, 23d December, 1740. + +"MY DEAR VOLTAIRE,--I have received two of your Letters; but could not +answer sooner; I am like Charles Twelfth's Chess-King, who was always +kept on the move. For a fortnight past, we have been continually afoot +and under way, in such weather as you never saw. + +"I am too tired to reply to your charming Verses; and shivering too +much with cold to taste all the charm of them: but that will come round +again. Do not ask poetry from a man who is actually doing the work of +a wagoner, and sometimes even of a wagoner stuck in the mud. Would you +like to know my way of life? We march from seven in the morning till +four in the afternoon. I dine then; afterwards I work, I receive +tiresome visits; with these comes a detail of insipid matters of +business. 'Tis wrong-headed men, punctiliously difficult, who are to +be set right; heads too hot which must be restrained, idle fellows that +must be urged, impatient men that must be rendered docile, plunderers +to restrain within the bounds of equity, babblers to hear babbling, dumb +people to keep in talk: in fine, one has to drink with those that like +it, to eat with those that are hungry; one has to become a Jew with +Jews, a Pagan with Pagans. + +"Such are my occupations;--which I would willingly make over to another, +if the Phantom they call Fame (GLOIRE) did not rise on me too often. In +truth, it is a great folly, but a folly difficult to cast away when +once you are smitten by it. [Phantom of GLOIRE somewhat rampant in +those first weeks; let us see whether it will not lay itself again, +forevermore, before long!] + +"Adieu, my dear Voltaire; may Heaven preserve from misfortune the man I +should so like to sup with at night, after fighting in the morning! +The Swan of Padua [Algarotti, with his big hook-nose and dusky solemnly +greedy countenance] is going, I think, to Paris, to profit by my +absence; the Philosopher Geometer [big Maupertuis, in red wig and yellow +frizzles, vainest of human kind] is squaring curves; poor little Jordan +[with the kindly hazel eyes, and pen that pleasantly gossips to us] +is doing nothing, or probably something near it. Adieu once more, dear +Voltaire; do not forget the absent who love you. FREDERIC." [_OEuvres de +Frederic,_ xxii. 57.] + + + + +SCHWERIN AT LIEGNITZ; FRIEDRICH HUSHES UP THE GLOGAU PROBLEM, AND STARTS +WITH HIS BEST SPEED FOR BRESLAU. + +Meanwhile, on the Western road, and along the foot of the snowy peaks +over yonder, Schwerin with the small Right column is going prosperously +forwards. Two columns always, as the reader recollects,--two parallel +military currents, flowing steadily on, shooting out estafettes, or +horse-parties, on the right and left; steadily submerging all Silesia as +they flow forward. Left column or current is in slight pause at Glogau +here; but will directly be abreast again. On Tuesday, 27th, Schwerin +is within wind of Liegnitz; on Wednesday morning, while the fires are +hardly lighted, or the smoke of Liegnitz risen among the Hills, Schwerin +has done his feat with the usual deftness: Prussian grenadiers came +softly on the sentry, softly as a dream; but with sudden levelling of +bayonets, sudden beckoning, "To your Guard-house!"--and there, turn the +key upon his poor company and him. Whereupon the whole Prussian column +marches in; tramp tramp, without music, through the streets: in the +Market-place they fold themselves into a ranked mass, and explode into +wind-harmony and rolling of drums. Liegnitz, mostly in nightcap, looks +cautiously out of window: it is a deed done, IHR HERREN; Liegnitz ours, +better late than never; and after so many years, the King has his own +again. Schwerin is sumptuously lodged in the Jesuits, Palace: Liegnitz, +essentially a Protestant Town, has many thoughts upon this event, but as +yet will be stingy of speaking them. + +Thus is Liegnitz managed. A pleasant Town, amid pleasant hills on the +rocky Katzbach; of which swift stream, and other towns and passes on it, +we shall yet hear more. Population, silently industrious in weaving and +otherwise, is now above 14,000; was then perhaps about half that number. +Patiently inarticulate, by no means bright in speech or sentiment; a +much-enduring, steady-going, frugal, pious and very desirable people. + +The situation of Breslau, all this while, is very critical. Much bottled +emotion in the place; no Austrian Garrison admissible; Authorities dare +not again propose such a thing, though Browne is turning every stone for +it,--lest the emotion burst bottle, and take fire. I have dim account +that Browne has been there, has got 300 Austrian dragoons into the Dom +Insel (CATHEDRAL ISLAND; "Not in the City, you perceive!" says General +Browne: "no, separated by the Oder, on both sides, from the rest of the +City; that stately mass of edifices, and good military post");--and had +hoped to get the suburbs burnt, after all. But the bottled emotion was +too dangerous. For, underground, there are ANTI-Brownes: one especially; +a certain busy Deblin, Shoemaker by craft, whom Friedrich speaks of, +but gives no name to; this zealous Cordwainer, Deblin, and he is not the +only individual of like humor, operates on the guild-brothers and lower +populations: [Preuss, _Thronbesteigung,_ p. 469; _OEuvres de +Frederic,_ ii. 61. ] things seem to be looking worse and worse for the +Authorities, in spite of General Browne and his activities and dragoons. + +What the issue will be? Judge if Friedrich wished the Young Dessauer +come! Friedrich's Hussar parties (or Schwerin's, instructed by +Friedrich) go to look if the Breslau suburbs are burnt. Far from it, if +Friedrich knew;--the suburbs merely sit quaking at such a proposal, +and wish the Prussians were here. "But there is time ahead of us," said +everybody at Breslau; "Glogau will take some sieging!" Browne, in the +course of a day or two,--guessing, I almost think, that Glogau was +not to be besieged,--ranked his 300 Austrian dragoons, and rode away; +sending the Austrian State-Papers, in half a score of wagons, ahead of +him. "Archives of Breslau!" cried the general population, at sight +of these wagons; and largely turned out, with emotion again like to +unbottle itself. "Mere Tax-Ledgers, and records of the Government +Offices; come and convince yourselves!" answered the Authorities. And +the ten wagons went on; calling at Ohlau and Brieg, for farther lading +of the like kind. Which wagons the Prussian light-horse chased, but +could not catch. On to Mahren went these Archive-wagons; to Brunn, far +over the Giant Mountains;--did not come back for a long while, nor +to their former Proprietor at all. Tuesday, 27th, Leopold the Young +Dessauer does finally arrive, with his Reserve, at Glogau: never +man more welcome; such a fermentation going on at Breslau,--known to +Friedrich, and what it will issue in, if he delay, not known. With +despatch, Leopold is put into his charge; posts all yielded to him; +orders given,--blockade to be strictness itself, but no fighting if +avoidable; "starvation will soon do it, two months at most," hopes +Friedrich, too sanguine as it proved:--and with earliest daylight on +the 28th, Friedrich's Army, Friedrich himself in the van as usual, is on +march again; at its best speed for Breslau. Read this Note for Jordan:-- + +FRIEDRICH TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + +"HERRENDORF, 27th Dec. 1740. + +"SIEUR JORDAN,--I march to-morrow for Breslau; and shall be there in +four days [three, it happened; there rising, as would seem, new reason +for haste]. You Berliners [of the 24th last] have a spirit of prophecy, +which goes beyond me. In fine, I go my road; and thou wilt shortly see +Silesia ranked in the list of our Provinces. Adieu; this is all I have +time to tell thee. Religion [Silesian Protestantism, and Breslau's +Cordwainer], religion and our brave soldiers will do the rest. + +"Tell Maupertuis I grant those Pensions he proposes for his +Academicians; and that I hope to find good subjects for that dignity in +the Country where I am, withal. Give him my compliments. + +"FREDERIC." + +The march was of the swiftest,--swifter even than had been +expected;--which, as Silesia is all ringing glass, becomes more +achievable than lately. But certain regiments outdid themselves in +marching; "in three marches, near upon seventy miles,"--with their +baggage jingling in due proximity. Through Glasersdorf, thence through +Parchwitz, Neumarkt, Lissa, places that will be better known to us;--on +Saturday, last night of the Year, his Majesty lodged at a Schloss called +Pilsnitz, five miles to west of Breslau; and van-ward regiments, a good +few, quartered in the Western and Southern suburbs of Breslau itself; +suburbs decidedly glad to see them, and escape conflagration. The +Town-gates are hermetically shut;--plenty of emotion bottled in the +100,000 hearts within. The sentries on the walls presented arms; nay, +it is affirmed, some could not help exclaiming, "WILKOMMEN, IHR LIEBEN +HERREN (Welcome, dear Sirs)!" [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 534.] + +Colonel Posadowsky (active Horse Colonel whom we have seen before, +who perhaps has been in Breslau before) left orders "at the Scultet +Garden-House," that all must be ready and the rooms warmed, his +Majesty intending to arrive here early on the morrow. Which happened +accordingly; Majesty alighting duly at said Garden-House, near by the +Schweidnitz Gate,--I fancy almost before break of day. + + + + +Chapter IV. -- BRESLAU UNDER SOFT PRESSURE. + +The issue of this Breslau transaction is known, or could be stated in +few words; nor is the manner of it such as would, for Breslau's sake, +deserve many. But we are looking into Friedrich, wish to know his +manners and aspects: and here, ready to our hand, a Paper turns up, +compiled by an exact person with better leisure than ours, minutely +detailing every part of the affair. This Paper, after the question, Burn +or insert? is to have the lot of appearing here, with what abridgments +are possible:-- + +"SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741. The King having established himself in Herrn +Scultet's Garden-House, not far from the Schweidnitz Gate, there began a +delicate and great operation. The Prussians, in a soft cautious manner, +in the gray of the morning, push out their sentries towards the three +Gates on this side of the Oder; seize any 'Excise House,' or the like, +that may be fit for a post; and softly put 'twenty grenadiers' in it. +All this before sunrise. Breslau is rigidly shut; Breslau thought +always it could stand upon its guard, if attacked;--is now, in Official +quarters, dismally uncertain if it can; general population becoming +certain that it cannot, and waiting anxious on the development of this +grand drama. + +"About 7 A.M. a Prussian subaltern advancing within cry of the +Schweidnitz Gate, requests of the Town-guard there, To send him out +a Town-Officer. Town-Officer appears; is informed, 'That Colonels +Posadowsky and Borck, Commissioners or plenipotentiary Messengers from +his Prussian Majesty, desire admittance to the Chief Magistrate of +Breslau, for the purpose of signifying what his Prussian Majesty's +instructions are.' Town-Officer bows, and goes upon his errand. +Town-Officer is some considerable time before he can return; City +Authorities being, as we know, various, partly Imperial, partly Civic; +elderly; and some of them gone to church,--for matins, or to be out of +the way. However, he does at last return; admits the two Colonels, and +escorts them honorably, to the Chief RATHS-SYNDIC (Lord-Mayor) old +Herr von Gutzmar's; where the poor old "President of the OBER AMT" (Von +Schaffgotsch the name of this latter) is likewise in attendance. + +"Prussian Majesty's proposals are of the mildest sort: 'Nothing demanded +of Breslau but the plainly indispensable and indisputable, That +Prussia be in it what Austria has been. In all else, STATUS QUO. Strict +neutrality to Breslau, respect for its privileges as a Free City of the +Reich; protection to all its rights and privileges whatsoever. Shall be +guarded by its own Garrison; no Prussian soldier to enter except with +sidearms; only 30 guards for the King's person, who will visit the City +for a few days;--intends to form a Magazine, with guard of 1,000 men, +but only outside the City: no requisitions; ready money for everything. +Chief Syndic Gutzmar and President Schaffgotsch shall consider these +points.' [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 537.] Syndic and President answer, +Surely! Cannot, however, decide till they have assembled the Town-Rath; +the two Herren Colonels will please to be guests of Breslau, and lodge +in the City till then. + +"And they lodged, accordingly, in the 'GROSSE RING' (called also +SALZ-RING, big Central Square, where the Rathhaus is); and they made and +received visits,--visited especially the Chief President's Office, the +Ober-Amt, and signified there, that his Prussian Majesty's expectation +was, They would give some account of that rather high Proclamation or +'Patent' they had published against him the other day, amid thunder and +lightning here, and what they now thought would be expedient upon +it? All in grave official terms, but of such a purport as was not +exhilarating to everybody in those Ober-Amt localities. + +"MONDAY MORNING, 2d JANUARY. The Rath is assembled; and +consults,--consults at great length. RATH-House and Syndic Gutzmar, +in such crisis, would fain have advice from AMT-House or President +Schaffgotsch; but can get none: considerable coming and going between +them: at length, about 3 in the afternoon, the Treaty is got drawn +up; is signed by the due Breslau hands, and by the two Prussian +Colonels,--which latter ride out with it, about 4 of the clock; +victorious after thirty hours. Straight towards the Scultet Garden ride +they; Town-guard presenting Arms, at the Schweidnitz Gate; nay Town-band +breaking out into music, which is never done but to Ambassadors and high +people. By thirty hours of steady soft pressure, they have brought it +thus far. + +"Friedrich had waited patiently all Sunday, keeping steady guard at the +Gates; but on Monday, naturally, the thirty hours began to hang +heavy: at all events, he perceived that it would be well to facilitate +conclusions a little from without. Breslau stands on the West, more +strictly speaking, on the South side of the Oder, which makes an elbow +here, and thus bounds it, or mostly bounds it, on two sides. The big +drab-colored River spreads out into Islands, of a confused sort, as +it passes; which are partly built upon, and constitute suburbs of the +Town,--stretching over, here and there, into straggles of farther suburb +beyond the River, where a road with its bridge happens to cross for the +Eastern parts. The principal of these Islands is the DOM INSEL,"--known +to General Browne and us,--"on which is the Cathedral, and the CLOSE +with rich Canons and their edifices; Island filled with strong high +architecture; and a superior military post. + +"Friedrich has already as good as possessed himself of the three +landward Gates, which look to the south and to the west; the riverward +gates, or those on the north and the east, he perceives that it were +good now also to have; these, and even perhaps something more? 'Gather +all the river-boats, make a bridge of them across the Oder; push across +400 men:' this is done on Monday morning, under the King's own eye. This +done, 'March up to that riverward Gate, and also to that other, in a +mild but dangerous-looking manner; hew the beams of said Gate in two; +start the big locks; fling wide open said Gate and Gates:' this too +is done; Town-guard looking mournfully on. This done, 'March forward +swiftly, in two halves, without beat of drum,--whitherward you know!' + +"Those three hundred Austrian Dragoons, we saw them leave the Dom +Island, three days ago; there are at present only Six Men, of the +BISHOP'S Guard, walking under arms there,--at the end of the chief +bridge, on the Townward side of their Dom Island. See, Prussian caps and +muskets, ye six men under arms! The six men clutch at their drawbridge, +and hastily set about hoisting:--alas, another Prussian corps, which +has come privately by the eastern (or Country-ward) Bridge, King himself +with it, taps them on the shoulder at this instant; mildly constrains +the six into their guard-house: the drawbridge falls; 400 Prussian +grenadiers take quiet possession of the Dom Island: King may return to +the Scultet Garden, having quickened the lazy hours in this manner. To +such of the Canons as he came upon, his Majesty was most polite; they +most submiss. The six soldiers of the drawbridge, having spoken a little +loud,--still more a too zealous beef-eater of old Schaffgotsch's found +here, who had been very loud,--were put under arrest; but more for +form's sake; and were let go, in a day or two." + +Nothing could be gentler on Friedrich's part, and on that of his two +Colonels, than this delicate operation throughout:--and at 4 P.M., +after thirty hours of waiting, it is done, and nobody's skin scratched. +Old Syndic Gutzmar, and the Town-Rath, urged by perils and a Town +Population who are Protestant, have signed the Surrender with good-will, +at least with resignation, and a feeling of relief. The Ober-Amt +Officials have likewise had to sign; full of all the silent spleen and +despondency which is natural to the situation: spleen which, in the case +of old Schaffgotsch, weak with age, becomes passionately audible here +and there. He will have to give account of that injurious Proclamation, +or Queen's "Patent," to this King that has now come. + + + + +KING ENTERS BRESLAW; STAYS THERE, GRACIOUS AND VIGILANT, FOUR DAYS (Jan. +2d-6th, 1741). + +In the Royal Entrance which took place next day, note these points. +Syndic Gutzmar and the Authorities came out, in grand coaches, at 8 in +the morning; had to wait awhile; the King, having ridden away to look +after his manifold affairs, did not get back till 10. Town Guard and +Garrison are all drawn out; Gates all flung open, Prussian sentries +withdrawn from them, and from the Excise-houses they had seized: King's +Kitchen-and-Proviant Carriages (four mules to each, with bells, with +uncommonly rich housings): King's Body-Coach very grand indeed, and +grandly escorted, the Thirty Body-guards riding ahead; but nothing in +it, only a most superfine cloak "lined wholly with ermine" flung +upon the seat. Other Coaches, more or less grandly escorted; Head +Cup-bearers, Seneschals, Princes, Margraves:--but where is the King? +King had ridden away, a second time, with chief Generals, taking survey +of the Town Walls, round as far as the ZIEGEL-THOR (Tile-Gate, extreme +southeast, by the river-edge): he has thus made the whole circuit of +Breslau;--unwearied in picking up useful knowledge, "though it was very +cold," while that Procession of Coaches went on. + +At noon, his Majesty, thrifty of time, did enter: on horseback, Schwerin +riding with him; behind him miscellaneous chief Officers; Borck and +Posadowsky among others; some miscellany of Page-people following. With +this natural escort, he rode in; Town-Major (Commandant of Town-guard), +with drawn sword going ahead;--King wore his usual Cocked Hat, and +practical Blue Cloak, both a little dimmed by service: but his gray +horse was admirable; and four scarlet Footmen, grand as galloon and +silver fringe could make them, did the due magnificence in dress. He +was very gracious; saluting to this side and to that, where he noticed +people of condition in the windows. "Along Schweidnitz Street, across +the Great Ring, down Albrecht Street." He alighted, to lodge, at the +Count-Schlegenberg House; which used to be the Austrian Cardinal von +Sinzendorf Primate of Silesia's hired lodging,--Sinzendorf's furniture +is put gently aside, on this new occasion. King came on the balcony; and +stood there for some minutes, that everybody might see him. The "immense +shoutings," Dryasdust assures me, have been exaggerated; and I am warned +not to believe the KRIEGS-FAMA such and such a Number, except after +comparing it with him.--That day there was dinner of more than thirty +covers, Chief Syndic Gutzmar and other such guests; but as to the +viands, says my friend, these, owing to the haste, were nothing to speak +of. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 545-548.] + +Dinner, better and better ordered, King more and more gracious, so it +continued all the four days of his Majesty's stay:--on the second day he +had to rise suddenly from table, and leave his guests with an apology; +something having gone awry, at one of the Gates. Awry there, between the +Town Authorities and a General Jeetz of his,--who is on march across +the River at this moment (on what errand we shall hear), and a little +mistakes the terms. His Majesty puts Jeetz right; and even waits, +till he sees his Brigade and him clear across. A junior Schaffgotsch, +[_Helden-Geschichte,_ ii. 159.] not the inconsolable Schaffgotsch +senior, but his Nephew, was one of the guests this second day; an +ecclesiastic, but of witty fashionable type, and I think a very +worthless fellow, though of a family important in the Province. Dinner +falls about noon; does not last above two hours or three, so that there +is space for a ride ("to the Dom," the first afternoon, "four runners" +always), and for much indoor work, before the supper-hour. + +As the Austrian Authorities sat silent in their place, and gave no +explanation of that "Patent," affixed amid thunder and lightning,--they +got orders from his Majesty to go their ways next day; and went. In +behalf of old President von Schaffgotsch, a chief of the Silesian +Nobility, and man much loved, the Breslau people, and men from every +guild and rank of society, made petition That, he should be allowed +to continue in his Town House here. Which "first request of yours" +his Majesty, with much grace, is sorry to be obliged to refuse. The +suppressed, and insuppressible, weak indignation of old Schaffgotsch is +visible on the occasion; nor, I think, does Friedrich take it ill; only +sends him out of the way with it, for the time. The Austrian Ober-Amt +vanished bodily from Breslau in this manner; and never returned. Proper +"War-Commission (FELD-KRIEGS-COMMISSARIAT)," with Munchow, one of those +skilful Custrin Munchows, at the top of it, organized itself instead; +which, almost of necessity, became Supreme Government in a City +ungoverned otherwise:--and truly there was little regret of the +Ober-Amt, in Breslau; and ever less, to a marked extent, as the years +went on. + +On the 5th of January (fourth and last night here), his Majesty gave a +grand Ball. Had hired, or Colonel Posadowsky instead of him had hired, +the Assembly Rooms (REDOUTEN-SAAL), for the purpose: "Invite all the +Nobility high and low;"--expense by estimate is a ducat (half-guinea) +each; do it well, and his Majesty will pay. About 6 in the evening, his +Majesty in person did us the honor to drive over; opened the Ball with +Madam the Countess von Schlegenberg (I should guess, a Dowager Lady), +in whose house he lodges. I am not aware that his Majesty danced much +farther; but he was very condescending, and spoke and smiled up and +down;--till, about 10 P.M., an Officer came in with a Letter. Which +Letter his Majesty having read, and seemingly asked a question or two in +regard to, put silently in his pocket, as if it were a finished thing. +Nevertheless, after a few minutes, his Majesty was found to have +silently withdrawn; and did not return, not even to supper. Perceiving +which, all the Prussian official people gradually withdrew; though +the dancing and supping continued not the less, to a late hour. +[_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 557.] + +"Open the Austrian Mail-bag (FELLEISEN); see a little what they are +saying over there!" Such order had evidently been given, this night. In +consequence of which, people wrote by Dresden, and not the direct way, +in future; wishing to avoid that openable FELLEISEN. Next morning, +January 6th, his Majesty had left for Ohlau,--early, I suppose; though +there proved to be nothing dangerous ahead there, after all. + + + + +Chapter V. -- FRIEDRICH PUSHES FORWARD TOWARDS BRIEG AND NEISSE. + +Ohlau is a pleasant little Town, two marches southeast of Breslau; with +the Ohlau River on one side, and the Oder on the other; capable of some +defence, were there a garrison. Brieg the important Fortress, still +on the Oder, is some fifteen miles beyond Ohlau; after which, bending +straight south and quitting Oder, Neisse the still more important may be +thirty miles:--from Breslau to Neisse, by this route (which is BOW, not +STRING), sixty-five or seventy miles. One of my Topographers yields this +Note, if readers care for it:-- + +"Ohlau River, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well south of +Breslau, about Strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward towards the +Oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off to north, and +saunters along, irregularly parallel to Oder, for twenty miles farther, +before it can fall fairly in. To this circumstance both Breslau and a +Town of Ohlau owe their existence; Towns, both of them, 'between the +waters,' and otherwise well seated; Ohlau sheltering itself in the +attempted outfall of its little river; Breslau clustering itself about +the actual outfall: both very defensible places in the old rude time, +and good for trade in all times. Both Oder and Ohlau Rivers have split +and spread themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their +place of meeting; and even have changed their courses, and cut out new +channels for themselves, in the sandy country; making a very intricate +watery network of a site for Breslau: and indeed the Ohlau River here, +for centuries back, has been compelled into wide meanderings, mere +filling of rampart-ditches, so that it issues quite obscurely, and in an +artificial engineered condition, at Breslau." + +Ohlau had been expected to make some defence; General Browne having +thrown 300 men into it, and done what he could for the works. And Ohlau +did at first threaten to make some; but thought better of it overnight, +and in effect made none; but was got (morning of January 9th) on +the common terms, by merely marching up to it in minatory posture. +"Prisoners of War, if you make resistance; Free Withdrawal [Liberty to +march away, arms shouldered, and not serve against us for a year], if +you have made none:" this is the common course, where there are Austrian +Soldiers at all; the course where none are, and only a few Syndics sit, +with their Town-Key laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we +have already seen. + +From Ohlau, proper Detachment, under General Kleist, is pushed forward +to summon Brieg; Jeetz from the other side of the river (whom we saw +crossing at Breslau the other day, interrupting his Majesty's dinner) +is to co-operate with Kleist in that enterprise,--were the Country once +cleared on his, Jeetz's, east side of Oder; especially were Namslau once +had, a small Town and Castle over there, which commands the Polish +and Hungarian road. Friedrich's hopes are buoyant; Schwerin is swiftly +rolling forward to rightward, nothing resisting him; Detachment is +gone from Schwerin, over the Hills, to Glatz (the GRAFSCHAFT, or County +Glatz, an Appendage to Schlesien), under excellent guidance; under +guidance, namely, of Colonel Camas, who has just come home from his +Parisian Embassy, and got launched among the wintry mountains, on a +new operation,--which, however, proves of non-effect for the present. +[_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 678; Orlich, _Geschichte der beiden +Schlesischen Kriege,_ i. 49.] + +Indeed, it is observable that southward of Breslau, the dispute, what +dispute there can be, properly begins; and that General Browne is there, +and shows himself a shining man in this difficult position. It must be +owned, no General could have made his small means go farther. Effective +garrisons, 1,600 each, put into Brieg and Neisse; works repaired, +magazines collected, there and elsewhere; the rest of his poor 7,000 +thriftily sprinkled about, in what good posts there are, and "capable +of being got together in six hours:" a superior soldier, this Browne, +though with a very bad task; and seems to have inspired everybody with +something of his own temper. So that there is marching, detaching, +miscellaneous difficulty for Friedrich in this quarter, more than had +been expected. If the fate of Brieg and Neisse be inevitable, Browne +does wonders to delay it. + +Of the Prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate Dryasdust, +there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded one: the Stone +Pillar which, I see, the Kleist Detachment was sure to find, just now, +on the march from Ohlau to Brieg; last portion of that march, between +the village of Briesen and Brieg. The Oder, flowing on your left hand, +is hereabouts agreeably clothed with woods: the country, originally +a swamp, has been drained, and given to the plough, in an +agreeable manner; and there is an excellent road paved with solid +whinstone,--quarried in Strehlen, twenty miles away, among the Hills to +the right yonder, as you may guess;--road very visible to the Prussian +soldier, though he does not ask where quarried. These beautiful +improvements, beautiful humanities,--were done by whom? "Done in 1584," +say the records, by "George the Pious;" Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg +and Wohlau; 156 years ago. "Pious" his contemporaries called this +George;--he was son of the ERBVERBRUDERUNG Duke, who is so important to +us; he was grandfather's grandfather of the last Duke of all; after whom +it was we that should have got these fine Territories; they should +all have fallen to the Great Elector, had not the Austrian strong hand +provided otherwise. George did these plantations, recoveries to the +plough; made this perennial whinstone road across the swamps; upon +which, notable to the roughest Prussian (being "twelve feet high by +eight feet square"), rises a Hewn Mass with this Inscription on it,--not +of the name or date of George; but of a thought of his, which is not +without a pious beauty to me:--_Straverunt alii nobis, nos Posteritati; +Omnibus at Christus stravit ad asra viam._ Others have made roads for +us; we make them for still others: Christ made a road to the stars for +us all. [Zollner, _Briefe uber Schlesien,_ i. 175; Hubner, i. t. 101.] + +I know not how many Brandenburgers of General Kleist's Detachment, or +whether any, read this Stone; but they do all rustle past it there, +claiming the Heritage of this Pious George; and their mute dim interview +with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more memorable than orders +of the day, at this date. + +It was on the 11th, two days after Ohlau, that General Kleist summoned +Brieg; and Brieg answered resolutely, No. There is a garrison of 1,600 +here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but to "mask" Brieg too; +Kleist on this side the River, Jeetz on that,--had Jeetz once done with +Namslau, which he has not by any means. Namslau's answer was likewise +stiffly in the negative; and Jeetz cannot do Namslau, at least not +the Castle, all at once; having no siege-cannon. Seeing such stiffness +everywhere, Friedrich writes to Glogau, to the Young Dessauer, +"Siege-artillery hither! Swift, by the Oder; you don't need it where you +are!" and wishes it were arrived, for behoof of Neisse and these stiff +humors. + + + + +FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS THERE, IN SURVEY OF NEISSE, +TILL HIS CANNON COME. + +The Prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time (9th +January, same day when Ohlau yielded), at a place called Ottmachau; a +considerable little Town and Castle on the Neisse River, not far west of +Neisse Town, almost at the very south of Silesia. It lay on the route of +Schwerin's Column; long distances ahead of Liegnitz,--say, by straight +highway a hundred miles;--during which, to right and to left, there had +been nothing but submission hitherto. No resistance was expected here +either, for there was not hope in any; only that Browne had been here; +industrious to create delay till Neisse were got fully ready. He is, by +every means, girding up the loins of Neisse for a tight defence; has put +1,600 men into it, with proper stores for them, with a resolute skilful +Captain at the top of them: assiduous Browne had been at Ottmachau, +as the outpost of Neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, had +admonished them "Not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly come +to their relief." Which doubtless he would have done, had it been in his +power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? On the 9th of January, +when Schwerin comes up, Browne is again waiting hereabouts. Again in +defensive posture, but without force to undertake anything; stands on +the Southern Uplands, with Bohmen and Mahren and the Giant Mountains at +his back;--stands, so to speak, defensive at his own House-door, in this +manner; and will have, after SEEING Ottmachau's fate and Neisse's, to +duck in with a slam! At any rate, he had left these Towns in the +above firm humor, screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped +else-whither to screw and prepare. + +And so the Ottmachau Austrians, "260 picked grenadiers" (400 dragoons +there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on the outskirts +as if for fighting, rode away), fire "DESPERAT," says my intricate +friend; [_Helden-Geschichte_, i. 672-677; Orlich, i. 50.] entirely +refusing terms from Schwerin; kill twelve of his people (Major de Rege, +distinguished Engineer Major, one of them): so that Schwerin has to +bring petards upon them, four cannon upon them; and burst in their +Town Gate, almost their Castle Gate, and pretty much their Castle +itself;--wasting three days of his time upon this paltry matter. Upon +which they do signify a willingness for "Free Withdrawal." "No, IHR +HERREN" answers, Schwerin; "not now; after such mad explosion. His +Majesty will have to settle it." Majesty, who is by this time not far +off, comes over to Ottmachau (January 12th); gives words of rebuke, +rebuke not very inexorable; and admits them Prisoners of War. "The +officers were sent to Custrin, common men to Berlin;" the usual +arrangement in such case. Ottmachau Town belongs to the Right Reverend +von Sinzendorf, Bishop of Breslau, and Primate; whose especial Palace is +in Neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory Priests to do their +penance in the Schloss at Ottmachau here,"--and, I should say, had +better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under present +aspects. + +Friedrich continues at Ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth, till +he see Neisse settled. On the morrow, (13th) he learns that the Siege +Artillery is at Grotkau; well forward towards Neisse; halfway between +Brieg and it. Same day, Colonel Camas returns to him out of Glatz; five +of his men lost; and reports That Browne has had the roads torn up, that +Glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and that nothing can be made of it at +this season. Good news alternating with not so good. + +The truth is, Friedrich has got no Strong Place in Schlesien; all +strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little Namslan itself +cannot be quite taken, Castle cannot, till Jeetz gets his +siege-artillery,--which does not come along so fast as that to Neisse +does. Here is an Excerpt from my Dryasdust, exact though abridged, +concerning Jeetz:-- + +"JANUARY 24th, 1741. Prussians, masters of the Town for a couple of +weeks back, have got into the Church at Namslau, into the Cloister; are +preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes; diligent as +possible,--siege-guns now at last just coming. The Castle fires fiercely +on them, makes furious sallies, steals six of our oxen,--makes insolent +gestures from the walls; at least one soldier does, this day. 'Sir, +may I give that fellow a shot?' asks the Prussian sentry. 'Do, then,' +answers his Major: 'too insolent that one!' And the sentry explodes on +him; brings him plunging down, head foremost (HERUNTER PURZELTE); the +too insolent mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [_Helden-Geschichte,_ +i. 703.]--Jeetz did get his cannon, though not till now, this very day +I think; and then, in a couple of days more, Jeetz finished off Namslau +("officers to Custrin, Common men to Berlin"); and thereupon blockades +the Eastern side of Brieg, joining hands with Kleist on the Western: +whereby Brieg, like Glogau, is completely masked,--till the season mend. + +Friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty with +Neisse. A "paltry hamlet (BICOQUE)" he playfully calls it; and, except +this, Silesia is now his. Neisse got (which would be the desirable +thing), or put under "mask" as Glogau is, and as Brieg is being, Austria +possesses not an inch of land within these borders. Here are some +Epistolary snatches; still in the light style, not to say the flimsy +and uplifted; but worth giving, so transparent are they; off hand, like +words we had heard his Majesty SPEAK, in his high mood:-- + +KING TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN (two successive Letters). + +1. "OTTMACHAU, 14th JANUARY, 1741 [second day after our arrival there]. +My dear Monsieur Jordan, my sweet Monsieur Jordan, my quiet Monsieur +Jordan, my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest Monsieur Jordan,--I +announce to Thy Serenity the conquest of Silesia; I warn thee of the +bombardment of Neisse [just getting ready], and I prepare thee for still +more important projects; and instruct thee of the happiest successes +that the womb of Fortune ever bore. + +"This ought to suffice thee. Be my Cicero as to the justice of my +cause, and I will be thy Caesar as to the execution. Adieu: thou +knowest whether I am not, with the most cordial regard, thy faithful +friend.--F." + +2. "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741. I have the honor to inform your +Humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard Neisse; and that +if the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must that it be +beaten to powder (NECESSITE SERA DE L'ABIMER). For the rest, our affairs +go the best in the world; and soon thou wilt hear nothing more of us. +For in ten days it will all be over; and I shall have the pleasure of +seeing you and hearing you, in about a fortnight. + +"I have seen neither my Brother [August Wilhelm, not long ago at +Strasburg with us, and betrothed since then] nor Keyserling: I left them +at Breslau, not to expose them to the dangers of war. They perhaps will +be a little angry; but what can I do?--The rather as, on this occasion, +one cannot share in the glory, unless one is a mortar! + +"Adieu, M. le Conseiller [Poor's-RATH, so styled]. Go and amuse yourself +with Horace, study Pausanias, and be gay over Anacreon. As to me, who +for amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and gabions, [Merlons +are mounds of earth placed behind the solid or blind parts of the +parapet (that is, between the embrasures) of a Fortification; fascines +are bundles of brushwood for filling up a ditch; gabions, baskets filled +with earth to be ranged in defence till you get trenches dug.] I pray +God to grant me soon a pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you +health, satisfaction and whatever your heart desires.--F." [_OEuvres de +Frederic,_ xvii. 84.] + +KING FRIEDRICH TO M. LE COMTE ALGAROTTI (gone on a journey). + +"OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741 [same day as the above to Jordan]. I +have begun to settle the Figure of Prussia: the outline will not be +altogether regular; for the whole of Silesia is taken, except one +miserable hamlet (BICOQUE), which perhaps I shall have to keep blockaded +till next spring. + +"Up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only Twenty Men, and +Two Officers, one of whom is the poor De Rege, whom you have seen +at Berlin,"--De Rege, Engineer Major, killed here at Ottmachau, in +Schwerin's late tussle. + +"You are greatly wanting to me here. So soon as you have talked that +business over, write to me about it. [What is the business? Whither is +the dusky Swan of Padua gone?] In all these three hundred miles I +have found no human creature comparable to the Swan of Padua. I would +willingly give ten cubic leagues of ground for a genius similar to +yours. But I perceive I was about entreating you to return fast, and +join me again,--while you are not yet arrived where your errand was. +Make haste to arrive, then; to execute your commission, and fly back to +me. I wish you had a Fortunatus Hat; it is the only thing defective in +your outfit. + +"Adieu, dear Swan of Padua: think, I pray you, sometimes of those who +are getting themselves cut in slices [ECHINER, chined] for the sake +of glory here, and above all do not forget your friends who think a +thousand times of you. + +"FREDERIC." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xviii. 28.] + +The object of the dear Swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of +it, cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth +discovering. "Gone to Turin," we at last make out, "with secret +commissions:" [Denina, _La Prusse Litteraire_ (Berlin, 1790), i. 198. A +poor vague Book; only worth consulting in case of extremity.] desirable +to sound the Sardinian Majesty a little, who is Doorkeeper of the Alps, +between France and Austria, and opens to the best bidder? No great +things of a meaning in this mission, we can guess, or Algarotti had not +gone upon it,--though he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by +the Gazetteer species. Nor was the Swan successful, it would seem; +the more the pity for our Swan! However, he comes back safe; attends +Friedrich in Silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see +him, if any reader wished it. + + + + +Chapter VI. -- NEISSE IS BOMBARDED. + +Neisse, which Friedrich calls a paltry hamlet (BICOQUE) is a pleasant +strongly fortified Town, then of perhaps 6 or 8,000 inhabitants, now of +double that number; stands on the right or south bank of the Neisse,--at +this day, on both banks. Pleasant broad streets, high strong houses, +mostly of stone. Pleasantly encircled by green Hills, northward +buttresses of the Giant Mountains; itself standing low and level, +on rich ground much inclined to be swampy. A lesser river, Biele, +or Bielau, coming from the South, flows leisurely enough into the +Neisse,--filling all the Fortress ditches, by the road. Orchard-growth +and meadow-growth are lordly (HERRLICH); a land rich in fruit, +and flowing with milk and honey. Much given to weaving, brewing, +stocking-making; and, moreover, trades greatly in these articles, and +above all in Wine. Yearly on St. Agnes Day, "21st January, if not a +Sunday," there is a Wine-fair here; Hungarian, of every quality from +Tokay downward, is gathered here for distribution into Germany and all +the Western Countries. While you drink your Tokay, know that it comes +through Neisse. St. Agnes Day falls but unhandily this year; and I think +the Fair will, as they say, AUSBLEIBEN, or not be held. + +Neisse is a Nest of Priests (PFAFFEN-NEST), says Friedrich once; which +came in this way. About 600 years ago, an ill-conditioned Heir-Apparent +of the Liegnitz Sovereign to whom it then belonged, quarrelled with his +Father, quarrelled slightly with the Universe; and, after moping about +for some time, went into the Church. Having Neisse for an apanage +already his own, he gave it to the Bishop of Breslau; whose, in spite +of the old Father's protestings, it continued, and continues. Bishops of +Breslau are made very grand by it; Bishops of Breslau have had their own +difficulties here. Thus once (in our Perkin-Warbeck time, A.D. 1497), a +Duke of Oppeln, sitting in some Official Conclave or meeting of magnates +here,--zealous for country privilege, and feeling himself insufferably +put upon,--started up, openly defiant of Official men; glaring +wrathfully into Duke Casimir of Teschen (Bohemian-Austrian Captain of +Silesia), and into the Bishop of Breslau himself; nay at last, flashed +out his sword upon those sublime dignitaries. For which, by and by, he +had to lay his head on the block, in the great square here; and died +penitent, we hope. + +This place, my Dryasdust informs me, had many accidents by floodage and +by fire; was seized and re-seized in the Thirty-Years War especially, at +a great rate: Saxon Arnheim, Austrian Holk, Swedish Torstenson; no end +to the battering and burning poor Neisse had, to the big ransoms "in new +Reichs-thalers and 300 casks of wine." But it always rebuilt itself, and +began business again. How happy when it could get under some effectual +Protector, of the Liegnitz line, of the Austrian-Bohemian line, and +this or the other battering, just suffered, was to be the last for some +time!--Here again is a battering coming on it; the first of a series +that are now imminent. + +The reader is requested to look at Neisse; for besides the Tokay wine, +there will things arrive there.--Neisse River, let us again mention, is +one of four bearing that name, and all belonging to the Oder:--could not +they be labelled, then, or NUMBERED, in some way? This Neisse, which we +could call Neisse the FIRST (and which careful readers may as well make +acquaintance with on their Map, where too they will find Neisse the +SECOND, "the WUTHENDE or Roaring Neisse," and two others which concern +us less), rises in the "Western Snow-Mountains (SCHNEEGEBIRGE)," +Southwestern or Glatz district of the Giant Mountains; drains Glatz +County and grows big there; washes the Town of Glatz; then eastward +by Ottmachau, by Neisse Town; whence turning rather abruptly north or +northeast, it gets into the Oder not far south of Brieg. + +Neisse as a Place of Arms, the chief Fortress of Silesia and the nearest +to Austria, is extremely desirable for Friedrich; but there is no hope +of it without some kind of Siege; and Friedrich determines to try in +that way. From Ottmachau, accordingly, and from the other sides, the +Siege-Artillery being now at hand, due force gathers itself round +Neisse, Schwerin taking charge; and for above a week there is +demonstrating and posting, summoning and parleying; and then, for three +days, with pauses intervening, there is extremely furious bombardment, +red-hot at times: "Will you yield, then?"--with steady negative from +Neisse. Friedrich's quarter is at Ottmachau, twelve miles off; from +which he can ride over, to see and superintend. The fury of his +bombardment, which naturally grieved him, testifies the intensity of his +wish. But it was to no purpose. The Commandant, Colonel von Roth (the +same who was proposed for Breslau lately, a wise head and a stout, famed +in defences) had "poured water on his ramparts," after well repairing +them,--made his ramparts all ice and glass;--and done much else. Would +the reader care to look for a moment? Here, from our waste Paper-masses, +is abundance, requiring only to be abridged:-- + +"JANUARY, 1741: MONDAY, 9th-WEDNESDAY, 11th. Monday, 9th, day when that +sputter at Ottmachau began,--Prussian light-troops appeared transiently +on the heights about Neisse, for the first time. Directly on sight of +whom, Commandant Roth assembled the Burghers of the place; took a new +Oath of Fidelity from one and all; admonished them to do their utmost, +as they should see him do. The able-bodied and likeliest of them (say +about 400) he has had arranged into Militia Companies, with what drill +there could be in the interim; and since his coming, has employed every +moment in making ready. Wednesday, 11th, he locks all the Gates, and +stands strictly on his guard. The inhabitants are mostly Catholic; with +sumptuous Bishops of Breslau, with KREUZHERREN (imaginary Teutsch or +other Ritters with some reality of money), with Jesuit Dignitaries, +Church and Quasi-Church Officialities, resident among them: population, +high and low, is inclined by creed to the Queen of Hungary. Commandant +Roth has only 1,200 regular soldiers; at the outside 1,600 men under +arms: but he has gunpowder, he has meal; experience also and courage; +and hopes these may suffice him for a time. One of the most determined +Commandants; expert in the defence of strong places. A born Silesian +(not Saxon, as some think),--and is of the Augsburg Confession; but that +circumstance is not important here, though at Breslau Browne thought it +was. + +"THURSDAY, 12th. The Prussians, in regular force, appear on the +Kaninchen Berg (Cony Hill, so called from its rabbits), south of the +River, evidently taking post there. Roth fires a signal shot; the +Southern Suburbs of Neisse, as preappointed, go up in flame; crackle +high and far; in a lamentable manner (ERBARMLICH), through the grim +winter air." This is the day Friedrich came over to Ottmachau, and +settled the sputter there. + +"Next day, and next again, the same phenomena at Neisse; the Prussians +edging ever nearer, building their batteries, preparing to open their +cannonade. Whereupon Roth burns the remaining Suburbs, with lamentable +crackle; on all sides now are mere ashes. Bishop's Mill, Franciscan +Cloister, Bishop's Pleasure-garden, with its summer-houses; Bishop's +Hospital, and several Churches: Roth can spare none of these things, +with the Prussians nestling there. Surely the Bishop himself, +respectable Cardinal Graf von Sinzendorf, had better get out of these +localities while time yet is?" "Saturday, 14th," that was the day +Friedrich, at Ottmachau, wrote as above to Jordan (Letter No. 1), while +the Neisse Suburbs crackled lamentably, twelve miles off, "Schwerin gets +order to break up, in person, from Ottmachan to-morrow, and begin actual +business on the Kaninchen Hill yonder. + +"SUNDAY, 15th. Schwerin does; marches across the River; takes post on +the south side of Neisse: notable to the Sunday rustics. Nothing but +burnt villages and black walls for Schwerin, in that Cony-Hill quarter, +and all round; and Roth salutes him with one twenty-four pounder, +which did no hurt. And so the cannonade begins, Sunday, 15th; and +intermittently, on both sides of the River, continues, always bursting +out again at intervals, till Wednesday; a mere preliminary cannonade +on Schwerin's part; making noise, doing little hurt: intended more to +terrify, but without effect that way on Roth or the Townsfolk. The poor +Bishop did, on the second day of it, come out, and make application to +Schwerin; was kindly conducted to his Majesty, who happened to be over +there; was kept to dinner; and easily had leave to retire to Freywalde, +a Country-House he has, in the safe distance. [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. +683.] There let him be quiet, well out of these confused batterings and +burnings of property. + +"His Majesty's Head-quarter is at Ottmachau, but in two hours he can be +here any day; and looks into everything; sorry that the cannonade does +not yet answer. And remnants of suburbs are still crackling into +flame; high Country-Houses of Kreuzherren, of Jesuits; a fanatic people +seemingly all set against us. 'If Neisse will not yield of good-will, +needs is it must be beaten to powder,' wrote his Majesty to Jordan in +these circumstances, as we read above. Roth is sorry to observe, the +Prussians have still one good Bishop's-mansion, in a place called the +Karlau (Karl-Meadow), with the Bishop's winter fuel all ready stacked +there; but strives to take order about the same. + +"WEDNESDAY, 18th. This day two provocations happened. First, in the +morning by his Majesty's order, Colonel Borck (the same we saw at +Herstal) had gone with a Trumpeter towards Roth; intending to inform +Roth how mild the terms would be, how terrible the penalty of not +accepting them. But Roth or Roth's people singularly disregard Borck +and his Parley Trumpet; answer its blasts by musketry; fire upon it, nay +again fire worse when it advances a step farther; on these terms Borck +and Trumpet had to return. Which much angered his Majesty at Ottmachau +that evening; as was natural. Same evening, our fine quarters in the +Karlau crackled up in flame, the Bishop's winter firewood all along with +it: this was provocation second. Roth had taken order with the Karlau; +and got a resolute Butcher to do the feat, under pretext of bringing us +beef. It is piercing cold; only blackened walls for us now in the Karlau +or elsewhere. His Majesty, naturally much angered, orders for the morrow +a dose of bomb-shells and red-hot balls. Plant a few mortars on the +North side too, orders his Majesty. + +"THURSDAY, 19th. Accordingly, by 8 of the clock, cannon batteries +reawaken with a mighty noise, and red-hot balls are noticeable; and at +10 the actual bombarding bursts out, terrible to hear and see;--first +shell falling in Haubitz the Clothier's shop, but being happily got +under. Roth has his City Militia companies, organized with water-hose +for quenching of the red-hot balls: in which they became expert. So that +though the fire caught many houses, they always put it out. Late in the +night, hearing no word from Roth, the Prussians went to bed. + +"FRIDAY, 20th. Still no word; on which, about 4 P.M., the Prussian +batteries awaken again: volcanic torrent of red-hot shot and shells, +for seven hours; still no word from Roth. About 11 at night his Majesty +again sends a Drum (Parley Trumpet or whatever it is) to the Gate; +formally summons Roth; asks him, 'If he has well considered what this +can lead to? Especially what he, Roth, meant by firing on our first +Trumpet on Wednesday last?' Roth answered, 'That as to the Trumpet, he +had not heard of it before. On the other hand, that this mode of sieging +by red-hot balls seems a little unusual; for the rest, that he has +himself no order or intention but that of resisting to the last.' Some +say the Drum hereupon by order talked of 'pounding Neisse into powder, +mere child's-play hitherto;' to which Roth answered only by respectful +dumb-show. + +"SATURDAY, 21st-MONDAY, 23d. Midnight of Friday-Saturday, on this answer +coming, the fire-volcanoes open again;--nine hours long; shells, and +red-hot material, in terrible abundance. Which hit mostly the churches, +Jesuits' Seminariums and Collegiums; but produced no change in Roth. +From 9 A.M. the batteries are silent. Silent still, next morning: +Divine Service may proceed, if it like. But at 4 of the afternoon, the +batteries awaken worse than ever; from seven to nine bombs going at +once. Universal rage, of noise and horrid glare, making night hideous, +till 10 of the clock; Roth continuing inflexible. This is the last night +of the Siege." + +Friedrich perceived that Roth would not yield; that the utter +smashing-down of Neisse might more concern Friedrich than Roth;--that, +in fine, it would be better to desist till the weather altered. Next +day, "Monday, 23d, between noon and 1 o'clock," the Prussians drew +back;--converted the siege into a blockade. Neisse to be masked, like +Brieg and Glogau (Brieg only half done yet, Jeetz without cannon till +to-morrow, 24th, and little Namslau still gesticulating): "The +only thing one could try upon it was bombardment. A Nest of Priests +(PFAFFEN-NEST); not many troops in it: but it cannot well be forced +at present. If spring were here, it will cost a fortnight's work." +[FRIEDRICH TO THE OLD DESSAUER: Fraction of Letter (Ottmachau, 16th-21st +January, 1741) cited by Orlich, i. 51;--from the Dessau Archives, where +Herr Orlich has industriously been. To all but strictly military people +these pieces of Letters are the valuable feature of Orlich's Book; and +a general reader laments that it does not all consist of such, properly +elucidated and labelled into accessibility.] + +A noisy business; "King's high person much exposed: a bombardier and +then a sergeant were killed close by him, though in all he lost only +five men." [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 680-690.] + + + + +BROWNE VANISHES IN A SLIGHT FLASH OF FIRE. + +Browne all this while has hung on the Mountain-side, witnessing these +things; sending stores towards Glatz southwestward, and "ruining the +ways" behind them; waiting what would become of Neisse. Neisse done, +Schwerin is upon him; Browne makes off Southeastward, across the +Mountains, for Moravia and home; Schwerin following hard. At a little +place called Gratz, [The name, in old Slavic speech, signifies TOWN; and +there are many GRATZES: KONIGINgratz (QUEEN'S, which for brevity is +now generally called KONIGSgratz, in Bohemia); Gratz in Styria; +WINDISCHgratz (Wendish-town); &c.] on the Moravian border, Browne faced +round, tried to defend the Bridge of the Oppa, sharply though without +effect; and there came (January 25th) a hot sputter between them for +a few minutes:--after which Browne vanished into the interior, and we +hear, in these parts, comparatively little more of him during this War. +Friend and foe must admit that he has neglected nothing; and fairly made +the best of a bad business here. He is but an interim General, too; +his Successor just coming; and the Vienna Board of War is frequently +troublesome,--to whose windy speculations Browne replies with sagacious +scepticism, and here and there a touch of veiled sarcasm, which was not +likely to conciliate in high places. Had her Hungarian Majesty been +able to retain Browne in his post, instead of poor Neipperg who was sent +instead, there might have been a considerably different account to give +of the sequel. But Neipperg was Tutor (War-Tutor) to the Grand-Duke; +Browne is still of young standing (age only thirty-five), with a touch +of veiled sarcasm; and things must go their course. + +In Schlesien, Schwerin is now to command in chief; the King going off to +Berlin for a little, naturally with plenty of errand there. The Prussian +Troops go into Winter-quarters; spread themselves wide; beset the good +points, especially the Passes of the Hills,--from Jagerndorf, eastward +to the Jablunka leading towards Hungary;--nay they can, and before long +do, spread into the Moravian Territories, on the other side; and levy +contributions, the Queen proving unreasonable. + +It was Monday, 23d, when the Siege of Neisse was abandoned: on +Wednesday, Friedrich himself turns homeward; looks into Schweidnitz, +looks into Liegnitz; and arrives at Berlin as the week ends,--much +acclamation greeting him from the multitude. Except those three masked +Fortresses, capable of no defence to speak of, were Winter over, Silesia +is now all Friedrich's,--has fallen wholly to him in the space of about +Seven Weeks. The seizure has been easy; but the retaining of it, perhaps +he himself begins to see more clearly, will have difficulties! From this +point, the talk about GLOIRE nearly ceases in his Correspondence. In +those seven weeks he has, with GLOIRE or otherwise, cut out for himself +such a life of labor as no man of his Century had. + + + + +Chapter VII. -- AT VERSAILLES, THE MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY CHANGES HIS +SHIRT, AND BELLEISLE IS SEEN WITH PAPERS. + +While Friedrich was so busy in Silesia, the world was not asleep around +him; the world never is, though it often seems to be, round a man and +what action he does in it. That Sunday morning, First Day of the Year +1741, in those same hours while Friedrich, with energy, with caution, +was edging himself into Breslau, there went on in the Court of +Versailles an interior Phenomenon; of which, having by chance got access +to it face to face, we propose to make the reader participant before +going farther. + +Readers are languidly aware that phenomena do go on round their +Friedrich; that their busy Friedrich, with his few Voltaires and +renowned persons, are not the only population of their Century, by +any means. Everybody is aware of that fact; yet, in practice, almost +everybody is as good as not aware; and the World all round one's Hero +is a darkness, a dormant vacancy. How strange when, as here, some +Waste-paper spill (so to speak) turns up, which you can KINDLE; and, by +the brief flame of it, bid a reader look with his own eyes!--From +Herr Doctor Busching, who did the GEOGRAPHY and about a Hundred other +Books,--a man of great worth, almost of genius, could he have elaborated +his Hundred Books into Ten (or distilled, into flasks of aqua-vitae, +what otherwise lies tumbling as tanks of mash and wort, now run very +sour and mal-odorous);--it is from Herr Busching that we gain the +following rough Piece, illuminative if one can kindle it:-- + +The Titular-Herr Baron Anton von Geusau, a gentleman of good parts, +scholastic by profession, and of Protestant creed, was accompanying as +Travelling Tutor, in those years, a young Graf von Reuss. Graf von Beuss +is one of those indistinct Counts Reuss, who always call themselves +"Henry;" and, being now at the eightieth and farther, with uncountable +collateral Henrys intertwisted, are become in effect anonymous, or of +nomenclature inscrutable to mankind. Nor is the young one otherwise of +the least interest to us;--except that Herr Anton, the Travelling Tutor, +punctually kept a Journal of everything. Which Journal, long afterwards, +came into the hands of Busching, also a punctual man; and was by him +abridged, and set forth in print in his _Beitrage._ Offering at present +a singular daguerrotype glimpse of the then actual world, wherever Graf +von Reuss and his Geusau happened to be. Nine-tenths of it, even in +Busching's Abridgment, are now fallen useless and wearisome; but to +one studying the days that then were, even the effete commonplace of it +occasionally becomes alive again. And how interesting to catch, here and +there, a Historical Figure on these conditions; Historical Figure's very +self, in his work-day attitude; eating his victuals; writing, receiving +letters, talking to his fellow-creatures; unaware that Posterity, +miraculously through some chink of the Travelling Tutor's producing, has +got its eye upon him. + +"SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741, Geusau and his young Gentleman leave Paris, +at 5 in the morning, and drive out to Versailles; intending to see the +ceremonies of New-year's day there. Very wet weather it had been, all +Wednesday, and for days before; [See in _Barbier_ (ii. 283 et seqq.) +what terrible Noah-like weather it had been; big houses, long in soak, +tumbling down at last into the Seine; CHASSE of St. Genevieve brought +out (two days ago), December 30th, to try it by miracle; &c. &c.] but +on this Sunday, New-year's morning, all is ice and glass; and they slid +about painfully by lamplight,--with unroughened horses, and on the +Hilly or Meudon road, having chosen that as fittest, the waters being +out;--not arriving at Court till 9. Nor finding very much to +comfort them, except on the side of curiosity, when there. Ushers, +INTRODUCTEURS, Cabinet Secretaries, were indeed assiduous to oblige; and +the King's Levee will be: but if you follow it, to the Chapel Royal to +witness high mass, you must kneel at elevation of the host; and this, +as reformed Christians, Reuss and his Tutor cannot undertake to do. They +accept a dinner invitation (12 the hour) from some good Samaritan of +Quality; and, for sights, will content themselves with the King's +Levee itself, and generally with what the King's Antechamber and the +OEil-de-Boeuf can exhibit to them. The Most Christian King's Levee +[LEVER, literally here his Getting out of Bed] is a daily miracle of +these localities, only grander on New-year's day; and it is to the +following effect:-- + +"Till Majesty please to awaken, you saunter in the Salle des +Ambassadeurs; whole crowds jostling one another there; gossiping +together in a diligent, insipid manner;" gossip all reported; snatches +of which have acquired a certain flavor by long keeping;--which the +reader shall imagine. "Meanwhile you keep your eye on the Grate of the +Inner Court, which as yet is only ajar, Majesty inaccessible as yet. +Behold, at last, Grate opens itself wide; sign that Majesty is out of +bed; that the privileged of mankind may approach, and see the miracles." +Geusau continues, abridged by Busching and us:-- + +"The whole Assemblage passed now into the King's Anteroom; had to wait +there about half an hour more, before the King's bedroom was opened. +But then at last, lo you,--there is the King, visible to Geusau and +everybody, washing his hands. Which effected itself in this way: 'The +King was seated; a gentleman-in-waiting knelt, before him, and held +the Ewer, a square vessel silver-gilt, firm upon the King's breast; and +another gentleman-in-waiting poured water on the King's hands.' Merely +an official washing, we perceive; the real, it is to be hoped, had, in +a much more effectual way, been going on during the half-hour +just elapsed. After washing, the King rose for an instant; had his +dressing-gown, a grand yellow silky article with silver flowerings, +pulled off, and flung round his loins; upon which he sat down again, +and,"--observe it, ye privileged of mankind,--"the Change of Shirt took +place! 'They put the clean shirt down over his head,' says Anton, 'and +plucked up the dirty one from within, so that of the naked skin you saw +little or nothing.'" Here is a miracle worth getting out of bed to look +at! + +"His Majesty now quitted chair and dressing-gown; stood up before the +fire; and, after getting on the rest of his clothing, which, on account +of Czarina Anne's death [readers remember that], was of violet or +mourning color, he had the powder-mantle thrown round him, and sat down +at the Toilette to have his hair frizzled. The Toilette, a table with +white cover shoved into the middle of the room, had on it a mirror, a +powder-knife, and"--no mortal cares what. "The King," what all mortals +note, as they do the heavenly omens, "is somewhat talky; speaks +sometimes with the Dutch Ambassador, sometimes with the Pope's Nuncio, +who seems a jocose kind of gentleman; sometimes with different French +Lords, and at last with the Cardinal Fleury also,--to whom, however, he +does not look particularly gracious,"--not particularly this time. +These are the omens; happy who can read them!--Majesty then did +his morning-prayer, assisted only by the common Almoners-in-waiting +(Cardinal took no hand, much less any other); Majesty knelt before his +bed, and finished the business 'in less than six seconds.' After which +mankind can ebb out to the Anteroom again; pay their devoir to the +Queen's Majesty, which all do; or wait for the Transit to Morning +Chapel, and see Mesdames of France and the others flitting past in their +sedans. + +"Queen's Majesty was already altogether dressed," says Geusau, almost +as if with some disappointment; "all in black; a most affable courteous +Majesty; stands conversing with the Russian Ambassador, with the Dutch +ditto, with the Ladies about her, and at last, 'in a friendly and merry +tone,' with old Cardinal Fleury. Her Ladies, when the Queen spoke with +them, showed no constraint at all; leant loosely with their arms on +the fire-screens, and took things easy. Mesdames of France"--Geusau saw +Mesdames. Poor little souls, they are the LOQUE, the COCHON (Rag, Pig, +so Papa would call them, dear Papa), who become tragically visible again +in the Revolution time:--all blooming young children as yet (Queen's +Majesty some thirty-seven gone), and little dreaming what lies fifty +years ahead! King Louis's career of extraneous gallantries, which ended +in the Parc-aux-Cerfs, is now just beginning: think of that too; and of +her Majesty's fine behavior under it; so affable, so patient, silent, +now and always!--"In a little while, their Majesties go along the Great +Gallery to Chapel;" whither the Protestant mind cannot with comfort +accompany. [Busching, _Beitrage,_ ii. 59-78.] + +This is the daily miracle done at Versailles to the believing multitude; +only that on New-year's day, and certain supreme occasions, the shirt +is handed by a Prince of the Blood, and the towel for drying the royal +hands by a ditto, with other improvements; and the thing comes out in +its highest power of effulgence,--especially if you could see high mass +withal. In the Antechamber and (OEil-de-Boeuf, Geusau), among hundreds +of phenomena fallen dead to us, saw the Four following, which have +still some life:--1. Many Knights of the Holy Ghost (CHEVALIERS DU SAINT +ESPRIT) are about; magnificently piebald people, indistinct to us, and +fallen dead to us: but there, among the company, do not we indisputably +see, "in full Cardinal's costume," Fleury the ancient Prime Minister +talking to her Majesty? Blandly smiling; soft as milk, yet with a flavor +of alcoholic wit in him here and there. That is a man worth looking at, +had they painted him at all. Red hat, red stockings; a serenely +definite old gentleman, with something of prudent wisdom, and a touch +of imperceptible jocosity at times; mildly inexpugnable in manner: this +King, whose Tutor he was twenty years ago, still looks to him as +his father; Fleury is the real King of France at present. His age is +eighty-seven gone; the King's is thirty (seven years younger than his +Queen): and the Cardinal has red stockings and red hat; veritably there, +successively in both Antechambers, seen by Geusau, January 1st, 1741: +that is all I know. 2. The Prince de Clermont, a Prince of the Blood, +"handed the shirt," TESTE Geusau. Some other Prince, notable to Geusau, +and to us nameless, had the honor of the "towel:" but this Prince de +Clermont, a dissolute fellow of wasted parts, kind of Priest, kind of +Soldier too, is seen visibly handing the shirt there;--whom the reader +and I, if we cared about it, shall again see, getting beaten by Prince +Ferdinand, at Crefeld, within twenty years hence. These are points first +and second, slightly noticeable, slightly if at all. + +Of the actual transit to high mass, transit very visible in the Great +Gallery or OEil-de-Boeuf, why should a human being now say anything? +Queen, poor Stanislaus's Daughter, and her Ladies, in their sublime +sedans, one flood of jewels, sail first; next sails King Louis, shirt +warm on his back, with "thirty-four Chevaliers of the Holy Ghost" +escorting; next "the Dauphin" (Boy of eleven, Louis XVI.'s. Father), +and "Mesdames of France, with"--but even Geusau stops short. Protestants +cannot enter that Chapel, without peril of idolatry; wherefore Geusau +and Pupil kept strolling in the general (OEil-de-Boeuf),--and "the Dutch +Ambassador approved of it," he for one. And here now is another point, +slightly noticeable:--3. High mass over, his Majesty sails back from +Chapel, in the same magnificently piebald manner; and vanishes into +the interior; leaving his Knights of the Holy Ghost, and other Courtier +multitude, to simmer about, and ebb away as they found good. Geusau and +his young Reuss had now the honor of being introduced to various people; +among others "to the Prince de Soubise." Prince de Soubise: frivolous, +insignificant being; of whom I have no portrait that is not nearly +blank, and content to be so;--though Herr von Geusau would have one, +with features and costume to it, when he heard of the Beating at +Rossbach, long after! Prince de Soubise is pretty much a blank to +everybody:--and no sooner are we loose of him, than (what every reader +will do well to note) 4. Our Herren Travellers are introduced to a real +Notability: Monseigneur, soon to be Marechal, the Comte de Belleisle; +whom my readers and I are to be much concerned with, in time coming. +"A tall lean man (LANGER HAGERER MANN), without much air of quality," +thinks Geusau; but with much swift intellect and energy, and a +distinguished character, whatever Geusau might think. "Comte de +Belleisle was very civil; but apologized, in a courtly and kind way, for +the hurry he was in; regretting the impossibility of doing the honors +to the Comte de Reuss in this Country,--his, Belleisle's, Journey into +Germany, which was close at hand, overwhelming him with occupations and +engagements at present. And indeed, even while he spoke to us," says +Geusau, "all manner of Papers were put into his hand." [Busching, ii. +79; see Barbier, ii. 282, 287.] + +"Journey to Germany, Papers put into his hand:" there is perhaps no +Human Figure in the world, this Sunday (except the one Figure now in +those same moments over at Breslau, gently pressing upon the locked +Gates there), who is so momentous for our Silesian Operations; and +indeed he will kindle all Europe into delirium; and produce mere thunder +and lightning, for seven years to come,--with almost no result in it, +except Silesia! A tall lean man; there stands he, age now fifty-six, +just about setting out on such errand. Whom one is thankful to have seen +for a moment, even in that slight manner. + + + + +OF BELLEISLE AND HIS PLANS. + +Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Comte de Belleisle, is Grandson of that +Intendant Fouquet, sumptuous Financier, whom Louis XIV. at last threw +out, and locked into the Fortress of Pignerol, amid the Savoy Alps, +there to meditate for life, which lasted thirty years longer. It was +never understood that the sumptuous Fouquet had altogether stolen public +moneys, nor indeed rightly what he had done to merit Pignerol; and +always, though fallen somehow into such dire disfavor, he was pitied and +respected by a good portion of the public. "Has angered Colbert," said +the public; "dangerous rivalry to Colbert; that is what has brought +Pignerol upon him." Out of Pignerol that Fouquet never came; but his +Family bloomed up into light again; had its adventures, sometimes its +troubles, in the Regency time, but was always in a rising way:--and +here, in this tall lean man getting papers put into his hand, it +has risen very high indeed. Going as Ambassador Extraordinary to +the Germanic Diet, "to assist good neighbors, as a neighbor and Most +Christian Majesty should, in choosing their new Kaiser to the best +advantage:" that is the official color his mission is to have. Surely a +proud mission;--and Belleisle intends to execute it in a way that will +surprise the Germanic Diet and mankind. Privately, Belleisle intends +that he, by his own industries, shall himself choose the right Kaiser, +such Kaiser as will suit the Most Christian Majesty and him; he intends +to make a new French thing of Germany in general; and carries in his +head plans of an amazing nature! He and a Brother he has, called the +Chevalier de Belleisle, who is also a distinguished man, and seconds +M. le Comte with eloquent fire and zeal in all things, are grandsons of +that old Fouquet, and the most shining men in France at present. France +little dreams how much better it perhaps were, had they also been kept +safe in Pignerol!-- + +The Count, lean and growing old, is not healthy; is ever and anon +tormented, and laid up for weeks, with rheumatisms, gouts and ailments: +but otherwise he is still a swift ardent elastic spirit; with grand +schemes, with fiery notions and convictions, which captivate and hurry +off men's minds more than eloquence could, so intensely true are they to +the Count himself;--and then his Brother the Chevalier is always there +to put them into the due language and logic, where needed. [Voltaire, +xxviii. 74; xxix. 392; &c.] A magnanimous high-flown spirit; thought to +be of supreme skill both in War and in Diplomacy; fit for many things; +and is still full of ambition to distinguish himself, and tell the world +at all moments, "ME VOILA; World, I too am here!"--His plans, just +now, which are dim even to himself, except on the hither skirt of them, +stretch out immeasurable, and lie piled up high as the skies. The hither +skirt of them, which will suffice the reader at present, is:-- + +That your Grand-Duke Franz, Maria Theresa's Husband, shall in no wise, +as the world and Duke Franz expect, be the Kaiser chosen. Not he, but +another who will suit France better: "Kur-Sachsen perhaps, the so-called +King of Poland? Or say it were Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, the hereditary +friend and dependent of France? We are not tied to a man: only, at any +and at all rates, not Grand-Duke Franz." This is the grand, essential +and indispensable point, alpha and omega of points; very clear this +one to Belleisle,--and towards this the first steps, if as yet only +the first, are also clear to him. Namely that "the 27th of February +next",--which is the time set by Kur-Mainz and the native Officials for +the actual meeting of their Reichstag to begin Election Business, will +be too early a time; and must be got postponed. [Adelung, ii. 185 ("27th +February-1st March, 1741, at Frankfurt-on-Mayn," appointed by Kur-Mainz +"Arch-Chancellor of the REICH," under date November 3d, 1740);--ib. +236 ("Delay for a month or two," suggests Kur-Pfalz, on January +12th, seconded by others in the French interest);--upon which the +appointment, after some arguing, collapsed into the vague, and there +ensued delay enough; actual Election not till January 24th, 1742.] +Postponed; which will be possible, perhaps for long; one knows not for +how long: that is a first step definitely clear to Belleisle. Towards +which, as preliminary to it and to all the others in a dimmer state, +there is a second thing clear, and has even been officially settled (all +but the day): That, in the mean while, and surely the sooner the better, +he, Belleisle, Most Christian Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary to the +Reichstag coming,--do, in his most dazzling and persuasive manner, make +a Tour among German Courts. Let us visit, in our highest and yet in our +softest splendor, the accessible German Courts, especially the likely +or well-disposed: Mainz, Koln, Trier, these, the three called Spiritual, +lie on our very route; then Pfalz, Baiern, Sachsen:--we will tour +diligently up and down; try whether, by optic machinery and art-magic of +the mind, one cannot bring them round. + +In all these preliminary steps and points, and even in that alpha and +omega of excluding Grand-Duke Franz, and getting a Kaiser of his own, +Belleisle succeeded. With painful results to himself and to millions +of his fellow-creatures, to readers of this History, among others. And +became in consequence the most famous of mankind; and filled the whole +world with rumor of Belleisle, in those years.--A man of such intrinsic +distinction as Belleisle, whom Friedrich afterwards deliberately called +a great Captain, and the only Frenchman with a genius for war; and who, +for some time, played in Europe at large a part like that of Warwick +the Kingmaker: how has he fallen into such oblivion? Many of my readers +never heard of him before; nor, in writing or otherwise, is there +symptom that any living memory now harbors him, or has the least +approach to an image of him! "For the times are babbly," says Goethe," +And then again the times are dumb:-- + + Denn geschwatzig sind die Zeiten, + Und sie sind auch wieder stumm." + + +Alas, if a man sow only chaff, in never so sublime a manner, with the +whole Earth and the long-eared populations looking on, and chorally +singing approval, rendering night hideous,--it will avail him nothing. +And that, to a lamentable extent, was Belleisle's case. His scheme of +action was in most felicitously just accordance with the national sense +of France, but by no means so with the Laws of Nature and of Fact; his +aim, grandiose, patriotic, what you will, was unluckily false and not +true. How could "the times" continue talking of him? They found they had +already talked too much. Not to say that the French Revolution has since +come; and has blown all that into the air, miles aloft,--where even +the solid part of it, which must be recovered one day, much more the +gaseous, which we trust is forever irrecoverable, now wanders and +whirls; and many things are abolished, for the present, of more value +than Belleisle!-- + +For my own share, being, as it were, forced accidentally to look at him +again, I find in Belleisle a really notable man; far superior to the +vulgar of noted men, in his time or ours. Sad destiny for such a man! +But when the general Life-element becomes so unspeakably phantasmal as +under Louis XV., it is difficult for any man to be real; to be other +than a play-actor, more or less eminent, and artistically dressed. Sad +enough, surely, when the truth of your relation to the Universe, and the +tragically earnest meaning of your Life, is quite lied out of you, by a +world sunk in lies; and you can, with effort, attain to nothing but to +be a more or less splendid lie along with it! Your very existence all +become a vesture, a hypocrisy, and hearsay; nothing left of you but this +sad faculty of sowing chaff in the fashionable manner! After Friedrich +and Voltaire, in both of whom, under the given circumstances, one finds +a perennial reality, more or less,--Belleisle is next; none FAILS to +escape the mournful common lot by a nearer miss than Belleisle. + +Beyond doubt, there are in this man the biggest projects any French head +has carried, since Louis XIV. with his sublime periwig first took to +striking the stars. How the indolent Louis XV. and the pacific Fleury +have been got into this sublimely adventurous mood? By Belleisle +chiefly, men say;--and by King Louis's first Mistresses, blown upon by +Belleisle; poor Louis having now, at length, left his poor Queen to +her reflections, and taken into that sad line, in which by degrees he +carried it so far. There are three of them, it seems;--the first female +souls that could ever manage to kindle, into flame or into smoke: +in this or any other kind, that poor torpid male soul: those Mailly +Sisters, three in number (I am shocked to hear), successive, nay in part +simultaneous! They are proud women, especially the two younger; with +ambition in them, with a bravura magnanimity, of the theatrical or +operatic kind; of whom Louis is very fond. "To raise France to its +place, your Majesty; the top of the Universe, namely!" "Well; if it +could be done,--and quite without trouble?" thinks Louis. Bravura +magnanimity, blown upon by Belleisle, prevails among these high Improper +Females, and generally in the Younger Circles of the Court; so that poor +old Fleury has had no choice but to obey it or retire. And so Belleisle +stalks across the OEil-de-Boeuf in that important manner, visibly to +Geusau; and is the shining object in Paris, and much the topic there at +present. + +A few weeks hence, he is farther--a little out of the common turn, but +not beyond his military merits or capabilities--made Marechal de France; +[_Fastes de Louis XV.,_ i. 356 (12th February, 1741).] by way of giving +him a new splendor in the German Political World, and assisting in his +operations there, which depend much upon the laws of vision. French +epigrams circulate in consequence, and there are witty criticisms; +to which Belleisle, such a dusky world of Possibility lying ahead, is +grandly indifferent. Marechal de France;--and Geusau hears (what is a +fact) that there are to be "thirty young French Lords in his suite;" his +very "Livery," or mere plush retinue, "to consist of 110 persons;" +such an outfit for magnificence as was never seen before. And in this +equipment, "early in March" (exact day not given), magnificence of +outside corresponding to grandiosity of faculty and idea, Belleisle, we +shall find, does practically set off towards Germany;--like a kind of +French Belus, or God of the Sun; capable to dazzle weak German Courts, +by optical machinery, and to set much rotten thatch on fire!-- + +"There are curious daguerrotype glimpses of old Paris to be found in +that Notebook of Geusau's", says another Excerpt; "which come strangely +home to us, like reality at first-hand;--and a rather unexpected Paris +it is, to most readers; many things then alive there, which are now deep +underground. Much Jansenist Theology afloat; grand French Ladies +piously eager to convert a young Protestant Nobleman like Reuss; sublime +Dorcases, who do not rouge, or dress high, but eschew the evil world, +and are thrifty for the Poor's sake, redeeming the time. There is +a Cardinal de Polignac, venerable sage and ex-political person, of +astonishing erudition, collector of Antiques (with whom we dined); there +is the Chevalier Ramsay, theological Scotch Jacobite, late Tutor of the +young Turenne. So many shining persons, now fallen indistinct again. +And then, besides gossip, which is of mild quality and in fair +proportion,--what talk, casuistic and other, about the Moral Duties, +the still feasible Pieties, the Constitution Unigenitus! All this alive, +resonant at dinner-tables of Conservative stamp; the Miracles of Abbe +Paris much a topic there:--and not a whisper of Infidel Philosophies; +the very name of Voltaire not once mentioned in the Reuss section of +Parisian things. + +"There is rumor now and then of a 'Comte de Rothenbourg,' conspicuous in +the Parisian circles; a shining military man, but seemingly in want +of employment; who has lost in gambling, within the last four years, +upwards of 50,000 pounds (1,300,000 livres, the exact cipher given). +This is the Graf von Rothenburg whom Friedrich made acquaintance with, +in the Rhine Campaign six years ago, and has ever since had in his +eye;--whom, in a few weeks hence, Friedrich beckons over to him into +the Prussian States: 'Hither, and you shall have work!' Which Rothenburg +accepts; with manifold advantage to both parties:--one of Friedrich's +most distinguished friends for the rest of his life. + +"Of Cardinal Polignac there is much said, and several dinners with +him are transacted, dialogue partly given: a pious wise old gentleman +really, in his kind (age now eighty-four); looking mildly forth upon +a world just about to overset itself and go topsy-turvy, as he sees it +will. His ANTI-LUCRETIUS was once such a Poem!--but we mention him +here because his fine Cabinet of Antiques came to Berlin on his death, +Friedrich purchasing; and one often hears of it (if one cared to +hear) from the Prussian Dryasdust in subsequent years. [Came to +Charlottenburg, August, 1742 (old Polignac had died November last, +ten months after those Geusau times): cost of the Polignac Cabinet +was 40,000 thalers (6,000 pounds) say some, 90,000 livres (under +4,000 pounds) say others; cheap at either price;--and, by chance, came +opportunely, "a fire having just burnt down the Academy Edifice," +and destroyed much ware of that kind. Rodenbeck, i. 73; Seyfarth +(Anonymous), _Geschichte Friedrichs des Andern,_ i. 236.] + +"Of Friedrich's unexpected Invasion of Silesia there are also talkings +and surmisings, but in a mild indifferent tone, and much in the vague. +And in the best-informed circles it is thought Belleisle will manage to +HAVE Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen of Hungary's Husband, chosen Kaiser, +and, in some mild good way, put an end to all that;"--which is far +indeed from Belleisle's intention! + + + + +Chapter VIII. -- PHENOMENA IN PETERSBURG. + +I know not whether Major Winterfeld, who was sent to Petersburg in +December last, had got back to Berlin in February, now while Friedrich +is there: but for certain the good news of him had, That he had been +completely successful, and was coming speedily, to resume his soldier +duties in right time. As Winterfeld is an important man (nearly buried +into darkness in the dull Prussian Books), let us pause for a moment +on this Negotiation of his;--and on the mad Russian vicissitudes +which preceded and followed, so far as they concern us. Russia, a big +demi-savage neighbor next door, with such caprices, such humors and +interests, is always an important, rather delicate object to Friedrich; +and Fortune's mad wheel is plunging and canting in a strange headlong +way there, of late. Czarina Anne, we know, is dead; the Autocrat of All +the Russias following the Kaiser of the Romans within eight days. Iwan, +her little Nephew, still in swaddling-clothes, is now Autocrat of All +the Russias if he knew it, poor little red-colored creature; and Anton +Ulrich and his Mecklenburg Russian Princess--But let us take up the +matter where our Notebooks left it, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time:-- + +"Czarina Anne with the big cheek," continues that Notebook, [Supra, p. +129.] "was extremely delighted to see little Iwan; but enjoyed him only +two months; being herself in dying circumstances. She appointed little +Iwan her Successor, his Mother and Father to be Guardians over him; +but one Bieren (who writes himself Biron, and "Duke of Courland,' being +Czarina's Quasi-Husband these many years) to be Guardian, as it were, +over both them and him. Such had been the truculent insatiable Bieren's +demand on his Czarina. 'You are running on your destruction,' said she, +with tears; but complied, as she had been wont. + +"Czarina Anne died 28th October, 1740; leaving a Czar in his cradle; +little Czar Ivan of two months, with Mother and Father to preside over +him, and to be themselves presided over by Bieren, in this manner. +[Mannstein, pp. 264-267 (28th October, by Russian or Old Style, is +"17th;" we TRANSLATE, in this and other cases, Russian or English, into +New Style, unless the contrary is indicated)]. This was the first great +change for Anton Ulrich; but others greater are coming. Little Anton, +readers know, is Friedrich's Brother-in-law, much patronized by Austria; +Anton's spouse is the Half-Russian Princess Catherine of Mecklenburg +(now wholly Russian, and called Princess Anne), whom Friedrich at one +time thought of applying for, in his distress about a Wife. These two, +will they side with Prussia, will they side with Austria? It was hardly +worth inquiry, had not Fortune's wheel made suddenly a great cant, and +pitched them to the top, for the time being. + +"Bieren lasted only twenty days. He was very high and arbitrary upon +everybody; Anne and Anton Ulrich suffering naturally most from him. They +took counsel with Feldmarschall Munnich on the matter; who, after study, +declared it a remediable case. Friday, 18th November, Munnich had, by +invitation, to dine with Duke Bieren; Munnich went accordingly that +day, and dined; Duke looking a little flurried, they say: and the same +evening, dinner being quite over, and midnight come, Munnich had his +measures all taken, soldiers ready, warrant in hand;--and arrested +Bieren in his bed; mere Siberia, before sunrise, looming upon Bieren. +Never was such a change as this from 18th day to 19th with a supreme +Bieren. Our friend Mannstein, excellent punctual Aide-de-Camp of +Munnich, was the executor of the feat; and has left punctual record of +it, as he does of everything,---what Bieren said, and what Madam Bieren, +who was a little obstreperous on the occasion. [Mannstein, p. 268.] What +side Anton Ulrich and Spouse will take in a quarrel between Prussia and +Austria, is now well worth asking. + +"Anton Ulrich and Wife Anne, that is to say, 'Regent Anne' and +'Generalissimo Anton Ulrich,' now ruled, with Munnich for right-hand +man; and these were high times for Anton Ulrich, Generalissimo and +Czar's-Father; who indeed was modest, and did not often interfere in +words, though grieved at the foolish ways his Wife had. An indolent +flabby kind of creature, she, unfit for an Autocrat; sat in her private +apartments, all in a huddle of undress; had foolish notions,--especially +had soubrettes who led her about by the ear. And then there was a +'Princess Elizabeth,' Cousin-german of Regent Anne,--daughter, that +is to say, last child there now was, of Peter the Great and his little +brown Catherine:--who should have been better seen to. Harmless foolish +Princess, not without cunning; young, plump, and following merely her +flirtations and her orthodox devotions; very orthodox and soft, but +capable of becoming dangerous, as a centre of the disaffected. As +'Czarina Elizabeth' before long, and ultimately as 'INFAME CATIN DU +NORD, she--" But let us not anticipate! + +It was in this posture of affairs, about a month after it had begun, +that Winterfeld arrived in Petersburg; and addressed himself to Munnich, +on the Prussian errand. Winterfeld was Munnich's Son-in-law (properly +stepson-in-law, having married Munnich's stepdaughter, a Fraulein von +Malzahn, of good Prussian kin); was acquainted with the latitudes and +longitudes here, and well equipped for the operation in hand. To Madam +Munnich, once Madam Malzahn, his Mother-in-law, he carried a diamond +ring of 1,200 pounds, "small testimony of his Prussian Majesty's regard +to so high a Prussian Lady;" to Munnich's Son and Madam's a present of +3,000 pounds on the like score: and the wheels being oiled in this way, +and the steam so strong (son Winterfeld an ardent man, father Munnich +the like, supreme in Russia, and the thing itself a salutary thing), +the diplomatic speed obtained was great. Winterfeld had arrived in +Petersburg December 19th: Treaty of Alliance to the effect, "Firm +friends and good neighbors, we Two, Majesties of Prussia and of All the +Russias; will help each the other, if attacked, with 12,000 men,"--was +signed on the 27th: whole Transaction, so important to Friedrich, +complete in eight days. Austrian Botta, directly on the heel of those +unsatisfactory Dialogues about Silesian roads, about troops that were +pretty, but had never looked the wolf in the face,--had rushed off, +full speed, for Petersburg, in hopes of running athwart such a Treaty +as Winterfeld's, and getting one for Austria instead. But he arrived +too late; and perhaps could have done nothing had he been in time. +Botta tried his utmost for years afterwards, above ground and below, to +obstruct and reverse this thing; but it was to no purpose, and even +to less; and only, in result, brought Botta himself into flagrant +diplomatic trouble and scandal; which made noise enough in the then +Gazetteer world, and was the finale of Botta's Russian efforts, +[Adelung, iii. ii. 289; Mannstein, p. 375 ("Lapuschin Plot," of Botta's +raising, found out "August, 1743;"--Botta put in arrest, &c.).] though +not worth mentioning now. + +The Russian Notebook continues:-- + +"Munnich, supreme in Russia since Bieren's removal, had wise counsels +for the Regent Anne and her Husband; though perhaps, being a high old +military gentleman, he might be somewhat abrupt in his ways. And there +were domestic Ostermanns, foreign Bottas, La Chetardies, and dangerous +Intriguers and Opposition figures, to improve any grudge that might +arise. Sure enough, in March, 1741, Feldmarschall Munnich was forbid +the Court (some Ostermann succeeding him there): 'Ever true to your Two +Highnesses, though no longer needed;'--and withdrew, in a lofty friendly +strain; his Son continuing at Court, though Papa had withdrawn. Supreme +Munnich had lasted about four months; Supreme Bieren hardly three +weeks;--and Siberia is still agape. + +"Munnich being gone to his own Town-Mansion, and Regent Anne sitting +in hers in a huddle of undress; little accessible to her long-headed +melancholic Ostermann, and too accessible to her Livonian maid: with +poor little Anton Ulrich pouting and remonstrating, but unable to +help,--this state of matters, with such intrigues undermining it, +could not last forever. And had not Princess Elizabeth been of indolent +luxurious nature, intent upon her prayers and flirtations, it would have +ended sooner even than it did. Princess Elizabeth had a Surgeon called +L'Estoc; a Marquis de la Chetardie, a high-flown French Excellency (who +used to be at Berlin, to our young Friedrich's delight), was her--What +shall I say? La Chetardie himself had no scruple to say it! These two +plotted for her; these were ready,--could she have been got ready; which +was not so easy. Regent Anne had her suspicions; but the Princess was so +indolent, so good: at last, when directly taxed with such a thing, the +Princess burst into ingenuous weeping; quite disarmed Regent Anne's +suspicions;--but found she had now better take L'Estoc's advice, and +proceed at once. Which she did. + +"And so, on the morrow morning, 5th December, 1741, by aid of the +Preobrazinsky Regiment, and the motions usual on such occasions,--in +fact by merely pulling out the props from an undermined state of +matters,--she reduced said state gently to ruin, ready for carting to +Siberia, like its foregoers; and was hereby Czarina of All the Russias, +prosperously enough for the rest of her life. Twenty years or rather +more. An indolent, orthodox, plump creature, disinclined to cruelty; +'not an ounce of nun's flesh in her composition,' said the wits. She +maintained the Friedrich Treaty, indignant at Botta and his plots; was +well with Friedrich, or might have been kept so by management, for there +was no cause of quarrel, but the reverse, between the Countries,--could +Friedrich have held his witty tongue, when eavesdroppers were by. But he +could not always; though he tried. And sarcastic quizzing (especially +if it be truth too), on certain female topics, what Improper Female, +Czarina of All the Russias, could stand it? The history is but a +distressing one, a disgusting one, in human affairs. Elizabeth was +orthodox, too, and Friedrich not, 'the horrid man!' The fact is,--fact +dismally indubitable, though it is huddled into discreet dimness, and +all details of it (as to what Friedrich's witticisms were, and the like) +are refused us in the Prussian Books,--indignation, owing to such dismal +cause, became fixed hate on the Czarina's part, and there followed +terrible results at last: A Czarina risen to the cannibal pitch upon +a man, in his extreme need;--'INFAME CATIN DU NORD,' thinks the man! +Friedrich's wit cost him dear; him, and half a million others still +dearer, twenty years hence."--Till which time we will gladly leave the +Czarina and it. + +Major von Winterfeld had been in Russia before this; and had wooed his +fair Malzahn there. He is the same Winterfeld whom we once saw dining by +the wayside with the late Friedrich Wilhelm, on that last Review-Journey +his Majesty made. A Captain in the Potsdam Giants at that time; always +in great favor with the late King; and in still greater with the +present,--who finds in him, we can dimly discover, and pretty much in +him alone, a soul somewhat like his own; the one real "peer" he had +about him. A man of little education; bred in camps; yet of a proud +natural eminency, and rugged nobleness of genius and mind. Let readers +mark this fiery hero-spirit, lying buried in those dull Books, +like lightning among clay. Here is another anecdote of his Russian +business:-- + +"Winterfeld had gone, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time, with a party of +Prussian drill-sergeants for Petersburg [year not given]; and duly +delivered them there. He naturally saw much of Feldmarschall Munnich, +naturally saw the Step-daughter of the Feldmarschall, a shining beauty +in Petersburg; Winterfeld himself a man of shining gifts, and character; +and one of the handsomest tall men in the world. Mutual love between +the Fraulein and him was the rapid result. But how to obtain marriage? +Winterfeld cannot marry, without leave had of his superiors: you, fair +Malzahn, are Hof-Dame of Princess Elizabeth, all your fortune the jewels +you wear; and it is too possible she will not let you go! + +"They agreed to be patient, to be silent; to watch warily till +Winterfeld got home to Prussia, till the Fraulein Malzahn could also +contrive to get home. Winterfeld once home, and the King's consent had, +the Fraulein applied to Princess Elizabeth for leave of absence: 'A +few months, to see my friends in Deutschland, your Highness!' Princess +Elizabeth looked hard at her; answered evasively this and that. At last, +being often importuned, she answered plainly, 'I almost feel convinced +thou wilt never come back!' Protestations from the Fraulein were not +wanting:--'Well then,' said Elizabeth, 'if thou art so sure of it, leave +me thy jewels in pledge. Why not?' The poor Fraulein could not say +why; had to leave her jewels, which were her whole fine fortune, +'worth 100,000 rubles' (20,000 pounds); and is now the brave Wife of +Winterfeld;--but could never, by direct entreaty or circuitous interest +and negotiation, get back the least item of her jewels. Elizabeth, +as Princess and as Czarina, was alike deaf on that subject. Now or +henceforth that proved an impossible private enterprise for Winterfeld, +though he had so easily succeeded in the public one." [Retzow, +_Charakteristik des siebenjahrigen Krieges_ (Berlin, 1802), i. 45 n.] + +The new Czarina was not unmerciful. Munnich and Company were tried +for life; were condemned to die, and did appear on the scaffold (29th +January, 1742), ready for that extreme penalty; but were there, on the +sudden, pardoned or half-pardoned by a merciful new Czarina, and sent to +Siberia and outer darkness. Whither Bieren had preceded them. To outer +darkness also, though a milder destiny had been intended them at first, +went Anton Ulrich and his Household. Towards native Germany at first; +they had got as far as Riga on the way to Germany, but were detained +there, for a long while (owing to suspicions, to Botta Plots, or I know +not what), till finally they were recalled into Russian exile. Strict +enough exile, seclusion about Archangel and elsewhere; in convents, in +obscure uncomfortable places:--little Iwan, after vicissitudes, even +went underground; grew to manhood, and got killed (partly by accident, +not quite by murder), some twenty-three years hence, in his dungeon +in the Fortress of Schlusselburg, below the level of the Ladoga waters +there. Unluckier Household, which once seemed the luckiest of the world, +was never known. Canted suddenly, in this way, from the very top of +Fortune's wheel to the very bottom; never to rise more;--and did not +even die, at least not all die, for thirty or forty years after. [Anton +Ulrich, not till 15th May, 1775 (two Daughters of his went, after this, +to "Horstens, a poor Country-House in Jutland," whither Catherine II. +had manumitted them, with pension;--she had wished Anton Ulrich to +go home, many years before; but he would not, from shame).--Iwan had +perished 5th August, 1764 (Catherine II. blamed for his death, but +without cause); Iwan's Mother, Princess Anne, (mercifully) 18th March, +1746. See Russian Histories, TOOKE, CASTERA, &c.,--none of which, except +MANNSTEIN, is good for much, or to be trusted without scrutiny.] + +This is the Chetardie-L'Estoc conspiracy, of 5th December, 1741; the +pitching up of Princess Elizabeth, and the pitching down of Anton Ulrich +and his Munnichs, who had before pitched Bieren down. After which, +matters remained more stationary at Petersburg: Czarina Elizabeth, fat +indolent soul, floated with a certain native buoyancy, with something of +bulky steadiness, in the turbid plunge of things, and did not sink. On +the contrary, her reign, so called, was prosperous, though stupid; her +big dark Countries, kindled already into growth, went on growing rather. +And, for certain, she herself went on growing, in orthodox devotions of +spiritual type (and in strangely heterodox ditto of NONspiritual!); in +indolent mansuetudes (fell rages, if you cut on the RAWS at all!); in +perpetual incongruity; and, alas, at last, in brandy-and-water,--till, +as "INFAME CATIN DU NORD," she became terribly important to some +persons! + +At her accession, and for two years following, Czarina Elizabeth, in +spite of real disinclination that way, had a War on her hands: the +Swedish War (August, 1741-August, 1743), which, after long threatening +on the Swedish side, had broken out into unwelcome actuality, in Anton +Ulrich's time; and which could not, with all the Czarina's industry, be +got rid of or staved off; Sweden being bent upon the thing, reason or +no reason. War not to be spoken of, except on compulsion, in the most +voluminous History! It was the unwisest of wars, we should say, and +in practice probably the contemptiblest; if there were not one other +Swedish War coming, which vies with it in these particulars, of which +we shall be obliged to speak, more or less, at a future stage. Of this +present Russian-Swedish war, having happily almost nothing to do +with it, we can, except in the way of transient chronology, refrain +altogether from speaking or thinking. + +Poor Sweden, since it shot Karl XII. in the trenches at Fredericshall, +could not get a King again; and is very anarchic under its Phantasm +King and free National Palaver,--Senate with subaltern Houses;--which +generally has French gold in its pocket, and noise instead of wisdom in +its head. Scandalous to think of or behold. The French, desirous to keep +Russia in play during these high Belleisle adventures now on foot, had, +after much egging, bribing, flattering, persuaded vain Sweden into this +War with Russia. "At Narva they were 80,000, we 8,000; and what became +of them!" cry the Swedes always. Yes, my friends, but you had a Captain +at Narva; you had not yet shot your Captain when you did Narva! "Faction +of Hats," "Faction of Caps" (that is, NIGHT-caps, as being somnolent and +disinclined to France and War): seldom did a once-valiant far-shining +Nation sink to such depths, since they shot their Captain, and said to +Anarchy, "THOU art Captaincy, we see, and the Divine thing!" Of the +Wars and businesses of such a set of mortals let us shun speaking, where +possible. + +Mannstein gives impartial account, pleasantly clear and compact, to such +as may be curious about this Swedish-Russian War; and, in the +didactic point of view, it is not without value. To us the interesting +circumstance is, that it does not interfere with our Silesian operations +at all; and may be figured as a mere accompaniment of rumbling discord, +or vacant far-off noise, going on in those Northern parts,--to which +therefore we hope to be strangers in time coming. Here are some dates, +which the reader may take with him, should they chance to illustrate +anything:-- + +"AUGUST 4th, 1741. The Swedes declare War: 'Will recover their lost +portions of Finland, will,' &c. &c. They had long been meditating it; +they had Turk negotiations going on, diligent emissaries to the Turk +(a certain Major Sinclair for one, whom the Russians waylaid and +assassinated to get sight of his Papers) during the late Turk-Russian +War; but could conclude nothing while that was in activity; concluded +only after that was done,--striking the iron when grown COLD. A chief +point in their Manifesto was the assassination of this Sinclair; scandal +and atrocity, of which there is no doubt now the Russians were guilty. +Various pretexts for the War:--prime movers to it, practically, were the +French, intent on keeping Russia employed while their Belleisle German +adventure went on, and who had even bargained with third parties to get +up a War there, as we shall see. + +"SEPTEMBER 3d, 1741. At Wilmanstrand,--key of Wyborg, their frontier +stronghold in Finland, which was under Siege,--the Swedes (about 5,000 +of them, for they had nothing to live upon, and lay scattered about in +fractions) made fight, or skirmish, against a Russian attacking party: +Swedes, rather victorious on their hill-top, rushed down; and totally +lost their bit of victory, their Wilmanstrand, their Wyborg, and even +the War itself;--for this was, in literal truth, the only fighting done +by them in the entire course of it, which lasted near two years more. +The rest of it was retreat, capitulation, loss on loss without stroke +struck; till they had lost all Finland, and were like to lose Sweden +itself,--Dalecarlian mutiny bursting out ('Ye traitors, misgovernors, +worthy of death!'), with invasive Danes to rear of it;--and had to call +in the very Russians to save them from worse. Czarina Elizabeth at the +time of her accession, six months after Wilmanstrand, had made truce, +was eager to make peace: 'By no means!' answered Sweden, taking arms +again, or rather taking legs again; and rushing ruin-ward, at the old +rate, still without stroke. + +"JUNE 28th, 1743. They did halt; made Peace of Abo (Truce and +Preliminaries signed there, that day: Peace itself, August 17th); +Czarina magnanimously restoring most of their Finland (thinking to +herself, 'Not done enough for me yet; cook it a little yet!');--and +settling who their next King was to be, among other friendly things. And +in November following, Keith, in his Russian galleys, with some 10,000 +Russians on board, arrived in Stockholm; protective against Danes +and mutinous Dalecarles: stayed there till June of next year, 1744." +[Adelung, ii. 445. Mannstein, pp. 297 (Wilmanstrand Affair, himself +present), 365 (Peace), 373 (Keith's RETURN with his galleys). Comte de +Hordt (present also, on the Swedish side, and subsequently a Soldier +of Friedrich's) _Memoires_ (Berlin, 1789), i. 18-88. The murder of +Sinclair (done by "four Russian subalterns, two miles from Naumberg +in Silesia, 17th June, 1739, about 7 P.M.") is amply detailed from +Documents, in a late Book: Weber, _Aus Vier Jahrhunderten_ (Leipzig, +1858), i. 274-279.] Is not this a War! + +On the Russian side, General Keith, under Field-marshal Lacy as chief in +command (the same Keith whom we saw at Oczakow under Munnich, some time +ago), had a great deal of the work and management; which was of a highly +miscellaneous kind, commanding fleets of gunboats, and much else; and +readers of MANNSTEIN can still judge,--much more could King Friedrich, +earnestly watching the affair itself as it went on,--whether Keith did +not do it in a solid and quietly eminent and valiant manner. Sagacious, +skilful, imperturbable, without fear and without noise; a man quietly +ever ready. He had quelled, once, walking direct into the heart of it, a +ferocious Russian mutiny, or uproar from below, which would have ruined +everything in few minutes more. (Mannstein, p. 130 (no date, April-May, +1742.) He suffered, with excellent silence, now and afterwards, much +ill-usage from above withal;--till Friedrich himself, in the third +year hence, was lucky enough to get him as General. Friedrich's Sister +Ulrique, the marriage of Princess Ulrique,--that also, as it chanced, +had something to do with this Peace of Abo. But we anticipate too far. + + + + +Chapter IX. -- FRIEDRICH RETURNS TO SILESIA. + +Friedrich stayed only three weeks at home; moving about, from Berlin to +Potsdam, to Reinsberg and back: all the gay world is in Berlin, at this +Carnival time; but Friedrich has more to do with business, of a manifold +and over-earnest nature, than with Carnival gayeties. French Valori +is here, "my fat Valori," who is beginning to be rather a favorite +of Friedrich's: with Excellency Valori, and with the other Foreign +Excellencies, there was diplomatic passaging in these weeks; and we +gather from Valori, in the inverse way (Valori fallen sulky), that it +was not ill done on Friedrich's part. He had some private consultation +with the Old Dessauer, too; "probably on military points," thinks +Valori. At least there was noticed more of the drill-sergeant than +before, in his handling of the Army, when he returned to Silesia, +continues the sulky one. "Troops and generals did not know him +again,"--so excessively strict was he grown, on the sudden. And truly +"he got into details which were beneath, not only a Prince who has +great views, but even a simple Captain of Infantry,"--according to my +(Valori's) military notions and experiences! [Valori, i. 99.]-- + +The truth is, Friedrich begins to see, more clearly than he did with +GLOIRE dazzling him, that his position is an exceedingly grave one, full +of risk, in the then mood and condition of the world; that he, in the +whole world, has no sure friend but his Army; and that in regard to IT +he cannot be too vigilant! The world is ominous to this youngest of the +Kings more than to another. Sounds as of general Political Earthquake +grumble audibly to him from the deeps: all Europe likely, in any event, +to get to loggerheads on this Austrian Pragmatic matter; the Nations +all watching HIM, to see what he will make of it:--fugleman he to the +European Nations, just about bursting up on such an adventure. It may +be a glorious position, or a not glorious; but, for certain, it is a +dangerous one, and awfully solitary!-- + +Fuglemen the world and its Nations always have, when simultaneously +bent any-whither, wisely or unwisely; and it is natural that the most +adventurous spirit take that post. Friedrich has not sought the post; +but following his own objects, has got it; and will be ignominiously +lost, and trampled to annihilation under the hoofs of the world, if he +do not mind! To keep well ahead;--to be rapid as possible; that were +good:--to step aside were still better! And Friedrich we find is very +anxious for that; "would be content with the Duchy of Glogau, and join +Austria;" but there is not the least chance that way. His Special Envoy +to Vienna, Gotter, and along with him Borck the regular Minister, are +come home; all negotiation hopeless at Vienna; and nothing but indignant +war-preparation going on there, with the most animated diligence, and +more success than had seemed possible. That is the law of Friedrich's +Silesian Adventure: "Forward, therefore, on these terms; others there +are not: waste no words!" Friedrich recognizes to himself what the +law is; pushes stiffly forward, with a fine silence on all that is not +practical, really with a fine steadiness of hope, and audacity against +discouragements. Of his anxieties, which could not well be wanting, but +which it is royal to keep strictly under lock and key, of these there is +no hint to Jordan or to anybody; and only through accidental chinks, on +close scrutiny, can we discover that they exist. Symptom of despondency, +of misgiving or repenting about his Enterprise, there is none anywhere, +Friedrich's fine gifts of SILENCE (which go deeper than the lips) are +noticeable here, as always; and highly they availed Friedrich in leading +his life, though now inconvenient to Biographers writing of the same!-- + +It was not on matters of drill, as Valori supposes, that Friedrich +had been consulting with the Old Dessauer: this time it was on another +matter. Friedrich has two next Neighbors greatly interested, none more +so, in the Pragmatic Question: Kur-Sachsen, Polish King, a foolish +greedy creature, who is extremely uncertain about his course in it (and +indeed always continued so, now against Friedrich, now for him, and +again against); and Kur-Hanover, our little George of England, whose +course is certain as that of the very stars, and direct against +Friedrich at this time, as indeed, at all times not exceptional, it is +apt to be. Both these Potentates must be attended to, in one's absence; +method to be gentle but effectual; the Old Dessauer to do it:--and +this is what these consultings had turned upon; and in a month or two, +readers, and an astonished Gazetteer world, will see what comes of them. + +It was February 19th when Friedrich left Berlin; the 21st he spends +at Glogau, inspecting the Blockade there, and not ill content with the +measures taken: "Press that Wallis all you can," enjoins he: "Hunger +seems to be slow about it! Summon him again, were your new Artillery +come up; threaten with bombardment; but spare the Town, if possible. +Artillery is coming: let us have done here, and soon!" Next day he +arrives, not at Breslau as some had expected, but at Schweidnitz +sidewards; a strong little Town, at least an elaborately fortified, of +which we shall hear much in time coming. It lies a day's ride west of +Breslau: and will be quieter for business than a big gazing Capital +would be,--were Breslau even one's own city; which it is not, though +perhaps tending to be. Breslau is in transition circumstances at +present; a little uncertain WHOSE it is, under its Munchows and +new managers: Breslau he did not visit at all on this occasion. To +Schweidnitz certain new regiments had been ordered, there to be +disposed of in reinforcing: there, "in the Count Hoberg's Mansion," +he principally lodges for six weeks to come; shooting out on continual +excursions; but always returning to Schweidnitz, as the centre, again. + +Algarotti, home from Turin (not much of a success there, but always +melodious for talk), had travelled with him; Algarotti, and not long +after, Jordan and Maupertuis, bear him company, that the vacant moments +too be beautiful. We can fancy he has a very busy, very anxious, but not +an unpleasant time. He goes rapidly about, visiting his posts,--chiefly +about the Neisse Valley; Neisse being the prime object, were the weather +once come for siege-work. He is in many Towns (specified in RODENBECK +and the Books, but which may be anonymous here); doubtless on many +Steeples and Hill-tops; questioning intelligent natives, diligently +using his own eyes: intent to make personal acquaintance with this new +Country,--where, little as he yet dreams of it, the deadly struggles +of his Life lie waiting him, and which he will know to great perfection +before all is done! + +Neisse lies deep enough in Prussian environment; like Brieg, like +Glogau, strictly blockaded; our posts thereabouts, among the Mountains, +thought to be impregnable. Nevertheless, what new thing is this? Here +are swarms of loose Hussar-Pandour people, wild Austrian Irregulars, who +come pouring out of Glatz Country; disturbing the Prussian posts towards +that quarter; and do not let us want for Small War (KLEINE KRIEG) so +called. General Browne, it appears, is got back to Glatz at this +early season, he and a General Lentulus busy there; and these are the +compliments they send! A very troublesome set of fellows, infesting +one's purlieus in winged predatory fashion; swooping down like a cloud +of vulturous harpies on the sudden; fierce enough, if the chance +favor; then to wing again, if it do not. Communication, especially +reconnoitring, is not safe in their neighborhood. Prussian Infantry, +even in small parties, generally beats them; Prussian Horse not, but is +oftener beaten,--not drilled for this rabble and their ways. In pitched +fight they are not dangerous, rather are despicable to the disciplined +man; but can, on occasion, do a great deal of mischief. + +Thus, it was not long after Friedrich's coming into these parts, when +he learnt with sorrow that a Body of "500 Horse and 500 Foot" (or say it +were only 300 of each kind, which is the fact [Orlich, i. 79; _OEuvres +de Frederic,_ ii. 68.]) had eluded our posts in the Mountains, and +actually got into Neisse. "The Foot will be of little consequence," +writes Friedrich; "but the Horse, which will disturb our communications, +are a considerable mischief." This was on the 5th of March. And about a +week before, on the 27th of February, there had well-nigh a far graver +thing befallen,--namely the capture of Friedrich himself, and the sudden +end of all these operations. + + + + +SKIRMISH OF BAUMGARTEN, 27th FEBRUARY, 1741. + +In most of the Anecdote-Books there used to figure, and still does, +insisting on some belief from simple persons, a wonderful Story in very +vague condition: How once "in the Silesian Wars," the King, in those +Upper Neisse regions, in the Wartha district between Glatz and Neisse, +was, one day, within an inch of being taken,--clouds of Hussars suddenly +rising round him, as he rode reconnoitring, with next to no escort, only +an adjutant or so in attendance. How he shot away, keeping well in the +shade; and erelong whisked into a Convent or Abbey, the beautiful Abbey +of Kamenz in those parts; and found Tobias Stusche, excellent Abbot +of the place, to whom he candidly disclosed his situation. How the +excellent Tobias thereupon instantly ordered the bells to be rung for +a mass extraordinary, Monks not knowing why; and, after bells, made +his appearance in high costume, much to the wonder of his Monks, with a +SECOND Abbot, also in high costume, but of shortish stature, whom +they never saw before or after. Which two Abbots, or at least Tobias, +proceeded to do the so-called divine office there and then; letting +loose the big chant especially, and the growl of organs, in a singularly +expressive manner. How the Pandours arrived in clouds meanwhile; +entered, in searching parties, more or less reverent of the mass; +searched high and low; but found nothing, and were obliged to take +Tobias's blessing at last, and go their ways. How the Second Abbot +thereupon swore eternal friendship with Tobias, in the private +apartments; and rode off as--as a rescued Majesty, determined to be more +cautious in Pandour Countries for the future! [Hildebrandt, _Anekdoten,_ +i. 1-7. Pandour proper is a FOOT-soldier (tall raw-boned ill-washed +biped, in copious Turk breeches, rather barish in the top parts of him; +carries a very long musket, and has several pistols and butcher's-knives +stuck in his girdle): specifically a footman; but readers will permit me +to use him withal, as here, in the generic sense.]--Which story, as to +the body of it, is all myth; though, as is oftenest the case, there +lies in it some soul of fact too. The History-Books, which had not much +heeded the little fact, would have nothing to do with this account of +it. Nevertheless the people stuck to their Myth; so that Dryasdust (in +punishment for his sinful blindness to the human and divine significance +of facts) was driven to investigate the business; and did at last +victoriously bring it home to the small occurrence now called SKIRMISH +OF BAUMGARTEN, which had nearly become so great in the History of the +World,--to the following effect. + +There are two Valleys with roads that lead from that Southwest quarter +of Silesia towards Glatz, each with a little Town at the end of it, +looking up into it: Wartha the name of the one: Silberberg that of the +other. Through the Wartha Valley, which is southernmost, young Neisse +River comes rushing down,--the blue mountains thereabouts very pretty, +on a clear spring day, says my touring friend. Both at Wartha, and +at Silberberg the little Town which looks into the mouth of the +northernmost Valley, the Prussians have a post. Old Derschau, Malplaquet +Derschau, with headquarters at Frankenstein, some seven or eight miles +nearer Schweidnitz, has not failed in that precaution. Friedrich wished +to visit Silberberg and Wartha; set out accordingly, 27th February, with +small escort, carelessly as usual: the Pandour people had wind of it; +knew his habits on such occasions; and, gliding through other roadless +valleys, under an adventurous Captain, had determined to whirl him +off. And they were in fact not far from succeeding, had not a mistake +happened. + +Silberberg, and Wartha the southernmost, which stands upon the Neisse +River (rushing out there into the plainer country), are each about +seven or eight miles from Frankenstein, the Head-quarters; and there +are relays of posts, capable of supporting one another, all the way from +Frankenstein to each. Friedrich rode to Silberberg first; examined the +post, found it right; then rode across to Wartha, seven or eight miles +southward; examined Wartha likewise; after which, he sat down to dinner +in that little Town, with an Officer or two for company,--having, I +suppose, found all right in both the posts. In the way hither, he had +made some change in the relay arrangements, which at first involved +some diminution of his own escort, and then some marching about and +redistributing: so that, externally, it seemed as if the Principal +Relay-party were now marching on Baumgarten, an intermediate +Village,--at least so the Pandour Captain understands the movements +going on; and crouches into the due thickets in consequence, not +doubting but the King himself is for Baumgarten, and will be at hand +presently. Principal relay-party, a squadron of Schulenburg's Dragoons, +with a stupid Major over them, is not quite got into Baumgarten, when +"with horrible cries the Pandour Captain with about 500 horse," plunges +out of cover, direct upon the throat of it: and Friedrich, at Wartha, +is but just begun dining when tumult of distant musketry breaks in upon +him. With Friedrich himself, at this time, as I count, there might be +150 Horse; in Wartha post itself are at least "forty hussars and fifty +foot." By no means "nothing but a single adjutant," as the Myth bears. + +The stupid Major ought to have beaten this rabble, though above two +to one of him. But he could not, though he tried considerably; on the +contrary, he was himself beaten; obliged to make off, leaving +"ten dragoons killed, sixteen prisoners, one standard and two +kettle-drums:"--victory and all this plunder, ye Pandour gentry; but +evidently no King. The Pandour gentry, on the instant, made off too, +alarm being abroad; got into some side-valley, with their prisoners and +drum-and-standard honors, and vanished from view of mankind. + +Friedrich had started from dinner; got his escort under way, with the +forty hussars and the fifty foot, and what small force was attainable; +and hurried towards the scene. He did see, by the road, another +strongish party of Pandours; dashed them across the Neisse River out of +sight;--but, getting to Baumgarten, found the field silent, and ten dead +men upon it. "I always told you those Schulenburg Dragoons were good +for nothing!" writes he to the Old Dessauer; but gradually withal, +on comparing notes, finds what a danger he had run, and how rash and +foolish he had been. "An ETOURDERIE (foolish trick)," he calls it, +writing to Jordan; "a black eye;" and will avoid the like. Vienna got +its two kettle-drums and flag; extremely glad to see them; and even sang +TE-DEUM upon them, to general edification. [Orlich, i. 62-64.] This is +the naked primordial substance out of which the above Myth grew to its +present luxuriance in the popular imagination. Place, the little Village +of Baumgarten; day, 27th February, 1741. Of Tobias Stusche or the +Convent of Kamenz, not one authentic word on this occasion. Tobias +did get promotions, favors in coming years: a worthy Abbot, deserving +promotion on general grounds; and master of a Convent very picturesque, +but twelve miles from the present scene of action. + + + + +ASPECTS OF BRESLAU. + +Friedrich avoided visiting Breslau, probably for the reasons above +given; though there are important interests of his there, especially his +chief Magazine; and issues of moment are silently working forward. Here +are contemporary Excerpts (in abridged form), which are authentic, and +of significance to a lively reader:-- + +"BRESLAU, MIDDLE OF JANUARY, 1741. The Prussian Envoy, Herr von Gotter, +had appeared here, returning from Vienna; Gotter, and then Borck, who +made no secret in Breslau society, That not the slightest hope of a +peaceable result existed, as society might have flattered itself; but +that war and battle would have to decide this matter. A Saxon +Ambassador was also here, waiting some time; message thought to +be insignificant:--probably some vague admonitory stuff again from +Kur-Sachsen (Polish King, son of August the Strong, a very insignificant +man), who acts as REICHS-VICARIUS in those Northern parts." For the +reader is to know, there are Reichs-Vicars more than one (nay more than +two on this occasion, with considerable jarring going on about them); +and I could say much about their dignities, limits, duties, [Adelung, +ii. 143, &c.; Kohler, _Reichs-Historie,_ pp. 585-589.]--if indeed +there were any duties, except dramatic ones! But the Reich itself, and +Vicarship along with it, are fallen into a nearly imaginary condition; +and the Regensburg Diet (not Princes now, but mere Delegates of Princes, +mostly Bombazine People), which, "ever since 1663," has sat continual, +instead of now and then, is become an Enchanted Piggery, strange to +look upon, under those earnest stars. "As King Friedrich did not call +at Greslau," after those Neisse bombardments, but rolled past, straight +homewards, the three Excellencies all departed,--Borck and Gotter to +Berlin, the Saxon home again with his insignificant message. + +"JANUARY 19th. Schwerin too was here in the course of the winter, to +see how the magazines and other war-preparations were going on: Breslau +outwardly and inwardly is whirling with business, and offers phenomena. +For instance, it is known that the Army-Chest, heaps of silver and gold +in it, lies in the Scultet Garden-House, where the King lodged; and that +only one sentry walks there, and that in the guard-house itself, which +is some way off, there are only thirty men. January 19th, about 9 of +the clock, [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 700.] alarm rises, That 2,000 +DIEBS-GESINDEL (Collective Thief-rabble of Breslau and dependencies) +are close by; intending a stroke upon said Garden-House and Army-Chest! +Perhaps this rumor sprang of its own accord;--or perhaps not quite? +It had been very rife; and ran high; not without remonstrances in +Town-Hall, and the like, which we can imagine. Issue was, The Officer on +post at Scultet's loaded his treasure in carts; conveyed it, that +same night, to the interior of the City, in fact to the OBERAMTS-HAUS +(Government-House that was);--which doubtless was a step in the right +direction. For now the Two Feld-Kriegs-Commissariat Gentlemen (one of +whom is the expert Munchow, son of our old Custrin friend), supreme +Prussian Authorities here, do likewise shift out of their inns; and +take old Schaffgotsch's apartments in the same Oberamts-Haus; mutely +symbolling that perhaps THEY are likely to become a kind of Government. +And the reader can conceive how, in such an element, the function of +governing would of itself fall more and more into their hands. They were +consummately polite, discreet, friendly towards all people; and did in +effect manage their business, tax-gatherings in money and in kind, with +a perfection and precision which made the evil a minimum. + +"FEBRUARY 17th.... This day also, there arrived at Breslau, by boat up +the Oder, ten heavy cannon, three mortars, and ammunition of powder, +bombshells, balls, as much as loaded fifty wagons; the whole of which +were, in like manner, forwarded to Ohlau. This day, as on other days +before and after. Great Magazines forming here; the Military chiefly at +Ohlau; at Breslau the Provender part,--and this latter under noteworthy +circumstances. In the Dom-Island, namely; which is definable (in a +case of such necessity) as being 'outside the walls.' Especially as the +Reverend Fathers have mostly glided into corners, and left the place +vacant. In the Dom-Island, it certainly is; and such a stock,--all +bought for money down, and spurred forward while the roads were under +frost,--'such a stock as was not thought to be in all Silesia,' says +exaggerative wonder. The vacant edifices in the Dom-Island are filled to +the neck with meal and corn; the Prussian brigade now quartering there +('without the walls,' in a sense) to guard the same. And in the Bishop's +Garden [poor Sinzendorf, far enough away and in no want of it just now] +are mere hay-mows, bigger than houses: who can object,--in a case +of necessity? No man, unless he politically meddle, is meddled +with; politically meddling, you are at once picked up; as one or two +are,--clapped into gentle arrest, or, like old Schaffgotsch, and even +Sinzendorf before long, requested to leave the Country till it get +settled. Rigor there is, but not intentional injustice on Munchow's +part, and there is a studious avoidance of harsh manner. + +"FEBRUARY-MARCH. Considerable recruiting in Schlesien: six hundred +recruits have enlisted in Breslau alone. Also his Prussian Majesty has +sent a supply of Protestant Preachers, ordained for the occasion, to +minister where needed;--which is piously acknowledged as a godsend +in various parts of Silesia. Twelve came first, all Berliners; soon +afterwards, others from different parts, till, in the end, there were +about Sixty in all. Rigorous, punctilious avoidance of offence to the +Catholic minorities, or of whatever least thing Silesian Law does not +permit, is enjoined upon them; 'to preach in barns or town-halls, where +by Law you have no Church.' Their salary is about 30 pounds a year; +they are all put under supervision of the Chaplain of Margraf Karl's +Regiment" (a judicious Chaplain, I have no doubt, and fit to be a +Bishop); and so far as appears, mere benefit is got of them by Schlesien +as well as by Friedrich, in this function. Friedrich is careful to keep +the balance level between Catholic and Protestant; but it has hung +at such an angle, for a long while past! In general, we observe +the Catholic Dignitaries, and the zealous or fanatic of that creed, +especially the Jesuits, are apt to be against him: as for the +non-fanatic, they expect better government, secular advantage; these +latter weigh doubtfully, and with less weight whichever way. In the +general population, who are Protestant, he recognizes friends;--and has +sent them Sixty Preachers, which by Law was their due long since. +Here follow two little traits, comic or tragi-comic, with which we can +conclude:-- + +"Detached Jesuit parties, here and there, seem to have mischief in hand +in a small way, encouraging deserters and the like;--and we keep an +eye on them. No discontent elsewhere, at least none audible; on the +contrary, much enlisting on the part of the Silesian youth, with other +good symptoms. But in the Dom, there is, singular to say, a Goblin found +walking, one night;--advancing, not with airs from Heaven, upon +the Prussian sentry there! The Prussian sentry handles arms; pokes +determinedly into the Goblin, and finding him solid, ever more +determinedly, till the Goblin shrieked 'Jesus Maria!' and was hauled +to the Guard-house for investigation." A weak Goblin; doubtless of the +valet kind; worth only a little whipping; but testifies what the spirit +is. + +"Another time, two deserter Frenchmen getting hanged [such the law in +aggravated cases], certain polite Jesuits, who had by permission been +praying and extreme-unctioning about them, came to thank the Colonel +after all was over. Colonel, a grave practical man, needs no 'thanks;' +would, however, 'advise your Reverences to teach your people that +perjury is not permissible, that an oath sworn ought to be kept;' and +in fine 'would advise you Holy Fathers hereabouts, and others, to have +a care lest you get into'--And twitching his reins, rode away without +saying into what." [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 723.] + + + + +AUSTRIA IS STANDING TO ARMS. + +Schwerin has been doing his best in this interim; collecting magazines +with double diligence while the roads are hard, taking up the +Key-positions far and wide, from the Jablunka round to the Frontier +Valleys of Glatz again. He was through Jablunka, at one time; on into +Mahren, as far as Olmutz; levying contributions, emitting patents: but +as to intimidating her Hungarian Majesty, if that was the intention, or +changing her mind at all, that is not the issue got. Austria has still +strength, and Pragmatic Sanction and the Laws of Nature have! Very +fixed is her Hungarian Majesty's determination, to part with no inch of +Territory, but to drive the intrusive Prussians home well punished. + +How she has got the funds is, to this day, a mystery;--unless George and +Walpole, from their Secret-Service Moneys, have smuggled her somewhat? +For the Parliament is not sitting, and there will be such jargonings, +such delays: a preliminary 100,000 pounds, say by degrees 200,000 +pounds,--we should not miss it, and in her Majesty's hands it would go +far! Hints in the English Dryasdust we have; but nothing definite; and +we are left to our guesses. [Tindal (XX. 497) says expressly 200,000 +pounds, but gives no date or other particular.] A romantic story, first +set current by Voltaire, has gone the round of the world, and still +appears in all Histories: How in England there was a Subscription set +on foot for her Hungarian Majesty; outcome of the enthusiasm of English +Ladies of quality,--old Sarah Duchess of Marlborough putting down her +name for 40,000 pounds, or indeed putting down the ready sum itself; +magnanimous veteran that she was. Voltaire says, omitting date and +circumstance, but speaking as if it were indubitable, and a thing you +could see with eyes: "The Duchess of Marlborough, widow of him who had +fought for Karl VI. [and with such signal returns of gratitude from the +said Karl VI.], assembled the principal Ladies of London; who engaged to +furnish 100,000 pounds among them; the Duchess herself putting down [EN +DEPOSA, tabling IN CORPORE] 40,000 pounds of it. The Queen of Hungary +had the greatness of soul to refuse this money;--needing only, as she +intimated, what the Nation in Parliament assembled might please to offer +her." [Voltaire, _OEuvres (Siecle de Louis XV.,_ c. 6), xxviii. 79.] + +One is sorry to run athwart such a piece of mutual magnanimity; but the +fact is, on considering a little and asking evidence, it turns out to +be mythical. One Dilworth, an innocent English soul (from whom our +grandfathers used to learn ARITHMETIC, I think), writing on the spot +some years after Voltaire, has this useful passage: "It is the great +failing of a strong imagination to catch greedily at wonders. Voltaire +was misinformed; and would perhaps learn, by a second inquiry, a truth +less splendid and amusing. A Contribution was, by News-writers upon +their own authority, fruitlessly proposed. It ended in nothing: the +Parliament voted a supply;"--that did it, Mr. Dilworth; supplies enough, +and many of them! "Fruitlessly, by News-writers on their own authority;" +that is the sad fact. [_The Life and Heroick Actions of Frederick III._ +(SIC, a common blunder), by W. H. Dilworth, M.A. (London, 1758), p. 25. +A poor little Book, one of many coming out on that subject just then +(for a reason we shall see on getting thither); which contains, of +available now, the above sentence and no more. Indeed its brethren, one +of them by Samnel Johnson (IMPRANSUS, the imprisoned giant), do not even +contain that, and have gone wholly to zero.--Neither little Dilworth +nor big Voltaire give the least shadow of specific date; but both +evidently mean Spring, 1742 (not 1741).] + +It is certain, little George, who considers Pragmatic Sanction as the +Keystone of Nature in a manner, has been venturing far deeper than +purse for that adorable object; and indeed has been diving, secretly, in +muddier waters than we expected, to a dangerous extent, on behalf of it, +at this very time. In the first days of March, Friedrich has heard +from his Minister at Petersburg of a DETESTABLE PROJECT, [Orlich, i. +83 (scrap of Note to Old Dessauer; no date allowed us; "early in +March").]--project for "Partitioning the Prussian Kingdom," no less; for +fairly cutting into Friedrich, and paring him down to the safe pitch, +as an enemy to Pragmatic and mankind. They say, a Treaty, Draught of a +Treaty, for that express object, is now ready; and lies at Petersburg, +only waiting signature. Here is a Project! Contracting parties (Russian +signature still wanting) are: Kur-Sachsen; her Hungarian Majesty; King +George; and that Regent Anne (MRS. Anton Ulrich, so to speak), who sits +in a huddle of undress, impatient of Political objects, but sensible to +the charms of handsome men. To the charms of Count Lynar, especially: +the handsomest of Danish noblemen (more an ancient Roman than a Dane), +whom the Polish Majesty, calculating cause and effect, had despatched to +her, with that view, in the dead of winter lately. To whom she has +given ear;--dismissing her Munnich, as we saw above;--and is ready +for signing, or perhaps has signed! [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ ii. 68.] +Friedrich's astonishment, on hearing of this "detestable Project," was +great. However, he takes his measures on it;--right lucky that he +has the Old Dessauer, and machinery for acting on Kur-Sachsen and the +Britannic Majesty. "Get your machinery in gear!" is naturally his first +order. And the Old Dessauer does it, with effect: of which by and by. + +Never did I hear, before or since, of such a plunge into the muddy +unfathomable, on the part of little George, who was an honorable +creature, and dubitative to excess: and truly this rash plunge might +have cost him dear, had not he directly scrambled out again. Or did +Friedrich exaggerate to himself his Uncle's real share in the matter? I +always guess, there had been more of loose talk, of hypothesis and fond +hope, in regard to George's share, than of determinate fact or procedure +on his own part. The transaction, having had to be dropped on the +sudden, remains somewhat dark; but, in substance, it is not doubtful; +[Tindal, xx. 497.] and Parliament itself took afterwards to poking into +it, though with little effect. Kur-Sachsen's objects in the adventure +were of the earth, earthy; but on George's part it was pure adoration of +Pragmatic Sanction, anxiety for the Keystone of Nature, and lest Chaos +come again. In comparison with such transcendent divings, what is a +little Secret-Service money!-- + +The Count Lynar of this adventure, who had well-nigh done such a feat +in Diplomacy, may turn up transiently again. A conspicuous, more or less +ridiculous person of those times. Busching (our Geographical friend) had +gone with him, as Excellency's Chaplain, in this Russian Journey; which +is a memorable one to Busching; and still presents vividly, through +his Book, those haggard Baltic Coasts in midwinter, to readers who have +business there. Such a journey for grimness of outlook, upon pine-tufts +and frozen sand; for cold (the Count's very tobacco-pipe freezing in +his mouth), for hardship, for bad lodging, and extremity of dirt in the +unfreezable kinds, as seldom was. They met, one day on the road, a Lord +Hyndford, English Ambassador just returning from Petersburg, with his +fourgons and vehicles, and arrangements for sleep and victual, in an +enviably luxurious condition,--whom we shall meet, to our cost. They +saw, in the body, old Field-marshal Lacy, and dined with him, at Riga; +who advised brandy schnapps; a recipe rejected by Busching. And other +memorabilia, which by accident hang about this Lynar. [Busching, +_Beitrage,_ vi. 132-164.]--All through Regent Anne's time he continued a +dangerous object to Friedrich; and it was a relief when Elizabeth CATIN +became Autocrat, instead of Deshabille Anne and her Lynar. Adieu to him, +for fifteen years or more. + +Of Friedrich's military operations, of his magazines, posts, diligent +plannings and gallopings about, in those weeks; of all this the reader +can form some notion by looking on the map and remembering what has gone +before: but that subterranean growling which attended him, prophetic +of Earthquake, that universal breaking forth of Bedlams, now fallen so +extinct, no reader can imagine. Bedlams totally extinct to everybody; +but which were then very real, and raged wide as the world, high as the +stars, to a hideous degree among the then sons of men;--unimaginable now +by any mortal. + +And, alas, this is one of the grand difficulties for my readers and me; +Friedrich's Life-element having fallen into such a dismal condition. +Most dismal, dark, ugly, that Austrian-Succession Business, and its +world-wide battlings, throttlings and intriguings: not Dismal Swamp, +under a coverlid of London Fog, could be uglier! A Section of "History" +so called, which human nature shrinks from; of which the extant +generation already knows nothing, and is impatient of hearing anything! +Truly, Oblivion is very due to such an Epoch: and from me far be it to +awaken, beyond need, its sordid Bedlams, happily extinct. But without +Life-element, no Life can be intelligible; and till Friedrich and one or +two others are extricated from it, Dismal Swamp cannot be quite filled +in. Courage, reader!--Our Constitutional Historian makes this farther +reflection:-- + +"English moneys, desperate Russian intrigues, Treaties made and +Treaties broken--If instead of Pragmatic Sanction with eleven Potentates +guaranteeing, Maria Theresa had at this time had 200,000 soldiers and +a full treasury (as Prince Eugene used to advise the late Kaiser), how +different might it have been with her, and with the whole world that +fell upon one another's throats in her quarrel! Some eight years of the +most disastrous War; and except the falling of Silesia to its new +place, no result gained by it. War at any rate inevitable, you object? +English-Spanish War having been obliged to kindle itself; French sure +to fall in, on the Spanish side; sure to fall upon Hanover, so soon as +beaten at sea, and thus to involve all Europe? Well, it is too likely. +But, even in that case, the poor English would have gone upon their +necessary Spanish War, by the direct road and with their eyes open, +instead of somnambulating and stumbling over the chimney-tops; and the +settlement might have come far sooner, and far cheaper to mankind.--Nay, +we are to admit that the new place for Silesia was, likewise, the place +appointed it by just Heaven; and Friedrich's too was a necessary War. +Heaven makes use of Shadow-hunting Kaisers too; and its ways in this mad +world are through the great Deep." + + + + +THE YOUNG DESSAUER CAPTURES GLOGAU (MARCH 9th); THE OLD DESSAUER, BY HIS +CAMP OF GOTTIN (APRIL 2d), CHECKMATES CERTAIN DESIGNING PERSONS. + +Money somewhere her Hungarian Majesty has got; that is one thing +evident. She has an actual Army on foot, "drawn out of Italy," or whence +she could; formidable Army, says rumor, and getting well equipped;--and +here are the Pandour Precursors of it, coming down like storm-clouds +through the Glatz valleys;--nearly finishing the War for her at +a stroke, the other day, had accident favored;--and have thrown +reinforcement of 600 into Neisse. Friedrich is not insensible to these +things; and amid such alarms from far and from near, is becoming eager +to have, at least, Glogau in his hand. Glogau, he is of opinion, could +now, and should, straightway be done. + +Glogau is not a strong place; after all the repairing, it could stand +little siege, were we careless of hurting it. But Wallis is obstinate; +refuses Free Withdrawal; will hold out to the uttermost, though his meal +is running low. He pretends there is relief coming; relief just at hand; +and once, in midnight time, "lets off a rocket and fires six guns," +alarming Prince Leopold as if relief were just in the neighborhood. A +tough industrious military man; stiff to his purpose, and not without +shift. + +Friedrich thinks the place might be had by assault: "Open trenches; set +your batteries going, which need not injure the Town; need only alarm +Wallis, and TERRIFY it; then, under cover of this noise and feint +of cannonading, storm with vigor." Leopold, the Young Dessauer, is +cautious; wants petards if he must storm, wants two new battalions if he +must open trenches;--he gets these requisites, and is still cunctatory. +Friedrich has himself got the notion, "from clear intelligence," true +or not, that relief to Glogau is actually on way; and under such +imminences, Russian and other, in so ticklish a state of the world, he +becomes more and more impatient that this thing were done. In the first +week of March, still hurrying about on inspection-business, he writes, +from four or five different places ("Mollwitz near Brieg" is one of +them, a Village we shall soon know better), Note after Note to Leopold; +who still makes difficulties, and is not yet perfect to the last finish +in his preparations. "Preparations!" answers Friedrich impatiently (date +MOLLWITZ, 5th MARCH, the third or fourth impatient Note he has sent); +and adds, just while quitting Mollwitz for Ohlau, this Postscript in his +own hand:-- + +P.S. "I am sorry you have not understood me! They have, in Bohmen, a +regular enterprise on hand for the rescue of Glogau. I have Infantry +enough to meet them; but Cavalry is quite wanting. You must therefore, +without delay, begin the siege. Let us finish there, I pray you!" +[Orlich, i. 70.] + +And next day, Monday 6th, to cut the matter short, he despatches his +General-Adjutant Goltz in person (the distance is above seventy miles), +with this Note wholly in autograph, which nothing vocal on Leopold's +part will answer:-- + +"OHLAU, 6th MARCH. As I am certainly informed that the Enemy will make +some attempt, I hereby with all distinctness command, That, so soon as +the petards are come [which they are], you attack Glogau. And you must +make your Arrangement (DISPOSITION) for more than one attack; so that if +one fail, the other shall certainly succeed. I hope you will put off no +longer;--otherwise the blame of all the mischief that might arise out of +longer delay must lie on you alone." [Ib. i. 71.] + +Goltz arrived with this emphatic Piece, Tuesday Evening, after his +course of seventy miles: this did at last rouse our cautious Young +Dessauer; and so there is next obtainable, on much compression, the +following authentic Excerpt:-- + +"GLOGAU, 8th MARCH, 1741. His Durchlaucht the Prince Leopold summoned +all the Generals at noon; and informed them That, this very night, +Glogau must be won. He gave them their Instructions in writing: where +each was to post himself; with what detachments; how to proceed. There +are to be three Attacks: one up stream, coming on with the River to its +right; one down stream, River to its left; and a third from the landward +side, perpendicular to the other two. The very captains that shall go +foremost are specified; at what hour each is to leave quarters, so that +all be ready simultaneously, waiting in the posts assigned;--against +what points to advance out of these, and storm Rampart and Wall. Places, +times, particulars, everything is fixed with mathematical exactitude: +'Be steady, be correct, especially be silent; and so far as Law of +Nature will permit, be simultaneous! When the big steeple of Glogau +peals Midnight,--Forward, with the first stroke; with the second, much +more with the twelfth stroke, be one and all of you, in the utmost +silence, advancing! And, under pain of death, two things: Not one shot +till you are in; No plundering when you are.'--In this manner is +the silent three-sided avalanche to be let go. Whereupon", says my +Dryasdust, "the Generals retired; and had, for one item, their fire-arms +all cleaned and new-loaded." [_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 823; ii. 165.] + +Without plans of Glogau, and more detail and study than the reader would +consent to, there can no Narrative be given. Glogau has Ramparts, due +Ring-fence, palisaded and repaired by Wallis; inside of this is an old +Town-Wall, which will need petards: there are about 1,000 men under +Wallis, and altogether on the works, not to count a mortar or two, +fifty-eight big guns. The reader must conceive a poor Town under +blockade, in the wintry night-time, with its tough Count Wallis; ill-off +for the necessaries of life; Town shrouded in darkness, and creeping +quietly to its bed. This on the one hand: and on the other hand, +Prussian battalions marching up, at 10 o'clock or later, with the utmost +softness of step; "taking post behind the ordinary field-watches;" and +at length, all standing ranked, in the invisible dark; silent, like +machinery, like a sleeping avalanche: Husht!--No sentry from the walls +dreams of such a thing. "Twelve!" sings out the steeple of Glogau; and +in grim whisper the word is, "VORWARTS!" and the three-winged avalanche +is in motion. + +They reach their glacises, their ditches, covered ways, correct as +mathematics; tear out chevaux-de-frise, hew down palisades, in the given +number of minutes: Swift, ye Regiment's-carpenters; smite your best! +Four cannon-shot do now boom out upon them; which go high over their +heads, little dreaming how close at hand they are. The glacis is thirty +feet high, of stiff slope, and slippery with frost: no matter, the +avalanche, led on by Leopold in person, by Margraf Karl the King's +Cousin, by Adjutant Goltz and the chief personages, rushes up with +strange impetus; hews down a second palisade; surges in;--Wallis's +sentries extinct, or driven to their main guards. There is a singular +fire in the besieging party. For example, Four Grenadiers,--I think of +this First Column, which succeeded sooner, certainly of the Regiment +Glasenapp,--four grenadiers, owing to slippery or other accidents, in +climbing the glacis, had fallen a few steps behind the general body; and +on getting to the top, took the wrong course, and rushed along rightward +instead of leftward. Rightward, the first thing they come upon is a mass +of Austrians still ranked in arms; fifty-two men, as it turned out, with +their Captain over them. Slight stutter ensues on the part of the +Four Grenadiers; but they give one another the hint, and dash forward: +"Prisoners?" ask they sternly, as if all Prussia had been at their +rear. The fifty-two, in the darkness, in the danger and alarm, answer +"Yes."--"Pile arms, then!" Three of the grenadiers stand to see that +done; the fourth runs off for force, and happily gets back with it +before the comedy had become tragic for his comrades. "I must make +acquaintance with these four men," writes Friedrich, on hearing of +it; and he did reward them by present, by promotion to sergeantcy (to +ensigncy one of them), or what else they were fit for. Grenadiers of +Glasenapp: these are the men Friedrich heard swearing-in under his +window, one memorable morning when he burst into tears! At half-past +Twelve, the Ramparts, on all sides, are ours. + +The Gates of the Town, under axe and petard, can make little resistance, +to Leopold's Column or the other two. A hole is soon cut in the +Town-Gate, where Leopold is; and gallant Wallis, who had rallied behind +it, with his Artillery-General and what they could get together, fires +through the opening, kills four men; but is then (by order, and not till +then) fired upon, and obliged to draw back, with his Artillery-General +mortally hurt. Inside he attempts another rally, some 200 with him; and +here and there perhaps a house-window tries to give shot; but it is +to no purpose, not the least stand can be made. Poor Wallis is rapidly +swept back, into the Market-place, into the Main Guard-house; and there +piles arms: "Glogau yours, Ihr Herren, and we prisoners of War!" The +steeple had not yet quite struck One. Here has been a good hour's-work! + +Glogau, as in a dream, or half awake, and timidly peeping from behind +window-curtains, finds that it is a Town taken. Glogau easily consoles +itself, I hear, or even is generally glad; Prussian discipline being so +perfect, and ingress now free for the necessaries of life. There was +no plundering; not the least insult: no townsman was hurt; not even +in houses where soldiers had tried firing from windows. The Prussian +Battalions rendezvous in the Market-place, and go peaceably about their +patrolling, and other business; and meddle with nothing else. They +lost, in killed, ten men; had of killed and wounded, forty-eight; the +Austrians rather more. [Orlich, i. 75, 78; _Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 829; +irreconcilable otherwise, in some slight points.] Wallis was to have +been set free on parole; but was not,--in retaliation for some severity +of General Browne's in the interim (picking up of two Silesian Noblemen, +suspected of Prussian tendency, and locking them in Brunn over the +Hills),--and had to go to Berlin, till that was repaired. To the wounded +Artillery-General there was every tenderness shown, but he died in few +days.--The other Prisoners were marched to the Custrin-Stettin quarter; +"and many of them took Prussian service." + +And this is the Scalade of Glogau: a shining feat of those days; which +had great rumor in the Gazettes, and over all the then feverish Nations, +though it has now fallen dim again, as feats do. Its importance at that +time, its utility to Friedrich's affairs, was undeniable; and it +filled Friedrich with the highest satisfaction, and with admiration to +overflowing. Done 9th March, 1741; in one hour, the very earliest of the +day. + +Goltz posted back to Schweidnitz with the news; got thither about 5 +P.M.; and was received, naturally, with open arms. Friedrich in person +marched out, next morning, to make FEU-DE-JOIE and TE-DEUM-ing;--there +was Royal Letter to Leopold, which flamed through all the Newspapers, +and can still be read in innumerable Books; Letter omissible in this +place. We remark only how punctual the King is, to reward in money as +well as praise, and not the high only, but the low that had deserved: to +Prince Leopold he presents 2,000 pounds; to each private soldier who had +been of the storm, say half a guinea,--doubling and quadrupling, in the +special cases, to as high as twenty guineas, of our present money. To +the old Gazetteers, and their readers everywhere, this of Glogau is a +very effulgent business; bursting out on them, like sudden Bude-light, +in the uncertain stagnancy and expectancy of mankind. Friedrich himself +writes of it to the Old Dessauer:-- + +"The more I think of the Glogau business, the more important I find it. +Prince Leopold has achieved the prettiest military stroke (DIE SCHONSTE +ACTION) that has been done in this Century. From my heart I congratulate +you on having such a Son. In boldness of resolution, in plan, in +execution, it is alike admirable; and quite gives a turn to my affairs." +[Date, 13th March, 1741 (Orlich, i. 77).] + +And indeed, it is a perfect example of Prussian discipline, and military +quality in all kinds; such as it would be difficult to match elsewhere. +Most potently correct; coming out everywhere with the completeness and +exactitude of mathematics; and has in it such a fund of martial fire, +not only ready to blaze out (which can be exampled elsewhere), but +capable of bottling itself IN, and of lying silently ready. Which is +much rarer; and very essential in soldiering! Due a little to the OLD +Dessauer, may we not say, as well as to the Young? Friedrich Wilhelm is +fallen silent; but his heavy labors, and military and other drillings to +Prussian mankind, still speak with an audible voice. + +About three weeks after this of Glogau, Leopold the Old Dessauer, over +in Brandenburg, does another thing which is important to Friedrich, and +of great rumor in the world. Steps out, namely, with a force of 36,000 +men, horse, foot and artillery, completely equipped in all points; and +takes Camp, at this early season, at a place called Gottin, not far from +Magdeburg, handy at once for Saxony and for Hanover; and continues there +encamped,--"merely for review purposes." Readers can figure what an +astonishment it was to Kur-Sachsen and British George; and how it struck +the wind out of their Russian Partition-Dream, and awoke them to a sense +of the awful fact!--Capable of being slit in pieces, and themselves +partitioned, at a day's warning, as it were! It was on April 2d, that +Leopold, with the first division of the 36,000, planted his flag near +Gottin. No doubt it was the "detestable Project" that had brought him +out, at so early a season for tent-life, and nobody could then guess +why. He steadily paraded here, all summer; keeping his 36,000 well in +drill, since there was nothing else needed of him. + +The Camp at Gottin flamed greatly abroad through the timorous +imaginations of mankind, that Year; and in the Newspapers are many +details of it. And, besides the important general fact, there is still +one little point worth special mention: namely, that old Field-marshal +Katte (Father of poor Lieutenant Katte whom we knew) was of it; and +perhaps even got his death by it: "Chief Commander of the Cavalry here," +such honor had he; but died at his post, in a couple of months, "at +Rekahn, May 31st;" [_Militair-Lexikon,_ ii. 254.] poor old gentleman, +perhaps unequal to the hardships of field-life at so early a season of +the year. + + + + +FRIEDRICH TAKES THE FIELD, WITH SOME POMP; GOES INTO THE MOUNTAINS,--BUT +COMES FAST BACK. + +At Glogau there was Homaging, on the very morrow after the storm; on the +second day, the superfluous regiments marched off: no want of vigorous +activity to settle matters on their new footing there. General Kalkstein +(Friedrich's old Tutor, whom readers have forgotten again) is to be +Commandant of Glogau; an office of honor, which can be done by +deputy except in cases of real stress. The place is to be thoroughly +new-fortified,--which important point they commit to Engineer Wallrave, +a strong-headed heavy-built Dutch Officer, long since acquired to the +service, on account of his excellence in that line; who did, now and +afterwards, a great deal of excellent engineering for Friedrich; but for +himself (being of deep stomach withal, and of life too dissolute) made a +tragic thing of it ultimately. As will be seen, if we have leisure. + +In seven or eight days, Prince Leopold having wound up his Glogau +affairs, and completed the new preliminaries there, joins the King at +Schweidnitz. In the highest favor, as was natural. Kalkstein is to take +a main hand in the Siege of Neisse; for which operation it is hoped +there will soon be weather, if not favorable yet supportable. What +of the force was superfluous at Glogau had at once marched off, as we +observed; and is now getting re-distributed where needful. There is much +shifting about; strengthening of posts, giving up of posts: the whole of +which readers shall imagine for themselves,--except only two points that +are worth remembering: FIRST, that Kalkstein with about 12,000 takes +post at Grotkau, some twenty-five miles north of Neisse, ready to move +on, and open trenches, when required: and SECOND, that Holstein-Beck +gets posted at Frankenstein (chief place of that Baumgarten Skirmish), +say thirty-five miles west-by-north of Neisse; and has some 8 or 10,000 +Horse and Foot thereabouts, spread up and down,--who will be much +wanted, and not procurable, on an occasion that is coming. + +Friedrich has given up the Jablunka Pass; called in the Jablunka and +remoter posts; anxious to concentrate, before the Enemy get nigh. That +is the King's notion; and surely a reasonable one; the AREA of the +Prussian Army, as I guess it from the Maps, being above 2,000 square +miles, beginning at Breslau only, and leaving out Glogau. Schwerin +thinks differently, but without good basis. Both are agreed, "The +Austrian Army cannot take the field till the forage come," till the +new grass spring, which its cavalry find convenient. That is the fair +supposition; but in that both are mistaken, and Schwerin the more +dangerously of the two.--Meanwhile, the Pandour swarms are observably +getting rifer, and of stormier quality; and they seem to harbor farther +to the East than formerly, and not to come all out of Glatz. Which +perhaps are symptomatic circumstances? The worst effect of these +preliminary Pandour clouds is, Your scout-service cannot live among +them; they hinder reconnoitring, and keep the Enemy veiled from you. Of +that sore mischief Friedrich had, first and last, ample experience at +their hands! This is but the first instalment of Pandours to Friedrich; +and the mere foretaste of what they can do in the veiling way. + +Behind the Mountains, in this manner, all is inane darkness to Friedrich +and Schwerin. They know only that Neipperg is rendezvousing at Olmutz; +and judge that he will still spend many weeks upon it; the real facts +being: That Neipperg--"who arrived in Olmutz on the 10th of March," the +very day while Glogau was homaging--has been, he and those above him and +those under him, driving preparations forward at a furious rate. That +Neipperg held--I think at Steinberg his hithermost post, some twenty +miles hither of Olmutz--a Council of War, "all the Generals and even +Lentulus from Glatz, present at it," day not given; where the unanimous +decision was, "March straightway; save Neisse, since Glogau is +gone!"--and in fine, That on the 26th, Neipperg took the road +accordingly, "in spite of furious snow blowing in his face;" and is +ever since (30,000 strong, says rumor, but perhaps 10,000 of them mere +Pandours) unweariedly climbing the Mountains, laboriously jingling +forward with his heavy guns and ammunition-wagons; "contending with the +steep snowy icy roads;" intent upon saving Neisse. This is the +fact; profoundly unknown to Friedrich and Schwerin; who will be much +surprised, when it becomes patent to them at the wrong time. + +SCHWEIDNITZ, 27th MARCH. This day Friedrich, with considerable +apparatus, pomp and processional cymballing, greatly the reverse of +his ulterior use and wont in such cases, quitted Schweidnitz and his +Algarottis; solemnly opening Campaign in this manner; and drove off for +Ottmachau, having work there for to-morrow. + +The Siege of Neisse is now to proceed forthwith; trenches to be opened +April 4th. Friedrich is still of opinion, that his posts lie too wide +apart; that especially Schwerin, who is spread among the Hills in +Jagerndorf Country, ought to come down, and take closer order for +covering the siege. [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ ii. 70.] Schwerin answers, +That if the King will spare him a reinforcement of eight squadrons and +nine battalions (say 1,200 Horse, 9,000 Foot), he will maintain himself +where he is, and no Enemy shall get across the Mountains at all. That +is Schwerin's notion; who surely is something of a judge. Friedrich +assents; will himself conduct the reinforcement to Schwerin, and survey +matters, with his own eyes, up yonder. Friedrich marches from Ottmachau, +accordingly, 29th March;--Kalkstein, Holstein-Beck, and others are to be +rendezvoused before Neisse, in the interim; trenches ready for opening +on the sixth day hence;--and in this manner, climbs these Mountains, and +sees Jagerndorf Country for the first time. + +Beautiful blue world of Hills, ridge piled on ridge behind that Neisse +region; fruitful valleys lapped in them, with grim stone Castles +and busy little Towns disclosing themselves as we advance: that is +Jagerndorf Country,--which Uncle George of Anspach, hundreds of years +ago, purchased with his own money; which we have now come to lay hold of +as his Heir! Friedrich, I believe, thinks little of all this, and +does not remember Uncle George at all. But such are the facts; and the +Country, regarded or not, is very blue and beautiful, with the Spring +sun shining on it; or with the sudden Spring storms gathering wildly +on the peaks, as if for permanent investiture, but vanishing again +straightway, leaving only a powdering of snow. + +He met Schwerin at Neustadt, half-way to Jagerndorf; whither they +proceeded next day. "What news have you of the Enemy?" was Friedrich's +first question. Schwerin has no news whatever; only that the Enemy is +far off, hanging in long thin straggle from Olmutz westward. "I have a +spy out," said Schwerin; "but he has not returned yet,"--nor ever will, +he might have added. If diligent readers will now take to their Map, +and attend day by day, an invincible Predecessor has compelled what next +follows into human intelligibility, and into the Diary Form, for +their behoof;--readers of an idler turn can skip: but this confused +hurry-scurry of marches issues in something which all will have to +attend to. + +"JAGERNDORF, 2d APRIL, 1741. This is the day when the Old Dessauer makes +appearance with the first brigades of his Camp at Gottin. Friedrich +is satisfied with what he has seen of Jagerndorf matters; and intends +returning towards Neisse, there to commence on the 4th. He is giving +his final orders, and on the point of setting off, when--Seven Austrian +Deserters, 'Dragoons of Lichtenstein,' come in; and report, That +Neipperg's Army is within a few miles! And scarcely had they done +answering and explaining, when sounds rise of musketry and cannon, +from our outposts on that side; intimating that here is Neipperg's Army +itself. Seldom in his life was Friedrich in an uglier situation. In +Jagerndorf, an open Town, are only some three or four thousand men, +'with three field-pieces, and as much powder as will charge them forty +times.' Happily these proved only the Pandour outskirts of Neipperg's +Army, scouring about to reconnoitre, and not difficult to beat; the +real body of it is ascertained to be at Freudenthal, fifteen miles to +westward, southwestward; making towards Neisse, it is guessed, by the +other or western road, which is the nearer to Glatz and to the Austrian +force there. + +"Had Neipperg known what was in Jagerndorf--! But he does not know. +He marches on, next morning, at his usual slow rate; wide clouds of +Pandours accompanying and preceding him; skirmishing in upon all places +[upon Jagerndorf, for instance, though fifteen miles wide of their +road], to ascertain if Prussians are there. One can judge whether +Friedrich and Schwerin were thankful when the huge alarm produced +nothing! 'The mountain,' as Friedrich says, 'gave birth to a +mouse;'--nay it was a 'mouse' of essential vital use to Friedrich and +Schwerin; a warning, That they must instantly collect themselves, men +and goods; and begone one and all out of these parts, double-quick +towards Neisse. Not now with the hope of besieging Neisse,--far from +that;--but of getting their wide-scattered posts together thereabouts, +and escaping destruction in detail! + +"APRIL 4th, HEAD-QUARTERS NEUSTADT. By violent exertion, with the +sacrifice only of some remote little storehouses, all is rendezvoused at +Jagerndorf, within two days; and this day they march; King and vanguard +reaching Neustadt, some twenty-five miles forward, some twenty still +from Neisse. At Neustadt, the posts that had stood in that neighborhood +are all assembled, and march with the King to-morrow. Of Neipperg, +except by transitory contact with his Pandour clouds, they have seen +nothing: his road is pretty much parallel to theirs, and some fifteen +miles leftward, Glatzward; goes through Zuckmantel, Ziegenhals, straight +upon Neisse. [Zuckmantel, "Twitch-Cloak," occurs more than once as a +Town's name in those regions: name which, says my Dryasdust without +smile visible, it got from robberies done on travellers, "twitchings of +your cloak," with stand-and-deliver, as you cross those wild mountain +spaces. (Zeiller, _Beschreibung des Konigreichs Boheim,_ Frankfurt, +1650;--a rather worthless old Book, like the rest of Zeiller's in that +kind.)] Neipperg's men are wearied with the long climb out of Mahren; +and he struggles towards Neisse as the first object;--holding upon Glatz +and Lentulus with his left. Numerous orders have been speeded from the +King's quarters, at Jagerndorf, and here at Neustadt; order especially +to Holstein-Beck at Frankenstein, and to Kalkstein at Grotkau, How they +are to unite, first with one another; and then to cross Neisse River, +and unite with the King,--to which end there is already a Bridge laid +for them, or about to be laid in good time. + +"APRIL 5th, HEAD-QUARTERS STEINAU. Steinau is a little Town twenty miles +east of Neisse, on the road to Kosel [strongish place, on the Oder, +some forty miles farther east]: here Friedrich, with the main body, +take their quarters; rearguard being still at Neustadt. Temporary Bridge +there is, ready or all but ready, at Sorgau [twelve miles to north of +us, on our left]: by this Kalkstein, with his 10,000, comes punctually +across; while other brigades from the Kosel side are also punctual in +getting in; which is a great comfort: but of Holstein-Beck there is +no vestige, nor did there ever appear any. Holstein, 'whom none of +the repeated orders sent him could reach,' says Friedrich, 'remained +comfortably in his quarters; and looked at the Enemy rushing past him +to right and left, without troubling his head with them.' [_OEuvres de +Frederic,_ ii. 70.] The too easy-minded Holstein! Austrian Deserters +inform us, That General Neipperg arrived to-day with his Army in Neisse; +and has there been joined by Lentulus with the Glatz force, chiefly +cavalry, a good many thousands. We may be attacked, then, this very +night, if they are diligent? Friedrich marks out ground and plan in such +case, and how and where each is to rank himself. There came nothing of +attack; but the poor little Village of Steinau, with so many troops in +it and baggage-drivers stumbling about, takes fire; burns to ashes; 'and +we had great difficulty in saving the artillery and powder through +the narrow streets, with the houses all burning on each hand.'" Fancy +it,--and the poor shrieking inhabitants; gone to silence long since +with their shrieks, not the least whisper left of them. "The Prussians +bivouac on the field, each in the place that has been marked out. Night +extremely cold." + +In this poor Steinau was a Schloss, which also went up in fire; +disclosing certain mysteries of an almost mythical nature to the German +Public. It was the Schloss of a Grafin von Callenberg, a dreadful old +Dowager of Medea-Messalina type, who "always wore pistols about +her;" pistols, and latterly, with more and more constancy, a +brandy-bottle;--who has been much on the tongues of men for a generation +back. Herr Nussler (readers recollect shifty Nussler) knew her, in the +way of business, at one time; with pity, if also with horror. Some weeks +ago, she was, by the Austrian Commandant at Neisse, summoned out of this +Schloss, as in correspondence with Prussian Officers: peasants breaking +in, tied her with ropes to the bed where she was; put bed and her into a +farm-cart, and in that scandalous manner delivered her at Neisse to the +Commandant; by which adventure, and its rages and unspeakabilities, the +poor old Callenberg is since dead. And now the very Schloss is dead; and +there is finis to a human dust-vortex, such as is sometimes noisy for +a time. Perhaps Nussler may again pass that way, if we wait. [Busching, +_Beitrage,_ ii.273 et seqq.] + +"APRIL 6th, HEAD-QUARTERS FRIEDLAND. To Friedland on the 6th.,--and do +not, as expected, get away next morning. Friedland is ten miles down the +Neisse, which makes a bend of near ninety degrees opposite Steinau; and +runs thence straight north for the Oder, which it reaches some dozen +miles or more above Brieg. Both Steinau and Friedland are a good +distance from the River; Friedland, the nearer of the two, with Sorgau +Bridge direct west of it, is perhaps eight miles from that important +structure. There, being now tolerably rendezvoused, and in strength +for action, Friedrich purposes to cross Neisse River to-morrow; hoping +perhaps to meet Holstein-Beck, and incorporate him; anxious, at any +rate, to get between the Austrians and Ohlau, where his heavy Artillery, +his Ammunition, not to mention other indispensables, are lying. The +peculiarity of Neipperg at this time is, that the ground he occupies +bears no proportion to the ground he commands. His regular Horse are +supposed to be the best in the world; and of the Pandour kind, who +live, horse and man, mainly upon nothing (which means upon theft), his +supplies are unlimited. He sits like a volcanic reservoir, therefore, +not like a common fire of such and such intensity and power to +burn;--casts the ashes of him, on all sides, to many miles distance. + +"FRIDAY 7th APRIL, FRIEDLAND (still Head-quarters). Unluckily, on +trying, there is no passage to be had at Sorgau. The Officer on charge +there still holds the Bridge, but has been obliged to break away the +farther end of it; 'Lentulus and Dragoons, several thousands strong' +(such is the report), having taken post there. Friedrich commands that +the Bridge be reinstated; field-pieces to defend it; Prince Leopold to +cross, and clear the ways. All Friday, Friedrich waiting at Friedland, +was spent in these details. Leopold in due force started for Sorgau, +himself with Cavalry in the van; Leopold did storm across, and go +charging and fencing, some space, on the other side; but, seeing that +it was in truth Lentulus, and Dragoons without limit, had to send report +accordingly; and then to wind himself to this side again, on new order +from the King. What is to be done, then? Here is no crossing. Friedrich +decides to go down the River; he himself to Lowen, perhaps near twenty +miles farther down, but where there is a Bridge and Highway leading +over; Prince Leopold, with the heavier divisions and baggages, to +Michelau, some miles nearer, and there to build his Pontoons and cross. +Which was effected, with success. And so, + +"SATURDAY, 8th APRIL, With great punctuality, the King and Leopold met +at Michelau, both well across the Neisse. Here on Pontoons, Leopold had +got across about noon; and precisely as he was finishing, the King's +Column, which had crossed at Lowen, and come up the left bank again, +arrived. The King, much content with Leopold's behavior, nominates him +General of Infantry, a stage higher in promotion, there and then. Brieg +Blockade is, as natural, given up; the Blockading Body joining with the +King, this morning, while he passed that way. From Holstein-Beck not the +least whisper,--nor to him, if we knew it. + +"Neipperg has quitted Neisse; but walks invisible within clouds of +Pandours; nothing but guessing as to Neipperg's motions. Rightly swift, +and awake to his business, Neipperg might have done, might still do, a +stroke upon us here. But he takes it easy; marches hardly five miles +a day, since he quitted Neisse again. From Michelau, Friedrich for his +part turns southwestward, in quest of Holstein and other interests; +marches towards Grotkau, not intending much farther that night. Thick +snow blowing in their faces, nothing to be seen ahead, the Prussian +column tramps along. [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ ii. 156.] In Leipe, a +little Hamlet sidewards of the road, short way from Grotkau, our Hussar +Vanguard had found Austrian Hussars; captured forty, and from them +learned that the Austrian Army is in Grotkau; that they took Grotkau +half an hour before, and are there! A poor Lieutenant Mitschepfal (whom +I think Friedrich used to know in Reinsberg) lay in Grotkau, 'with +some sixty recruits and deserters,' says Friedrich,--and with several +hundreds of camp-laborers (intended for the trenches, which will not now +be opened):--Mitschepfal made a stout defence; but, after three hours of +it, had to give in: and there is nothing now for us at Grotkau. 'Halt,' +therefore! Neipperg is evidently pushing towards Ohlau, towards Breslau, +though in a leisurely way; there it will behoove us to get the start of +him, if humanly possible: To the right about, therefore, without delay! +The Prussians repass Leipe (much to the wonder of its simple people); +get along, some seven miles farther, on the road for Ohlau; and quarter, +that night, in what handy villages there are; the King's Corps in two +Villages, which he calls 'Pogrel and Alsen,'"--which are to be found +still on the Map as "Pogarell and Alzenau," on the road from Lowen +towards Ohlau. + +This is the end of that March into the Mountains, with Neisse Siege +hanging triumphant ahead. These are the King's quarters, this wintry +Spring night, Saturday, 8th April, 1741; and it is to be guessed there +is more of care than of sleep provided for him there. Seldom, in his +life, was Friedrich in a more critical position; and he well knows it, +none better. And could have his remorses upon it,--were these of the +least use in present circumstances. Here are two Letters which he +wrote that night; veiling, we perceive, a very grim world of thoughts; +betokening, however, a mind made up. Jordan, Prince August Wilhelm +Heir-Apparent, and other fine individuals who shone in the Schweidnitz +circle lately, are in Breslau, safe sheltered against this bad juncture; +Maupertuis was not so lucky as to go with them. + +THE KING TO PRINCE AUGUST WILHELM (in Breslau). + +"POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + +"MY DEAREST BROTHER,--The Enemy has just got into Silesia; we are not +more than a mile (QUART DE MILLE) from them. To-morrow must decide our +fortune. + +"If I die, do not forget a Brother who has always loved you very +tenderly. I recommend to you my most dear Mother, my Domestics, and my +First Battalion [LIFEGUARD OF FOOT, men picked from his own old Ruppin +Regiment and from the disbanded Giants, star of all the Battalions]. +[See Preuss, i. 144, iv. 309; Nicolai, _Beschreibung von Berlin,_ iii, +1252.] Eichel and Schuhmacher [Two of the Three Clerks] are informed +of all my testamentary wishes. Remember me always, you; but console +yourself for my death: the glory of the Prussian Arms, and the honor of +the House have set me in action, and will guide me to my last moment. +You are my sole Heir: I recommend to you, in dying, those whom I have +the most loved during my life: Keyserling, Jordan, Wartensleben; Hacke, +who is a very honest man; Fredersdorf [Factotum], and Eichel, in whom +you may place entire confidence. I bequeath 8,000 crowns (1,200 pounds, +which I have with me), to my Domestics; but all that I have elsewhere +depends on you. To each of my Brothers and Sisters make a present in +my name; a thousand affectionate regards (AMITIES ET COMPLIMENTS) to my +Sister of Baireuth. You know what I think on their score; and you know +better than I could tell you, the tenderness and all the sentiments of +most inviolable friendship with which I am, dearest Brother, + +"Your faithful Brother and Servant till death, + +"FEDERIC." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxvi. 85; List of Friedrich's +Testamentary arrangements in Note there,--Six in all, at different +times, besides this.] + +THE KING TO M. JORDAN (in Breslau). + +"POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + +"My DEAR JORDAN,---We are going to fight to-morrow. Thou knowest the +chances of war; the life of Kings not more regarded than that of private +people. I know not what will happen to me. + +"If my destiny is finished, remember a friend, who loves thee always +tenderly: if Heaven prolong my days, I will write to thee after +to-morrow, and thou wilt hear of our victory. Adieu, dear friend; I +shall love thee till death. + +"FEDERIC." [Ib. xvii. 98.] + +The King, we incidentally discover somewhere, "had no sleep that night;" +none, "nor the next night either,"--such a crisis coming, still not +come. + + + + +Chapter X. -- BATTLE OF MOLLWITZ. + +"To-morrow," Sunday, did not prove the Day of Fight, after all. Being a +day of wild drifting snow, so that you could not see twenty paces, +there was nothing for it but to sit quiet. The King makes all his +dispositions; sketches out punctually, to the last item, where each is +to station himself, how the Army is to advance in Four Columns, ready +for Neipperg wherever he may be,--towards Ohlau at any rate, whither +it is not doubted Neipperg is bent. These snowy six-and-thirty hours +at Pogarell were probably, since the Custrin time, the most anxious of +Friedrich's life. + +Neipperg, for his part, struggles forward a few miles, this Sunday, +April 9th; the Prussians rest under shelter in the wild weather. +Neipperg's head-quarters, this night, are a small Village or Hamlet, +called Mollwitz: there and in the adjacent Hamlets, chiefly in Laugwitz +and Gruningen, his Army lodges itself:--he is now fairly got between us +and Ohlau,--if, in the blowing drift, we knew it, or he knew it. But, +in this confusion of the elements, neither party knows of the other: +Neipperg has appointed that to-morrow, Monday, 10th, shall be a +rest-day:--appointment which could by no means be kept, as it turned +out! + +Friedrich had despatched messengers to Ohlau, that the force there +should join him; messengers are all captured. The like message had +already gone to Brieg, some days before, and the Blockading Body, a +good few thousand strong, quitted Brieg, as we saw, and effected their +junction with him. All day, this Sunday, 9th, it still snows and blows; +you cannot see a yard before you. No hope now of Holstein-Beck. Not the +least news from any quarter; Ohlau uncertain, too likely the wrong +way: What is to be done? We are cut off from our Magazines, have only +provision for one other day. "Had this weather lasted," says an Austrian +reporter of these things, "his Majesty would have passed his time +very ill." [_Feldzuge der Preussen_ (the complete Title is, _Sammlung +ungedruckter Nachrichten so die Geschichte der Feldzuge der Preussen von +1740 bis 1779 erlautern,_ or in English words, _Collection of unprinted +Narratives which elucidate the Prussian Campaigns from 1740 to 1779:_ +5 vols. Dresden, 1782-1785), i. 33. Excellent Narratives, modest, brief, +effective (from Private Diaries and the like; many of them given also +in SEYFARTH); well worth perusal by the studious military man, and +creditably characteristic of the Prussian writers of them and actors in +them.] + +Of the Battle of Mollwitz, as indeed of all Friedrich's Battles, there +are ample accounts new and old, of perfect authenticity and scientific +exactitude; so that in regard to military points the due clearness is, +on study, completely attainable. But as to personal or human details, we +are driven back upon a miscellany of sources; most of which, indeed all +of which except Nicolai, when he sparingly gives us anything, are of +questionable nature; and, without intending to be dishonest, do run out +into the mythical, and require to be used with caution. The latest and +notablest of these, in regard to Mollwitz, is the pamphlet of a Dr. +Fuchs; from which, in spite of its amazing quality, we expect to glean +a serviceable item here and there. [_Jubelschrift zur Feier_ (Centenary) +_der Schlacht bei Mollwitz, 10 April, 1741,_ von Dr. Medicinae Fuchs +(Brieg, 10th April, 1841).] It is definable as probably the most chaotic +Pamphlet ever written; and in many places, by dint of uncorrected +printing, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad sense, and in short, of +intrinsic darkness in so vivacious a humor, it has become abstruse as +Sanscrit; and really is a sharp test of what knowledge you otherwise +have of the subject. Might perhaps be used in that way, by the Examining +Military Boards, in Prussia and elsewhere, if no other use lie in it? +Fuchs's own contributions, mere ignorance, folly and credulity, are not +worth interpreting: but he has printed, and in the same abstruse form, +one or two curious Parish Manuscripts, particularly a "HISTORY" of this +War, privately jotted down by the then Schoolmaster of Mollwitz, a good +simple accurate old fellow-creature; through whose eyes it is here and +there worth while to look. In regard to Fuchs himself, a late Tourist +says:-- + +"This 'Centenary-Celebration Pamphlet' (Celebration itself, so obtuse +was the Country, did not take effect) was by a zealous, noisy but not +wise, old Medical Gentleman of these parts, called Dr. Fuchs (FOX); +who had set his heart on raising, by subscription, a proper National +Monument on the Field of Mollwitz, and so closing his old career. +Subscriptions did not take, in that April, 1841, nor in the following +months or twelve-months: the zealous Doctor, therefore, indignantly drew +his own purse; got a big Obelisk of Granite hewn ready, with suitable +Inscription on it; carted his big Obelisk from the quarries of Strehlen; +assembled the Country round it, on Mollwitz Field; and passionately +discoursed and pleaded, That at least the Country should bring +block-and-tackle, with proper framework, and set up this Obelisk on the +pedestal he had there built for it. The Country listened cheerfully +(for the old Doctor was a popular man, clever though flighty); but the +Country was again obtuse in the way of active furtherance, and would not +even bring block-and-tackle. The old Doctor had to answer, 'Well, +then!' and go on his way on more serious errands. The cattle have much +undermined, and rubbed down, his poor Pedestal, which is of rubble-work; +his Obelisk still lies mournfully horizontal, uninjured;--and really +ought to be set up, by some parish-rate, or effort of the community +otherwise." [Tourist's Note (Brieg, 1858).] + +From the old Mollwitz Schoolmaster we distil the following:-- + +"MOLLWITZ, SUNDAY, 9th APRIL. Country for two days back: was in new +alarm by the Austrian Garrison of Brieg now left at liberty, who sallied +out upon the Villages about, and plundered black-cattle, sheep, grain, +and whatever they could come at. But this day (Sunday) in Mollwitz the +whole Austrian Army was upon us. First, there went 300 Hussars through +the Village to Gruningen, who quartered themselves there; and rushed +hither and thither into houses, robbing and plundering. From one they +took his best horses, from another they took linen, clothes, and other +furnitures and victual. General Neuburg [Neipperg] halted here at +Mollwitz, with the whole Army; before the Village, in mind to quarter. +And quarter was settled, so that a BAUER [Plough-Farmer] got four to +five companies to lodge, and a GARTNER [Spade-Farmer] two or three +hundred cavalry..The houses were full of Officers, the GARTE [Garths] +and the Fields full of horsemen and baggage; and all round, you saw +nothing but fires burning; the ZAUNE [wooden railings] were instantly +torn down for firewood; the hay, straw, barley and haver, were eaten +away, and brought to nothing; and everything from the barns was carried +out. And, as the whole Army could not lodge itself with us, 1,100 +Infantry quartered at Laugwitz; Barzdorf got 400 Cavalry; and this day, +nobody knew what would come of it." [Extract in FUCHS, p. 6.] + +Monday morning, the Prussians are up betimes; King Friedrich, as above +noted, had not, or had hardly at all, slept during those two nights, +such his anxieties. This morning, all is calm, sleeked out into spotless +white; Pogarell and the world are wrapt as in a winding-sheet, near two +feet of snow on the ground. Air hard and crisp; a hot sun possible +about noon season. "By daybreak" we are all astir, rendezvousing, +ranking,--into Four Columns; ready to advance in that fashion for +battle, or for deploying into battle, wherever the Enemy turn up. The +orders were all given overnight, two nights ago; were all understood, +too, and known to be rhadamanthine; and, down to the lowest pioneer, no +man is uncertain what to do. If we but knew where the Enemy is; on which +side of us; what doing, what intending? + +Scouts, General-Adjutants are out on the quest; to no purpose hitherto. +One young General-Adjutant, Saldern, whose name we shall know again, has +ridden northward, has pulled bridle some way north of Pogarell; hangs, +gazing diligently through his spy-glass, there;--can see nothing but +a Plain of silent snow, with sparse bearding of bushes (nothing like +a hedge in these countries), and here and there a tree, the miserable +skeleton of a poplar:--when happily, owing to an Austrian Dragoon--Be +pleased to accept (in abridged form) the poor old Schoolmaster's account +of a small thing:-- + +"Austrian Dragoon of the regiment Althan, native of Kriesewitz in this +neighborhood, who was billeted in Christopher Schonwitz's, had been +much in want of a clean shirt, and other interior outfit; and had, last +night, imperatively despatched the man Scholzke, a farm-servant of the +said Christopher's, off to his, the Dragoon's, Father in Kriesewitz, to +procure such shirt or outfit, and to return early with the same; under +penalty of--Scholzke and his master dare not think under what penalty. +Scholzke, floundering homewards with the outfit from Kriesewitz, +flounders at this moment into Saldern's sphere of vision: 'Whence, +whither?' asks Saldern: 'Dost thou know where the Austrians are?' +(RECHT GUT: in Mollwitz), whither I am going!' Saldern takes him to +the King,--and that was the first clear light his Majesty had on the +matter." [Fuchs, pp. 6, 7.] That or something equivalent, indisputably +was; Saldern and "a Peasant," the account of it in all the Books. + +The King says to this Peasant, "Thou shalt ride with me to-day!" And +Scholzke, Ploschke others call him,--heavy-footed rational biped knowing +the ground there practically, every yard of it,--did, as appears, attend +the King all morning; and do service, that was recognizable long years +afterwards. "For always," say the Books, "when the King held review +here, Ploschke failed not to make appearance on the field of Pogarell, +and get recognition and a gift from his Majesty." + +At break of day the ranking and arranging began. Pogarell clock is near +striking ten, when the last squadron or battalion quits Pogarell; and +the Four Columns, punctiliously correct, are all under way. Two on each +side of Ohlau Highway; steadily advancing, with pioneers ahead to clear +any obstacle there may be. Few obstacles; here and there a little ditch +(where Ploschke's advice may be good, under the sleek of the snow), no +fences, smooth wide Plain, nothing you would even call a knoll in it +for many miles ahead and around. Mollwitz is some seven miles north from +Pogarell; intermediate lie dusty fractions of Villages more than one; +two miles or more from Mollwitz we come to Pampitz on our left, the next +considerable, if any of them can be counted considerable. + +"All these Dorfs, and indeed most German ones," says my Tourist, "are +made on one type; an agglomerate of dusty farmyards, with their stalls +and barns; all the farmyards huddled together in two rows; a broad +negligent road between, seldom mended, never swept except by the +elements. Generally there is nothing to be seen, on each hand, but +thatched roofs, dead clay walls and rude wooden gates; sometimes a poor +public-house, with probable beer in it; never any shop, nowhere any +patch of swept pavement, or trim gathering-place for natives of a social +gossipy turn: the road lies sleepy, littery, good only for utilitarian +purposes. In the middle of the Village stands Church and Churchyard, +with probably some gnarled trees around it: Church often larger than you +expected; the Churchyard, always fenced with high stone-and-mortar wall, +is usually the principal military post of the place. Mollwitz, at the +present day, has something of whitewash here and there; one of the +farmer people, or more, wearing a civilized prosperous look. The belfry +offers you a pleasant view: the roofs and steeples of Brieg, pleasantly +visible to eastward; villages dotted about, Laugwitz, Barzdorf, +Hermsdorf, clear to your inquiring: and to westward, and to southward, +tops of Hill-country in the distance. Westward, twenty miles off, are +pleasant Hills; and among them, if you look well, shadowy Town-spires, +which you are assured are Strehlen, a place also of interest in +Friedrich's History.--Your belfry itself, in Mollwitz, is old, but not +unsound; and the big iron clock grunts heavily at your ear, or perhaps +bursts out in a too deafening manner, while you study the topographies. +Pampitz, too, seems prosperous, in its littery way; the Church is bigger +and newer,"--owing to an accident we shall hear of soon;--"Country +all about seems farmed with some industry, but with shallow ploughing; +liable to drought. It is very sandy in quality; shorn of umbrage; +painfully naked to an English eye." That is the big champaign, coated +with two feet of snow, where a great Action is now to go forward. + +Neipperg, all this while, is much at his ease on this white resting-day, +He is just sitting down to dinner at the Dorfschulze's (Village Provost, +or miniature Mayor of Mollwitz), a composed man; when--rockets or +projectiles, and successive anxious sputterings from the steeple-tops +of Brieg, are hastily reported: what can it mean? Means little +perhaps;--Neipperg sends out a Hussar party to ascertain, and composedly +sets himself to dine. In a little while his Hussar party will come +galloping back, faster than it went; faster and fewer;--and there will +be news for Neipperg during dinner! Better here looking out, though it +was a rest-day?-- + +The truth is, the Prussian advance goes on with punctilious exactitude, +by no means rapidly. Colonel Count van Rothenburg,--the same whom we +lately heard of in Paris as a miracle of gambling,--he now here, in a +new capacity, is warily leading the Vanguard of Dragoons; warily, with +the Four Columns well to rear of him: the Austrian Hussar party came +upon Rothenburg, not two miles from Mollwitz; and suddenly drew bridle. +Them Rothenburg tumbles to the right-about, and chases;--finds, on +advancing, the Austrian Army totally unaware. It is thought, had +Rothenburg dashed forward, and sent word to the rearward to dash forward +at their swiftest, the Austrian Army might have been cut in pieces here, +and never have got together to try battle at all. But Rothenburg had +no orders; nay, had orders Not to get into fighting;--nor had Friedrich +himself, in this his first Battle, learned that feline or leonine +promptitude of spring which he subsequently manifested. Far from it! +Indeed this punctilious deliberation, and slow exactitude as on the +review-ground, is wonderful and noteworthy at the first start of +Friedrich;--the faithful apprentice-hand still rigorous to the rules of +the old shop. Ten years hence, twenty years hence, had Friedrich found +Neipperg in this condition, Neipperg's account had been soon settled!-- +Rothenburg drove back the Hussars, all manner of successive Hussar +parties, and kept steadily ahead of the main battle, as he had been +bidden. + +Pampitz Village being now passed, and in rear of them to left, the +Prussian Columns halt for some instants; burst into field-music; take to +deploying themselves into line. There is solemn wheeling, shooting out +to right and left, done with spotless precision: once in line,--in two +lines, "each three men deep," lines many yards apart,--they will advance +on Mollwitz; still solemnly, field-music guiding, and banners spread. +Which will be a work of time. That the King's frugal field-dinner was +shot away, from its camp-table near Pampitz (as Fuchs has heard), is +evidently mythical; and even impossible, the Austrians having yet no +cannon within miles of him; and being intent on dining comfortably +themselves, not on firing at other people's dinners. + +Fancy Neipperg's state of mind, busy beginning dinner in the little +Schulze's, or Town-Provost's house, when the Hussars dashed in at full +gallop, shouting "DER FEIND, The Enemy! All in march there; vanguard +this side of Pampitz; killed forty of us!"--Quick, your Plan of Battle, +then? Whitherward; How; What? answer or perish! Neipperg was infinitely +struck; dropt knife and fork: "Send for Romer, General of the Horse!" +Romer did the indispensable: a swift man, not apt to lose head. Romer's +battle-plan, I should hope, is already made; or it will fare ill with +Neipperg and him. But beat, ye drummers; gallop, ye aides-de-camp as +for life! The first thing is to get our Force together; and it lies +scattered about in three other Villages besides Mollwitz, miles apart. +Neipperg's trumpets clangor, his aides-de-camp gallop: he has his left +wing formed, and the other parts in a state of rapid genesis, Horse and +Foot pouring in from Laugwitz, Barzdorf, Gruningen, before the Prussians +have quite done deploying themselves, and got well within shot of him. +Romer, by birth a Saxon gentleman, by all accounts a superior soldier +and excellent General of Horse, commands this Austrian left wing, +General Goldlein, [(Anonymous) MARIA THERESA (already cited), p. 8 n.] +a Swiss veteran of good parts, presiding over the Infantry in that +quarter. Neipperg himself, were he once complete, will command the right +wing. + +Neipperg is to be in two lines, as the Prussians are, with horse on each +wing, which is orthodox military order. His length of front, I should +guess, must have been something better than two English miles: a +sluggish Brook, called of Laugwitz, from the Village of that name which +lies some way across, is on his right hand; sluggish, boggy; stagnating +towards the Oder in those parts:--improved farming has, in our time, +mostly dried the strip of bog, and made it into coarse meadow, which is +rather a relief amid the dry sandy element. Neipperg's right is covered +by that. His left rests on the Hamlet of Gruningen, a mile-and-half +northeast of Mollwitz;--meant to have rested on Hermsdorf nearly east, +but the Prussians have already taken that up. The sun coming more and +more round to west of south (for it is now past noon) shines right +in Neipperg's face, and is against him: how the wind is, nobody +mentions,--probably there was no wind. His regular Cavalry, 8,600, +outnumbers twice or more that of the Prussians, not to mention their +quality; and he has fewer Infantry, somewhat in proportion;--the entire +force on each side is scarcely above 20,000, the Prussians slightly in +majority by count. In field-pieces Neipperg is greatly outnumbered; the +Prussians having about threescore, he only eighteen. [Kausler, _Atlas +der merkwurdigsten Schlachten,_ p. 232.] And now here ARE the Prussians, +close upon our left wing, not yet in contact with the right,--which in +fact is not yet got into existence;--thank Heaven they have not come +before our left got into existence, as our right (if you knew it) has +not yet quite finished doing!-- + +The Prussians, though so ready for deploying, have had their own +difficulties and delays. Between the boggy Brook of Laugwitz on their +left, and the Village of Hermsdorf, two miles distant, on which their +right wing is to lean, there proves not to be room enough; [_OEuvres de +Frederic,_ ii. 73.] and then, owing to mistake of Schulenburg (our old +pipe-clay friend, who commands the right wing of Horse here, and is +not up in time), there is too much room. Not room enough, for all the +Infantry, we say: the last three Battalions of the front line therefore, +the three on the utmost right, wheel round, and stand athwart; EN +POTENCE (as soldiers say), or at right angles to the first line; +hanging to it like a kind of lid in that part,--between Schulenburg and +them,--had Schulenburg come up. Thus are the three battalions got rid of +at least; "they cap the First Prussian line rectangularly, like a lid," +says my authority,--lid which does not reach to the Second Line by a +good way. This accidental arrangement had material effects on the right +wing. Unfortunate Schulenburg did at last come up:--had he miscalculated +the distances, then? Once on the ground, he will find he does not reach +to Hermsdorf after all, and that there is now too much room! What his +degree of fault was I know not; Friedrich has long been dissatisfied +with these Dragoons of Schulenburg; "good for nothing, I always told +you" (at that Skirmish of Baumgarten): and now here is the General +himself fallen blundering!--In respect of Horse, the Austrians are +more than two to one; to make out our deficiency, the King, imitating +something he had read about Gustavus Adolphus, intercalates the +Horse-Squadrons, on each wing, with two Battalions of Grenadiers, and +SO lengthens them;--"a manoeuvre not likely to be again imitated," he +admits. + +All these movements and arrangements are effected above a mile from +Mollwitz, no enemy yet visible. Once effected, we advance again with +music sounding, sixty pieces of artillery well in front,--steady, +steady!--across the floor of snow which is soon beaten smooth enough, +the stage, this day, of a great adventure. And now there is the Enemy's +left wing, Romer and his Horse; their right wing wider away, and not +yet, by a good space, within cannon-range of us. It is towards Two of +the afternoon; Schulenburg now on his ground, laments that he will not +reach to Hermsdorf;--but it may be dangerous now to attempt repairing +that error? At Two of the clock, being now fairly within distance, we +salute Romer and the Austrian left, with all our sixty cannon; and the +sound of drums and clarinets is drowned in universal artillery thunder. +Incessant, for they take (by order) to "swift-shooting," which is almost +of the swiftness of musketry in our Prussian practice; and from sixty +cannon, going at that rate, we may fancy some effect. The Austrian Horse +of the left wing do not like it; all the less as the Austrians, rather +short of artillery, have nothing yet to reply with. + +No Cavalry can stand long there, getting shivered in that way; in such +a noise, were there nothing more. "Are we to stand here like milestones, +then, and be all shot without a stroke struck?" "Steady!" answers Romer. +But nothing can keep them steady: "To be shot like dogs (WIE HUNDE)! For +God's sake (URN GOTTES WILLEN), lead us forward, then, to have a stroke +at them!"--in tones ever more plangent, plaintively indignant; growing +ungovernable. And Romer can get no orders; Neipperg is on the extreme +right, many things still to settle there; and here is the cannon-thunder +going, and soon their very musketry will open. And--and there +is Schulenburg, for one thing, stretching himself out eastwards +(rightwards) to get hold of Hermsdorf; thinking this an opportunity for +the manoeuvre. "Forward!" cries Romer; and his thirty Squadrons, like +bottled whirlwind now at last let loose, dash upon Schulenburg's +poor ten (five of them of Schulenburg's own regiment),--who are turned +sideways too, trotting towards Hermsdorf, at the wrong moment,--and +dash them into wild ruin. That must have been a charge! That was the +beginning of hours of chaos, seemingly irretrievable, in that Prussian +right wing. + +For the Prussian Horse fly wildly; and it is in vain to rally. The King +is among them; has come in hot haste, conjuring and commanding: poor +Schulenburg addresses his own regiment, "Oh, shame, shame! shall it be +told, then?" rallies his own regiment, and some others; charges fiercely +in with them again; gets a sabre-slash across the face,--does not mind +the sabre-slash, small bandaging will do;--gets a bullet through the +head (or through the heart, it is not said which); [_Helden-Geschichte, +_ i. 899.] and falls down dead; his regiment going to the winds again, +and HIS care of it and of other things concluding in this honorable +manner. Nothing can rally that right wing; or the more you rally, the +worse it fares: they are clearly no match for Romer, these Prussian +Horse. They fly along the front of their own First Line of Infantry, +they fly between the two Lines; Romer chasing,--till the fire of the +Infantry (intolerable to our enemies, and hitting some even of our +fugitive friends) repels him. For the notable point in all this was +the conduct of the Infantry; and how it stood in these wild vortexes +of ruin; impregnable, immovable, as if every man of it were stone; +and steadily poured out deluges of fire,--"five Prussian shots for two +Austrian:"--such is perfect discipline against imperfect; and the iron +ramrod against the wooden. + +The intolerable fire repels Romer, when he trenches on the Infantry: +however, he captures nine of the Prussian sixty guns; has scattered +their Horse to the winds; and charges again and again, hoping to break +the Infantry too,--till a bullet kills him, the gallant Romer; and +some other has to charge and try. It was thought, had Goldlein with his +Austrian Infantry advanced to support Romer at this juncture, the Battle +had been gained. Five times, before Romer fell and after, the Austrians +charged here; tried the Second Line too; tried once to take Prince +Leopold in rear there. But Prince Leopold faced round, gave intolerable +fire; on one face as on the other, he, or the Prussian Infantry +anywhere, is not to be broken. "Prince Friedrich", one of the Margraves +of Schwedt, King's Cousin, whom we did not know before, fell in these +wild rallyings and wrestlings; "by a cannon-ball, at the King's hand," +not said otherwise where. He had come as Volunteer, few weeks ago, +out of Holland, where he was a rising General: he has met his fate +here,--and Margraf Karl, his Brother, who also gets wounded, will be a +mournful man to-night. + +The Prussian Horse, this right wing of it, is a ruined body; boiling in +wild disorder, flooding rapidly away to rearward,--which is the safest +direction to retreat upon. They "sweep away the King's person with +them," say some cautious people; others say, what is the fact, that +Schwerin entreated, and as it were commanded, the King to go; the Battle +being, to all appearance, irretrievable. Go he did, with small escort, +and on a long ride,--to Oppeln, a Prussian post, thirty-five miles +rearward, where there is a Bridge over the Oder and a safe country +beyond. So much is indubitable; and that he despatched an Aide-de-camp +to gallop into Brandenburg, and tell the Old Dessauer, "Bestir yourself! +Here all seems lost!"--and vanished from the Field, doubtless in very +desperate humor. Upon which the extraneous world has babbled a good +deal, "Cowardice! Wanted courage: Haha!" in its usual foolish way; not +worth answer from him or from us. Friedrich's demeanor, in that disaster +of his right wing, was furious despair rather; and neither Schulenburg +nor Margraf Friedrich, nor any of the captains, killed or left living, +was supposed to have sinned by "cowardice" in a visible degree!-- + +Indisputable it is, though there is deep mystery upon it, the King +vanishes from Mollwitz Field at this point for sixteen hours, into the +regions of Myth, "into Fairyland," as would once have been said; but +reappears unharmed in to-morrow's daylight: at which time, not sooner, +readers shall hear what little is to be said of this obscure and +much-disfigured small affair. For the present we hasten back to +Mollwitz,--where the murderous thunder rages unabated all this while; +the very noise of it alarming mankind for thirty miles round. At +Breslau, which is thirty good miles off, horrible dull grumble was heard +from the southern quarter ("still better, if you put a staff in the +ground, and set your ear to it"); and from the steeple-tops, there was +dim cloudland of powder-smoke discernible in the horizon there. "At +Liegnitz," which is twice the distance, "the earth sensibly shook," +[_Helden-Geschichte;_ and Jordan's Letter, infra.]--at least the air +did, and the nerves of men. + +"Had Goldlein but advanced with his Foot, in support of gallant Romer!" +say the Austrian Books. But Goldlein did not advance; nor is it certain +he would have found advantage in so doing: Goldlein, where he stands, +has difficulty enough to hold his own. For the notable circumstance, +miraculous to military men, still is, How the Prussian Foot (men who had +never been in fire, but whom Friedrich Wilhelm had drilled for twenty +years) stand their ground, in this distraction of the Horse. Not +even the two outlying Grenadier Battalions will give way: those poor +intercalated Grenadiers, when their Horse fled on the right and on the +left, they stand there, like a fixed stone-dam in that wild whirlpool +of ruin. They fix bayonets, "bring their two field-pieces to flank" +(Winterfeld was Captain there), and, from small arms and big, deliver +such a fire as was very unexpected. Nothing to be made of Winterfeld and +them. They invincibly hurl back charge after charge; and, with dogged +steadiness, manoeuvre themselves into the general Line again; or into +contact with the three superfluous Battalions, arranged EN POTENCE, whom +we heard of. Those three, ranked athwart in this right wing ("like a +lid," between First Line and second), maintained themselves in like +impregnable fashion,--Winterfeld commanding;--and proved unexpectedly, +thinks Friedrich, the saving of the whole. For they also stood their +ground immovable, like rocks; steadily spouting fire-torrents. Five +successive charges storm upon them, fruitless: "Steady, MEINE KINDER; +fix bayonets, handle ramrods! There is the Horse-deluge thundering in +upon you; reserve your fire, till you see the whites of their eyes, and +get the word; then give it them, and again give it them: see whether any +man or any horse can stand it!" + +Neipperg, soon after Romer fell, had ordered Goldlein forward: Goldlein +with his Infantry did advance, gallantly enough; but to no purpose. +Goldlein was soon shot dead; and his Infantry had to fall back again, +ineffectual or worse. Iron ramrods against wooden; five shots to two: +what is there but falling back? Neipperg sent fresh Horse from his +right wing, with Berlichingen, a new famed General of Horse; Neipperg is +furiously bent to improve his advantage, to break those Prussians, who +are mere musketeers left bare, and thinks that will settle the account: +but it could in no wise be done. The Austrian Horse, after their fifth +trial, renounce charging; fairly refuse to charge any more; and withdraw +dispirited out of ball-range, or in search of things not impracticable. +The Hussar part of them did something of plunder to rearward;--and, +besides poor Maupertuis's adventure (of which by and by), and an attempt +on the Prussian baggage and knapsacks, which proved to be "too well +guarded,"--"burnt the Church of Pampitz," as some small consolation. +The Prussians had stript their knapsacks, and left them in Pampitz: the +Austrians, it was noticed, stript theirs in the Field; built walls of +them, and fired behind, the same, in a kneeling, more or less protected +posture,--which did not avail them much. + +In fact, the Austrian Infantry too, all Austrians, hour after hour, +are getting wearier of it: neither Infantry nor Cavalry can stand being +riddled by swift shot in that manner. In spite of their knapsack walls, +various regiments have shrunk out of ball-range; and several cannot, by +any persuasion, be got to come into it again. Others, who do reluctantly +advance,--see what a figure they make; man after man edging away as he +can, so that the regiment "stands forty to eighty men deep, with lanes +through it every two or three yards;" permeable everywhere to Cavalry, +if we had them; and turning nothing to the Enemy but color-sergeants +and bare poles of a regiment! And Romer is dead, and Goldlein of the +Infantry is dead. And on their right wing, skirted by that marshy Brook +of Laugwitz,--Austrian right wing had been weakened by detachments, when +Berlichingen rode off to succeed Romer,--the Austrians are suffering: +Posadowsky's Horse (among whom is Rothenburg, once vanguard), +strengthened by remnants who have rallied here, are at last prospering, +after reverses. And the Prussian fire of small arms, at such rate, has +lasted now for five hours. The Austrian Army, becoming instead of a web +a mere series of flying tatters, forming into stripes or lanes in the +way we see, appears to have had about enough. + +These symptoms are not hidden from Schwerin. His own ammunition, too, he +knows is running scarce, and fighters here and there are searching the +slain for cartridges:--Schwerin closes his ranks, trims and tightens +himself a little; breaks forth into universal field-music, and with +banners spread, starts in mass wholly, "Forwards!" Forwards towards +these Austrians and the setting sun. + +An intelligent Austrian Officer, writing next week from Neisse, +[_Feldzuge der Preussen_ (above cited), i. 38.]' confesses he never +saw anything more beautiful. "I can well say, I never in my life saw +anything more beautiful. They marched with the greatest steadiness, +arrow-straight, and their front like a line (SCHNURGLEICH), as if they +had been upon parade. The glitter of their clear arms shone strangely +in the setting sun, and the fire from them went on no otherwise than a +continued peal of thunder." Grand picture indeed; but not to be enjoyed +as a Work of Art, for it is coming upon us! "The spirits of our Army sank +altogether", continues he; "the Foot plainly giving way, Horse refusing +to come forward, all things wavering towards dissolution:"--so that +Neipperg, to avoid worse, gives the word to go;--and they roll off at +double-quick time, through Mollwitz, over Laugwitz Bridge and Brook, +towards Grotkau by what routes they can. The sun is just sunk; a quarter +to eight, says the intelligent Austrian Officer,--while the Austrian +Army, much to its amazement, tumbles forth in this bad fashion. + +They had lost nine of their own cannon, and all of those Prussian nine +which they once had, except one: eight cannon MINUS, in all. Prisoners +of them were few, and none of much mark: two Field-marshals, Romer and +Goldlein, lie among the dead; four more of that rank are wounded. Four +standards too are gone; certain kettle-drums and the like trophies, +not in great number. Lieutenant-General Browne was of these retreating +Austrians; a little fact worth noting: of his actions this day, or of +his thoughts (which latter surely must have been considerable), no hint +anywhere. The Austrians were not much chased; though they might have +been,--fresh Cavalry (two Ohlau regiments, drawn hither by the sound +[Interesting correct account of their movements and adventures this day +and some previous days, in Nicolai, _Anekdoten,_ ii. 142-148.]) having +hung about to rear of them, for some time past; unable to get into the +Fight, or to do any good till now. Schwerin, they say, though he had +two wounds, was for pursuing vigorously: but Leopold of Anhalt +over-persuaded him; urged the darkness, the uncertainty. Berlichingen, +with their own Horse, still partly covered their rear; and the +Prussians, Ohlauers included, were but weak in that branch of the +service. Pursuit lasted little more than two miles, and was never hot. +The loss of men, on both sides, was not far from equal, and rather in +favor of the Austrian side:--Austrians counted in killed, wounded and +missing, 4,410 men; Prussians 4,613; [Orlich, i. 108; Kansler, p. 235, +correct; _Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 895, incorrect.]--but the Prussians +bivouacked on the ground, or quartered in these Villages, with victory +to crown them, and the thought that their hard day's work had been well +done. Besides Margraf Friedrich, Volunteer from Holland, there lay among +the slain Colonel Count von Finkenstein (Old Tutor's Son), King's friend +from boyhood, and much loved. He was of the six whom we saw consulting +at the door at Reinsberg, during a certain ague-fit; and he now rests +silent here, while the matter has only come thus far. + +Such was Mollwitz, the first Battle for Silesia; which had to cost +many Battles first and last. Silesia will be gained, we can expect, by +fighting of this kind in an honest cause. But here is something already +gained, which is considerable, and about which there is no doubt. A +new Military Power, it would appear, has come upon the scene; the +Gazetteer-and-Diplomatic world will have to make itself familiar with a +name not much heard of hitherto among the Nations. "A Nation which can +fight," think the Gazetteers; "fight almost as the very Swedes did; and +is led on by its King too,--who may prove, in his way, a very Charles +XII., or small Macedonia's Madman, for aught one knows?" In which latter +branch of their prognostic the Gazetteers were much out.-- + +The Fame of this Battle, which is now so sunk out of memory, was great +in Europe; and struck, like a huge war-gong, with long resonance, +through the general ear. M. de Voltaire had run across to Lille in those +Spring days: there is a good Troop of Players in Lille; a Niece, Madame +Denis, wife of some Military Commissariat Denis, important in those +parts, can lodge the divine Emilie and me;--and one could at last see +MAHOMET, after five years of struggling, get upon the boards, if not yet +in Paris by a great way, yet in Lille, which is something. MAHOMET is +getting upon the boards on those terms; and has proceeded, not amiss, +through an Act or two, when a Note from the King of Prussia was handed +to Voltaire, announcing the victory of Mollwitz. Which delightful +Note Voltaire stopt the performance till he read to the Audience: +"Bravissimo!" answered the Audience. "You will see," said M. de Voltaire +to the friends about him, "this Piece at Mollwitz will make mine +succeed:" which proved to be the fact. [Voltaire, _OEuvres (Vie +Privee),_ ii. 74.] For the French are Anti-Austrian; and smell great +things in the wind. "That man is mad, your Most Christian Majesty?" "Not +quite; or at any rate not mad only!" think Louis and his Belleisles now. + +Dimly poring in those old Books, and squeezing one's way into +face-to-face view of the extinct Time, we begin to notice what +a clangorous rumor was in Mollwitz to the then generation of +mankind;--betokening many things; universal European War, as the first +thing. Which duly came to pass; as did, at a slower rate, the ulterior +thing, not yet so apparent, that indeed a new hour had struck on the +Time Horologe, that a New Epoch had risen. Yes, my friends. New Charles +XII. or not, here truly has a new Man and King come upon the scene: +capable perhaps of doing something? Slumberous Europe, rotting amid its +blind pedantries, its lazy hypocrisies, conscious and unconscious: this +man is capable of shaking it a little out of its stupid refuges of +lies, and ignominious wrappages and bed-clothes, which will be its +grave-clothes otherwise; and of intimating to it, afar off, that there +is still a Veracity in Things, and a Mendacity in Sham-Things, and +that the difference of the two is infinitely more considerable than was +supposed. + +This Mollwitz is a most deliberate, regulated, ponderously impressive +(GRAVITATISCH) Feat of Arms, as the reader sees; done all by Regulation +methods, with orthodox exactitude; in a slow, weighty, almost +pedantic, but highly irrefragable manner. It is the triumph of Prussian +Discipline; of military orthodoxy well put in practice: the honest +outcome of good natural stuff in those Brandenburgers, and of the +supreme virtues of Drill. Neipperg and his Austrians had much despised +Prussian soldiering: "Keep our soup hot," cried they, on running out +this day to rank themselves; "hot a little, till we drive these fellows +to the Devil!" That was their opinion, about noon this day: but that is +an opinion they have renounced for all remaining days and years.--It is +a Victory due properly to Friedrich Wilhelm and the Old Dessauer, who +are far away from it. Friedrich Wilhelm, though dead, fights here, and +the others only do his bidding on this occasion. His Son, as yet, +adds nothing of his own; though he will ever henceforth begin largely +adding,--right careful withal to lose nothing, for the Friedrich Wilhelm +contribution is invaluable, and the basis of everything;--but it is +curious to see in what contrast this first Battle of Friedrich's is with +his latter and last ones. + +Considering the Battle of Mollwitz, and then, in contrast, the +intricate Pragmatic Sanction, and what their consequences were and their +antecedents, it is curious once more! This, then, is what the Pragmatic +Sanction has come to? Twenty years of world-wide diplomacy, cunningly +devised spider-threads overnetting all the world, have issued here. +Your Congresses of Cambray, of Soissons, your Grumkow-Seckendorf +Machiavelisms, all these might as well have lain in their bed. Real +Pragmatic Sanction would have been, A well-trained Army and your +Treasury full. Your Treasury is empty (nothing in it but those foolish +200,000 English guineas, and the passionate cry for more): and your Army +is not trained as this Prussian one; cannot keep its ground against this +one. Of all those long-headed Potentates, simple Friedrich Wilhelm, son +of Nature, who had the honesty to do what Nature taught him, has come +out, gainer. You all laughed at him as a fool: do you begin to see +now who was wise, who fool? He has an Army that "advances on you with +glittering musketry, steady as on the parade-ground, and pours out fire +like one continuous thunder-peal;" so that, strange as it seems, you +find there will actually be nothing for you but--taking to your heels, +shall we say?--rolling off with despatch, as second-best! These things +are of singular omen. Here stands one that will avenge Friedrich +Wilhelm,--if Friedrich Wilhelm were not already sufficiently avenged by +the mere verdict of facts, which is palpably coming out, as Time peels +the wiggeries away from them more and more. Mollwitz and such places +are full of veracity; and no head is so thick as to resist conviction in +that kind. + + + + +OF FRIEDRICH'S DISAPPEARANCE INTO FAIRYLAND, IN THE INTERIM; AND OF +MAUPERTUIS'S SIMILAR ADVENTURE. + +Of the King's Flight, or sudden disappearance into Fairyland, during +this first Battle, the King himself, who alone could have told us fully, +maintained always rigorous silence, and nowhere drops the least hint. +So that the small fact has come down to us involved in a great bulk +of fabulous cobwebs, mostly of an ill-natured character, set agoing by +Voltaire, Valori and others (which fabulous process, in the good-natured +form, still continues itself); and, except for Nicolai's good industry +(in his ANEKDOTEN-Book), we should have difficulty even in guessing, +not to say understanding, as is now partly possible. The few real +particulars--and those do verify themselves, and hang perfectly +together, when the big globe of fable is burnt off from them--are to the +following effect. + +"Battle lost," said Schwerin: "but what is the loss of a Battle to that +of your Majesty's own Person? For Heaven's sake, go; get across the +Oder; be you safe, till this decide itself!" That was reasonable +counsel. If defeated, Schwerin can hope to retreat upon Ohlau, upon +Breslau, and save the Magazines. This side the Oder, all will be +movements, a whirlpool of Hussars; but beyond the Oder, all is quiet, +open. To Ohlau, to Glogau, nay home to Brandenburg and the Old Dessauer +with his Camp at Gottin, the road is free, by the other side of the +Oder.--Schwerin and Prince Leopold urging him, the King did ride away; +at what hour, with what suite, or with what adventures (not mostly +fabulous) is not known:--but it was towards Lowen, fifteen miles off +(where he crossed Neisse River, the other day); and thence towards +Oppeln, on the Oder, eighteen miles farther; and the pace was swift. +Leopold, on reflection, ordered off a Squadron of Gens-d'Armes to +overtake his Majesty, at Lowen or sooner; which they never did. Passing +Pampitz, the King threw Fredersdorf a word, who was among the baggage +there: "To Oppeln; bring the Purse, the Privy Writings!" Which +Fredersdorf, and the Clerks (and another Herr, who became Nicolai's +Father-in-law in after years) did; and joined the King at Lowen; but I +hope stopped there. + +The King's suite was small, names not given; but by the time he got to +Lowen, being joined by cavalry fugitives and the like, it had got to +be seventy persons: too many for the King. He selected what was his of +them; ordered the gates to be shut behind him on all others, and again +rode away. The Leopold Squadron of Gens-d'Armes did not arrive till +after his departure; and having here lost trace of him, called halt, +and billeted for the night. The King speeds silently to Oppeln on his +excellent bay horse, the worse-mounted gradually giving in. At Oppeln +is a Bridge over the Oder, a free Country beyond: Regiment La Motte +lay, and as the King thinks, still lies in Oppeln;--but in that he is +mistaken. Regiment La Motte is with the baggage at Pampitz, all this +day; and a wandering Hussar Party, some sixty Austrians, have taken +possession of Oppeln. The King, and the few who had not yet broken down, +arrive at the Gate of Oppeln, late, under cloud of night: "Who goes?" +cried the sentry from within. "Prussians! A Prussian Courier!" answer +they;--and are fired upon through the gratings; and immediately draw +back, and vanish unhurt into Night again. "Had those Hussars only let +him in!" said Austria afterwards: but they had not such luck. It was at +this point, according to Valori, that the King burst forth into audible +ejaculations of a lamentable nature. There is no getting over, then, +even to Brandenburg, and in an insolvent condition. Not open insolvency +and bankrupt disgrace; no, ruin, and an Austrian jail, is the one +outlook. "O MON DIEU, O God, it is too much (C'EN EST TROP)!" with +other the like snatches of lamentation; [Valori, i. 104.] which are not +inconceivable in a young man, sleepless for the third night, in these +circumstances; but which Valori knows nothing of, except by malicious +rumor from the valet class,--who have misinformed Valori about several +other points. + +The King riding diligently, with or without ejaculations, back towards +Lowen, comes at an early hour to the Mill of Hilbersdorf, within a +mile-and-half of that place. He alights at the Mill; sends one of his +attendants, almost the only one now left, to inquire what is in Lowen. +The answer, we know, is: "A squadron of Gens-d'Armes there; furthermore, +a Prussian Adjutant come to say, Victory at Mollwitz!" Upon which the +King mounts again;--issues into daylight, and concludes these +mythical adventures. That "in Lowen, in the shop at the corner of the +Market-place, Widow Panzern, subsequently Wife Something-else, made his +Majesty a cup of coffee, and served a roast fowl along with it," cannot +but be welcome news, if true; and that his Majesty got to Mollwitz +again before dark that same "day," [Fuchs, p. 11.] is liable to no +controversy. + +In this way was Friedrich snatched by Morgante into Fairyland, carried +by Diana to the top of Pindus (or even by Proserpine to Tartarus, +through a bad sixteen hours), till the Battle whirlwind subsided. +Friendly imaginative spirits would, in the antique time, have so +construed it: but these moderns were malicious-valetish, not friendly; +and wrapped the matter in mere stupid worlds of cobweb, which require +burning. Friedrich himself was stone-silent on this matter, all his life +after; but is understood never quite to have pardoned Schwerin for the +ill-luck of giving him such advice. [Nicolai, ii. 180-195 (the one true +account); Laveaux, i. 194; Valori, i. 104; &c., &c. (the myth in various +stages). Most distractedly mythical of all, with the truth clear before +it, is the latest version, just come out, in _Was sich die Schlesier vom +alten Fritz erzahlen_ (Brieg, 1860), pp. 113-125.] + +Friedrich's adventure is not the only one of that kind at Mollwitz; +there is another equally indubitable,--which will remain obscure, +half-mythical to the end of the world. The truth is, that Right Wing of +the Prussian Army was fallen chaotic, ruined; and no man, not even +one who had seen it, can give account of what went on there. The +sage Maupertuis, for example, had climbed some tree or place of +impregnability ("tree" Voltaire calls it, though that is hardly +probable), hoping to see the Battle there. And he did see it, much too +clearly at last! In such a tide of charging and chasing, on that +Right Wing and round all the Field in the Prussian rear; in such wide +bickering and boiling of Horse-currents,--which fling out, round all +the Prussian rear quarters, such a spray of Austrian Hussars for one +element,--Maupertuis, I have no doubt, wishes much he were at home, +doing his sines and tangents. An Austrian Hussar-party gets sight of +him, on his tree or other standpoint (Voltaire says elsewhere he was +mounted on an ass, the malicious spirit!)--too certain, the Austrian +Hussars got sight of him: his purse, gold watch, all he has of movable +is given frankly; all will not do. There are frills about the man, +fine laces, cloth; a goodish yellow wig on him, for one thing:--their +Slavonic dialect, too fatally intelligible by the pantomime accompanying +it, forces sage Maupertuis from his tree or standpoint; the big red face +flurried into scarlet, I can fancy; or scarlet and ashy-white mixed; +and--Let us draw a veil over it! He is next seen shirtless, the once +very haughty, blustery, and now much-humiliated man; still conscious +of supreme acumen, insight and pure science; and, though an Austrian +prisoner and a monster of rags, struggling to believe that he is +a genius and the Trismegistus of mankind. What a pickle! The sage +Maupertuis, as was natural, keeps passionately asking, of gods and men, +for an Officer with some tincture of philosophy, or even who could speak +French. Such Officer is at last found; humanely advances him money, a +shirt and suit of clothes; but can in nowise dispense with his going +to Vienna as prisoner. Thither he went accordingly; still in a mythical +condition. Of Voltaire's laughing, there is no end; and he changes the +myth from time to time, on new rumors coming; and there is no truth to +be had from him. [Voltaire, _OEuvres (Vie Prive),_ ii. 33-34; and see +his LETTERS for some were after the event.] + +This much is certain: at Vienna, Maupertuis, prisoner on parole, glided +about for some time in deep eclipse, till the Newspapers began babbling +of him. He confessed then that he was Maupertuis, Flattener of the +Earth; but for the rest, "told rather a blind story about himself," says +Robinson; spoke as if he had been of the King's suite, "riding with the +King," when that Hussar accident befell;--rather a blind story, true +story being too sad. The Vienna Sovereignties, in the turn things had +taken, were extremely kind; Grand-Duke Franz handsomely pulled out his +own watch, hearing what road the Maupertuis one had gone; dismissed +the Maupertuis, with that and other gifts, home:--to Brittany (not +to Prussia), till times calmed for engrafting the Sciences. +[_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 902; Robinson's Despatch (Vienna, 22d April, +1741, n.s.); Voltaire, ubi supra.] + +On Wednesday, Friedrich writes this Note to his Sister; the first +utterance we have from him since those wild roamings about Oppeln and +Hilbersdorf Mill:-- + +KING TO WILHELMINA (at Baireuth; two days after Mollwitz). + +"OHLAU, 12th April, 1741. + +"MY DEAREST SISTER,--I have the satisfaction to inform you that we +have yesterday [day before yesterday; but some of us have only had one +sleep!] totally beaten the Austrians. They have lost more than 5,000 +men, killed, wounded and prisoners. We have lost Prince Friedrich, +Brother of Margraf Karl; General Schulenburg, Wartensleben of the +Carabineers, and many other Officers. Our troops did miracles; and the +result shows as much. It was one of the rudest Battles fought within +memory of man. + +"I am sure you will take part in this happiness; and that you will +not doubt of the tenderness with which I am, my dearest Sister,--Yours +wholly, FEDERIC." [_OEuvres,_ xxvii. i. 101.] + +And on the same day there comes, from Breslau, Jordan's Answer to the +late anxious little Note from Pogarell; anxieties now gone, and smoky +misery changed into splendor of flame: + +JORDAN TO THE KING (finds him at Ohlau). + +"BRESLAU, 11th April, 1741. "SIRE,--Yesterday I was in terrible alarms. +The sound of the cannon heard, the smoke of powder visible from the +steeple-tops here; all led us to suspect that there was a Battle going +on. Glorious confirmation of it this morning! Nothing but rejoicing +among all the Protestant inhabitants; who had begun to be in +apprehension, from the rumors which the other party took pleasure in +spreading. Persons who were in the Battle cannot enough celebrate +the coolness and bravery of your Majesty. For myself, I am at the +overflowing point. I have run about all day, announcing this glorious +news to the Berliners who are here. In my life I have never felt a more +perfect satisfaction. + +"M. de Camas is here, very ill for the last two days; attack of +fever--the Doctor hopes to bring him through,"--which proved beyond the +Doctor: the good Camas died here three days hence (age sixty-three); an +excellent German-Frenchman, of much sense, dignity and honesty; familiar +to Friedrich from infancy onwards, and no doubt regretted by him as +deserved. The Widow Camas, a fine old Lady, German by birth, will again +come in view. Jordan continues:-- + +"One finds, at the corner of every street, an orator of the Plebs +celebrating the warlike feats of your Majesty's troops. I have often, +in my idleness, assisted at these discourses: not artistic eloquence, it +must be owned, but spurting rude from the heart...." + +Jordan adds in his next Note: "This morning (14th) I quitted M. de +Camas; who, it is thought, cannot last the day. I have hardly left him +during his illness:" [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xvii. 99.]--and so let +that scene close. + +Neipperg, meanwhile, had fallen back on Neisse; taken up a strong +encampment in that neighborhood; he lies thereabouts all summer; +stretched out, as it were, in a kind of vigilant dog-sleep on the +threshold, keeping watch over Neisse, and tries fighting no more at +this time, or indeed ever after, to speak of. And always, I think, with +disadvantage, when he does try a little. He had been Grand-Duke Franz's +Tutor in War-matters; had got into trouble at Belgrade once before, and +was almost hanged by the Turks. George II. had occasionally the benefit +of him, in coming years. Be not too severe on the poor man, as the +Vienna public was; he had some faculty, though not enough. "Governor of +Luxemburg," before long: there, for most part, let him peacefully +drill, and spend the remainder of his poor life. Friedrich says, neither +Neipperg nor himself, at this time, knew the least of War; and that it +would be hard to settle which of them made the more blunders in their +Silesian tussle. + +Friedrich, in about three weeks hence, was fully ready for opening +trenches upon Brieg; did open trenches, accordingly, by moonlight, in +a grand nocturnal manner (as readers shall see anon); and, by vigorous +cannonading,--Marechal de Belleisle having come, by this time, to +enjoy the fine spectacle,--soon got possession of Brieg, and held +it thenceforth. Neisse now alone remained, with Neipperg vigilantly +stretched upon the threshold of it. But the Marechal de Belleisle, we +say, had come; that was the weighty circumstance. And before Neisse can +be thought of, there is a whole Europe, bickering aloft into conflict; +embattling itself from end to end, in sequel of Mollwitz Battle; +and such a preliminary sea of negotiating, diplomatic finessing, +pulse-feeling, projecting and palavering, with Friedrich for centre all +summer, as--as I wish readers could imagine without my speaking of it +farther! But they cannot. + +[MAP ON PAGE 75 GOES HEREABOUTS--missing] + + + + +Chapter XI. -- THE BURSTING FORTH OF BEDLAMS: BELLEISLE AND THE BREAKERS +OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION. + +The Battle of Mollwitz went off like a signal-shot among the Nations; +intimating that they were, one and all, to go battling. Which they did, +with a witness; making a terrible thing of it, over all the world, +for above seven years to come. Foolish Nations; doomed to settle their +jarring accounts in that terrible manner! Nay, the fewest of them had +any accounts, except imaginary ones, to settle there at all; and they +went into the adventure GRATIS, spurred on by spectralities of the sick +brain, by phantasms of hope, phantasms of terror; and had, strictly +speaking, no actual business in it whatever. + +Not that Mollwitz kindled Europe; Europe was already kindled for +some two years past;--especially since the late Kaiser died, and his +Pragmatic Sanction was superadded to the other troubles afoot. But ever +since that Image of JENKINS'S EAR had at last blazed up in the slow +English brain, like a fiery constellation or Sign in the Heavens, +symbolic of such injustices and unendurabilities, and had lighted the +Spanish-English War, Europe was slowly but pretty surely taking fire. +France "could not see Spain humbled," she said: England (in its own dim +feeling, and also in the fact of things) could not do at all without +considerably humbling Spain. France, endlessly interested in that +Spanish-English matter, was already sending out fleets, firing +shots,--almost, or altogether, putting forth her hand in it. "In which +case, will not, must not, Austria help us?" thought England,--and was +asking, daily, at Vienna (with intense earnestness, but without the +least result), through Excellency Robinson there, when the late Kaiser +died. Died, poor gentleman;--and left his big Austrian Heritages lying, +as it were, in the open market-place; elaborately tied by diplomatic +packthread and Pragmatic Sanction; but not otherwise protected against +the assembled cupidities of mankind! Independently of Mollwitz, or of +Silesia altogether, it was next to impossible that Europe could long +avoid blazing out; especially unless the Spanish-English quarrel got +quenched, of which there was no likelihood. + +But if not as cause, then as signal, or as signal and cause together +(which it properly was), the Battle of Mollwitz gave the finishing +stroke, and set all in motion. This was "the little stone broken loose +from the mountain;" this, rather than the late Kaiser's Death, which +Friedrich defined in that manner. Or at least, this was the first LEAP +it took; hitting other stones big and little, which again hit others +with their leaping and rolling,--till the whole mountain-side is in +motion under law of gravity, and you behold one wide stone-torrent +thundering towards the valleys; shivering woods, farms, habitations +clean away with it: fatal to any Image of composite Clay and Brass which +it may meet! + +There is, accordingly, from this point, a change in Friedrich's Silesian +Adventure; which becomes infinitely more complicated for him,--and for +those that write of him, no less! Friedrich's business henceforth is not +to be done by direct fighting, but rather by waiting to see how, and +on what side, others will fight: nor can we describe or understand +Friedrich's business, except as in connection with the immense, +obsolete, and indeed delirious Phenomenon called Austrian-Succession +War, upon which it is difficult to say any human word. If History, +driven upon Dismal Swamp with its horrors and perils, can get across +unsunk, she will be lucky! + +For, directly on the back of Mollwitz, there ensued, first, an explosion +of Diplomatic activity such as was never seen before; Excellencies +from the four winds taking wing towards Friedrich; and talking and +insinuating, and fencing and fugling, after their sort, in that +Silesian Camp of his, the centre being there. A universal rookery of +Diplomatists;--whose loud cackle and cawing is now as if gone mad to +us; their work wholly fallen putrescent and avoidable, dead to all +creatures. And secondly, in the train of that, there ensued a universal +European War, the French and the English being chief parties in it; +which abounds in battles and feats of arms, spirited but delirious, and +cannot be got stilled for seven or eight years to come; and in which +Friedrich and his War swim only as an intermittent Episode henceforth. +What to do with such a War; how extricate the Episode, and leave the +War lying? The War was at first a good deal mad; and is now, to men's +imagination, fallen wholly so; who indeed have managed mostly to forget +it; only the Episode (reduced thereby to an UNintelligible state) +retaining still some claims on them. + +It is singular into what oblivion the huge Phenomenon called +Austrian-Succession War has fallen; which, within a hundred years ago +or little more, filled all mortal hearts! The English were principals +on one side; did themselves fight in it, with their customary fire, and +their customary guidance ("courageous Wooden Pole with Cocked Hat," as +our friend called it); and paid all the expenses, which were extremely +considerable, and are felt in men's pockets to this day: but the English +have more completely forgotten it than any other People. "Battle of +Dettingen, Battle of Fontenay,--what, in the Devil's name, were we ever +doing there?" the impatient Englishman asks; and can give no answer, +except the general one: "Fit of insanity; DELIRIUM TREMENS, perhaps +FURENS;--don't think of it!" Of Philippi and Arbela educated Englishmen +can render account; and I am told young gentlemen entering the Army are +pointedly required to say who commanded at Aigos-Potamos and wrecked the +Peloponnesian War: but of Dettingen and Fontenoy, where is the +living Englishman that has the least notion, or seeks for any? The +Austrian-Succession War did veritably rage for eight years, at a +terrific rate, deforming the face of Earth and Heaven; the English +paying the piper always, and founding their National Debt thereby:--but +not even that could prove mnemonic to them; and they have dropped the +Austrian-Succession War, with one accord, into the general dustbin, and +are content it should lie there. They have not, in their language, +the least approach to an intelligible account of it: How it went on, +whitherward, whence; why it was there at all,--are points dark to the +English, and on which they do not wish to be informed. They have quitted +the matter, as an unintelligible huge English-and-Foreign Delirium +(which in good part it was); Delirium unintelligible to them; tedious, +not to say in parts, as those of the Austrian Subsidies, hideous and +disgusting to them; happily now fallen extinct; and capable of being +skipped, in one's inquiries into the wonders of this England and this +World. Which, in fact, is a practical conclusion not so unwise as it +looks. + +"Wars are not memorable," says Sauerteig, "however big they may have +been, whatever rages and miseries they may have occasioned, or however +many hundreds of thousands they may have been the death of,--except when +they have something of World-History in them withal. If they are found +to have been the travail-throes of great or considerable changes, +which continue permanent in the world, men of some curiosity cannot but +inquire into them, keep memory of them. But if they were travail-throes +that had no birth, who of mortals would remember them? Unless +perhaps the feats of prowess, virtue, valor and endurance, they might +accidentally give rise to, were very great indeed. Much greater than +the most were, which came out in that Austrian-Succession case! Wars +otherwise are mere futile transitory dust-whirlwinds stilled in blood; +extensive fits of human insanity, such as we know are too apt to break +out;--such as it rather beseems a faithful Son of the House of Adam NOT +to speak about again; as in houses where the grandfather was hanged, the +topic of ropes is fitly avoided. + +"Never again will that War, with its deliriums, mad outlays of blood, +treasure, and of hope and terror, and far-spread human destruction, +rise into visual life in any imagination of living man. In vain shall +Dryasdust strive: things mad, chaotic and without ascertainable purpose +or result, cannot be fixed into human memories. Fix them there by never +so many Documentary Histories, elaborate long-eared Pedantries, and +cunning threads, the poor human memory has an alchemy against such ill +usage;--it forgets them again; grows to know them as a mere torpor, a +stupidity and horror, and instinctively flies from Dryasdust and them." + +Alive to any considerable degree, in the poor human imagination, this +Editor does not expect or even wish the Austrian-Succession War to be. +Enough for him if it could be understood sufficiently to render his +poor History of Friedrich intelligible. For it enwraps Friedrich like +a world-vortex henceforth; modifies every step of his existence +henceforth; and apart from it, there is no understanding of his business +or him. "So much as sticks to Friedrich:" that was our original bargain! +Assist loyally, O reader, and we will try to make the indispensable a +minimum for you. + + + + +WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE AUSTRIAN-SUCCESSION WAR? + +The first point to be noted is, Where did it originate? To which the +answer mainly is, With that lean Gentleman whom we saw with Papers in +the OEil-de-Boeuf on New-year's day last. With Monseigneur the Marechal +de Belleisle principally; with the ambitious cupidities and baseless +vanities of the French Court and Nation, as represented by Belleisle. +George II.'s Spanish War, if you will examine, had a real necessity in +it. Jenkins's Ear was the ridiculous outside figure this matter had: +Jenkins's Ear was one final item of it; but the poor English People, +in their wrath and bellowings about that small item, were intrinsically +meaning: "Settle the account; let us have that account cleared up and +liquidated; it has lain too long!" And seldom were a People more in the +right, as readers shall yet see. + +The English-Spanish War had a basis to stand on in this Universe. The +like had the Prussian-Austrian one; so all men now admit. If Friedrich +had not business there, what man ever had in an enterprise he ventured +on? Friedrich, after such trial and proof as has seldom been, got +his claims on Schlesien allowed by the Destinies. His claims on +Schlesien;--and on infinitely higher things; which were found to be his +and his Nation's, though he had not been consciously thinking of them +in making that adventure. For, as my poor Friend insists, there ARE Laws +valid in Earth and in Heaven; and the great soul of the world is just. +Friedrich had business in this War; and Maria Theresa VERSUS Friedrich +had likewise cause to appear in court, and do her utmost pleading +against him. + +But if we ask, What Belleisle or France and Louis XV. had to do there? +the answer is rigorously, Nothing. Their own windy vanities, ambitions, +sanctioned not by fact and the Almighty Powers, but by phantasm and the +babble of Versailles; transcendent self-conceit, intrinsically insane; +pretensions over their fellow-creatures which were without basis +anywhere in Nature, except in the French brain alone: it was this that +brought Belleisle and France into a German War. And Belleisle and France +having gone into an Anti-Pragmatic War, the unlucky George and his +England were dragged into a Pragmatic one,--quitting their own business, +on the Spanish Main, and hurrying to Germany,--in terror as at Doomsday, +and zeal to save the Keystone of Nature these. That is the notable point +in regard to this War: That France is to be called the author of it, +who, alone of all the parties, had no business there whatever. And the +wages due to France for such a piece of industry,--the reader will yet +see what wages France and the other parties got, at the tail of the +affair. For that too is apparent in our day. + +We have often said, the Spanish-English War was itself likely to +have kindled Europe; and again Friedrich's Silesian War was itself +likely,--France being nearly sure to interfere. But if both these Wars +were necessary ones, and if France interfered in either of them on the +wrong side, the blame will be to France, not to the necessary Wars. +France could, in no way, have interfered in a more barefacedly unjust +and gratuitous manner than she now did; nor, on any terms, have so +palpably made herself the author of the conflagration of deliriums +that ensued for above Seven years henceforth. Nay for above Twenty +years,--the settlement of this Silesian Pragmatic-Antipragmatic matter +(and of Jenkins's Ear, incidentally, ALONG with this!) not having fairly +completed itself till 1763. + + + + +HOW BELLEISLE MADE VISIT TO TEUTSCHLAND; AND THERE WAS NO FIT HENRY THE +FOWLER TO WELCOME HIM. + +It is very wrong to keep Enchanted Wiggeries sitting in this world, as +if they were things still alive! By a species of "conservatism," which +gets praised in our Time, but which is only a slothful cowardice, base +indifference to truth, and hatred to trouble in comparison with +lies that sit quiet, men now extensively practise this method of +procedure;--little dreaming how bad and fatal it at all times is. When +the brains are out, things really ought to die;--no matter what lovely +things they were, and still affect to be, the brains being out, they +actually ought in all cases to die, and with their best speed get +buried. Men had noses, at one time; and smelt the horror of a deceased +reality fallen putrid, of a once dear verity become mendacious, +phantasmal; but they have, to an immense degree, lost that organ since, +and are now living comfortably cheek-by-jowl with lies. Lies of that sad +"conservative" kind,--and indeed of all kinds whatsoever: for that kind +is a general mother; and BREEDS, with a fecundity that is appalling, did +you heed it much!-- + +It was pity that the "Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation," had not +got itself buried some ages before. Once it had brains and life, but now +they were out. Under the sway of Barbarossa, under our old anti-chaotic +friend Henry the Fowler, how different had it been! No field for a +Belleisle to come and sow tares in; no rotten thatch for a French +Sun-god to go sailing about in the middle of, and set fire to! Henry, +when the Hungarian Pan-Slavonic Savagery came upon him, had got ready in +the interim; and a mangy dog was the "tribute" he gave them; followed +by the due extent of broken crowns, since they would not be content with +that. That was the due of Belleisle too,--had there been a Henry to meet +him with it, on his crossing the marches, in Trier Country, in Spring, +1741: "There, you anarchic Upholstery-Belus, fancying yourself God of +the Sun; there is what Teutschland owes you. Go home with that; and mind +your own business, which I am told is plentiful, if you had eye for it!" + +But the sad truth is, for above Four Centuries now,--and especially for +Three, since little Kaiser Karl IV. "gave away all the moneys of it," in +his pressing occasions, this Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation, has +been more and ever more becoming an imaginary quantity; the Kaisership +of it not capable of being worn by anybody, except a Hapsburger who +had resources otherwise his own. The fact is palpable. And Austria, and +Anti-Reformation Entity, "conservative" in that bad sense, of slothfully +abhorring trouble in comparison with lies, had not found the poison more +mal-odorous in this particular than in many others. And had cherished +its "Holy Romish Reich" grown UNholy, phantasmal, like so much else +in Austrian things; and had held firm grip of it, these Three Hundred +years; and found it a furthersome and suitable thing, though sensible +it was more and more becoming an Enchanted Wiggery pure and simple. +Nor have the consequences failed; they never do. Belleisle, Louis XIV., +Henri II., Francois I.: it is long since the French have known this +state of matters; and been in the habit of breaking in upon it, +fomenting internal discontents, getting up unjust Wars,--with or +without advantage to France, but with endless disadvantage to Germany. +Schmalkaldic War; Thirty-Years War; Louis XIV.'s Wars, which brought +Alsace and the other fine cuttings; late Polish-Election War, and its +Lorraine; Austrian-Succession War: many are the wars kindled on poor +Teutschland by neighbor France; and large is the sum of woes to Europe +and to it, chargeable to that score. Which appears even yet not to be +completed?--Perhaps not, even yet. For it is the penalty of being loyal +to Enchanted Wiggeries; of living cheek-by-jowl with lies of a peaceable +quality, and stuffing your nostrils, and searing your soul, against the +accursed odor they all have!--For I can assure you the curse of Heaven +does dwell in one and all of them; and the son of Adam cannot too soon +get quit of their bad partnership, cost him what it may. + +Belleisle's Journey as Sun-god began in March,--"end of March, 1741," no +date of a day to be had for that memorable thing:--and he went gyrating +about, through the German Courts, for almost a year afterwards; his +course rather erratic, but always in a splendor as of Belus, with +those hundred and thirty French Lords and Valets, and the glory of Most +Christian King irradiating him. Very diligent for the first six months, +till September or October next, which we may call his SEED-TIME; and by +no means resting after nine or twelve months, while the harrowing and +hoeing went on. In January, 1742, he had the great satisfaction to see a +Bavarian Kaiser got, instead of an Austrian; and everywhere the fruit of +his diligent husbandry begin to BEARD fairly above ground, into a crop +of facts (like armed men from dragon's teeth), and "the pleasure of +the"--WHOM was it the pleasure of?--"prosper in his hands." Belleisle +was a pretty man; but I doubt it was not "the Lord" he was doing the +pleasure of, on this occasion, but a very Different Personage, disguised +to resemble him in poor Belleisle's eyes!-- + +Austria was not dangerous to France in late times, and now least of all; +how far from it,--humbled by the loss of Lorraine; and now as it were +bankrupt, itself in danger from all the world. And France, so far as +express Treaties could bind a Nation, was bound to maintain Austria in +its present possessions. The bitter loss of Lorraine had been sweetened +to the late Kaiser by that solitary drop of consolation;--as his Failure +of a Life had been, poor man: "Failure the most of me has been; but +I have got Pragmatic Sanction, thanks to Heaven, and even France +has signed it!" Loss of Lorraine, loss of Elsass, loss of the Three +Bishoprics; since Karl V.'s times, not to speak of earlier, there has +been mere loss on loss:--and now is the time to consummate it, think +Belleisle and France, in spite of Treaties. + +Towards humbling or extinguishing Austria, Belleisle has two preliminary +things to do: FIRST, Break the Pragmatic Sanction, and get everybody to +break it; SECOND, Guide the KAISERWAHL (Election of a Kaiser), so that +it issue, not in Grand-Duke Franz, Maria Theresa's Husband, as all +expect it will, but in another party friendly to France:--say in Karl +Albert of Bavaria, whose Family have long been good clients of ours, +dependent on us for a living in the Political World. Belleisle, there +is little doubt, had from the first cast his eye on this unlucky Karl +Albert for Kaiser; but is uncertain as to carrying him. Belleisle will +take another if he must; Kur-Sachsen, for example;--any other, and all +others, only not the Grand-Duke: that is a point already fixed with +Belleisle, though he keeps it well in the background, and is careful not +to hint it till the time come. + +In regard to Pragmatic Sanction, Belleisle and France found no +difficulty,--or the difficulty only (which we hope must have been +considerable) of eating their own Covenant in behalf of Pragmatic +Sanction; and declaring, which they did without visible blush, That it +was a Covenant including, if not expressly, then tacitly, as all human +covenants do, this clause, "SALVO JURE TERTII (Saving the rights of +Third Parties),"--that is, of Electors of Bavaria, and others who may +object, against it! O soul of honor, O first Nation of the Universe, +was there ever such a subterfuge? Here is a field of flowering corn, the +biggest in the world, begirt with elaborate ring-fence, many miles of +firm oak-paling pitched and buttressed;--the poor gentleman now dead +gave you his Lorraine, and almost his life, for swearing to keep up said +paling. And you do keep it up,--all except six yards; through which the +biggest team on the highway can drive freely, and the paltriest cadger's +ass can step in for a bellyful! + +It appears, the first Nation of the Universe had, at an early period of +their consultations, hit upon this of SALVO JURE TERTII, as the method +of eating their Covenant, before an enlightened public. [20th January, +1741, in their Note of Ceremony, recognizing Maria Theresa as Queen of +Hungary, Note which had been due so very long (ADELUNG, ii. 206), there +is ominous silence on Pragmatic Sanction; "beginning of March," there +is virtual avowal of SALVO JURE (ib. 279);--open avowal on Belleisle's +advent (ib. 305).] And they persisted in it, there being no other for +them. An enlightened public grinned sardonically, and was not taken in; +but, as so many others were eating their Covenants, under equally +poor subterfuges, the enlightened public could not grin long on any +individual,--could only gape mutely, with astonishment, on all. A +glorious example of veracity and human nobleness, set by the gods of +this lower world to their gazing populations, who could read in the +Gazettes! What is truth, falsity, human Kingship, human Swindlership? +Are the Ten Commandments only a figure of speech, then? And it was +some beggarly Attorney-Devil that built this sublunary world and us? +Questions might rise; had long been rising;--but now there was about +enough, and the response to them was falling due; and Belleisle himself, +what is very notable, had been appointed to get ready the response. +Belleisle (little as Belleisle dreamt of it, in these high Enterprises) +was ushering in, by way of response, a RAGNAROK, or Twilight of the +Gods, which, as "French Revolution, or Apotheosis of SANSCULOTTISM," is +now well known;--and that is something to consider of! + + + + +DOWNBREAK OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION; MANNER OF THE CHIEF ARTISTS IN HANDLING +THEIR COVENANTS. + +The operation once accomplished on its own Pragmatic Covenant, France +found no difficulty with the others. Everybody was disposed to eat his +Covenant, who could see advantage in so doing, after that admirable +example. The difficulty of France and Belleisle rather was, to keep +the hungry parties back: "Don't eat your Covenant TILL the proper time; +patience, we say!" A most sad Miscellany of Royalties, coming all to +the point, "Will you eat your Covenant, Will you keep it?"--and eating, +nearly all; in fact, wholly all that needed to eat. + +On the first Invasion of Silesia, Maria Theresa had indignantly +complained in every Court; and pointing to Pragmatic Sanction, had +demanded that such Law of Nature be complied with, according to +covenant. What Maria Theresa got by this circuit of the Courts, +everybody still knows. Except England, which was willing, and Holland, +which was unwilling, all Courts had answered, more or less uneasily: +"Law of Nature,--humph: yes!"--and, far from doing anything, not one of +them would with certainty promise to do anything. From England alone and +her little King (to whom Pragmatic Sanction is the Palladium of Human +Freedoms and the Keystone of Nature) could she get the least help. The +rest hung back; would not open heart or pocket; waited till they +saw. They do now see; now that Belleisle has done his feat of +Covenant-eating!-- + +Eleven great Powers, some count Thirteen, some Twelve, [Scholl, ii. 286; +Adelung, LIST, ii. 127.]--but no two agree, and hardly one agrees with +himself;--enough, the Powers of Europe, from Naples and Madrid to Russia +and Sweden, have all signed it, let us say a Dozen or a Baker's-Dozen +of them. And except our little English Paladin alone, whose interest +and indeed salvation seemed to him to lie that way, and who needed no +Pragmatic Covenant to guide him, nobody whatever distinguished himself +by keeping it. Between December, 1740, when Maria Theresa set up her +cries in all Courts, on to April, 1741, England, painfully dragging +Holland with her, had alone of the Baker's-Dozen spoken word of +disapproval; much less done act of hindrance. Two especially (France and +Bavaria, not to mention Spain) had done the reverse, and disowned, and +declared against, Pragmatic Sanction. And after the Battle of Mollwitz, +when the "little stone" took its first leap, and set all thundering, +then came, like the inrush of a fashion, throughout that high Miscellany +or Baker's-Dozen, the general eating of Covenants (which was again +quickened in August, for a reason we shall see): and before November +of that Year, there was no Covenant left to eat. Of the Baker's-Dozen +nobody remained but little George the Paladin, dragging Holland +painfully along with him;--and Pragmatic Sanction had gone to water, +like ice in a June day, and its beautiful crystalline qualities and +prismatic colors were forever vanished from the world. Will the reader +note a point or two, a personage or two, in this sordid process,--not +for the process's sake, which is very sordid and smells badly, but for +his own sake, to elucidate his own course a little in the intricacies +now coming or come upon him and me? + +1. ELECTOR OF BAVARIA.--Karl Albert of Baiern is by some counted as a +Signer of the Pragmatic Sanction, and by others not; which occasions +that discrepancy of sum-total in the Books. And he did once, in a sense, +sign it, he and his Brother of Koln; but, before the late Kaiser's +death, he had openly drawn back from it again; and counted himself a +Non-signer. Signer or not, he, for his part, lost no moment (but rather +the contrary) in openly protesting against it, and signifying that he +never would acknowledge it. Of this the reader saw something, at the +time of her Hungarian Majesty's Accession. Date and circumstances of it, +which deserve remembering, are more precisely these: October 20th, 1740, +Karl Albert's Ambassador, Perusa by name, wrote to Karl from Vienna, +announcing that the Kaiser was just dead. From Munchen, on the 21st, +Karl Albert, anticipating such an event, but not yet knowing it, orders +Perusa, in CASE of the Kaiser's decease, which was considered probable +at Munchen, to demand instant audience of the proper party (Kanzler +Sinzendorf), and there openly lodge his Protest. Which Perusa did, +punctually in all points,--no moment LOST, but rather the contrary, as +we said! Let poor Karl Albert have what benefit there is in that fact. +He was, of all the Anti-Pragmatic Covenant-Breakers (if he ever fairly +were such), the only one that proceeded honorably, openly and at once, +in the matter; and he was, of them all, by far the most unfortunate. + +This is the poor gentleman whom Belleisle had settled on for being +Kaiser. And Kaiser he became; to his frightful sorrow, as it proved: his +crown like a crown of burning iron, or little better! There is little of +him in the Books, nor does one desire much: a tall aquiline type of +man; much the gentleman in aspect; and in reality, of decorous serious +deportment, and the wish to be high and dignified. He had a kind of +right, too, in the Anti-Pragmatic sense; and was come of Imperial +kindred,--Kaiser Ludwig the Bavarian, and Kaiser Rupert of the Pfalz, +called Rupert KLEMM, or Rupert Smith's-vice, if any reader now remember +him, were both of his ancestors. He might fairly pretend to Kaisership +and to Austrian ownership,--had he otherwise been equal to such +enterprises. But, in all ambitions and attempts, howsoever grounded +otherwise, there is this strict question on the threshold: "Are you of +weight for the adventure; are not you far too light for it?" Ambitious +persons often slur this question; and get squelched to pieces, by +bringing the Twelve Labors of Hercules on Unherculean backs! Not every +one is so lucky as our Friedrich in that particular,--whose back, though +with difficulty, held out. Which poor Karl Albert's never had much +likelihood to do. Few mortals in any age have offered such an example of +the tragedies which Ambition has in store for her votaries; and what a +matter Hope FULFILLED may be to the unreflecting Son of Adam. + +We said, he had a kind of right to Austria, withal. He descended by the +female line from Kaiser Ferdinand I. (as did Kur-Sachsen, though by +a younger Daughter than Karl Albert's Ancestress); and he appealed to +Kaiser Ferdinand's Settlement of the Succession, as a higher than any +subsequent Pragmatic could be. Upon which there hangs an incident; still +famous to German readers. Karl Albert, getting into Public Argument +in this way, naturally instructed Perusa to demand sight of Kaiser +Ferdinand's Last Will, the tenor of which was known by authentic Copy +in Munchen, if not elsewhere among the kindred. After some delay, Perusa +(4th November, 1740), summoning the other excellencies to witness, got +sight of the Will: to his horror, there stood, in the cardinal passage, +instead of "MUNNLICHE" (male descendants), "EHELICHE" (lawfully begotten +descendants),--fatal to Karl Albert's claim! Nor could he PROVE that +the Parchment had been scraped or altered, though he kept trying and +examining for some days. He withdrew thereupon, by order, straightway +from Vienna; testifying in dumb-show what he thought. "It is your Copy +that is false," cried the Vienna people: "it has been foisted on +you, with this wrong word in it; done by somebody (your friend, the +Excellency Herr von Hartmann, shall we guess?), wishing to curry favor +with ambitious foolish persons!" Such was the Austrian story. Perhaps in +Munchen itself their Copyist was not known;--for aught I learn, the Copy +was made long since, and the Copyist dead. Hartmann, named as Copyist by +the Vienna people, made emphatic public answer: "Never did I copy it, or +see it!" And there rose great argument, which is not yet quite ended, +as to the question, "Original falsified, or Copy falsified?"--and the +modern vote, I believe, rather clearly is, That the Austrian Officials +had done it--in a case of necessity. [Adelung, ii. 150-154 (14th-20th +November, 1740), gives the public facts, without commentary. Hormayr +(_Anemonen aus dem Tagebuch eines alten Pilgersmannes,_ Jena, 1845, i. +162-169,--our old Hormayr of the AUSTRIAN PLUTARCH, but now Anonymous, +and in Opposition humor) considers the case nearly proved against +Austria, and that Bartenstein and one Bessel, a pillar of the Church, +were concerned in it.] Possible? "But you will lose your soul!" said the +Parson once to a poor old Gentlewoman, English by Nation, who refused, +in dying, to contradict some domestic fiction, to give up some domestic +secret: "But you will lose your soul, Madam!"--"Tush, what signifies my +poor silly soul compared with the honor of the family?"-- + +2. KING FRIEDRICH;--King Friedrich may be taken as the Anti-Pragmatic +next in order of time. He too lost not a moment, and proceeded openly; +no quirking to be charged upon him. His account of himself in this +matter always was: "By the Treaty of Wusterhausen, 1726, unquestionably +Prussia undertook to guarantee Pragmatic Sanction; the late Kaiser +undertaking in return, by the same Treaty, to secure Berg and Julich +to Prussia, and to have some progress made in it within six months from +signing. And unquestionably also, the late Kaiser did thereupon, or even +had already done, precisely the reverse; namely, secured, so far as in +him was possible, Berg and Julich to Kur-Pfalz. Such Treaty, having +in this way done suicide, is dead and become zero: and I am free, in +respect of Pragmatic Sanction, to do whatever shall seem good to me. My +wish was, and would still be, To maintain Pragmatic Sanction, and even +to support it by 100,000 men, and secure the Election of the Grand-Duke +to the Kaisership,--were my claims on Silesia once liquidated. But these +have no concern with Pragmatic Sanction, for or against: these are good +against whoever may fall Heir to the House of Austria, or to Silesia: +and my intention is, that the strong hand, so long clenched upon my +rights, shall open itself by this favorable opportunity, and give them +out." That is Friedrich's case. And in truth the jury everywhere has to +find,--so soon as instructed, which is a long process in some sections +of it (in England, for example),--That Pragmatic Sanction has not, +except helpless lamentations, "Alas that YOU should be here to insist +upon your rights, and to open fists long closed!"--the least, word to +say to Friedrich. + +3. TERMAGANT OF SPAIN.--Perhaps the most distracted of the +Anti-Pragmatic subterfuges was that used by Spain, when the She-dragon +or Termagant saw good to eat her Covenant; which was at a very early +stage. The Termagant's poor Husband is a Bourbon, not a Hapsburg at all: +"But has not he fallen heir to the Spanish Hapsburgs; become all one +as they, an ALTER-EGO of the Spanish Hapsburgs?" asks she. "And the +Austrian Hapsburgs being out, do not the Spanish Hapsburgs come in? +He, I say, this BOURBON-Hapsburg, he is the real Hapsburg, now that +the Austrian Branch is gone; President he of the Golden Fleece [which +a certain "Archduchess," Maria Theresa, had been meddling with]; +Proprietor, he, of Austrian Italy, and of all or most things +Austrian!"--and produces Documentary Covenants of Philip II. with his +Austrian Cousins; "to which Philip," said the Termagant, "we Bourbons +surely, if you consider it, are Heir and Alter-Ego!" Is not, this a +curious case of testamentary right; human greed obliterating personal +identity itself? + +Belleisle had a great deal of difficulty, keeping the Termagant back +till things were ripe. Her hope practically was, Baby Carlos being +prosperous King of Naples this long while, to get the Milanese for +another Baby she has,--Baby Philip, whom she once thought of making +Pope;--and she is eager beyond measure to have a stroke at the Milanese. +"Wait!" hoarsely whispers Belleisle to her; and she can scarcely wait. +Maria Theresa's Note of Announcement "New Queen of Hungary, may it +please you!" the French, as we saw, were very long in answering. The +Termagant did not answer it at all; complained on the contrary, "What is +this, Madam! Golden Fleece, you?"--and, early in March, informed +mankind that she was Spanish Hapsburg, the genuine article; and sent +off Excellency Montijos, a little man of great expense, to assist at +the Election of a proper Kaiser, and be useful to Belleisle in the great +things now ahead. [Spain's Golden-Fleece pretensions, 17th January, 1741 +(Adelung, ii. 233, 234); "Publishes at Paris," in March (ib. 293); and +on the 23d March accredits Montijos (ib. 293): Italian War, held back +by Belleisle and the English Fleets, cannot get begun till October +following.] + +4. KING OF POLAND.--The most ticklish card in Belleisle's game, +and probably the greatest fool of these Anti-Pragmatic Dozen, was +Kur-Sachsen, King of Poland. He, like Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, derives +from Kaiser Ferdinand, though by a YOUNGER Daughter, and has a like +claim on the Austrian Succession; claim nullified, however, by that +small circumstance itself, but which he would fain mend by one makeshift +or another; and thinks always it must surely be good for something. This +is August III., this King of Poland, as readers know; son of August the +Strong: Papa made him change to the Catholic religion so called,--for +the sake of getting Poland, which proves a very poor possession to +him. Who knows what damage the poor creature may have got by that sad +operation;--which all Saxony sighed to the heart on hearing of; for it +was always hoped he had some real religion, and would deliver them +from that Babylonish Captivity again! He married Kaiser Joseph I.'s +Daughter,--Maria Theresa's Cousin, and by an Elder Brother;--this, too, +ought surely to be something in the Anti-Pragmatic line? It is true, +Kur-Baiern has to Wife another Daughter of Kaiser Joseph's; but she is +the younger: "I am senior THERE, at least!" thinks the foolish man. + +Too true, he had finally, in past years, to sign Pragmatic Sanction; no +help for it, no hope without it, in that Polish-Election time. He +will have to eat his Covenant, therefore, as the first step in +Anti-Pragmatism; and he is extremely in doubt as to the How, sometimes +as to the Whether. And shifts and whirls, accordingly, at a great rate, +in these months and years; now on Maria Theresa's side, deluded by +shadows from Vienna, and getting into Russian Partition-Treaties; anon +tickled by Belleisle into the reverse posture; then again reversing. +An idle, easy-tempered, yet greedy creature, who, what with religious +apostasy in early manhood, what with flaccid ambitions since, and idle +gapings after shadows, has lost helm in this world; and will make a very +bad voyage for self and country. + +His Palinurus and chief Counsellor, at present and afterwards, is a +Count von Bruhl, once page to August the Strong; now risen to such +height: Bruhl of the three hundred and sixty-five suits of clothes; whom +it has grown wearisome even to laugh at. A cunning little wretch, they +say, and of deft tongue; but surely among the unwisest of all the Sons +of Adam in that day, and such a Palinurus as seldom steered before. +Kur-Sachsen, being Reichs-Vicar in the Northern Parts,--(Kur-Baiern and +Kur-Pfalz, as friends and good Wittelsbacher Cousins surely ought, in a +crisis like this, have agreed to be JOINT-Vicars in the Southern Parts, +and no longer quarrel upon it),--Kur-Sachsen has a good deal to do +in the Election preludings, formalities and prearrangements; and is +capable, as Kur-Pfalz and Cousin always are, of serving as chisel to +Belleisle's mallet, in such points, which will plentifully turn up. + +5. KING OF SARDINIA.--Reichs-Vicar in the Italian Parts is Charles +Amadeus King of Sardinia (tough old Victor's Son, whom we have heard +of): an office mostly honorary; suitable to the important individual +who keeps the Door of the Alps. Charles Amadeus had signed the Pragmatic +Sanction; but eats his Covenant, like the others, on example of +France;--having, as he now bethinks himself, claims on the Milanese. +There are two claimants on the Milanese, then; the Spanish Termagant, +and he? Yes; and they will have their difficulties, their extensive +tusslings in Italian War and otherwise, to make an adjustment of it; +and will give Belleisle (at least the Doorkeeper will) an immensity of +trouble, in years coming. + +In this way do the Pragmatic people eat their own Covenant, one after +the other, and are not ashamed;--till all have eaten, or as good as +eaten; and, almost within year and day, Pragmatic Sanction is a vanished +quantity; and poor Kaiser Karl's life-labor is not worth the sheepskin +and stationery it cost him. History reports in sum, That "nobody kept +the Pragmatic Sanction; that the few [strictly speaking, the one] who +acted by it, would have done precisely the same, though there had never +been such a Document in existence." To George II., it is, was and will +be, the Keystone of Nature, the true Anti-French palladium of mankind; +and he, dragging the unwilling Dutch after him, will do great things for +it: but nobody else does anything at all. Might we hope to bid adieu to +it, in this manner, and never to mention it again!-- + +Document more futile there had not been in Nature, nor will be. +Friedrich had not yet fought at Mollwitz in assertion of his Silesian +claim, when the poor Pope--poor soul, who had no Covenant to eat, +but took pattern by others--claimed, in solemn Allocution, Parma and +Piacenza for the Holy See. [Adelung, ii. 376 (5th April, 1741)] All the +world is claiming. Of the Court of Wurtemberg and its Protestings, and +"extensive Deduction" about nothing at all, we do not speak; [Ib. ii. +195, 403.] nor of Montmorency claiming Luxemburg, of which he is Titular +"Duke;" nor of Monsignore di Guastalla claiming Mantua; nor of--In +brief, the fences are now down; a broad French gap in those miles of +elaborate paling, which are good only as firewood henceforth, and +any ass may rush in and claim a bellyful. Great are the works of +Belleisle!-- + + + + +CONCERNING THE IMPERIAL ELECTION (Kaiserwahl) THAT IS TO BE: CANDIDATES +FOR KAISERSHIP. + +At equal step with the ruining of Pragmatic Sanction goes on that +spoiling of Grand-Duke Franz's Election to the Kaisership: these two +operations run parallel; or rather, under different forms, they are one +and the same operation. "To assist, as a Most Christian neighbor ought, +in picking out the fit Kaiser," was Belleisle's ostensible mission; and +indeed this does include virtually his whole errand. Till three months +after Belleisle's appearance in the business, Grand-Duke Franz never +doubted but he should be Kaiser; Friedrich's offers to, help him in it +he had scorned, as the offer of a fifth wheel to his chariot, already +rushing on with four. "Here is Kur-Bohmen, Austria's own vote," counts +the Grand-Duke; "Kur-Sachsen, doing Prussian-Partition Treaties for us; +Kur-Trier, our fat little Schonborn, Austrian to the bone; Kur-Mainz, +important chairman, regulator of the Conclave; here are Four Electors +for us: then also Kur-Pfalz, he surely, in return for the Berg-Julich +service; finally, and liable to no question Kur-Hanover, little +George of England with his endless guineas and resources, a little +Jack-the-Giantkiller, greater than all Giants, Paladin of the Pragmatic +and us: here are Six Electors of the Nine. Let Brandenburg and the +Bavarian Couple, Kur-Baiern and Kur-Koln, do their pleasure!" This was +Grand-Duke Franz's calculation. + +By the time Belleisle had been three months in Germany, the Grand-Duke's +notion had changed; and he began "applying to the Sea-Powers," "to +Russia," and all round. In Belleisle's sixth month, the Grand-Duke, +after such demolition of Pragmatic, and such disasters and +contradictions as had been, saw his case to be desperate; though he +still stuck to it, Austrian-like,--or rather, Austria for him stuck +to it, the Grand-Duke being careless of such things;--and indeed, +privately, never did give in, even AFTER the Election, as we shall have +to note. + +The Reich itself being mainly a Phantasm or Enchanted Wiggery, its +"Kaiser-Choosing" (KAISERWAHL),--now getting under way at Frankfurt, +with preliminary outskirts at Regensburg, and in the Chancery of +Mainz--is very phantasmal, not to say ghastly; and forbidding, not +inviting, to the human eye. Nine Kurfursts, Choosers of Teutschland's +real Captain, in none of whom is there much thought for Teutschland or +its interests,--and indeed in hardly more than One of whom (Prussian +Friedrich, if readers will know it) is there the least thought that way; +but, in general, much indifference to things divine or diabolic, and +thought for one's own paltry profits and losses only! So it has long +been; and so it now is, more than usual.--Consider again, are Enchanted +Wiggeries a beautiful thing, in this extremely earnest World?-- + +The Kaiserwahl is an affair depending much on processions, +proclamations, on delusions optical, acoustic; on palaverings, +manoeuvrings, holdings back, then hasty pushings forward; and indeed +is mainly, in more senses than one, under guidance of the Prince of the +Power of the Air. Unbeautiful, like a World-Parliament of Nightmares +(if the reader could conceive such a thing); huge formless, tongueless +monsters of that species, doing their "three readings,"--under +Presidency or chief-pipership as above! Belleisle, for his part, is +consummately skilful, and manages as only himself could. Keeps his game +well hidden, not a hint or whisper of it except in studied proportions; +spreads out his lines, his birdlime; tickles, entices, astonishes; goes +his rounds, like a subtle Fowler, taking captive the minds of men; +a Phoebus-Apollo, god of melody and of the sun, filling his net with +birds. + +I believe, old Kur-Pfalz, for the sake of French neighborhood, and +Berg-and-Julich, were there nothing more, was very helpful to him;--in +March past, when the Election was to have been, when it would have +gone at once in favor of the Grand-Duke, Kur-Pfalz got the Election +"postponed a little." Postponing, procrastinating; then again pushing +violently on, when things are ripe: Belleisle has only to give signal +to a fit Kur-Pfalz. In all Kurfurst Courts, the French Ambassadors sing +diligently to the tune Belleisle sets them; and Courts give ear, or will +do, when the charmer himself arrives. + +Kur-Sachsen, as above hinted, was his most delicate operation, in the +charming or trout-tickling way. And Kur-Sachsen--and poor Saxony, ever +since--knows if he did not do it well! "Deduct this Kur-Sachsen from the +Austrian side," calculates Belleisle; "add him to ours, it is almost an +equality of votes. Kur-Baiern, our own Imperial Candidate; Kur-Koln, his +Brother; Kur-Pfalz, by genealogy his Cousin (not to mention Berg-Julich +matters); here are three Wittelsbachers, knit together; three sure +votes; King Friedrich, Kur-Brandenburg, there is a fourth; and if +Kur-Sachsen would join?" But who knows if Kur-Sachsen will! The poor +soul has himself thoughts of being Kaiser; then no thoughts, and again +some: thoughts which Belleisle knows how to handle. "Yes, Kaiser you, +your Majesty; excellent!" And sets to consider the methods: "Hm, ha, hm! +Think, your Majesty: ought not that Bohemian Vote to be excluded, for +one thing? Kur-Bohmen is fallen into the distaff, Maria Theresa herself +cannot vote. Surely question will rise, Whether distaff can, validly, +hand it over to distaff's husband, as they are about doing? Whether, +in fact, Kur-Bohmen is not in abeyance for this time?" "So!" answered +Kur-Sachsen, Reichs-Vicarius. And thereupon meetings were summoned; +Nightmare Committees sat on this matter under the Reichs-Vicar, slowly +hatching it; and at length brought out, "Kur-Bohmen NOT transferable by +the distaff; Kur-Bohmen in abeyance for this time." Greatly to the joy +of Belleisle; infinitely to the chagrin of her Hungarian Majesty,--who +declared it a crying injustice (though I believe legally done in every +point); and by and by, even made it a plea of Nullity, destructive to +the Election altogether, when her Hungarian Majesty's affairs looked +up again, and the world would listen to Austrian sophistries and +obstinacies. This was an essential service from Kur-Sachsen. [Began, +indistinctly, "in March" (1741); languid "for some months" (Adelung, ii. +292); "November 4th," was settled in the negative, "Kur-Bohmen not to +have a vote" (_Maria Theresiens Leben,_ p. 47 n.)]. + +After which Kur-Sachsen's own poor Kaisership died away into "Hm, ha, +hm!" again, with a grateful Belleisle. Who nevertheless dexterously +retained Kur-Sachsen as ally; tickling the poor wretch with other baits. +Of the Kaiser he had really meant all along, there was dead silence, +except between the parties; no whisper heard, for six months after it +had been agreed upon; none, for two or near three months after formal +settlement, and signing and sealing. Karl Albert's Treaty with Belleisle +was 18th May, 1741; and he did not declare himself a Candidate till +1st-4th July following. [Adelung, ii. 357, 421.] Belleisle understands +the Nightmare Parliaments, the electioneering art, and how to deal +with Enchanted Wiggeries. More perfect master, in that sad art, has not +turned up on record to one's afflicted mind. Such a Sun-god, and doing +such a Scavengerism! Belleisle, in the sixth month (end of August, +1741), feels sure of a majority. How Belleisle managed, after that, to +checkmate George of England, and make even George vote for him, and the +Kaiserwahl to be unanimous against Grand-Duke Franz, will be seen. Great +are Belleisle's doings in this world, if they were useful either to God +or man, or to Belleisle himself first of all!-- + + + + +TEUTSCHLAND TO BE CARVED INTO SOMETHING OF SYMMETRY, SHOULD THE +BELLEISLE ENTERPRISES SUCCEED. + +Belleisle's schemes, in the rear of all this labor, are grandiose to a +degree. Men wonder at the First Napoleon's mad notions in that kind. But +no Napoleon, in the fire of the revolutionary element; no Sham-Napoleon, +in the ashes of it: hardly a Parisian Journalist of imaginative turn, +speculating on the First Nation of the Universe and what its place +is,--could go higher than did this grandiose Belleisle; a man with +clear thoughts in his head, under a torpid Louis XV. Let me see, thinks +Belleisle. Germany with our Bavarian for Kaiser; Germany to be cut +into, say, Four little Kingdoms: 1. Bavaria with the lean Kaiserhood; +2. Saxony, fattened by its share of Austria; 3. Prussia the like; +4. Austria itself, shorn down as above, and shoved out to the remote +Hungarian parts: VOILA. These, not reckoning Hanover, which perhaps we +cannot get just yet, are Four pretty Sovereignties. Three, or Two, of +these hireable by gold, it is to be hoped. And will not France have +a glorious time of it; playing master of the revels there, egging one +against the other! Yes, Germany is then, what Nature designed it, a +Province of France: little George of Hanover himself, and who knows +but England after him, may one day find their fate inevitable, like the +others. O Louis, O my King, is not this an outlook? Louis le Grand was +great; but you are likely to be Louis the Grandest; and here is a World +shaped, at last, after the real pattern! + +Such are, in sad truth, Belleisle's schemes; not yet entirely hatched +into daylight or articulation; but becoming articulate, to himself and +others, more and more. Reader, keep them well in mind: I had rather +not speak of them again. They are essential to our Story; but they +are afflictively vain, contrary to the Laws of Fact; and can, now +or henceforth, in nowise be. My friend, it was not Beelzebub, nor +Mephistopheles, nor Autolyeus-Apollo that built this world and us; it +was Another. And you will get your crown well rapped, M. le Marechal, +for so forgetting that fact! France is an extremely pretty creature; +but this of making France the supreme Governor and God's-Vicegerent of +Nations, is, was, and remains, one of the maddest notions. France at its +ideal BEST, and with a demi-god for King over it, were by no means fit +for such function; nay of many Nations is eminently the unfittest for +it. And France at its WORST or nearly so, with a Louis XV. over it by +way of demi-god--O Belleisle, what kind of France is this; shining in +your grandiose imagination, in such contrast to the stingy fact: like +a creature consisting of two enormous wings, five hundred yards in +potential extent, and no body bigger than that of a common cock, +weighing three pounds avoirdupois. Cock with his own gizzard much out of +sorts, too! + +It was "early in March" [Adelung, ii. 305.] when Belleisle, the +Artificial Sun-god, quitted Paris on this errand. He came by the Moselle +road; called on the Rhine Kurfursts, Koln, Trier, Mainz; dazzling them, +so far as possible, with his splendor for the mind and for the eye. +He proceeded next to Dresden, which is a main card: and where there is +immense manipulation needed, and the most delicate trout-tickling; this +being a skittish fish, and an important, though a foolish. Belleisle was +at Dresden when the Battle of Mollwitz fell out: what a windfall +into Belleisle's game! He ran across to Friedrich at Mollwitz, to +congratulate, to consult,--as we shall see anon. + +Belleisle, I am informed, in this preliminary Tour of his, speaks only, +or hints only (except in the proper quarters), of Election Business; +of the need there perhaps is, on the part of an Age growing in liberal +ideas, to exclude the Austrian Grand-Duke; to curb that ponderous, +harsh, ungenerous House of Austria, too long lording it over generous +Germany; and to set up some better House,--Bavaria, for example; Saxony, +for example? Of his plans in the rear of this he is silent; speaks only +by hints, by innuendoes, to the proper parties. But ripening or ripe, +plans do lie to rear; far-stretching, high-soaring; in part, dark even +at Versailles; darkly fermenting, not yet developed, in Belleisle's +own head; only the Future Kaiser a luminous fixed point, shooting beams +across the grandiose Creation-Process going on there. + +By the end of August, 1741, Belleisle had become certain of his game; +24th January, 1742, he saw himself as if winner. Before August, 1741, +he had got his Electors manipulated, tickled to his purpose, by the +witchery of a Phoebus-Autolycus or Diplomatic Sun-god; majority secured +for a Bavarian Kaiser, and against an Austrian one. And in the course +of that month,--what was still more considerable!--he was getting, under +mild pretexts, about a hundred thousand armed Frenchmen gently wafted +over upon the soil of Germany. Two complete French Armies, 40,000 each +(PLUS their Reserves), one over the Upper Rhine, one over the Lower; +about which we shall hear a great deal in time coming! Under mild +pretexts: "Peaceable as lambs, don't you observe? Merely to protect +Freedom of Election, in this fine neighbor country; and as allies to our +Friend of Bavaria, should he chance to be new Kaiser, and to persist +in his modest claims otherwise." This was his crowning stroke. Which +finished straightway the remnants of Pragmatic Sanction and of every +obstacle; and in a shining manner swept the roads clear. And so, on +January 24th following, the Election, long held back by Belleisle's +manoeuvrings, actually takes effect,--in favor of Karl Albert, our +invaluable Bavarian Friend. Austria is left solitary in the Reich; +Pragmatic Sanction, Keystone of Nature, which Belleisle and France had +sworn to keep in, is openly torn out by Belleisle and by France and +the majority of mankind; and Belleisle sees himself, to all appearance, +winner. + +This was the harvest reaped by Belleisle, within year and day; after +endless manoeuvring, such as only a Belleisle in the character of +Diplomatic Sun-god could do. Beyond question, the distracted ambitions +of several German Princes have been kindled by Belleisle; what we called +the rotten thatch of Germany is well on fire. This diligent sowing in +the Reich--to judge by the 100,000, armed men here, and the counter +hundreds of thousands arming--has been a pretty stroke of dragon's-teeth +husbandry on Belleisle's part. + + + + +BELLEISLE ON VISIT TO FRIEDRICH; SEES FRIEDRICH BESIEGE BRIEG, WITH +EFFECT. + +It was April 26th when Marechal de Belleisle, with his Brother the +Chevalier, with Valori and other bright accompaniment, arrived in +Friedrich's Camp. "Camp of Mollwitz" so named; between Mollwitz and +Brieg; where Friedrich is still resting, in a vigilant expectant +condition; and, except it be the taking of Brieg, has nothing military +on hand. Wednesday, 26th April, the distinguished Excellency--escorted +for the last three miles by 120 Horse, and the other customary +ceremonies--makes his appearance: no doubt an interesting one to +Friedrich, for this and the days next following. Their talk is not +reported anywhere: nor is it said with exactitude how far, whether +wholly now, or only in part now, Belleisle expounded his sublime ideas +to Friedrich; or what precise reception they got. Friedrich himself +writes long afterwards of the event; but, as usual, without precision, +except in general effect. Now, or some time after, Friedrich says he +found Belleisle, one morning, with brow clouded, knit into intense +meditation: "Have you had bad news, M. le Marechal?" asks +Friedrich. "No, oh no! I am considering what we shall make of that +Moravia?"--"Moravia; Hm!" Friedrich suppresses the glance that is rising +to his eyes: "Can't you give it to Saxony, then? Buy Saxony into the +Plan with it!" "Excellent," answers Belleisle, and unpuckers his stern +brow again. + +Friedrich thinks highly, and about this time often says so, of the man +Belleisle: but as to the man's effulgencies, and wide-winged Plans, none +is less seduced by them than Friedrich: "Your chickens are not hatched, +M. le Marechal; some of us hope they never will be,--though the +incubation-process may have uses for some of us!" Friedrich knows that +the Kaisership given to any other than Grand-Duke Franz will be mostly +an imaginary quantity. "A grand Symbolic Cloak in the eyes of the +vulgar; but empty of all things, empty even of cash, for the last Two +Hundred Years: Austria can wear it to advantage; no other mortal. +Hang it on Austria, which is a solid human figure,--so." And Friedrich +wishes, and hopes always, Maria Theresa will agree with him, and get it +for her Husband. "But to hang it on Bavaria, which is a lean bare pole? +Oh, M. le Marechal!--And those Four Kingdoms of yours: what a brood of +poultry, those! Chickens happily yet UNhatched;--eggs addle, I should +venture to hope:--only do go on incubating, M. le Marechal!" That is +Friedrich's notion of the thing. Belleisle stayed with Friedrich "a +few days," say the Books. After which, Friedrich, finding Belleisle too +winged a creature, corresponded, in preference, with Fleury and the Head +Sources;--who are always intensely enough concerned about those "aces" +falling to him, and how the same are to be "shared." [Details in +_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 912, 962, 916; in _OEuvres de Frederic,_ ii. 79, +80; &c.] + +Instead of parade or review in honor of Belleisle, there happened to be +a far grander military show, of the practical kind. The Siege of Brieg, +the Opening of the Trenches before Brieg, chanced to be just ready, on +Belleisle's arrival:--and would have taken effect, we find, that very +night, April 26th, had not a sudden wintry outburst, or "tempest of +extraordinary violence," prevented. Next night, night of the 27th-28th, +under shine of the full Moon, in the open champaign country, on both +sides of the River, it did take effect. An uncommonly fine thing of its +sort; as one can still see by reading Friedrich's strict Program for +it,--a most minute, precise and all-anticipating Program, which still +interests military men, as Friedrich's first Piece in that kind,--and +comparing therewith the Narratives of the performance which ensued. +[_Ordre und Dispositiones (SIC), wornach sich der General-Lieutenant von +Kalckstein bei Eroffnung der Trancheen, &c. (Oeuvres de Frederic,_ xxx. +39-44): the Program. _Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 916-928: the Narrative.] + +Kalkstein, Friedrich's old Tutor, is Captain of the Siege; under him +Jeetz, long used to blockading about Brieg. The silvery Oder has its due +bridges for communication; all is in readiness, and waiting manifold as +in the slip,--and there is Engineer Walrave, our Glogau Dutch friend, +who shall, at the right instant, "with his straw-rope (STROHSEIL) mark +out the first parallel," and be swift about it! There are 2,000 diggers, +with the due implements, fascines, equipments; duly divided, into Twelve +equal Parties, and "always two spademen to one pickman" (which indicates +soft sandy ground): these, with the escorting or covering battalions, +Twelve Parties they also, on both sides of the River, are to be in their +several stations at the fixed moments; man, musket, mattock, strictly +exact. They are to advance at Midnight; the covering battalions so many +yards ahead: no speaking is permissible, nor the least tobacco-smoking; +no drum to be allowed for fear of accident; no firing, unless you are +fired on. The covering battalions are all to "lie flat, so soon as they +get to their ground, all but the Officers and sentries." To rear +of these stand Walrave and assistants, silent, with their +straw-rope;--silent, then anon swift, and in whisper or almost by +dumb-show, "Now, then!" After whom the diggers, fascine-men, workers, +each in his kind, shall fall to, silently, and dig and work as for life. + +All which is done; exact as clock-work: beautiful to see, or half see, +and speak of to your Belleisle, in the serene moonlight! Half an hour's +marching, half an hour's swift digging: the Town-clock of Brieg was +hardly striking One, when "they had dug themselves in." And, before +daybreak, they had, in two batteries, fifty cannon in position, with +a proper set of mortars (other side the River),--ready to astonish +Piccolomini and his Austrians; who had not had the least whisper of +them, all night, though it was full moon. Graf von Piccolomini, an +active gallant person, had refused terms, some time before; and was +hopefully intent on doing his best. And now, suddenly, there rose round +Piccolomini such a tornado of cannonading and bombardment, day after +day, always "three guns of ours playing against one of theirs," that his +guns got ruined; that "his hay-magazines took fire,"--and the Schloss +itself, which was adjacent to them, took fire (a sad thing to Friedrich, +who commanded pause, that they might try quenching, but in vain):--and +that, in short, Piccolomini could not stand it; but on the 4th of May, +precisely after one week's experience, hung out the white flag, and +"beat chamade at 3 of the afternoon." He was allowed to march out next +morning, with escort to Neisse; parole pledged, Not to serve against us +for two years coming. + +Friedrich in person (I rather guess, Belleisle not now at his side) +saw the Garrison march out;--kept Piccolomini to dinner; a gallant +Piccolomini, who had hoped to do better, but could not. This was a +pretty enough piece of Siege-practice. Torstenson, with his Swedes, +had furiously besieged Brieg in 1642, a hundred years ago; and could do +nothing to it. Nothing, but withdraw again, futile; leaving 1,400 of his +people dead. Friedrich, the Austrian Garrison once out, set instantly +about repairing the works, and improving them into impregnability,--our +ugly friend Walrave presiding over that operation too. + +Belleisle, we may believe, so long as he continued, was full of polite +wonder over these things; perhaps had critical advices here and there, +which would be politely received. It is certain he came out extremely +brilliant, gifted and agreeable, in the eyes of Friedrich; who often +afterwards, not in the very strictest language, calls him a great man, +great soldier, and by far the considerablest person you French have. +It is no less certain, Belleisle displayed, so far as displayable, +his magnificent Diplomatic Ware to the best advantage. To which, we +perceive, the young King answered, "Magnificent, indeed!" but would not +bite all at once; and rather preferred corresponding with Fleury, +on business points, keeping the matter dexterously hanging, in an +illuminated element of hope and contingency, for the present. + +Belleisle, after we know not how many days, returned to Dresden; +perfected his work at Dresden, or shoved it well forward, with "that +Moravia" as bait. "Yes, King of Moravia, you, your Polish Majesty, shall +be!"--and it is said the simple creature did so style himself, by and +by, in certain rare Manifestoes, which still exist in the cabinets of +the curious. Belleisle next, after only a few days, went to Munchen; +to operate on Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, a willing subject. And, in short, +Belleisle whirled along incessantly, torch in hand; making his "circuit +of the German Courts,"--details of said circuit not to be followed by us +farther. One small thing only I have found rememberable; probably +true, though vague. At Munchen, still more out at Nymphenburg, the fine +Country-Palace not far off, there was of course long conferencing, long +consulting, secret and intense, between Belleisle with his people and +Karl Albert with his. Karl Albert, as we know, was himself willing. But +a certain Baron von Unertl--heavy-built Bavarian of the old type, an +old stager in the Bavarian Ministries--was of far other disposition. One +day, out at Nymphenburg, Unertl got to the Council-room, while Belleisle +and Company were there: Unertl found the apartment locked, absolutely no +admittance; and heard voices, the Kurfurst's and French voices, eagerly +at work inside. "Admit me, Gracious Herr; UM GOTTES WILLEN, me!" No +admission. Unertl, in despair, rushed round to the garden side of the +Apartment; desperately snatched a ladder, set it up to the window, +and conjured the Gracious Highness: "For the love of Heaven, my +ALLERGNADIGSTER, don't! Have no trade with those French! Remember your +illustrious Father, Kurfurst Max, in the Eugene-Marlborough time, what +a job he made of it, building actual architecture on THEIR big promises, +which proved mere acres of gilt balloon!" [Hormayr, _Anemonen_ (cited +above), ii. 152.] Words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect +on Karl Albert. + +The rest of Belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and extensive +travellings, for he had many first and last in this matter, shall be +left to the fancy of the reader. May 18th, he made formal Treaty with +Karl Albert: Treaty of Nymphenburg, "Karl Albert to be Kaiser; Bavaria, +with Austria Proper added to it, a Kingdom; French armies, French +moneys, and other fine items." [Given in Adelung, ii. 359.] Treaty to +be kept dead secret; King Friedrich, for the present, would not accede. +[Given in Adelung, ii. 421.] June 25th, after some preliminary survey of +the place, Belleisle made his Entry into Frankfurt: magnificent in the +extreme. And still did not rest there; but had to rush about, back to +Versailles, to Dresden, hither, thither: it was not till the last day +of July that he fairly took up his abode in Frankfurt; and--the Election +eggs, so to speak, being now all laid--set himself to hatch the same. +A process which lasted him six months longer, with curious phenomena to +mankind. Not till the middle of August did he bring those 80,000 Armed +Frenchmen across the Rhine, "to secure peace in those parts, and freedom +of voting." Not till November 4th had Kur-Sachsen, with the Nightmares, +finished that important problem of the Bohemian Vote, "Bohemian Vote +EXCLUDED for this time;"--after which all was ready, though still not +in the least hurry. November 20th, came the first actual +"Election-Conference (WAHL-CONFERENZ)" in the Romer at Frankfurt; to +which succeeded Two Months more of conferrings (upon almost nothing at +all): and finally, 24th January, 1742, came the Election itself, Karl +Albert the man; poor wretch, who never saw another good day in this +world. + +Belleisle during those six months was rather high and airy, extremely +magnificent; but did not want discretion: "more like a Kurfurst than an +Ambassador;" capable of "visiting Kur-Mainz, with servants purposely +in OLD liveries,"--where the case needed old, where Kur-Mainz needed +snubbing; not otherwise. [Buchholz, ii. 57 n.] "The Marechal de +Belleisle," says an Eye-witness, of some fame in those days, "comes out +in a variety of parts, among us here; plays now the General, now the +Philosopher, now the Minister of State, now the French Marquis;--and +does them all to perfection. Surely a master in his art. His Brother the +Chevalier is one of the sensiblest and best-trained persons you can see. +He has a penetrating intellect; is always occupied, and full of great +schemes; and has nevertheless a staid kind of manner. He is one of the +most important Personages here; and in all things his Brother's right +hand." [Von Loen, _Kleine Schriften_ (cited in Adelung, ii. 400).] +In Frankfurt, both Belleisle and his Brother were much respected, the +Brother especially, as men of dignified behavior and shining qualities; +but as to their hundred and thirty French Lords and other Valetry, these +by their extravagances and excesses (AUSSCHWEIFUNGEN) made themselves +extremely detestable, it would appear. [Buchholz, ii. 54; in Adelung, +ii. 398 n., a French BROCARD on the subject, of sufficient emphasis.] + + + + +Chapter XII. -- SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. + +George II. did not hear of Mollwitz for above a fortnight after it fell +out; but he had no need of Mollwitz to kindle his wrath or his activity +in that matter. [Mollwitz first heard of in London, April 25th (14th); +Subsidy of 300,000 pounds voted same day. _London Gazette_ (April +11th-14th, 1741); _Commons Journals,_ xxiii. 705.] George II. had seen, +all along, with natural manifold aversion and indignation, these high +attempts of his Nephew. "Who is this new little King, that will not let +himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the nose, as his Father +did; but seems to be taking a road of his own, and tacitly defying us +all? A very high conduct indeed, for a Sovereign of that magnitude. +Aspires seemingly to be the leader among German Princes; to +reduce Hanover and us,--us, with the gold of England in our +breeches-pocket,--to the second place? A reverend old Bishop of Liege, +twitched by the rochet, and shaken hither and thither, like a reverend +old clothes-screen, till he agree to stand still and conform. And now a +Silesia seized upon; a Pragmatic Sanction kicked to the winds: the +whole world to be turned topsy-turvy, and Hanover and us, with our +breeches-pocket, reduced to--?" + +The emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted procedures of his +Britannic Majesty, of which we have ourselves seen somewhat, in this +fermentation of the elements, are copiously set down for us by the +English Dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except for sane +purposes, one must be careful not to dwell on them, to the sorrow of +readers. Seldom was there such a feat of Somnambulism, as that by the +English and their King in the next twenty Years. To extract the particle +of sanity from it, and see how the poor English did get their own errand +done withal, and Jenkins's Ear avenged,--that is the one interesting +point; Dryasdust and the Nightmares shall, to all time, be welcome to +the others. Here are some Excerpts, a select few; which will perhaps +be our readiest expedient. These do, under certain main aspects, +shadow forth the intricate posture of King George and his Nation, when +Belleisle, as Protagonistes or Chief Bully, stept down into the ring, +in that manner; asking, "Is there an Antagonistes, then, or Chief +Defender?" I will label them, number them; and, with the minimum of +needful commentary, leave them to imaginative readers. + + + + +No. 1. SNATCH OF PARLIAMENTARY ELOQUENCE BY MR. VINER (19th April, +1741). + +The fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which went on +in Parliament and in English society, against Friedrich's Silesian +Enterprise, for long years from this date, are now all dead and +avoidable,--though they have left their effects among us to this day. +Perhaps readers would like to see the one reasonable word I have fallen +in with, of opposite tendency; Mr. Viner's word, at the first starting +of that question: plainly sensible word, which, had it been attended to +(as it was not), might have saved us so much nonsense, not of idle talk +only, but of extremely serious deed which ensued thereupon! + +"LONDON, 19th APRIL, 1741. This day [Mollwitz not yet known, Camp of +Gottin too well known!] King George, in his own high person, comes down +to the House of Lords,--which, like the Other House, is sunk painfully +in Walpole Controversies, Spanish-War Controversies, of a merely +domestic nature;--and informs both Honorable Houses, with extreme +caution, naming nobody, That he much wishes they would think of helping +him in these alarming circumstances of the Celestial Balance, ready +apparently to go heels uppermost. To which the general answer is, 'Yes, +surely!'--with a vote of 300,000 pounds for her Hungarian Majesty, a few +days hence. From those continents of Parliamentary tufa, now fallen +so waste and mournful, here is one little piece which ought to be +extricated into daylight:-- + +"MR. VINER (on his legs):... 'If I mistake not the true intention of the +Address proposed,' in answer to his Majesty's most gracious Speech from +the Throne, 'we are invited to declare that we will oppose the King of +Prussia in his attempts upon Silesia: a declaration in which I see +not how any man can concur who KNOWS NOT the nature of his Prussian +Majesty's Claim, and the Laws of the German Empire [NOR DO I, MR. V.]! +It ought therefore, Sir, to have been the first endeavor of those by +whom this Address has been so zealously supported, to show that his +Prussian Majesty's Claim, so publicly explained [BY KAUZLER LUDWIG, OF +HALLE, WHO, IT SEEMS, HAS STAGGERED OR CONVINCED MR. VINER], so firmly +urged and so strongly supported, is without foundation and reason, and +is only one of those imaginary titles which Ambition may always find to +the dominions of another.' (HEAR MR VINER!)" [Tindal, xx. 491, gives the +Royal Speech (DATE in a very slobbery condition); see also Coxe, _House +of Austria,_ iii. 365. Viner's Fragment of a Speech is in Thackeray, +_Life of Chatham,_ i. 87.]... + +A most indispensable thing, surely. Which was never done, nor can ever +be done; but was assumed as either unnecessary or else done of its own +accord, by that Collective Wisdom of England (with a sage George II. +at the head of it); who plunged into Dettingen, Fontenoy, Austrian +Subsidies, Aix-la-Chapelle, and foundation of the English National Debt, +among other strange things, in consequence!-- + +Upon that of Kanzler Ludwig, and the "so public Explanation" (which we +slightly heard of long since), here is another Note,--unless readers +prefer to skip it:-- + +"That the Diplomatic and Political world is universally in travail at +this time, no reader need be told; Europe everywhere in dim anxiety, +heavy-laden expectation (which to us has fallen so vacant); looking +towards inevitable changes and the huge inane. All in travail;--and +already uttering printed Manifestoes, Patents, Deductions, and other +public travail-SHRIEKS of that kind. Printed; not to speak of the +unprinted, of the oral which vanished on the spot; or even of the +written which were shot forth by breathless estafettes, and unhappily +did not vanish, but lie in archives, still humming upon us, "Won't you +read me, then?"--Alas, except on compulsion, No! Life being precious +(and time, which is the stuff of life), No!-- + +"At Reinsberg as elsewhere, at Reinsberg first of all, it had been felt, +in October last, that there would be Manifestoes needed; learned Proof, +the more irrefragable the better, of our Right to Silesia. It was +settled there, Let Ludwig, Kanzler of the University of Halle, do it. +[Herr Kanzler Ludwig, monster of Antiquarian, Legal and other Learning +there: wealthy, too, and close-fisted; whom we have seen obliged to open +his closed fist, and to do building in the Friedrich Strasse, before +now; Nussler, his son-in-law, having no money:--as careless readers +have perhaps forgotten?] Ludwig set about his new task with a proud +joy. Ludwig knows that story, if he know anything. Long years ago he +put forth a Chapter upon it; weighty Chapter; in a Book of weight, said +Judges;--Book weighing, in pounds avoirdupois and otherwise, none of +us now knows what: [Title of this weighty Performance (see Preuss, +_Thronbesteigung,_ p. 432) is, or was (size not given), _Germania +Princeps_ (Halae, 1702). Preuss says farther, "That Book ii. c. 3 +handles the Prussian claims: Jagerndorf being? 13; Liegnitz,? 14; Oppeln +and Ratibor,? 16;--and that Ludwig had sent a Copy of this Argument +[weighty Performance altogether? Or Book ii. c. 3 of it, which would +have had a better chance?] to King Friedrich, on the death of Kaiser +Karl VI."]--but, in after years, it used to be said by flatterers of the +Kanzler, 'Herr Kanzler, see the effect of Learning. It was you, it was +your weighty Book, that caused all this World-tumult, and flung the +Nations into one another's hair!' Upon which the old Kanzler would +blush: 'You do me too much honor!' + +"Ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his documents again, in +the King's name this time; and promised something weighty by New-year's +day at latest." Doubtless to the joy of Nussler, who has still no +regular appointment, though well deserving one. "And sure enough, on +January 7th, at Berlin, 'in three languages,' Ludwig's DEDUCTION had +come out; an eager Public waiting for it: [Title is, _Rechtsgegrundetes +Eigenthum_ (in the Latin copies, _Patrimonium,_ and _Propriete fondee en +Droit_ in the French copies) _des &c.,_--that is to say, _Legal Right of +Property in the Royal-Electoral House of Brandenburg to the Duchies +and Principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau_ (Berlin, +7th January, 1741).]--and at Berlin it was generally thought to be +conclusive. I have looked into Ludwig's Deduction, stern duty urging, +in this instance for one: such portions as I read are nothing like so +stupid as was expected; and, in fact, are not to be called stupid at +all, but fit for their purpose, and moderately intelligible to those who +need them,"--which happily we do not in this place. + +Judicious Mr. Viner availed nothing against the Proposed Address; any +more than he would against the Atlantic Tide, coming in unanimous, +under influence of the Moon itself,--as indeed this Address, and the +triumphant Subsidy which was voted in the rear of it, may be said to +have done. [Coxe, iii. 265.] Subsidy of 300,000 pounds to her Hungarian +Majesty; which, with the 200,000 pounds already gone that road, makes +a handsome Half-million for the present Year. The first gush of the +Britannia Fountain,--which flowed like an Amalthea's Horn for seven +years to come; refreshing Austria, and all thirsty Pragmatic Nations, to +defend the Keystone of this Universe. Unluckily every guinea of it went, +at the same time, to encourage Austria in scorning King Friedrich's +offers to it; which perhaps are just offers, thinks Mr. Viner; which +once listened to, Pragmatic Sanction would be safe. [Mr. Viner was of +Pupham, or Pupholm, in Lincolnshire, for which County he sat then, and +for many years before and after,--from about 1713 till 1761, when he +died. A solid, instructed man, say his contemporaries. "He was a friend +of Bolingbroke's, and had a house near Bolingbroke's Battersea one." He +is Great great-grandfather to the present Mr. Viner, and to the Countess +de Grey and Ripon; which is an interesting little fact.] + +This Parliament is strong for Pragmatic Sanction, and has high +resentments against Walpole; in both which points the New Parliament, +just getting elected, will rival and surpass it,--especially in the +latter point, that of uprooting Walpole, which the Nation is bent on, +with a singular fury. Pragmatic Sanction like to be ruined; and Walpole +furiously thrown out: what a pair of sorrows for poor George! During his +late Caroline's time, all went peaceably, and that of "governing" was +a mere pleasure; Walpole and Caroline cunningly doing that for him, and +making him believe he was doing it. But now has come the crisis, the +collapse; and his poor Majesty left alone to deal with it!-- + + + + +No. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORIAN ON THE PHENOMENON OF WALPOLE IN ENGLAND. + +"For above Ten Years, Walpole himself", says my Constitutional Historian +(unpublished), "for almost Twenty Years, Walpole virtually and through +others, has what they call 'governed' England; that is to say, has +adjusted the conflicting Parliamentary Chaos into counterpoise, by +what methods he had; and allowed England, with Walpole atop, to jumble +whither it would and could. Of crooked things made straight by Walpole, +of heroic performance or intention, legislative or administrative, by +Walpole, nobody ever heard; never of the least hand-breadth gained from +the Night-realm in England, on Walpole's part: enough if he could manage +to keep the Parish Constable walking, and himself float atop. Which task +(though intrinsically zero for the Community, but all-important to +the Walpole, of Constitutional Countries) is a task almost beyond the +faculty of man, if the careless reader knew it! + +"This task Walpole did,--in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-headed, +John-Bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. A man of very forcible +natural eyesight, strong natural heart,--courage in him to all lengths; +a very block of oak, or of oakroot, for natural strength. He was always +very quiet with it, too; given to digest his victuals, and be peaceable +with everybody. He had one rule, that stood in place of many: To keep +out of every business which it was possible for human wisdom to stave +aside. 'What good will you get of going into that? Parliamentary +criticism, argument and botheration? Leave well alone. And even leave +ill alone:--are you the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in England? +You will not want for work. Mind your pudding, and say little!' At home +and abroad, that was the safe secret. For, in Foreign Politics, his rule +was analogous: 'Mind your own affairs. You are an Island, you can do +without Foreign Politics; Peace, keep Peace with everybody: what, in the +Devil's name, have you to do with those dog-worryings over Seas? Once +more, mind your pudding!' Not so bad a rule; indeed it is the better +part of an extremely good one;--and you might reckon it the real rule +for a pious Rritannic Island (reverent of God, and contemptuous of the +Devil) in times of general Down-break and Spiritual Bankruptcy, when +quarrellings of Sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings and Devil's +work, not good to interfere in. + +"In this manner, Walpole, by solid John-Bull faculty (and methods of +his own), had balanced the Parliamentary swaggings and clashings, for +a great while; and England had jumbled whither it could, always in a +stupid, but also in a peaceable way. As to those same 'methods of his +own' they were--in fact they were Bribery. Actual purchase of votes by +money slipt into the hand. Go straight to the point. 'The direct +real method this,' thinks Walpole: 'is there in reality any other?' A +terrible question to Constitutional Countries; which, I hear, has never +been resolved in the negative, by the modern improvements of science. +Changes of form have introduced themselves; the outward process, I +hear, is now quite different. According as the fashions and conditions +alter,--according as you have a Fourth Estate developed, or a Fourth +Estate still in the grub stage and only developing,--much variation of +outward process is conceivable. + +"But Votes, under pain of Death Official, are necessary to your poor +Walpole: and votes, I hear, are still bidden for, and bought. You may +buy them by money down (which is felony, and theft simple, against the +poor Nation); or by preferments and appointments of the unmeritorious +man,--which is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, though more +refined), and theft most compound; theft, not of the poor Nation's +money, but of its soul and body so far, and of ALL its moneys and +temporal and spiritual interests whatsoever; theft, you may say, of +collops cut from its side, and poison put into its heart, poor Nation! +Or again, you may buy, not of the Third Estate in such ways, but of +the Fourth, or of the Fourth and Third together, in other still more +felonious and deadly, though refined ways. By doing clap-traps, namely; +letting off Parliamentary blue-lights, to awaken the Sleeping Swineries, +and charm them into diapason for you,--what a music! Or, without +clap-trap or previous felony of your own, you may feloniously, in the +pinch of things, make truce with the evident Demagogos, and Son of Nox +and of Perdition, who has got 'within those walls' of yours, and is +grown important to you by the Awakened Swineries, risen into alt, that +follow him. Him you may, in your dire hunger of votes, consent to +comply with; his Anarchies you will pass for him into 'Laws,' as you are +pleased to term them;--instead of pointing to the whipping-post, and +to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to be nailed there, and of +sternly recommending silence, which were the salutary thing.--Buying may +be done in a great variety of ways. The question, How you buy? is not, +on the moral side, an important one. Nay, as there is a beauty in going +straight to the point, and by that course there is likely to be the +minimum of mendacity for you, perhaps the direct money-method is a shade +less damnable than any of the others since discovered;--while, in +regard to practical damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in +comparison! + +"That was Walpole's method; with this to aid his great natural faculty, +long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the English Parliament and +Nation, he went along with perfect success for ten or twenty years. And +it might have been for longer,--had not the English Nation accidentally +come to wish, that it should CEASE jumbling NO-whither; and try to +jumble SOME-whither, at least for a little while, on important business +that had risen for England in a certain quarter. Had it not been for +Jenkins's Ear blazing out in the dark English brain, Walpole might have +lasted still a long while. But his fate lay there:--the first Business +vital to England which might turn up; and this chanced to be the Spanish +War. How vital, readers shall see anon. Walpole, knowing well enough in +what state his War-apparatus was, and that of all his Apparatuses there +was none in a working state, but the Parliamentary one,--resisted +the Spanish War; stood in the door against it, with a rhinoceros +determination, nay almost something of a mastiff's; resolute not to +admit it, to admit death as soon. Doubtless he had a feeling it would +be death, the sagacious man;--and such it is now proving; the Walpole +Ministry dying by inches from it; dying hard, but irremediably. + +"The English Nation was immensely astonished, which Walpole was not, any +more than at the other Laws of Nature, to find Walpole's War-apparatus +in such a condition. All his Apparatuses, Walpole guesses, are in +no better, if it be not the Parliamentary one. The English Nation is +immensely astonished, which Walpole again is not, to find that his +Parliamentary Apparatus has been kept in gear and smooth-going by the +use of OIL: 'Miraculous Scandal of Scandals!' thinks the English Nation. +'Miracle? Law of Nature, you fools!' thinks Walpole. And in fact there +is such a storm roaring in England, in those and in the late and the +coming months, as threatens to be dangerous to high roofs,--dangerous +to Walpole's head at one time. Storm such as had not been witnessed in +men's memory; all manner of Counties and Constituencies, with solemn +indignation, charging their representatives to search into that +miraculous Scandal of Scandals, Law of Nature, or whatever it may be; +and abate the same, at their peril. + +"To the now reader there is something almost pathetic in these solemn +indignations, and high resolves to have Purity of Parliament +and thorough Administrative Reform, in spite of Nature and the +Constitutional Stars;--and nothing I have met with, not even the +Prussian Dryasdust, is so unsufferably wearisome, or can pretend to +equal in depth of dull inanity, to ingenuous living readers, our poor +English Dryasdust's interminable, often-repeated Narratives, volume +after volume, of the debatings and colleaguings, the tossings and +tumults, fruitless and endless, in Nation and National Palaver, which +ensued thereupon. Walpole (in about a year hence), [February 13th (2d), +1742, quitting the House after bad usage there, said he would never +enter it again; nor did: February 22d, resigned in favor of Pulteney and +Company (Tindal, xx. 530; Thackeray, i. 45).] though he struck to the +ground like a rhinoceros, was got rolled out. And a Successor, and +series of Successors, in the bright brand-new state, was got rolled +in; with immense shouting from mankind:--but up to this date we have +no reason to believe that the Laws of Nature were got abrogated on +that occasion, or that the constitutional stars have much altered their +courses since." + +That Walpole will probably be lost, goes much home to the Royal bosom, +in these troublous Spring months of 1741, as it has done and will do. +And here, emerging from the Spanish Main just now, is a second sorrow, +which might quite transfix the Royal bosom, and drive Majesty itself +to despair; awakening such insoluble questions,--furnishing such proof, +that Walpole and a good few other persons (persons, and also things, and +ideas and practices, deep-rooted in the Country) stand much in need of +being lost, if England is to go a good road! + +The Spanish War being of moment to us here, we will let our +Constitutional Historian explain, in his own dialect, How it was so +vital to England; and shall even subjoin what he gives as History of it, +such being so admirably succinct, for one quality. + + + + +No. 3. OF THE SPANISH WAR, OR THE JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION. + +"There was real cause for a War with Spain. It is one of the few cases, +this, of a war from necessity. Spain, by Decree of the Pope,--some Pope +long ago, whose name we will not remember, in solemn Conclave, drawing +accurately 'his Meridian Line,' on I know not what Telluric or +Uranic principles, no doubt with great accuracy 'between Portugal +and Spain,'--was proprietor of all those Seas and Continents. And now +England, in the interim, by Decree of the Eternal Destinies, had clearly +come to have property there, too; and to be practically much concerned +in that theoretic question of the Pope's Meridian. There was no +reconciling of theory with fact. 'Ours indisputably,' said Spain, with +loud articulate voice; 'Holiness the Pope made it ours!'--while fact +and the English, by Decree of the Eternal Destinies, had been grumbling +inarticulately the other way, for almost two hundred years past, and no +result had. + +"In Oliver Cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'With Spain, in Europe, +there may be peace or war; but between the Tropics it is always war.' +A state of things well recognized by Oliver, and acted on, according +to his opportunities. No settlement was had in Oliver's brief time; +nor could any be got since, when it was becoming yearly more pressing. +Bucaniers, desperate naval gentlemen living on BOUCAN, or hung beef; +who are also called Flibustiers (FLIBUTIERS, 'Freebooters,' in French +pronunciation, which is since grown strangely into FILIBUSTERS, +Fillibustiers, and other mad forms, in the Yankee Newspapers now +current): readers have heard of those dumb methods of protest. Dumb and +furious; which could bring no settlement; but which did astonish the +Pope's Decree, slashing it with cutlasses and sea-cannon, in that +manner, and circuitously forwarded a settlement. Settlement was becoming +yearly more needful: and, ever since the Treaty of Utrecht especially, +there had been an incessant haggle going on, to produce one; without the +least effect hitherto. What embassyings, bargainings, bargain-breakings; +what galloping of estafettes; acres of diplomatic paper, now fallen +to the spiders, who always privately were the real owners! Not in +the Treaty of Utrecht, not in the Congresses of Cambray, of Soissons, +Convention of Pardo, by Ripperda, Horace Walpole, or the wagging of +wigs, could this matter be settled at all. Near two hundred years of +chronic misery;--and had there been, under any of those wigs, a +Head capable of reading the Heavenly Mandates, with heart capable of +following them, the misery might have been briefly ended, by a direct +method. With what immense saving in all kinds, compared with the oblique +method gone upon! In quantity of bloodshed needed, of money, of idle +talk and estafettes, not to speak of higher considerations, the saving +had been incalculable. For it was England's one Cause of War during the +Century we are now upon; and poor England's course, when at last driven +into it, went ambiguously circling round the whole Universe, instead of +straight to the mark. Had Oliver Cromwell lived ten years longer;--but +Oliver Cromwell did not live; and, instead of Heroic Heads, there came +in Constitutional Wigs, which makes a great difference. + +"The pretensions of Spain to keep Half the World locked up in embargo +were entirely chimerical; plainly contradictory to the Laws of Nature; +and no amount of Pope's Donation Acts, or Ceremonial in Rota or +Propaganda, could redeem them from untenability, in the modern days. To +lie like a dog in the manger over South America, and say snarling, 'None +of you shall trade here, though I cannot!'--what Pope or body of Popes +can sanction such a procedure? Had England had a Head, instead of Wigs, +amid its diplomatists, England, as the chief party interested, would +have long since intimated gently to such dog in the manger: 'Dog, will +you be so obliging as rise! I am grieved to say, we shall have to do +unpleasant things otherwise. Dogs have doors for their hutches: but to +pretend barring the Tropic of Cancer,--that is too big a door for +any dog. Can nobody but you have business here, then, which is not +displeasing to the gods? We bid you rise!' And in this mode there is no +doubt the dog, bark and bite as he might, would have ended by +rising; not only England, but all the Universe being against him. And +furthermore, I compute with certainty, the quantity of fighting needed +to obtain such result would, by this mode, have been a minimum. The +clear right being there, and now also the clear might, why take refuge +in diplomatic wiggeries, in Assiento Treaties, and Arrangements which +are NOT analogous to the facts; which are but wigged mendacities, +therefore; and will but aggravate in quantity and in quality the +fighting yet needed? Fighting is but (as has been well said) a battering +out of the mendacities, pretences, and imaginary elements: well +battered-out, these, like dust and chaff, fly torrent-wise along the +winds, and darken all the sky; but these once gone, there remain the +facts and their visible relation to one another, and peace is sure. + +"The Assiento Treaty being fixed upon, the English ought to have kept +it. But the English did not, in any measure; nor could pretend to have +done. They were entitled to supply Negroes, in such and such number, +annually to the Spanish Plantations; and besides this delightful branch +of trade, to have the privilege of selling certain quantities of their +manufactured articles on those coasts; quantities regulated briefly by +this stipulation, That their Assiento Ship was to be of 600 tons burden, +so many and no more. The Assiento Ship was duly of 600 tons accordingly, +promise kept faithfully to the eye; but the Assiento Ship was attended +and escorted by provision-sloops, small craft said to be of the most +indispensable nature to it. Which provision-sloops, and indispensable +small craft, not only carried merchandise as well, but went and came +to Jamaica and back, under various pretexts, with ever new supplies of +merchandise; converting the Assiento Ship into a Floating Shop, the Tons +burden and Tons sale of which set arithmetic at defiance. This was the +fact, perfectly well known in England, veiled over by mere smuggler +pretences, and obstinately persisted in, so profitable was it. +Perfectly well known in Spain also, and to the Spanish Guarda-Costas +and Sea-Captains in those parts; who were naturally kept in a perennial +state of rage by it,--and disposed to fly out into flame upon it, when a +bad case turned up! Such a case that of Jenkins had seemed to them; and +their mode of treating it, by tearing off Mr. Jenkins's Ear, proved to +be--bad shall we say, or good?--intolerable to England's thick skin; and +brought matters to a crisis, in the ways we saw."... + +The Jenkins's-Ear Question, which then looked so mad to everybody, how +sane has it now grown to my Constitutional Friend! In abstruse ludicrous +form there lay immense questions involved in it; which were serious +enough, certain enough, though invisible to everybody. Half the World +lay hidden in embryo under it. Colonial-Empire, whose is it to be? Shall +Half the World be England's, for industrial purposes; which is innocent, +laudable, conformable to the Multiplication-table at least, and other +plain Laws? Or shall it be Spain's for arrogant-torpid sham-devotional +purposes, contradictory to every Law? The incalculable Yankee Nation +itself, biggest Phenomenon (once thought beautifulest) of these +Ages,--this too, little as careless readers on either side of the sea +now know it, lay involved. Shall there be a Yankee Nation, shall there +not be; shall the New World be of Spanish type, shall it be of English? +Issues which we may call immense. Among the then extant Sons of Adam, +where was he who could in the faintest degree surmise what issues lay in +the Jenkins's-Ear Question? And it is curious to consider now, with what +fierce deep-breathed doggedness the poor English Nation, drawn by their +instincts, held fast upon it, and would take no denial, as if THEY had +surmised and seen. For the instincts of simple guileless persons (liable +to be counted STUPID, by the unwary) are sometimes of prophetic nature, +and spring from the deep places of this Universe!--My Constitutional +Friend entitles his next Section CARTHAGENA; but might more fitly have +headed it (for such in reality it is, Carthagena proving the evanescent +point of that sad business), + + + + +SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE SPANISH WAR, WHICH BEGAN IN 1739; AND +ENDED--WHEN DID IT END? + +1. WAR, AND PORTO-BELLO (NOVEMBER, 1739-MARCH, 1740).--"November +4th, 1739, War was at length (after above four months' obscure +quasi-declaring of it, in the shape of Orders in Council, Letters of +Marque, and so on) got openly declared; 'Heralds at Arms at the usual +places' blowing trumpets upon it, and reading the royal Manifesto, date +of which is five days earlier, 'Kensington, October 30th (19th).' The +principal Events that ensue, arrange themselves under Three Heads, this +of Porto-Bello being the FIRST; and (by intense smelting) are datable +as follows:--[_Gentleman's Magazine,_ ix. 551, x. 124, 142, 144, 350; +Tindal, xx. 430-433, 442; &c.] + +"Tuesday Evening, 1st December, 1739, Admiral Vernon, our chosen +Anti-Spaniard, finding, a while ago, that he had missed the Azogue Ships +on the Coast of Spain, and must try America and the Spanish Main, in +that view arrives at Porto-Bello. Next day, December 2d, Vernon +attacks Porto-Bello; attacks certain Castles so called, with furious +broadsiding, followed by scalading; gets surrender (on the 3d);--seamen +have allowance instead of plunder;--blows up what Castles there are; and +returns to Port Royal in Jamaica. + +"Never-imagined joy in England, and fame to Vernon, when the news came: +'Took it with Six Ships,' cry they; 'the scurvy Ministry, who had heard +him, in the fire of Parliamentary debate, say Six, would grant him no +more: invincible Vernon!' Nay, next Year, I see, 'London was illuminated +on the Anniversary of Porto-Bello:'--day settled in permanence as one of +the High-tides of the Calendar, it would appear. And 'Vernon's Birthday' +withal--how touching is stupidity when loyal!--was celebrated amazingly +in all the chief Towns, like a kind of Christmas, when it came round; +Nature having deigned to produce such a man, for a poor Nation in +difficulties. Invincible Vernon, it is thought by Gazetteers, 'will look +in at Carthagena shortly;' much more important Place, where a certain +Governor Don Blas has been insolent withal, and written Vernon letters. + +"2. PRELIMINARIES TO CARTHAGENA (MARCH-NOVEMBER, 1740).--Monday, +14th March, 1740, Vernon did, accordingly, look in on Carthagena; +[_Gentleman's Magazine,_ x. 350.] cast anchor in the shallow waste of +surfs there, that Monday; and tried some bombarding, with bomb-ketches +and the like, from Thursday till Saturday following. Vernon hopes he +did hit the Jesuits' College, South Bastion, Custom-house and other +principal edifices; but found that there was no getting near enough on +that seaward side. Found that you must force the Interior Harbor,--a +big Inland Gulf or Lake, which gushes in by what they call LITTLE-MOUTH +(Boca-Chica), and has its Booms, Castles and Defences, which are +numerous and strongish;--and that, for this end, you must have seven or +eight thousand Land Forces, as well as an addition of Ships. On Saturday +Evening, therefore, Vernon calls in his bomb-ketches; sails past, +examining these things; and goes forth on other small adventures. For +example,-- + +"Sunday, 3d April, 1740, 'about 10 at night' opens cannonade on Chagres +(place often enough taken, by cutlass and pistol, in the Bucanier +times); and, on Tuesday, 5th, gets surrender of Chagres: 'Custom-house +crammed with goods, which we set fire to.' On news of which, there is +again, in England, joy over the day of small things. The poor English +People are set on this business of avenging Jenkins's Ear, and of +having the Ocean Highway unbarred; and hope always it can be done by the +Walpole Apparatuses, which ought to be in working order, and are not. +'Support this hero, you Walpole and Company, in his Carthagena views: it +will be better for you!" + +"Walpole and Company, aware of that fact, do take some trouble about it; +and now, may not we say, PAULLO MAJORA CANAMUS? All through that Summer, +1740,"--while King Friedrich went rushing about, to Strasburg, to Wesel; +doing his Herstals and Practicalities, with a light high hand, in almost +an entertaining manner; and intent, still more, on his Voltaires and +a Life to the Muses,--"there was, in England, serious heavy tumult of +activity, secret and public. In the Dockyards, on the Drill-grounds, +what a stir: Camp in the Isle of Wight, not to mention Portsmouth and +the Sea-Industries; 6,000 Marines are to be embarked, as well as Land +Regiments,--can anybody guess whither? America itself is to furnish 'one +Regiment, with Scotch Officers to discipline it,' if they can. + +"Here is real haste and effort; but by no means such speed as could be +wished; multiplex confusions and contradictions occurring, as is usual, +when your machinery runs foul. Nor are the Gazetteers without +their guesses, though they study to be discreet. 'Here is something +considerable in the wind; a grand idea, for certain;'--and to men of +discernment it points surely towards Carthagena and heroic Vernon out +yonder? Government is dumb altogether; and lays occasional embargo; +trying hard (without success), in the delays that occurred, to keep it +secret from Don Blas and others. The outcome of all which was, + +"3. CARTHAGENA ITSELF (NOVEMBER, 1740--APRIL, 1741).--On November +6th,--by no means 'July 3d,' as your first fond program bore; which +delay was itself likely to be fatal, unless the Almanac, and course of +the Tropical Seasons would delay along with you!--we say, On Sunday, +6th November, 1740 [Kaiser Karl's Funeral just over, and great thoughts +going on at Reinsberg], Rear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle,--so many weeks +and months after the set time,--does sail from St. Helen's (guessed, +for Carthagena); all people sending blessings with him. Twenty-five +big Ships of the Line, with three Half-Regiments on board; fireships, +bomb-ketches, in abundance; and eighty Transports, with 6,000 drilled +Marines: a Sea-and-Land Force fit to strengthen Hero Vernon with +a witness, and realize his Carthagena views. A very great day at +Portsmouth and St. Helen's for these Sunday folk. [Tindal, xx. +463 (LISTS, &c. there; date wrong, "31st October," instead of 26th +(o.s.),--many things wrong, and all things left loose and flabby, and +not right! As is poor Tindal's way).] + +"Most obscure among the other items in that Armada of Sir Chaloner's, +just taking leave of England; most obscure of the items then, but +now most noticeable, or almost alone noticeable, is a young +Surgeon's-Mate,--one Tobias Smollett; looking over the waters there and +the fading coasts, not without thoughts. A proud, soft-hearted, though +somewhat stern-visaged, caustic and indignant young gentleman. Apt to be +caustic in speech, having sorrows of his own under lock and key, on this +and subsequent occasions. Excellent Tobias; he has, little as he hopes +it, something considerable by way of mission in this Expedition, and +in this Universe generally. Mission to take Portraiture of English +Seamanhood, with the due grimness, due fidelity; and convey the same to +remote generations, before it vanish. Courage, my brave young Tobias; +through endless sorrows, contradictions, toils and confusions, you will +do your errand in some measure; and that will be something!-- + +"Five weeks before (29th September, 1740, which was also several months +beyond time set), there had sailed, strictly hidden by embargoes which +were little effectual, another Expedition, all Naval; intended to be +subsidiary to this one: Commodore Anson's, of three inconsiderable +Ships; who is to go round Cape Horn, if he can; to bombard Spanish +America from the other side; and stretch out a hand to Vernon in his +grand Carthagena or ulterior views. Together they may do some execution, +if we judge by the old Bucanier and Queen-Elizabeth experiences? Anson's +Expedition has become famous in the world, though Vernon got no good of +it." + +Well! Here truly was a business; not so ill-contrived. Somebody of head +must have been at the centre of this: and it might, in result, have +astonished the Spaniard, and tumbled him much topsy-turvy in those +latitudes,--had the machinery for executing it been well in gear. Under +Friedrich Wilhelm's captaincy and management, every person, every item, +correct to its time, to its place, to its function, what a thing! +But with mere Walpole Machinery: alas, it was far too wide a Plan for +Machinery of that kind, habitually out of order, and only used to be as +correct as--as it could. Those DELAYS themselves, first to Anson, then +to Ogle, since the Tropical Almanac would not delay along with them, had +thrown both Enterprises into weather such as all but meant impossibility +in those latitudes! This was irremediable;--had not been remediable, by +efforts and pushings here and there. The best of management, as under +Anson, could not get the better of this; worst of management, as in the +other case, was likely to make a fine thing of it! Let us hasten on:-- + +"January 20th, 1741, We arrive, through much rough weather and other +confused hardships, at Port Royal in Jamaica; find Vernon waiting on +the slip; the American Regiment, tolerably drilled by the Scotch +Lieutenants, in full readiness and equipment; a body of Negroes +superadded, by way of pioneer laborers fit for those hot climates. One +sad loss there had been on the voyage hither: Land forces had lost +their Commander, and did not find another. General Cathcart had died of +sickness on the voyage; a Charles Lord Cathcart, who was understood +to possess some knowledge of his business; and his Successor, one +Wentworth, did not happen to have any. Which was reckoned unlucky, by +the more observant. Vernon, though in haste for Carthagena, is in some +anxiety about a powerful French Fleet which has been manoeuvring in +those waters for some time; intent on no good that Vernon can imagine. +The first thing now is, See into that French Fleet. French Fleet, on our +going to look in the proper Island, is found to be all off for home; +men 'mostly starved or otherwise dead,' we hear; so that now, after this +last short delay,--To Carthagena with all sail. + +"Wednesday Evening, 15th March, 1741, We anchor in the Playa Grande, the +waste surfy Shallow which washes Carthagena seaward: 124 sail of us, big +and little. We find Don Blas in a very prepared posture. Don Blas has +been doing his best, this twelvemonth past; plugging up that Boca-Chica +(LITTLE MOUTH) Ingate, with batteries, booms, great ships; and has +castles not a few thereabouts and in the Interior Lake or Harbor; all +which he has put in tolerable defence, so far as can be judged: not an +inactive, if an insolent Don. We spend the next five days in considering +and surveying these Performances of his: What is to be done with them; +how, in the first place, we may force Boca-Chica; and get in upon his +Interior Castles and him. After consideration, and plan fixed: + +"Monday, 20th March, Sir Chaloner, with broadsides, sweeps away +some small defences which lie to left of Boca-Chica [to our LEFT, to +Boca-Chica's RIGHT, if anybody cares to be particular]. Whereupon the +Troops land, some of them that same evening; and, within the next +two days, are all ashore, implements, Negroes and the rest; building +batteries, felling wood; intent to capture Boca-Chica Castle, and +demolish the War-Ships, Booms, and fry of Fascine and other Batteries; +and thereby to get in upon Don Blas, and have a stroke at his Interior +Castles and Carthagena itself. Till April 5th, here are sixteen days of +furious intricate work; not ill done:--the physical labor itself, the +building of batteries, with Boca-Chica firing on you over the woods, is +scarcely do-able by Europeans in that season; and the Negroes who are +able for it, 'fling down their burdens, and scamper, whenever a gun goes +off.' Furious fighting, too, there was, by seamen and landsmen; not ill +done, considering circumstances. + +"On the sixteenth day, April 5th [King Friedrich hurrying from the +Mountains that same day, towards Steinau, which took fire with him +at night], Boca-Chica Castle and the intricate War-Ships, Booms, and +Castles thereabouts (Don Blas running off when the push became intense), +are at last got. So that now, through Boca-Chica, we enter the Interior +Harbor or Harbors. 'Harbors' which are of wide extent, and deep enough: +being in fact a Lake, or rather Pair of Lakes, with Castles (CASTILLO +GRANDE, 'Castle Grand,' the chief of them), with War-Ships sunk or +afloat, and miscellaneous obstructions: beyond all which, at the +farther shore, some five miles off, Carthagena itself does at last lie +potentially accessible; and we hope to get in upon Don Blas and it. +There ensue five days of intricate sea-work; not much of broadsiding, +mainly tugging out of sunk War-Ships, and the like, to get alongside of +Castle Grand, which is the chief obstruction. + +"April 10, Castle Grand itself is got; nobody found in it when we storm. +Don Blas and the Spaniards seem much in terror; burning any Ships they +still have, near Carthagena; as if there were no chance now left." This +is the very day of Mollwitz Battle; near about the hour when Schwerin +broke into field-music, and advanced with thunderous glitter against the +evening sun! Carthagena Expedition is, at length, fairly in contact with +its Problem,--the question rising, 'Do you understand it, then?' + +"Up to this point, mistakes of management had been made good by +obstinate energy of execution; clear victory had gone on so far, the +Capture of Carthagena now seemingly at hand. One thing was unfortunate: +'the able Mr. Moor [meritorious Captain of Foot, who, by accident, had +spent some study on his business], the one real Engineer we had,' got +killed in that Boca-Chica struggle: an end to poor Moor! So that +the Siege of Carthagena will have to go on WITHOUT Engineer science +henceforth. May be important, that,--who knows? Another thing was still +more palpably important: Sea-General Vernon had an undisguised contempt +for Land-General Wentworth. 'A mere blockhead, whose Brother has a +Borough,' thinks Vernon (himself an Opposition Member, of high-sniffing, +angry, not too magnanimous turn);--and withdraws now to his Ships; +intimating: 'Do your Problem, then; I have set you down beside it, which +was my part of the affair!'--Let us give the attack of Fort Lazar, and +end this sad business. + +"Sunday, 16th April, Wentworth, once master of the Uppermost Lake or +Harbor (what the Natives call the SURGIDERO, or Anchorage Proper), +had disembarked, high up to the right, a good way south of Carthagena; +meaning to attack there-from a certain Fort Lazar, which stands on a +Hill between Carthagena and him: this Hill and Fort once his, he has +Carthagena under his cannon; Carthagena in his pocket, as it were. 'Fort +not to be had without batteries,' thinks Wentworth; though the sickly +rainy season has set in. 'Batteries? Scaling-ladders, you mean!' answers +Vernon, with undisguised contempt. For the two are, by this time, almost +in open quarrel. Wentworth starts building batteries, in spite of the +rain-deluges; then stops building;--decides to do it by scalade, after +all. And, at two in the morning of this Sunday, April 16th, sets forth, +in certain columns,--by roads ill-known, with arrangements that do NOT +fit like clock-work,--to storm said Hill and Fort. The English are an +obstinate people; and strenuous execution will sometimes amend defects +of plan,--sometimes not. + +"The obstinate English, nothing in them but sullen fire of valor, which +has to burn UNluminous, did, after mistake on mistake, climb the +rocks or heights of Lazar Hill, in spite of the world and Don Blas's +cannonading; but found, when atop, That Fort Lazar, raining cannon-shot, +was still divided from them by chasms; that the scaling-ladders had +not come (never did come, owing to indiscipline somewhere),--and that, +without wings as of eagles, they could not reach Fort Lazar at all! +For about four hours, they struggled with a desperate doggedness, +to overcome the chasms, to wrench aside the Laws of Nature, and do +something useful for themselves; patiently, though sulkily; regardless +of the storm of shot which killed 600 of them, the while. At length, +finding the Laws of Nature too strong for them, they descended gloomily: +'in gloomy silence' marched home to their tents again,--in a humor too +deep for words. + +"Yes; and we find they fell sick in multitudes, that night; and, 'in two +days more, were reduced from 6,645 to 3,200 effective;' Vernon, from +the sea, looking disdainfully on:--and it became evident that the big +Project had gone to water; and that nothing would remain but to return +straightway to Jamaica, in bankrupt condition. Which accordingly was set +about. And ten days hence (April 26th)) the final party of them did +get on board,--punctual to take 'three tents,' their last rag of +Siege-furniture, along with them; 'lest Don Blas have trophies,' thinks +poor Wentworth. And sailed away, with their sad Siege finished in such +fashion. Strenuous Siege; which, had the War-Sciences been foolishness, +and the Laws of Nature and the rigors of Arithmetic and Geometry been +stretchable entities, might have succeeded better!" [Smollett's Account, +_Miscellaneous Works_ (Edinburgh, 1806), iv. 445-469, is that of a +highly intelligent Eye-witness, credible and intelligible in every +particular.] + +"Evening of April 26th:"--I perceive it was in the very hours while +Belleisle arrived in Friedrich's Camp at Mollwitz; eve of that Siege of +Brieg, which we saw performing itself with punctual regard to said +Laws and rigors, and issuing in so different a manner! Nothing that +my Constitutional Historian has said equals in pungent enormity the +matter-of-fact Picture, left by Tobias Smollett, of the sick and +wounded, in the interim which follow&d that attempt on Fort Lazar and +the Laws of Nature:-- + +"As for the sick and wounded", says Tobias, "they were, next day, sent +on board of the transports and vessels called hospital-ships; where they +languished in want of every necessary comfort and accommodation. They +were destitute of surgeons, nurses, cooks and proper provision; they +were pent up between decks in small vessels, where they had not room to +sit upright; they wallowed in filth; myriads of maggots were hatched in +the putrefaction of their sores, which had no other dressing than that +of being washed by themselves with their own allowance of brandy; and +nothing was heard but groans, lamentations and the language of despair, +invoking death to deliver them from their miseries. What served to +encourage this despondence, was the prospect of those poor wretches who +had strength and opportunity to look around them; for there they beheld +the naked bodies of their fellow-soldiers and comrades floating up and +down the harbor, affording prey to the carrion-crows and sharks, which +tore them in pieces without interruption, and contributing by their +stench to the mortality that prevailed. + +"This picture cannot fail to be shocking to the humane reader, +especially when he is informed, that while those miserable objects +cried in vain for assistance, and actually perished for want of proper +attendance, every ship of war in the fleet could have spared a couple of +surgeons for their relief; and many young gentlemen of that profession +solicited their captains in pain for leave to go and administer help +to the sick and wounded. The necessities of the poor people were well +known; the remedy was easy and apparent; but the discord between the +chiefs was inflamed to such a degree of diabolical rancor, that the +one chose rather to see his men perish than ask help of the other, who +disdained to offer his assistance unasked, though it might have +saved the lives of his fellow-subjects." [Smollett, IBID. (Anderson's +Edition), iv. 466.] + +In such an amazing condition is the English Fighting Apparatus under +Walpole, being important for England's self only; while the Talking +Apparatus, important for Walpole, is in such excellent gearing, so well +kept in repair and oil! By Wentworth's blame, who had no knowledge of +war; by Vernon's, who sat famous on the Opposition side, yet wanted +loyalty of mind; by one's blame and another's, WHOSE it is idle arguing, +here is how your Fighting Apparatus performs in the hour when needed. +Unfortunate General, or General's Cocked-Hat (a brave heart too, they +say, though of brain too vacant, too opaque); unfortunate Admiral +(much blown away by vanity, in-nature and Parliamentary wind);--doubly +unfortunate Nation, that employs such to lead its armaments! How the +English Nation took it? The English Nation has had much of this kind to +take, first and last; and apparently will yet have. "Gloomy silence," +like that of the poor men going home to their tents, is our only dialect +towards it. + +This is a dreadful business, this of the wrecked Carthagena Expedition; +such a force of war-munitions in every kind,--including the rare kind, +human Courage and force of heart, only not human Captaincy, the rarest +kind,--as could have swallowed South America at discretion, had there +been Captains over it. Has gone blundering down into Orcus and the +shark's belly, in that unutterable manner. Might have been didactic +to England, more than it was; England's skin being very thick against +lessons of that nature. Might have broken the heart of a little +Sovereign Gentleman Curator of England, had he gone hypochondriacally +into it; which he was far from doing, brisk little Gentleman; looking +out else-whither, with those eyes A FLEUR DE TETE, and nothing of +insoluble admitted into the brain that dwelt inside. + +What became subsequently of the Spanish War, we in vain inquire of +History-Books. The War did not die for many years to come, but neither +did it publicly live; it disappears at this point: a River Niger, seen +once flowing broad enough; but issuing--Does it issue nowhere, then? +Where does it issue? Except for my Constitutional Historian, still +unpublished, I should never have known where.--By the time these +disastrous Carthagena tidings reached England, his Britannic Majesty +was in Hanover; involved, he, and all his State doctors, English and +Hanoverian, in awful contemplation on Pragmatic Sanction, Kaiserwahl, +Celestial Balance, and the saving of Nature's Keystone, should this +still prove possible to human effort and contrivance. In which Imminency +of Doomsday itself, the small English-Spanish matter, which the Official +people, and his Majesty as much as any, had bitterly disliked, was quite +let go, and dropped out of view. Forgotten by Official people; left +to the dumb English Nation, whose concern it was, to administer as IT +could. + +Anson--with his three ships gone to two, gone ultimately to one--is +henceforth what Spanish War there officially is. Anson could not meet +those Vernon-Wentworth gentlemen "from the other side of the Isthmus of +Darien," the gentlemen, with their Enterprise, being already bankrupt +and away. Anson, with three inconsiderable ships, which rotted gradually +into one, could not himself settle the Spanish War: but he did, on his +own score, a series of things, ending in beautiful finis of the Acapulco +Ship, which were of considerable detriment, and of highly considerable +disgrace, to Spain;--and were, and are long likely to be, memorable +among the Sea-heroisms of the world. Giving proof that real Captains, +taciturn Sons of Anak, are still born in England; and Sea-kings, equal +to any that were. Luckily, too, he had some chaplain or ship's-surgeon +on board, who saw good to write account of that memorable VOYAGE of his; +and did it, in brief, perspicuous terms, wise and credible: a real Poem +in its kind, or Romance all Fact; one of the pleasantest little Books +in the World's Library at this date. Anson sheds some tincture of heroic +beauty over that otherwise altogether hideous puddle of mismanagement, +platitude, disaster; and vindicates, in a pathetically potential way, +the honor of his poor Nation a little. + +Apart from Official Anson, the Spanish War fell mainly, we may say, +into the hands of--of Mr. Jenkins himself, and such Friends of his, +at Wapping, Bristol and the Seaports, as might be disposed to go +privateering. In which course, after some crosses at first, and great +complaints of losses to Spanish Privateers, Wapping and Bristol did at +length eminently get the upper hand; and thus carried on this Spanish +War (or Spanish-French, Spain and France having got into one boat), for +long years coming; in an entirely inarticulate, but by no means quite +ineffectual manner,--indeed, to the ultimate clearance of the Seas from +both French and Spaniard, within the next twenty years. Readers shall +take this little Excerpt, dated Three Years hence, and set it twinkling +in the night of their imaginations:-- + +BRISTOL, MONDAY, 21st (10th) SEPTEMBER, 1744.... "Nothing is to be seen +here but rejoicings for the number of French prizes brought into this +port. Our Sailors are in high spirits, and full of money; and while on +shore, spend their whole time in carousing, visiting their mistresses, +going to plays, serenading, &c., dressed out with laced hats, tossels +(SIC), swords with sword-knots, and every other way of spending their +money." [Extract of a Letter from Bristol, in _Gentleman's Magazine,_ +xiv. 504.] + +Carthagena, Walpole, Viners: here are Sorrows for a Britannic +Majesty;--and these are nothing like all. But poor readers should +have some respite; brief breathing-time, were it only to use their +pocket-handkerchiefs, and summon new courage! + + + + +Chapter XIII. -- SMALL-WAR: FIRST EMERGENCE OF ZIETHEN THE HUSSAR +GENERAL INTO NOTICE. + +After Brieg, Friedrich undertook nothing military, except strict +vigilance of Neipperg, for a couple of months or more. Military, +especially offensive operations, are not the methods just now. Rest on +your oars; see how this seething Ocean of European Politics, and Peace +or War, will settle itself into currents, into set winds; by which +of them a man may steer, who happens to have a fixed port in view. +Neipperg, too, is glad to be quiescent; "my Infantry hopelessly +inferior," he writes to head-quarters: "Could not one hire 10,000 +Saxons, think you,"--or do several other chimerical things, for help? +Except with his Pandour people, working what mischief they can, Neipperg +does nothing. But this Hungarian rabble is extensively industrious, +scouring the country far and wide; and gives a great deal of trouble +both to Friedrich and the peaceable inhabitants. So that there is plenty +of Small War always going on:--not mentionable here, any passage of +it, except perhaps one, at a place called Rothschloss; which concerns +a remarkable Prussian Hussar Major, their famed Ziethen, and is still +remembered by the Prussian public. + +We have heard of Captain, now Major Ziethen, how Friedrich Wilhelm sent +him to the Rhine Campaign, six years ago, to learn the Hussar Art from +the Austrians there. One Baronay (BARONIAY, or even BARANYAI, as others +write him), an excellent hand, taught him the Art;--and how well he has +learned, Baronay now sadly experiences. The affair of Rothschloss (in +abridged form) befell as follows:-- + +"In these Small-War businesses, Baronay, Austrian Major-General of +Hussars, had been exceedingly mischievous hitherto. It was but the other +day, a Prussian regular party had to go out upon him, just in time; and +to RE-wrench 'sixty cart-loads of meal,' wrenched by him from suffering +individuals; with which he was making off to Neisse, when the Prussians +[from their Camp of Mollwitz, where they still are] came in sight. + +"And now again (May 16th) news is, That Baronay, and 1,400 Hussars with +him, has another considerable set of meal-carts,--in the Village of +Rothschloss, about twenty miles southward, Frankenstein way; and means +to march with them Neisse-ward to-morrow. Two marches or so will bring +him home; if Prussian diligence prevent not. 'Go instantly,' orders +Friedrich,--appointing Winterfeld to do it: Winterfeld with 300 +dragoons, with Ziethen and Hussars to the amount of 600; which is more +than one to two of Austrians. + +"Winterfeld and Ziethen march that same day; are in the neighborhood of +Rothschloss by nightfall; and take their measures,--block the road +to Neisse, and do other necessary things. And go in upon Baronay next +morning, at the due rate, fiery men both of them; sweep poor Baronay +away, MINUS the meal; who finds even his road blocked (bridge bursting +into cannon-shot upon him, at one point), instead of bridge, a stream, +or slow current of quagmire for him,--and is in imminent hazard. +Ziethen's behavior was superlative (details of it unintelligible off the +ground); and Baronay fled totally in wreck;--his own horse shot, and at +the moment no other to be had; swam the quagmire, or swashed through it, +'by help of a tree;' and had a near miss of capture. Recovering himself +on the other side, Baronay, we can fancy, gave a grin of various +expression, as he got into saddle again: 'The arrow so near killing was +feathered from one's own wing, too!'--And indeed, a day or two after, he +wrote Ziethen a handsome Letter to that effect." [_Helden-Geschichte,_ +i. 927; Orlich, i. 120. _The Life of General de Zieten_ (English +Translation, very ill printed, Berlin, 1803), BY FRAU VON BLUMENTHAL +(a vaguish eloquent Lady, but with access to information, being a +connection of Z.'s), p. 84.] + +Ziethen, for minor good feats, had been made Lieutenant-Colonel, the +very day he marched; his Commission dates May 16th, 1741; and on the +morrow he handsels it in this pretty manner. He is now forty-two; much +held down hitherto; being a man of inarticulate turn, hot and abrupt +in his ways,--liable always to multifarious obstruction, and unjust +contradiction from his fellow-creatures. But Winterfeld's report on this +occasion was emphatic; and Ziethen shoots rapidly up henceforth; +Colonel within the year, General in 1744; and more and more esteemed by +Friedrich during their subsequent long life together. + +Though perhaps the two most opposite men in Nature, and standing so far +apart, they fully recognized one another in their several spheres. For +Ziethen too had good eyesight, though in abstruse sort:--rugged simple +son of the moorlands; nourished, body and soul, on orthodox frugal +oatmeal (so to speak), with a large sprinkling of fire and iron +thrown in! A man born poor: son of some poor Squirelet in the Ruppin +Country;--"used to walk five miles into Ruppin on Saturday nights," in +early life, "and have his hair done into club, which had to last him +till the week following." [_Militair-Lexikon,_ iv. 310.] A big-headed, +thick-lipped, decidedly ugly little man. And yet so beautiful in his +ugliness: wise, resolute, true, with a dash of high uncomplaining sorrow +in him;--not the "bleached nigger" at all, as Print-Collectors sometimes +call him! No; but (on those oatmeal terms) the Socrates-Odysseus, the +valiant pious Stoic, and much-enduring man. One of the best Hussar +Captains ever built. By degrees King Friedrich and he grew to +be,--with considerable tiffs now and then, and intervals of gloom and +eclipse,--what we might call sworn friends. On which and on general +grounds, Ziethen has become, like Friedrich himself, a kind of mythical +person with the soldiery and common people; more of a demi-god than any +other of Friedrich's Captains. + +Friedrich is always eagerly in quest of men like Ziethen; specially so +at this time. He has meditated much on the bad figure his Cavalry made +at Mollwitz; and is already drilling them anew in multiplex ways, during +those leisure days he now has,--with evident success on the next trial, +this very Summer. And, as his wont is, will not rest satisfied there. +But strives incessantly, for a series of summers and years to come, +till he bring them to perfection; or to the likeness of his own thought, +which probably was not far from that. Till at length it can be said his +success became world-famous; and he had such Seidlitzes and Ziethens as +were not seen before or since. + +[MAP FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND SILESIAN WAR HERE--missing] + +END OF BOOK 12 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, +Vol. XII. 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Thompson +drthom@ihug.co.nz + + + + + +BOOK XII. + +FIRST SILESIAN WAR, AWAKENING A GENERAL +EUROPEAN ONE, BEGINS. + +December, 1740-May, 1741. + + +Chapter I. + +OF SCHLESIEN, OR SILESIA. + +Schlesien, what we call Silesia, lies in elliptic shape, spread on +the top of Europe, partly girt with mountains, like the crown or +crest to that part of the Earth;--highest table-land of Germany or +of the Cisalpine Countries; and sending rivers into all the seas. +The summit or highest level of it is in the southwest; longest +diameter is from northwest to southeast. From Crossen, whither +Friedrich is now driving, to the Jablunka Pass, which issues upon +Hungary, is above 250 miles; the AXIS, therefore, or longest +diameter, of our Ellipse we may call 230 English miles;--its +shortest or conjugate diameter, from Friedland in Bohemia +(Wallenstein's old Friedland), by Breslau across the Oder to the +Polish Frontier, is about 100. The total area of Schlesien is +counted to be some 20,000 square miles, nearly the third of +England Proper. + +Schlesien--will the reader learn to call it by that name, on +occasion? for in these sad Manuscripts of ours the names alternate +--is a fine, fertile, useful and beautiful Country. It leans +sloping, as we hinted, to the East and to the North; a long curved +buttress of Mountains ("RIESENGEBIRGE, Giant Mountains," is their +best-known name in foreign countries) holding it up on the South +and West sides. This Giant-Mountain Range,--which is a kind of +continuation of the Saxon-Bohemian "Metal Mountains (ERZGEBIRGE)" +and of the straggling Lausitz Mountains, to westward of these, +--shapes itself like a bill-hook (or elliptically, as was said): +handle and hook together may be some 200 miles in length. +The precipitous side of this is, in general, turned outwards, +towards Bohmen, Mahren, Ungarn (Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, in our +dialects); and Schlesien lies inside, irregularly sloping down, +towards the Baltic and towards the utmost East, From the Bohemian +side of these Mountains there rise two Rivers: Elbe, tending for +the West; Morawa for the South;--Morawa, crossing Moravia, gets +into the Donau, and thence into the Black-Sea; while Elbe, after +intricate adventures among the mountains, and then prosperously +across the plains, is out, with its many ships, into the Atlantic. +Two rivers, we say, from the Bohemian or steep side: and again, +from the Silesian side, there rise other two, the Oder and the +Weichsel (VISTULA); which start pretty near one another in the +Southeast, and, after wide windings, get both into the Baltic, at a +good distance apart. + +For the first thirty, or in parts, fifty miles from the Mountains, +Silesia slopes somewhat rapidly; and is still to be called a +Hill-country, rugged extensive elevations diversifying it: but +after that, the slope is gentle, and at length insensible, or +noticeable only by the way the waters run. From the central part of +it, Schlesien pictures itself to you as a plain; growing ever +flatter, ever sandier, as it abuts on the monotonous endless +sand-flats of Poland, and the Brandenburg territories; nothing but +Boundary Stones with their brass inscriptions marking where the +transition is; and only some Fortified Town, not far off, keeping +the door of the Country secure in that quarter. + +On the other hand, the Mountain part of Schlesien is very +picturesque; not of Alpine height anywhere (the Schnee-Koppe itself +is under 5,000 feet), so that verdure and forest wood fail almost +nowhere among the Mountains; and multiplex industry, besung by +rushing torrents and the swift young rivers, nestles itself high +up; and from wheat husbandry, madder and maize husbandry, to +damask-weaving, metallurgy, charcoal-burning, tar-distillery, +Schlesien has many trades, and has long been expert and busy at +them to a high degree. A very pretty Ellipsis, or irregular Oval, +on the summit of the European Continent;--"like the palm of a left +hand well stretched out, with the Riesengebirge for thumb!" said a +certain Herr to me, stretching out his arm in that fashion towards +the northwest. Palm, well stretched out, measuring 250 miles; and +the crossway 100. There are still beavers in Schlesien; the +Katzbach River has gold grains in it, a kind of Pactolus not now +worth working; and in the scraggy lonesome pine-woods, grimy +individuals, with kindled mounds of pine-branches and smoke +carefully kept down by sods, are sweating out a substance which +they inform you is to be tar. + + +HISTORICAL EPOCHS OF SCHLESIEN;--AFTER THE QUADS AND MARCHMEN. + +Who first lived in Schlesien, or lived long since in it, there is +no use in asking, nor in telling if one knew. "The QUADI and the +Lygii," says Dryasdust, in a groping manner: Quadi and consorts, in +the fifth or sixth Century, continues he with more confidence, +shifted Rome-ward, following the general track of contemporaneous +mankind; weak remnant of Quadi was thereupon overpowered by Slavic +populations, and their Country became Polish, which the eastern rim +of it still essentially is. That was the end of the Quadi in those +parts, says History. But they cannot speak nor appeal for +themselves; History has them much at discretion. Rude burial urns, +with a handful of ashes in them, have been dug up in different +places; these are all the Archives and Histories the Quadi now +have. It appears their name signifies WICKED. They are those poor +Quadi (WICKED PEOPLE) who always go along with the Marcomanni +(MARCHMEN), in the bead-roll Histories one reads; and I almost +guess they must have been of the same stock: "Wickeds and +Borderers;" considered, on both sides of the Border, to belong to +the Dangerous Classes in those times. Two things are certain: +First, QUAD and its derivatives have, to this day, in the speech of +rustic Germans, something of that meaning,--"nefarious," at least +"injurious," "hateful, and to be avoided:" for example, QUADdel, "a +nettle-burn;" QUETSchen, "to smash" (say, your thumb while +hammering); &c. &c. And then a second thing: The Polish equivalent +word is ZLE (Busching says ZLEXI); hence ZLEzien, SCHLEsien, +meaning merely BADland, QUADland, what we might called DAMAGitia, +or Country where you get into Trouble. That is the etymology, or +what passes for such. As to the History of Schlesien, hitherwards +of these burial urns dug up in different places, I notice, as not +yet entirely buriable, Three Epochs. + +FIRST EPOCH; CHRISTIANITY: A.D. 966. Introduction of Christianity; +to the length of founding a Bishopric that year, so hopeful were +the aspects; "Bishopric of Schmoger" (SchMAGram, dim little Village +still discoverable on the Polish frontier, not far from the Town of +Namslau); Bishopric which, after one removal farther inward, got +across the Oder, to "WRUTISLAV," which me now call Breslau; and +sticks there, as Bishopric of Breslau, to this day. Year 966: it +was in Adalbert, our Prussian Saint and Missionary's younger time. +Preaching, by zealous Polacks, must have been going on, while +Adalbert, Bright in Nobleness, was studying at Magdeburg, and +ripening for high things in the general estimation. This was a new +gift from the Polacks, this of Christianity; an infinitely more +important one than that nickname of "ZLEZIEN," or "DAMAGitia," +stuck upon the poor Country, had been. + +SECOND EPOCH; GET GRADUALLY CUT LOOSE FROM POLAND: A.D. 1139-1159. +Twenty years of great trouble in Poland, which were of lasting +benefit to Schlesien. In 1139 the Polack King, a very potent +Majesty whom we could name but do not, died; and left his Dominions +shared by punctual bequest among his five sons. Punctual bequest +did avail: but the eldest Son (who was King, and had Schlesien with +much else to his share) began to encroach, to grasp; upon which the +others rose upon him, flung him out into exile; redivided; +and hoped now they might have quiet. Hoped, but were disappointed; +and could come to no sure bargain for the next twenty years,--not +till "the eldest brother," first author of these strifes, "died an +exile in Holstein," or was just about dying, and had agreed to take +Schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth. + +His, this eldest's, three Sons did accordingly, in 1159, get +Schlesien instead of him; their uncles proving honorable. Schlesien +thereby was happy enough to get cut loose from Poland, and to +continue loose; steering a course of its own;--parting farther and +farther from Poland and its habits and fortunes. These three Sons, +of the late Polish Majesty who died in exile in Holstein, are the +"Piast Dukes," much talked of in Silesian Histories: of whose +merits I specify this only, That they so soon as possible strove to +be German. They were Progenitors of all the "Piast Dukes," +Proprietors of Schlesien thenceforth, till the last of them died +out in 1675,--and a certain ERBVERBRUDERUNG they had entered into +could not take effect at that time. Their merits as Sovereign Dukes +seem to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom and +nobleness of mind not rare among them; and no doubt it was partly +their merit, if partly also their good luck, that they took to +Germany, and leant thitherward; steering looser and looser from +Poland, in their new circumstances. They themselves by degrees +became altogether German; their Countries, by silent immigration, +introduction of the arts, the composures and sobrieties, became +essentially so. On the eastern rim there is still a Polack remnant, +its territories very sandy, its condition very bad; remnant which +surely ought to cease its Polack jargon, and learn some dialect of +intelligible Teutsch, as the first condition of improvement. In all +other parts Teutsch reigns; and Schlesien is a green abundant +Country; full of metallurgy, damask-weaving, grain-husbandry.-- +instead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, rags, dirt, and NIE POZWALAM. + +A.D. 1327; GET COMPLETELY CUT LOOSE. The Piast Dukes, who soon +ceased to be Polish, and hung rather upon Bohemia, and thereby upon +Germany, made a great step in that direction, when King Johann, old +ICH-DIEN whom we ought to recollect, persuaded most of them, all of +them but two, "PRETIO AC PRECE," to become Feudatories (Quasi- +Feudatories, but of a sovereign sort) to his Crown of Bohemia. +The two who stood out, resisting prayer and price, were the Duke of +Jauer and the Duke of Schweidnitz,--lofty-minded gentlemen, perhaps +a thought too lofty. But these also Johann's son, little Kaiser +Karl IV., "marrying their heiress," contrived to bring in;--one +fruitful adventure of little Karl's, among the many wasteful he +made, in the German Reich. Schlesien is henceforth a bit of the +Kingdom of Bohemia; indissolubly hooked to Germany; and its +progress in the arts and composures, under wise Piasts with +immigrating Germans, we guess to have become doubly rapid. +[Busching, <italic> Erdbeschreibung, <end italic> viii. 725; +Hubner, t. 94.] + +THIRD EPOCH; ADOPT THE REFORMATION: A.D. 1414-1517. Schlesien, +hanging to Bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted Huss's +doctrines; still more extensively Luther's; and that was a +difficult element in its lot, though, I believe, an unspeakably +precious one. It cost above a Century of sad tumults, Zisca Wars; +nay above two Centuries, including the sad Thirty-Years War;--which +miseries, in Bohemia Proper, were sometimes very sad and even +horrible. But Schlesien, the outlying Country, did, in all this, +suffer less than Bohemia Proper; and did NOT lose its Evangelical +Doctrine in result, as unfortunate Bohemia did, and sink into +sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big Crucifixes of japanned Tin by +the wayside," though in the course of subsequent years, named of +Peace, it was near doing so. Here are the steps, or unavailing +counter-steps, in that latter direction:-- + +A.D. 1537. Occurred, as we know, the ERBVERBRUDERUNG; Duke of +Liegnitz, and of other extensive heritages, making Deed of +Brotherhood with Kur-Brandenburg;--Deed forbidden, and so far as +might be, rubbed out and annihilated by the then King of Bohemia, +subsequently Kaiser Ferdinand I., Karl V.'s Brother. Duke of +Liegnitz had to give up his parchments, and become zero in that +matter: Kur-Brandenburg entirely refused to do so; kept his +parchments, to see if they would not turn to something. + +A.D. 1624. Schlesien, especially the then Duke of Liegnitz +(great-grandson of the ERBVERBRUDERUNG one), and poor Johann +George, Duke of Jagerndorf, cadet of the then Kur-Brandenburg, went +warmly ahead into the Winter-King project, first fire of the +Thirty-Years War; sufferings from Papal encroachment, in high +quarters, being really extreme. Warmly ahead; and had to smart +sharply for it;--poor Johann George with forfeiture of Jagerndorf, +with REICHES-ACHT (Ban of the Empire), and total ruin; fighting +against which he soon died. Act of Ban and Forfeiture was done +tyrannously, said most men; and it was persisted in equally so, +till men ceased speaking of it;--Jagerndorf Duchy, fruit of the +Act, was held by Austria, ever after, in defiance of the Laws of +the Reich. Religious Oppression lay heavy on Protestant Schlesien +thenceforth; and many lukewarm individualities were brought back to +Orthodoxy by that method, successful in the diligent skilled hands +of Jesuit Reverend Fathers, with fiscals and soldiers in the rear +of them. + +A.D. 1648. Treaty of Westphalia mended much of this, and set fair +limits to Papist encroachment;--had said Treaty been kept: but how +could it? By Orthodox Authority, auxious to recover lost souls, or +at least to have loyal subjects, it was publicly kept in name; and +tacitly, in substance, it was violated more and more. Of the +"Blossoming of Silesian Literature," spoken of in Books; of the +Poet Opitz, Poets Logan, Hoffmannswaldau, who burst into a kind of +Song better or worse at this Period, we will remember nothing; but +request the reader to remember it, if he is tunefully given, or +thinks it a good symptom of Schlesien. + +A.D. 1707. Treaty of Altranstadt: between Kaiser Joseph I. and Karl +XII. Swedish Karl, marching through those parts,--out of Poland, in +chase of August the Physically Strong, towards Saxony, there to +beat him soft,--was waited upon by Silesian Deputations of a +lamentable nature; was entreated, for the love of Christ and His +Evangel, to "Protect us poor Protestants, and get the Treaty of +Westphalia observed on our behalf, and fair-play shown!" Which Karl +did; Kaiser Joseph, with such weight of French War lying on him, +being much struck with the tone of that dangerous Swede. The Pope +rebuked Kaiser Joseph for such compliance in the Silesian matter: +"Holy Father," answered this Kaiser (not of distinguished orthodoxy +in the House), "I am too glad he did not ask me to become Lutheran; +I know not how I should have helped myself!" [Pauli, <italic> +Allgemeine Preussische Staats-Geschichte <end italic> (viii. +298-592); Busching, <italic> Erdbeschreibung <end italic> (viii. +700-739); &c.--Heinrich Wuttke, <italic> Friedrichs des Grossen +Besitzergreifung von Schlesien <end italic> (Seizure of Silesia by +Friedrich, 2 vols. Leipzig, 1843), I mention only lest ingenuous +readers should be tempted by the Title to buy it. Wuttke begins at +the Creation of the World; and having, in two heavy volumes, at +last struggled down close TO the BESITZERGREIFUNG or Seizure in +question, calls halt; and stands (at ease, we will hope) immovably +there for the seventeen years since.] + +These are the Three Epochs;--most things, in respect of this Third +or Reformation Epoch, stepping steadily downward hitherto. As to +the Fourth Epoch, dating "13th Dec. 1740," which continues, up to +our day and farther, and is the final and crowning Epoch of +Silesian History,--read in the following Chapters. + + + +Chapter II. + +FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. + +At what hour Friedrich ceased dancing on that famous Ball-night of +Bielfeld's, and how long he slept after, or whether at all, no +Bielfeld even mythically says: but next morning, as is patent to +all the world, Tuesday, 13th December, 1740, at the stroke of nine, +he steps into his carriage; and with small escort rolls away +towards Frankfurt-on-Oder; [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end +italic> i. 452; Preuss, <italic> Thronbesteigung, <end italic> +p. 456.] out upon an Enterprise which will have results for himself +and others. + +Two youngish military men, Adjutant-Generals both, were with him, +Wartensleben, Borck; both once fellow Captains in the Potsdam +Giants, and much in his intimacy ever since. Wartensleben we once +saw at Brunswick, on a Masonic occasion; Borck, whom we here see +for the first time, is not the Colonel Borck (properly +Major-General) who did the Herstal Operation lately; still less is +he the venerable old Minister, Marlborough Veteran, and now +Field-Marshal Borck, whom Hotham treated with, on a certain +occasion. There are numerous Borcks always in the King's service; +nor are these three, except by loose cousinry, related to one +another. The Borcks all come from Stettin quarter; a brave kindred, +and old enough,--"Old as the Devil, DAS IST SO OLD ALS DE BORCKEN +UND DE DUWEL," says the Pomeranian Proverb;-- the Adjutant-General, +a junior member of the clan, chances to be the notablest of them at +this moment. Wartensleben, Borck, and a certain Colonel von der +Golz, whom also the King much esteems, these are his company on +this drive. For escort, or guard of honor out of Berlin to the next +stages, there is a small body of Hussars, Life-guard and other +Cavalry, "perhaps 500 horse in all." + +They drive rapidly, through the gray winter; reach Frankfurt-on- +Oder, sixty miles or more; where no doubt there is military +business waiting. They are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, +forty miles farther, at a small Town called Crossen, which looks +over into Silesia; and is, for the present, headquarters to a +Prussian Army, standing ready there and in the environs. +Standing ready, or hourly marching in, and rendezvousing; now about +28,000 strong, horse and foot. A Rearguard of Ten or Twelve +Thousand will march from Berlin in two days, pause hereabouts, and +follow according to circumstances: Prussian Army will then be some +40,000 in all. Schwerin has been Commander, manager and mainspring +of the business hitherto: henceforth it is to be the King; +but Schwerin under him will still have a Division of his own. + +Among the Regiments, we notice "Schulenburg Horse-Grenadiers," +--come along from Landsberg hither, these Horse-Grenadiers, with +little Schulenburg at the head of them;--"Dragoon Regiment +Bayreuth," "Lifeguard Carbineers," "Derschau of Foot;" and other +Regiments and figures slightly known to us, or that will be better +known. [List in <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 453.] +Rearguard, just getting under way at Berlin, has for leaders the +Prince of Holstein-Beck ("Holstein-VAISSELLE," say wags, since the +Principality went all to SILVER-PLATE) and the Hereditary Prince of +Anhalt-Dessau, whom we called the Young Dessauer, on the Strasburg +Journey lately: Rearguard, we say, is of 12,000; main Army is +28,000; Horse and Foot are in the proportion of about 1 to 3. +Artillery "consists of 20 three-pounders; 4 twelve-pounders; +4 howitzers (HAUBITZEN); 4 big mortars, calibre fifty pounds; +and of Artillerymen 166 in all." + +With this Force the young King has, on his own basis (pretty much +in spite of all the world, as we find now and afterwards), +determined to invade Silesia, and lay hold of the Property he has +long had there;--not computing, for none can compute, the sleeping +whirlwinds he may chance to awaken thereby. Thus lightly does a man +enter upon Enterprises which prove unexpectedly momentous, and +shape the whole remainder of his days for him; crossing the Rubicon +as it were in his sleep. In Life, as on Railways at certain points, +--whether you know it or not, there is but an inch, this way or +that, into what tram you are shunted; but try to get out of it +again! "The man is mad, CET HOMME-LA EST FOL!" said Louis XV. when +he heard it. [Raumer, <italic> Beitrage <end italic> (English +Translation, called <italic> Frederick II. and his Times; from +British Museum and State-Paper 0ffice: <end italic> --a very +indistinct poor Book, in comparison with whet it might have been), +p. 73 (24th Dec. 1740).] + + +FRIEDRICH AT CROSSEN, AND STILL IN HIS OWN TERRITORY, +14th-16th DECEMBER;--STEPS INTO SCHLESIEN. + +At all events, the man means to try;--and is here dining at +Crossen, noon of Wednesday, the 14th; certain important persons, +--especially two Silesian Gentlemen, deputed from Grunberg, +the nearest Silesian Town, who have come across the border on +business,--having the honor to dine with him. To whom his manner is +lively and affable; lively in mood, as if there lay no load upon +his spirits. The business of these two Silesian Gentlemen, a Baron +von Hocke one of them, a Baron von Kestlitz the other, was To +present, on the part of the Town and Amt of Grunberg, a solemn +Protest against this meditated entrance on the Territory of +Schlesien; Government itself, from Breslau, ordering them to do so. +Protest was duly presented; Friedrich, as his manner is, and +continues to be on his march, glances politely into or at the +Protest; hands it, in silence, to some page or secretary to deposit +in the due pigeon-hole or waste-basket; and invites the two +Silesian Gentlemen to dine with him; as, we see, they have the +honor to do. "He (ER) lives near Grunberg, then, Mein Herr von +Hocke?" "Close to it, IHRO MAJESTAT. My poor mansion, Schloss of +Deutsch-Kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; how infinitely at your +Majesty's service, should the march prove inevitable, and go that +way!"--"Well, perhaps!" I find Friedrich did dine, the second day +hence, with one of these Gentlemen; and lodged with the other. +Government at Breslau has ordered such Protest, on the part of the +Frontier populations and Official persons: and this is all that +comes of it. + +During these hours, it chanced that the big Bell of Crossen dropped +from its steeple,--fulness of time, or entire rottenness of +axle-tree, being at last completed, at this fateful moment. Perhaps +an ominous thing? Friedrich, as Caesar and others have done, +cheerfully interprets the omen to his own advantage: "Sign that the +High is to be brought low!" says Friedrich. Were the march-routes, +wagon-trains, and multifarious adjustments perfect to the last item +here at Crossen, he will with much cheerfulness step into Silesia, +independent of all Grunberg Protests and fallen Bells. + +On the second day he does actually cross; "the regiments marching +in, at different points; some reaching as far as 25 miles in." +It is Friday, 16th December, 1740; there has a game begun which +will last long! They went through the Village of Lasgen; that was +the first point of Silesian ground ("Circle of Schwiebus," our old +friend, is on the left near by); and "Schwerin's Regiment was the +foremost." Others cross more to the left or right; "marching +through the Village of Lessen," and other dim Villages and little +Towns, round and beyond Grunberg; all regiments and divisions +bearing upon Grunberg and the Great Road; but artistically +portioned out,--several miles in breadth (for the sake of +quarters), and, as is generally the rule, about a day's march in +length. This evening nearly the whole Army was on Silesian ground. + +Printed "Patent" or Proclamation, briefly assuring all Silesians, +of whatever rank, condition or religion, "That we have come as +friends to them, and will protect all persons in their privileges, +and molest no peaceable mortal," is posted on Church-doors, and +extensively distributed by hand. Soldiers are forbidden, "under +penalty of the rods," Officers under that of "cassation with +infamy," to take anything, without first bargaining and paying +ready money for it. On these terms the Silesian villages cheerfully +enough accept their new guests, interesting to the rural mind; and +though the billeting was rather heavy, "as many as 24 soldiers to a +common Farmer (GARTNER)," no complaints were made. In one Schloss, +where the owners had fled, and no human response was to be had by +the wayworn-soldiery, there did occur some breakages and impatient +kickings about; which it grieved his Majesty to hear of, next +morning;--in one, not in more. + +Official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely passive. +This was the Burgermeister's course at Grunberg to-night; Grunberg, +first Town on the Frontier, sets an example of passivity which +cannot be surpassed. Prussian troops being at the Gate of Grunberg, +Burgermeister and adjuncts sitting in a tacit expectant condition +in their Town-hall, there arrives a Prussian Lieutenant requiring +of the Burgermeister the Key of said Gate. "To deliver such Key? +Would to God I durst, Mein Herr Lieutenant; but how dare I! +There is the Key lying: but to GIVE it--You are not the Queen of +Hungary's Officer, I doubt?"--The Prussian Lieutenant has to put +out hand, and take the Key; which he readily does. And on the +morrow, in returning it, when the march recommences, there are the +same phenomena: Burgermeister or assistants dare not for the life +of them touch that Key: It lay on the table; and may again, in the +course of Providence, come to lie!--The Prussian Lieutenant lays it +down accordingly, and hurries out, with a grin on his face. +There was much small laughter over this transaction; Majesty +himself laughing well at it. Higher perfection of passivity no +Burgermeister could show. + +The march, as readers understand, is towards Glogau; a strongish +Garrison Town, now some 40 miles ahead; the key of Northern +Schlesien. Grunberg (where my readers once slept for the night, in +the late King's time, though they have forgotten it) is the first +and only considerable Town on the hither side of Glogau. On to +Glogau, I rather perceive, the Army is in good part provisioned +before starting: after Glogau,--we must see. Bread-wagons, Baggage- +wagons, Ammunition-and-Artillery wagons, all is in order; Army +artistically portioned out. That is the form of march; with Glogau +ahead. King, as we said above, dines with his Baron von Hocke, at +the Schloss of Deutsch-Kessel, short way beyond Grunberg, this +first day: but he by no means loiters there;--cuts across, a dozen +miles westward, through a country where his vanguard on its various +lines of march ought to be arriving;--and goes to lodge, at the +Schloss of Schweinitz, with his other Baron, the Von Kestlitz of +Wednesday at Crossen. [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 459.] This is Friday, 16th December, his first night on +Silesian ground. + + +WHAT GLOGAU, AND THE GOVERNMENT AT BRESLAU, DID UPON IT. + +Silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least prepared for +him. A month ago, there were not above 3,000 Austrian Foot and 600 +Horse in the whole Province: neither the military Governor Count +Wallis, nor the Imperial Court, nor any Official Person near or +far, had the least anticipation of such a Visit. Count Wallis, who +commands in Glogau, did in person, nine or ten days ago, as the +rumors rose ever higher, run over to Crossen; saw with his eyes the +undeniable there; and has been zealously endeavoring ever since, +what he could, to take measures. Wallis is now shut in Glogau; +his second, the now Acting Governor, General Browne, a still more +reflective man, is doing likewise his utmost; but on forlorn terms, +and without the least guidance from Court. Browne has, by violent +industry, raked together, from Mahren and the neighboring +countries, certain fractions which raise his Force to 7,000 Foot: +these he throws, in small parties, into the defensible points; +or, in larger, into the Chief Garrisons. New Cavalry he cannot get; +the old 600 Horse he keeps for himself, all the marching Army he +has. [Particulars in <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 465; total of Austrian Force seems to be 7,800 horse and foot.] + +Fain would he get possession of Breslau, and throw in some garrison +there; but cannot. Neither he nor Wallis could compass that. +Breslau is a City divided against itself, on this matter; full of +emotions, of expectations, apprehensions for and against. There is +a Supreme Silesian Government (OBER-AMT "Head-Office," kind of +Austrian Vice-Royalty) in Breslau; and there is, on Breslau's own +score, a Town-Rath; strictly Catholic both these, Vienna the breath +of their nostrils. But then also there are forty-four Incorporated +Trades; Oppressed Protestant in Majority; to whom Vienna is not +breath, but rather the want of it. Lastly, the City calls itself +Free; and has crabbed privileges still valid; a "JUS PROESIDII" (or +right to be one's own garrison) one of them, and the most +inconvenient just now. Breslau is a REICH-STADT; in theory, +sovereign member of the Reich, and supreme over its own affairs, +even as Austria itself:--and the truth is, old Theory and new Fact, +resolved not to quarrel, have lapsed into one another's arms in a +quite inextricable way, in Breslau as elsewhere! With a Head +Government which can get no orders from Vienna, the very Town-Rath +has little alacrity, inclines rather to passivity like Grunberg; +and a silent population threatens to become vocal if you press +upon it. + +Breslau, that is to say the OBER-AMT there, has sent courier on +courier to Vienna for weeks past: not even an answer;--what can +Vienna answer, with Kur-Baiern and others threatening war on it, +and only l0,000 pounds in its National Purse? Answer at last is, +"Don't bother! Danger is not so near. Why spend money on couriers, +and get into such a taking?" General Wallis came to Breslau, after +what he had seen at Crossen; and urged strongly, in the name of +self-preservation, first law of Nature, to get an Austrian real +Garrison introduced; wished much (horrible to think of!) "the +suburbs should be burnt, and better ramparts raised:" but could not +succeed in any of these points, nor even mention some of them in a +public manner. "You shall have a Protestant for commandant," +suggested Wallis; "there is Count von Roth, Silesian-Lutheran, an +excellent Soldier!"--"Thanks," answered they, "we can defend +ourselves; we had rather not have any!" And the Breslau Burghers +have, accordingly, set to drill themselves; are bringing out old +cannon in quantity; repairing breaches; very strict in sentry-work: +"Perfectly able to defend our City,--so far as we see good!"-- +Tuesday last, December 13th (the very day Friedrich left Berlin), +as this matter of the Garrison, long urged by the Ober-Amt, had at +last been got agreed to by the Town-Rath, "on proviso of consulting +the Incorporated Trades", or at least consulting their Guild- +Masters, who are usually a silent folk,--the Guild-Masters suddenly +became in part vocal; and their forty-four Guilds unusually +so:--and there was tumult in Breslau, in the Salz-Ring (big central +Square or market-place, which they call RING) such as had not been; +idle population, and guild-brethren of suspicious humor, gathering +in multitudes into and round the fine old Town-hall there; +questioning, answering, in louder and louder key; at last bellowing +quite in alt; and on the edge of flaming into one knew not what: +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 469.]--till the matter +of Austrian Garrison (much more, of burning the suburbs!) had to be +dropt; settled in what way we see. + +Head Government (OBER-AMT) has, through its Northern official +people, sent Protest, strict order to the Silesian Population to +look sour on the Prussians:--and we saw, in consequence, the two +Silesian Gentlemen did dine with Friedrich, and he has returned +their visits; and the Mayor of Grunberg would not touch his keys. +Head Government is now redacting a "Patent," or still more solemn +Protest of its own; which likewise it will affix in the Salz-Ring +here, and present to King Friedrich: and this--except "despatching +by boat down the river a great deal of meal to Glogau", which was +an important quiet thing, of Wallis's enforcing--is pretty much all +it can do. No Austrian Garrison can be got in ("Perfectly able to +defend ourselves!")--let Government and Wallis or Browne contrive +as they may. And as to burning the suburbs, better not whisper of +that again. Breslau feels, or would fain feel itself "perfectly +able;"--has at any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains +privately a great deal of Protestant humor. Of all which, +Friedrich, it is not doubted, has notice more or less distinct; +and quickens his march the more. + +General Browne is at present in the Southern parts; an able active +man and soldier; but, with such a force what can he attempt to do? +There are three strong places in the Country, Glogau, then Brieg, +both on the Oder river; lastly Neisse, on the Neisse river, a +branch of the Oder (one of the FOUR Neisse rivers there are in +Germany, mostly in Silesia,--not handy to the accurate reader of +German Books). Browne is in Neisse; and will start into a strange +stare when the flying post reaches him: Prussians actually on +march! Debate with them, if debate there is to be, Browne himself +must contrive to do; from Breslau, from Vienna, no Government +Supreme or Subordinate can yield his 8,000 and him the least help. + +Glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least, General Wallis +the Commandant, does, in spite of the Glogau public; and is, with +his whole might, digging, palisading, getting in meal, salt meat +and other provender;--likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he, +in the small place; and clearing down the outside edifices and +shelters, at a diligent rate. Yesterday, 15th December, he burnt +down the "three Oder-Mills, which lie outside the big suburban +Tavern, also the ZIEGEL-SCHEUNE (Tile-Manufactory)," and other +valuable buildings, careless of public lamentation,--fire catching +the Town itself, and needing to be quenched again. +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 473-475.] Nay, he was +clear for burning down, or blowing up, the Protestant Church, +indispensable sacred edifice which stands outside the walls: +"Prussians will make a block-house of it!" said Wallis. A chief +Protestant, Baron von Something, begged passionately for only +twelve hours of respite,--to lay the case before his Prussian +Majesty. Respite conceded, he and another chief Protestant had +posted off accordingly; and did the next morning (Friday, 16th), +short way from Crossen, meet his Majesty's carriage; who graciously +pulled up for a few instants, and listened to their story. "MEINE +HERREN, you are the first that ask a favor of me on Silesian +ground; it shall be done you!" said the King; and straightway +despatched, in polite style, his written request to Wallis, +engaging to make no military use whatever of said Church, "but to +attack by the other side, if attack were necessary." Thus his +Majesty saved the Church of Glogau; which of course was a popular +act. Getting to see this Church himself a few days hence, he said, +"Why, it must come down at any rate, and be rebuilt; so ugly +a thing!" + +Wallis is making strenuous preparation; forces the inhabitants, +even the upper kinds of them, to labor day and night by relays, in +his rampartings, palisadings; is for burning all the adjacent +Villages,--and would have done it, had not the peasants themselves +turned out in a dangerous state of mind. He has got together about +1,000 men. His powder, they say, is fifty years old; but he has +eatable provender from Breslau, and means to hold out to the +utmost. Readers must admit that the Austrian military, Graf von +Wallis to begin with,-- still more, General Browne, who is a +younger man and has now the head charge,--behave well in their +present forsaken condition. Wallis (Graf FRANZ WENZEL this one, not +to be confounded with an older Wallis heard of in the late Turk +War) is of Scotch descent,--as all these Wallises are; "came to +Austria long generations ago; REICHSGRAFS since 1612:"--Browne is +of Irish; age now thirty-five, ten years younger than Wallis. +Read this Note on the distinguished Browne:-- + +"A German-Irish Gentleman, this General (ultimately Fieldmarshal) +Graf von Browne; one of those sad exiled Irish Jacobites, or sons +of Jacobites, who are fighting in foreign armies; able and notable +men several of them, and this Browne considerably the most so. +We shall meet him repeatedly within the next eighteen years. +Maximilian-Ulysses Graf von Browne: I said he was born German; +Basel his birthplace (23d October, 1705), Father also a soldier: +he must not be confounded with a contemporary Cousin of his, who is +also 'Fieldmarshal Browne,' but serves in Russia, Governor of Riga +for a long time in the coming years. This Austrian General, +Fieldmarshal Browne, will by and by concern us somewhat; and the +reader may take note of him. + +"Who the Irish Brothers Browne, the Fathers of these Marshals +Browne, were? I have looked in what Irish Peerages and printed +Records there were, but without the least result. One big dropsical +Book, of languid quality, called <italic> King James's Irish +Army-List, <end italic> has multitudes of Brownes and others, in an +indistinct form; but the one Browne wanted, the one Lacy, almost +the one Lally, like the part of HAMLET, are omitted. There are so +many Irish in the like case with these Brownes. A Lacy we once +slightly saw or heard of; busy in the Polish-Election time,-- +besieging Dantzig (investing Dantzig, that Munnich might besiege +it);--that Lacy, 'Governor of Riga,' whom the RUSSIAN Browne will +succeed, is also Irish: a conspicuous Russian man; and will have a +Son Lacy, conspicuous among the Austrians. Maguires, Ogilvies (of +the Irish stock), Lieutenants 'Fitzgeral;' very many Irish; +and there is not the least distinct account to be had of any of +them." [For Browne see "Anonymous of Hamburg" (so I have had to +label a J.F.S. <italic> Geschichte des &c. <end italic>--in fact, +History of Seven-Years War, in successive volumes, done chiefly by +the scissors; Leipzig and Frankfurt, 1759, et seqq.), i. 123-131 +n.: elaborate Note of eight pages there; intimating withal that he, +J.F.S., wrote the <italic> "Life of Browne," <end italic> a Book I +had in vain sought for; and can now guess to consist of those same +elaborate eight pages, PLUS water and lathering to the due amount. +Anonymous "of Hamburg" I call my J.F.S.,--having fished him out of +the dust-abysses in that City: a very poor take; yet worth citing +sometimes, being authentic, as even the darkest Germans generally +are.--For a glimpse of LACY (the Elder Lacy) see Busching, <italic> +Beitrage, <end italic> vi. 162.--For WALLIS (tombstone Note on +Wallis) see (among others who are copious in that kind of article, +and keep large sacks of it, in admired disorder) Anonymous +Seyfarth, <italic> Geschichte Friedrichs des Andern <end italic> +(Leipzig, 1784-1788), i. 112 n.; and Anonymous, <italic> Leben der +&c. Marie Theresie <end italic> (Leipzig, 1781), 27 n.: laboriously +authentic Books both; essentialy DICTIONARIES,--stuffed as into a +row of blind SACKS.] + +Let us attend his Majesty on the next few marches towards Glogau, +to see the manner of the thing a little; after which it will +behoove us to be much more summary, and stick by the +main incidents. + + +MARCH TO WEICHAU (SATURDAY, 17th, AND STAY SUNDAY THERE); +TO MILKAU (MONDAY, 19th); GET TO HERRENDORF, WITHIN SIGHT OF +GLOGAU, DECEMBER 22d. + +Friedrich's march proceeds with speed and regularity. Strict +discipline is maintained; all things paid for, damage carefully +avoided: "We come, not as invasive enemies of you or of the Queen +of Hungary, but as protective friends of Silesia and of her +Majesty's rights there;--her Majesty once allowing us (as it is +presumable she will) our own rights in this Province, no man shall +meddle with hers, while we continue here." To that effect runs the +little "Patent," or initiatory Proclamation, extensively handed +out, and posted in public places, as was said above; and the +practice is conformable. To all men, coming with Protests or +otherwise, we perceive, the young King is politeness itself; +giving clear answer, and promise which will be kept, on the above +principle. Nothing angers him except that gentlemen should +disbelieve, and run away. That a mansion be found deserted by its +owners, is the one evil omen for such mansion. Thus, at the Schloss +of Weichau (which is still discoverable on the Map, across the +"Black Ochel" and the "White," muddy streams which saunter eastward +towards, the Oder there, nothing yet running westward for the +Bober, our other limitary river), next night after Schweinitz, +second night in Silesia, there was no Owner to be met with; and the +look of his Majesty grew FINSTER (dark); remembering what had +passed yesternight, in like case, at that other Schloss from which +the owner with his best portable furniture had vanished. At which +Schloss, as above noticed, some disorders were committed by angry +parties of the march;--doors burst open (doors standing impudently +dumb to the rational proposals made them!), inferior remainders of +furniture smashed into firewood, and the like,--no doubt to his +Majesty's vexation. Here at Weichau stricter measures were taken: +and yet difficulties, risks were not wanting; and the AMTMANN +(Steward of the place) got pulled about, and once even a stroke or +two. Happily the young Herr of Weichau appeared in person on the +morrow, hearing his Majesty was still there: "Papa is old; lives at +another Schloss; could not wait upon your Majesty; nor, till now, +could I have that honor."--"Well; lucky that you have come: +stay dinner!" Which the young Count did, and drove home in the +evening to reassure Papa; his Majesty continuing there another +night, and the risk over. [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 459.] + +This day, Sunday, 18th, the Army rests; their first Sunday in +Silesia, while the young Count pays his devoir: and here in +Weichau, as elsewhere, it is in the Church, Catholic nearly always, +that the Heretic Army does its devotions, safe from weather at +least: such the Royal Order, they say; which is taken note of, by +the Heterodox and by the Orthodox. And ever henceforth, this is the +example followed; and in all places where there is no Protestant +Church and the Catholics have one, the Prussian Army-Chaplain +assembles his buff-belted audience in the latter: "No offence, +Reverend Fathers, but there are hours for us, and hours for you; +and such is the King's Order." There is regular divine-service in +this Prussian Army; and even a good deal of inarticulate religion, +as one may see on examining. + +Country Gentlemen, Town Mayors and other civic Authorities, soon +learn that on these terms they are safe with his Majesty; march +after march he has interviews with such, to regulate the supplies, +the necessities and accidents of the quartering of his Troops. +Clear, frank, open to reasonable representation, correct to his +promise; in fact, industriously conciliatory and pacificatory: +such is Friedrich to all Silesian men. Provincial Authorities, who +can get no instructions from Head-quarters; Vienna saying nothing, +Breslau nothing, and Deputy-Governor Browne being far south in +Neisse,--are naturally in difficulties: How shall they act? +Best not to act at all, if one can help it; and follow the Mayor of +Grunberg's unsurpassable pattern!-- + +"These Silesians," says an Excerpt I have made, "are still in +majority Protestant; especially in this Northern portion of the +Province; they have had to suffer much on that and other scores; +and are secretly or openly in favor of the Prussians. +Official persons, all of the Catholic creed, have leant heavy, not +always conscious of doing it, against Protestant rights. The +Jesuits, consciously enough, have been and are busy with them; +intent to recall a Heretic Population by all methods, fair and +unfair. We heard of Charles XII.'s interference, three-and-thirty +years ago; and how the Kaiser, hard bested at that time, had to +profess repentance and engage for complete amendment. Amendment +did, for the moment, accordingly take place. Treaty of Westphalia +in all its stipulations, with precautionary improvements, was +re-enacted as Treaty of Altranstadt; with faithful intention of +keeping it too, on Kaiser Joseph's part, who was not a +superstitious man: 'Holy Father, I was too glad he did not demand +my own conversion to the Protestant Heresy, bested as I am,--with +Louis Quatorze and Company upon the neck of me!' Some improvement +of performance, very marked at first, did ensue upon this +Altranstadt Treaty. But the sternly accurate Karl of Sweden soon +disappeared from the scene; Kaiser Joseph of Austria soon +disappeared; and his Brother, Karl VI., was a much more +orthodox person. + +"The Austrian Government, and Kaiser Karl's in particular, is not +to be called an intentionally unjust one; the contrary, I rather +find; but it is, beyond others, ponderous; based broad on such +multiplex formalities, old habitudes; and GRAVITATION has a great +power over it. In brief, Official human nature, with the best of +Kaisers atop, flagitated continually by Jesuit Confessors, does +throw its weight on a certain side: the sad fact is, in a few years +the brightness of that Altranstadt improvement began to wax dim; +and now, under long Jesuit manipulation, Silesian things are nearly +at their old pass; and the patience of men is heavily laden. To see +your Chapel made a Soldiers' Barrack, your Protestant School become +a Jesuit one,--Men did not then think of revolting under injuries; +but the poor Silesian weaver, trudging twenty miles for his Sunday +sermon; and perceiving that, unless their Mother could teach the +art of reading, his boys, except under soul's peril, would now +never learn it: such a Silesian could not want for reflections. +Voiceless, hopeless, but heavy; and dwelling secretly, as under +nightmare, in a million hearts. Austrian Officiality, wilfully +unjust, or not wilfully so, is admitted to be in a most heavy- +footed condition; can administer nothing well. Good Government in +any kind is not known here: Possibly the Prussian will be better; +who can say? + +"The secret joy of these populations, as Friedrich advances among +them, becomes more and more a manifest one. Catholic Officials do +not venture on any definite hope, or definite balance of hope and +fear, but adopt the Mayor of Grunberg's course, and study to be +passive and silent. The Jesuit-Priest kind are clear in their minds +for Austria; but think, Perhaps Prussia itself will not prove very +tyrannous? At all events, be silent; it is unsafe to stir. +We notice generally, it is only in the Southern or Mountain regions +of Silesia, where the Catholics are in majority, that the +population is not ardently on the Prussian side. Passive, if they +are on the other side; accurately passive at lowest, this it is +prescribed all prudent men to be." + +On the 18th, while divine service went on at Weichau, there was at +Breslau another phenomenon observable. Provincial Government in +Breslau had, at length, after intense study, and across such +difficulties as we have no idea of, got its "Patent," or carefully +worded Protestation against Prussia, brought to paper; and does, +this day, with considerable solemnity, affix it to the Rathhaus +door there, for the perusal of mankind; despatching a Copy for his +Prussian Majesty withal, by two Messengers of dignity. It has +needed courage screwed to the sticking-place to venture on such a +step, without instruction from Head-quarters; and the utmost powers +of the Official mind have been taxed to couch this Document in +language politely ambiguous, and yet strong enough;--too strong, +some of us now think it. In any case, here it now is; Provincial +Government's bolt, so to speak, is shot. The affixing took place +under dark weather-symptoms; actual outburst of thunder and rain at +the moment, not to speak of the other surer omens. So that, to the +common mind at Breslau, it did not seem there would much fruit come +of this difficult performance. Breslau is secretly a much-agitated +City; and Prussian Hussar Parties, shooting forth to great +distances ahead, were, this day for the first time, observed within +sight of it. + +And on the same Sunday we remark farther, what is still more +important: Herr von Gotter, Friedrich's special Envoy to Vienna, +has his first interview with the Queen of Hungary, or with Grand- +Duke Franz the Queen's Husband and Co-Regent; and presents there, +from Friedrich's own hand, written we remember when, brief distinct +Note of his Prussian Majesty's actual Proposals and real meaning in +regard to this Silesian Affair. Proposals anxiously conciliatory in +tone, but the heavy purport of which is known to us: Gotter had +been despatched, time enough, with these Proposals (written above a +month ago); but was instructed not to arrive with them, till after +the actual entrance into Silesia. And now the response to them +is--? As good as nothing; perhaps worse. Let that suffice us at +present. Readers, on march for Glogau, would grudge to pause over +State-papers, though we shall have to read this of Friedrich's at +some freer moment. + +Monday, 19th, before daybreak, the Army is astir again, +simultaneously wending forward; spread over wide areas, like a vast +cloud (potential thunder in it) steadily advancing on the winds. +Length of the Army, artistically portioned out, may be ten or +fifteen miles, breadth already more, and growing more; Schwerin +always on the right or western wing, close by the Bober River as +yet, through Naumburg and the Towns on that side,--Liegnitz and +other important Towns lying ahead for Schwerin, still farther apart +from the main Body, were Glogau once settled. + +So that the march is in two Columns; Schwerin, with the westernmost +small column, intending towards Liegnitz, and thence ever farther +southward, with his right leaning on the high lands which rise more +and more into mountains as you advance. Friedrich himself commands +the other column, has his left upon the Oder, in a country mounting +continually towards the South, but with less irregularity of level, +and generally flat as yet. From beginning to end, the entire field +of march lies between the Oder and its tributary the Bober; +climbing slowly towards the sources of both. Which two rivers, as +the reader may observe, form here a rectangular or trapezoidal +space, ever widening as we go southward. Both rivers, coming from +the Giant Mountains, hasten directly north; but Oder, bulging out +easterly in his sandy course, is obliged to turn fairly westward +again; and at Glogau, and a good space farther, flows in that +direction;--till once Bober strikes in, almost at right angles, +carrying Oder with HIM, though he is but a branch, straight +northward again. Northward, but ever slower, to the swollen Pommern +regions, and sluggish exit into the Baltic there. + +One of the worst features is the state of the weather. On Sunday, +at Breslau, we noticed thunder bursting out on an important +occasion; "ominous," some men thought;--omen, for one thing, that +the weather was breaking. At Weichau, that same day, rain began, +--the young Herr of Weichau, driving home to Papa from dinner with +Majesty, would get his share of it;--and on Monday, 19th, there was +such a pour of rain as kept most wayfarers, though it could not the +Prussian Army, within doors. Rain in plunges, fallen and falling, +through that blessed day; making roads into mere rivers of mud. +The Prussian hosts marched on, all the same. Head-quarters, with +the van of the wet Army, that night, were at Milkau;--from which +place we have a Note of Friedrich's for Friend Jordan, perhaps +producible by and by. His Majesty lodged in some opulent Jesuit +Establishment there. And indeed he continued there, not idle, under +shelter, for a couple of days. The Jesuits, by their two head men, +had welcomed him with their choicest smiles; to whom the King was +very gracious, asking the two to dinner as usual, and styling them +"Your Reverence." Willing to ingratiate himself with persons of +interest in this Country; and likes talk, even with Jesuits +of discernment. + +On the morrow (20th), came to him, here at Milkau,-- probably from +some near stage, for the rain was pouriug worse than ever,--that +Breslau "Patent," or strongish Protestation, by its two Messengers +of dignity. The King looked over it "without visible anger" or +change of countenance; "handed it," we expressly see, "to a Page to +reposit" in the proper waste-basket;--spoke politely to the two +gentlemen; asked each or one of them, "Are you of the Ober-Amt at +Breslau, then?"--using the style of ER (He).--"No, your Majesty; +we are only of the Land-Stande" (Provincial Parliament, such as it +is). "Upon which [do you mark!] his Majesty became still more +polite; asked them to dinner, and used the style of SIE." For their +PATENT, now lying safe in its waste-basket, he gave them signed +receipt; no other answer. + +Rain still heavier, rain as of Noah, continued through this +Tuesday, and for days afterwards: but the Prussian hosts, hastening +towards Glogau, marched still on. This Tuesday's march, for the +rearward of the Army, 10,000 foot and 2,000 horse; march of ten +hours long, from Weichau to the hamlet Milkau (where his Majesty +sits busy and affable),--is thought to be the wettest on record. +Waters all out, bridges down, the Country one wild lake of eddying +mud. Up to the knee for many miles together; up to the middle for +long spaces; sometimes even up to the chin or deeper, where your +bridge was washed away. The Prussians marched through it, as if +they had been slate or iron. Rank and file, nobody quitted his +rank, nobody looked sour in the face; they took the pouring of the +skies, and the red seas of terrestrial liquid, as matters that must +be; cheered one another with jocosities, with choral snatches +(tobacco, I consider, would not burn); and swashed unweariedly +forward. Ten hours some of them were out, their march being twenty +or twenty-five miles; ten to fifteen was the average distance come. +Nor, singular to say, did any loss occur; except of ALMOST one poor +Army-Chaplain, and altogether of one poor Soldier's Wife;--sank +dangerously both of them, beyond redemption she, taking the wrong +side of some bridge-parapet. Poor Soldier's Wife, she is not named +to me at all; and has no history save this, and that "she was of +the regiment Bredow." But I perceive she washed herself away in a +World-Transaction; and there was one rough Bredower, who probably +sat sad that night on getting to quarters. His Majesty surveyed the +damp battalions on the morrow (21st), not without sympathy, not +without satisfaction; allowed them a rest-day here at Milkau, to +get dry and bright again; and gave them "fifteen thalers a +company," which is about ninepence apiece, with some words of +praise. [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i.482.] + +Next day, Thursday, 22d, his Majesty and they marched on to +Herrendorf; which is only five miles from Glogau, and near enough +for Head-quarters, in the now humor of the place. Wallis has his +messenger at Herrendorf, "Sorry to warn your Majesty, That if there +be the least hostility committed, I shall have to resist it to the +utmost." Head-quarters continue six days at Herrendorf, Army (main +body, or left Column, of the Army) cantoned all round, till we +consider what to do. + +As to the right Column, or Schwerin's Division, that, after a +rest-day or two, gathers itself into more complete separation here, +tucking in its eastern skirts; and gets on march again, by its own +route. Steadily southward;--and from Liegnitz, and the upland +Countries, there will be news of Schwerin and it before long. +Rain ending, there ensued a ringing frost;--not favorable for +Siege-operations on Glogau:--and Silesia became all of flinty +glass, with white peaks to the Southwest, whither Schwerin is gone. + + + +Chapter III. + +PROBLEM OF GLOGAU. + +Friedrich was over from Herrendorf with the first daylight, +"reconnoitring Glogau, and rode up to the very glacis;" scanning it +on all sides. [Ib. i. 484.] Since Wallis is so resolute, here is an +intricate little problem for Friedrich, with plenty of corollaries +and conditions hanging to it. Shall we besiege Glogau, then? We +have no siege-cannon here. Time presses, Breslau and all things in +such crisis; and it will take time. By what methods COULD Glogau be +besieged?--Readers can consider what a blind many-threaded coil of +things, heaping itself here in wide welters round Glogau, and +straggling to the world's end, Friedrich has on hand: probably +those six days, of Head-quarters at Herrendorf, were the busiest he +had yet had. + +One thing is evident, there ought to be siege-cannon got +straightway; and, still more immediate, the right posts and +battering-places should be ready against its coming.--"Let the +Young Dessauer with that Rearguard, or Reserve of 10,000, which is +now at Crossen, come up and assist here," orders Friedrich; "and +let him be swift, for the hours are pregnant!" On farther +reflection, perhaps on new rumors from Breslau, Friedrich perceives +that there can be no besieging of Glogau at this point of time; +that the Reserve, Half of the Reserve, must be left to "mask" it; +to hold it in strict blockade, with starvation daily advancing as +an alIy to us, and with capture by bombarding possible when we +like. That is the ultimate decision;--arrived at through a welter +of dubieties, counterpoisings and perilous considerations, which we +now take no account of. A most busy week; Friedrich incessantly in +motion, now here now there; and a great deal of heavy work got well +and rapidly done. The details of which, in these exuberant +Manuscripts, would but weary the reader. Choosing of the proper +posts and battering-places (post "on the other side of the River," +"on this side of it," "on the Island in the middle of it"), and +obstinate intrenching and preparing of the same in spite of frost; +"wooden bridge built" farther up; with "regulation of the river- +boats, the Polish Ferry," and much else: all this we omit; and will +glance only at one pregnant point, by way of sample:-- + +... "Most indispensable of all, the King has to provide +Subsistences:--and enters now upon the new plan, which will have to +be followed henceforth. The Provincial Chief-men (LANDES-AELTESTEN, + Land's-ELDESTS, their title) are summoned, from nine or ten +Circles which are likely to be interested: they appear punctually, +and in numbers,--lest contumacy worsen the inevitable. King dines +them, to start with; as many as 'ninety-five covers,'--day not +given, but probably one of the first in Herrendorf: not Christmas +itself, one hopes! + +"Dinner done, the ninety-five Land's-Eldest are instructed by +proper parties, What the Infantry's ration is, in meat, in bread, +exact to the ounce; what the Cavalry's is, and that of the +Cavalry's Horse. Tabular statement, succinct, correct, clear to the +simplest capacity, shows what quotities of men on foot, and of men +on horseback, or men with draught-cattle, will march through their +respective Circles; Lands-Eldests conclude what amount of meal and +butcher's-meat it will be indispensable to have in readiness;--what +Lands-Eldest can deny the fact? These Papers still exist, at least +the long-winded Summary of them does: and I own the reading of it +far less insupportable than that of the mountains of Proclamatory, +Manifesto and Diplomatic matter. Nay it leaves a certain wholesome +impression on the mind, as of business thoroughly well done; and a +matter, capable, if left in the chaotic state, of running to all +manner of depths and heights, compendiously forced to become cosmic +in this manner. + +"These Lands-Eldest undertake, in a mildly resigned or even hopeful +humor. They will manage as required, in their own Circles; will +communicate with the Circles farther on; and everywhere the due +proviants, prestations, furtherances, shall be got together by fair +apportionment on the Silesian Community, and be punctually ready +a,s the Army advances. Book-keeping there is to be, legible record +of everything; on all hands 'quittance' for everything furnished; +and a time is coming, when such quittance, presented by any +Silesian man, will be counted money paid by him, and remitted at +the next tax-day, or otherwise made good. Which promise also was +accurately kept, the hoped-for time having come. It must be owned +the Prussian Army understands business; and, with brevity, reduces +to a minimum its own trouble, and that of other people, non- +fighters, who have to do with it. Non-fighters, I say; to fighters +we hope it will give a respectable maximum of trouble when applied +to!" [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 492-499.] + +The Gotter Negotiation at Vienna, which we saw begin there that wet +Sunday, is now fast ending, as good as ended; without result except +of a negative kind. Gotter's Proposals,--would the reader wish to +hear these Proposals, which were so intensely interesting at one +time? They are fivefold; given with great brevity by Friedrich, by +us with still greater:-- +1. "Will fling myself heartily into the Austrian scale, and +endeavor for the interest of Austria in this Pragmatic matter, with +my whole strength against every comer. +2. "Will make treaty with Vienna, with Russia and the Sea-Powers, +to that effect. +3. "Will help by vote, and with whole amount of interest will +endeavor, to have Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen's Husband, chosen +Kaiser; and to maintain such choice against all and sundry. +Feel myself strong enough to accomplish this result; and may, +without exaggeration, venture to say it shall be done. +4. "To help the Court of Vienna in getting its affairs into good +order and fencible condition,--will present to it, on the shortest +notice, Two Million Gulden (200,000 pounds) ready money."-- +Infinitely welcome this Fourth Proposition; and indeed all the +other Three are welcome: but they are saddled with a final +condition, which pulls down all again. This, which is studiously +worded, politely evasive in phrase, and would fain keep old +controversies asleep, though in substance it is so fatally +distinct,--we give in the King's own words: +5. "For such essential services as those to which I bind myself by +the above very onerous conditions, I naturally require a +proportionate recompense; some suitable assurance, as indemnity for +all the dangers I risk, and for the part (ROLE) I am ready to play: +in short, I require hereby the entire and complete cession of all +Silesia, as reward for my labors and dangers which I take upon +myself in this course now to be entered upon for the preservation +and renown of the House of Austria;"--Silesia all and whole; and we +say nothing of our "rights" to it; politely evasive to her +Hungarian Majesty, though in substance we are so fatally distinct. +[Preuss, <italic> Thronbesteigung, <end italic> p. 451; +"from Olenschlager, <italic> Geschichte des Interegni <end italic> +[Frankfurt, 1746], i. 134."] + +These were Friedrich's Proposals; written down with his own hand at +Reinsberg, five or six weeks ago (November 17th is the date of it); +in what mood, and how wrought upon by Schwerin and Podewils, we saw +above. Gotter has fulfilled his instructions in regard to this +important little Document; and now the effect of it is--? +Gotter can report no good effect whatever. "Be cautious," Friedrich +instructs him farther; "modify that Fifth Proposal; I will take +less than the whole, 'if attention is paid to my just claims on +Schlesien.'" To that effect writes Friedrich once or twice. But it +is to no purpose; nor can Gotter, with all his industry, report +other than worse and worse. Nay, he reports before long, not +refusal only, but refusal with mockery: "How strange that his +Prussian Majesty, whose official post in Germany, as Kur- +Brandenburg and Kaiser's Chamberlain, has been to present ewer and +towel to the House of Austria, should now set up for prescribing +rules to it!" A piece of wit, which could not but provoke +Friedrich; and warn him that negotiation on this matter might as +well terminate. Such had been his own thought, from the first; but +in compliance with Schwerin and Podewils he was willing to try. + +Better for Maria Theresa, and for all the world how much better, +could she have accepted this Fifth Proposition! But how could she, +--the high Imperial Lady, keystone of Europe, though by accident +with only a few pounds of ready money at present? Twenty years of +bitter fighting, and agony to herself and all the world, were +necessary first; a new Fact of Nature having turned up, a new +European Kingdom with real King to it; NOT recognizable as such, +by the young Queen of Hungary or by any other person, till it do +its proofs. + + +WHAT BERLIN IS SAYING; WHAT FRIEDRICH IS THINKING. + +What Friedrich's own humor is, what Friedrich's own inner man is +saying to him, while all the world so babbles about his Silesian +Adventure? Of this too there are, though in diluted state, some +glimmerings to be had,--chiefly in the Correspondence with Jordan. + +Ingenious Jordan, Inspector of the Poor at Berlin,--his thousand +old women at their wheels humming pleasantly in the background of +our imaginations, though he says nothing of that,--writes twice a +week to his Majesty: pleasant gossipy Letters, with an easy +respectfulness not going into sycophancy anywhere; which keep the +campaigning King well abreast of the Berlin news and rumors: +something like the essence of an Old Newspaper; not without worth +in our present Enterprise. One specimen, if we had room! + + +JORDAN TO THE KING (successively from Berlin,--somewhat abridged.) + +No. 1. "BERLIN, 14th DECEMBER, 1740 [day after his Majesty left]. +Everybody here is on tiptoe for the Event; of which both origin and +end are a riddle to the most. I am charmed to see a part of your +Majesty's Dominions in a state of Pyrrhonism; the disease is +epidemical here at present. Those who, in the style of theologians, +consider themselves entitled to be certain, maintain That your +Majesty is expected with religious impatience by the Protestants, +and that the Catholics hope to see themselves delivered from a +multitude of imposts which cruelly tear up the beautiful bosom of +their Church. You cannot but succeed in your valiant and stoical +Enterprise, since both religion and worldly interest rank +themselves under your flag. + +"Wallis," Austrian Commandant in Glogau, "they say, has punished a +Silesian Heretic of enthusiastic turn, as blasphemer, for +announcing that a new Messiah is just coming. I have a taste for +that kind of martyrdom. Critical persons consider the present step +as directly opposed to certain maxims in the ANTI-MACHIAVEL. + +"The word MANIFESTO--[your Majesty's little PATENT on entering +Silesia, which no reader shall be troubled with at present]--is the +burden of every conversation. there is a short Piece of the kind to +come out to-day, by way of preface to a large complete exposition, +which a certain Jurisconsult is now busy with. People crowd to the +Bookshops for it, as if looking out for a celestial phenomenon that +had been predicted.--This is the beginning of my Gazette; can only +come out twice a week, owing to the arrangement of the Posts. +Friday, the day your Majesty crosses into Silesia, I shall spend in +prayer and devotional exercises: Astronomers pretend that Mars will +that day enter"--no matter what. + +NOTE, The above Manifesto rumor is correct; Jurisconsult is +ponderous Herr Ludwig, Kanzler (Chancellor) of Halle University, +monster of law-learning,--who has money also, and had to help once +with a House in Berlin for one Nussler, a son-in-law of his, +transiently known to us;--ponderous Ludwig, matchless or difficult +to match in learning of this kind, will write ample enough +Deductions (which lie in print still, to the extent of tons' +weight), and explain the ERBVERBRUDERUNG and violence done upon it, +so that he who runs may read. Postpone him to a calmer time. + +No. 2. "BERLIN, SATURDAY, 17th DECEMBER. Manifesto has appeared," +--can be seen, under thick strata of cobwebs, in many Books; +[In <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 448, 453 (what +Jordan now alludes to); IB. 559-592 ("Deduction" itself, Ludwig in +all his strength, some three weeks hence; in OLENSCHLAGER +(doubtless); in &c. &c.] is not worth reading now: Incontestable +rights which our House has for ages had on Schlesien, and which +doubtless the Hungarian Majesty will recognize; not the slightest +injury intended, far indeed from that; and so on!--"people are +surprised at its brevity; and, studying it as theologians do a +passage of Scripture, can make almost nothing of it. Clear as +crystal, says one; dexterously obscure by design, says another. + +"Rumor that the Grand-Duke of Lorraine," Maria Theresa's Husband, +"was at Reinsberg incognito lately," Grand-Duke a concerting party, +think people looking into the thing with strong spectacles on their +nose! "M. de Beauvau [French Ambassador Extraordinary, to whom the +aces were promised if they came] said one thing that surprised me: +'What put the King on taking this step, I do not know; but perhaps +it is not such a bad one.' Surprising news that the Elector of +Saxony, King of Poland, is fallen into inconsolable remorse for +changing his religion [to Papistry, on Papa's hest, many long years +ago] and that it is not to the Pope, but to the King of Prussia, +that he opens his heart to steady his staggering orthodoxy." +Very astonishing to Jordan. "One thing is certain, all Paris rings +with your Majesty's change of religion" (over to Catholicism, say +those astonishing people, first conjurers of the universe)! + +No. 3. "BERLIN, 20th DECEMBER. M. de Beauvau," French Ambassador, +"is gone. Ended, yesterday, his survey of the Cabinet of Medals; +charmed with the same: charmed too, as the public is, with the rich +present he has got from said Cabinet [coronation medal or medals in +gold, I could guess]: people say the King of France's Medal given +to our M. de Camas is nothing to it. + +"Rumor of alliance between your Majesty and France with Sweden," +--premature rumor. Item, "Queen of Hungary dead in child-birth;" +--ditto with still more emphasis! "The day before yesterday, in all +churches, was prayer to Heaven for success to your Majesty's arms; +interest of the Protestant religion being the one cause of the War, +or the only one assigned by the reverend gentlemen. At sound of +these words, the zeal of the people kindles: 'Bless God for raising +such a Defender! Who dared suspect our King's indifference +to Protestantism?'" + +A right clever thing this last (O LE BEAU COUP D'ETAT)! exclaims +Jordan,--though it is not clever or the contrary, not being +dramatically prearranged, as Jordan exults to think. Jordan, though +there are dregs of old devotion lying asleep in him, which will +start into new activity when stirred again, is for the present a +very unbelieving little gentleman, I can perceive.--This is the +substance of public rumor at Berlin for one week. +Friedrich answers:-- + +TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + +"QUARTER AT MILKAU, TOWARDS GLOGAU, 19th DECEMBER, 1740 +[comfortable Jesuit-Establishment at Milkau, Friedrich just got in, +out of the rain].--Seigneur Jordan, thy Letter has given me a deal +of pleasure in regard to all these talkings thou reportest. +To-morrow [not to-morrow, nor next day; wet troops need a rest] I +arrive at our last station this side Glogau, which place I hope to +get in a few days. All favors my designs: and I hope to return to +Berlin, after executing them gloriously and in a way to be content +with. Let the ignorant and the envious talk; it is not they that +shall ever serve as loadstar to my designs; not they, but Glory +[LA GLOIRE; Fame, depending not on them]: with the love of that I +am penetrated more than ever; my troops have their hearts big with +it, and I answer to thee for success. Adieu, dear Jordan. Write me +all the ill that the public says of thy Friend, and be persuaded +that I love and will esteem thee always."--F. + +JORDAN TO THE KING. + +No. 4; "BERLIN, 24th DECEMBER. Your Majesty's Letter fills me with +joy and contentment. The Town declared your Majesty to be already +in Breslau; founding on some Letter to a Merchant here. Ever since +they think of your Majesty acting for Protestantism, they make you +step along with strides of Achilles to the ends of Silesia.-- +Foreign Courts are all rating their Ambassadors here for not +finding you out. + +"Wolf," his negotiations concluded at last, "has entered Halle +almost like the triumphant Entry to Jerusalem. A concourse of +pedants escorted him to his house. Lange [his old enemy, who +accused him of Atheism and other things] has called to see him, and +loaded him with civilities, to the astonishment of the old +Orthodox." There let him rest, well buttoned in gaiters, and +avoiding to mount stairs. ... "Madame de Roucoulles has sent me the +three objects adjoined, for your Majesty's behoof,"--woollen +achievements, done by the needle, good against the winter weather +for one she nursed. The good old soul. Enough now, of Jordan. +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xvii. 75-78.] + +Voltaire, who left Berlin 2d or 3d December, seems to have been +stopt by overflow of rivers about Cleve, then to have taken boat; +and is, about this very time, writing to Friedrich "from a vessel +on the Coasts of Zealand, where I am driven mad." (Intends, +privately, for Paris before long, to get his MAHOMET acted, if +possible.) To Voltaire, here is a Note coming: + +KING TO H. DE VOLTAIRE (at Brussels, if once got thither). + +"QUARTER OF HERRENDORF IN SILESIA, +23d December, 1740. + +"MY DEAR VOLTAIRE,--I have received two of your Letters; but could +not answer sooner; I am like Charles Twelfth's Chess-King, who was +always kept on the move. For a fortnight past, we have been +continually afoot and under way, in such weather as you never saw. + +"I am too tired to reply to your charming Verses; and shivering too +much with cold to taste all the charm of them: but that will come +round again. Do not ask poetry from a man who is actually doing the +work of a wagoner, and sometimes even of a wagoner stuck in the +mud. Would you like to know my way of life? We march from seven in +the morning till four in the afternoon. I dine then; afterwards I +work, I receive tiresome visits; with these comes a detail of +insipid matters of business. 'Tis wrong-headed men, punctiliously +difficult, who are to be set right; heads too hot which must be +restrained, idle fellows that must be urged, impatient men that +must be rendered docile, plunderers to restrain within the bounds +of equity, babblers to hear babbling, dumb people to keep in talk: +in fine, one has to drink with those that like it, to eat with +those that are hungry; one has to become a Jew with Jews, a Pagan +with Pagans. + +"Such are my occupations;--which I would willingly make over to +another, if the Phantom they call Fame (GLOIRE) did not rise on me +too often. In truth, it is a great folly, but a folly difficult to +cast away when once you are smitten by it. [Phantom of GLOIRE +somewhat rampant in those first weeks; let us see whether it will +not lay itself again, forevermore, before long!] + +"Adieu, my dear Voltaire; may Heaven preserve from misfortune the +man I should so like to sup with at night, after fighting in the +morning! The Swan of Padua [Algarotti, with his big hook-nose and +dusky solemnly greedy countenance] is going, I think, to Paris, to +profit by my absence; the Philosopher Geometer [big Maupertuis, in +red wig and yellow frizzles, vainest of human kind] is squaring +curves; poor little Jordan [with the kindly hazel eyes, and pen +that pleasantly gossips to us] is doing nothing, or probably +something near it. Adieu once more, dear Voltaire; do not forget +the absent who love you. FREDERIC." +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxii. 57.] + + +SCHWERIN AT LIEGNITZ; FRIEDRICH HUSHES UP THE GLOGAU PROBLEM, +AND STARTS WITH HIS BEST SPEED FOR BRESLAU. + +Meanwhile, on the Western road, and along the foot of the snowy +peaks over yonder, Schwerin with the small Right column is going +prosperously forwards. Two columns always, as the reader +recollects,--two parallel military currents, flowing steadily on, +shooting out estafettes, or horse-parties, on the right and left; +steadily submerging all Silesia as they flow forward. Left column +or current is in slight pause at Glogau here; but will directly be +abreast again. On Tuesday, 27th, Schwerin is within wind of +Liegnitz; on Wednesday morning, while the fires are hardly lighted, +or the smoke of Liegnitz risen among the Hills, Schwerin has done +his feat with the usual deftness: Prussian grenadiers came softly +on the sentry, softly as a dream; but with sudden levelling of +bayonets, sudden beckoning, "To your Guard-house!"--and there, turn +the key upon his poor company and him. Whereupon the whole Prussian +column marches in; tramp tramp, without music, through the streets: +in the Market-place they fold themselves into a ranked mass, and +explode into wind-harmony and rolling of drums. Liegnitz, mostly in +nightcap, looks cautiously out of window: it is a deed done, IHR +HERREN; Liegnitz ours, better late than never; and after so many +years, the King has his own again. Schwerin is sumptuously lodged +in the Jesuits, Palace: Liegnitz, essentially a Protestant Town, +has many thoughts upon this event, but as yet will be stingy of +speaking them. + +Thus is Liegnitz managed. A pleasant Town, amid pleasant hills on +the rocky Katzbach; of which swift stream, and other towns and +passes on it, we shall yet hear more. Population, silently +industrious in weaving and otherwise, is now above 14,000; was then +perhaps about half that number. Patiently inarticulate, by no means +bright in speech or sentiment; a much-enduring, steady-going, +frugal, pious and very desirable people. + +The situation of Breslau, all this while, is very critical. +Much bottled emotion in the place; no Austrian Garrison admissible; +Authorities dare not again propose such a thing, though Browne is +turning every stone for it,--lest the emotion burst bottle, and +take fire. I have dim account that Browne has been there, has got +300 Austrian dragoons into the Dom Insel (CATHEDRAL ISLAND; "Not in +the City, you perceive!" says General Browne: "no, separated by the +Oder, on both sides, from the rest of the City; that stately mass +of edifices, and good military post");--and had hoped to get the +suburbs burnt, after all. But the bottled emotion was too +dangerous. For, underground, there are ANTI-Brownes: one +especially; a certain busy Deblin, Shoemaker by craft, whom +Friedrich speaks of, but gives no name to; this zealous Cordwainer, +Deblin, and he is not the only individual of like humor, operates +on the guild-brothers and lower populations: [Preuss, <italic> +Thronbesteigung, <end italic> p. 469; <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, +<end italic> ii. 61. ] things seem to be looking worse and worse +for the Authorities, in spite of General Browne and his activities +and dragoons. + +What the issue will be? Judge if Friedrich wished the Young +Dessauer come! Friedrich's Hussar parties (or Schwerin's, +instructed by Friedrich) go to look if the Breslau suburbs are +burnt. Far from it, if Friedrich knew;--the suburbs merely sit +quaking at such a proposal, and wish the Prussians were here. +"But there is time ahead of us," said everybody at Breslau; +"Glogau will take some sieging!" Browne, in the course of a day or +two,--guessing, I almost think, that Glogau was not to be +besieged,--ranked his 300 Austrian dragoons, and rode away; +sending the Austrian State-Papers, in half a score of wagons, ahead +of him. "Archives of Breslau!" cried the general population, at +sight of these wagons; and largely turned out, with emotion again +like to unbottle itself. "Mere Tax-Ledgers, and records of the +Government Offices; come and convince yourselves!" answered the +Authorities. And the ten wagons went on; calling at Ohlau and +Brieg, for farther lading of the like kind. Which wagons the +Prussian light-horse chased, but could not catch. On to Mahren went +these Archive-wagons; to Brunn, far over the Giant Mountains;--did +not come back for a long while, nor to their former Proprietor at +all. Tuesday, 27th, Leopold the Young Dessauer does finally arrive, +with his Reserve, at Glogau: never man more welcome; such a +fermentation going on at Breslau,--known to Friedrich, and what it +will issue in, if he delay, not known. With despatch, Leopold is +put into his charge; posts all yielded to him; orders given,-- +blockade to be strictness itself, but no fighting if avoidable; +"starvation will soon do it, two months at most," hopes Friedrich, +too sanguine as it proved:--and with earliest daylight on the 28th, +Friedrich's Army, Friedrich himself in the van as usual, is on +march again; at its best speed for Breslau. Read this Note for +Jordan:-- + +FRIEDRICH TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN. + +"HERRENDORF, 27th Dec. 1740. + +"SIEUR JORDAN,--I march to-morrow for Breslau; and shall be there +in four days [three, it happened; there rising, as would seem, new +reason for haste]. You Berliners [of the 24th last] have a spirit +of prophecy, which goes beyond me. In fine, I go my road; and thou +wilt shortly see Silesia ranked in the list of our Provinces. +Adieu; this is all I have time to tell thee. Religion [Silesian +Protestantism, and Breslau's Cordwainer], religion and our brave +soldiers will do the rest. + +"Tell Maupertuis I grant those Pensions he proposes for his +Academicians; and that I hope to find good subjects for that +dignity in the Country where I am, withal. Give him my compliments. + +FREDERIC." + +The march was of the swiftest,--swifter even than had been +expected;--which, as Silesia is all ringing glass, becomes more +achievable than lately. But certain regiments outdid themselves in +marching; "in three marches, near upon seventy miles,"--with their +baggage jingling in due proximity. Through Glasersdorf, thence +through Parchwitz, Neumarkt, Lissa, places that will be better +known to us;--on Saturday, last night of the Year, his Majesty +lodged at a Schloss called Pilsnitz, five miles to west of Breslau; +and van-ward regiments, a good few, quartered in the Western and +Southern suburbs of Breslau itself; suburbs decidedly glad to see +them, and escape conflagration. The Town-gates are hermetically +shut;--plenty of emotion bottled in the 100,000 hearts within. +The sentries on the walls presented arms; nay, it is affirmed, some +could not help exclaiming, "WILKOMMEN, IHR LIEBEN HERREN (Welcome, +dear Sirs)!" [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 534.] + +Colonel Posadowsky (active Horse Colonel whom we have seen before, +who perhaps has been in Breslau before) left orders "at the Scultet +Garden-House," that all must be ready and the rooms warmed, his +Majesty intending to arrive here early on the morrow. Which +happened accordingly; Majesty alighting duly at said Garden-House, +near by the Schweidnitz Gate,--I fancy almost before break of day. + + + +Chapter IV. + +BRESLAU UNDER SOFT PRESSURE. + +The issue of this Breslau transaction is known, or could be stated +in few words; nor is the manner of it such as would, for Breslau's +sake, deserve many. But we are looking into Friedrich, wish to know +his manners and aspects: and here, ready to our hand, a Paper turns +up, compiled by an exact person with better leisure than ours, +minutely detailing every part of the affair. This Paper, after the +question, Burn or insert? is to have the lot of appearing here, +with what abridgments are possible:-- + +"SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741. The King having established himself in +Herrn Scultet's Garden-House, not far from the Schweidnitz Gate, +there began a delicate and great operation. The Prussians, in a +soft cautious manner, in the gray of the morning, push out their +sentries towards the three Gates on this side of the Oder; seize +any 'Excise House,' or the like, that may be fit for a post; and +softly put 'twenty grenadiers' in it. All this before sunrise. +Breslau is rigidly shut; Breslau thought always it could stand upon +its guard, if attacked;--is now, in Official quarters, dismally +uncertain if it can; general population becoming certain that it +cannot, and waiting anxious on the development of this grand drama. + +"About 7 A.M. a Prussian subaltern advancing within cry of the +Schweidnitz Gate, requests of the Town-guard there, To send him out +a Town-Officer. Town-Officer appears; is informed, 'That Colonels +Posadowsky and Borck, Commissioners or plenipotentiary Messengers +from his Prussian Majesty, desire admittance to the Chief +Magistrate of Breslau, for the purpose of signifying what his +Prussian Majesty's instructions are.' Town-Officer bows, and goes +upon his errand. Town-Officer is some considerable time before he +can return; City Authorities being, as we know, various, partly +Imperial, partly Civic; elderly; and some of them gone to church,-- +for matins, or to be out of the way. However, he does at last +return; admits the two Colonels, and escorts them honorably, to the +Chief RATHS-SYNDIC (Lord-Mayor) old Herr von Gutzmar's; where the +poor old "President of the OBER AMT" (Von Schaffgotsch the name of +this latter) is likewise in attendance. + +"Prussian Majesty's proposals are of the mildest sort: 'Nothing +demanded of Breslau but the plainly indispensable and indisputable, +That Prussia be in it what Austria has been. In all else, STATUS +QUO. Strict neutrality to Breslau, respect for its privileges as a +Free City of the Reich; protection to all its rights and privileges +whatsoever. Shall be guarded by its own Garrison; no Prussian +soldier to enter except with sidearms; only 30 guards for the +King's person, who will visit the City for a few days;--intends to +form a Magazine, with guard of 1,000 men, but only outside the +City: no requisitions; ready money for everything. Chief Syndic +Gutzmar and President Schaffgotsch shall consider these points.' +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 537.] Syndic and +President answer, Surely! Cannot, however, decide till they have +assembled the Town-Rath; the two Herren Colonels will please to be +guests of Breslau, and lodge in the City till then. + +"And they lodged, accordingly, in the 'GROSSE RING' (called also +SALZ-RING, big Central Square, where the Rathhaus is); and they +made and received visits,--visited especially the Chief President's +Office, the Ober-Amt, and signified there, that his Prussian +Majesty's expectation was, They would give some account of that +rather high Proclamation or 'Patent' they had published against him +the other day, amid thunder and lightning here, and what they now +thought would be expedient upon it? All in grave official terms, +but of such a purport as was not exhilarating to everybody in those +Ober-Amt localities. + +"MONDAY MORNING, 2d JANUARY. The Rath is assembled; and consults,-- +consults at great length. RATH-House and Syndic Gutzmar, in such +crisis, would fain have advice from AMT-House or President +Schaffgotsch; but can get none: considerable coming and going +between them: at length, about 3 in the afternoon, the Treaty is +got drawn up; is signed by the due Breslau hands, and by the two +Prussian Colonels,--which latter ride out with it, about 4 of the +clock; victorious after thirty hours. Straight towards the Scultet +Garden ride they; Town-guard presenting Arms, at the Schweidnitz +Gate; nay Town-band breaking out into music, which is never done +but to Ambassadors and high people. By thirty hours of steady soft +pressure, they have brought it thus far. + +"Friedrich had waited patiently all Sunday, keeping steady guard at +the Gates; but on Monday, naturally, the thirty hours began to hang +heavy: at all events, he perceived that it would be well to +facilitate conclusions a little from without. Breslau stands on the +West, more strictly speaking, on the South side of the Oder, which +makes an elbow here, and thus bounds it, or mostly bounds it, on +two sides. The big drab-colored River spreads out into Islands, of +a confused sort, as it passes; which are partly built upon, and +constitute suburbs of the Town,--stretching over, here and there, +into straggles of farther suburb beyond the River, where a road +with its bridge happens to cross for the Eastern parts. +The principal of these Islands is the DOM INSEL,"--known to General +Browne and us,--"on which is the Cathedral, and the CLOSE with rich +Canons and their edifices; Island filled with strong high +architecture; and a superior military post. + +"Friedrich has already as good as possessed himself of the three +landward Gates, which look to the south and to the west; the +riverward gates, or those on the north and the east, he perceives +that it were good now also to have; these, and even perhaps +something more? 'Gather all the river-boats, make a bridge of them +across the Oder; push across 400 men:' this is done on Monday +morning, under the King's own eye. This done, 'March up to that +riverward Gate, and also to that other, in a mild but dangerous- +looking manner; hew the beams of said Gate in two; start the big +locks; fling wide open said Gate and Gates:' this too is done; +Town-guard looking mournfully on. This done, 'March forward +swiftly, in two halves, without beat of drum,--whitherward +you know!' + +"Those three hundred Austrian Dragoons, we saw them leave the Dom +Island, three days ago; there are at present only Six Men, of the +BISHOP'S Guard, walking under arms there,--at the end of the chief +bridge, on the Townward side of their Dom Island. See, Prussian +caps and muskets, ye six men under arms! The six men clutch at +their drawbridge, and hastily set about hoisting:--alas, another +Prussian corps, which has come privately by the eastern (or +Country-ward) Bridge, King himself with it, taps them on the +shoulder at this instant; mildly constrains the six into their +guard-house: the drawbridge falls; 400 Prussian grenadiers take +quiet possession of the Dom Island: King may return to the Scultet +Garden, having quickened the lazy hours in this manner. To such of +the Canons as he came upon, his Majesty was most polite; they most +submiss. The six soldiers of the drawbridge, having spoken a little +loud,--still more a too zealous beef-eater of old Schaffgotsch's +found here, who had been very loud,--were put under arrest; but +more for form's sake; and were let go, in a day or two." + +Nothing could be gentler on Friedrich's part, and on that of his +two Colonels, than this delicate operation throughout:-- and at +4 P.M., after thirty hours of waiting, it is done, and nobody's +skin scratched. Old Syndic Gutzmar, and the Town-Rath, urged by +perils and a Town Population who are Protestant, have signed the +Surrender with good-will, at least with resignation, and a feeling +of relief. The Ober-Amt Officials have likewise had to sign; +full of all the silent spleen and despondency which is natural to +the situation: spleen which, in the case of old Schaffgotsch, weak +with age, becomes passionately audible here and there. He will have +to give account of that injurious Proclamation, or Queen's +"Patent," to this King that has now come. + + + +KING ENTERS BRESLAW; STAYS THERE, GRACIOUS AND VIGILANT, +FOUR DAYS (Jan. 2d-6th, 1741). + +In the Royal Entrance which took place next day, note these points. +Syndic Gutzmar and the Authorities came out, in grand coaches, at 8 +in the morning; had to wait awhile; the King, having ridden away to +look after his manifold affairs, did not get back till 10. Town +Guard and Garrison are all drawn out; Gates all flung open, +Prussian sentries withdrawn from them, and from the Excise-houses +they had seized: King's Kitchen-and-Proviant Carriages (four mules +to each, with bells, with uncommonly rich housings): King's Body- +Coach very grand indeed, and grandly escorted, the Thirty Body- +guards riding ahead; but nothing in it, only a most superfine cloak +"lined wholly with ermine" flung upon the seat. Other Coaches, more +or less grandly escorted; Head Cup-bearers, Seneschals, Princes, +Margraves:--but where is the King? King had ridden away, a second +time, with chief Generals, taking survey of the Town Walls, round +as far as the ZIEGEL-THOR (Tile-Gate, extreme southeast, by the +river-edge): he has thus made the whole circuit of Breslau;-- +unwearied in picking up useful knowledge, "though it was very +cold," while that Procession of Coaches went on. + +At noon, his Majesty, thrifty of time, did enter: on horseback, +Schwerin riding with him; behind him miscellaneous chief Officers; +Borck and Posadowsky among others; some miscellany of Page-people +following. With this natural escort, he rode in; Town-Major +(Commandant of Town-guard), with drawn sword going ahead;--King +wore his usual Cocked Hat, and practical Blue Cloak, both a little +dimmed by service: but his gray horse was admirable; and four +scarlet Footmen, grand as galloon and silver fringe could make +them, did the due magnificence in dress. He was very gracious; +saluting to this side and to that, where he noticed people of +condition in the windows. "Along Schweidnitz Street, across the +Great Ring, down Albrecht Street." He alighted, to lodge, at the +Count-Schlegenberg House; which used to be the Austrian Cardinal +von Sinzendorf Primate of Silesia's hired lodging,-- Sinzendorf's +furniture is put gently aside, on this new occasion. King came on +the balcony; and stood there for some minutes, that everybody might +see him. The "immense shoutings," Dryasdust assures me, have been +exaggerated; and I am warned not to believe the KRIEGS-FAMA such +and such a Number, except after comparing it with him.--That day +there was dinner of more than thirty covers, Chief Syndic Gutzmar +and other such guests; but as to the viands, says my friend, these, +owing to the haste, were nothing to speak of. [<italic>Helden- +Geschichte, <end italic> i. 545-548.] + +Dinner, better and better ordered, King more and more gracious, so +it continued all the four days of his Majesty's stay:--on the +second day be had to rise suddenly from table, and leave his guests +with an apology; something having gone awry, at one of the Gates. +Awry there, between the Town Authorities and a General Jeetz of +his,--who is on march across the River at this moment (on what +errand we shall hear), and a little mistakes the terms. His Majesty +puts Jeetz right; and even waits, till he sees his Brigade and him +clear across. A junior Schaffgotsch, [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, +<end italic> ii. 159.] not the inconsolable Schaffgotsch senior, +but his Nephew, was one of the guests this second day; an +ecclesiastic, but of witty fashionable type, and I think a very +worthless fellow, though of a family important in the Province. +Dinner falls about noon; does not last above two hours or three, so +that there is space for a ride ("to the Dom," the first afternoon, +"four runners" always), and for much indoor work, before the +supper-hour. + +As the Austrian Authorities sat silent in their place, and gave no +explanation of that "Patent," affixed amid thunder and lightning, +--they got orders from his Majesty to go their ways next day; +and went. In behalf of old President von Schaffgotsch, a chief of +the Silesian Nobility, and man much loved, the Breslau people, +and men from every guild and rank of society, made petition That, +he should be allowed to continue in his Town House here. Which +"first request of yours" his Majesty, with much grace, is sorry to +be obliged to refuse. The suppressed, and insuppressible, weak +indignation of old Schaffgotsch is visible on the occasion; nor, I +think, does Friedrich take it ill; only sends him out of the way +with it, for the time. The Austrian Ober-Amt vanished bodily from +Breslau in this manner; and never returned. Proper "War-Commission +(FELD-KRIEGS-COMMISSARIAT)," with Munchow, one of those skilful +Custrin Munchows, at the top of it, organized itself instead; +which, almost of necessity, became Supreme Government in a City +ungoverned otherwise:--and truly there was little regret of the +Ober-Amt, in Breslau; and ever less, to a marked extent, as the +years went on. + +On the 5th of January (fourth and last night here), his Majesty +gave a grand Ball. Had hired, or Colonel Posadowsky instead of him +had hired, the Assembly Rooms (REDOUTEN-SAAL), for the purpose: +"Invite all the Nobility high and low;"-- expense by estimate is a +ducat (half-guinea) each; do it well, and his Majesty will pay. +About 6 in the evening, his Majesty in person did us the honor to +drive over; opened the Ball with Madam the Countess von +Schlegenberg (I should guess, a Dowager Lady), in whose house he +lodges. I am not aware that his Majesty danced much farther; but he +was very condescending, and spoke and smiled up and down;--till, +about l0 P.M., an Officer came in with a Letter. Which Letter his +Majesty having read, and seemingly asked a question or two in +regard to, put silently in his pocket, as if it were a finished +thing. Nevertheless, after a few minutes, his Majesty was found to +have silently withdrawn; and did not return, not even to supper. +Perceiving which, all the Prussian official people gradually +withdrew; though the dancing and supping continued not the less, to +a late hour. [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 557.] + +"Open the Austrian Mail-bag (FELLEISEN); see a little what they are +saying over there!" Such order had evidently been given, this +night. In consequence of which, people wrote by Dresden, and not +the direct way, in future; wishing to avoid that openable +FELLEISEN. Next morning, January 6th, his Majesty had left for +Ohlau,--early, I suppose; though there proved to be nothing +dangerous ahead there, after all. + + + +Chapter V. + +FRIEDRICH PUSHES FORWARD TOWARDS BRIEG AND NEISSE. + +Ohlau is a pleasant little Town, two marches southeast of Breslau; +with the Ohlau River on one side, and the Oder on the other; +capable of some defence, were there a garrison. Brieg the important +Fortress, still on the Oder, is some fifteen miles beyond Ohlau; +after which, bending straight south and quitting Oder, Neisse the +still more important may be thirty miles:--from Breslau to Neisse, +by this route (which is BOW, not STRING), sixty-five or seventy +miles. One of my Topographers yields this Note, if readers care +for it:-- + +"Ohlau River, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well +south of Breslau, about Strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward +towards the Oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off +to north, and saunters along, irregularly parallel to Oder, for +twenty miles farther, before it can fall fairly in. To this +circumstance both Breslau and a Town of Ohlau owe their existence; +Towns, both of them, 'between the waters,' and otherwise well +seated; Ohlau sheltering itself in the attempted outfall of its +little river; Breslau clustering itself about the actual outfall: +both very defensible places in the old rude time, and good for +trade in all times. Both Oder and Ohlau Rivers have split and +spread themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their +place of meeting; and even have changed their courses, and cut out +new channels for themselves, in the sandy country; making a very +intricate watery network of a site for Breslau: and indeed the +Ohlau River here, for centuries back, has been compelled into wide +meanderings, mere filling of rampart-ditches, so that it issues +quite obscurely, and in an artificial engineered condition, +at Breslau." + +Ohlau had been expected to make some defence; General Browne having +thrown 300 men into it, and done what he could for the works. +And Ohlau did at first threaten to make some; but thought better of +it overnight, and in effect made none; but was got (morning of +January 9th) on the common terms, by merely marching up to it in +minatory posture. "Prisoners of War, if you make resistance; +Free Withdrawal [Liberty to march away, arms shouldered, and not +serve against us for a year], if you have made none:" this is the +common course, where there are Austrian Soldiers at all; the course +where none are, and only a few Syndics sit, with their Town-Key +laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we have +already seen. + +From Ohlau, proper Detachment, under General Kleist, is pushed +forward to summon Brieg; Jeetz from the other side of the river +(whom we saw crossing at Breslau the other day, interrupting his +Majesty's dinner) is to co-operate with Kleist in that enterprise, +--were the Country once cleared on his, Jeetz's, east side of Oder; +especially were Namslau once had, a small Town and Castle over +there, which commands the Polish and Hungarian road. Friedrich's +hopes are buoyant; Schwerin is swiftly rolling forward to +rightward, nothing resisting him; Detachment is gone from Schwerin, +over the Hills, to Glatz (the GRAFSCHAFT, or County Glatz, an +Appendage to Schlesien), under excellent guidance; under guidance, +namely, of Colonel Camas, who has just come home from his Parisian +Embassy, and got launched among the wintry mountains, on a new +operation,--which, however, proves of non-effect for the present. +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 678; Orlich, <italic> +Geschichte der beiden Schlesischen Kriege, <end italic> i. 49.] + +Indeed, it is observable that southward of Breslau, the dispute, +what dispute there can be, properly begins; and that General Browne +is there, and shows himself a shining man in this difficult +position. It must be owned, no General could have made his small +means go farther. Effective garrisons, 1,600 each, put into Brieg +and Neisse; works repaired, magazines collected, there and +elsewhere; the rest of his poor 7,000 thriftily sprinkled about, in +what good posts there are, and "capable of being got together in +six hours:" a superior soldier, this Browne, though with a very bad +task; and seems to have inspired everybody with something of his +own temper. So that there is marching, detaching, miscellaneous +difficulty for Friedrich in this quarter, more than had been +expected. If the fate of Brieg and Neisse be inevitable, Browne +does wonders to delay it. + +Of the Prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate +Dryasdust, there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded +one: the Stone Pillar which, I see, the Kleist Detachment was sure +to find, just now, on the march from Ohlau to Brieg; last portion +of that march, between the village of Briesen and Brieg. The Oder, +flowing on your left hand, is hereabouts agreeably clothed with +woods: the country, originally a swamp, has been drained, and given +to the plough, in an agreeable manner; and there is an excellent +road paved with solid whinstone,--quarried in Strehlen, twenty +miles away, among the Hills to the right yonder, as you may guess; +--road very visible to the Prussian soldier, though he does not ask +where quarried. These beautiful improvements, beautiful humanities, +--were done by whom? "Done in 1584," say the records, by "George +the Pious;" Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau; 156 years ago. +"Pious" his contemporaries called this George;--he was son of the +ERBVERBRUDERUNG Duke, who is so important to us; he was +grandfather's grandfather of the last Duke of all; after whom it +was we that should have got these fine Territories; they should all +have fallen to the Great Elector, had not the Austrian strong hand +provided otherwise. George did these plantations, recoveries to the +plough; made this perennial whinstone road across the swamps; upon +which, notable to the roughest Prussian (being "twelve feet high by +eight feet square"), rises a Hewn Mass with this Inscription on +it,--not of the name or date of George; but of a thought of his, +which is not without a pious beauty to me:-- +<italic> +Straverunt alii nobis, nos Posteritati; +Omnibus at Christus stravit ad asra viam. +<end italic> +Others have made roads for us; we make them for still others: +Christ made a road to the stars for us all. +[Zollner, <italic> Briefe uber Schlesien, <end italic> i. 175; +Hubner, i. t. 101.] + +I know not how many Brandenburgers of General Kleist's Detachment, +or whether any, read this Stone; but they do all rustle past it +there, claiming the Heritage of this Pious George; and their mute +dim interview with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more +memorable than orders of the day, at this date. + +It was on the 11th, two days after Ohlau, that General Kleist +summoned Brieg; and Brieg answered resolutely, No. There is a +garrison of 1,600 here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but +to "mask" Brieg too; Kleist on this side the River, Jeetz on that, +--had Jeetz once done with Namslau, which he has not by any means. +Namslau's answer was likewise stiffly in the negative; and Jeetz +cannot do Namslau, at least not the Castle, all at once; having no +siege-cannon. Seeing such stiffness everywhere, Friedrich writes to +Glogau, to the Young Dessauer, "Siege-artillery hither! Swift, by +the Oder; you don't need it where you are!" and wishes it were +arrived, for behoof of Neisse and these stiff humors. + + +FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS THERE, IN SURVEY OF +NEISSE, TILL HIS CANNON COME. + +The Prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time (9th +January, same day when Ohlau yielded), at a place called Ottmachau; +a considerable little Town and Castle on the Neisse River, not far +west of Neisse Town, almost at the very south of Silesia. It lay on +the route of Schwerin's Column; long distances ahead of Liegnitz, +--say, by straight highway a hundred miles;--during which, to right +and to left, there had been nothing but submission hitherto. +No resistance was expected here either, for there was not hope in +any; only that Browne had been here; industrious to create delay +till Neisse were got fully ready. He is, by every means, girding up +the loins of Neisse for a tight defence; has put 1,600 men into it, +with proper stores for them, with a resolute skilful Captain at the +top of them: assiduous Browne had been at Ottmachau, as the outpost +of Neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, had admonished them +"Not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly come to their +relief." Which doubtless he would have done, had it been in his +power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? On the 9th of +January, when Schwerin comes up, Browne is again waiting +hereabouts. Again in defensive posture, but without force to +undertake anything; stands on the Southern Uplands, with Bohmen and +Mahren and the Giant Mountains at his back;--stands, so to speak, +defensive at his own House-door, in this manner; and will have, +after SEEING Ottmachau's fate and Neisse's, to duck in with a slam! +At any rate, he had left these Towns in the above firm humor, +screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped else-whither +to screw and prepare. + +And so the Ottmachau Austrians, "260 picked grenadiers" (400 +dragoons there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on +the outskirts as if for fighting, rode away), fire "DESPERAT," says +my intricate friend; [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, i. 672-677; +Orlich, i. 50.] entirely refusing terms from Schwerin; kill twelve +of his people (Major de Rege, distinguished Engineer Major, one of +them): so that Schwerin has to bring petards upon them, four cannon +upon them; and burst in their Town Gate, almost their Castle Gate, +and pretty much their Castle itself;--wasting three days of his +time upon this paltry matter. Upon which they do signify a +willingness for "Free Withdrawal." "No, IHR HERREN" answers, +Schwerin; "not now; after such mad explosion. His Majesty will have +to settle it." Majesty, who is by this time not far off, comes over +to Ottmachau (January 12th); gives words of rebuke, rebuke not very +inexorable; and admits them Prisoners of War. "The officers were +sent to Custrin, common men to Berlin;" the usual arrangement in +such case. Ottmachau Town belongs to the Right Reverend von +Sinzendorf, Bishop of Breslau, and Primate; whose especial Palace +is in Neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory Priests to +do their penance in the Schloss at Ottmachau here,"--and, I should +say, had better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under +present aspects. + +Friedrich continues at Ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth, +till he see Neisse settled. On the morrow, 13th) he learns that the +Siege Artillery is at Grotkau; well forward towards Neisse; +halfway between Brieg and it. Same day, Colonel Camas returns to +him out of Glatz; five of his men lost; and reports That Browne has +had the roads torn up, that Glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and +that nothing can be made of it at this season. Good news +alternating with not so good. + +The truth is, Friedrich has got no Strong Place in Schlesien; +all strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little Namslan itself +cannot be quite taken, Castle cannot, till Jeetz gets his siege- +artillery,--which does not come along so fast as that to Neisse +does. Here is an Excerpt from my Dryasdust, exact though abridged, +concerning Jeetz:-- + +"JANUARY 24th, 1741. Prussians, masters of the Town for a couple of +weeks back, have got into the Church at Namslau, into the Cloister; +are preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes; +diligent as possible,--siege-guns now at last just coming. +The Castle fires fiercely on them, makes furious sallies, steals +six of our oxen,--makes insolent gestures from the walls; at least +one soldier does, this day. 'Sir, may I give that fellow a shot?' +asks the Prussian sentry. 'Do, then,' answers his Major: 'too +insolent that one!' And the sentry explodes on him; brings him +plunging down, head foremost (HERUNTER PURZELTE); the too insolent +mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, +<end italic> i. 703.]--Jeetz did get his cannon, though not till +now, this very day I think; and then, in a couple of days more, +Jeetz finished off Namslau ("officers to Custrin, Common men to +Berlin"); and thereupon blockades the Eastern side of Brieg, +joining hands with Kleist on the Western: whereby Brieg, like +Glogau, is completely masked,--till the season mend. + +Friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty +with Neisse. A "paltry hamlet (BICOQUE)" he playfully calls it; +and, except this, Silesia is now his. Neisse got (which would be +the desirable thing), or put under "mask" as Glogau is, and as +Brieg is being, Austria possesses not an inch of land within these +borders. Here are some Epistolary snatches; still in the light +style, not to say the flimsy and uplifted; but worth giving, so +transparent are they; off hand, like words we had heard his Majesty +SPEAK, in his high mood:-- + +KING TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN (two successive Letters). + +1. "OTTMACHAU, 14th JANUARY, 1741 [second day after our arrival +there]. My dear Monsieur Jordan, my sweet Monsieur Jordan, my quiet +Monsieur Jordan, my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest +Monsieur Jordan,--I announce to Thy Serenity the conquest of +Silesia; I warn thee of the bombardment of Neisse [just getting +ready], and I prepare thee for still more important projects; +and instruct thee of the happiest successes that the womb of +Fortune ever bore. + +"This ought to suffice thee. Be my Cicero as to the justice of my +cause, and I will be thy Caesar as to the execution. Adieu: thou +knowest whether I am not, with the most cordial regard, thy +faithful friend.--F." + +2. "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741. I have the honor to inform your +Humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard Neisse; +and that if the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must +that it be beaten to powder (NECESSITE SERA DE L'ABIMER). For the +rest, our affairs go the best in the world; and soon thou wilt hear +nothing more of us. For in ten days it will all be over; and I +shall have the pleasure of seeing you and hearing you, in about +a fortnight. + +"I have seen neither my Brother [August Wilhelm, not long ago at +Strasburg with us, and betrothed since then] nor Keyserling: +I left them at Breslau, not to expose them to the dangers of war. +They perhaps will be a little angry; but what can I do?--The rather +as, on this occasion, one cannot share in the glory, unless one is +a mortar! + +"Adieu, M. le Conseiller [Poor's-RATH, so styled]. Go and amuse +yourself with Horace, study Pausanias, and be gay over Anacreon. +As to me, who for amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and +gabions, [Merlons are mounds of earth placed behind the solid or +blind parts of the parapet (that is, between the embrasures) of a +Fortification; fascines are bundles of brushwood for filling up a +ditch; gabions, baskets filled with earth to be ranged in defence +till you get trenches dug.] I pray God to grant me soon a +pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you health, satisfaction +and whatever your heart desires.--F." [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xvii. 84.] + +KING FRIEDRICH TO M. LE COMTE ALGAROTTI (gone on a journey). + +"OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741 [same day as the above to Jordan]. +I have begun to settle the Figure of Prussia: the outline will not +be altogether regular; for the whole of Silesia is taken, except +one miserable hamlet (BICOQUE), which perhaps I shall have to keep +blockaded till next spring. + +"Up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only Twenty Men, and +Two Officers, one of whom is the poor De Rege, whom you have seen +at Berlin,"--De Rege, Engineer Major, killed here at Ottmachau, in +Schwerin's late tussle. + +"You are greatly wanting to me here. So soon as you have talked +that business over, write to me about it. [What is the business? +Whither is the dusky Swan of Padua gone?] In all these three +hundred miles I have found no human creature comparable to the Swan +of Padua. I would willingly give ten cubic leagues of ground for a +genius similar to yours. But I perceive I was about entreating you +to return fast, and join me again,--while you are not yet arrived +where your errand was. Make haste to arrive, then; to execute your +commission, and fly back to me. I wish you had a Fortunatus Hat; +it is the only thing defective in your outfit. + +"Adieu, dear Swan of Padua: think, I pray you, sometimes of those +who are getting themselves cut in slices [ECHINER, chined] for the +sake of glory here, and above all do not forget your friends who +think a thousand times of you. "FREDERIC." +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xviii. 28.] + +The object of the dear Swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of +it, cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth +discovering. "Gone to Turin," we at last make out, "with secret +commissions:" [Denina, <italic> La Prusse Litteraire <end italic> +(Berlin, 1790), i. 198. A poor vague Book; only worth consulting in +case of extremity.] desirable to sound the Sardinian Majesty a +little, who is Doorkeeper of the Alps, between France and Austria, +and opens to the best bidder? No great things of a meaning in this +mission, we can guess, or Algarotti had not gone upon it,--though +he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by the Gazetteer +species. Nor was the Swan successful, it would seem; the more the +pity for our Swan! However, he comes back safe; attends Friedrich +in Silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see him, +if any reader wished it. + + + +Chapter VI. + +NEISSE IS BOMBARDED. + +Neisse, which Friedrich calls a paltry hamlet (BICOQUE) is a +pleasant strongly fortified Town, then of perhaps 6 or 8,000 +inhabitants, now of double that number; stands on the right or +south bank of the Neisse,--at this day, on both banks. Pleasant +broad streets, high strong houses, mostly of stone. Pleasantly +encircled by green Hills, northward buttresses of the Giant +Mountains; itself standing low and level, on rich ground much +inclined to be swampy. A lesser river, Biele, or Bielau, coming +from the South, flows leisurely enough into the Neisse,--filling +all the Fortress ditches, by the road. Orchard-growth and meadow- +growth are lordly (HERRLICH); a land rich in fruit, and flowing +with milk and honey. Much given to weaving, brewing, stocking- +making; and, moreover, trades greatly in these articles, and above +all in Wine. Yearly on St. Agnes Day, "21st January, if not a +Sunday," there is a Wine-fair here; Hungarian, of every quality +from Tokay downward, is gathered here for distribution into Germany +and all the Western Countries. While you drink your Tokay, know +that it comes through Neisse. St. Agnes Day falls but unhandily +this year; and I think the Fair will, as they say, AUSBLEIBEN, or +not be held. + +Neisse is a Nest of Priests (PFAFFEN-NEST), says Friedrich once; +which came in this way. About 600 years ago, an ill-conditioned +Heir-Apparent of the Liegnitz Sovereign to whom it then belonged, +quarrelled with his Father, quarrelled slightly with the Universe; +and, after moping about for some time, went into the Church. +Having Neisse for an apanage already his own, he gave it to the +Bishop of Breslau; whose, in spite of the old Father's protestings, +it continued, and continues. Bishops of Breslau are made very +grand by it; Bishops of Breslau have had their own difficulties +here. Thus once (in our Perkin-Warbeck time, A.D. 1497), a Duke of +Oppeln, sitting in some Official Conclave or meeting of magnates +here,--zealous for country privilege, and feeling himself +insufferably put upon,--started up, openly defiant of Official men; +glaring wrathfully into Duke Casimir of Teschen (Bohemian-Austrian +Captain of Silesia), and into the Bishop of Breslau himself; nay at +last, flashed out his sword upon those sublime dignitaries. +For which, by and by, he had to lay his head on the block, in the +great square here; and died penitent, we hope. + +This place, my Dryasdust informs me, had many accidents by floodage +and by fire; was seized and re-seized in the Thirty-Years War +especially, at a great rate: Saxon Arnheim, Austrian Holk, Swedish +Torstenson; no end to the battering and burning poor Neisse had, to +the big ransoms "in new Reichs-thalers and 300 casks of wine." +But it always rebuilt itself, and began business again. How happy +when it could get under some effectual Protector, of the Liegnitz +line, of the Austrian-Bohemian line, and this or the other +battering, just suffered, was to be the last for some time!--Here +again is a battering coming on it; the first of a series that are +now imminent. + +The reader is requested to look at Neisse; for besides the Tokay +wine, there will things arrive there.--Neisse River, let us again +mention, is one of four bearing that name, and all belonging to the +Oder:--could not they be labelled, then, or NUMBERED, in some way? +This Neisse, which we could call Neisse the FIRST (and which +careful readers may as well make acquaintance with on their Map, +where too they will find Neisse the SECOND, "the WUTHENDE or +Roaring Neisse," and two others which concern us less), rises in +the "Western Snow-Mountains (SCHNEEGEBIRGE)," Southwestern or Glatz +district of the Giant Mountains; drains Glatz County and grows big +there; washes the Town of Glatz; then eastward by Ottmachau, by +Neisse Town; whence turning rather abruptly north or northeast, it +gets into the Oder not far south of Brieg. + +Neisse as a Place of Arms, the chief Fortress of Silesia and the +nearest to Austria, is extremely desirable for Friedrich; but there +is no hope of it without some kind of Siege; and Friedrich +determines to try in that way. From Ottmachau, accordingly, and +from the other sides, the Siege-Artillery being now at hand, due +force gathers itself round Neisse, Schwerin taking charge; and for +above a week there is demonstrating and posting, summoning and +parleying; and then, for three days, with pauses intervening, there +is extremely furious bombardment, red-hot at times: "Will you +yield, then?"--with steady negative from Neisse. Friedrich's +quarter is at Ottmachau, twelve miles off; from which he can ride +over, to see and superintend. The fury of his bombardment, which +naturally grieved him, testifies the intensity of his wish. But it +was to no purpose. The Commandant, Colonel von Roth (the same who +was proposed for Breslau lately, a wise head and a stout, famed in +defences) had "poured water on his ramparts," after well repairing +them,--made his ramparts all ice and glass;--and done much else. +Would the reader care to look for a moment? Here, from our waste +Paper-masses, is abundance, requiring only to be abridged:-- + +"JANUARY, 1741: MONDAY, 9th-WEDNESDAY, 11th. Monday, 9th, day when +that sputter at Ottmachau began,--Prussian light-troops appeared +transiently on the heights about Neisse, for the first time. +Directly on sight of whom, Commandant Roth assembled the Burghers +of the place; took a new Oath of Fidelity from one and all; +admonished them to do their utmost, as they should see him do. +The able-bodied and likeliest of them (say about 400) he has had +arranged into Militia Companies, with what drill there could be in +the interim; and since his coming, has employed every moment in +making ready. Wednesday, llth, he locks all the Gates, and stands +strictly on his guard. The inhabitants are mostly Catholic; with +sumptuous Bishops of Breslau, with KREUZHERREN (imaginary Teutsch +or other Ritters with some reality of money), with Jesuit +Dignitaries, Church and Quasi-Church Officialities, resident among +them: population, high and low, is inclined by creed to the Queen +of Hungary. Commandant Roth has only 1,200 regular soldiers; at the +outside 1,600 men under arms: but he has gunpowder, he has meal; +experience also and courage; and hopes these may suffice him for a +time. One of the most determined Commandants; expert in the defence +of strong places. A born Silesian (not Saxon, as some think),--and +is of the Augsburg Confession; but that circumstance is not +important here, though at Breslau Browne thought it was. + +"THURSDAY, 12th. The Prussians, in regular force, appear on the +Kaninchen Berg (Cony Hill, so called from its rabbits), south of +the River, evidently taking post there. Roth fires a signal shot; +the Southern Suburbs of Neisse, as preappointed, go up in flame; +crackle high and far; in a lamentable manner (ERBARMLICH), through +the grim winter air." This is the day Friedrich came over to +Ottmachau, and settled the sputter there. + +"Next day, and next again, the same phenomena at Neisse; the +Prussians edging ever nearer, building their batteries, preparing +to open their cannonade. Whereupon Roth burns the remaining +Suburbs, with lamentable crackle; on all sides now are mere ashes. +Bishop's Mill, Franciscan Cloister, Bishop's Pleasure-garden, with +its summer-houses; Bishop's Hospital, and several Churches: +Roth can spare none of these things, with the Prussians nestling +there. Surely the Bishop himself, respectable Cardinal Graf von +Sinzendorf, had better get out of these localities while time yet +is?" "Saturday, 14th," that was the day Friedrich, at Ottmachau, +wrote as above to Jordan (Letter No. 1), while the Neisse Suburbs +crackled lamentably, twelve miles off, "Schwerin gets order to +break up, in person, from Ottmachan to-morrow, and begin actual +business on the Kaninchen Hill yonder. + +"SUNDAY, 15th. Schwerin does; marches across the River; takes post +on the south side of Neisse: notable to the Sunday rustics. +Nothing but burnt villages and black walls for Schwerin, in that +Cony-Hill quarter, and all round; and Roth salutes him with one +twenty-four pounder, which did no hurt. And so the cannonade +begins, Sunday, 15th; and intermittently, on both sides of the +River, continues, always bursting out again at intervals, till +Wednesday; a mere preliminary cannonade on Schwerin's part; +making noise, doing little hurt: intended more to terrify, but +without effect that way on Roth or the Townsfolk. The poor Bishop +did, on the second day of it, come out, and make application to +Schwerin; was kindly conducted to his Majesty, who happened to be +over there; was kept to dinner; and easily had leave to retire to +Freywalde, a Country-House he has, in the safe distance. +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 683.] There let him +be quiet, well out of these confused batterings and burnings +of property. + +"His Majesty's Head-quarter is at Ottmachau, but in two hours he +can be here any day; and looks into everything; sorry that the +cannonade does not yet answer. And remnants of suburbs are still +crackling into flame; high Country-Houses of Kreuzherren, of +Jesuits; a fanatic people seemingly all set against us. 'If Neisse +will not yield of good-will, needs is it must be beaten to powder,' +wrote his Majesty to Jordan in these circumstances, as we read +above. Roth is sorry to observe, the Prussians have still one good +Bishop's-mansion, in a place called the Karlau (Karl-Meadow), with +the Bishop's winter fuel all ready stacked there; but strives to +take order about the same. + +"WEDNESDAY, 18th. This day two provocations happened. First, in the +morning by his Majesty's order, Colonel Borck (the same we saw at +Herstal) had gone with a Trumpeter towards Roth; intending to +inform Roth how mild the terms would be, how terrible the penalty +of not accepting them. But Roth or Roth's people singularly +disregard Borck and his Parley Trumpet; answer its blasts by +musketry; fire upon it, nay again fire worse when it advances a +step farther; on these terms Borck and Trumpet had to return. +Which much angered his Majesty at Ottmachau that evening; as was +natural. Same evening, our fine quarters in the Karlau crackled up +in flame, the Bishop's winter firewood all along with it: this was +provocation second. Roth had taken order with the Karlau; and got a +resolute Butcher to do the feat, under pretext of bringing us beef. +It is piercing cold; only blackened walls for us now in the Karlau +or elsewhere. His Majesty, naturally much angered, orders for the +morrow a dose of bomb-shells and red-hot balls. Plant a few mortars +on the North side too, orders his Majesty. + +"THURSDAY, 19th. Accordingly, by 8 of the clock, cannon batteries +reawaken with a mighty noise, and red-hot balls are noticeable; +and at 10 the actual bombarding bursts out, terrible to hear and +see;--first shell falling in Haubitz the Clothier's shop, but being +happily got under. Roth has his City Militia companies, organized +with water-hose for quenching of the red-hot balls: in which they +became expert. So that though the fire caught many houses, they +always put it out. Late in the night, hearing no word from Roth, +the Prussians went to bed. + +"FRIDAY, 20th. Still no word; on which, about 4 P.M., the Prussian +batteries awaken again: volcanic torrent of red-hot shot and +shells, for seven hours; still no word from Roth. About 11 at night +his Majesty again sends a Drum (Parley Trumpet or whatever it is) +to the Gate; formally summons Roth; asks him, 'If he has well +considered what this can lead to? Especially what he, Roth, meant +by firing on our first Trumpet on Wednesday last?' Roth answered, +'That as to the Trumpet, he had not heard of it before. On the +other hand, that this mode of sieging by red-hot balls seems a +little unusual; for the rest, that he has himself no order or +intention but that of resisting to the last.' Some say the Drum +hereupon by order talked of 'pounding Neisse into powder, mere +child's-play hitherto;' to which Roth answered only by respectful +dumb-show. + +"SATURDAY, 21st-MONDAY, 23d. Midnight of Friday-Saturday, on this +answer coming, the fire-volcanoes open again;--nine hours long; +shells, and red-hot material, in terrible abundance. Which hit +mostly the churches, Jesuits' Seminariums and Collegiums; +but produced no change in Roth. From 9 A.M. the batteries are +silent. Silent still, next morning: Divine Service may proceed, if +it like. But at 4 of the afternoon, the batteries awaken worse than +ever; from seven to nine bombs going at once. Universal rage, of +noise and horrid glare, making night hideous, till 10 of the clock; +Roth continuing inflexible. This is the last night of the Siege." + +Friedrich perceived that Roth would not yield; that the utter +smashing-down of Neisse might more concern Friedrich than Roth; +--that, in fine, it would be better to desist till the weather +altered. Next day, "Monday, 23d, between noon and 1 o'clock," the +Prussians drew back;--converted the siege into a blockade. +Neisse to be masked, like Brieg and Glogau (Brieg only half done +yet, Jeetz without cannon till to-morrow, 24th, and little Namslau +still gesticulating): "The only thing one could try upon it was +bombardment. A Nest of Priests (PFAFFEN-NEST); not many troops in +it: but it cannot well be forced at present. If spring were here, +it will cost a fortnight's work." [FRIEDRICH TO THE OLD DESSAUER: +Fraction of Letter (Ottmachau, 16th-21st January, 1741) cited by +Orlich, i. 51;--from the Dessau Archives, where Herr Orlich has +industriously been. To all but strictly military people these +pieces of Letters are the valuable feature of Orlich's Book; and a +general reader laments that it does not all consist of such, +properly elucidated and labelled into accessibility.] + +A noisy business; "King's high person much exposed: a bombardier +and then a sergeant were killed close by him, though in all he lost +only five men." [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 680-690.] + + +BROWNE VANISHES IN A SLIGHT FLASH OF FIRE. + +Browne all this while has hung on the Mountain-side, witnessing +these things; sending stores towards Glatz southwestward, and +"ruining the ways" behind them; waiting what would become of +Neisse. Neisse done, Schwerin is upon him; Browne makes off +Southeastward, across the Mountains, for Moravia and home; +Schwerin following hard. At a little place called Gratz, [The name, +in old Slavic speech, signifies TOWN; and there are many GRATZES: +KONIGINgratz (QUEEN'S, which for brevity is now generally called +KONIGSgratz, in Bohemia); Gratz in Styria; WINDISCHgratz +(Wendish-town); &c.] on the Moravian border, Browne faced round, +tried to defend the Bridge of the Oppa, sharply though without +effect; and there came (January 25th) a hot sputter between them +for a few minutes:--after which Browne vanished into the interior, +and we hear, in these parts, comparatively little more of him +during this War. Friend and foe must admit that he has neglected +nothing; and fairly made the best of a bad business here. He is but +an interim General, too; his Successor just coming; and the Vienna +Board of War is frequently troublesome,--to whose windy +speculations Browne replies with sagacious scepticism, and here and +there a touch of veiled sarcasm, which was not likely to conciliate +in high places. Had her Hungarian Majesty been able to retain +Browne in his post, instead of poor Neipperg who was sent instead, +there might have been a considerably different account to give of +the sequel. But Neipperg was Tutor (War-Tutor) to the Grand-Duke; +Browne is still of young standing (age only thirty-five), with a +touch of veiled sarcasm; and things must go their course. + +In Schlesien, Schwerin is now to command in chief; the King going +off to Berlin for a little, naturally with plenty of errand there. +The Prussian Troops go into Winter-quarters; spread themselves +wide; beset the good points, especially the Passes of the Hills,-- +from Jagerndorf, eastward to the Jablunka leading towards Hungary; +--nay they can, and before long do, spread into the Moravian +Territories, on the other side; and levy contributions, the Queen +proving unreasonable. + +It was Monday, 23d, when the Siege of Neisse was abandoned: on +Wednesday, Friedrich himself turns homeward; looks into +Schweidnitz, looks into Liegnitz; and arrives at Berlin as the week +ends,--much acclamation greeting him from the multitude. +Except those three masked Fortresses, capable of no defence to +speak of, were Winter over, Silesia is now all Friedrich's,--has +fallen wholly to him in the space of about Seven Weeks. The seizure +has been easy; but the retaining of it, perhaps he himself begins +to see more clearly, will have difficulties! From this point, the +talk about GLOIRE nearly ceases in his Correspondence. In those +seven weeks he has, with GLOIRE or otherwise, cut out for himself +such a life of labor as no man of his Century had. + + + +Chapter VII. + +AT VERSAILLES, THE MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY CHANGES HIS +SHIRT, AND BELLEISLE IS SEEN WITH PAPERS. + +While Friedrich was so busy in Silesia, the world was not asleep +around him; the world never is, though it often seems to be, round +a man and what action he does in it. That Sunday morning, First Day +of the Year 1741, in those same hours while Friedrich, with energy, +with caution, was edging himself into Breslau, there went on in the +Court of Versailles an interior Phenomenon; of which, having by +chance got access to it face to face, we propose to make the reader +participant before going farther. + +Readers are languidly aware that phenomena do go on round their +Friedrich; that their busy Friedrich, with his few Voltaires and +renowned persons, are not the only population of their Century, by +any means. Everybody is aware of that fact; yet, in practice, +almost everybody is as good as not aware; and the World all round +one's Hero is a darkness, a dormant vacancy. How strange when, as +here, some Waste-paper spill (so to speak) turns up, which you can +KINDLE; and, by the brief flame of it, bid a reader look with his +own eyes!--From Herr Doctor Busching, who did the GEOGRAPHY and +about a Hundred other Books,--a man of great worth, almost of +genius, could he have elaborated his Hundred Books into Ten (or +distilled, into flasks of aqua-vitae, what otherwise lies tumbling +as tanks of mash and wort, now run very sour and mal-odorous);-- +it is from Herr Busching that we gain the following rough Piece, +illuminative if one can kindle it:-- + +The Titular-Herr Baron Anton von Geusau, a gentleman of good parts, +scholastic by profession, and of Protestant creed, was accompanying +as Travelling Tutor, in those years, a young Graf von Reuss. +Graf von Beuss is one of those indistinct Counts Reuss, who always +call themselves "Henry;" and, being now at the eightieth and +farther, with uncountable collateral Henrys intertwisted, are +become in effect anonymous, or of nomenclature inscrutable to +mankind. Nor is the young one otherwise of the least interest to +us;--except that Herr Anton, the Travelling Tutor, punctually kept +a Journal of everything. Which Journal, long afterwards, came into +the hands of Busching, also a punctual man; and was by him +abridged, and set forth in print in his <italic> Beitrage. <end +italic> Offering at present a singular daguerrotype glimpse of the +then actual world, wherever Graf von Reuss and his Geusau happened +to be. Nine-tenths of it, even in Busching's Abridgment, are now +fallen useless and wearisome; but to one studying the days that +then were, even the effete commonplace of it occasionally becomes +alive again. And how interesting to catch, here and there, a +Historical Figure on these conditions; Historical Figure's very +self, in his work-day attitude; eating his victuals; writing, +receiving letters, talking to his fellow-creatures; unaware that +Posterity, miraculously through some chink of the Travelling +Tutor's producing, has got its eye upon him. + +"SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY, 1741, Geusau and his young Gentleman leave +Paris, at 5 in the morning, and drive out to Versailles; intending +to see the ceremonies of New-year's day there. Very wet weather it +had been, all Wednesday, and for days before; [See in <italic> +Barbier <end italic> (ii. 283 et seqq.) what terrible Noah-like +weather it had been; big houses, long in soak, tumbling down at +last into the Seine; CHASSE of St. Genevieve brought out (two days +ago), December 30th, to try it by miracle; &c. &c.] but on this +Sunday, New-year's morning, all is ice and glass; and they slid +about painfully by lamplight,--with unroughened horses, and on the +Hilly or Meudon road, having chosen that as fittest, the waters +being out;--not arriving at Court till 9. Nor finding very much to +comfort them, except on the side of curiosity, when there. +Ushers, INTRODUCTEURS, Cabinet Secretaries, were indeed assiduous +to oblige; and the King's Levee will be: but if you follow it, to +the Chapel Royal to witness high mass, you must kneel at elevation +of the host; and this, as reformed Christians, Reuss and his Tutor +cannot undertake to do. They accept a dinner invitation (12 the +hour) from some good Samaritan of Quality; and, for sights, will +content themselves with the King's Levee itself, and generally with +what the King's Antechamber and the OEil-de-Boeuf can exhibit to +them. The Most Christian King's Levee [LEVER, literally here his +Getting out of Bed] is a daily miracle of these localities, only +grander on New-year's day; and it is to the following effect:-- + +"Till Majesty please to awaken, you saunter in the Salle des +Ambassadeurs; whole crowds jostling one another there; gossiping +together in a diligent, insipid manner;" gossip all reported; +snatches of which have acquired a certain flavor by long keeping;-- +which the reader shall imagine. "Meanwhile you keep your eye on the +Grate of the Inner Court, which as yet is only ajar, Majesty +inaccessible as yet. Behold, at last, Grate opens itself wide; sign +that Majesty is out of bed; that the privileged of mankind may +approach, and see the miracles." Geusau continues, abridged by +Busching and us:-- + +"The whole Assemblage passed now into the King's Anteroom; had to +wait there about half an hour more, before the King's bedroom was +opened. But then at last, lo you,--there is the King, visible to +Geusau and everybody, washing his hands.' Which effected itself in +this way: 'The King was seated; a gentleman-in-waiting knelt, +before him, and held the Ewer, a square vessel silver-gilt, firm +upon the King's breast; and another gentleman-in-waiting poured +water on the King's hands.' Merely an official washing, we +perceive; the real, it is to be hoped, had, in a much more +effectual way, been going on during the half-hour just elapsed. +After washing, the King rose for an instant; had his dressing-gown, +a grand yellow silky article with silver flowerings, pulled off, +and flung round his loins; upon which he sat down again, and,"-- +observe it, ye privileged of mankind,--"the Change of Shirt took +place! 'They put the clean shirt down over his head,' says Anton, +(and plucked up the dirty one from within, so that of the naked +skin you saw little or nothing.'" Here is a miracle worth getting +out of bed to look at! + +"His Majesty now quitted chair and dressing-gown; stood up before +the fire; and, after getting on the rest of his clothing, which, on +account of Czarina Anne's death [readers remember that], was of +violet or mourning color, he had the powder-mantle thrown round +him, and sat down at the Toilette to have his hair frizzled. The +Toilette, a table with white cover shoved into the middle of the +room, had on it a mirror, a powder-knife, and"--no mortal cares +what. "The King," what all mortals note, as they do the heavenly +omens, "is somewhat talky; speaks sometimes with the Dutch +Ambassador, sometimes with the Pope's Nuncio, who seems a jocose +kind of gentleman; sometimes with different French Lords, and at +last with the Cardinal Fleury also,--to whom, however, he does not +look particularly gracious,"--not particularly this time. These are +the omens; happy who can read them!--Majesty then did his morning- +prayer, assisted only by the common Almoners-in-waiting (Cardinal +took no hand, much less any other); Majesty knelt before his bed, +and finished the business 'in less than six seconds.' After which +mankind can ebb out to the Anteroom again; pay their devoir to the +Queen's Majesty, which all do; or wait for the Transit to Morning +Chapel, and see Mesdames of France and the others flitting past in +their sedans. + +"Queen's Majesty was already altogether dressed," says Geusau, +almost as if with some disappointment; "all in black; a most +affable courteous Majesty; stands conversing with the Russian +Ambassador, with the Dutch ditto, with the Ladies about her, and at +last, 'in a friendly and merry tone,' with old Cardinal Fleury. +Her Ladies, when the Queen spoke with them, showed no constraint at +all; leant loosely with their arms on the fire-screens, and took +things easy. Mesdames of France"--Geusau saw Mesdames. Poor little +souls, they are the LOQUE, the COCHON (Rag, Pig, so Papa would call +them, dear Papa), who become tragically visible again in the +Revolution time:--all blooming young children as yet (Queen's +Majesty some thirty-seven gone), and little dreaming what lies +fifty years ahead! King Louis's career of extraneous gallantries, +which ended in the Parc-aux-Cerfs, is now just beginning: think of +that too; and of her Majesty's fine behavior under it; so affable, +so patient, silent, now and always!--"In a little while, their +Majesties go along the Great Gallery to Chapel;" whither the +Protestant mind cannot with comfort accompany. [Busching, <italic> +Beitrage, <end italic> ii. 59-78.] + +This is the daily miracle done at Versailles to the believing +multitude; only that on New-year's day, and certain supreme +occasions, the shirt is handed by a Prince of the Blood, and the +towel for drying the royal hands by a ditto, with other +improvements; and the thing comes out in its highest power of +effulgence,--especially if you could see high mass withal. In the +Antechamber and (OEil-de-Boeuf, Geusau, among hundreds of phenomena +fallen dead to us, saw the Four following, which have still +some life:-- +1. Many Knights of the Holy Ghost (CHEVALIERS DU SAINT ESPRIT) are +about; magnificently piebald people, indistinct to us, and fallen +dead to us: but there, among the company, do not we indisputably +see, "in full Cardinal's costume," Fleury the ancient Prime +Minister talking to her Majesty? Blandly smiling; soft as milk, yet +with a flavor of alcoholic wit in him here and there. That is a man +worth looking at, had they painted him at all. Red hat, red +stockings; a serenely definite old gentleman, with something of +prudent wisdom, and a touch of imperceptible jocosity at times; +mildly inexpugnable in manner: this King, whose Tutor he was twenty +years ago, still looks to him as his father; Fleury is the real +King of France at present. His age is eighty-seven gone; the King's +is thirty (seven years younger than his Queen): and the Cardinal +has red stockings and red hat; veritably there, successively in +both Antechambers, seen by Geusau, January 1st, 1741: that is all +I know. +2. The Prince de Clermont, a Prince of the Blood, "handed the +shirt," TESTE Geusau. Some other Prince, notable to Geusau, and to +us nameless, had the honor of the "towel:" but this Prince de +Clermont, a dissolute fellow of wasted parts, kind of Priest, kind +of Soldier too, is seen visibly handing the shirt there;--whom the +reader and I, if we cared about it, shall again see, getting beaten +by Prince Ferdinand, at Crefeld, within twenty years hence. +These are points first and second, slightly noticeable, slightly if +at all. + +Of the actual transit to high mass, transit very visible in the +Great Gallery or OEil-de-Boeuf, why should a human being now say +anything? Queen, poor Stanislaus's Daughter, and her Ladies, in +their sublime sedans, one flood of jewels, sail first; next sails +King Louis, shirt warm on his back, with "thirty-four Chevaliers of +the Holy Ghost" escorting; next "the Dauphin" (Boy of eleven, Louis +XVI.'s. Father), and "Mesdames of France, with"--but even Geusau +stops short. Protestants cannot enter that Chapel, without peril of +idolatry; wherefore Geusau and Pupil kept strolling in the general +(OEil-de-Boeuf,--and "the Dutch Ambassador approved of it," he for +one. And here now is another point, slightly noticeable:-- +3. High mass over, his Majesty sails back from Chapel, in the same +magnificently piebald manner; and vanishes into the interior; +leaving his Knights of the Holy Ghost, and other Courtier +multitude, to simmer about, and ebb away as they found good. +Geusau and his young Reuss had now the honor of being introduced to +various people; among others "to the Prince de Soubise." Prince de +Soubise: frivolous, insignificant being; of whom I have no portrait +that is not nearly blank, and content to be so;--though Herr von +Geusau would have one, with features and costume to it, when he +heard of the Beating at Rossbach, long after! Prince de Soubise is +pretty much a blank to everybody:--and no sooner are we loose of +him, than (what every reader will do well to note) 4. Our Herren +Travellers are introduced to a real Notability: Monseigneur, soon +to be Marechal, the Comte de Belleisle; whom my readers and I are +to be much concerned with, in time coming. "A tall lean man (LANGER +HAGERER MANN), without much air of quality," thinks Geusau; +but with much swift intellect and energy, and a distinguished +character, whatever Geusau might think. "Comte de Belleisle was +very civil; but apologized, in a courtly and kind way, for the +hurry he was in; regretting the impossibility of doing the honors +to the Comte de Reuss in this Country,--his, Belleisle's, Journey +into Germany, which was close at hand, overwhelming him with +occupations and engagements at present. And indeed, even while he +spoke to us," says Geusau, "all manner of Papers were put into his +hand." [Busching, ii. 79; see Barbier, ii. 282, 287.] + +"Journey to Germany, Papers put into his hand:" there is perhaps no +Human Figure in the world, this Sunday (except the one Figure now +in those same moments over at Breslau, gently pressing upon the +locked Gates there), who is so momentous for our Silesian +Operations; and indeed he will kindle all Europe into delirium; and +produce mere thunder and lightning, for seven years to come,-- with +almost no result in it, except Silesia! A tall lean man; there +stands he, age now fifty-six, just about setting out on such +errand. Whom one is thankful to have seen for a moment, even in +that slight manner. + +OF BELLEISLE AND HIS PLANS. + +Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Comte de Belleisle, is Grandson of +that Intendant Fouquet, sumptuous Financier, whom Louis XIV. at +last threw out, and locked into the Fortress of Pignerol, amid the +Savoy Alps, there to meditate for life, which lasted thirty years +longer. It was never understood that the sumptuous Fouquet had +altogether stolen public moneys, nor indeed rightly what he had +done to merit Pignerol; and always, though fallen somehow into such +dire disfavor, he was pitied and respected by a good portion of the +public. "Has angered Colbert," said the public; "dangerous rivalry +to Colbert; that is what has brought Pignerol upon him." Out of +Pignerol that Fouquet never came; but his Family bloomed up into +light again; had its adventures, sometimes its troubles, in the +Regency time, but was always in a rising way:--and here, in this +tall lean man getting papers put into his hand, it has risen very +high indeed. Going as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Germanic +Diet, "to assist good neighbors, as a neighbor and Most Christian +Majesty should, in choosing their new Kaiser to the best +advantage:" that is the official color his mission is to have. +Surely a proud mission;--and Belleisle intends to execute it in a +way that will surprise the Germanic Diet and mankind. Privately, +Belleisle intends that he, by his own industries, shall himself +choose the right Kaiser, such Kaiser as will suit the Most +Christian Majesty and him; he intends to make a new French thing of +Germany in general; and carries in his head plans of an amazing +nature! He and a Brother he has, called the Chevalier de Belleisle, +who is also a distinguished man, and seconds M. le Comte with +eloquent fire and zeal in all things, are grandsons of that old +Fouquet, and the most shining men in France at present. +France little dreams how much better it perhaps were, had they also +been kept safe in Pignerol!-- + +The Count, lean and growing old, is not healthy; is ever and anon +tormented, and laid up for weeks, with rheumatisms, gouts and +ailments: but otherwise he is still a swift ardent elastic spirit; +with grand schemes, with fiery notions and convictions, which +captivate and hurry off men's minds more than eloquence could, so +intensely true are they to the Count himself;--and then his Brother +the Chevalier is always there to put them into the due language and +logic, where needed. [Voltaire, xxviii. 74; xxix. 392; &c.] +A magnanimous high-flown spirit; thought to be of supreme skill +both in War and in Diplomacy; fit for many things; and is still +full of ambition to distinguish himself, and tell the world at all +moments, "ME VOILA; World, I too am here!"--His plans, just now, +which are dim even to himself, except on the hither skirt of them, +stretch out immeasurable, and lie piled up high as the skies. +The hither skirt of them, which will suffice the reader at +present, is:-- + +That your Grand-Duke Franz, Maria Theresa's Husband, shall in no +wise, as the world and Duke Franz expect, be the Kaiser chosen. +Not he, but another who will suit France better: "Kur-Sachsen +perhaps, the so-called King of Poland? Or say it were Karl Albert +Kur-Baiern, the hereditary friend and dependent of France? We are +not tied to a man: only, at any and at all rates, not Grand-Duke +Franz." This is the grand, essential and indispensable point, alpha +and omega of points; very clear this one to Belleisle,--and towards +this the first steps, if as yet only the first, are also clear to +him. Namely that "the 27th of February next",--which is the time +set by Kur-Mainz and the native Officials for the actual meeting of +their Reichstag to begin Election Business, will be too early a +time; and must be got postponed. [Adelung, ii. 185 ("27th February- +1st March, 1741, at Frankfurt-on-Mayn," appointed by Kur-Mainz +"Arch-Chancellor of the REICH," under date November 3d, 1740);-- +ib. 236 ("Delay for a month or two," suggests Kur-Pfalz, on January +12th, seconded by others in the French interest);-- upon which the +appointment, after some arguing, collapsed into the vague, and +there ensued delay enough; actual Election not till January 24th, +1742.] Postponed; which will be possible, perhaps for long; one +knows not for how long: that is a first step definitely clear to +Belleisle. Towards which, as preliminary to it and to all the +others in a dimmer state, there is a second thing clear, and has +even been officially settled (all but the day): That, in the mean +while, and surely the sooner the better, he, Belleisle, Most +Christian Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary to the Reichstag +coming,--do, in his most dazzling and persuasive manner, make a +Tour among German Courts. Let us visit, in our highest and yet in +our softest splendor, the accessible German Courts, especially the +likely or well-disposed: Mainz, Koln, Trier, these, the three +called Spiritual, lie on our very route; then Pfalz, Baiern, +Sachsen:--we will tour diligently up and down; try whether, by +optic machinery and art-magic of the mind, one cannot bring +them round. + +In all these preliminary steps and points, and even in that alpha +and omega of excluding Grand-Duke Franz, and getting a Kaiser of +his own, Belleisle succeeded. With painful results to himself and +to millions of his fellow-creatures, to readers of this History, +among others. And became in consequence the most famous of mankind; +and filled the whole world with rumor of Belleisle, in those +years.--A man of such intrinsic distinction as Belleisle, whom +Friedrich afterwards deliberately called a great Captain, and the +only Frenchman with a genius for war; and who, for some time, +played in Europe at large a part like that of Warwick the +Kingmaker: how has he fallen into such oblivion? Many of my readers +never heard of him before; nor, in writing or otherwise, is there +symptom that any living memory now harbors him, or has the least +approach to an image of him! "For the times are babbly," says +Goethe," And then again the times are dumb:-- + <italic> + Denn geschwatzig sind die Zeiten, + Und sie sind auch wieder stumm." + <end italic> + + Alas, if a man sow only chaff, in never so sublime a manner, with +the whole Earth and the long-eared populations looking on, and +chorally singing approval, rendering night hideous,--it will avail +him nothing. And that, to a lamentable extent, was Belleisle's +case. His scheme of action was in most felicitously just accordance +with the national sense of France, but by no means so with the Laws +of Nature and of Fact; his aim, grandiose, patriotic, what you +will, was unluckily false and not true. How could "the times" +continue talking of him? They found they had already talked too +much. Not to say that the French Revolution has since come; and has +blown all that into the air, miles aloft,--where even the solid +part of it, which must be recovered one day, much more the gaseous, +which we trust is forever irrecoverable, now wanders and whirls; +and many things are abolished, for the present, of more value +than Belleisle!-- + +For my own share, being, as it were, forced accidentally to look at +him again, I find in Belleisle a really notable man; far superior +to the vulgar of noted men, in his time or ours. Sad destiny for +such a man! But when the general Life-element becomes so +unspeakably phantasmal as under Louis XV., it is difficult for any +man to be real; to be other than a play-actor, more or less +eminent,and artistically dressed. Sad enough, surely, when the +truth of your relation to the Universe, and the tragically earnest +meaning of your Life, is quite lied out of you, by a world sunk in +lies; and you can, with effort, attain to nothing but to be a more +or less splendid lie along with it! Your very existence all become +a vesture, a hypocrisy, and hearsay; nothing left of you but this +sad faculty of sowing chaff in the fashionable manner! +After Friedrich and Voltaire, in both of whom, under the given +circumstances, one finds a perennial reality, more or less,-- +Belleisle is next; none FAILS to escape the mournful common lot by +a nearer miss than Belleisle. + +Beyond doubt, there are in this man the biggest projects any French +head has carried, since Louis XIV. with his sublime periwig first +took to striking the stars. How the indolent Louis XV. and the +pacific Fleury have been got into this sublimely adventurous mood? +By Belleisle chiefly, men say;--and by King Louis's first +Mistresses, blown upon by Belleisle; poor Louis having now, at +length, left his poor Queen to her reflections, and taken into that +sad line, in which by degrees he carried it so far. There are three +of them, it seems;--the first female souls that could ever manage +to kindle, into flame or into smoke: in this or any other kind, +that poor torpid male soul: those Mailly Sisters, three in number +(I am shocked to hear), successive, nay in part simultaneous! +They are proud women, especially the two younger; with ambition in +them, with a bravura magnanimity, of the theatrical or operatic +kind; of whom Louis is very fond. "To raise France to its place, +your Majesty; the top of the Universe, namely!" "Well; if it could +be done,--and quite without trouble?" thinks Louis. +Bravura magnanimity, blown upon by Belleisle, prevails among these +high Improper Females, and generally in the Younger Circles of the +Court; so that poor old Fleury has had no choice but to obey it or +retire. And so Belleisle stalks across the OEil-de-Boeuf in that +important manner, visibly to Geusau; and is the shining object in +Paris, and much the topic there at present. + +A few weeks hence, he is farther--a little out of the common turn, +but not beyond his military merits or capabilities--made Marechal +de France; [<italic> Fastes de Louis XV., <end italic> i. 356 (12th +February, 1741).] by way of giving him a new splendor in the German +Political World, and assisting in his operations there, which +depend much upon the laws of vision. French epigrams circulate in +consequence, and there are witty criticisms; to which Belleisle, +such a dusky world of Possibility lying ahead, is grandly +indifferent. Marechal de France;--and Geusau hears (what is a fact) +that there are to be "thirty young French Lords in his suite;" his +very "Livery," or mere plush retinue, "to consist of 110 persons;" +such an outfit for magnificence as was never seen before. And in +this equipment, "early in March" (exact day not given), +magnificence of outside corresponding to grandiosity of faculty and +idea, Belleisle, we shall find, does practically set off towards +Germany;--like a kind of French Belus, or God of the Sun; capable to +dazzle weak German Courts, by optical machinery, and to set much +rotten thatch on fire!-- + +"There are curious daguerrotype glimpses of old Paris to be found +in that Notebook of Geusau's", says another Excerpt; "which come +strangely home to us, like reality at first-hand;--and a rather +unexpected Paris it is, to most readers; many things then alive +there, which are now deep underground. Much Jansenist Theology +afloat; grand French Ladies piously eager to convert a young +Protestant Nobleman like Reuss; sublime Dorcases, who do not rouge, +or dress high, but eschew the evil world, and are thrifty for the +Poor's sake, redeeming the time. There is a Cardinal de Polignac, +venerable sage and ex-political person, of astonishing erudition, +collector of Antiques (with whom we dined); there is the Chevalier +Ramsay, theological Scotch Jacobite, late Tutor of the young +Turenne. So many shining persons, now fallen indistinct again. +And then, besides gossip, which is of mild quality and in fair +proportion,--what talk, casuistic and other, about the Moral +Duties, the still feasible Pieties, the Constitution Unigenitus! +All this alive, resonant at dinner-tables of Conservative stamp; +the Miracles of Abbe Paris much a topic there:--and not a whisper +of Infidel Philosophies; the very name of Voltaire not once +mentioned in the Reuss section of Parisian things. + +"There is rumor now and then of a 'Comte de Rothenbourg,' +conspicuous in the Parisian circles; a shining military man, but +seemingly in want of employment; who has lost in gambling, within +the last four years, upwards of 50,000 pounds (1,300,000 livres, +the exact cipher given). This is the Graf von Rothenburg whom +Friedrich made acquaintance with, in the Rhine Campaign six years +ago, and has ever since had in his eye;--whom, in a few weeks +hence, Friedrich beckons over to him into the Prussian States: +'Hither, and you shall have work!' Which Rothenburg accepts; with +manifold advantage to both parties:--one of Friedrich's most +distinguished friends for the rest of his life. + +"Of Cardinal Polignac there is much said, and several dinners with +him are transacted, dialogue partly given: a pious wise old +gentleman really, in his kind (age now eighty-four); looking mildly +forth upon a world just about to overset itself and go topsy-turvy, +as he sees it will. His ANTI-LUCRETIUS was once such a Poem!--but +we mention him here because his fine Cabinet of Antiques came to +Berlin on his death, Friedrich purchasing; and one often hears of +it (if one cared to hear) from the Prussian Dryasdust in subsequent +years. [Came to Charlottenburg, August, 1742 (old Polignac had died +November last, ten months after those Geusau times): cost of the +Polignac Cabinet was 40,000 thalers (6,000 pounds) say some, 90,000 +livres (under 4,000 pounds) say others; cheap at either price;-- +and, by chance, came opportunely, "a fire having just burnt down +the Academy Edifice," and destroyed much ware of that kind. +Rodenbeck, i. 73; Seyfarth (Anonymous), <italic> Geschichte +Friedrichs des Andern, <end italic> i. 236.] + +"Of Friedrich's unexpected Invasion of Silesia there are also +talkings and surmisings, but in a mild indifferent tone, and much +in the vague. And in the best-informed circles it is thought +Belleisle will manage to HAVE Grand-Duke Franz, the Queen of +Hungary's Husband, chosen Kaiser, and, in some mild good way, put +an end to all that;"--which is far indeed from Belleisle's +intention! + + + +Chapter VIII. + +PHENOMENA IN PETERSBURG. + +I know not whether Major Winterfeld, who was sent to Petersburg in +December last, had got back to Berlin in February, now while +Friedrich is there: but for certain the good news of him had, That +he had been completely successful, and was coming speedily, to +resume his soldier duties in right time. As Winterfeld is an +important man (nearly buried into darkness in the dull Prussian +Books), let us pause for a moment on this Negotiation of his;--and +on the mad Russian vicissitudes which preceded and followed, so far +as they concern us. Russia, a big demi-savage neighbor next door, +with such caprices, such humors and interests, is always an +important, rather delicate object to Friedrich; and Fortune's mad +wheel is plunging and canting in a strange headlong way there, of +late. Czarina Anne, we know, is dead; the Autocrat of All the +Russias following the Kaiser of the Romans within eight days. +Iwan, her little Nephew, still in swaddling-clothes, is now +Autocrat of All the Russias if he knew it, poor little red-colored +creature; and Anton Ulrich and his Mecklenburg Russian Princess-- +But let us take up the matter where our Notebooks left it, in +Friedrich Wilhelm's time:-- + +"Czarina Anne with the big cheek," continues that Notebook, [Supra, +p. 129.] "was extremely delighted to see little Iwan; but enjoyed +him only two months; being herself in dying circumstances. +She appointed little Iwan her Successor, his Mother and Father to +be Guardians over him; but one Bieren (who writes himself Biron, +and "Duke of Courland,' being Czarina's Quasi-Husband these many +years) to be Guardian, as it were, over both them and him. Such had +been the truculent insatiable Bieren's demand on his Czarina. +'You are running on your destruction,' said she, with tears; +but complied, as she had been wont. + +"Czarina Anne died 28th October, 1740; leaving a Czar in his +cradle; little Czar Iwan of two months, with Mother and Father to +preside over him, and to be themselves presided over by Bieren, in +this manner. [Mannstein, pp. 264-267 (28th October, by Russian or +Old Style, is "17th;" we TRANSLATE, in this and other cases, +Russian or English, into New Style, unless the contrary is +indicated). This was the first great change for Anton Ulrich; +but others greater are coming. Little Anton, readers know, is +Friedrich's Brother-in-law, much patronized by Austria; Anton's +spouse is the Half-Russian Princess Catherine of Mecklenburg (now +wholly Russian, and called Princess Anne), whom Friedrich at one +time thought of applying for, in his distress about a Wife. These +two, will they side with Prussia, will they side with Austria? +It was hardly worth inquiry, had not Fortune's wheel made suddenly +a great cant, and pitched them to the top, for the time being. + +"Bieren lasted only twenty days. He was very high and arbitrary +upon everybody; Anne and Anton Ulrich suffering naturally most from +him. They took counsel with Feldmarschall Munnich on the matter; +who, after study, declared it a remediable case. Friday, 18th +November, Munnich had, by invitation, to dine with Duke Bieren; +Munnich went accordingly that day, and dined; Duke looking a little +flurried, they say: and the same evening, dinner being quite over, +and midnight come, Munnich had his measures all taken, soldiers +ready, warrant in hand;--and arrested Bieren in his bed; +mere Siberia, before sunrise, looming upon Bieren. Never was such a +change as this from 18th day to 19th with a supreme Bieren. +Our friend Mannstein, excellent punctual Aide-de-Camp of Munnich, +was the executor of the feat; and has left punctual record of it, +as he does of everything,---what Bieren said, and what Madam +Bieren, who was a little obstreperous on the occasion. [Mannstein, +p. 268.] What side Anton Ulrich and Spouse will take in a quarrel +between Prussia and Austria, is now well worth asking. + +"Anton Ulrich and Wife Anne, that is to say, 'Regent Anne' and +'Generalissimo Anton Ulrich,' now ruled, with Munnich for right- +hand man; and these were high times for Anton Ulrich, Generalissimo +and Czar's-Father; who indeed was modest, and did not often +interfere in words, though grieved at the foolish ways his Wife +had. An indolent flabby kind of creature, she, unfit for an +Autocrat; sat in her private apartments, all in a huddle of +undress; had foolish notions,--especially had soubrettes who led +her about by the ear. And then there was a 'Princess Elizabeth,' +Cousin-german of Regent Anne,--daughter, that is to say, last child +there now was, of Peter the Great and his little brown Catherine: +--who should have been better seen to. Harmless foolish Princess, +not without cunning; young, plump, and following merely her +flirtations and her orthodox devotions; very orthodox and soft, but +capable of becoming dangerous, as a centre of the disaffected. +As 'Czarina Elizabeth' before long, and ultimately as 'INFAME CATIN +DU NORD, she--" But let us not anticipate! + +It was in this posture of affairs, about a month after it had +begun, that Winterfeld arrived in Petersburg; and addressed himself +to Munnich, on the Prussian errand. Winterfeld was Munnich's Son- +in-law (properly stepson-in-law, having married Munnich's +stepdaughter, a Fraulein von Malzahn, of good Prussian kin); +was acquainted with the latitudes and longitudes here, and well +equipped for the operation in hand. To Madam Munnich, once Madam +Malzahn, his Mother-in-law, he carried a diamond ring of 1,200 +pounds, "small testimony of his Prussian Majesty's regard to so +high a Prussian Lady;" to Munnich's Son and Madam's a present of +3,000 pounds on the like score: and the wheels being oiled in this +way, and the steam so strong (son Winterfeld an ardent man, father +Munnich the like, supreme in Russia, and the thing itself a +salutary thing), the diplomatic speed obtained was great. +Winterfeld had arrived in Petersburg December 19th: Treaty of +Alliance to the effect, "Firm friends and good neighbors, we Two, +Majesties of Prussia and of All the Russias; will help each the +other, if attacked, with 12,000 men,"--was signed on the 27th: +whole Transaction, so important to Friedrich, complete in eight +days. Austrian Botta, directly on the heel of those unsatisfactory +Dialogues about Silesian roads, about troops that were pretty, but +had never looked the wolf in the face,--had rushed off, full speed, +for Petersburg, in hopes of running athwart such a Treaty as +Winterfeld's, and getting one for Austria instead. But he arrived +too late; and perhaps could have done nothing had he been in time. +Botta tried his utmost for years afterwards, above ground and +below, to obstruct and reverse this thing; but it was to no +purpose, and even to less; and only, in result, brought Botta +himself into flagrant diplomatic trouble and scandal; which made +noise enough in the then Gazetteer world, and was the finale of +Botta's Russian efforts, [Adelung, iii. ii. 289; Mannstein, p. 375 +("Lapuschin Plot," of Botta's raising, found out "August, 1743;"-- +Botta put in arrest, &c.).] though not worth mentioning now. +The Russian Notebook continues:-- + +"Munnich, supreme in Russia since Bieren's removal, had wise +counsels for the Regent Anne and her Husband; though perhaps, being +a high old military gentleman, he might be somewhat abrupt in his +ways. And there were domestic Ostermanns, foreign Bottas, La +Chetardies, and dangerous Intriguers and Opposition figures, to +improve any grudge that might arise. Sure enough, in March, 1741, +Feldmarschall Munnich was forbid the Court (some Ostermann +succeeding him there): 'Ever true to your Two Highnesses, though no +longer needed;'--and withdrew, in a lofty friendly strain; his Son +continuing at Court, though Papa had withdrawn. Supreme Munnich had +lasted about four months; Supreme Bieren hardly three weeks;--and +Siberia is still agape. + +"Munnich being gone to his own Town-Mansion, and Regent Anne +sitting in hers in a huddle of undress; little accessible to her +long-headed melancholic Ostermann, and too accessible to her +Livonian maid: with poor little Anton Ulrich pouting and +remonstrating, but unable to help,--this state of matters, with +such intrigues undermining it, could not last forever. And had not +Princess Elizabeth been of indolent luxurious nature, intent upon +her prayers and flirtations, it would have ended sooner even than +it did. Princess Elizabeth had a Surgeon called L'Estoc; a Marquis +de la Chetardie, a high-flown French Excellency (who used to be at +Berlin, to our young Friedrich's delight), was her--What shall I +say? La Chetardie himself had no scruple to say it! These two +plotted for her; these were ready,--could she have been got ready; +which was not so easy. Regent Anne had her suspicions; but the +Princess was so indolent, so good: at last, when directly taxed +with such a thing, the Princess burst into ingenuous weeping; quite +disarmed Regent Anne's suspicions;--but found she had now better +take L'Estoc's advice, and proceed at once. Which she did. + +"And so, on the morrow morning, 5th December, 1741, by aid of the +Preobrazinsky Regiment, and the motions usual on such occasions,-- +in fact by merely pulling out the props from an undermined state of +matters,--she reduced said state gently to ruin, ready for carting +to Siberia, like its foregoers; and was hereby Czarina of All the +Russias, prosperously enough for the rest of her life. Twenty years +or rather more. An indolent, orthodox, plump creature, disinclined +to cruelty; 'not an ounce of nun's flesh in her composition,' said +the wits. She maintained the Friedrich Treaty, indignant at Botta +and his plots; was well with Friedrich, or might have been kept so +by management, for there was no cause of quarrel, but the reverse, +between the Countries,--could Friedrich have held his witty tongue, +when eavesdroppers were by. But he could not always; though he +tried. And sarcastic quizzing (especially if it be truth too), on +certain female topics, what Improper Female, Czarina of All the +Russias, could stand it? The history is but a distressing one, a +disgusting one, in human affairs. Elizabeth was orthodox, too, and +Friedricb not, 'the horrid man!' The fact is,--fact dismally +indubitable, though it is huddled into discreet dimness, and all +details of it (as to what Friedrich's witticisms were, and the +like) are refused us in the Prussian Books,--indignation, owing to +such dismal cause, became fixed hate on the Czarina's part, and +there followed terrible results at last: A Czarina risen to the +cannibal pitch upon a man, in his extreme need;--'INFAME CATIN DU +NORD,' thinks the man! Friedrich's wit cost him dear; him, and half +a million others still dearer, twenty years hence."--Till which +time we will gladly leave the Czarina and it. + +Major von Winterfeld had been in Russia before this; and had wooed +his fair Malzahn there. He is the same Winterfeld whom we once saw +dining by the wayside with the late Friedrich Wilhelm, on that last +Review-Journey his Majesty made. A Captain in the Potsdam Giants at +that time; always in great favor with the late King; and in still +greater with the present,--who finds in him, we can dimly discover, +and pretty much in him alone, a soul somewhat like his own; the one +real "peer" he had about him. A man of little education; bred in +camps; yet of a proud natural eminency, and rugged nobleness of +genius and mind. Let readers mark this fiery hero-spirit, lying +buried in those dull Books, like lightning among clay. Here is +another anecdote of his Russian business:-- + +"Winterfeld had gone, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time, with a party of +Prussian drill-sergeants for Petersburg [year not given]; and duly +delivered them there. He naturally saw much of Feldmarschall +Munnich, naturally saw the Step-daughter of the Feldmarschall, a +shining beauty in Petersburg; Winterfeld himself a man of shining +gifts, and character; and one of the handsomest tall men in the +world. Mutual love between the Fraulein and him was the rapid +result. But how to obtain marriage? Winterfeld cannot marry, +without leave had of his superiors: you, fair Malzahn, are Hof-Dame +of Princess Elizabeth, all your fortune the jewels you wear; and it +is too possible she will not let you go! + +"They agreed to be patient, to be silent; to watch warily till +Winterfeld got home to Prussia, till the Fraulein Malzahn could + + + + +also contrive to get home. Winterfeld once home, and the King's +consent had, the Fraulein applied to Princess Elizabeth for leave +of absence: 'A few months, to see my friends in Deutschland, your +Highness!' Princess Elizabeth looked hard at her; answered +evasively this and that. At last, being often importuned, she +answered plainly, 'I almost feel convinced thou wilt never come +back!' Protestations from the Fraulein were not wanting:-- +'Well then,' said Elizabeth, 'if thou art so sure of it, leave me +thy jewels in pledge. Why not?' The poor Fraulein could not say +why; had to leave her jewels, which were her whole fine fortune, +'worth 100,000 rubles' (20,000 pounds); and is now the brave Wife +of Winterfeld;--but could never, by direct entreaty or circuitous +interest and negotiation, get back the least item of her jewels. +Elizabeth, as Princess and as Czarina, was alike deaf on that +subject. Now or henceforth that proved an impossible private +enterprise for Winterfeld, though he had so easily succeeded in the +public one." [Retzow, <italic> Charakteristik des siebenjahrigen +Krieges <end italic> (Berlin, 1802), i. 45 n.] + +The new Czarina was not unmerciful. Munnich and Company were tried +for life; were condemned to die, and did appear on the scaffold +(29th January, 1742), ready for that extreme penalty; but were +there, on the sudden, pardoned or half-pardoned by a merciful new +Czarina, and sent to Siberia and outer darkness. Whither Bieren had +preceded them. To outer darkness also, though a milder destiny had +been intended them at first, went Anton Ulrich and his Household. +Towards native Germany at first; they had got as far as Riga on the +way to Germany, but were detained there, for a long while (owing to +suspicions, to Botta Plots, or I know not what), till finally they +were recalled into Russian exile. Strict enough exile, seclusion +about Archangel and elsewhere; in convents, in obscure +uncomfortable places:--little Iwan, after vicissitudes, even went +underground; grew to manhood, and got killed (partly by accident, +not quite by murder), some twenty-three years hence, in his dungeon +in the Fortress of Schlusselburg, below the level of the Ladoga +waters there. Unluckier Household, which once seemed the luckiest +of the world, was never known. Canted suddenly, in this way, from +the very top of Fortune's wheel to the very bottom; never to rise +more;--and did not even die, at least not all die, for thirty or +forty years after. [Anton Ulrich, not till 15th May, 1775 (two +Daughters of his went, after this, to "Horstens, a poor Country- +House in Jutland," whither Catherine II. had manumitted them, with +pension;--she had wished Anton Ulrich to go home, many years +before; but he would not, from shame).--Iwan had perished 5th +August, 1764 (Catherine II. blamed for his death, but without +cause); Iwan's Mother, Princess Anne, (mercifully) 18th March, +1746. See Russian Histories, TOOKE, CASTERA, &c.,--none of which, +except MANNSTEIN, is good for much, or to be trusted +without scrutiny.] + +This is the Chetardie-L'Estoc conspiracy, of 5th December, 1741; +the pitching up of Princess Elizabeth, and the pitching down of +Anton Ulrich and his Munnichs, who had before pitched Bieren down. +After which, matters remained more stationary at Petersburg: +Czarina Elizabeth, fat indolent soul, floated with a certain native +buoyancy, with something of bulky steadiness, in the turbid plunge +of things, and did not sink. On the contrary, her reign, so called, +was prosperous, though stupid; her big dark Countries, kindled +already into growth, went on growing rather. And, for certain, she +herself went on growing, in orthodox devotions of spiritual type +(and in strangely heterodox ditto of NONspiritual!); in indolent +mansuetudes (fell rages, if you cut on the RAWS at all!); +in perpetual incongruity; and, alas, at last, in brandy-and-water, +--till, as "INFAME CATIN DU NORD," she became terribly important to +some persons! + +At her accession, and for two years following, Czarina Elizabeth, +in spite of real disinclination that way, had a War on her hands: +the Swedish War (August, 1741-August, 1743), which, after long +threatening on the Swedish side, had broken out into unwelcome +actuality, in Anton Ulrich's time; and which could not, with all +the Czarina's industry, be got rid of or staved off; Sweden being +bent upon the thing, reason or no reason. War not to be spoken of, +except on compulsion, in the most voluminous History! It was the +unwisest of wars, we should say, and in practice probably the +contemptiblest; if there were not one other Swedish War coming, +which vies with it in these particulars, of which we shall be +obliged to speak, more or less, at a future stage. Of this present +Russian-Swedish war, having happily almost nothing to do with it, +we can, except in the way of transient chronology, refrain +altogether from speaking or thinking. + +Poor Sweden, since it shot Karl XII. in the trenches at +Fredericshall, could not get a King again; and is very anarchic +under its Phantasm King and free National Palaver,--Senate with +subaltern Houses;--which generally has French gold in its pocket, +and noise instead of wisdom in its head. Scandalous to think of or +behold. The French, desirous to keep Russia in play during these +high Belleisle adventures now on foot, had, after much egging, +bribing, flattering, persuaded vain Sweden into this War with +Russia. "At Narva they were 80,000, we 8,000; and what became of +them!" cry the Swedes always. Yes, my friends, but you had a +Captain at Narva; you had not yet shot your Captain when you did +Narva! "Faction of Hats," "Faction of Caps" (that is, NIGHT-caps, +as being somnolent and disinclined to France and War): seldom did a +once-valiant far-shining Nation sink to such depths, since they +shot their Captain, and said to Anarchy, "THOU art Captaincy, we +see, and the Divine thing!" Of the Wars and businesses of such a +set of mortals let us shun speaking, where possible. + +Mannstein gives impartial account, pleasantly clear and compact, to +such as may be curious about this Swedish-Russian War; and, in the +didactic point of view, it is not without value. To us the +interesting circumstance is, that it does not interfere with our +Silesian operations at all; and may be figured as a mere +accompaniment of rumbling discord, or vacant far-off noise, going +on in those Northern parts,--to which therefore we hope to be +strangers in time coming. Here are some dates, which the reader may +take with him, should they chance to illustrate anything:-- + +"AUGUST 4th, 1741. The Swedes declare War: 'Will recover their lost +portions of Finland, will,' &c. &c. They had long been meditating +it; they had Turk negotiations going on, diligent emissaries to the +Turk (a certain Major Sinclair for one, whom the Russians waylaid +and assassinated to get sight of his Papers) during the late Turk- +Russian War; but could conclude nothing while that was in activity; +concluded only after that was done,--striking the iron when grown +COLD. A chief point in their Manifesto was the assassination of +this Sinclair; scandal and atrocity, of which there is no doubt now +the Russians were guilty. Various pretexts for the War:--prime +movers to it, practically, were the French, intent on keeping +Russia employed while their Belleisle German adventure went on, and +who had even bargained with third parties to get up a War there, as +we shall see. + +"SEPTEMBER 3d, 1741. At Wilmanstrand,--key of Wyborg, their +frontier stronghold in Finland, which was under Siege,--the Swedes +(about 5,000 of them, for they had nothing to live upon, and lay +scattered about in fractions) made fight, or skirmish, against a +Russian attacking party: Swedes, rather victorious on their hill- +top, rushed down; and totally lost their bit of victory, their +Wilmanstrand, their Wyborg, and even the War itself;--for this was, +in literal truth, the only fighting done by them in the entire +course of it, which lasted near two years more. The rest of it was +retreat, capitulation, loss on loss without stroke struck; till +they had lost all Finland, and were like to lose Sweden itself,-- +Dalecarlian mutiny bursting out ('Ye traitors, misgovernors, worthy +of death!'), with invasive Danes to rear of it;--and had to call in +the very Russians to save them from worse. Czarina Elizabeth at the +time of her accession, six months after Wilmanstrand, had made +truce, was eager to make peace: 'By no means!' answered Sweden, +taking arms again, or rather taking legs again; and rushing +ruin-ward, at the old rate, still without stroke. + +"JUNE 28th, 1743. They did halt; made Peace of Abo (Truce and +Preliminaries signed there, that day: Peace itself, August 17th); +Czarina magnanimously restoring most of their Finland (thinking to +herself, 'Not done enough for me yet; cook it a little yet!');-- +and settling who their next King was to be, among other friendly +things. And in November following, Keith, in his Russian galleys, +with some 10,000 Russians on board, arrived in Stockholm; +protective against Danes and mutinous Dalecarles: stayed there till +June of next year, 1744." [Adelung, ii. 445. Mannstein, pp. 297 +(Wilmanstrand Affair, himself present), 365 (Peace), 373 (Keith's +RETURN with his galleys). Comte de Hordt (present also, on the +Swedish side, and subsequently a Soldier of Friedrich's) <italic> +Memoires) <end italic> (Berlin, 1789), i. 18-88. The murder of +Sinclair (done by "four Russian subalterns, two miles from Naumberg +in Silesia, 17th June, 1739, about 7 P.M.") is amply detailed from +Documents, in a late Book: Weber, <italic> Aus Vier Jahrhunderten +<end italic> (Leipzig, 1858), i. 274-279.] Is not this a War! + +On the Russian side, General Keith, under Field-marshal Lacy as +chief in command (the same Keith whom we saw at Oczakow under +Munnich, some time ago), had a great deal of the work and +management; which was of a highly miscellaneous kind, commanding +fleets of gunboats, and much else; and readers of MANNSTEIN can +still judge,--much more could King Friedrich, earnestly watching +the affair itself as it went on,--whether Keith did not do it in a +solid and quietly eminent and valiant manner. Sagacious, skilful, +imperturbable, without fear and without noise; a man quietly ever +ready. He had quelled, once, walking direct into the heart of it, a +ferocious Russian mutiny, or uproar from below, which would have +ruined everything in few minutes more. [Mannstein, p. 130 (no date, +April-May, 1742.) He suffered, with excellent silence, now and +afterwards, much ill-usage from above withal;--till Friedrich +himself, in the third year hence, was lucky enough to get him as +General. Friedrich's Sister Ulrique, the marriage of Princess +Ulrique,--that also, as it chanced, had something to do with this +Peace of Abo. But we anticipate too far. + + + +Chapter IX. + +FRIEDRICH RETURNS TO SILESIA. + +Friedrich stayed only three weeks at home; moving about, from +Berlin to Potsdam, to Reinsberg and back: all the gay world is in +Berlin, at this Carnival time; but Friedrich has more to do with +business, of a manifold and over-earnest nature, than with Carnival +gayeties. French Valori is here, "my fat Valori," who is beginning +to be rather a favorite of Friedrich's: with Excellency Valori, and +with the other Foreign Excellencies, there was diplomatic passaging +in these weeks; and we gather from Valori, in the inverse way +(Valori fallen sulky), that it was not ill done on Friedrich's +part. He had some private consultation with the Old Dessauer, too; +"probably on military points," thinks Valori. At least there was +noticed more of the drill-sergeant than before, in his handling of +the Army, when he returned to Silesia, continues the sulky one. +"Troops and generals did not know him again,"--so excessively +strict was he grown, on the sudden. And truly "he got into details +which were beneath, not only a Prince who has great views, but even +a simple Captain of Infantry,"--according to my (Valori's) military +notions and experiences! [Valori, i. 99.]-- + +The truth is, Friedrich begins to see, more clearly than he did +with GLOIRE dazzling him, that his position is an exceedingly grave +one, full of risk, in the then mood and condition of the world; +that he, in the whole world, has no sure friend but his Army; +and that in regard to IT he cannot be too vigilant! The world is +ominous to this youngest of the Kings more than to another. +Sounds as of general Political Earthquake grumble audibly to him +from the deeps: all Europe likely, in any event, to get to +loggerheads on this Austrian Pragmatic matter; the Nations all +watching HIM, to see what he will make of it:--fugleman he to the +European Nations, just about bursting up on such an adventure. +It may be a glorious position, or a not glorious; but, for certain, +it is a dangerous one, and awfully solitary!-- + +Fuglemen the world and its Nations always have, when simultaneously +bent any-whither, wisely or unwisely; and it is natural that the +most adventurous spirit take that post. Friedrich has not sought +the post; but following his own objects, has got it; and will be +ignominiously lost, and trampled to annihilation under the hoofs of +the world, if he do not mind! To keep well ahead;--to be rapid as +possible; that were good:--to step aside were still better! +And Friedrich we find is very anxious for that; "would be content +with the Duchy of Glogau, and join Austria;" but there is not the +least chance that way. His Special Envoy to Vienna, Gotter, and +along with him Borck the regular Minister, are come home; +all negotiation hopeless at Vienna; and nothing but indignant war- +preparation going on there, with the most animated diligence, and +more success than had seemed possible. That is the law of +Friedrich's Silesian Adventure: "Forward, therefore, on these +terms; others there are not: waste no words!" Friedrich recognizes +to himself what the law is; pushes stiffly forward, with a fine +silence on all that is not practical, really with a fine steadiness +of hope, and audacity against discouragements. Of his anxieties, +which could not well be wanting, but which it is royal to keep +strictly under lock and key, of these there is no hint to Jordan or +to anybody; and only through accidental chinks, on close scrutiny, +can we discover that they exist. Symptom of despondency, of +misgiving or repenting about his Enterprise, there is none +anywhere, Friedrich's fine gifts of SILENCE (which go deeper than +the lips) are noticeable here, as always; and highly they availed +Friedrich in leading his life, though now inconvenient to +Biographers writing of the same!-- + +It was not on matters of drill, as Valori supposes, that Friedrich +had been consulting with the Old Dessauer: this time it was on +another matter. Friedrich has two next Neighbors greatly +interested, none more so, in the Pragmatic Question: Kur-Sachsen, +Polish King, a foolish greedy creature, who is extremely uncertain +about his course in it (and indeed always continued so, now against +Friedrich, now for him, and again against); and Kur-Hanover, our +little George of England, whose course is certain as that of the +very stars, and direct against Friedrich at this time, as indeed, +at all times not exceptional, it is apt to be. Both these +Potentates must be attended to, in one's absence; method to be +gentle but effectual; the Old Dessauer to do it:--and this is what +these consultings had turned upon; and in a month or two, readers, +and an astonished Gazetteer world, will see what comes of them. + +It was February 19th when Friedrich left Berlin; the 21st he spends +at Glogau, inspecting the Blockade there, and not ill content with +the measures taken: "Press that Wallis all you can," enjoins he: +"Hunger seems to be slow about it! Summon him again, were your new +Artillery come up; threaten with bombardment; but spare the Town, +if possible. Artillery is coming: let us have done here, and soon!" +Next day he arrives, not at Breslau as some had expected, but at +Schweidnitz sidewards; a strong little Town, at least an +elaborately fortified, of which we shall hear much in time coming. +It lies a day's ride west of Breslau: and will be quieter for +business than a big gazing Capital would be,--were Breslau even +one's own city; which it is not, though perhaps tending to be. +Breslau is in transition circumstances at present; a little +uncertain WHOSE it is, under its Munchows and new managers: Breslau +he did not visit at all on this occasion. To Schweidnitz certain +new regiments had been ordered, there to be disposed of in +reinforcing: there, "in the Count Hoberg's Mansion," he principally +lodges for six weeks to come; shooting out on continual excursions; +but always returning to Schweidnitz, as the centre, again. + +Algarotti, home from Turin (not much of a success there, but always +melodious for talk), had travelled with him; Algarotti, and not +long after, Jordan and Maupertuis, bear him company, that the +vacant moments too be beautiful. We can fancy he has a very busy, +very anxious, but not an unpleasant time. He goes rapidly about, +visiting his posts,--chiefly about the Neisse Valley; Neisse being +the prime object, were the weather once come for siege-work. He is +in many Towns (specified in RODENBECK and the Books, but which may +be anonymous here); doubtless on many Steeples and Hill-tops; +questioning intelligent natives, diligently using his own eyes: +intent to make personal acquaintance with this new Country,--where, +little as he yet dreams of it, the deadly struggles of his Life lie +waiting him, and which he will know to great perfection before all +is done! + +Neisse lies deep enough in Prussian environment; like Brieg, like +Glogau, strictly blockaded; our posts thereabouts, among the +Mountains, thought to be impregnable. Nevertheless, what new thing +is this? Here are swarms of loose Hussar-Pandour people, wild +Austrian Irregulars, who come pouring out of Glatz Country; +disturbing the Prussian posts towards that quarter; and do not let +us want for Small War (KLEINE KRIEG) so called. General Browne, it +appears, is got back to Glatz at this early season, he and a +General Lentulus busy there; and these are the compliments they +send! A very troublesome set of fellows, infesting one's purlieus +in winged predatory fashion; swooping down like a cloud of +vulturous harpies on the sudden; fierce enough, if the chance +favor; then to wing again, if it do not. Communication, especially +reconnoitring, is not safe in their neighborhood. Prussian +Infantry, even in small parties, generally beats them; Prussian +Horse not, but is oftener beaten,--not drilled for this rabble and +their ways. In pitched fight they are not dangerous, rather are +despicable to the disciplined man; but can, on occasion, do a great +deal of mischief. + +Thus, it was not long after Friedrich's coming into these parts, +when he learnt with sorrow that a Body of "500 Horse and 500 Foot" +(or say it were only 300 of each kind, which is the fact [Orlich, +i. 79; <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> ii. 68.]) had +eluded our posts in the Mountains, and actually got into Neisse. +"The Foot will be of little consequence," writes Friedrich; +"but the Horse, which will disturb our communications, are a +considerable mischief." This was on the 5th of March. And about a +week before, on the 27th of February, there had well-nigh a far +graver thing befallen,--namely the capture of Friedrich himself, +and the sudden end of all these operations. + + +SKIRMISH OF BAUMGARTEN, 27th FEBRUARY, 1741. + +In most of the Anecdote-Books there used to figure, and still does, +insisting on some belief from simple persons, a wonderful Story in +very vague condition: How once "in the Silesian Wars," the King, in +those Upper Neisse regions, in the Wartha district between Glatz +and Neisse, was, one day, within an inch of being taken,--clouds of +Hussars suddenly rising round him, as he rode reconnoitring, with +next to no escort, only an adjutant or so in attendance. How he +shot away, keeping well in the shade; and erelong whisked into a +Convent or Abbey, the beautiful Abbey of Kamenz in those parts; +and found Tobias Stusche, excellent Abbot of the place, to whom he +candidly disclosed his situation. How the excellent Tobias +thereupon instantly ordered the bells to be rung for a mass +extraordinary, Monks not knowing why; and, after bells, made his +appearance in high costume, much to the wonder of his Monks, with a +SECOND Abbot, also in high costume, but of shortish stature, whom +they never saw before or after. Which two Abbots, or at least +Tobias, proceeded to do the so-called divine office there and then; +letting loose the big chant especially, and the growl of organs, in +a singularly expressive manner. How the Pandours arrived in clouds +meanwhile; entered, in searching parties, more or less reverent of +the mass; searched high and low; but found nothing, and were +obliged to take Tobias's blessing at last, and go their ways. +How the Second Abbot thereupon swore eternal friendship with +Tobias, in the private apartments; and rode off as--as a rescued +Majesty, determined to be more cautious in Pandour Countries for +the future! [Hildebrandt, <italic> Anekdoten, <end italic> i. 1-7. +Pandour proper is a FOOT-soldier (tall raw-boned ill-washed biped, +in copious Turk breeches, rather barish in the top parts of him; +carries a very long musket, and has several pistols and butcher's- +knives stuck in his girdle): specifically a footman; but readers +will permit me to use him withal, as here, in the generic sense.]-- +Which story, as to the body of it, is all myth; though, as is +oftenest the case, there lies in it some soul of fact too. +The History-Books, which had not much heeded the little fact, would +have nothing to do with this account of it. Nevertheless the people +stuck to their Myth; so that Dryasdust (in punishment for his +sinful blindness to the human and divine significance of facts) was +driven to investigate the business; and did at last victoriously +bring it home to the small occurrence now called SKIRMISH OF +BAUMGARTEN, which had nearly become so great in the History of the +World,--to the following effect. + +There are two Valleys with roads that lead from that Southwest +quarter of Silesia towards Glatz, each with a little Town at the +end of it, looking up into it: Wartha the name of the one: +Silberberg that of the other. Through the Wartha Valley, which is +southernmost, young Neisse River comes rushing down,--the blue +mountains thereabouts very pretty, on a clear spring day, says my +touring friend. Both at Wartha, and at Silberberg the little Town +which looks into the mouth of the northernmost Valley, the +Prussians have a post. Old Derschau, Malplaquet Derschau, with +headquarters at Frankenstein, some seven or eight miles nearer +Schweidnitz, has not failed in that precaution. Friedrich wished to +visit Silberberg and Wartha; set out accordingly, 27th February, +with small escort, carelessly as usual: the Pandour people had wind +of it; knew his habits on such occasions; and, gliding through +other roadless valleys, under an adventurous Captain, had +determined to whirl him off. And they were in fact not far from +succeeding, had not a mistake happened. + +Silberberg, and Wartha the southernmost, which stands upon the +Neisse River (rushing out there into the plainer country), are each +about seven or eight miles from Frankenstein, the Head-quarters; +and there are relays of posts, capable of supporting one another, +all the way from Frankenstein to each. Friedrich rode to Silberberg +first; examined the post, found it right; then rode across to +Wartha, seven or eight miles southward; examined Wartha likewise; +after which, he sat down to dinner in that little Town, with an +Officer or two for company,--having, I suppose, found all right in +both the posts. In the way hither, he had made some change in the +relay arrangements, which at first involved some diminution of his +own escort, and then some marching about and redistributing: +so that, externally, it seemed as if the Principal Relay-party were +now marching on Baumgarten, an intermediate Village,--at least so +the Pandour Captain understands the movements going on; and +crouches into the due thickets in consequence, not doubting but the +King himself is for Baumgarten, and will be at hand presently. +Principal relay-party, a squadron of Schulenburg's Dragoons, with a +stupid Major over them, is not quite got into Baumgarten, when +"with horrible cries the Pandour Captain with about 500 horse," +plunges out of cover, direct upon the throat of it: and Friedrich, +at Wartha, is but just begun dining when tumult of distant musketry +breaks in upon him. With Friedrich himself, at this time, as I +count, there might be 150 Horse; in Wartha post itself are at least +"forty hussars and fifty foot." By no means "nothing but a single +adjutant," as the Myth bears. + +The stupid Major ought to have beaten this rabble, though above two +to one of him. But he could not, though he tried considerably; +on the contrary, he was himself beaten; obliged to make off, +leaving "ten dragoons killed, sixteen prisoners, one standard and +two kettle-drums:"--victorv and all this plunder, ye Pandour +gentry; but evidently no King. The Pandour gentry, on the instant, +made off too, alarm being abroad; got into some side-valley, with +their prisoners and drum-and-standard honors, and vanished from +view of mankind. + +Friedrich had started from dinner; got his escort under way, with +the forty hussars and the fifty foot, and what small force was +attainable; and hurried towards the scene. He did see, by the road, +another strongish party of Pandours; dashed them across the Neisse +River out of sight;--but, getting to Baumgarten, found the field +silent, and ten dead men upon it. "I always told you those +Schulenburg Dragoons were good for nothing!" writes he to the Old +Dessauer; but gradually withal, on comparing notes, finds what a +danger he had run, and how rash and foolish he had been. +"An ETOURDERIE (foolish trick)," he calls it, writing to Jordan; +"a black eye;" and will avoid the like. Vienna got its two kettle- +drums and flag; extremely glad to see them; and even sang TE-DEUM +upon them, to general edification. [Orlich, i. 62-64.] This is the +naked primordial substance out of which the above Myth grew to its +present luxuriance in the popular imagination. Place, the little +Village of Baumgarten; day, 27th February, 1741. Of Tobias Stusche +or the Convent of Kamenz, not one authentic word on this occasion. +Tobias did get promotions, favors in coming years: a worthy Abbot, +deserving promotion on general grounds; and master of a Convent +very picturesque, but twelve miles from the present scene +of action. + + +ASPECTS OF BRESLAU. + +Friedrich avoided visiting Breslau, probably for the reasons above +given; though there are important interests of his there, +especially his chief Magazine; and issues of moment are silently +working forward. Here are contemporary Excerpts (in abridged form), +which are authentic, and of significance to a lively reader:-- + +"BRESLAU, MIDDLE OF JANUARY, 1741. The Prussian Envoy, Herr von +Gotter, had appeared here, returning from Vienna; Gotter, and then +Borck, who made no secret in Breslau society, That not the +slightest hope of a peaceable result existed, as society might have +flattered itself; but that war and battle would have to decide this +matter. A Saxon Ambassador was also here, waiting some time; +message thought to be insignificant:--probably some vague +admonitory stuff again from Kur-Sachsen (Polish King, son of August +the Strong, a very insignificant man), who acts as REICHS-VICARIUS +in those Northern parts." For the reader is to know, there are +Reichs-Vicars more than one (nay more than two on this occasion, +with considerable jarring going on about them); and I could say +much about their dignities, limits, duties, [Adelung, ii. 143, &c.; +Kohler, <italic> Reichs-Historie, <end italic> pp. 585-589.]--if +indeed there were any duties, except dramatic ones! But the Reich +itself, and Vicarship along with it, are fallen into a nearly +imaginary condition; and the Regensburg Diet (not Princes now, but +mere Delegates of Princes, mostly Bombazine People), which, "ever +since 1663," has sat continual, instead of now and then, is become +an Enchanted Piggery, strange to look upon, under those earnest +stars. "As King Friedrich did not call at Greslau," after those +Neisse bombardments, but rolled past, straight homewards, the three +Excellencies all departed,--Borck and Gotter to Berlin, the Saxon +home again with his insignificant message. + +"JANUARY 19th. Schwerin too was here in the course of the winter, +to see how the magazines and other war-preparations were going on: +Breslau outwardly and inwardly is whirling with business, and +offers phenomena. For instance, it is known that the Army-Chest, +heaps of silver and gold in it, lies in the Scultet Garden-House, +where the King lodged; and that only one sentry walks there, and +that in the guard-house itself, which is some way off, there are +only thirty men. January 19th, about 9 of the clock, +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 700.] alarm rises, +That 2,000 DIEBS-GESINDEL (Collective Thief-rabble of Breslau and +dependencies) are close by; intending a stroke upon said Garden- +House and Army-Chest! Perhaps this rumor sprang of its own accord; +--or perhaps not quite? It had been very rife; and ran high; not +without remonstrances in Town-Hall, and the like, which we can +imagine. Issue was, The Officer on post at Scultet's loaded his +treasure in carts; conveyed it, that same night, to the interior of +the City, in fact to the OBERAMTS-HAUS (Government-House that was); +--which doubtless was a step in the right direction. For now the +Two Feld-Kriegs-Commissariat Gentlemen (one of whom is the expert +Munchow, son of our old Custrin friend), supreme Prussian +Authorities here, do likewise shift out of their inns; and take old +Schaffgotsch's apartments in the same Oberamts-Haus; mutely +symbolling that perhaps THEY are likely to become a kind of +Government. And the reader can conceive how, in such an element, +the function of governing would of itself fall more and more into +their hands. They were consummately polite, discreet, friendly +towards all people; and did in effect manage their business, tax- +gatherings in money and in kind, with a perfection and precision +which made the evil a minimum. + +"FEBRUARY 17th. ... This day also, there arrived at Breslau, by +boat up the Oder, ten heavy cannon, three mortars, and ammunition +of powder, bombshells, balls, as much as loaded fifty wagons; +the whole of which were, in like manner, forwarded to Ohlau. +This day, as on other days before and after. Great Magazines +forming here; the Military chiefly at Ohlau; at Breslau the +Provender part,--and this latter under noteworthy circumstances. +In the Dom-Island, namely; which is definable (in a case of such +necessity) as being 'outside the walls.' Especially as the Reverend +Fathers have mostly glided into corners, and left the place vacant. +In the Dom-Island, it certainly is; and such a stock,--all bought +for money down, and spurred forward while the roads were under +frost,--'such a stock as was not thought to be in all Silesia,' +says exaggerative wonder. The vacant edifices in the Dom-Island are +filled to the neck with meal and corn; the Prussian brigade now +quartering there ('without the walls,' in a sense) to guard the +same. And in the Bishop's Garden [poor Sinzendorf, far enough away +and in no want of it just now] are mere hay-mows, bigger than +houses: who can object,--in a case of necessity? No man, unless he +politically meddle, is meddled with; politically meddling, you are +at once picked up; as one or two are,--clapped into gentle arrest, +or, like old Schaffgotsch, and even Sinzendorf before long, +requested to leave the Country till it get settled. Rigor there is, +but not intentional injustice on Munchow's part, and there is a +studious avoidance of harsh manner. + +"FEBRUARY-MARCH. Considerable recruiting in Schlesien: six hundred +recruits have enlisted in Breslau alone. Also his Prussian Majesty +has sent a supply of Protestant Preachers, ordained for the +occasion, to minister where needed;--which is piously acknowledged +as a godsend in various parts of Silesia. Twelve came first, all +Berliners; soon afterwards, others from different parts, till, in +the end, there were about Sixty in all. Rigorous, punctilious +avoidance of offence to the Catholic minorities, or of whatever +least thing Silesian Law does not permit, is enjoined upon them; +'to preach in barns or town-halls, where by Law you have no +Church.' Their salary is about 30 pounds a year; they are all put +under supervision of the Chaplain of Margraf Karl's Regiment" (a +judicious Chaplain, I have no doubt, and fit to be a Bishop); +and so far as appears, mere benefit is got of them by Schlesien as +well as by Friedrich, in this function. Friedrich is careful to +keep the balance level between Catholic and Protestant; but it has +hung at such an angle, for a long while past! In general, we +observe the Catholic Dignitaries, and the zealous or fanatic of +that creed, especially the Jesuits, are apt to be against him: +as for the non-fanatic, they expect better government, secular +advantage; these latter weigh doubtfully, and with less weight +whichever way. In the general population, who are Protestant, he +recognizes friends;--and has sent them Sixty Preachers, which by +Law was their due long since. Here follow two little traits, comic +or tragi-comic, with which we can conclude:-- + +"Detached Jesuit parties, here and there, seem to have mischief in +hand in a small way, encouraging deserters and the like;--and we +keep an eye on them. No discontent elsewhere, at least none +audible; on the contrary, much enlisting on the part of the +Silesian youth, with other good symptoms. But in the Dom, there is, +singular to say, a Goblin found walking, one night;--advancing, not +with airs from Heaven, upon the Prussian sentry there! The Prussian +sentry handles arms; pokes determinedly into the Goblin, and +finding him solid, ever more determinedly, till the Goblin shrieked +'Jesus Maria!' and was hauled to the Guard-house for +investigation." A weak Goblin; doubtless of the valet kind; worth +only a little whipping; but testifies what the spirit is. + +"Another time, two deserter Frenchmen getting hanged [such the law +in aggravated cases], certain polite Jesuits, who had by permission +been praying and extreme-unctioning about them, came to thank the +Colonel after all was over. Colonel, a grave practical man, needs +no 'thanks;' would, however, 'advise your Reverences to teach your +people that perjury is not permissible, that an oath sworn ought to +be kept;' and in fine 'would advise you Holy Fathers hereabouts, +and others, to have a care lest you get into'--And twitching his +reins, rode away without saying into what." [<italic> Helden- +Geschichte, <end italic> i. 723.] + + +AUSTRIA IS STANDING TO ARMS. + +Schwerin has been doing his best in this interim; collecting +magazines with double diligence while the roads are hard, taking up +the Key-positions far and wide, from the Jablunka round to the +Frontier Valleys of Glatz again. He was through Jablunka, at one +time; on into Mahren, as far as Olmutz; levying contributions, +emitting patents: but as to intimidating her Hungarian Majesty, if +that was the intention, or changing her mind at all, that is not +the issue got. Austria has still strength, and Pragmatic Sanction +and the Laws of Nature have! Very fixed is her Hungarian Majesty's +determination, to part with no inch of Territory, but to drive the +intrusive Prussians home well punished. + +How she has got the funds is, to this day, a mystery;--unless +George and Walpole, from their Secret-Service Moneys, have smuggled +her somewhat.? For the Parliament is not sitting, and there will be +such jargonings, such delays: a preliminary 100,000 pounds, say by +degrees 200,000 pounds,--we should not miss it, and in her +Majesty's hands it would go far! Hints in the English Dryasdust we +have; but nothing definite; and we are left to our guesses. [Tindal +(XX. 497) says expressly 200,000 pounds, but gives no date or other +particular.] A romantic story, first set current by Voltaire, has +gone the round of the world, and still appears in all Histories: +How in England there was a Subscription set on foot for her +Hungarian Majesty; outcome of the enthusiasm of English Ladies of +quality,--old Sarah Duchess of Marlborough putting down her name +for 40,000 pounds, or indeed putting down the ready sum itself; +magnanimous veteran that she was. Voltaire says, omitting date and +circumstance, but speaking as if it were indubitable, and a thing +you could see with eyes: "The Duchess of Marlborough, widow of him +who had fought for Karl VI. [and with such signal returns of +gratitude from the said Karl VI.], assembled the principal Ladies +of London; who engaged to furnish 100,000 pounds among them; the +Duchess herself putting down [EN DEPOSA, tabling IN CORPORE] 40,000 +pounds of it. The Queen of Hungary had the greatness of soul to +refuse this money;--needing only, as she intimated, what the Nation +in Parliament assembled might please to offer her." [Voltaire, +<italic> OEuvres (Siecle de Louis XV., <end italic> c. 6), +xxviii. 79.] + +One is sorry to run athwart such a piece of mutual magnanimity; +but the fact is, on considering a little and asking evidence, it +turns out to be mythical. One Dilworth, an innocent English soul +(from whom our grandfathers used to learn ARITHMETIC, I think), +writing on the spot some years after Voltaire, has this useful +passage: "It is the great failing of a strong imagination to catch +greedily at wonders. Voltaire was misinformed; and would perhaps +learn, by a second inquiry, a truth less splendid and amusing. +A Contribution was, by News-writers upon their own authority, +fruitlessly proposed. It ended in nothing: the Parliament voted a +supply;"--that did it, Mr. Dilworth; supplies enough, and many of +them! "Fruitlessly, by News-writers on their own authority;" +that is the sad fact. [<italic> The Life and Heroick Actions of +Frederick III. <end italic> (SIC, a common blunder), by W. H. +Dilworth, M.A. (London, 1758), p. 25. A poor little Book, one of +many coming out on that subject just then (for a reason we shall +see on getting thither); which contains, of available now, the +above sentence and no more. Indeed its brethren, one of them by +Samnel Johnson (IMPRANSUS, the imprisoned giant), do not even +contain that, and have gone wholly to zero.-- Neither little +Dilworth nor big Voltaire give the least shadow of specific date; +but both evidently mean Spring, 1742 (not 1741).] + +It is certain, little George, who considers Pragmatic Sanction as +the Keystone of Nature in a manner, has been venturing far deeper +than purse for that adorable object; and indeed has been diving, +secretly, in muddier waters than we expected, to a dangerous +extent, on behalf of it, at this very time. In the first days of +March, Friedrich has heard from his Minister at Petersburg of a +DETESTABLE PROJECT, [Orlich, i. 83 (scrap of Note to Old Dessauer; +no date allowed us; "early in March").]--project for "Partitioning +the Prussian Kingdom," no less; for fairly cutting into Friedrich, +and paring him down to the safe pitch, as an enemy to Pragmatic and +mankind. They say, a Treaty, Draught of a Treaty, for that express +object, is now ready; and lies at Petersburg, only waiting +signature. Here is a Project! Contracting parties (Russian +signature still wanting) are: Kur-Sachsen; her Hungarian Majesty; +King George; and that Regent Anne (MRS. Anton Ulrich, so to speak), +who sits in a huddle of undress, impatient of Political objects, +but sensible to the charms of handsome men. To the charms of Count +Lynar, especially: the handsomest of Danish noblemen (more an +ancient Roman than a Dane), whom the Polish Majesty, calculating +cause and effect, had despatched to her, with that view, in the +dead of winter lately. To whom she has given ear;--dismissing her +Munnich, as we saw above;--and is ready for signing, or perhaps has +signed! [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> ii. 68.] +Friedrich's astonishment, on hearing of this "detestable Project," +was great. However, he takes his measures on it;--right lucky that +he has the Old Dessauer, and machinery for acting on Kur-Sachsen +and the Britannic Majesty. "Get your machinery in gear!" is +naturally his first order. And the Old Dessauer does it, with +effect: of which by and by. + +Never did I hear, before or since, of such a plunge into the muddy +unfathomable, on the part of little George, who was an honorable +creature, and dubitative to excess: and truly this rash plunge +might have cost him dear, had not he directly scrambled out again. +Or did Friedrich exaggerate to himself his Uncle's real share in +the matter? I always guess, there had been more of loose talk, of +hypothesis and fond hope, in regard to George's share, than of +determinate fact or procedure on his own part. The transaction, +having had to be dropped on the sudden, remains somewhat dark; +but, in substance, it is not doubtful; [Tindal, xx. 497.] and +Parliament itself took afterwards to poking into it, though with +little effect. Kur-Sachsen's objects in the adventure were of the +earth, earthy; but on George's part it was pure adoration of +Pragmatic Sanction, anxiety for the Keystone of Nature, and lest +Chaos come again. In comparison with such transcendent divings, +what is a little Secret-Service money!-- + +The Count Lynar of this adventure, who had well-nigh done such a +feat in Diplomacy, may turn up transiently again. A conspicuous, +more or less ridiculous person of those times. Busching (our +Geographical friend) had gone with him, as Excellency's Chaplain, +in this Russian Journey; which is a memorable one to Busching; +and still presents vividly, through his Book, those haggard Baltic +Coasts in midwinter, to readers who have business there. Such a +journey for grimness of outlook, upon pine-tufts and frozen sand; +for cold (the Count's very tobacco-pipe freezing in his mouth), for +hardship, for bad lodging, and extremity of dirt in the unfreezable +kinds, as seldom was. They met, one day on the road, a Lord +Hyndford, English Ambassador just returning from Petersburg, with +his fourgons and vehicles, and arrangements for sleep and victual, +in an enviably luxurious condition,--whom we shall meet, to our +cost. They saw, in the body, old Field-marshal Lacy, and dined with +him, at Riga; who advised brandy schnapps; a recipe rejected by +Busching. And other memorabilia, which by accident hang about this +Lynar. [Busching, <italic> Beitrage, <end italic> vi. 132-164.]-- +All through Regent Anne's time he continued a dangerous object to +Friedrich; and it was a relief when Elizabeth CATIN became +Autocrat, instead of Deshabille Anne and her Lynar. Adieu to him, +for fifteen years or more. + +Of Friedrich's military operations, of his magazines, posts, +diligent plannings and gallopings about, in those weeks; of all +this the reader can form some notion by looking on the map and +remembering what has gone before: but that subterranean growling +which attended him, prophetic of Earthquake, that universal +breaking forth of Bedlams, now fallen so extinct, no reader can +imagine. Bedlams totally extinct to everybody; but which were then +very real, and raged wide as the world, high as the stars, to a +hideous degree among the then sons of men;--unimaginable now by +any mortal. + +And, alas, this is one of the grand difficulties for my readers and +me; Friedrich's Life-element having fallen into such a dismal +condition. Most dismal, dark, ugly, that Austrian-Succession +Business, and its world-wide battlings, throttlings and +intriguings: not Dismal Swamp, under a coverlid of London Fog, +could be uglier! A Section of "History" so called, which human +nature shrinks from; of which the extant generation already knows +nothing, and is impatient of hearing anything! Truly, Oblivion is +very due to such an Epoch: and from me far be it to awaken, beyond +need, its sordid Bedlams, happily extinct. But without Life- +element, no Life can be intelligible; and till Friedrich and one or +two others are extricated from it, Dismal Swamp cannot be quite +filled in. Courage, reader!--Our Constitutional Historian makes +this farther reflection:-- + +"English moneys, desperate Russian intrigues, Treaties made and +Treaties broken--If instead of Pragmatic Sanction with eleven +Potentates guaranteeing, Maria Theresa had at this time had 200,000 +soldiers and a full treasury (as Prince Eugene used to advise the +late Kaiser), how different might it have been with her, and with +the whole world that fell upon one another's throats in her +quarrel! Some eight years of the most disastrous War; and except +the falling of Silesia to its new place, no result gained by it. +War at any rate inevitable, you object? English-Spanish War having +been obliged to kindle itself; French sure to fall in, on the +Spanish side; sure to fall upon Hanover, so soon as beaten at sea, +and thus to involve all Europe? Well, it is too likely. But, even +in that case, the poor English would have gone upon their necessary +Spanish War, by the direct road and with their eyes open, instead +of somnambulating and stumbling over the chimney-tops; and the +settlement might have come far sooner, and far cheaper to mankind. +--Nay, we are to admit that the new place for Silesia was, +likewise, the place appointed it by just Heaven; and Friedrich's +too was a necessary War. Heaven makes use of Shadow-hunting Kaisers +too; and its ways in this mad world are through the great Deep." + + +THE YOUNG DESSAUER CAPTURES GLOGAU (MARCH 9th); THE OLD +DESSAUER, BY HIS CAMP OF GOTTIN (APRIL 2d), CHECKMATES +CERTAIN DESIGNING PERSONS. + +Money somewhere her Hungarian Majesty has got; that is one thing +evident. She has an actual Army on foot, "drawn out of Italy," or +whence she could; formidable Army, says rumor, and getting well +equipped;--and here are the Pandour Precursors of it, coming down +like storm-clouds through the Glatz valleys;--nearly finishing the +War for her at a stroke, the other day, had accident favored;--and +have thrown reinforcement of 600 into Neisse. Friedrich is not +insensible to these things; and amid such alarms from far and from +near, is becoming eager to have, at least, Glogau in his hand. +Glogau, he is of opinion, could now, and should, straightway +be done. + +Glogau is not a strong place; after all the repairing, it could +stand little siege, were we careless of hurting it. But Wallis is +obstinate; refuses Free Withdrawal; will hold out to the uttermost, +though his meal is running low. He pretends there is relief coming; +relief just at hand; and once, in midnight time, "lets off a rocket +and fires six guns," alarming Prince Leopold as if relief were just +in the neighborhood. A tough industrious military man; stiff to his +purpose, and not without shift. + +Friedrich thinks the place might be had by assault: "Open trenches; +set your batteries going, which need not injure the Town; need only +alarm Wallis, and TERRIFY it; then, under cover of this noise and +feint of cannonading, storm with vigor." Leopold, the Young +Dessauer, is cautious; wants petards if he must storm, wants two +new battalions if he must open trenches;--he gets these requisites, +and is still cunctatory. Friedrich has himself got the notion, +"from clear intelligence," true or not, that relief to Glogau is +actually on way; and under such imminences, Russian and other, in +so ticklish a state of the world, he becomes more and more +impatient that this thing were done. In the first week of March, +still hurrying about on inspection-business, he writes, from four +or five different places ("Mollwitz near Brieg" is one of them, a +Village we shall soon know better), Note after Note to Leopold; +who still makes difficulties, and is not yet perfect to the last +finish in his preparations. "Preparations!" answers Friedrich +impatiently (date MOLLWITZ, 5th MARCH, the third or fourth +impatient Note he has sent); and adds, just while quitting Mollwitz +for Ohlau, this Postscript in his own hand:-- + +P.S. "I am sorry you have not understood me! They have, in Bohmen, +a regular enterprise on hand for the rescue of Glogau. I have +Infantry enough to meet them; but Cavalry is quite wanting. +You must therefore, without delay, begin the siege. Let us finish +there, I pray you!" [Orlich, i. 70.] + +And next day, Monday 6th, to cut the matter short, he despatches +his General-Adjutant Goltz in person (the distance is above seventy +miles), with this Note wholly in autograph, which nothing vocal on +Leopold's part will answer:-- + +"OHLAU, 6th MARCH. As I am certainly informed that the Enemy will +make some attempt, I hereby with all distinctness command, That, so +soon as the petards are come [which they are], you attack Glogau. +And you must make your Arrangement (DISPOSITION) for more than one +attack; so that if one fail, the other shall certainly succeed. +I hope you will put off no longer;--otherwise the blame of all the +mischief that might arise out of longer delay must lie on you +alone." [Ib. i. 71.] + +Goltz arrived with this emphatic Piece, Tuesday Evening, after his +course of seventy miles: this did at last rouse our cautious Young +Dessauer; and so there is next obtainable, on much compression, the +following authentic Excerpt:-- + +"GLOGAU, 8th MARCH, 1741. His Durchlaucht the Prince Leopold +summoned all the Generals at noon; and informed them That, this +very night, Glogau must be won. He gave them their Instructions in +writing: where each was to post himself; with what detachments; +how to proceed. There are to be three Attacks: one up stream, +coming on with the River to its right; one down stream, River to +its left; and a third from the landward side, perpendicular to the +other two. The very captains that shall go foremost are specified; +at what hour each is to leave quarters, so that all be ready +simultaneously, waiting in the posts assigned;--against what points +to advance out of these, and storm Rampart and Wall. Places, times, +particulars, everything is fixed with mathematical exactitude: +'Be steady, be correct, especially be silent; and so far as Law of +Nature will permit, be simultaneous! When the big steeple of Glogau +peals Midnight,--Forward, with the first stroke; with the second, +much more with the twelfth stroke, be one and all of you, in the +utmost silence, advancing! And, under pain of death, two things: +Not one shot till you are in; No plundering when you are.'--In this +manner is the silent three-sided avalanche to be let go. +Whereupon", says my Dryasdust, "the Generals retired; and had, for +one item, their fire-arms all cleaned and new-loaded." +[<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 823; ii. 165.] + +Without plans of Glogau, and more detail and study than the reader +would consent to, there can no Narrative be given. Glogau has +Ramparts, due Ring-fence, palisaded and repaired by Wallis; +inside of this is an old Town-Wall, which will need petards: +there are about 1,000 men under Wallis, and altogether on the +works, not to count a mortar or two, fifty-eight big guns. +The reader must conceive a poor Town under blockade, in the wintry +night-time, with its tough Count Wallis; ill-off for the +necessaries of life; Town shrouded in darkness, and creeping +quietly to its bed. This on the one hand: and on the other hand, +Prussian battalions marching up, at 10 o'clock or later, with the +utmost softness of step; "taking post behind the ordinary field- +watches;" and at length, all standing ranked, in the invisible +dark; silent, like machinery, like a sleeping avalanche: Husht!-- +No sentry from the walls dreams of such a thing. "Twelve!" sings +out the steeple of Glogau; and in grim whisper the word is, +"VORWARTS!" and the three-winged avalanche is in motion. + +They reach their glacises, their ditches, covered ways, correct as +mathematics; tear out chevaux-de-frise, hew down palisades, in the +given number of minutes: Swift, ye Regiment's-carpenters; +smite your best! Four cannon-shot do now boom out upon them; +which go high over their heads, little dreaming how close at hand +they are. The glacis is thirty feet high, of stiff slope, and +slippery with frost: no matter, the avalanche, led on by Leopold in +person, by Margraf Karl the King's Cousin, by Adjutant Goltz and +the chief personages, rushes up with strange impetus; hews down a +second palisade; surges in;--Wallis's sentries extinct, or driven +to their main guards. There is a singular fire in the besieging +party. For example, Four Grenadiers,--I think of this First Column, +which succeeded sooner, certainly of the Regiment Glasenapp,--four +grenadiers, owing to slippery or other accidents, in climbing the +glacis, had fallen a few steps behind the general body; and on +getting to the top, took the wrong course, and rushed along +rightward instead of leftward. Rightward, the first thing they come +upon is a mass of Austrians still ranked in arms; fifty-two men, as +it turned out, with their Captain over them. Slight stutter ensues +on the part of the Four Grenadiers; but they give one another the +hint, and dash forward: "Prisoners?" ask they sternly, as if all +Prussia had been at their rear. The fifty-two, in the darkness, in +the danger and alarm, answer "Yes."--"Pile arms, then!" Three of +the grenadiers stand to see that done; the fourth runs off for +force, and happily gets back with it before the comedy had become +tragic for his comrades. "I must make acquaintance with these four +men," writes Friedrich, on hearing of it; and he did reward them by +present, by promotion to sergeantcy (to ensigncy one of them), or +what else they were fit for. Grenadiers of Glasenapp: these are the +men Friedrich heard swearing-in under his window, one memorable +morning when he burst into tears! At half-past Twelve, the +Ramparts, on all sides, are ours. + +The Gates of the Town, under axe and petard, can make little +resistance, to Leopold's Column or the other two. A hole is soon +cut in the Town-Gate, where Leopold is; and gallant Wallis, who had +rallied behind it, with his Artillery-General and what they could +get together, fires through the opening, kills four men; but is +then (by order, and not till then) fired upon, and obliged to draw +back, with his Artillery-General mortally hurt. Inside he attempts +another rally, some 200 with him; and here and there perhaps a +house-window tries to give shot; but it is to no purpose, not the +least stand can be made. Poor Wallis is rapidly swept back, into +the Market-place, into the Main Guard-house; and there piles arms: +"Glogau yours, Ihr Herren, and we prisoners of War!" The steeple +had not yet quite struck One. Here has been a good hour's-work! + +Glogau, as in a dream, or half awake, and timidly peeping from +behind window-curtains, finds that it is a Town taken. Glogau +easily consoles itself, I hear, or even is generally glad; +Prussian discipline being so perfect, and ingress now free for the +necessaries of life. There was no plundering; not the least insult: +no townsman was hurt; not even in houses where soldiers had tried +firing from windows. The Prussian Battalions rendezvous in the +Market-place, and go peaceably about their patrolling, and other +business; and meddle with nothing else. They lost, in killed, ten +men; had of killed and wounded, forty-eight; the Austrians rather +more. [Orlich, i. 75, 78; <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 829; irreconcilable otherwise, in some slight points.] +Wallis was to have been set free on parole; but was not,--in +retaliation for some severity of General Browne's in the interim +(picking up of two Silesian Noblemen, suspected of Prussian +tendency, and locking them in Brunn over the Hills),--and had to go +to Berlin, till that was repaired. To the wounded Artillery-General +there was every tenderness shown, but he died in few days.--The +other Prisoners were marched to the Custrin-Stettin quarter; "and +many of them took Prussian service." + +And this is the Scalade of Glogau: a shining feat of those days; +which had great rumor in the Gazettes, and over all the then +feverish Nations, though it has now fallen dim again, as feats do. +Its importance at that time, its utility to Friedrich's affairs, +was undeniable; and it filled Friedrich with the highest +satisfaction, and with admiration to overflowing. Done 9th March, +1741; in one hour, the very earliest of the day. + +Goltz posted back to Schweidnitz with the news; got thither about +5 P.M.; and was received, naturally, with open arms. Friedrich in +person marched out, next morning, to make FEU-DE-JOIE and +TE-DEUM-ing;--there was Royal Letter to Leopold, which flamed +through all the Newspapers, and can still be read in innumerable +Books; Letter omissible in this place. We remark only how punctual +the King is, to reward in money as well as praise, and not the high +only, but the low that had deserved: to Prince Leopold he presents +2,000 pounds; to each private soldier who had been of the storm, +say half a guinea,--doubling and quadrupling, in the special cases, +to as high as twenty guineas, of our present money. To the old +Gazetteers, and their readers everywhere, this of Glogau is a very +effulgent business; bursting out on them, like sudden Bude-light, +in the uncertain stagnancy and expectancy of mankind. Friedrich +himself writes of it to the Old Dessauer:-- + +"The more I think of the Glogau business, the more important I find +it. Prince Leopold has achieved the prettiest military stroke (DIE +SCHONSTE ACTION) that has been done in this Century. From my heart +I congratulate you on having such a Son. In boldness of resolution, +in plan, in execution, it is alike admirable; and quite gives a +turn to my affairs." [Date, 13th March, 1741 (Orlich, i. 77).] + +And indeed, it is a perfect example of Prussian discipline, and +military quality in all kinds; such as it would be difficult to +match elsewhere. Most potently correct; coming out everywhere with +the completeness and exactitude of mathematics; and has in it such +a fund of martial fire, not only ready to blaze out (which can be +exampled elsewhere), but capable of bottling itself IN, and of +lying silently ready. Which is much rarer; and very essential in +soldiering! Due a little to the OLD Dessauer, may we not say, as +well as to the Young? Friedrich Wilhelm is fallen silent; but his +heavy labors, and military and other drillings to Prussian mankind, +still speak with an audible voice. + +About three weeks after this of Glogau, Leopold the Old Dessauer, +over in Brandenburg, does another thing which is important to +Friedrich, and of great rumor in the world. Steps out, namely, with +a force of 36,000 men, horse, foot and artillery, completely +equipped in all points; and takes Camp, at this early season, at a +place called Gottin, not far from Magdeburg, handy at once for +Saxony and for Hanover; and continues there encamped,--"merely for +review purposes." Readers can figure what an astonishment it was to +Kur-Sachsen and British George; and how it struck the wind out of +their Russian Partition-Dream, and awoke them to a sense of the +awful fact!--Capable of being slit in pieces, and themselves +partitioned, at a day's warning, as it were! It was on April 2d, +that Leopold, with the first division of the 36,000, planted his +flag near Gottin. No doubt it was the "detestable Project" that had +brought him out, at so early a season for tent-life, and nobody +could then guess why. He steadily paraded here, all summer; +keeping his 36,000 well in drill, since there was nothing else +needed of him. + +The Camp at Gottin flamed greatly abroad through the timorous +imaginations of mankind, that Year; and in the Newspapers are many +details of it. And, besides the important general fact, there is +still one little point worth special mention: namely, that old +Field-marshal Katte (Father of poor Lieutenant Katte whom we knew) +was of it; and perhaps even got his death by it: "Chief Commander +of the Cavalry here," such honor had he; but died at his post, in a +couple of months, "at Rekahn, May 31st;" [<italic> Militair- +Lexikon, <end italic> ii. 254.] poor old gentleman, perhaps unequal +to the hardships of field-life at so early a season of the year. + + +FRIEDRICH TAKES THE FIELD, WITH SOME POMP; GOES INTO THE MOUNTAINS, +--BUT COMES FAST BACK. + +At Glogau there was Homaging, on the very morrow after the storm; +on the second day, the superfluous regiments marched off: no want +of vigorous activity to settle matters on their new footing there. +General Kalkstein (Friedrich's old Tutor, whom readers have +forgotten again) is to be Commandant of Glogau; an office of honor, +which can be done by deputy except in cases of real stress. +The place is to be thoroughly new-fortified,--which important point +they commit to Engineer Wallrave, a strong-headed heavy-built Dutch +Officer, long since acquired to the service, on account of his +excellence in that line; who did, now and afterwards, a great deal +of excellent engineering for Friedrich; but for himself (being of +deep stomach withal, and of life too dissolute) made a tragic thing +of it ultimately. As will be seen, if we have leisure. + +In seven or eight days, Prince Leopold having wound up his Glogau +affairs, and completed the new preliminaries there, joins the King +at Schweidnitz. In the highest favor, as was natural. Kalkstein is +to take a main hand in the Siege of Neisse; for which operation it +is hoped there will soon be weather, if not favorable yet +supportable. What of the force was superfluous at Glogau had at +once marched off, as we observed; and is now getting re-distributed +where needful. There is much shifting about; strengthening of +posts, giving up of posts: the whole of which readers shall imagine +for themselves,--except only two points that are worth remembering: +FIRST, that Kalkstein with about 12,000 takes post at Grotkau, some +twenty-five miles north of Neisse, ready to move on, and open +trenches, when required: and SECOND, that Holstein-Beck gets posted +at Frankenstein (chief place of that Baumgarten Skirmish), say +thirty-five miles west-by-north of Neisse; and has some 8 or 10,000 +Horse and Foot thereabouts, spread up and down,--who will be much +wanted, and not procurable, on an occasion that is coming. + +Friedrich has given up the Jablunka Pass; called in the Jablunka +and remoter posts; anxious to concentrate, before the Enemy get +nigh. That is the King's notion; and surely a reasonable one; +the AREA of the Prussian Army, as I guess it from the Maps, being +above 2,000 square miles, beginning at Breslau only, and leaving +out Glogau. Schwerin thinks differently, but without good basis. +Both are agreed, "The Austrian Army cannot take the field till the +forage come," till the new grass spring, which its cavalry find +convenient. That is the fair supposition; but in that both are +mistaken, and Schwerin the more dangerously of the two.--Meanwhile, +the Pandour swarms are observably getting rifer, and of stormier +quality; and they seem to harbor farther to the East than formerly, +and not to come all out of Glatz. Which perhaps are symptomatic +circumstances? The worst effect of these preliminary Pandour clouds +is, Your scout-service cannot live among them; they hinder +reconnoitring, and keep the Enemy veiled from you. Of that sore +mischief Friedrich had, first and last, ample experience at their +hands! This is but the first instalment of Pandours to Friedrich; +and the mere foretaste of what they can do in the veiling way. + +Behind the Mountains, in this manner, all is inane darkness to +Friedrich and Schwerin. They know only that Neipperg is +rendezvousing at Olmutz; and judge that he will still spend many +weeks upon it; the real facts being: That Neipperg--"who arrived in +Olmutz on the 10th of March," the very day while Glogau was +homaging--has been, he and those above him and those under him, +driving preparations forward at a furious rate. That Neipperg held +--I think at Steinberg his hithermost post, some twenty miles +hither of Olmutz--a Council of War, "all the Generals and even +Lentulus from Glatz, present at it," day not given; where the +unanimous decision was, "March straightway; save Neisse, since +Glogau is gone!"--and in fine, That on the 26th, Neipperg took the +road accordingly, "in spite of furious snow blowing in his face;" +and is ever since (30,000 strong, says rumor, but perhaps 10,000 of +them mere Pandours) unweariedly climbing the Mountains, laboriously +jingling forward with his heavy guns and ammunition-wagons; +"contending with the steep snowy icy roads;" intent upon saving +Neisse. This is the fact; profoundly unknown to Friedrich and +Schwerin; who will be much surprised, when it becomes patent to +them at the wrong time. + +SCHWEIDNITZ, 27th MARCH. This day Friedrich, with considerable +apparatus, pomp and processional cymballing, greatly the reverse of +his ulterior use and wont in such cases, quitted Schweidnitz and +his Algarottis; solemnly opening Campaign in this manner; and drove +off for Ottmachau, having work there for to-morrow. + +The Siege of Neisse is now to proceed forthwith; trenches to be +opened April 4th. Friedrich is still of opinion, that his posts lie +too wide apart; that especially Schwerin, who is spread among the +Hills in Jagerndorf Country, ought to come down, and take closer +order for covering the siege. [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> ii. 70.] Schwerin answers, That if the King will spare him +a reinforcement of eight squadrons and nine battalions (say 1,200 +Horse, 9,000 Foot), he will maintain himself where he is, and no +Enemy shall get across the Mountains at all. That is Schwerin's +notion; who surely is something of a judge. Friedrich assents; will +himself conduct the reinforcement to Schwerin, and survey matters, +with his own eyes, up yonder. Friedrich marches from Ottmachau, +accordingly, 29th March;--Kalkstein, Holstein-Beck, and others are +to be rendezvoused before Neisse, in the interim; trenches ready +for opening on the sixth day hence;--and in this manner, climbs +these Mountains, and sees Jagerndorf Country for the first time. + +Beautiful blue world of Hills, ridge piled on ridge behind that +Neisse region; fruitful valleys lapped in them, with grim stone +Castles and busy little Towns disclosing themselves as we advance: +that is Jagerndorf Country,--which Uncle George of Anspach, +hundreds of years ago, purchased with his own money; which we have +now come to lay hold of as his Heir! Friedrich, I believe, thinks +little of all this, and does not remember Uncle George at all. +But such are the facts; and the Country, regarded or not, is very +blue and beautiful, with the Spring sun shining on it; or with the +sudden Spring storms gathering wildly on the peaks, as if for +permanent investiture, but vanishing again straightway, leaving +only a powdering of snow. + +He met Schwerin at Neustadt, half-way to Jagerndorf; whither they +proceeded next day. "What news have you of the Enemy?" was +Friedrich's first question. Schwerin has no news whatever; only +that the Enemy is far off, hanging in long thin straggle from +Olmutz westward. "I have a spy out," said Schwerin; "but he has not +returned yet,"--nor ever will, he might have added. If diligent +readers will now take to their Map, and attend day by day, an +invincible Predecessor has compelled what next follows into human +intelligibility, and into the Diary Form, for their behoof;-- +readers of an idler turn can skip: but this confused hurry-scurry +of marches issues in something which all will have to attend to. + +"JAGERNDORF, 2d APRIL, 1741. This is the day when the Old Dessauer +makes appearance with the first brigades of his Camp at Gottin. +Friedrich is satisfied with what he has seen of Jagerndorf matters; +and intends returning towards Neisse, there to commence on the 4th. +He is giving his final orders, and on the point of setting off, +when--Seven Austrian Deserters, 'Dragoons of Lichtenstein,' come +in; and report, That Neipperg's Army is within a few miles! +And scarcely had they done answering and explaining, when sounds +rise of musketry and cannon, from our outposts on that side; +intimating that here is Neipperg's Army itself. Seldom in his life +was Friedrich in an uglier situation. In Jagerndorf, an open Town, +are only some three or four thousand men, 'with three field-pieces, +and as much powder as will charge them forty times.' Happily these +proved only the Pandour outskirts of Neipperg's Army, scouring +about to reconnoitre, and not difficult to beat; the real body of +it is ascertained to be at Freudenthal, fifteen miles to westward, +southwestward; making towards Neisse, it is guessed, by the other +or western road, which is the nearer to Glatz and to the Austrian +force there. + +"Had Neipperg known what was in Jagerndorf--! But he does not know. +He marches on, next morning, at his usual slow rate; wide clouds of +Pandours accompanying and preceding him; skirmishing in upon all +places [upon Jagerndorf, for instance, though fifteen miles wide of +their road], to ascertain if Prussians are there. One can judge +whether Friedrich and Schwerin were thankful when the huge alarm +produced nothing! 'The mountain,' as Friedrich says, 'gave birth to +a mouse;'--nay it was a 'mouse' of essential vital use to Friedrich +and Schwerin; a warning, That they must instantly collect +themselves, men and goods; and begone one and all out of these +parts, double-quick towards Neisse. Not now with the hope of +besieging Neisse,--far from that;--but of getting their wide- +scattered posts together thereabouts, and escaping destruction +in detail! + +"APRIL 4th, HEAD-QUARTERS NEUSTADT. By violent exertion, with the +sacrifice only of some remote little storehouses, all is +rendezvoused at Jagerndorf, within two days; and this day they +march; King and vanguard reaching Neustadt, some twenty-five miles +forward, some twenty still from Neisse. At Neustadt, the posts that +had stood in that neighborhood are all assembled, and march with +the King to-morrow. Of Neipperg, except by transitory contact with +his Pandour clouds, they have seen nothing: his road is pretty much +parallel to theirs, and some fifteen miles leftward, Glatzward; +goes through Zuckmantel, Ziegenhals, straight upon Neisse. +[Zuckmantel, "Twitch-Cloak," occurs more than once as a Town's name +in those regions: name which, says my Dryasdust without smile +visible, it got from robberies done on travellers, "twitchings of +your cloak," with stand-and-deliver, as you cross those wild +mountain spaces. (Zeiller, <italic> Beschreibung des Konigreichs +Boheim, <end italic> Frankfurt, 1650;--a rather worthless old Book, +like the rest of Zeiller's in that kind.)] Neipperg's men are +wearied with the long climb out of Mahren; and he struggles towards +Neisse as the first object;--holding upon Glatz and Lentulus with +his left. Numerous orders have been speeded from the King's +quarters, at Jagerndorf, and here at Neustadt; order especially to +Holstein-Beck at Frankenstein, and to Kalkstein at Grotkau, How +they are to unite, first with one another; and then to cross Neisse +River, and unite with the King,--to which end there is already a +Bridge laid for them, or about to be laid in good time. + +"APRIL 5th, HEAD-QUARTERS STEINAU. Steinau is a little Town twenty +miles east of Neisse, on the road to Kosel [strongish place, on the +Oder, some forty miles farther east]: here Friedrich, with the main +body, take their quarters; rearguard being still at Neustadt. +Temporary Bridge there is, ready or all but ready, at Sorgau +[twelve miles to north of us, on our left]: by this Kalkstein, with +his 10,000, comes punctually across; while other brigades from the +Kosel side are also punctual in getting in; which is a great +comfort: but of Holstein-Beck there is no vestige, nor did there +ever appear any. Holstein, 'whom none of the repeated orders sent +him could reach,' says Friedrich, 'remained comfortably in his +quarters; and looked at the Enemy rushing past him to right and +left, without troubling his head with them.' [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> ii. 70.] The too easy-minded Holstein! +Austrian Deserters inform us, That General Neipperg arrived to-day +with his Army in Neisse; and has there been joined by Lentulus with +the Glatz force, chiefly cavalry, a good many thousands. We may be +attacked, then, this very night, if they are diligent? Friedrich +marks out ground and plan in such case, and how and where each is +to rank himself. There came nothing of attack; but the poor little +Village of Steinau, with so many troops in it and baggage-drivers +stumbling about, takes fire; burns to ashes; 'and we had great +difficulty in saving the artillery and powder through the narrow +streets, with the houses all burning on each hand.'" Fancy it,--and +the poor shrieking inhabitants; gone to silence long since with +their shrieks, not the least whisper left of them. "The Prussians +bivouac on the field, each in the place that has been marked out. +Night extremely cold." + +In this poor Steinau was a Schloss, which also went up in fire; +disclosing certain mysteries of an almost mythical nature to the +German Public. It was the Schloss of a Grafin von Callenberg, a +dreadful old Dowager of Medea-Messalina type, who "always wore +pistols about her;" pistols, and latterly, with more and more +constancy, a brandy-bottle;--who has been much on the tongues of +men for a generation back. Herr Nussler (readers recollect shifty +Nussler) knew her, in the way of business, at one time; with pity, +if also with horror. Some weeks ago, she was, by the Austrian +Commandant at Neisse, summoned out of this Schloss, as in +correspondence with Prussian Officers: peasants breaking in, tied +her with ropes to the bed where she was; put bed and her into a +farm-cart, and in that scandalous manner delivered her at Neisse to +the Commandant; by which adventure, and its rages and +unspeakabilities, the poor old Callenberg is since dead. And now +the very Schloss is dead; and there is finis to a human dust- +vortex, such as is sometimes noisy for a time. Perhaps Nussler may +again pass that way, if we wait. [Busching, <italic> Beitrage, <end +italic> ii.273 et seqq.] + +"APRIL 6th, HEAD-QUARTERS FRIEDLAND. To Friedland on the 6th.,--and +do not, as expected, get away next morning. Friedland is ten miles +down the Neisse, which makes a bend of near ninety degrees opposite +Steinau; and runs thence straight north for the Oder, which it +reaches some dozen miles or more above Brieg. Both Steinau and +Friedland are a good distance from the River; Friedland, the nearer +of the two, with Sorgau Bridge direct west of it, is perhaps eight +miles from that important structure. There, being now tolerably +rendezvoused, and in strength for action, Friedrich purposes to +cross Neisse River to-morrow; hoping perhaps to meet Holstein-Beck, +and incorporate him; anxious, at any rate, to get between the +Austrians and Ohlau, where his heavy Artillery, his Ammunition, not +to mention other indispensables, are lying. The peculiarity of +Neipperg at this time is, that the ground he occupies bears no +proportion to the ground he commands. His regular Horse are +supposed to be the best in the world; and of the Pandour kind, who +live, horse and man, mainly upon nothing (which means upon theft), +his supplies are unlimited. He sits like a volcanic reservoir, +therefore, not like a common fire of such and such intensity and +power to burn;--casts the ashes of him, on all sides, to many +miles distance. + +"FRIDAY 7th APRIL, FRIEDLAND (still Head-quarters). Unluckily, on +trying, there is no passage to be had at Sorgau. The Officer on +charge there still holds the Bridge, but has been obliged to break +away the farther end of it; 'Lentulus and Dragoons, several +thousands strong' (such is the report), having taken post there. +Friedrich commands that the Bridge be reinstated; field-pieces to +defend it; Prince Leopold to cross, and clear the ways. All Friday, +Friedrich waiting at Friedland, was spent in these details. +Leopold in due force started for Sorgau, himself with Cavalry in +the van; Leopold did storm across, and go charging and fencing, +some space, on the other side; but, seeing that it was in truth +Lentulus, and Dragoons without limit, had to send report +accordingly; and then to wind himself to this side again, on new +order from the King. What is to be done, then? Here is no crossing. +Friedrich decides to go down the River; he himself to Lowen, +perhaps near twenty miles farther down, but where there is a Bridge +and Highway leading over; Prince Leopold, with the heavier +divisions and baggages, to Michelau, some miles nearer, and there +to build his Pontoons and cross. Which was effected, with success. +And so, + +"SATURDAY, 8th APRIL, With great punctuality, the King and Leopold +met at Michelau, both well across the Neisse. Here on Pontoons, +Leopold had got across about noon; and precisely as he was +finishing, the King's Column, which had crossed at Lowen, and come +up the left bank again, arrived. The King, much content with +Leopold's behavior, nominates him General of Infantry, a stage +higher in promotion, there and then. Brieg Blockade is, as natural, +given up; the Blockading Body joining with the King, this morning, +while he passed that way. From Holstein-Beck not the least +whisper,--nor to him, if we knew it. + +"Neipperg has quitted Neisse; but walks invisible within clouds of +Pandours; nothing but guessing as to Neipperg's motions. +Rightly swift, aud awake to his business, Neipperg might have done, +might still do, a stroke upon us here. But he takes it easy; +marches hardly five miles a day, since he quitted Neisse again. +From Michelau, Friedrich for his part turns southwestward, in quest +of Holstein and other interests; marches towards Grotkau, not +intending much farther that night. Thick snow blowing in their +faces, nothing to be seen ahead, the Prussian column tramps along. +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> ii. 156.] In Leipe, a +little Hamlet sidewards of the road, short way from Grotkau, our +Hussar Vanguard had found Austrian Hussars; captured forty, and +from them learned that the Austrian Army is in Grotkau; that they +took Grotkau half an hour before, and are there! A poor Lieutenant +Mitschepfal (whom I think Friedrich used to know in Reinsberg) lay +in Grotkau, 'with some sixty recruits and deserters,' says +Friedrich,--and with several hundreds of camp-laborers (intended +for the trenches, which will not now be opened):--Mitschepfal made +a stout defence; but, after three hours of it, had to give in: and +there is nothing now for us at Grotkau. 'Halt,' therefore! Neipperg +is evidently pushing towards Ohlau, towards Breslau, though in a +leisurely way; there it will behoove us to get the start of him, if +humanly possible: To the right about, therefore, without delay! +The Prussians repass Leipe (much to the wonder of its simple +people); get along, some seven miles farther, on the road for +Ohlau; and quarter, that night, in what handy villages there are; +the King's Corps in two Villages, which he calls 'Pogrel and +Alsen,'"--which are to be found still on the Map as "Pogarell and +Alzenau," on the road from Lowen towards Ohlau. + +This is the end of that March into the Mountains, with Neisse Siege +hanging triumphant ahead. These are the King's quarters, this +wintry Spring night, Saturday, 8th April, 1741; and it is to be +guessed there is more of care than of sleep provided for him there. +Seldom, in his life, was Friedrich in a more critical position; +and he well knows it, none better. And could have his remorses upon +it,--were these of the least use in present circumstances. Here are +two Letters which he wrote that night; veiling, we perceive, a very +grim world of thoughts; betokening, however, a mind made up. +Jordan, Prince August Wilhelm Heir-Apparent, and other fine +individuals who shone in the Schweidnitz circle lately, are in +Breslau, safe sheltered against this bad juncture; Maupertuis was +not so lucky as to go with them. + +THE KING TO PRINCE AUGUST WILHELM (in Breslau). + +"POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + +"MY DEAREST BROTHER,--The Enemy has just got into Silesia; we are +not more than a mile (QUART DE MILLE) from them. To-morrow must +decide our fortune. + +"If I die, do not forget a Brother who has always loved you very +tenderly. I recommend to you my most dear Mother, my Domestics, and +my First Battalion [LIFEGUARD OF FOOT, men picked from his own old +Ruppin Regiment and from the disbanded Giants, star of all the +Battalions]. [See Preuss, i. 144, iv. 309; Nicolai, <italic> +Beschreibung von Berlin, <end italic> iii, 1252.] Eichel and +Schuhmacher [Two of the Three Clerks] are informed of all my +testamentary wishes. Remember me always, you; but console yourself +for my death: the glory of the Prussian Arms, and the honor of the +House have set me in action, and will guide me to my last moment. +You are my sole Heir: I recommend to you, in dying, those whom I +have the most loved during my life: Keyserling, Jordan, +Wartensleben; Hacke, who is a very honest man; Fredersdorf +[Factotum], and Eichel, in whom you may place entire confidence. +I bequeath 8,000 crowns (1,200 pounds, which I have with me, to my +Domestics; but all that I have elsewhere depends on you. To each of +my Brothers and Sisters make a present in my name; a thousand +affectionate regards (AMITIES ET COMPLIMENTS) to my Sister of +Baireuth. You know what I think on their score; and you know better +than I could tell you, the tenderness and all the sentiments of +most inviolable friendship with which I am, dearest Brother, + +"Your faithful Brother and Servant till death, + +"FEDERIC." +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxvi. 85; List of + +Friedrich's Testamentary arrangements in Note there,--Six in all, +at different times, besides this.] + +THE KING TO M. JORDAN (in Breslau). + +"POGARELL, 8th April, 1741. + +"My DEAR JORDAN,---We are going to fight to-morrow. Thou knowest +the chances of war; the life of Kings not more regarded than that +of private people. I know not what will happen to me. + +"If my destiny is finished, remember a friend, who loves thee +always tenderly: if Heaven prolong my days, I will write to thee +after to-morrow, and thou wilt hear of our victory. Adieu, dear +friend; I shall love thee till death. + +"FEDERIC." +[Ib. xvii. 98.] + +The King, we incidentally discover somewhere, "had no sleep that +night;" none, "nor the next night either,"--such a crisis coming, +still not come. + + + +Chapter X. + +BATTLE OF MOLLWITZ. + +"To-morrow," Sunday, did not prove the Day of Fight, after all. +Being a day of wild drifting snow, so that you could not see twenty +paces, there was nothing for it but to sit quiet. The King makes +all his dispositions; sketches out punctually, to the last item, +where each is to station himself, how the Army is to advance in +Four Columns, ready for Neipperg wherever he may be,--towards Ohlau +at any rate, whither it is not doubted Neipperg is bent. +These snowy six-and-thirty hours at Pogarell were probably, since +the Custrin time, the most anxious of Friedrich's life. + +Neipperg, for his part, struggles forward a few miles, this Sunday, +April 9th; the Prussians rest under shelter in the wild weather. +Neipperg's head-quarters, this night, are a small Village or +Hamlet, called Mollwitz: there and in the adjacent Hamlets, chiefly +in Laugwitz and Gruningen, his Army lodges itself:--he is now +fairly got between us and Ohlau,--if, in the blowing drift, we knew +it, or he knew it. But, in this confusion of the elements, neither +party knows of the other: Neipperg has appointed that to-morrow, +Monday, l0th, shall be a rest-day:--appointment which could by no +means be kept, as it turned out! + +Friedrich had despatched messengers to Ohlau, that the force there +should join him; messengers are all captured. The like message had +already gone to Brieg, some days before, and the Blockading Body, a +good few thousand strong, quitted Brieg, as we saw, and effected +their junction with him. All day, this Sunday, 9th, it still snows +and blows; you cannot see a yard before you. No hope now of +Holstein-Beck. Not the least news from any quarter; Ohlau +uncertain, too likely the wrong way: What is to be done? We are cut +off from our Magazines, have only provision for one other day. +"Had this weather lasted," says an Austrian reporter of these +things, "his Majesty would have passed his time very ill." +[<italic> Feldzuge der Preussen <end italic> (the complete Title +is, <italic> Sammlung ungedruckter Nachrichten so die Geschichte +der Feldzuge der Preussen von 1740 bis 1779 erlautern, <end italic> +or in English words, <italic> Collection of unprinted Narratives +which elucidate the Prussian Campaigns from 1740 to 1779: <end +italic> 5 vols. Dresden, 1782-1785), i. 33. Excellent Narratives, +modest, brief, effective (from Private Diaries and the like; many +of them given also in SEYFARTH); well worth perusal by the studious +military man, and creditably characteristic of the Prussian writers +of them and actors in them.] + +Of the Battle of Mollwitz, as indeed of all Friedrich's Battles, +there are ample accounts new and old, of perfect authenticity and +scientific exactitude; so that in regard to military points the due +clearness is, on study, completely attainable. But as to personal +or human details, we are driven back upon a miscellany of sources; +most of which, indeed all of which except Nicolai, when he +sparingly gives us anything, are of questionable nature; +and, without intending to be dishonest, do run out into the +mythical, and require to be used with caution. The latest and +notablest of these, in regard to Mollwitz, is the pamphlet of a +Dr. Fuchs; from which, in spite of its amazing quality, we expect +to glean a serviceable item here and there. [<italic> Jubelschrift +zur Feier <end italic> (Centenary) <italic> der Schlacht bei +Mollwitz, 10 April, 1741, <end italic> von Dr. Medicinae Fuchs +(Brieg, 10th April, 1841).] It is definable as probably the most +chaotic Pamphlet ever written; and in many places, by dint of +uncorrected printing, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad sense, and in +short, of intrinsic darkness in so vivacious a humor, it has become +abstruse as Sanscrit; and really is a sharp test of what knowledge +you otherwise have of the subject. Might perhaps be used in that +way, by the Examining Military Boards, in Prussia and elsewhere, if +no other use lie in it? Fuchs's own contributions, mere ignorance, +folly and credulity, are not worth interpreting: but he has +printed, and in the same abstruse form, one or two curious Parish +Manuscripts, particularly a "HISTORY" of this War, privately jotted +down by the then Schoolmaster of Mollwitz, a good simple accurate +old fellow-creature; through whose eyes it is here and there worth +while to look. In regard to Fuchs himself, a late Tourist says:-- + +"This 'Centenary-Celebration Pamphlet' (Celebration itself, so +obtuse was the Country, did not take effect) was by a zealous, +noisy but not wise, old Medical Gentleman of these parts, called +Dr. Fuchs (FOX); who had set his heart on raising, by subscription, +a proper National Monument on the Field of Mollwitz, and so closing +his old career. Subscriptions did not take, in that April, 1841, +nor in the following months or twelve-months: the zealous Doctor, +therefore, indignantly drew his own purse; got a big Obelisk of +Granite hewn ready, with suitable Inscription on it; carted his big +Obelisk from the quarries of Strehlen; assembled the Country round +it, on Mollwitz Field; and passionately discoursed and pleaded, +That at least the Country should bring block-and-tackle, with +proper framework, and set up this Obelisk on the pedestal he had +there built for it. The Country listened cheerfully (for the old +Doctor was a popular man, clever though flighty); but the Country +was again obtuse in the way of active furtherance, and would not +even bring block-and-tackle. The old Doctor had to answer, 'Well, +then!' and go on his way on more serious errands. The cattle have +much undermined, and rubbed down, his poor Pedestal, which is of +rubble-work; his Obelisk still lies mournfully horizontal, +uninjured;--and really ought to be set up, by some parish-rate, or +effort of the community otherwise." [Tourist's Note (Brieg, 1858).] + +From the old Mollwitz Schoolmaster we distil the following:-- + +"MOLLWITZ, SUNDAY, 9th APRIL. Country for two days back: was in new +alarm by the Austrian Garrison of Brieg now left at liberty, who +sallied out upon the Villages about, and plundered black-cattle, +sheep, grain, and whatever they could come at. But this day +(Sunday) in Mollwitz the whole Austrian Army was upon us. +First, there went 300 Hussars through the Village to Gruningen, who +quartered themselves there; and rushed hither and thither into +houses, robbing and plundering. From one they took his best horses, +from another they took linen, clothes, and other furnitures and +victual. General Neuburg [Neipperg] halted here at Mollwitz, with +the whole Army; before the Village, in mind to quarter. And quarter +was settled, so that a BAUER [Plough-Farmer] got four to five +companies to lodge, and a GARTNER [Spade-Farmer] two or three +hundred cavalry. .The houses were full of Officers, the GARTE +[Garths] and the Fields full of horsemen and baggage; and all +round, you saw nothing but fires burning; the ZAUNE [wooden +railings] were instantly torn down for firewood; the hay, straw, +barley and haver, were eaten away, and brought to nothing; +and everything from the barns was carried out. And, as the whole +Army could not lodge itself with us, 1,100 Infantry quartered at +Laugwitz; Barzdorf got 400 Cavalry; and this day, nobody knew what +would come of it." [Extract in FUCHS, p. 6.] + +Monday morning, the Prussians are up betimes; King Friedrich, as +above noted, had not, or had hardly at all, slept during those two +nights, such his anxieties. This morning, all is calm, sleeked out +into spotless white; Pogarell and the world are wrapt as in a +winding-sheet, near two feet of snow on the ground. Air hard and +crisp; a hot sun possible about noon season. "By daybreak" we are +all astir, rendezvousing, ranking,--into Four Columns; ready to +advance in that fashion for battle, or for deploying into battle, +wherever the Enemy turn up. The orders were all given overnight, +two nights ago; were all understood, too, and known to be +rhadamanthine; and, down to the lowest pioneer, no man is uncertain +what to do. If we but knew where the Enemy is; on which side of us; +what doing, what intending? + +Scouts, General-Adjutants are out on the quest; to no purpose +hitherto. One young General-Adjutant, Saldern, whose name we shall +know again, has ridden northward, has pulled bridle some way north +of Pogarell; hangs, gazing diligently through his spy-glass, +there;--can see nothing but a Plain of silent snow, with sparse +bearding of bushes (nothing like a hedge in these countries), and +here and there a tree, the miserable skeleton of a poplar:-- +when happily, owing to an Austrian Dragoon--Be pleased to accept +(in abridged form) the poor old Schoolmaster's account of a +small thing:-- + +"Austrian Dragoon of the regiment Althan, native of Kriesewitz in +this neighborhood, who was billeted in Christopher Schonwitz's, had +been much in want of a clean shirt, and other interior outfit; +and had, last night, imperatively despatched the man Scholzke, a +farm-servant of the said Christopher's, off to his, the Dragoon's, +Father in Kriesewitz, to procure such shirt or outfit, and to +return early with the same; under penalty of--Scholzke and his +master dare not think under what penalty. Scholzke, floundering +homewards with the outfit from Kriesewitz, flounders at this moment +into Saldern's sphere of vision: 'Whence, whither?' asks Saldern: +'Dost thou know where the Austrians are?' (RECHT GUT: in Mollwitz, +whither I am going!' Saldern takes him to the King,--and that was +the first clear light his Majesty had on the matter." [Fuchs, pp. +6, 7.] That or something equivalent, indisputably was; Saldern and +"a Peasant," the account of it in all the Books. + +The King says to this Peasant, "Thou shalt ride with me to-day!" +And Scholzke, Ploschke others call him,--heavy-footed rational +biped knowing the ground there practically, every yard of it,--did, +as appears, attend the King all morning; and do service, that was +recognizable long years afterwards. "For always," say the Books, +"when the King held review here, Ploschke failed not to make +appearance on the field of Pogarell, and get recognition and a gift +from his Majesty." + +At break of day the ranking and arranging began. Pogarell clock is +near striking ten, when the last squadron or battalion quits +Pogarell; and the Four Columns, punctiliously correct, are all +under way. Two on each side of Ohlau Highway; steadily advancing, +with pioneers ahead to clear any obstacle there may be. +Few obstacles; here and there a little ditch (where Ploschke's +advice may be good, under the sleek of the snow), no fences, smooth +wide Plain, nothing you would even call a knoll in it for many +miles ahead and around. Mollwitz is some seven miles north from +Pogarell; intermediate lie dusty fractions of Villages more than +one; two miles or more from Mollwitz we come to Pampitz on our +left, the next considerable, if any of them can be +counted considerable. + +"All these Dorfs, and indeed most German ones," says my Tourist, +"are made on one type; an agglomerate of dusty farmyards, with +their stalls and barns; all the farmyards huddled together in two +rows; a broad negligent road between, seldom mended, never swept +except by the elements. Generally there is nothing to be seen, on +each hand, but thatched roofs, dead clay walls and rude wooden +gates; sometimes a poor public-house, with probable beer in it; +never any shop, nowhere any patch of swept pavement, or trim +gathering-place for natives of a social gossipy turn: the road lies +sleepy, littery, good only for utilitarian purposes. In the middle +of the Village stands Church and Churchyard, with probably some +gnarled trees around it: Church often larger than you expected; +the Churchyard, always fenced with high stone-and-mortar wall, is +usually the principal military post of the place. Mollwitz, at the +present day, has something of whitewash here and there; one of the +farmer people, or more, wearing a civilized prosperous look. +The belfry offers you a pleasant view: the roofs and steeples of +Brieg, pleasantly visible to eastward; villages dotted about, +Laugwitz, Barzdorf, Hermsdorf, clear to your inquiring: and to +westward, and to southward, tops of Hill-country in the distance. +Westward, twenty miles off, are pleasant Hills; and among them, if +you look well, shadowy Town-spires, which you are assured are +Strehlen, a place also of interest in Friedrich's History.--Your +belfry itself, in Mollwitz, is old, but not unsound; and the big +iron clock grunts heavily at your ear, or perhaps bursts out in a +too deafening manner, while you study the topographies. +Pampitz, too, seems prosperous, in its littery way; the Church is +bigger and newer,"--owing to an accident we shall hear of soon;-- +"Country all about seems farmed with some industry, but with +shallow ploughing; liable to drought. It is very sandy in quality; +shorn of umbrage; painfully naked to an English eye." That is the +big champaign, coated with two feet of snow, where a great Action +is now to go forward. + +Neipperg, all this while, is much at his ease on this white +resting-day, He is just sitting down to dinner at the Dorfschulze’s +(Village Provost, or miniature Mayor of Mollwitz), a composed man; +when--rockets or projectiles, and successive anxious sputterings +from the steeple-tops of Brieg, are hastily reported: what can it +mean? Means little perhaps;--Neipperg sends out a Hussar party to +ascertain, and composedly sets himself to dine. In a little while +his Hussar party will come galloping back, faster than it went; +faster and fewer;--and there will be news for Neipperg during +dinner! Better here looking out, though it was a rest-day?-- + +The truth is, the Prussian advance goes on with punctilious +exactitude, by no means rapidly. Colonel Count van Rothenburg,-- +the same whom we lately heard of in Paris as a miracle of gambling, +--he now here, in a new capacity, is warily leading the Vanguard of +Dragoons; warily, with the Four Columns well to rear of him: +the Austrian Hussar party came upon Rothenburg, not two miles from +Mollwitz; and suddenly drew bridle. Them Rothenburg tumbles to the +right-about, and chases;--finds, on advancing, the Austrian Army +totally unaware. It is thought, had Rothenburg dashed forward, and +sent word to the rearward to dash forward at their swiftest, the +Austrian Army might have been cut in pieces here, and never have +got together to try battle at all. But Rothenburg had no orders; +nay, had orders Not to get into fighting;--nor had Friedrich +himself, in this his first Battle, learned that feline or leonine +promptitude of spring which he subsequently manifested. Far from +it! Indeed this punctilious deliberation, and slow exactitude as on +the review-ground, is wonderful and noteworthy at the first start +of Friedrich;--the faithful apprentice-hand still rigorous to the +rules of the old shop. Ten years hence, twenty years hence, had +Friedrich found Neipperg in this condition, Neipperg's account had +been soon settled!-- Rothenburg drove back the Hussars, all manner +of successive Hussar parties, and kept steadily ahead of the main +battle, as he had been bidden. + +Pampitz Village being now passed, and in rear of them to left, the +Prussian Columns halt for some instants; burst into field-music; +take to deploying themselves into line. There is solemn wheeling, +shooting out to right and left, done with spotless precision: +once in line,--in two lines, "each three men deep," lines many +yards apart,--they will advance on Mollwitz; still solemnly, field- +music guiding, and banners spread. Which will be a work of time. +That the King's frugal field-dinner was shot away, from its camp- +table near Pampitz (as Fuchs has heard), is evidently mythical; +and even impossible, the Austrians having yet no cannon within +miles of him; and being intent on dining comfortably themselves, +not on firing at other people's dinners. + +Fancy Neipperg's state of mind, busy beginning dinner in the little +Schulze's, or Town-Provost's house, when the Hussars dashed in at +full gallop, shouting "DER FEIND, The Enemy! All in march there; +vanguard this side of Pampitz; killed forty of us!"--Quick, your +Plan of Battle, then? Whitherward; How; What? answer or perish! +Neipperg was infinitely struck; dropt knife and fork: "Send for +Romer, General of the Horse!" Romer did the indispensable: a swift +man, not apt to lose head. Romer's battle-plan, I should hope, is +already made; or it will fare ill with Neipperg and him. But beat, +ye drummers; gallop, ye aides-de-camp as for life! The first thing +is to get our Force together; and it lies scattered about in three +other Villages besides Mollwitz, miles apart. Neipperg's trumpets +clangor, his aides-de-camp gallop: he has his left wing formed, and +the other parts in a state of rapid genesis, Horse and Foot pouring +in from Laugwitz, Barzdorf, Gruningen, before the Prussians have +quite done deploying themselves, and got well within shot of him. +Romer, by birth a Saxon gentleman, by all accounts a superior +soldier and excellent General of Horse, commands this Austrian left +wing, General Goldlein, [(Anonymous) MARIA THERESA (already cited), +p. 8 n.] a Swiss veteran of good parts, presiding over the Infantry +in that quarter. Neipperg himself, were he once complete, will +command the right wing. + +Neipperg is to be in two lines, as the Prussians are, with horse on +each wing, which is orthodox military order. His length of front, +I should guess, must have been something better than two English +miles: a sluggish Brook, called of Laugwitz, from the Village of +that name which lies some way across, is on his right hand; +sluggish, boggy; stagnating towards the Oder in those parts:-- +improved farming has, in our time, mostly dried the strip of bog, +and made it into coarse meadow, which is rather a relief amid the +dry sandy element. Neipperg's right is covered by that. His left +rests on the Hamlet of Gruningen, a mile-and-half northeast of +Mollwitz;--meant to have rested on Hermsdorf nearly east, but the +Prussians have already taken that up. The sun coming more and more +round to west of south (for it is now past noon) shines right in +Neipperg's face, and is against him: how the wind is, nobody +mentions,--probably there was no wind. His regular Cavalry, 8,600, +outnumbers twice or more that of the Prussians, not to mention +their quality; and he has fewer Infantry, somewhat in proportion;-- +the entire force on each side is scarcely above 20,000, the +Prussians slightly in majority by count. In field-pieces Neipperg +is greatly outnumbered; the Prussians having about threescore, he +only eighteen. [Kausler, <italic> Atlas der merkwurdigsten +Schlachten, <end italic> p. 232.] And now here ARE the Prussians, +close upon our left wing, not yet in contact with the right,--which +in fact is not yet got into existence;--thank Heaven they have not +come before our left got into existence, as our right (if you knew +it) has not yet quite finished doing!-- + +The Prussians, though so ready for deploying, have had their own +difficulties and delays. Between the boggy Brook of Laugwitz on +their left, and the Village of Hermsdorf, two miles distant, on +which their right wing is to lean, there proves not to be room +enough; [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> ii. 73.] and +then, owing to mistake of Schulenburg (our old pipe-clay friend, +who commands the right wing of Horse here, and is not up in time), +there is too much room. Not room enough, for all the Infantry, we +say: the last three Battalions of the front line therefore, the +three on the utmost right, wheel round, and stand athwart; +EN POTENCE (as soldiers say), or at right angles to the first line; +hanging to it like a kind of lid in that part,--between Schulenburg +and them,--had Schulenburg come up. Thus are the three battalions +got rid of at least; "they cap the First Prussian line +rectangularly, like a lid," says my authority,--lid which does not +reach to the Second Line by a good way. This accidental arrangement +had material effects on the right wing. Unfortunate Schulenburg did +at last come up:--had he miscalculated the distances, then? Once on +the ground, he will find he does not reach to Hermsdorf after all, +and that there is now too much room! What his degree of fault was I +know not; Friedrich has long been dissatisfied with these Dragoons +of Schulenburg; "good for nothing, I always told you" (at that +Skirmish of Baumgarten): and now here is the General himself fallen +blundering!--In respect of Horse, the Austrians are more than two +to one; to make out our deficiency, the King, imitating something +he had read about Gustavus Adolphus, intercalates the Horse- +Squadrons, on each wing, with two Battalions of Grenadiers, and SO +lengthens them;--"a manoeuvre not likely to be again imitated," +he admits. + +All these movements and arrangements are effected above a mile from +Mollwitz, no enemy yet visible. Once effected, we advance again +with music sounding, sixty pieces of artillery well in front,-- +steady, steady!--across the floor of snow which is soon beaten +smooth enough, the stage, this day, of a great adventure. And now +there is the Enemy's left wing, Romer and his Horse; their right +wing wider away, and not yet, by a good space, within cannon-range +of us. It is towards Two of the afternoon; Schulenburg now on his +ground, laments that he will not reach to Hermsdorf;--but it may be +dangerous now to attempt repairing that error? At Two of the clock, +being now fairly within distance, we salute Romer and the Austrian +left, with all our sixty cannon; and the sound of drums and +clarinets is drowned in universal artillery thunder. Incessant, for +they take (by order) to "swift-shooting," which is almost of the +swiftness of musketry in our Prussian practice; and from sixty +cannon, going at that rate, we may fancy some effect. The Austrian +Horse of the left wing do not like it; all the less as the +Austrians, rather short of artillery, have nothing yet to +reply with. + +No Cavalry can stand long there, getting shivered in that way; +in such a noise, were there nothing more. "Are we to stand here +like milestones, then, and be all shot without a stroke struck?" +"Steady!" answers Romer. But nothing can keep them steady: "To be +shot like dogs (WIE HUNDE)! For God's sake (URN GOTTES WILLEN), +lead us forward, then, to have a stroke at them!"--in tones ever +more plangent, plaintively indignant; growing ungovernable. +And Romer can get no orders; Neipperg is on the extreme right, many +things still to settle there; and here is the cannon-thunder going, +and soon their very musketry will open. And--and there is +Schulenburg, for one thing, stretching himself out eastwards +(rightwards) to get hold of Hermsdorf; thinking this an opportunity +for the manoeuvre. "Forward!" cries Romer; and his thirty +Squadrons, like bottled whirlwind now at last let loose, dash upon +Schulenburg's poor ten (five of them of Schulenburg's own +regiment,--who are turned sideways too, trotting towards Hermsdorf, +at the wrong moment,--and dash them into wild ruin. That must have +been a charge! That was the beginning of hours of chaos, seemingly +irretrievable, in that Prussian right wing. + +For the Prussian Horse fly wildly; and it is in vain to rally. +The King is among them; has come in hot haste, conjuring and +commanding: poor Schulenburg addresses his own regiment, "Oh, +shame, shame! shall it be told, then?" rallies his own regiment, +and some others; charges fiercely in with them again; gets a sabre- +slash across the face,--does not mind the sabre-slash, small +bandaging will do;--gets a bullet through the head (or through the +heart, it is not said which); [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end +italic> i. 899.] and falls down dead; his regiment going to the +winds again, and HIS care of it and of other things concluding in +this honorable manner. Nothing can rally that right wing; or the +more you rally, the worse it fares: they are clearly no match for +Romer, these Prussian Horse. They fly along the front of their own +First Line of Infantry, they fly between the two Lines; Romer +chasing,--till the fire of the Infantry (intolerable to our +enemies, and hitting some even of our fugitive friends) repels him. +For the notable point in all this was the conduct of the Infantry; +and how it stood in these wild vortexes of ruin; impregnable, +immovable, as if every man of it were stone; and steadily poured +out deluges of fire,--"five Prussian shots for two Austrian:"--such +is perfect discipline against imperfect; and the iron ramrod +against the wooden. + +The intolerable fire repels Romer, when he trenches on the +Infantry: however, he captures nine of the Prussian sixty guns; +has scattered their Horse to the winds; and charges again and +again, hoping to break the Infantry too,--till a bullet kills him, +the gallant Romer; and some other has to charge and try. It was +thought, had Goldlein with his Austrian Infantry advanced to +support Romer at this juncture, the Battle had been gained. +Five times, before Romer fell and after, the Austrians charged +here; tried the Second Line too; tried once to take Prince Leopold +in rear there. But Prince Leopold faced round, gave intolerable +fire; on one face as on the other, he, or the Prussian Infantry +anywhere, is not to be broken. "Prince Friedrich", one of the +Margraves of Schwedt, King's Cousin, whom we did not know before, +fell in these wild rallyings and wrestlings; "by a cannon-ball, at +the King's hand," not said otherwise where. He had come as +Volunteer, few weeks ago, out of Holland, where he was a rising +General: he has met his fate here,--and Margraf Karl, his Brother, +who also gets wounded, will be a mournful man to-night. + +The Prussian Horse, this right wing of it, is a ruined body; +boiling in wild disorder, flooding rapidly away to rearward,-- +which is the safest direction to retreat upon. They "sweep away the +King's person with them," say some cautious people; others say, +what is the fact, that Schwerin entreated, and as it were +commanded, the King to go; the Battle being, to all appearance, +irretrievable. Go he did, with small escort, and on a long ride,-- +to Oppeln, a Prussian post, thirty-five miles rearward, where there +is a Bridge over the Oder and a safe country beyond. So much is +indubitable; and that he despatched an Aide-de-camp to gallop into +Brandenburg, and tell the Old Dessauer, "Bestir yourself! Here all +seems lost!"-- and vanished from the Field, doubtless in very +desperate humor. Upon which the extraneous world has babbled a good +deal, "Cowardice! Wanted courage: Haha!" in its usual foolish way; +not worth answer from him or from us. Friedrich's demeanor, in that +disaster of his right wing, was furious despair rather; and neither +Schulenburg nor Margraf Friedrich, nor any of the captains, killed +or left living, was supposed to have sinned by "cowardice" in a +visible degree!-- + +Indisputable it is, though there is deep mystery upon it, the King +vanishes from Mollwitz Field at this point for sixteen hours, into +the regions of Myth, "into Fairyland," as would once have been +said; but reappears unharmed in to-morrow's daylight: at which +time, not sooner, readers shall hear what little is to be said of +this obscure and much-disfigured small affair. For the present we +hasten back to Mollwitz,--where the murderous thunder rages +unabated all this while; the very noise of it alarming mankind for +thirty miles round. At Breslau, which is thirty good miles off, +horrible dull grumble was heard from the southern quarter ("still +better, if you put a staff in the ground, and set your ear to it"); +and from the steeple-tops, there was dim cloudland of powder-smoke +discernible in the horizon there. "At Liegnitz," which is twice the +distance, "the earth sensibly shook," [<italic> Helden-Geschichte; +<end italic> and Jordan's Letter, infra.]--at least the air did, +and the nerves of men. + +"Had Goldlein but advanced with his Foot, in support of gallant +Romer!" say the Austrian Books. But Goldlein did not advance; +nor is it certain he would have found advantage in so doing: +Goldlein, where he stands, has difficulty enough to hold his own. +For the notable circumstance, miraculous to military men, still is, +How the Prussian Foot (men who had never been in fire, but whom +Friedrich Wilhelm had drilled for twenty years) stand their ground, +in this distraction of the Horse. Not even the two outlying +Grenadier Battalions will give way: those poor intercalated +Grenadiers, when their Horse fled on the right and on the left, +they stand there, like a fixed stone-dam in that wild whirlpool of +ruin. They fix bayonets, "bring their two field-pieces to flank" +(Winterfeld was Captain there), and, from small arms and big, +deliver such a fire as was very unexpected. Nothing to be made of +Winterfeld and them. They invincibly hurl back charge after charge; +and, with dogged steadiness, manoeuvre themselves into the general +Line again; or into contact with the three superfluous Battalions, +arranged EN POTENCE, whom we heard of. Those three, ranked athwart +in this right wing ("like a lid," between First Line and second), +maintained themselves in like impregnable fashion,--Winterfeld +commanding;--and proved unexpectedly, thinks Friedrich, the saving +of the whole. For they also stood their ground immovable, like +rocks; steadily spouting fire-torrents. Five successive charges +storm upon them, fruitless: "Steady, MEINE KINDER; fix bayonets, +handle ramrods! There is the Horse-deluge thundering in upon you; +reserve your fire, till you see the whites of their eyes, and get +the word; then give it them, and again give it them: see whether +any man or any horse can stand it!" + +Neipperg, soon after Romer fell, had ordered Goldlein forward: +Goldlein with his Infantry did advance, gallantly enough; but to no +purpose. Goldlein was soon shot dead; and his Infantry had to fall +back again, ineffectual or worse. Iron ramrods against wooden; +five shots to two: what is there but falling back? Neipperg sent +fresh Horse from his right wing, with Berlichingen, a new famed +General of Horse; Neipperg is furiously bent to improve his +advantage, to break those Prussians, who are mere musketeers left +bare, and thinks that will settle the account: but it could in no +wise be done. The Austrian Horse, after their fifth trial, renounce +charging; fairly refuse to charge any more; and withdraw dispirited +out of ball-range, or in search of things not impracticable. +The Hussar part of them did something of plunder to rearward;--and, +besides poor Maupertuis's adventure (of which by and by), and an +attempt on the Prussian baggage and knapsacks, which proved to be +"too well guarded,"--"burnt the Church of Pampitz," as some small +consolation. The Prussians had stript their knapsacks, and left +them in Pampitz: the Austrians, it was noticed, stript theirs in +the Field; built walls of them, and fired behind,the same, in a +kneeling, more or less protected posture,--which did not avail +them much. + +In fact, the Austrian Infantry too, all Austrians, hour after hour, +are getting wearier of it: neither Infantry nor Cavalry can stand +being riddled by swift shot in that manner. In spite of their +knapsack walls, various regiments have shrunk out of ball-range; +and several cannot, by any persuasion, be got to come into it +again. Others, who do reluctantly advance,--see what a figure they +make; man after man edging away as he can, so that the regiment +"stands forty to eighty men deep, with lanes through it every two +or three yards;" permeable everywhere to Cavalry, if we had them; +and turning nothing to the Enemy but color-sergeants and bare poles +of a regiment! And Romer is dead, and Goldlein of the Infantry is +dead. And on their right wing, skirted by that marshy Brook of +Laugwitz,--Austrian right wing had been weakened by detachments, +when Berlichingen rode off to succeed Romer,--the Austrians are +suffering: Posadowsky's Horse (among whom is Rothenburg, once +vanguard), strengthened by remnants who have rallied here, are at +last prospering, after reverses. And the Prussian fire of small +arms, at such rate, has lasted now for five hours. The Austrian +Army, becoming instead of a web a mere series of flying tatters, +forming into stripes or lanes in the way we see, appears to have +had about enough. + +These symptoms are not hidden from Schwerin. His own ammunition, +too, he knows is running scarce, and fighters here and there are +searching the slain for cartridges:--Schwerin closes his ranks, +trims and tightens himself a little; breaks forth into universal +field-music, and with banners spread, starts in mass wholly, +"Forwards!" Forwards towards these Austrians and the setting sun. + +An intelligent Austrian Officer, writing next week from Neisse, +[<italic> Feldzuge der Preussen <end italic> (above cited), +i. 38.]' confesses he never saw anything more beautiful. "I can +well say, I never in my life saw anything more beautiful. +They marched with the greatest steadiness, arrow-straight, and +their front like a line (SCHNURGLEICH), as if they had been upon +parade. The glitter of their clear arms shone strangely in the +setting sun, and the fire from them went on no otherwise than a +continued peal of thunder." Grand picture indeed; but not to be +enjoyed as a Work of Art, for it is coming upon us! "The spirits of +our Army sank altogether", continues he; "the Foot plainly giving +way, Horse refusing to come forward, all things wavering towards +dissolution:"--so that Neipperg, to avoid worse, gives the word to +go;--and they roll off at double-quick time, through Mollwitz, over +Laugwitz Bridge and Brook, towards Grotkau by what routes they can. +The sun is just sunk; a quarter to eight, says the intelligent +Austrian Officer,--while the Austrian Army, much to its amazement, +tumbles forth in this bad fashion. + +They had lost nine of their own cannon, and all of those Prussian +nine which they once had, except one: eight cannon MINUS, in all. +Prisoners of them were few, and none of much mark: two Field- +marshals, Romer and Goldlein, lie among the dead; four more of that +rank are wounded. Four standards too are gone; certain kettle-drums +and the like trophies, not in great number. Lieutenant-General +Browne was of these retreating Austrians; a little fact worth +noting: of his actions this day, or of his thoughts (which latter +surely must have been considerable), no hint anywhere. +The Austrians were not much chased; though they might have been,-- +fresh Cavalry (two Ohlau regiments, drawn hither by the sound +[Interesting correct account of their movements and adventures this +day and some previous days, in Nicolai, <italic> Anekdoten, <end +italic> ii. 142-148.]) having hung about to rear of them, for some +time past; unable to get into the Fight, or to do any good till +now. Schwerin, they say, though he had two wounds, was for pursuing +vigorously: but Leopold of Anhalt over-persuaded him; urged the +darkness, the uncertainty. Berlichingen, with their own Horse, +still partly covered their rear; and the Prussians, Ohlauers +included, were but weak in that branch of the service. +Pursuit lasted little more than two miles, and was never hot. +The loss of men, on both sides, was not far from equal, and rather +in favor of the Austrian side:--Austrians counted in killed, +wounded and missing, 4,410 men; Prussians 4,613; [Orlich, i. 108; +Kansler, p. 235, correct; <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +i. 895, incorrect.]--but the Prussians bivouacked on the ground, or +quartered in these Villages, with victory to crown them, and the +thought that their hard day's work had been well done. Besides +Margraf Friedrich, Volunteer from Holland, there lay among the +slain Colonel Count von Finkenstein (Old Tutor's Son), King's +friend from boyhood, and much loved. He was of the six whom we saw +consulting at the door at Reinsberg, during a certain ague-fit; +and he now rests silent here, while the matter has only come +thus far. + +Such was Mollwitz, the first Battle for Silesia; which had to cost +many Battles first and last. Silesia will be gained, we can expect, +by fighting of this kind in an honest cause. But here is something +already gained, which is considerable, and about which there is no +doubt. A new Military Power, it would appear, has come upon the +scene; the Gazetteer-and-Diplomatic world will have to make itself +familiar with a name not much heard of hitherto among the Nations. +"A Nation which can fight," think the Gazetteers; "fight almost as +the very Swedes did; and is led on by its King too,--who may prove, +in his way, a very Charles XII., or small Macedonia's Madman, for +aught one knows?" In which latter branch of their prognostic the +Gazetteers were much out.-- + +The Fame of this Battle, which is now so sunk out of memory, was +great in Europe; and struck, like a huge war-gong, with long +resonance, through the general ear. M. de Voltaire had run across +to Lille in those Spring days: there is a good Troop of Players in +Lille; a Niece, Madame Denis, wife of some Military Commissariat +Denis, important in those parts, can lodge the divine Emilie and +me;--and one could at last see MAHOMET, after five years of +struggling, get upon the boards, if not yet in Paris by a great +way, yet in Lille, which is something. MAHOMET is getting upon the +boards on those terms; and has proceeded, not amiss, through an Act +or two, when a Note from the King of Prussia was handed to +Voltaire, announcing the victory of Mollwitz. Which delightful Note +Voltaire stopt the performance till he read to the Audience: +"Bravissimo!" answered the Audience. "You will see," said M. de +Voltaire to the friends about him, "this Piece at Mollwitz will +make mine succeed:" which proved to be the fact. [Voltaire, +<italic> OEuvres (Vie Privee), <end italic> ii. 74.] For the French +are Anti-Austrian; and smell great things in the wind. "That man is +mad, your Most Christian Majesty?" "Not quite; or at any rate not +mad only!" think Louis and his Belleisles now. + +Dimly poring in those old Books, and squeezing one's way into +face-to-face view of the extinct Time, we begin to notice what a +clangorous rumor was in Mollwitz to the then generation of +mankind;--betokening many things; universal European War, as the +first thing. Which duly came to pass; as did, at a slower rate, the +ulterior thing, not yet so apparent, that indeed a new hour had +struck on the Time Horologe, that a New Epoch had risen. Yes, my +friends. New Charles XII. or not, here truly has a new Man and King +come upon the scene: capable perhaps of doing something? +Slumberous Europe, rotting amid its blind pedantries, its lazy +hypocrisies, conscious and unconscious: this man is capable of +shaking it a little out of its stupid refuges of lies, and +ignominious wrappages and bed-clothes, which will be its grave- +clothes otherwise; and of intimating to it, afar off, that there is +still a Veracity in Things, and a Mendacity in Sham-Things, and +that the difference of the two is infinitely more considerable than +was supposed. + +This Mollwitz is a most deliberate, regulated, ponderously +impressive (GRAVITATISCH) Feat of Arms, as the reader sees; done +all by Regulation methods, with orthodox exactitude; in a slow, +weighty, almost pedantic, but highly irrefragable manner. It is the +triumph of Prussian Discipline; of military orthodoxy well put in +practice: the honest outcome of good natural stuff in those +Brandenburgers, and of the supreme virtues of Drill. Neipperg and +his Austrians had much despised Prussian soldiering: "Keep our soup +hot," cried they, on running out this day to rank themselves; "hot +a little, till we drive these fellows to the Devil!" That was their +opinion, about noon this day: but that is an opinion they have +renounced for all remaining days and years.--It is a Victory due +properly to Friedrich Wilhelm and the Old Dessauer, who are far +away from it. Friedrich Wilhelm, though dead, fights here, and the +others only do his bidding on this occasion. His Son, as yet, adds +nothing of his own; though he will ever henceforth begin largely +adding,--right careful withal to lose nothing, for the Friedrich +Wilhelm contribution is invaluable, and the basis of everything;-- +but it is curious to see in what contrast this first Battle of +Friedrich's is with his latter and last ones. + +Considering the Battle of Mollwitz, and then, in contrast, the +intricate Pragmatic Sanction, and what their consequences were and +their antecedents, it is curious once more! This, then, is what the +Pragmatic Sanction has come to? Twenty years of world-wide +diplomacy, cunningly devised spider-threads overnetting all the +world, have issued here. Your Congresses of Cambray, of Soissons, +your Grumkow-Seckendorf Machiavelisms, all these might as well have +lain in their bed. Real Pragmatic Sanction would have been, A well- +trained Army and your Treasury full. Your Treasury is empty +(nothing in it but those foolish 200,000 English guineas, and the +passionate cry for more): and your Army is not trained as this +Prussian one; cannot keep its ground against this one. Of all those +long-headed Potentates, simple Friedrich Wilhelm, son of Nature, +who had the honesty to do what Nature taught him, has come out, +gainer. You all laughed at him as a fool: do you begin to see now +who was wise, who fool? He has an Army that "advances on you with +glittering musketry, steady as on the parade-ground, and pours out +fire like one continuous thunder-peal;" so that, strange as it +seems, you find there will actually be nothing for you but--taking +to your heels, shall we say?--rolling off with despatch, as second- +best! These things are of singular omen. Here stands one that will +avenge Friedrich Wilhelm,--if Friedrich Wilhelm were not already +sufficiently avenged by the mere verdict of facts, which is +palpably coming out, as Time peels the wiggeries away from them +more and more. Mollwitz and such places are full of veracity; +and no head is so thick as to resist conviction in that kind. + + +OF FRIEDRICH'S DISAPPEARANCE INTO FAIRYLAND, IN THE INTERIM; +AND OF MAUPERTUIS'S SIMILAR ADVENTURE. + +Of the King's Flight, or sudden disappearance into Fairyland, +during this first Battle, the King himself, who alone could have +told us fully, maintained always rigorous silence, and nowhere +drops the least hint. So that the small fact has come down to us +involved in a great bulk of fabulous cobwebs, mostly of an ill- +natured character, set agoing by Voltaire, Valori and others {which +fabulous process, in the good-natured form, still continues +itself); and, except for Nicolai's good industry (in his ANEKDOTEN- +Book), we should have difficulty even in guessing, not to say +understanding, as is now partly possible. The few real particulars +--and those do verify themselves, and hang perfectly together, when +the big globe of fable is burnt off from them--are to the +following effect. + +"Battle lost," said Schwerin: "but what is the loss of a Battle to +that of your Majesty's own Person? For Heaven's sake, go; get +across the Oder; be you safe, till this decide itself!" That was +reasonable counsel. If defeated, Schwerin can hope to retreat upon +Ohlau, upon Breslau, and save the Magazines. This side the Oder, +all will be movements, a whirlpool of Hussars; but beyond the Oder, +all is quiet, open. To Ohlau, to Glogau, nay home to Brandenburg +and the Old Dessauer with his Camp at Gottin, the road is free, by +the other side of the Oder.--Schwerin and Prince Leopold urging +him, the King did ride away; at what hour, with what suite, or with +what adventures (not mostly fabulous) is not known:--but it was +towards Lowen, fifteen miles off (where he crossed Neisse River, +the other day); and thence towards Oppeln, on the Oder, eighteen +miles farther; and the pace was swift. Leopold, on reflection, +ordered off a Squadron of Gens-d'Armes to overtake his Majesty, at +Lowen or sooner; which they never did. Passing Pampitz, the King +threw Fredersdorf a word, who was among the baggage there: +"To Oppeln; bring the Purse, the Privy Writings!" Which +Fredersdorf, and the Clerks (and another Herr, who became Nicolai's +Father-in-law in after years) did; and joined the King at Lowen; +but I hope stopped there. + +The King's suite was small, names not given; but by the time he got +to Lowen, being joined by cavalry fugitives and the like, it had +got to be seventy persons: too many for the King. He selected what +was his of them; ordered the gates to be shut behind him on all +others, and again rode away. The Leopold Squadron of Gens-d'Armes +did not arrive till after his departure; and having here lost trace +of him, called halt, and billeted for the night. The King speeds +silently to Oppeln on his excellent bay horse, the worse-mounted +gradually giving in. At Oppeln is a Bridge over the Oder, a free +Country beyond: Regiment La Motte lay, and as the King thinks, +still lies in Oppeln;--but in that he is mistaken. Regiment La +Motte is with the baggage at Pampitz, all this day; and a wandering +Hussar Party, some sixty Austrians, have taken possession of +Oppeln. The King, and the few who had not yet broken down, arrive +at the Gate of Oppeln, late, under cloud of night: "Who goes?" +cried the sentry from within. "Prussians! A Prussian Courier!" +answer they;--and are fired upon through the gratings; +and immediately draw back, and vanish unhurt into Night again. +"Had those Hussars only let him in!" said Austria afterwards: but +they had not such luck. It was at this point, according to Valori, +that the King burst forth into audible ejaculations of a lamentable +nature. There is no getting over, then, even to Brandenburg, and in +an insolvent condition. Not open insolvency and bankrupt disgrace; +no, ruin, and an Austrian jail, is the one outlook. "O MON DIEU, +O God, it is too much (C'EN EST TROP)!" with other the like +snatches of lamentation; [Valori, i. 104.] which are not +inconceivable in a young man, sleepless for the third night, in +these circumstances; but which Valori knows nothing of, except by +malicious rumor from the valet class,--who have misinformed Valori +about several other points. + +The King riding diligently, with or without ejaculations, back +towards Lowen, comes at an early hour to the Mill of Hilbersdorf, +within a mile-and-half of that place. He alights at the Mill; +sends one of his attendants, almost the only one now left, to +inquire what is in Lowen. The answer, we know, is: "A squadron of +Gens-d'Armes there; furthermore, a Prussian Adjutant come to say, +Victory at Mollwitz!" Upon which the King mounts again;--issues +into daylight, and concludes these mythical adventures. That "in +Lowen, in the shop at the corner of the Market-place, Widow +Panzern, subsequently Wife Something-else, made his Majesty a cup +of coffee, and served a roast fowl along with it," cannot but be +welcome news, if true; and that his Majesty got to Mollwitz again +before dark that same "day," [Fuchs, p. 11.] is liable to +no controversy. + +In this way was Friedrich snatched by Morgante into Fairyland, +carried by Diana to the top of Pindus (or even by Proserpine to +Tartarus, through a bad sixteen hours), till the Battle whirlwind +subsided. Friendly imaginative spirits would, in the antique time, +have so construed it: but these moderns were malicious-valetish, +not friendly; and wrapped the matter in mere stupid worlds of +cobweb, which require burning. Friedrich himself was stone-silent +on this matter, all his life after; but is understood never quite +to have pardoned Schwerin for the ill-luck of giving him such +advice. [Nicolai, ii. 180-195 (the one true account); Laveaux, +i. 194; Valori, i. 104; &c., &c. (the myth in various stages). +Most distractedly mythical of all, with the truth clear before it, +is the latest version, just come out, in <italic> Was sich die +Schlesier vom alten Fritz erzahlen <end italic> (Brieg, 1860), +pp. 113-125.] + +Friedrich's adventure is not the only one of that kind at Mollwitz; +there is another equally indubitable,--which will remain obscure, +half-mythical to the end of the world. The truth is, that Right +Wing of the Prussian Army was fallen chaotic, ruined; and no man, +not even one who had seen it, can give account of what went on +there. The sage Maupertuis, for example, had climbed some tree or +place of impregnability ("tree" Voltaire calls it, though that is +hardly probable), hoping to see the Battle there. And he did see +it, much too clearly at last! In such a tide of charging and +chasing, on that Right Wing and round all the Field in the Prussian +rear; in such wide bickering and boiling of Horse-currents,--which +fling out, round all the Prussian rear quarters, such a spray of +Austrian Hussars for one element,--Maupertuis, I have no doubt, +wishes much he were at home, doing his sines and tangents. An +Austrian Hussar-party gets sight of him, on his tree or other +standpoint (Voltaire says elsewhere he was mounted on an ass, the +malicious spirit!)--too certain, the Austrian Hussars got sight of +him: his purse, gold watch, all he has of movable is given frankly; +all will not do. There are frills about the man, fine laces, cloth; +a goodish yellow wig on him, for one thing:--their Slavonic +dialect, too fatally intelligible by the pantomime accompanying it, +forces sage Maupertuis from his tree or standpoint; the big red +face flurried into scarlet, I can fancy; or scarlet and ashy-white +mixed; and--Let us draw a veil over it! He is next seen shirtless, +the once very haughty, blustery, and now much-humiliated man; +still conscious of supreme acumen, insight and pure science; and, +though an Austrian prisoner and a monster of rags, struggling to +believe that he is a genius and the Trismegistus of mankind. What a +pickle! The sage Maupertuis, as was natural, keeps passionately +asking, of gods and men, for an Officer with some tincture of +philosophy, or even who could speak French. Such Officer is at last +found; humanely advances him money, a shirt and suit of clothes; +but can in nowise dispense with his going to Vienna as prisoner. +Thither he went accordingly; still in a mythical condition. Of +Voltaire's laughing, there is no end; and he changes the myth from +time to time, on new rumors coming; and there is no truth to be had +from him. [Voltaire, <italic> OEuvres (Vie Prive), <end italic> ii. +33-34; and see his LETTERS for some were after the event.] + +This much is certain: at Vienna, Maupertuis, prisoner on parole, +glided about for some time in deep eclipse, till the Newspapers +began babbling of him. He confessed then that he was Maupertuis, +Flattener of the Earth; but for the rest, "told rather a blind +story about himself," says Robinson; spoke as if he had been of the +King's suite, "riding with the King," when that Hussar accident +befell;--rather a blind story, true story being too sad. The Vienna +Sovereignties, in the turn things had taken, were extremely kind; +Grand-Duke Franz handsomely pulled out his own watch, hearing what +road the Maupertuis one had gone; dismissed the Maupertuis, with +that and other gifts, home:--to Brittany (not to Prussia), till +times calmed for engrafting the Sciences. [<italic> Helden- +Geschichte, <end italic> i. 902; Robinson's Despatch (Vienna, +22d April, 1741, n.s.); Voltaire, ubi supra.] + +On Wednesday, Friedrich writes this Note to his Sister; the first +utterance we have from him since those wild roamings about Oppeln +and Hilbersdorf Mill:-- + +KING TO WILHELMINA (at Baireuth; two days after Mollwitz). + +"OHLAU, 12th April, 1741. + +"MY DEAREST SISTER,--I have the satisfaction to inform you that we +have yesterday [day before yesterday; but some of us have only had +one sleep!] totally beaten the Austrians. They have lost more than +5,000 men, killed, wounded and prisoners. We have lost Prince +Friedrich, Brother of Margraf Karl; General Schulenburg, +Wartensleben of the Carabineers, and many other Officers. +Our troops did miracles; and the result shows as much. It was one +of the rudest Battles fought within memory of man. + +"I am sure you will take part in this happiness; and that you will +not doubt of the tenderness with which I am, my dearest Sister,-- +Yours wholly, FEDERIC." +[<italic> OEuvres, <end italic> xxvii. i. 101.] + +And on the same day there comes, from Breslau, Jordan's Answer to +the late anxious little Note from Pogarell; anxieties now gone, and +smoky misery changed into splendor of flame: + +JORDAN TO THE KING (finds him at Ohlau). + +"BRESLAU, 11th April, 1741. +"SIRE,--Yesterday I was in terrible alarms. The sound of the cannon +heard, the smoke of powder visible from the steeple-tops here; +all led us to suspect that there was a Battle going on. +Glorious confirmation of it this morning! Nothing but rejoicing +among all the Protestant inhabitants; who had begun to be in +apprehension, from the rumors which the other party took pleasure +in spreading. Persons who were in the Battle cannot enough +celebrate the coolness and bravery of your Majesty. For myself, I +am at the overflowing point. I have run about all day, announcing +this glorious news to the Berliners who are here. In my life I have +never felt a more perfect satisfaction. + +"M. de Camas is here, very ill for the last two days; attack of +fever--the Doctor hopes to bring him through,"--which proved beyond +the Doctor: the good Camas died here three days hence (age sixty- +three); an excellent German-Frenchman, of much sense, dignity and +honesty; familiar to Friedrich from infancy onwards, and no doubt +regretted by him as deserved. The Widow Camas, a fine old Lady, +German by birth, will again come in view. Jordan continues:-- + +"One finds, at the corner of every street, an orator of the Plebs +celebrating the warlike feats of your Majesty's troops. I have +often, in my idleness, assisted at these discourses: not artistic +eloquence, it must be owned, but spurting rude from the heart. ..." + +Jordan adds in his next Note: "This morning (14th) I quitted M. de +Camas; who, it is thought, cannot last the day. I have hardly left +him during his illness:" [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> xvii. 99.]--and so let that scene close. + +Neipperg, meanwhile, had fallen back on Neisse; taken up a strong +encampment in that neighborhood; he lies thereabouts all summer; +stretched out, as it were, in a kind of vigilant dog-sleep on the +threshold, keeping watch over Neisse, and tries fighting no more at +this time, or indeed ever after, to speak of. And always, I think, +with disadvantage, when he does try a little. He had been Grand- +Duke Franz's Tutor in War-matters; had got into trouble at Belgrade +once before, and was almost hanged by the Turks. George II. had +occasionally the benefit of him, in coming years. Be not too severe +on the poor man, as the Vienna public was; he had some faculty, +though not enough. "Governor of Luxemburg," before long: there, for +most part, let him peacefully drill, and spend the remainder of his +poor life. Friedrich says, neither Neipperg nor himself, at this +time, knew the least of War; and that it would be hard to settle +which of them made the more blunders in their Silesian tussle. + +Friedrich, in about three weeks hence, was fully ready for opening +trenches upon Brieg; did open trenches, accordingly, by moonlight, +in a grand nocturnal manner (as readers shall see anon); and, by +vigorous cannonading,--Marechal de Belleisle having come, by this +time, to enjoy the fine spectacle,--soon got possession of Brieg, +and held it thenceforth. Neisse now alone remained, with Neipperg +vigilantly stretched upon the threshold of it. But the Marechal de +Belleisle, we say, had come; that was the weighty circumstance. +And before Neisse can be thought of, there is a whole Europe, +bickering aloft into conflict; embattling itself from end to end, +in sequel of Mollwitz Battle; and such a preliminary sea of +negotiating, diplomatic finessing, pulse-feeling, projecting and +palavering, with Friedrich for centre all summer, as--as I wish +readers could imagine without my speaking of it farther! +But they cannot. + +MAP ON PAGE 75 GOES HEREABOUTS-------- + + + +Chapter XI. + +THE BURSTING FORTH OF BEDLAMS: BELLEISLE AND THE +BREAKERS OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION. + +The Battle of Mollwitz went off like a signal-shot among the +Nations; intimating that they were, one and all, to go battling. +Which they did, with a witness; making a terrible thing of it, over +all the world, for above seven years to come. Foolish Nations; +doomed to settle their jarring accounts in that terrible manner! +Nay, the fewest of them had any accounts, except imaginary ones, to +settle there at all; and they went into the adventure GRATIS, +spurred on by spectralities of the sick brain, by phantasms of +hope, phantasms of terror; and had, strictly speaking, no actual +business in it whatever. + +Not that Mollwitz kindled Europe; Europe was already kindled for +some two years past;--especially since the late Kaiser died, and +his Pragmatic Sanction was superadded to the other troubles afoot. +But ever since that Image of JENKINS'S EAR had at last blazed up in +the slow English brain, like a fiery constellation or Sign in the +Heavens, symbolic of such injustices and unendurabilities, and had +lighted the Spanish-English War, Europe was slowly but pretty +surely taking fire. France "could not see Spain humbled," she said: +England (in its own dim feeling, and also in the fact of things) +could not do at all without considerably humbling Spain. France, +endlessly interested in that Spanish-English matter, was already +sending out fleets, firing shots,--almost, or altogether, putting +forth her hand in it. "In which case, will not, must not, Austria +help us?" thought England,--and was asking, daily, at Vienna (with +intense earnestness, but without the least result), through +Excellency Robinson there, when the late Kaiser died. Died, poor +gentleman;--and left his big Austrian Heritages lying, as it were, +in the open market-place; elaborately tied by diplomatic packthread +and Pragmatic Sanction; but not otherwise protected against the +assembled cupidities of mankind! Independently of Mollwitz, or of +Silesia altogether, it was next to impossible that Europe could +long avoid blazing out; especially unless the Spanish-English +quarrel got quenched, of which there was no likelihood. + +But if not as cause, then as signal, or as signal and cause +together (which it properly was), the Battle of Mollwitz gave the +finishing stroke, and set all in motion. This was "the little stone +broken loose from the mountain;" this, rather than the late +Kaiser's Death, which Friedrich defined in that manner. Or at +least, this was the first LEAP it took; hitting other stones big +and little, which again hit others with their leaping and rolling, +--till the whole mountain-side is in motion under law of gravity, +and you behold one wide stone-torrent thundering towards the +valleys; shivering woods, farms, habitations clean away with it: +fatal to any Image of composite Clay and Brass which it may meet! + +There is, accordingly, from this point, a change in Friedrich's +Silesian Adventure; which becomes infinitely more complicated for +him,--and for those that write of him, no less! Friedrich's +business henceforth is not to be done by direct fighting, but +rather by waiting to see how, and on what side, others will fight: +nor can we describe or understand Friedrich's business, except as +in connection with the immense, obsolete, and indeed delirious +Phenomenon called Austrian-Succession War, upon which it is +difficult to say any human word. If History, driven upon Dismal +Swamp with its horrors and perils, can get across unsunk, she will +be lucky! + +For, directly on the back of Mollwitz, there ensued, first, an +explosion of Diplomatic activity such as was never seen before; +Excellencies from the four winds taking wing towards Friedrich; and +talking and insinuating, and fencing and fugling, after their sort, +in that Silesian Camp of his, the centre being there. A universal +rookery of Diplomatists;--whose loud cackle and cawing is now as if +gone mad to us; their work wholly fallen putrescent and avoidable, +dead to all creatures. And secondly, in the train of that, there +ensued a universal European War, the French and the English being +chief parties in it; which abounds in battles and feats of arms, +spirited but delirious, and cannot be got stilled for seven or +eight years to come; and in which Friedrich and his War swim only +as an intermittent Episode henceforth. What to do with such a War; +how extricate the Episode, and leave the War lying? The War was at +first a good deal mad; and is now, to men's imagination, fallen +wholly so; who indeed have managed mostly to forget it; only the +Episode (reduced thereby to an UNintelligible state) retaining +still some claims on them. + +It is singular into what oblivion the huge Phenomenon called +Austrian-Succession War has fallen; which, within a hundred years +ago or little more, filled all mortal hearts! The English were +principals on one side; did themselves fight in it, with their +customary fire, and their customary guidance ("courageous Wooden +Pole with Cocked Hat," as our friend called it); and paid all the +expenses, which were extremely considerable, and are felt in men's +pockets to this day: but the English have more completely forgotten +it than any other People. "Battle of Dettingen, Battle of Fontenay, +--what, in the Devil's name, were we ever doing there?" the +impatient Englishman asks; and can give no answer, except the +general one: "Fit of insanity; DELIRIUM TREMENS, perhaps FURENS;-- +don't think of it!" Of Philippi and Arbela educated Englishmen can +render account; and I am told young gentlemen entering the Army are +pointedly required to say who commanded at Aigos-Potamos and +wrecked the Peloponnesian War: but of Dettingen and Fontenoy, where +is the living Englishman that has the least notion, or seeks for +any? The Austrian-Succession War did veritably rage for eight +years, at a terrific rate, deforming the face of Earth and Heaven; +the English paying the piper always, and founding their National +Debt thereby:--but not even that could prove mnemonic to them; +and they have dropped the Austrian-Succession War, with one accord, +into the general dustbin, and are content it should lie there. +They have not, in their language, the least approach to an +intelligible account of it: How it went on, whitherward, whence; +why it was there at all,--are points dark to the English, and on +which they do not wish to be informed. They have quitted the +matter, as an unintelligible huge English-and-Foreign Delirium +(which in good part it was); Delirium unintelligible to them; +tedious, not to say in parts, as those of the Austrian Subsidies, +hideous and disgusting to them; happily now fallen extinct; and +capable of being skipped, in one's inquiries into the wonders of +this England and this World. Which, in fact, is a practical +conclusion not so unwise as it looks. + +"Wars are not memorable," says Sauerteig, "however big they may +have been, whatever rages and miseries they may have occasioned, or +however many hundreds of thousands they may have been the death +of,--except when they have something of World-History in them +withal. If they are found to have been the travail-throes of great +or considerable changes, which continue permanent in the world, men +of some curiosity cannot but inquire into them, keep memory of +them. But if they were travail-throes that had no birth, who of +mortals would remember them? Unless perhaps the feats of prowess, +virtue, valor and endurance, they might accidentally give rise to, +were very great indeed. Much greater than the most were, which came +out in that Austrian-Succession case! Wars otherwise are mere +futile transitory dust-whirlwinds stilled in blood; extensive fits +of human insanity, such as we know are too apt to break out;--such +as it rather beseems a faithful Son of the House of Adam NOT to +speak about again; as in houses where the grandfather was hanged, +the topic of ropes is fitly avoided. + +"Never again will that War, with its deliriums, mad outlays of +blood, treasure, and of hope and terror, and far-spread human +destruction, rise into visual life in any imagination of living +man. In vain shall Dryasdust strive: things mad, chaotic and +without ascertainable purpose or result, cannot be fixed into human +memories. Fix them there by never so many Documentary Histories, +elaborate long-eared Pedantries, and cunning threads, the poor +human memory has an alchemy against such ill usage;--it forgets +them again; grows to know them as a mere torpor, a stupidity and +horror, and instinctively flies from Dryasdust and them." + +Alive to any considerable degree, in the poor human imagination, +this Editor does not expect or even wish the Austrian-Succession +War to be. Enough for him if it could be understood sufficiently to +render his poor History of Friedrich intelligible. For it enwraps +Friedrich like a world-vortex henceforth; modifies every step of +his existence henceforth; and apart from it, there is no +understanding of his business or him. "So much as sticks to +Friedrich:" that was our original bargain! Assist loyally, +O reader, and we will try to make the indispensable a minimum +for you. + + +WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE AUSTRIAN-SUCCESSION WAR? + +The first point to be noted is, Where did it originate? To which +the answer mainly is, With that lean Gentleman whom we saw with +Papers in the OEil-de-Boeuf on New-year's day last. With +Monseigneur the Marechal de Belleisle principally; with the +ambitious cupidities and baseless vanities of the French Court and +Nation, as represented by Belleisle. George II.'s Spanish War, if +you will examine, had a real necessity in it. Jenkins's Ear was the +ridiculous outside figure this matter had: Jenkins's Ear was one +final item of it; but the poor English People, in their wrath and +bellowings about that small item, were intrinsically meaning: +"Settle the account; let us have that account cleared up and +liquidated; it has lain too long!" And seldom were a People more in +the right, as readers shall yet see. + +The English-Spanish War had a basis to stand on in this Universe. +The like had the Prussian-Austrian one; so all men now admit. +If Friedrich had not business there, what man ever had in an +enterprise he ventured on? Friedrich, after such trial and proof as +has seldom been, got his claims on Schlesien allowed by the +Destinies. His claims on Schlesien;--and on infinitely higher +things; which were found to be his and his Nation's, though he had +not been consciously thinking of them in making that adventure. +For, as my poor Friend insists, there ARE Laws valid in Earth and +in Heaven; and the great soul of the world is just. Friedrich had +business in this War; and Maria Theresa VERSUS Friedrich had +likewise cause to appear in court, and do her utmost pleading +against him. + +But if we ask, What Belleisle or France and Louis XV. had to do +there? the answer is rigorously, Nothing. Their own windy vanities, +ambitions, sanctioned not by fact and the Almighty Powers, but by +phantasm and the babble of Versailles; transcendent self-conceit, +intrinsically insane; pretensions over their fellow-creatures which +were without basis anywhere in Nature, except in the French brain +alone: it was this that brought Belleisle and France into a German +War. And Belleisle and France having gone into an Anti-Pragmatic +War, the unlucky George and his England were dragged into a +Pragmatic one,--quitting their own business, on the Spanish Main, +and hurrying to Germany,--in terror as at Doomsday, and zeal to +save the Keystone of Nature these. That is the notable point in +regard to this War: That France is to be called the author of it, +who, alone of all the parties, had no business there whatever. +And the wages due to France for such a piece of industry,--the +reader will yet see what wages France and the other parties got, at +the tail of the affair. For that too is apparent in our day. + +We have often said, the Spanish-English War was itself likely to +have kindled Europe; and again Friedrich's Silesian War was itself +likely,--France being nearly sure to interfere. But if both these +Wars were necessary ones, and if France interfered in either of +them on the wrong side, the blame will be to France, not to the +necessary Wars. France could, in no way, have interfered in a more +barefacedly unjust and gratuitous manner than she now did; nor, on +any terms, have so palpably made herself the author of the +conflagration of deliriums that ensued for above Seven years +henceforth. Nay for above Twenty years,--the settlement of this +Silesian Pragmatic-Antipragmatic matter (and of Jenkins's Ear, +incidentally, ALONG with this!) not having fairly completed itself +till 1763. + + +HOW BELLEISLE MADE VISIT TO TEUTSCHLAND; AND THERE WAS NO +FIT HENRY THE FOWLER TO WELCOME HIM. + +It is very wrong to keep Enchanted Wiggeries sitting in this world, +as if they were things still alive! By a species of "conservatism," +which gets praised in our Time, but which is only a slothful +cowardice, base indifference to truth, and hatred to trouble in +comparison with lies that sit quiet, men now extensively practise +this method of procedure;--little dreaming how bad and fatal it at +all times is. When the brains are out, things really ought to die; +--no matter what lovely things they were, and still affect to be, +the brains being out, they actually ought in all cases to die, and +with their best speed get buried. Men had noses, at one time; +and smelt the horror of a deceased reality fallen putrid, of a once +dear verity become mendacious, phantasmal; but they have, to an +immense degree, lost that organ since, and are now living +comfortably cheek-by-jowl with lies. Lies of that sad +"conservative" kind,--and indeed of all kinds whatsoever: for that +kind is a general mother; and BREEDS, with a fecundity that is +appalling, did you heed it much!-- + +It was pity that the "Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch by Nation," had +not got itself buried some ages before. Once it had brains and +life, but now they were out. Under the sway of Barbarossa, under +our old anti-chaotic friend Henry the Fowler, how different had it +been! No field for a Belleisle to come and sow tares in; no rotten +thatch for a French Sun-god to go sailing about in the middle of, +and set fire to! Henry, when the Hungarian Pan-Slavonic Savagery +came upon him, had got ready in the interim; and a mangy dog was +the "tribute" he gave them; followed by the due extent of broken +crowns, since they would not be content with that. That was the due +of Belleisle too,--had there been a Henry to meet him with it, on +his crossing the marches, in Trier Country, in Spring, 1741: +"There, you anarchic Upholstery-Belus, fancying yourself God of the +Sun; there is what Teutschland owes you. Go home with that; and +mind your own business, which I am told is plentiful, if you had +eye for it!" + +But the sad truth is, for above Four Centuries now,--and especially +for Three, since little Kaiser Karl IV. "gave away all the moneys +of it," in his pressing occasions, this Holy Romish Reich, Teutsch +by Nation, has been more and ever more becoming an imaginary +quantity; the Kaisership of it not capable of being worn by +anybody, except a Hapsburger who had resources otherwise his own. +The fact is palpable. And Austria, and Anti-Reformation Entity, +"conservative" in that bad sense, of slothfully abhorring trouble +in comparison with lies, had not found the poison more mal-odorous +in this particular than in many others. And had cherished its "Holy +Romish Reich" grown UNholy, phantasmal, like so much else in +Austrian things; and had held firm grip of it, these Three Hundred +years; and found it a furthersome and suitable thing, though +sensible it was more and more becoming an Enchanted Wiggery pure +and simple. Nor have the consequences failed; they never do. +Belleisle, Louis XIV., Henri II., Francois I.: it is long since the +French have known this state of matters; and been in the habit of +breaking in upon it, fomenting internal discontents, getting up +unjust Wars,--with or without advantage to France, but with endless +disadvantage to Germany. Schmalkaldic War; Thirty-Years War; +Louis XIV.'s Wars, which brought Alsace and the other fine +cuttings; late Polish-Election War, and its Lorraine; Austrian- +Succession War: many are the wars kindled on poor Teutschland by +neighbor France; and large is the sum of woes to Europe and to it, +chargeable to that score. Which appears even yet not to be +completed?--Perhaps not, even yet. For it is the penalty of being +loyal to Enchanted Wiggeries; of living cheek-by-jowl with lies of +a peaceable quality, and stuffing your nostrils, and searing your +soul, against the accursed odor they all have!--For I can assure +you the curse of Heaven does dwell in one and all of them; and the +son of Adam cannot too soon get quit of their bad partnership, cost +him what it may. + +Belleisle's Journey as Sun-god began in March,--"end of March, +1741," no date of a day to be had for that memorable thing:--and he +went gyrating about, through the German Courts, for almost a year +afterwards; his course rather erratic, but always in a splendor as +of Belus, with those hundred and thirty French Lords and Valets, +and the glory of Most Christian King irradiating him. Very diligent +for the first six months, till September or October next, which we +may call his SEED-TIME; and by no means resting after nine or +twelve months, while the harrowing and hoeing went on. In January, +1742, he had the great satisfaction to see a Bavarian Kaiser got, +instead of an Austrian; and everywhere the fruit of his diligent +husbandry begin to BEARD fairly above ground, into a crop of facts +(like armed men from dragon's teeth), and "the pleasure of the"-- +WHOM was it the pleasure of?--"prosper in his hands." Belleisle was +a pretty man; but I doubt it was not "the Lord" he was doing the +pleasure of, on this occasion, but a very Different Personage, +disguised to resemble him in poor Belleisle's eyes!-- + +Austria was not dangerous to France in late times, and now least of +all; how far from it,--humbled by the loss of Lorraine; and now as +it were bankrupt, itself in danger from all the world. And France, +so far as express Treaties could bind a Nation, was bound to +maintain Austria in its present possessions. The bitter loss of +Lorraine had been sweetened to the late Kaiser by that solitary +drop of consolation;--as his Failure of a Life had been, poor man: +"Failure the most of me has been; but I have got Pragmatic +Sanction, thanks to Heaven, and even France has signed it!" Loss of +Lorraine, loss of Elsass, loss of the Three Bishoprics; since Karl +V.'s times, not to speak of earlier, there has been mere loss on +loss:--and now is the time to consummate it, think Belleisle and +France, in spite of Treaties. + +Towards humbling or extinguishing Austria, Belleisle has two +preliminary things to do: FIRST, Break the Pragmatic Sanction, and +get everybody to break it; SECOND, Guide the KAISERWAHL (Election +of a Kaiser), so that it issue, not in Grand-Duke Franz, Maria +Theresa's Husband, as all expect it will, but in another party +friendly to France:--say in Karl Albert of Bavaria, whose Family +have long been good clients of ours, dependent on us for a living +in the Political World. Belleisle, there is little doubt, had from +the first cast his eye on this unlucky Karl Albert for Kaiser; +but is uncertain as to carrying him. Belleisle will take another if +he must; Kur-Sachsen, for example;--any other, and all others, only +not the Grand-Duke: that is a point already fixed with Belleisle, +though he keeps it well in the background, and is careful not to +hint it till the time come. + +In regard to Pragmatic Sanction, Belleisle and France found no +difficulty,--or the difficulty only (which we hope must have been +considerable) of eating their own Covenant in behalf of Pragmatic +Sanction; and declaring, which they did without visible blush, That +it was a Covenant including, if not expressly, then tacitly, as all +human covenants do, this clause, "SALVO JURE TERTII (Saving the +rights of Third Parties),"--that is, of Electors of Bavaria, and +others who may object, against it! O soul of honor, O first Nation +of the Universe, was there ever such a subterfuge? Here is a field +of flowering corn, the biggest in the world, begirt with elaborate +ring-fence, many miles of firm oak-paling pitched and buttressed; +--the poor gentleman now dead gave you his Lorraine, and almost his +life, for swearing to keep up said paling. And you do keep it up,-- +all except six yards; through which the biggest team on the highway +can drive freely, and the paltriest cadger's ass can step in for +a bellyful! + +It appears, the first Nation of the Universe had, at an early +period of their consultations, hit upon this of SALVO JURE TERTII, +as the method of eating their Covenant, before an enlightened +public. [20th January, 1741, in their Note of Ceremony, recognizing +Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary, Note which had been due so very +long (ADELUNG, ii. 206), there is ominous silence on Pragmatic +Sanction; "beginning of March," there is virtual avowal of SALVO +JURE (ib. 279);--open avowal on Belleisle's advent (ib. 305).] +And they persisted in it, there being no other for them. +An enlightened public grinned sardonically, and was not taken in; +but, as so many others were eating their Covenants, under equally +poor subterfuges, the enlightened public could not grin long on any +individual,--could only gape mutely, with astonishment, on all. +A glorious example of veracity and human nobleness, set by the gods +of this lower world to their gazing populations, who could read in +the Gazettes! What is truth, falsity, human Kingship, human +Swindlership? Are the Ten Commandments only a figure of speech, +then? And it was some beggarly Attorney-Devil that built this +sublunary world and us? Questions might rise; had long been +rising;--but now there was about enough, and the response to them +was falling due; and Belleisle himself, what is very notable, had +been appointed to get ready the response. Belleisle (little as +Belleisle dreamt of it, in these high Enterprises) was ushering in, +by way of response, a RAGNAROK, or Twilight of the Gods, which, as +"French Revolution, or Apotheosis of SANSCULOTTISM," is now well +known;--and that is something to consider of! + + +DOWNBREAK OF PRAGMATIC SANCTION; MANNER OF THE CHIEF +ARTISTS IN HANDLING THEIR COVENANTS. + +The operation once accomplished on its own Pragmatic Covenant, +France found no difficulty with the others. Everybody was disposed +to eat his Covenant, who could see advantage in so doing, after +that admirable example. The difficulty of France and Belleisle +rather was, to keep the hungry parties back: "Don't eat your +Covenant TILL the proper time; patience, we say!" A most sad +Miscellany of Royalties, coming all to the point, "Will you eat +your Covenant, Will you keep it?"--and eating, nearly all; in fact, +wholly all that needed to eat. + +On the first Invasion of Silesia, Maria Theresa had indignantly +complained in every Court; and pointing to Pragmatic Sanction, had +demanded that such Law of Nature be complied with, according to +covenant. What Maria Theresa got by this circuit of the Courts, +everybody still knows. Except England, which was willing, and +Holland, which was unwilling, all Courts had answered, more or less +uneasily: "Law of Nature,--humph: yes!"--and, far from doing +anything, not one of them would with certainty promise to do +anything. From England alone and her little King (to whom Pragmatic +Sanction is the Palladium of Human Freedoms and the Keystone of +Nature) could she get the least help. The rest hung back; would not +open heart or pocket; waited till they saw. They do now see; +now that Belleisle has done his feat of Covenant-eating!-- + +Eleven great Powers, some count Thirteen, some Twelve, [Scholl, +ii. 286; Adelung, LIST, ii. 127.]--but no two agree, and hardly one +agrees with himself;--enough, the Powers of Europe, from Naples and +Madrid to Russia and Sweden, have all signed it, let us say a Dozen +or a Baker's-Dozen of them. And except our little English Paladin +alone, whose interest and indeed salvation seemed to him to lie +that way, and who needed no Pragmatic Covenant to guide him, nobody +whatever distinguished himself by keeping it. Between December, +1740, when Maria Theresa set up her cries in all Courts, on to +April, 1741, England, painfully dragging Holland with her, had +alone of the Baker's-Dozen spoken word of disapproval; much less +done act of hindrance. Two especially (France and Bavaria, not to +mention Spain) had done the reverse, and disowned, and declared +against, Pragmatic Sanction. And after the Battle of Mollwitz, when +the "little stone" took its first leap, and set all thundering, +then came, like the inrush of a fashion, throughout that high +Miscellany or Baker's-Dozen, the general eating of Covenants (which +was again quickened in August, for a reason we shall see): +and before November of that Year, there was no Covenant left to +eat. Of the Baker's-Dozen nobody remained but little George the +Paladin, dragging Holland painfully along with him;--and Pragmatic +Sanction had gone to water, like ice in a June day, and its +beautiful crystalline qualities and prismatic colors were forever +vanished from the world. Will the reader note a point or two, a +personage or two, in this sordid process,--not for the process's +sake, which is very sordid and smells badly, but for his own sake, +to elucidate his own course a little in the intricacies now coming +or come upon him and me? + +1. ELECTOR OF BAVARIA.--Karl Albert of Baiern is by some counted +as a Signer of the Pragmatic Sanction, and by others not; +which occasions that discrepancy of sum-total in the Books. And he +did once, in a sense, sign it, he and his Brother of Koln; +but, before the late Kaiser's death, he had openly drawn back from +it again; and counted himself a Non-signer. Signer or not, he, for +his part, lost no moment (but rather the contrary) in openly +protesting against it, and signifying that he never would +acknowledge it. Of this the reader saw something, at the time of +her Hungarian Majesty's Accession. Date and circumstances of it, +which deserve remembering, are more precisely these: October 20th, +1740, Karl Albert's Ambassador, Perusa by name, wrote to Karl from +Vienna, announcing that the Kaiser was just dead. From Munchen, on +the 21st, Karl Albert, anticipating such an event, but not yet +knowing it, orders Perusa, in CASE of the Kaiser's decease, which +was considered probable at Munchen, to demand instant audience of +the proper party (Kanzler Sinzendorf), and there openly lodge his +Protest. Which Perusa did, punctually in all points,--no moment +LOST, but rather the contrary, as we said! Let poor Karl Albert +have what benefit there is in that fact. He was, of all the Anti- +Pragmatic Covenant-Breakers (if he ever fairly were such), the only +one that proceeded honorably, openly and at once, in the matter; +and he was, of them all, by far the most unfortunate. + +This is the poor gentleman whom Belleisle had settled on for being +Kaiser. And Kaiser he became; to his frightful sorrow, as it +proved: his crown like a crown of burning iron, or little better! +There is little of him in the Books, nor does one desire much: +a tall aquiline type of man; much the gentleman in aspect; and in +reality, of decorous serious deportment, and the wish to be high +and dignified. He had a kind of right, too, in the Anti-Pragmatic +sense; and was come of Imperial kindred,--Kaiser Ludwig the +Bavarian, and Kaiser Rupert of the Pfalz, called Rupert KLEMM, or +Rupert Smith's-vice, if any reader now remember him, were both of +his ancestors. He might fairly pretend to Kaisership and to +Austrian ownership,--had he otherwise been equal to such +enterprises. But, in all ambitions and attempts, howsoever grounded +otherwise, there is this strict question on the threshold: "Are you +of weight for the adventure; are not you far too light for it?" +Ambitious persons often slur this question; and get squelched to +pieces, by bringing the Twelve Labors of Hercules on Unherculean +backs! Not every one is so lucky as our Friedrich in that +particular,--whose back, though with difficulty, held out. +Which poor Karl Albert's never had much likelihood to do. +Few mortals in any age have offered such an example of the +tragedies which Ambition has in store for her votaries; and what a +matter Hope FULFILLED may be to the unreflecting Son of Adam. + +We said, he had a kind of right to Austria, withal. He descended by +the female line from Kaiser Ferdinand I. (as did Kur-Sachsen, +though by a younger Daughter than Karl Albert's Ancestress); and he +appealed to Kaiser Ferdinand's Settlement of the Succession, as a +higher than any subsequent Pragmatic could be. Upon which there +hangs an incident; still famous to German readers. Karl Albert, +getting into Public Argument in this way, naturally instructed +Perusa to demand sight of Kaiser Ferdinand's Last Will, the tenor +of which was known by authentic Copy in Munchen, if not elsewhere +among the kindred. After some delay, Perusa (4th November, 1740), +summoning the other excellencies to witness, got sight of the Will: +to his horror, there stood, in the cardinal passage, instead of +"MUNNLICHE" (male descendants), "EHELICHE" (lawfully begotten +descendants),--fatal to Karl Albert's claim! Nor could he PROVE +that the Parchment had been scraped or altered, though he kept +trying and examining for some days. He withdrew thereupon, by +order, straightway from Vienna; testifying in dumb-show what he +thought. "It is your Copy that is false," cried the Vienna people: +"it has been foisted on you, with this wrong word in it; done by +somebody (your friend, the Excellency Herr von Hartmann, shall we +guess?), wishing to curry favor with ambitious foolish persons!" +Such was the Austrian story. Perhaps in Munchen itself their +Copyist was not known;--for aught I learn, the Copy was made long +since, and the Copyist dead. Hartmann, named as Copyist by the +Vienna people, made emphatic public answer: "Never did I copy it, +or see it!" And there rose great argument, which is not yet quite +ended, as to the question, "Original falsified, or Copy falsified?" +--and the modern vote, I believe, rather clearly is, That the +Austrian Officials had done it--in a case of necessity. [Adelung, +ii. 150-154 (14th-20th November, 1740), gives the public facts, +without commentary. Hormayr (<italic> Anemonen aus dem Tagebuch +eines alten Pilgersmannes, <end italic> Jena, 1845, i. 162-169,-- +our old Hormayr of the AUSTRIAN PLUTARCH, but now Anonymous, and in +Opposition humor) considers the case nearly proved against Austria, +and that Bartenstein and one Bessel, a pillar of the Church, were +concerned in it.] Possi-ble? "But you will lose your soul!" said +the Parson once to a poor old Gentlewoman, English by Nation, who +refused, in dying, to contradict some domestic fiction, to give up +some domestic secret: "But you will lose your soul, Madam!"-- +"Tush, what signifies my poor silly soul compared with the honor of +the family?"-- + +2. KING FRIEDRICH;--King Friedrich may be taken as the Anti- +Pragmatic next in order of time. He too lost not a moment, and +proceeded openly; no quirking to be charged upon him. His account +of himself in this matter always was: "By the Treaty of +Wusterhausen, 1726, unquestionably Prussia undertook to guarantee +Pragmatic Sanction; the late Kaiser undertaking in return, by the +same Treaty, to secure Berg and Julich to Prussia, and to have some +progress made in it within six months from signing. +And unquestionably also, the late Kaiser did thereupon, or even had +already done, precisely the reverse; namely, secured, so far as in +him was possible, Berg and Julich to Kur-Pfalz. Such Treaty, having +in this way done suicide, is dead and become zero: and I am free, +in respect of Pragmatic Sanction, to do whatever shall seem good to +me. My wish was, and would still be, To maintain Pragmatic +Sanction, and even to support it by 100,000 men, and secure the +Election of the Grand-Duke to the Kaisership,--were my claims on +Silesia once liquidated. But these have no concern with Pragmatic +Sanction, for or against: these are good against whoever may fall +Heir to the House of Austria, or to Silesia: and my intention is, +that the strong hand, so long clenched upon my rights, shall open +itself by this favorable opportunity, and give them out." That is +Friedrich's case. And in truth the jury everywhere has to find,--so +soon as instructed, which is a long process in some sections of it +(in England, for example),--That Pragmatic Sanction has not, except +helpless lamentations, "Alas that YOU should be here to insist upon +your rights, and to open fists long closed!"--the least, word to +say to Friedrich. + +3. TERMAGANT OF SPAIN.--Perhaps the most distracted of the Anti- +Pragmatic subterfuges was that used by Spain, when the She-dragon +or Termagant saw good to eat her Covenant; which was at a very +early stage. The Termagant's poor Husband is a Bourbon, not a +Hapsburg at all: "But has not he fallen heir to the Spanish +Hapsburgs; become all one as they, an ALTER-EGO of the Spanish +Hapsburgs?" asks she. "And the Austrian Hapsburgs being out, do not +the Spanish Hapsburgs come in? He, I say, this BOURBON-Hapsburg, he +is the real Hapsburg, now that the Austrian Branch is gone; +President he of the Golden Fleece [which a certain "Archduchess," +Maria Theresa, had been meddling with]; Proprietor, he, of Austrian +Italy, and of all or most things Austrian!"--and produces +Documentary Covenants of Philip II. with his Austrian Cousins; +"to which Philip," said the Termagant, "we Bourbons surely, if you +consider it, are Heir and Alter-Ego!" Is not, this a curious case +of testamentary right; human greed obliterating personal +identity itself? + +Belleisle had a great deal of difficulty, keeping the Termagant +back till things were ripe. Her hope practically was, Baby Carlos +being prosperous King of Naples this long while, to get the +Milanese for another Baby she has,--Baby Philip, whom she once +thought of making Pope;--and she is eager beyond measure to have a +stroke at the Milanese. "Wait!" hoarsely whispers Belleisle to her; +and she can scarcely wait. Maria Theresa's Note of Announcement +"New Queen of Hungary, may it please you!" the French, as we saw, +were very long in answering. The Termagant did not answer it at +all; complained on the contrary, "What is this, Madam! Golden +Fleece, you?"--and, early in March, informed mankind that she was +Spanish Hapsburg, the genuine article; and sent off Excellency +Montijos, a little man of great expense, to assist at the Election +of a proper Kaiser, and be useful to Belleisle in the great things +now ahead. [Spain's Golden-Fleece pretensions, 17th January, 1741 +(Adelung, ii. 233, 234); "Publishes at Paris," in March (ib. 293); +and on the 23d March accredits Montijos (ib. 293): Italian War, +held back by Belleisle and the English Fleets, cannot get begun +till October following.] + +4. KING OF POLAND.--The most ticklish card in Belleisle's game, and +probably the greatest fool of these Anti-Pragmatic Dozen, was +Kur-Sachsen, King of Poland. He, like Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, +derives from Kaiser Ferdinand, though by a YOUNGER Daughter, and +has a like claim on the Austrian Succession; claim nullified, +however, by that small circumstance itself, but which he would fain +mend by one makeshift or another; and thinks always it must surely +be good for something. This is August III., this King of Poland, as +readers know; son of August the Strong: Papa made him change to the +Catholic religion so called,--for the sake of getting Poland, which +proves a very poor possession to him. Who knows what damage the +poor creature may have got by that sad operation;--which all Saxony +sighed to the heart on hearing of; for it was always hoped he had +some real religion, and would deliver them from that Babylonish +Captivity again! He married Kaiser Joseph I.'s Daughter,--Maria +Theresa's Cousin, and by an Elder Brother;--this, too, ought surely +to be something in the Anti-Pragmatic line? It is true, Kur-Baiern +has to Wife another Daughter of Kaiser Joseph's; but she is the +younger: "I am senior THERE, at least! "thinks the foolish man. + +Too true, he had finally, in past years, to sign Pragmatic +Sanction; no help for it, no hope without it, in that Polish- +Election time. He will have to eat his Covenant, therefore, as the +first step in Anti-Pragmatism; and he is extremely in doubt as to +the How, sometimes as to the Whether. And shifts and whirls, +accordingly, at a great rate, in these months and years; now on +Maria Theresa's side, deluded by shadows from Vienna, and getting +into Russian Partition-Treaties; anon tickled by Belleisle into the +reverse posture; then again reversing. An idle, easy-tempered, yet +greedy creature, who, what with religious apostasy in early +manhood, what with flaccid ambitions since, and idle gapings after +shadows, has lost helm in this world; and will make a very bad +voyage for self and country. + +His Palinurus and chief Counsellor, at present and afterwards, is a +Count von Bruhl, once page to August the Strong; now risen to such +height: Bruhl of the three hundred and sixty-five suits of clothes; +whom it has grown wearisome even to laugh at. A cunning little +wretch, they say, and of deft tongue; but surely among the unwisest +of all the Sons of Adam in that day, and such a Palinurus as seldom +steered before. Kur-Sachsen, being Reichs-Vicar in the Northern +Parts,--(Kur-Baiern and Kur-Pfalz, as friends and good +Wittelsbacher Cousins surely ought, in a crisis like this, have +agreed to be JOINT-Vicars in the Southern Parts, and no longer +quarrel upon it),--Kur-Sachsen has a good deal to do in the +Election preludings, formalities and prearrangements; and is +capable, as Kur-Pfalz and Cousin always are, of serving as chisel +to Belleisle's mallet, in such points, which will plentifully +turn up. + +5. KING OF SARDINIA.--Reichs-Vicar in the Italian Parts is Charles +Amadeus King of Sardinia (tough old Victor's Son, whom we have +heard of): an office mostly honorary; suitable to the important +individual who keeps the Door of the Alps. Charles Amadeus had +signed the Pragmatic Sanction; but eats his Covenant, like the +others, on example of France;--having, as he now bethinks himself, +claims on the Milanese. There are two claimants on the Milanese, +then; the Spanish Termagant, and he? Yes; and they will have their +difficulties, their extensive tusslings in Italian War and +otherwise, to make an adjustment of it; and will give Belleisle +(at least the Doorkeeper will) an immensity of trouble, in +years coming. + +In this way do the Pragmatic people eat their own Covenant, one +after the other, and are not ashamed;--till all have eaten, or as +good as eaten; and, almost within year and day, Pragmatic Sanction +is a vanished quantity; and poor Kaiser Karl's life-labor is not +worth the sheepskin and stationery it cost him. History reports in +sum, That "nobody kept the Pragmatic Sanction; that the few +[strictly speaking, the one] who acted by it, would have done +precisely the same, though there had never been such a Document in +existence." To George II., it is, was and will be, the Keystone of +Nature, the true Anti-French palladium of mankind; and he, dragging +the unwilling Dutch after him, will do great things for it: +but nobody else does anything at all. Might we hope to bid adieu to +it, in this manner, and never to mention it again!-- + +Document more futile there had not been in Nature, nor will be. +Friedrich had not yet fought at Mollwitz in assertion of his +Silesian claim, when the poor Pope--poor soul, who had no Covenant +to eat, but took pattern by others--claimed, in solemn Allocution, +Parma and Piacenza for the Holy See. [Adelung, ii. 376 (5th April, +1741)] All the world is claiming. Of the Court of Wurtemberg and +its Protestings, and "extensive Deduction" about nothing at all, we +do not speak; [Ib. ii. 195, 403.] nor of Montmorency claiming +Luxemburg, of which he is Titular "Duke;" nor of Monsignore di +Guastalla claiming Mantua; nor of--In brief, the fences are now +down; a broad French gap in those miles of elaborate paling, which +are good only as firewood henceforth, and any ass may rush in and +claim a bellyful. Great are the works of Belleisle!-- + + +CONCERNING THE IMPERIAL ELECTION (Kaiserwahl) THAT IS +TO BE: CANDIDATES FOR KAISERSHIP. + +At equal step with the ruining of Pragmatic Sanction goes on that +spoiling of Grand-Duke Franz's Election to the Kaisership: +these two operations run parallel; or rather, under different +forms, they are one and the same operation. "To assist, as a Most +Christian neighbor ought, in picking out the fit Kaiser," was +Belleisle's ostensible mission; and indeed this does include +virtually his whole errand. Till three months after Belleisle's +appearance in the business, Grand-Duke Franz never doubted but he +should be Kaiser; Friedrich's offers to, help him in it he had +scorned, as the offer of a fifth wheel to his chariot, already +rushing on with four. "Here is Kur-Bohmen, Austria's own vote," +counts the Grand-Duke; "Kur-Sachsen, doing Prussian-Partition +Treaties for us; Kur-Trier, our fat little Schonborn, Austrian to +the bone; Kur-Mainz, important chairman, regulator of the Conclave; +here are Four Electors for us: then also Kur-Pfalz, he surely, in +return for the Berg-Julich service; finally, and liable to no +question Kur-Hanover, little George of England with his endless +guineas and resources, a little Jack-the-Giantkiller, greater than +all Giants, Paladin of the Pragmatic and us: here are Six Electors +of the Nine. Let Brandenburg and the Bavarian Couple, Kur-Baiern +and Kur-Koln, do their pleasure!" This was Grand-Duke +Franz's calculation. + +By the time Belleisle had been three months in Germany, the Grand- +Duke's notion had changed; and he began "applying to the +Sea-Powers," "to Russia," and all round. In Belleisle's sixth +month, the Grand-Duke, after such demolition of Pragmatic, and such +disasters and contradictions as had been, saw his case to be +desperate; though he still stuck to it, Austrian-like,--or rather, +Austria for him stuck to it, the Grand-Duke being careless of such +things;--and indeed, privately, never did give in, even AFTER the +Election, as we shall have to note. + +The Reich itself being mainly a Phantasm or Enchanted Wiggery, its +"Kaiser-Choosing" (KAISERWAHL),--now getting under way at +Frankfurt, with preliminary outskirts at Regensburg, and in the +Chancery of Mainz--is very phantasmal, not to say ghastly; +and forbidding, not inviting, to the human eye. Nine Kurfursts, +Choosers of Teutschland's real Captain, in none of whom is there +much thought for Teutschland or its interests,--and indeed in +hardly more than One of whom (Prussian Friedrich, if readers will +know it) is there the least thought that way; but, in general, much +indifference to things divine or diabolic, and thought for one's +own paltry profits and losses only! So it has long been; and so it +now is, more than usual.--Consider again, are Enchanted Wiggeries a +beautiful thing, in this extremely earnest World?-- + +The Kaiserwahl is an affair depending much on processions, +proclamations, on delusions optical, acoustic; on palaverings, +manoeuvrings, holdings back, then hasty pushings forward; +and indeed is mainly, in more senses than one, under guidance of +the Prince of the Power of the Air. Unbeautiful, like a World- +Parliament of Nightmares (if the reader could conceive such a +thing); huge formless, tongueless monsters of that species, doing +their "three readings,"--under Presidency or chief-pipership as +above! Belleisle, for his part, is consummately skilful, and +manages as only himself could. Keeps his game well hidden, not a +hint or whisper of it except in studied proportions; spreads out +his lines, his birdlime; tickles, entices, astonishes; goes his +rounds, like a subtle Fowler, taking captive the minds of men; +a Phoebus-Apollo, god of melody and of the sun, filling his net +with birds. + +I believe, old Kur-Pfalz, for the sake of French neighborhood, and +Berg-and-Julich, were there nothing more, was very helpful to him; +--in March past, when the Election was to have been, when it would +have gone at once in favor of the Grand-Duke, Kur-Pfalz got the +Election "postponed a little." Postponing, procrastinating; +then again pushing violently on, when things are ripe: Belleisle +has only to give signal to a fit Kur-Pfalz. In all Kurfurst Courts, +the French Ambassadors sing diligently to the tune Belleisle sets +them; and Courts give ear, or will do, when the charmer +himself arrives. + +Kur-Sachsen, as above hinted, was his most delicate operation, in +the charming or trout-tickling way. And Kur-Sachsen--and poor +Saxony, ever since--knows if he did not do it well! "Deduct this +Kur-Sachsen from the Austrian side," calculates Belleisle; "add him +to ours, it is almost an equality of votes. Kur-Baiern, our own +Imperial Candidate; Kur-Koln, his Brother; Kur-Pfalz, by genealogy +his Cousin (not to mention Berg-Julich matters); here are three +Wittelsbachers, knit together; three sure votes; King Friedrich, +Kur-Brandenburg, there is a fourth; and if Kur-Sachsen would join?" +But who knows if Kur-Sachsen will! The poor soul has himself +thoughts of being Kaiser; then no thoughts, and again some: +thoughts which Belleisle knows how to handle. "Yes, Kaiser you, +your Majesty; excellent!" And sets to consider the methods: +"Hm, ha, hm! Think, your Majesty: ought not that Bohemian Vote to +be excluded, for one thing? Kur-Bohmen is fallen into the distaff, +Maria Theresa herself cannot vote. Surely question will rise, +Whether distaff can, validly, hand it over to distaff's husband, as +they are about doing? Whether, in fact, Kur-Bohmen is not in +abeyance for this time?" "So!" answered Kur-Sachsen, Reichs- +Vicarius. And thereupon meetings were summoned; Nightmare +Committees sat on this matter under the Reichs-Vicar, slowly +hatching it; and at length brought out, "Kur-Bohmen NOT +transferable by the distaff; Kur-Bohmen in abeyance for this time." +Greatly to the joy of Belleisle; infinitely to the chagrin of her +Hungarian Majesty,--who declared it a crying injustice (though I +believe legally done in every point); and by and by, even made it a +plea of Nullity, destructive to the Election altogether, when her +Hungarian Majesty's affairs looked up again, and the world would +listen to Austrian sophistries and obstinacies. This was an +essential service from Kur-Sachsen. [Began, indistinctly, "in +March" (1741); languid "for some months" (Adelung, ii. 292); +"November 4th," was settled in the negative, "Kur-Bohmen not to +have a vote" (<italic> Maria Theresiens Leben, <end italic> +p. 47 n.). + +After which Kur-Sachsen's own poor Kaisership died away into +"Hm, ha, hm!" again, with a grateful Belleisle. Who nevertheless +dexterously retained Kur-Sachsen as ally; tickling the poor wretch +with other baits. Of the Kaiser he had really meant all along, +there was dead silence, except between the parties; no whisper +heard, for six months after it had been agreed upon; none, for two +or near three months after formal settlement, and signing and +sealing. Karl Albert's Treaty with Belleisle was 18th May, 1741; +and he did not declare himself a Candidate till 1st-4th July +following. [Adelung, ii. 357, 421.] Belleisle understands the +Nightmare Parliaments, the electioneering art, and how to deal with +Enchanted Wiggeries. More perfect master, in that sad art, has not +turned up on record to one's afflicted mind. Such a Sun-god, and +doing such a Scavengerism! Belleisle, in the sixth month (end of +August, 1741), feels sure of a majority. How Belleisle managed, +after that, to checkmate George of England, and make even George +vote for him, and the Kaiserwahl to be unanimous against Grand- +Duke Franz, will be seen. Great are Belleisle's doings in this +world, if they were useful either to God or man, or to Belleisle +himself first of all!-- + + +TEUTSCHLAND TO BE CARVED INTO SOMETHING OF SYMMETRY, +SHOULD THE BELLEISLE ENTERPRISES SUCCEED. + +Belleisle's schemes, in the rear of all this labor, are grandiose +to a degree. Men wonder at the First Napoleon's mad notions in that +kind. But no Napoleon, in the fire of the revolutionary element; no +Sham-Napoleon, in the ashes of it: hardly a Parisian Journalist of +imaginative turn, speculating on the First Nation of the Universe +and what its place is,--could go higher than did this grandiose +Belleisle; a man with clear thoughts in his head, under a torpid +Louis XV. Let me see, thinks Belleisle. Germany with our Bavarian +for Kaiser; Germany to be cut into, say, Four little Kingdoms: +1. Bavaria with the lean Kaiserhood; 2. Saxony, fattened by its +share of Austria; 3. Prussia the like; 4. Austria itself, shorn +down as above, and shoved out to the remote Hungarian parts: VOILA. +These, not reckoning Hanover, which perhaps we cannot get just yet, +are Four pretty Sovereignties. Three, or Two, of these hireable by +gold, it is to be hoped. And will not France have a glorious time +of it; playing master of the revels there, egging one against the +other! Yes, Germany is then, what Nature designed it, a Province of +France: little George of Hanover himself, and who knows but England +after him, may one day find their fate inevitable, like the others. +O Louis, O my King, is not this an outlook? Louis le Grand was +great; but you are likely to be Louis the Grandest; and here is a +World shaped, at last, after the real pattern! + +Such are, in sad truth, Belleisle's schemes; not yet entirely +hatched into daylight or articulation; bnt becoming articulate, to +himself and others, more and more. Reader, keep them well in mind: +I had rather not speak of them again. They are essential to our +Story; but they are afflictively vain, contrary to the Laws of +Fact; and can, now or henceforth, in nowise be. My friend, it was +not Beelzebub, nor Mephistopheles, nor Autolyeus-Apollo that built +this world and us; it was Another. And you will get your crown well +rapped, M. le Marechal, for so forgetting that fact! France is an +extremely pretty creature; but this of making France the supreme +Governor and God's-Vicegerent of Nations, is, was, and remains, one +of the maddest notions. France at its ideal BEST, and with a demi- +god for King over it, were by no means fit for such function; nay +of many Nations is eminently the unfittest for it. And France at +its WORST or nearly so, with a Louis XV. over it by way of demi-god +--O Belleisle, what kind of France is this; shining in your +grandiose imagination, in such contrast to the stingy fact: like a +creature consisting of two enormous wings, five hundred yards in +potential extent, and no body bigger than that of a common cock, +weighing three pounds avoirdupois. Cock with his own gizzard much +out of sorts, too! + +It was "early in March" [Adelung, ii. 305.] when Belleisle, the +Artificial Sun-god, quitted Paris on this errand. He came by the +Moselle road; called on the Rhine Kurfursts, Koln, Trier, Mainz; +dazzling them, so far as possible, with his splendor for the mind +and for the eye. He proceeded next to Dresden, which is a main +card: and where there is immense manipulation needed, and the most +delicate trout-tickling; this being a skittish fish, and an +important, though a foolish. Belleisle was at Dresden when the +Battle of Mollwitz fell out: what a windfall into Belleisle's game! +He ran across to Friedrich at Mollwitz, to congratulate, to +consult,--as we shall see anon. + +Belleisle, I am informed, in this preliminary Tour of his, speaks +only, or hints only (except in the proper quarters), of Election +Business; of the need there perhaps is, on the part of an Age +growing in liberal ideas, to exclude the Austrian Grand-Duke; +to curb that ponderous, harsh, ungenerous House of Austria, too +long lording it over generous Germany; and to set up some better +House,--Bavaria, for example; Saxony, for example? Of his plans in +the rear of this he is silent; speaks only by hints, by innuendoes, +to the proper parties. But ripening or ripe, plans do lie to rear; +far-stretching, high-soaring; in part, dark even at Versailles; +darkly fermenting, not yet developed, in Belleisle's own head; only +the Future Kaiser a luminous fixed point, shooting beams across the +grandiose Creation-Process going on there. + +By the end of August, 1741, Belleisle had become certain of his +game; 24th January, 1742, he saw himself as if winner. +Before August, 1741, he had got his Electors manipulated, tickled +to his purpose, by the witchery of a Phoebus-Autolycus or +Diplomatic Sun-god; majority secured for a Bavarian Kaiser, and +against an Austrian one. And in the course of that month,--what was +still more considerable!--he was getting, under mild pretexts, +about a hundred thousand armed Frenchmen gently wafted over upon +the soil of Germany. Two complete French Armies, 40,000 each (PLUS +their Reserves), one over the Upper Rhine, one over the Lower; +about which we shall hear a great deal in time coming! Under mild +pretexts: "Peaceable as lambs, don't you observe? Merely to protect +Freedom of Election, in this fine neighbor country; and as allies +to our Friend of Bavaria, should he chance to be new Kaiser, and to +persist in his modest claims otherwise." This was his crowning +stroke. Which finished straightway the remnants of Pragmatic +Sanction and of every obstacle; and in a shining manner swept the +roads clear. And so, on January 24th following, the Election, long +held back by Belleisle's manoeuvrings, actually takes effect,--in +favor of Karl Albert, our invaluable Bavarian Friend. Austria is +left solitary in the Reich; Pragmatic Sanction, Keystone of Nature, +which Belleisle and France had sworn to keep in, is openly torn out +by Belleisle and by France and the majority of mankind; +and Belleisle sees himself, to all appearance, winner. + +This was the harvest reaped by Belleisle, within year and day; +after endless manoeuvring, such as only a Belleisle in the +character of Diplomatic Sun-god could do. Beyond question, the +distracted ambitions of several German Princes have been kindled by +Belleisle; what we called the rotten thatch of Germany is well on +fire. This diligent sowing in the Reich--to judge by the 100,000, +armed men here, and the counter hundreds of thousands arming-- +has been a pretty stroke of dragon's-teeth husbandry on +Belleisle's part. + + +BELLEISLE ON VISIT TO FRIEDRICH; SEES FRIEDRICH BESIEGE +BRIEG, WITH EFFECT. + +It was April 26th when Marechal de Belleisle, with his Brother the +Chevalier, with Valori and other bright accompaniment, arrived in +Friedrich's Camp. "Camp of Mollwitz" so named; between Mollwitz and +Brieg; where Friedrich is still resting, in a vigilant expectant +condition; and, except it be the taking of Brieg, has nothing +military on hand. Wednesday, 26th April, the distinguished +Excellency--escorted for the last three miles by 120 Horse, and the +other customary ceremonies--makes his appearance: no doubt an +interesting one to Friedrich, for this and the days next following. +Their talk is not reported anywhere: nor is it said with exactitude +how far, whether wholly now, or only in part now, Belleisle +expounded his sublime ideas to Friedrich; or what precise reception +they got. Friedrich himself writes long afterwards of the event; +but, as usual, without precision, except in general effect. Now, or +some time after, Friedrich says he found Belleisle, one morning, +with brow clouded, knit into intense meditation: "Have you had bad +news, M. le Marechal?" asks Friedrich. "No, oh no! I am considering +what we shall make of that Moravia?"--"Moravia; Hm!" Friedrich +suppresses the glance that is rising to his eyes: "Can't you give +it to Saxony, then? Buy Saxony into the Plan with it!" "Excellent," +answers Belleisle, and unpuckers his stern brow again. + +Friedrich thinks highly, and about this time often says so, of the +man Belleisle: but as to the man's effulgencies, and wide-winged +Plans, none is less seduced by them than Friedrich: "Your chickens +are not hatched, M. le Marechal; some of us hope they never will +be,--though the incubation-process may have uses for some of us!" +Friedrich knows that the Kaisership given to any other than Grand- +Duke Franz will be mostly an imaginary quantity. "A grand Symbolic +Cloak in the eyes of the vulgar; but empty of all things, empty +even of cash, for the last Two Hundred Years: Austria can wear it +to advantage; no other mortal. Hang it on Austria, which is a solid +human figure,--so." And Friedrich wishes, and hopes always, Maria +Theresa will agree with him, and get it for her Husband. "But to +haug it on Bavaria, which is a lean bare pole? Oh, M. le Marechal! +--And those Four Kingdoms of yours: what a brood of poultry, those! +Chickens happily yet UNhatched;--eggs addle, I should venture to +hope:--only do go on incubating, M. le Marechal!" That is +Friedrich's notion of the thing. Belleisle stayed with Friedrich "a +few days," say the Books. After which, Friedrich, finding Belleisle +too winged a creature, corresponded, in preference, with Fleury and +the Head Sources;--who are always intensely enough concerned about +those "aces" falling to him, and how the same are to be "shared." +[Details in <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 912, 962, +916; in <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> ii. 79, 80; &c.] + +Instead of parade or review in honor of Belleisle, there happened +to be a far grander military show, of the practical kind. The Siege +of Brieg, the Opening of the Trenches before Brieg, chanced to be +just ready, on Belleisle's arrival:--and would have taken effect, +we find, that very night, April 26th, had not a sudden wintry +outburst, or "tempest of extraordinary violence," prevented. +Next night, night of the 27th-28th, under shine of the full Moon, +in the open champaign country, on both sides of the River, it did +take effect. An uncommonly fine thing of its sort; as one can still +see by reading Friedrich's strict Program for it,--a most minute, +precise and all-anticipating Program, which still interests +military men, as Friedrich's first Piece in that kind,--and +comparing therewith the Narratives of the performance which ensued. +[<italic> Ordre und Dispositiones (SIC), wornach sich der General- +Lieutenant von Kalckstein bei Eroffnung der Trancheen, &c. +(Oeuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxx. 39-44): the Program. +<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 916-928: +the Narrative.] + + +Kalkstein, Friedrich's old Tutor, is Captain of the Siege; +under him Jeetz, long used to blockading about Brieg. The silvery +Oder has its due bridges for communication; all is in readiness, +and waiting manifold as in the slip,--and there is Engineer +Walrave, our Glogau Dutch friend, who shall, at the right instant, +"with his straw-rope (STROHSEIL) mark out the first parallel," and +be swift about it! There are 2,000 diggers, with the due +implements, fascines, equipments; duly divided, into Twelve equal +Parties, and "always two spademen to one pickman " (which indicates +soft sandy ground): these, with the escorting or covering +battalions, Twelve Parties they also, on both sides of the River, +are to be in their several stations at the fixed moments; +man, musket, mattock, strictly exact. They are to advance at +Midnight; the covering battalions so many yards ahead: no speaking +is permissible, nor the least tobacco-smoking; no drum to be +allowed for fear of accident; no firing, unless you are fired on. +The covering battalions are all to "lie flat, so soon as they get +to their ground, all but the Officers and sentries." To rear of +these stand Walrave and assistants, silent, with their straw-rope; +--silent, then anon swift, and in whisper or almost by dumb-show, +"Now, then!" After whom the diggers, fascine-men, workers, each in +his kind, shall fall to, silently, and dig and work as for life. + +All which is done; exact as clock-work: beautiful to see, or half +see, and speak of to your Belleisle, in the serene moonlight! Half +an hour's marching, half an hour's swift digging: the Town-clock of +Brieg was hardly striking One, when "they had dug themselves in." +And, before daybreak, they had, in two batteries, fifty cannon in +position, with a proper set of mortars (other side the River),-- +ready to astonish Piccolomini and his Austrians; who had not had +the least whisper of them, all night, though it was full moon. +Graf von Piccolomini, an active gallant person, had refused terms, +some time before; and was hopefully intent on doing his best. +And now, suddenly, there rose round Piccolomini such a tornado of +cannonading and bombardment, day after day, always "three guns of +ours playing against one of theirs," that his guns got ruined; +that "his hay-magazines took fire,"--and the Schloss itself, which +was adjacent to them, took fire (a sad thing to Friedrich, who +commanded pause, that they might try quenching, but in vain):--and +that, in short, Piccolomini could not stand it; but on the 4th of +May, precisely after one week's experience, hung out the white +flag, and "beat chamade at 3 of the afternoon." He was allowed to +march out next morning, with escort to Neisse; parole pledged, Not +to serve against us for two years coming. + +Friedrich in person (I rather guess, Belleisle not now at his side) +saw the Garrison march out;--kept Piccolomini to dinner; a gallant +Piccolomini, who had hoped to do better, but could not. This was a +pretty enough piece of Siege-practice. Torstenson, with his Swedes, +had furiously besieged Brieg in 1642, a hundred years ago; and +could do nothing to it. Nothing, but withdraw again, futile; +leaving 1,400 of his people dead. Friedrich, the Austrian Garrison +once out, set instantly about repairing the works, and improving +them into impregnability,--our ugly friend Walrave presiding over +that operation too. + +Belleisle, we may believe, so long as he continued, was full of +polite wonder over these things; perhaps had critical advices here +and there, which would be politely received. It is certain he came +out extremely brilliant, gifted and agreeable, in the eyes of +Friedrich; who often afterwards, not in the very strictest +language, calls him a great man, great soldier, and by far the +considerablest person you French have. It is no less certain, +Belleisle displayed, so far as displayable, his magnificent +Diplomatic Ware to the best advantage. To which, we perceive, the +young King answered, "Magnificent, indeed!" but would not bite all +at once; and rather preferred corresponding with Fleury, on +business points, keeping the matter dexterously hanging, in an +illuminated element of hope and contingency, for the present. + +Belleisle, after we know not how many days, returned to Dresden; +perfected his work at Dresden, or shoved it well forward, with +"that Moravia" as bait. "Yes, King of Moravia, you, your Polish +Majesty, shall be!"--and it is said the simple creature did so +style himself, by and by, in certain rare Manifestoes, which still +exist in the cabinets of the curious. Belleisle next, after only a +few days, went to Munchen; to operate on Karl Albert Kur-Baiern, a +willing subject. And, in short, Belleisle whirled along +incessantly, torch in hand; making his "circuit of the German +Courts,"--details of said circuit not to be followed by us farther. +One small thing only I have found rememberable; probably true, +though vague. At Munchen, still more out at Nymphenburg, the fine +Country-Palace not far off, there was of course long conferencing, +long consulting, secret and intense, between Belleisle with his +people and Karl Albert with his. Karl Albert, as we know, was +himself willing. But a certain Baron von Unertl--heavy-built +Bavarian of the old type, an old stager in the Bavarian Ministries +--was of far other disposition. One day, out at Nymphenburg, Unertl +got to the Council-room, while Belleisle and Company were there: +Unertl found the apartment locked, absolutely no admittance; and +heard voices, the Kurfurst's and French voices, eagerly at work +inside. "Admit me, Gracious Herr; UM GOTTES WILLEN, me!" No +admission. Unertl, in despair, rushed round to the garden side of +the Apartment; desperately snatched a ladder, set it up to the +window, and conjured the Gracious Highness: "For the love of +Heaven, my ALLERGNADIGSTER, don't! Have no trade with those French! +Remember your illustrious Father, Kurfurst Max, in the Eugene- +Marlborough time, what a job he made of it, building actual +architecture on THEIR big promises, which proved mere acres of gilt +balloon!" [Hormayr, <italic> Anemonen <end italic> (cited above), +ii. 152.] Words terribly prophetic; but they were without effect on +Karl Albert. + +The rest of Belleisle's inflammatory circuitings and extensive +travellings, for he had many first and last in this matter, shall +be left to the fancy of the reader. May 18th, he made formal Treaty +with Karl Albert: Treaty of Nymphenburg, "Karl Albert to be Kaiser; +Bavaria, with Austria Proper added to it, a Kingdom; French armies, +French moneys, and other fine items." [Given in Adelung, ii. 359.] +Treaty to be kept dead secret; King Friedrich, for the present, +would not accede. [Given in Adelung, ii. 421.] June 25th, after +some preliminary survey of the place, Belleisle made his Entry into +Frankfurt: magnificent in the extreme. And still did not rest +there; but had to rush about, back to Versailles, to Dresden, +hither, thither: it was not till the last day of July that he +fairly took up his abode in Frankfurt; and--the Election eggs, so +to speak, being now all laid--set himself to hatch the same. +A process which lasted him six months longer, with curious +phenomena to mankind. Not till the middle of August did he bring +those 80,000 Armed Frenchmen across the Rhine, "to secure peace in +those parts, and freedom of voting." Not till November 4th had +Kur-Sachsen, with the Nightmares, finished that important problem +of the Bohemian Vote, "Bohemian Vote EXCLUDED for this time;"-- +after which all was ready, though still not in the least hurry. +November 20th, came the first actual "Election-Conference (WAHL- +CONFERENZ)" in the Romer at Frankfurt; to which succeeded Two +Months more of conferrings (upon almost nothing at all): +and finally, 24th January, 1742, came the Election itself, Karl +Albert the man; poor wretch, who never saw another good day in +this world. + +Belleisle during those six months was rather high and airy, +extremely magnificent; but did not want discretion: "more like a +Kurfurst than an Ambassador;" capable of "visiting Kur-Mainz, with +servants purposely in OLD liveries,"--where the case needed old, +where Kur-Mainz needed snubbing; not otherwise. [Buchholz, ii. +57 n.] "The Marechal de Belleisle," says an Eye-witness, of some +fame in those days, "comes out in a variety of parts, among us +here; plays now the General, now the Philosopher, now the Minister +of State, now the French Marquis;--and does them all to perfection. +Surely a master in his art. His Brother the Chevalier is one of the +sensiblest and best-trained persons you can see. He has a +penetrating intellect; is always occupied, and full of great +schemes; and has nevertheless a staid kind of manner. He is one of +the most important Personages here; and in all things his Brother's +right hand." [Von Loen, <italic> Kleine Schriften <end italic> +(cited in Adelung, ii. 400).] In Frankfurt, both Belleisle and his +Brother were much respected, the Brother especially, as men of +dignified behavior and shining qualities; but as to their hundred +and thirty French Lords and other Valetry, these by their +extravagances and excesses (AUSSCHWEIFUNGEN) made themselves +extremely detestable, it would appear. [Buchholz, ii. 54; +in Adelung, ii. 398 n., a French BROCARD on the subject, of +sufficient emphasis.] + + + +Chapter XII. + +SORROWS OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. + +George II. did not hear of Mollwitz for above a fortnight after it +fell out; but he had no need of Mollwitz to kindle his wrath or his +activity in that matter. [Mollwitz first heard of in London, April +25th (14th); Subsidy of 300,000 pounds voted same day. <italic> +London Gazette <end italic> (April 11th-14th, 1741); <italic> +Commons Journals, <end italic> xxiii. 705.] George II. had seen, +all along, with natural manifold aversion and indignation, these +high attempts of his Nephew. "Who is this new little King, that +will not let himself be snubbed, and laughed at, and led by the +nose, as his Father did; but seems to be taking a road of his own, +and tacitly defying us all? A very high conduct indeed, for a +Sovereign of that magnitude. Aspires seemingly to be the leader +among German Princes; to reduce Hanover and us,--us, with the gold +of England in our breeches-pocket,--to the second place? A reverend +old Bishop of Liege, twitched by the rochet, and shaken hither and +thither, like a reverend old clothes-screen, till he agree to stand +still and conform. And now a Silesia seized upon; a Pragmatic +Sanction kicked to the winds: the whole world to be turned topsy- +turvy, and Hanover and us, with our breeches-pocket, reduced to--?" + +The emotions, the prognosticatings, and distracted procedures of +his Britannic Majesty, of which we have ourselves seen somewhat, in +this fermentation of the elements, are copiously set down for us by +the English Dryasdust (mostly in unintelligible form): but, except +for sane purposes, one must be careful not to dwell on them, to the +sorrow of readers. Seldom was there such a feat of Somnambulism, as +that by the English and their King in the next twenty Years. +To extract the particle of sanity from it, and see how the poor +English did get their own errand done withal, and Jenkins's Ear +avenged,--that is the one interesting point; Dryasdust and the +Nightmares shall, to all time, be welcome to the others. Here are +some Excerpts, a select few; which will perhaps be our readiest +expedient. These do, under certain main aspects, shadow forth the +intricate posture of King George and his Nation, when Belleisle, as +Protagonistes or Chief Bully, stept down into the ring, in that +manner; asking, "Is there an Antagonistes, then, or Chief +Defender?" I will label them, number them; and, with the minimum of +needful commentary, leave them to imaginative readers. + + +No. 1. SNATCH OF PARLIAMENTARY ELOQUENCE BY MR. VINER +(19th April, 1741). + +The fuliginous explosions, more or less volcanic, which went on in +Parliament and in English society, against Friedrich's Silesian +Enterprise, for long years from this date, are now all dead and +avoidable,--though they have left their effects among us to this +day. Perhaps readers would like to see the one reasonable word I +have fallen in with, of opposite tendency; Mr. Viner's word, at the +first starting of that question: plainly sensible word, which, had +it been attended to (as it was not), might have saved us so much +nonsense, not of idle talk only, but of extremely serious deed +which ensued thereupon! + +"LONDON, 19th APRIL, 1741. This day [Mollwitz not yet known, Camp +of Gottin too well known!] King George, in his own high person, +comes down to the House of Lords,--which, like the Other House, is +sunk painfully in Walpole Controversies, Spanish-War Controversies, +of a merely domestic nature;--and informs both Honorable Houses, +with extreme caution, naming nobody, That he much wishes they would +think of helping him in these alarming circumstances of the +Celestial Balance, ready apparently to go heels uppermost. +To which the general answer is, 'Yes, surely!'--with a vote of +300,000 pounds for her Hungarian Majesty, a few days hence. +From those continents of Parliamentary tufa, now fallen so waste +and mournful, here is one little piece which ought to be extricated +into daylight:-- + +"MR. VINER (on his legs): ... 'If I mistake not the true intention +of the Address proposed,' in answer to his Majesty's most gracious +Speech from the Throne, 'we are invited to declare that we will +oppose the King of Prussia in his attempts upon Silesia: +a declaration in which I see not how any man can concur who KNOWS +NOT the nature of his Prussian Majesty's Claim, and the Laws of the +German Empire [NOR DO I, MR. V.]! It ought therefore, Sir, to have +been the first endeavor of those by whom this Address has been so +zealously supported, to show that his Prussian Majesty's Claim, so +publicly explained [BY KAUZLER LUDWIG, OF HALLE, WHO, IT SEEMS, HAS +STAGGERED OR CONVINCED MR. VINER], so firmly urged and so strongly +supported, is without foundation and reason, and is only one of +those imaginary titles which Ambition may always find to the +dominions of another.' (HEAR MR VINER!)" [Tindal, xx. 491, gives +the Royal Speech (DATE in a very slobbery condition); see also +Coxe, <italic> House of Austria, <end italic> iii. 365. Viner's +Fragment of a Speech is in Thackeray, <italic> Life of Chatham, +<end italic> i. 87.] ... + +A most indispensable thing, surely. Which was never done, nor can +ever be done; but was assumed as either unnecessary or else done of +its own accord, by that Collective Wisdom of England (with a sage +George II. at the head of it); who plunged into Dettingen, +Fontenoy, Austrian Subsidies, Aix-la-Chapelle, and foundation of +the English National Debt, among other strange things, in +consequence!-- + +Upon that of Kanzler Ludwig, and the "so public Explanation" (which +we slightly heard of long since), here is another Note,--unless +readers prefer to skip it:-- + +"That the Diplomatic and Political world is universally in travail +at this time, no reader need be told; Europe everywhere in dim +anxiety, heavy-laden expectation (which to us has fallen so +vacant); looking towards inevitable changes and the huge inane. +All in travail;--and already uttering printed Manifestoes, Patents, +Deductions, and other public travail-SHRIEKS of that kind. +Printed; not to speak of the unprinted, of the oral which vanished +on the spot; or even of the written which were shot forth by +breathless estafettes, and unhappily did not vanish, but lie in +archives, still humming upon us, "Won't you read me, then?"--Alas, +except on compulsion, No! Life being precious (and time, which is +the stuff of life), No!-- + +"At Reinsberg as elsewhere, at Reinsberg first of all, it had been +felt, in October last, that there would be Manifestoes needed; +learned Proof, the more irrefragable the better, of our Right to +Silesia. It was settled there, Let Ludwig, Kanzler of the +University of Halle, do it. [Herr Kanzler Ludwig, monster of +Antiquarian, Legal and other Learning there: wealthy, too, and +close-fisted; whom we have seen obliged to open his closed fist, +and to do building in the Friedrich Strasse, before now; +Nussler, his son-in-law, having no money:--as careless readers have +perhaps forgotten?] Ludwig set about his new task with a proud joy. +Ludwig knows that story, if he know anything. Long years ago he put +forth a Chapter upon it; weighty Chapter; in a Book of weight, said +Judges;--Book weighing, in pounds avoirdupois and otherwise, none +of us now knows what: [Title of this weighty Performance (see +Preuss, <italic> Thronbesteigung, <end italic> p. 432) is, or was +(size not given), <italic> Germania Princeps <end italic> (Halae, +1702). Preuss says farther, "That Book ii. c. 3 handles the +Prussian claims: Jagerndorf being ? 13; Liegnitz, ? 14; Oppeln and +Ratibor, ? 16;--and that Ludwig had sent a Copy of this Argument +[weighty Performance altogether? Or Book ii. c. 3 of it, which +would have had a better chance?] to King Friedrich, on the death of +Kaiser Karl VI."]--but, in after years, it used to be said by +flatterers of the Kanzler, 'Herr Kanzler, see the effect of +Learning. It was you, it was your weighty Book, that caused all +this World-tumult, and flung the Nations into one another's hair!' +Upon which the old Kanzler would blush: 'You do me too much honor!' + +"Ludwig, directly on order given, gathered out his documents again, +in the King's name this time; and promised something weighty by +New-year's day at latest." Doubtless to the joy of Nussler, who has +still no regular appointment, though well deserving one. "And sure +enough, on January 7th) at Berlin, 'in three languages,' Ludwig's +DEDUCTION had come out; an eager Public waiting for it: [Title is, +<italic> Rechtsgegrundetes Eigenthum <end italic> (in the Latin +copies, <italic> Patrimonium, <end italic> and <italic> Propriete +fondee en Droit <end italic> in the French copies) <italic> des +&c., <end italic>--that is to say, <italic> Legal Right of Propetiy +in the Royal-Electoral House of Brandenburg to the Duchies and +Principalities of Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau <end italic> +(Berlin, 7th January, 1741).]--and at Berlin it was generally +thought to be conclusive. I have looked into Ludwig's Deduction, +stern duty urging, in this instance for one: such portions as I +read are nothing like so stupid as was expected; and, in fact, are +not to be called stupid at all, but fit for their purpose, and +moderately intelligible to those who need them,"--which happily we +do not in this place. + +Judicious Mr. Viner availed nothing against the Proposed Address; +any more than he would against the Atlantic Tide, coming in +unanimous, under influence of the Moon itself,--as indeed this +Address, and the triumphant Subsidy which was voted in the rear of +it, may be said to have done. [Coxe, iii. 265.] Subsidy of 300,000 +pounds to her Hungarian Majesty; which, with the 200,000 pounds +already gone that road, makes a handsome Half-million for the +present Year. The first gush of the Britannia Fountain,--which +flowed like an Amalthea's Horn for seven years to come; +refreshing Austria, and all thirsty Pragmatic Nations, to defend +the Keystone of this Universe. Unluckily every guinea of it went, +at the same time, to encourage Austria in scorning King Friedrich's +offers to it; which perhaps are just offers, thinks Mr. Viner; +which once listened to, Pragmatic Sanction would be safe. +[Mr. Viner was of Pupham, or Pupholm, in Lincolnshire, for which +County he sat then, and for many years before and after,--from +about 1713 till 1761, when he died. A solid, instructed man, say +his contemporaries. "He was a friend of Bolingbroke's, and had a +house near Bolingbroke's Battersea one." He is Great great- +grandfather to the present Mr. Viner, and to the Countess de +Grey and Ripon; which is an interesting little fact.] + +This Parliament is strong for Pragmatic Sanction, and has high +resentments against Walpole; in both which points the New +Parliament, just getting elected, will rival and surpass it,-- +especially in the latter point, that of uprooting Walpole, which +the Nation is bent on, with a singular fury. Pragmatic Sanction +like to be ruined; and Walpole furiously thrown out: what a pair of +sorrows for poor George! During his late Caroline's time, all went +peaceably, and that of "governing" was a mere pleasure; Walpole and +Caroline cunningly doing that for him, and making him believe he +was doing it. But now has come the crisis, the collapse; and his +poor Majesty left alone to deal with it!-- + + +No. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORIAN ON THE PHENOMENON OF WALPOLE IN ENGLAND. + +"For above Ten Years, Walpole himself", says my Constitutional +Historian (unpublished), "for almost Twenty Years, Walpole +virtually and through others, has what they call 'governed' +England; that is to say, has adjusted the conflicting Parliamentary +Chaos into counterpoise, by what methods he had; and allowed +England, with Walpole atop, to jumble whither it would and could. +Of crooked things made straight by Walpole, of heroic performance +or intention, legislative or administrative, by Walpole, nobody +ever heard; never of the least hand-breadth gained from the Night- +realm in England, on Walpole's part: enough if he could manage to +keep the Parish Constable walking, and himself float atop. +Which task (though intrinsically zero for the Community, but all- +important to the Walpole, of Constitutional Countries) is a task +almost beyond the faculty of man, if the careless reader knew it! + +"This task Walpole did,--in a sturdy, deep-bellied, long-headed, +John-Bull fashion, not unworthy of recognition. A man of very +forcible natural eyesight, strong natural heart,--courage in him to +all lengths; a very block of oak, or of oakroot, for natural +strength. He was always very quiet with it, too; given to digest +his victuals, and be peaceable with everybody. He had one rule, +that stood in place of many: To keep out of every business which it +was possible for human wisdom to stave aside. 'What good will you +get of going into that? Parliamentary criticism, argument and +botheration? Leave well alone. And even leave ill alone:--are you +the tradesman to tinker leaky vessels in England? You will not want +for work. Mind your pudding, and say little!' At home and abroad, +that was the safe secret. For, in Foreign Politics, his rule was +analogous: 'Mind your own affairs. You are an Island, you can do +without Foreign Politics; Peace, keep Peace with everybody: +what, in the Devil's name, have you to do with those dog-worryings +over Seas? Once more, mind your pudding!' Not so bad a rule; +indeed it is the better part of an extremely good one;--and you +might reckon it the real rule for a pious Rritannic Island +(reverent of God, and contemptuous of the Devil) in times of +general Down-break and Spiritual Bankruptcy, when quarrellings of +Sovereigns are apt to be mere dog-worryings and Devil's work, not +good to interfere in. + +"In this manner, Walpole, by solid John-Bull faculty (and methods +of his own), had balanced the Parliamentary swaggings and +clashings, for a great while; and England had jumbled whither it +could, always in a stupid, but also in a peaceable way. As to those +same 'methods of his own' they were--in fact they were Bribery. +Actual purchase of votes by money slipt into the hand. Go straight +to the point. 'The direct real method this,' thinks Walpole: +'is there in reality any other?' A terrible question to +Constitutional Countries; which, I hear, has never been resolved in +the negative, by the modern improvements of science. Changes of +form have introduced themselves; the outward process, I hear, is +now quite different. According as the fashions and conditions +alter,--according as you have a Fourth Estate developed, or a +Fourth Estate still in the grub stage and only developing,--much +variation of outward process is conceivable. + +"But Votes, under pain of Death Official, are necessary to your +poor Walpole: and votes, I hear, are still bidden for, and bought. +You may buy them by money down (which is felony, and theft simple, +against the poor Nation); or by preferments and appointments of the +unmeritorious man,--which is felony double-distilled (far deadlier, +though more refined), and theft most compound; theft, not of the +poor Nation's money, but of its soul and body so far, and of ALL +its moneys and temporal and spiritual interests whatsoever; +theft, you may say, of collops cut from its side, and poison put +into its heart, poor Nation! Or again, you may buy, not of the +Third Estate in such ways, but of the Fourth, or of the Fourth and +Third together, in other still more felonious and deadly, though +refined ways. By doing clap-traps, namely; letting off +Parliamentary blue-lights, to awaken the Sleeping Swineries, and +charm them into diapason for you,--what a music! Or, without clap- +trap or previous felony of your own, you may feloniously, in the +pinch of things, make truce with the evident Demagogos, and Son of +Nox and of Perdition, who has got 'within those walls' of yours, +and is grown important to you by the Awakened Swineries, risen into +alt, that follow him. Him you may, in your dire hunger of votes, +consent to comply with; his Anarchies you will pass for him into +'Laws,' as you are pleased to term them;--instead of pointing to +the whipping-post, and to his wicked long ears, which are so fit to +be nailed there, and of sternly recommending silence, which were +the salutary thing.--Buying may be done in a great variety of ways. +The question, How you buy? is not, on the moral side, an important +one. Nay, as there is a beauty in going straight to the point, and +by that course there is likely to be the minimum of mendacity for +you, perhaps the direct money-method is a shade less damnable than +any of the others since discovered;--while, in regard to practical +damage resulting, it is of childlike harmlessness in comparison! + +"That was Walpole's method; with this to aid his great natural +faculty, long-headed, deep-bellied, suitable to the English +Parliament and Nation, he went along with perfect success for ten +or twenty years. And it might have been for longer,--had not the +English Nation accidentally come to wish, that it should CEASE +jumbling NO-whither; and try to jumble SOME-whither, at least for a +little while, on important business that had risen for England in a +certain quarter. Had it not been for Jenkins's Ear blazing out in +the dark English brain, Walpole might have lasted still a long +while. But his fate lay there:--the first Business vital to England +which might turn up; and this chanced to be the Spanish War. +How vital, readers shall see anon. Walpole, knowing well enough in +what state his War-apparatus was, and that of all his Apparatuses +there was none in a working state, but the Parliamentary one,-- +resisted the Spanish War; stood in the door against it, with a +rhinoceros determination, nay almost something of a mastiff's; +resolute not to admit it, to admit death as soon. Doubtless he had +a feeling it would be death, the sagacious man;--and such it is now +proving; the Walpole Ministry dying by inches from it; dying hard, +but irremediably. + +"The English Nation was immensely astonished, which Walpole was +not, any more than at the other Laws of Nature, to find Walpole's +War-apparatus in such a condition. All his Apparatuses, Walpole +guesses, are in no better, if it be not the Parliamentary one. +The English Nation is immensely astonished, which Walpole again is +not, to find that his Parliamentary Apparatus has been kept in gear +and smooth-going by the use of OIL: 'Miraculous Scandal of +Scandals!' thinks the English Nation. 'Miracle? Law of Nature, you +fools!' thinks Walpole. And in fact there is such a storm roaring +in England, in those and in the late and the coming months, as +threatens to be dangerous to high roofs,--dangerous to Walpole's +head at one time. Storm such as had not been witnessed in men's +memory; all manner of Counties and Constituencies, with solemn +indignation, charging their representatives to search into that +miraculous Scandal of Scandals, Law of Nature, or whatever it may +be; and abate the same, at their peril. + +"To the now reader there is something almost pathetic in these +solemn indignations, and high resolves to have Purity of Parliament +and thorough Administrative Reform, in spite of Nature and the +Constitutional Stars;--and nothing I have met with, not even the +Prussian Dryasdust, is so unsufferably wearisome, or can pretend to +equal in depth of dull inanity, to ingenuous living readers, our +poor English Dryasdust's interminable, often-repeated Narratives, +volume after volume, of the debatings and colleaguings, the +tossings and tumults, fruitless and endless, in Nation and National +Palaver, which ensued thereupon. Walpole (in about a year hence), +[February 13th (2d), 1742, quitting the House after bad usage +there, said he would never enter it again; nor did: February 22d, +resigned in favor of Pulteney and Company (Tindal, xx. 530; +Thackeray, i. 45).] though he struck to the ground like a +rhinoceros, was got rolled out. And a Successor, and series of +Successors, in the bright brand-new state, was got rolled in; +with immense shouting from mankind:--but up to this date we have no +reason to believe that the Laws of Nature were got abrogated on +that occasion, or that the constitutional stars have much altered +their courses since." + +That Walpole will probably be lost, goes much home to the Royal +bosom, in these troublous Spring months of 1741, as it has done and +will do. And here, emerging from the Spanish Main just now, is a +second sorrow, which might quite transfix the Royal bosom, and +drive Majesty itself to despair; awakening such insoluble +questions,--furnishing such proof, that Walpole and a good few +other persons (persons, and also things, and ideas and practices, +deep-rooted in the Country) stand much in need of being lost, if +England is to go a good road! + +The Spanish War being of moment to us here, we will let our +Constitutional Historian explain, in his own dialect, How it was so +vital to England; and shall even subjoin what he gives as History +of it, such being so admirably succinct, for one quality. + + +No. 3. OF THE SPANISH WAR, OR THE JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION. + +"There was real cause for a War with Spain. It is one of the few +cases, this, of a war from necessity. Spain, by Decree of the +Pope,--some Pope long ago, whose name we will not remember, in +solemn Conclave, drawing accurately 'his Meridian Line,' on I know +not what Telluric or Uranic principles, no doubt with great +accuracy 'between Portugal and Spain,'--was proprietor of all those +Seas and Continents. And now England, in the interim, by Decree of +the Eternal Destinies, had clearly come to have property there, +too; and to be practically much concerned in that theoretic +question of the Pope's Meridian. There was no reconciling of theory +with fact. 'Ours indisputably,' said Spain, with loud articulate +voice; 'Holiness the Pope made it ours!'--while fact and the +English, by Decree of the Eternal Destinies, had been grumbling +inarticulately the other way, for almost two hundred years past, +and no result had. + +"In Oliver Cromwell's time, it used to be said, 'With Spain, in +Europe, there may be peace or war; but between the Tropics it is +always war.' A state of things well recognized by Oliver, and acted +on, according to his opportunities. No settlement was had in +Oliver's brief time; nor could any be got since, when it was +becoming yearly more pressing. Bucaniers, desperate naval gentlemen +living on BOUCAN, or hung beef; who are also called Flibustiers +(FLIBUTIERS, 'Freebooters,' in French pronunciation, which is since +grown strangely into FILIBUSTERS, Fillibustiers, and other mad +forms, in the Yankee Newspapers now current): readers have heard of +those dumb methods of protest. Dumb and furious; which could bring +no settlement; but which did astonish the Pope's Decree, slashing +it with cutlasses and sea-cannon, in that manner, and circuitously +forwarded a settlement. Settlement was becoming yearly more +needful: and, ever since the Treaty of Utrecht especially, there +had been an incessant haggle going on, to produce one; without the +least effect hitherto. What embassyings, bargainings, bargain- +breakings; what galloping of estafettes; acres of diplomatic paper, +now fallen to the spiders, who always privately were the real +owners! Not in the Treaty of Utrecht, not in the Congresses of +Cambray, of Soissons, Convention of Pardo, by Ripperda, Horace +Walpole, or the wagging of wigs, could this matter be settled at +all. Near two hundred years of chronic misery;--and had there been, +under any of those wigs, a Head capable of reading the Heavenly +Mandates, with heart capable of following them, the misery might +have been briefly ended, by a direct method. With what immense +saving in all kinds, compared with the oblique method gone upon! +In quantity of bloodshed needed, of money, of idle talk and +estafettes, not to speak of higher considerations, the saving had +been incalculable. For it was England's one Cause of War during the +Century we are now upon; and poor England's course, when at last +driven into it, went ambiguously circling round the whole Universe, +instead of straight to the mark. Had Oliver Cromwell lived ten +years longer;--but Oliver Cromwell did not live; and, instead of +Heroic Heads, there came in Constitutional Wigs, which makes a +great difference. + +"The pretensions of Spain to keep Half the World locked up in +embargo were entirely chimerical; plainly contradictory to the Laws +of Nature; and no amount of Pope's Donation Acts, or Ceremonial in +Rota or Propaganda, could redeem them from untenability, in the +modern days. To lie like a dog in the manger over South America, +and say snarling, 'None of you shall trade here, though I cannot!' +--what Pope or body of Popes can sanction such a procedure? +Had England had a Head, instead of Wigs, amid its diplomatists, +England, as the chief party interested, would have long since +intimated gently to such dog in the manger: 'Dog, will you be so +obliging as rise! I am grieved to say, we shall have to do +unpleasant things otherwise. Dogs have doors for their hutches: +but to pretend barring the Tropic of Cancer,--that is too big a +door for any dog. Can nobody but you have business here, then, +which is not displeasing to the gods? We bid you rise!' And in this +mode there is no doubt the dog, bark and bite as he might, would +have ended by rising; not only England, but all the Universe being +against him. And furthermore, I compute with certainty, the +quantity of fighting needed to obtain such result would, by this +mode, have been a minimum. The clear right being there, and now +also the clear might, why take refuge in diplomatic wiggeries, in +Assiento Treaties, and Arrangements which are NOT analogous to the +facts; which are but wigged mendacities, therefore; and will but +aggravate in quantity and in quality the fighting yet needed? +Fighting is but (as has been well said) a battering out of the +mendacities, pretences, and imaginary elements: well battered-out, +these, like dust and chaff, fly torrent-wise along the winds, and +darken all the sky; but these once gone, there remain the facts and +their visible relation to one another, and peace is sure. + +"The Assiento Treaty being fixed upon, the English ought to have +kept it. But the English did not, in any measure; nor could pretend +to have done. They were entitled to supply Negroes, in such and +such number, annually to the Spanish Plantations; and besides this +delightful branch of trade, to have the privilege of selling +certain quantities of their manufactured articles on those coasts; +quantities regulated briefly by this stipulation, That their +Assiento Ship was to be of 600 tons burden, so many and no more. +The Assiento Ship was duly of 600 tons accordingly, promise kept +faithfully to the eye; but the Assiento Ship was attended and +escorted by provision-sloops, small craft said to be of the most +indispensable nature to it. Which provision-sloops, and +indispensable small craft, not only carried merchandise as well, +but went and came to Jamaica and back, under various pretexts, with +ever new supplies of merchandise; converting the Assiento Ship into +a Floating Shop, the Tons burden and Tons sale of which set +arithmetic at defiance. This was the fact, perfectly well known in +England, veiled over by mere smuggler pretences, and obstinately +persisted in, so profitable was it. Perfectly well known in Spain +also, and to the Spanish Guarda-Costas and Sea-Captains in those +parts; who were naturally kept in a perennial state of rage by it, +--and disposed to fly out into flame upon it, when a bad case +turned up! Such a case that of Jenkins had seemed to them; +and their mode of treating it, by tearing off Mr. Jenkins's Ear, +proved to be--bad shall we say, or good?--intolerable to England's +thick skin; and brought matters to a crisis, in the ways +we saw." ... + +The Jenkins's-Ear Question, which then looked so mad to everybody, +how sane has it now grown to my Constitutional Friend! In abstruse +ludicrous form there lay immense questions involved in it; +which were serious enough, certain enough, though invisible to +everybody. Half the World lay hidden in embryo under it. +Colonial-Empire, whose is it to be? Shall Half the World be +England's, for industrial purposes; which is innocent, laudable, +conformable to the Multiplication-table at least, and other plain +Laws? Or shall it be Spain's for arrogant-torpid sham-devotional +purposes, contradictory to every Law? The incalculable Yankee +Nation itself, biggest Phenomenon (once thought beautifulest) of +these Ages,--this too, little as careless readers on either side of +the sea now know it, lay involved. Shall there be a Yankee Nation, +shall there not be; shall the New World be of Spanish type, shall +it be of English? Issues which we may call immense. Among the then +extant Sons of Adam, where was he who could in the faintest degree +surmise what issues lay in the Jenkins's-Ear Question? And it is +curious to consider now, with what fierce deep-breathed doggedness +the poor English Nation, drawn by their instincts, held fast upon +it, and would take no denial, as if THEY had surmised and seen. +For the instincts of simple guileless persons (liable to be counted +STUPID, by the unwary) are sometimes of prophetic nature, and +spring from the deep places of this Universe!--My Constitutional +Friend entitles his next Section CARTHAGENA; but might more fitly +have headed it (for such in reality it is, Carthagena proving the +evanescent point of that sad business), + + +SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE SPANISH WAR, WHICH BEGAN IN 1739; +AND ENDED--WHEN DID IT END? + +1. WAR, AND PORTO-BELLO (NOVEMBER, 1739-MARCH, 1740).--"November +4th, 1739, War was at length (after above four months' obscure +quasi-declaring of it, in the shape of Orders in Council, Letters +of Marque, and so on) got openly declared; 'Heralds at Arms at the +usual places' blowing trumpets upon it, and reading the royal +Manifesto, date of which is five days earlier, 'Kensington, October +30th (19th).' The principal Events that ensue, arrange themselves +under Three Heads, this of Porto-Bello being the FIRST; and (by +intense smelting) are datable as follows:--[<italic> Gentleman's +Magazine, <end italic> ix. 551, x. 124, 142, 144, 350; Tindal, +xx. 430-433, 442; &c.] + +"Tuesday Evening, 1st December, 1739, Admiral Vernon, our chosen +Anti-Spaniard, finding, a while ago, that he had missed the Azogue +Ships on the Coast of Spain, and must try America and the Spanish +Main, in that view arrives at Porto-Bello. Next day, December 2d, +Vernon attacks Porto-Bello; attacks certain Castles so called, with +furious broadsiding, followed by scalading; gets surrender (on the +3d);--seamen have allowance instead of plunder;--blows up what +Castles there are; and returns to Port Royal in Jamaica. + +"Never-imagined joy in England, and fame to Vernon, when the news +came: 'Took it with Six Ships,' cry they; 'the scurvy Ministry, who +had heard him, in the fire of Parliamentary debate, say Six, would +grant him no more: invincible Vernon!' Nay, next Year, I see, +'London was illuminated on the Anniversary of Porto-Bello:'-- +day settled in permanence as one of the High-tides of the Calendar, +it would appear. And 'Vernon's Birthday' withal--how touching is +stupidity when loyal!--was celebrated amazingly in all the chief +Towns, like a kind of Christmas, when it came round; Nature having +deigned to produce such a man, for a poor Nation in difficulties. +Invincible Vernon, it is thought by Gazetteers, 'will look in at +Carthagena shortly;' much more important Place, where a certain +Governor Don Blas has been insolent withal, and written +Vernon letters. + +"2. PRELIMINARIES TO CARTHAGENA (MARCH-NOVEMBER, 1740).--Monday, +14th March, 1740, Vernon did, accordingly, look in on Carthagena; +[<italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> x. 350.] cast anchor +in the shallow waste of surfs there, that Monday; and tried some +bombarding, with bomb-ketches and the like, from Thursday till +Saturday following. Vernon hopes he did hit the Jesuits' College, +South Bastion, Custom-house and other principal edifices; but found +that there was no getting near enough on that seaward side. +Found that you must force the Interior Harbor,--a big Inland Gulf +or Lake, which gushes in by what they call LITTLE-MOUTH (Boca- +Chica), and has its Booms, Castles and Defences, which are numerous +and strongish;--and that, for this end, you must have seven or +eight thousand Land Forces, as well as an addition of Ships. +On Saturday Evening, therefore, Vernon calls in his bomb-ketches; +sails past, examining these things; and goes forth on other small +adventures. For example,-- + +"Sunday, 3d April, 1740, 'about 10 at night' opens cannonade on +Chagres (place often enough taken, by cutlass and pistol, in the +Bucanier times); and, on Tuesday, 5th, gets surrender of Chagres: +'Custom-house crammed with goods, which we set fire to.' On news of +which, there is again, in England, joy over the day of small +things. The poor English People are set on this business of +avenging Jenkins's Ear, and of having the Ocean Highway unbarred; +and hope always it can be done by the Walpole Apparatuses, which +ought to be in working order, and are not. 'Support this hero, you +Walpole and Company, in his Carthagena views: it will be better +for you!" + +"Walpole and Company, aware of that fact, do take some trouble +about it; and now, may not we say, PAULLO MAJORA CANAMUS? +All through that Summer, 1740,"--while King Friedrich went rushing +about, to Strasburg, to Wesel; doing his Herstals and +Practicalities, with a light high hand, in almost an entertaining +manner; and intent, still more, on his Voltaires and a Life to the +Muses,--"there was, in England, serious heavy tumult of activity, +secret and public. In the Dockyards, on the Drill-grounds, what a +stir: Camp in the Isle of Wight, not to mention Portsmouth and the +Sea-Industries; 6,000 Marines are to be embarked, as well as Land +Regiments,--can anybody guess whither? America itself is to furnish +'one Regiment, with Scotch Officers to discipline it,' if they can. + +"Here is real haste and effort; but by no means such speed as could +be wished; multiplex confusions and contradictions occurring, as is +usual, when your machinery runs foul. Nor are the Gazetteers +without their guesses, though they study to be discreet. 'Here is +something considerable in the wind; a grand idea, for certain;'-- +and to men of discernment it points surely towards Carthagena and +heroic Vernon out yonder? Government is dumb altogether; and lays +occasional embargo; trying hard (without success), in the delays +that occurred, to keep it secret from Don Blas and others. +The outcome of all which was, + +"3. CARTHAGENA ITSELF (NOVEMBER, 1740--APRIL, 1741).--On November +6th,--by no means 'July 3d,' as your first fond program bore; +which delay was itself likely to be fatal, unless the Almanac, and +course of the Tropical Seasons would delay along with you!--we say, +On Sunday, 6th November, 1740 [Kaiser Karl's Funeral just over, and +great thoughts going on at Reinsberg], Rear-Admiral Sir Chaloner +Ogle,--so many weeks and months after the set time,--does sail from +St. Helen's (guessed, for Carthagena); all people sending blessings +with him. Twenty-five big Ships of the Line, with three Half- +Regiments on board; fireships, bomb-ketches, in abundance; and +eighty Transports, with 6,000 drilled Marines: a Sea-and-Land Force +fit to strengthen Hero Vernon with a witness, and realize his +Carthagena views. A very great day at Portsmouth and St. Helen's +for these Sunday folk. [Tindal, xx. 463 (LISTS, &c. there; date +wrong, "31st October," instead of 26th (o.s.),--many things wrong, +and all things left loose and flabby, and not right! As is poor +Tindal's way).] + +"Most obscure among the other items in that Armada of Sir +Chaloner's, just taking leave of England; most obscure of the items +then, but now most noticeable, or almost alone noticeable, is a +young Surgeon's-Mate,--one Tobias Smollett; looking over the waters +there and the fading coasts, not without thoughts. A proud, soft- +hearted, though somewhat stern-visaged, caustic and indignant young +gentleman. Apt to be caustic in speech, having sorrows of his own +under lock and key, on this and subsequent occasions. +Excellent Tobias; he has, little as he hopes it, something +considerable by way of mission in this Expedition, and in this +Universe generally. Mission to take Portraiture of English +Seamanhood, with the due grimness, due fidelity; and convey the +same to remote generations, before it vanish. Courage, my brave +young Tobias; through endless sorrows, contradictions, toils and +confusions, you will do your errand in some measure; and that will +be something!-- + +"Five weeks before (29th September, 1740, which was also several +months beyond time set), there had sailed, strictly hidden by +embargoes which were little effectual, another Expedition, all +Naval; intended to be subsidiary to this one: Commodore Anson's, of +three inconsiderable Ships; who is to go round Cape Horn, if he +can; to bombard Spanish America from the other side; and stretch +out a hand to Vernon in his grand Carthagena or ulterior views. +Together they may do some execution, if we judge by the old +Bucanier and Queen-Elizabeth experiences? Anson's Expedition has +become famous in the world, though Vernon got no good of it." + +Well! Here truly was a business; not so ill-contrived. Somebody of +head must have been at the centre of this: and it might, in result, +have astonished the Spaniard, and tumbled him much topsy-turvy in +those latitudes,--had the machinery for executing it been well in +gear. Under Friedrich Wilhelm's captaincy and management, every +person, every item, correct to its time, to its place, to its +function, what a thing! But with mere Walpole Machinery: alas, it +was far too wide a Plan for Machinery of that kind, habitually out +of order, and only used to be as correct as--as it could. +Those DELAYS themselves, first to Anson, then to Ogle, since the +Tropical Almanac would not delay along with them, had thrown both +Enterprises into weather such as all but meant impossibility in +those latitudes! This was irremediable;--had not been remediable, +by efforts and pushings here and there. The best of management, as +under Anson, could not get the better of this; worst of management, +as in the other case, was likely to make a fine thing of it! Let us +hasten on:-- + +"January 20th, 1741, We arrive, through much rough weather and +other confused hardships, at Port Royal in Jamaica; find Vernon +waiting on the slip; the American Regiment, tolerably drilled by +the Scotch Lieutenants, in full readiness and equipment; a body of +Negroes superadded, by way of pioneer laborers fit for those hot +climates. One sad loss there had been on the voyage hither: +Land forces had lost their Commander, and did not find another. +General Cathcart had died of sickness on the voyage; a Charles Lord +Cathcart, who was understood to possess some knowledge of his +business; and his Successor, one Wentworth, did not happen to have +any. Which was reckoned unlucky, by the more observant. +Vernon, though in haste for Carthagena, is in some anxiety about a +powerful French Fleet which has been manoeuvring in those waters +for some time; intent on no good that Vernon can imagine. The first +thing now is, See into that French Fleet. French Fleet, on our +going to look in the proper Island, is found to be all off for +home; men 'mostly starved or otherwise dead,' we hear; so that now, +after this last short delay,--To Carthagena with all sail. + +"Wednesday Evening, 15th March, 1741, We anchor in the Playa +Grande, the waste surfy Shallow which washes Carthagena seaward: +124 sail of us, big and little. We find Don Blas in a very prepared +posture. Don Blas has been doing his best, this twelvemonth past; +plugging up that Boca-Chica (LITTLE MOUTH) Ingate, with batteries, +booms, great ships; and has castles not a few thereabouts and in +the Interior Lake or Harbor; all which he has put in tolerable +defence, so far as can be judged: not an inactive, if an insolent +Don. We spend the next five days in considering and surveying these +Performances of his: What is to be done with them; how, in the +first place, we may force Boca-Chica; and get in upon his Interior +Castles and him. After consideration, and plan fixed: + +"Monday, 20th March, Sir Chaloner, with broadsides, sweeps away +some small defences which lie to left of Boca-Chica [to our LEFT, +to Boca-Chica's RIGHT, if anybody cares to be particular]. +Whereupon the Troops land, some of them that same evening; and, +within the next two days, are all ashore, implements, Negroes and +the rest; building batteries, felling wood; intent to capture +Boca-Chica Castle, and demolish the War-Ships, Booms, and fry of +Fascine and other Batteries; and thereby to get in upon Don Blas, +and have a stroke at his Interior Castles and Carthagena itself. +Till April 5th, here are sixteen days of furious intricate work; +not ill done:--the physical labor itself, the building of +batteries, with Boca-Chica firing on you over the woods, is +scarcely do-able by Europeans in that season; and the Negroes who +are able for it, 'fling down their burdens, and scamper, whenever a +gun goes off.' Furious fighting, too, there was, by seamen and +landsmen; not ill done, considering circumstances. + +"On the sixteenth day, April 5th [King Friedrich hurrying from the +Mountains that same day, towards Steinau, which took fire with him +at night], Boca-Chica Castle and the intricate War-Ships, Booms, +and Castles thereabouts (Don Blas running off when the push became +intense), are at last got. So that now, through Boca-Chica, we +enter the Interior Harbor or Harbors. 'Harbors' which are of wide +extent, and deep enough: being in fact a Lake, or rather Pair of +Lakes, with Castles (CASTILLO GRANDE, 'Castle Grand,' the chief of +them), with War-Ships sunk or afloat, and miscellaneous +obstructions: beyond all which, at the farther shore, some five +miles off, Carthagena itself does at last lie potentially +accessible; and we hope to get in upon Don Blas and it. There ensue +five days of intricate sea-work; not much of broadsiding, mainly +tugging out of sunk War-Ships, and the like, to get alongside of +Castle Grand, which is the chief obstruction. + +"April 10, Castle Grand itself is got; nobody found in it when we +storm. Don Blas and the Spaniards seem much in terror; burning any +Ships they still have, near Carthagena; as if there were no chance +now left." This is the very day of Mollwitz Battle; near about the +hour when Schwerin broke into field-music, and advanced with +thunderous glitter against the evening sun! "Carthagena Expedition +is, at length, fairly in contact with its Problem,--the question +rising, 'Do you understand it, then?' + +"Up to this point, mistakes of management had been made good by +obstinate energy of execution; clear victory had gone on so far, +the Capture of Carthagena now seemingly at hand. One thing was +unfortunate: 'the able Mr. Moor [meritorious Captain of Foot, who, +by accident, had spent some study on his business], the one real +Engineer we had,' got killed in that Boca-Chica struggle: an end to +poor Moor! So that the Siege of Carthagena will have to go on +WITHOUT Engineer science henceforth. May be important, that,--who +knows? Another thing was still more palpably important: Sea-General +Vernon had an undisguised contempt for Land-General Wentworth. +'A mere blockhead, whose Brother has a Borough,' thinks Vernon +(himself an Opposition Member, of high-sniffing, angry, not too +magnanimous turn);--and withdraws now to his Ships; intimating: +'Do your Problem, then; I have set you down beside it, which was my +part of the affair!'--Let us give the attack of Fort Lazar, and end +this sad business. + +"Sunday, 16th April, Wentworth, once master of the Uppermost Lake +or Harbor (what the Natives call the SURGIDERO, or Anchorage +Proper), had disembarked, high up to the right, a good way south of +Carthagena; meaning to attack there-from a certain Fort Lazar, +which stands on a Hill between Carthagena and him: this Hill and +Fort once his, he has Carthagena under his cannon; Carthagena in +his pocket, as it were. 'Fort not to be had without batteries,' +thinks Wentworth; though the sickly rainy season has set in. +'Batteries? Scaling-ladders, you mean!' answers Vernon, with +undisguised contempt. For the two are, by this time, almost in open +quarrel. Wentworth starts building batteries, in spite of the rain- +deluges; then stops building;--decides to do it by scalade, after +all. And, at two in the morning of this Sunday, April 16th, sets +forth, in certain columns,--by roads ill-known, with arrangements +that do NOT fit like clock-work,--to storm said Hill and Fort. +The English are an obstinate people; and strenuous execution will +sometimes amend defects of plan,--sometimes not. + +"The obstinate English, nothing in them but sullen fire of valor, +which has to burn UNluminous, did, after mistake on mistake, climb +the rocks or heights of Lazar Hill, in spite of the world and Don +Blas's cannonading; but found, when atop, That Fort Lazar, raining +cannon-shot, was still divided from them by chasms; that the +scaling-ladders had not come (never did come, owing to indiscipline +somewhere),--and that, without wings as of eagles, they could not +reach Fort Lazar at all! For about four hours, they struggled with +a desperate doggedness, to overcome the chasms, to wrench aside the +Laws of Nature, and do something useful for themselves; patiently, +though sulkily; regardless of the storm of shot which killed 600 of +them, the while. At length, finding the Laws of Nature too strong +for them, they descended gloomily: 'in gloomy silence' marched home +to their tents again,--in a humor too deep for words. + +"Yes; and we find they fell sick in multitudes, that night; +and, 'in two days more, were reduced from 6,645 to 3,200 +effective;' Vernon, from the sea, looking disdainfully on:--and it +became evident that the big Project had gone to water; and that +nothing would remain but to return straightway to Jamaica, in +bankrupt condition. Which accordingly was set about. And ten days +hence (April 26th)) the final party of them did get on board,-- +punctual to take 'three tents,' their last rag of Siege-furniture, +along with them; 'lest Don Blas have trophies,' thinks poor +Wentworth. And sailed away, with their sad Siege finished in such +fashion. Strenuous Siege; which, had the War-Sciences been +foolishness, and the Laws of Nature and the rigors of Arithmetic +and Geometry been stretchable entities, might have succeeded +better!" [Smollett's Account, <italic> Miscellaneous Works <end +italic> (Edinburgh, 1806), iv. 445-469, is that of a highly +intelligent Eye-witness, credible and intelligible in +every particular.] + +"Evening of April 26th:"--I perceive it was in the very hours while +Belleisle arrived in Friedrich's Camp at Mollwitz; eve of that +Siege of Brieg, which we saw performing itself with punctual regard +to said Laws and rigors, and issuing in so different a manner! +Nothing that my Constitutional Historian has said equals in pungent +enormity the matter-of-fact Picture, left by Tobias Smollett, of +the sick and wounded, in the interim which follow&d that attempt on +Fort Lazar and the Laws of Nature:-- + +"As for the sick and wounded", says Tobias, "they were, next day, +sent on board of the transports and vessels called hospital-ships; +where they languished in want of every necessary comfort and +accommodation. They were destitute of surgeons, nurses, cooks and +proper provision; they were pent up between decks in small vessels, +where they had not room to sit upright; they wallowed in filth; +myriads of maggots were hatched in the putrefaction of their sores, +which had no other dressing than that of being washed by themselves +with their own allowance of brandy; and nothing was heard but +groans, lamentations and the language of despair, invoking death to +deliver them from their miseries. What served to encourage this +despondence, was the prospect of those poor wretches who had +strength and opportunity to look around them; for there they beheld +the naked bodies of their fellow-soldiers and comrades floating up +and down the harbor, affording prey to the carrion-crows and +sharks, which tore them in pieces without interruption, and +contributing by their stench to the mortality that prevailed. + +"This picture cannot fail to be shocking to the humane reader, +especially when he is informed, that while those miserable objects +cried in vain for assistance, and actually perished for want of +proper attendance, every ship of war in the fleet could have spared +a couple of surgeons for their relief; and many young gentlemen of +that profession solicited their captains in pain for leave to go +and administer help to the sick and wounded. The necessities of the +poor people were well known; the remedy was easy and apparent; +but the discord between the chiefs was inflamed to such a degree of +diabolical rancor, that the one chose rather to see his men perish +than ask help of the other, who disdained to offer his assistance +unasked, though it might have saved the lives of his fellow- +subjects." [Smollett, IBID. (Anderson's Edition), iv. 466.] + +In such an amazing condition is the English Fighting Apparatus +under Walpole, being important for England's self only; while the +Talking Apparatus, important for Walpole, is in such excellent +gearing, so well kept in repair and oil! By Wentworth's blame, who +had no knowledge of war; by Vernon's, who sat famous on the +Opposition side, yet wanted loyalty of mind; by one's blame and +another's, WHOSE it is idle arguing, here is how your Fighting +Apparatus performs in the hour when needed. Unfortunate General, or +General's Cocked-Hat (a brave heart too, they say, though of brain +too vacant, too opaque); unfortunate Admiral (much blown away by +vanity, in-nature and Parliamentary wind);--doubly unfortunate +Nation, that employs such to lead its armaments! How the English +Nation took it? The English Nation has had much of this kind to +take, first and last; and apparently will yet have. "Gloomy +silence," like that of the poor men going home to their tents, is +our only dialect towards it. + +This is a dreadful business, this of the wrecked Carthagena +Expedition; such a force of war-munitions in every kind,-- +including the rare kind, human Courage and force of heart, only not +human Captaincy, the rarest kind,--as could have swallowed South +America at discretion, had there been Captains over it. Has gone +blundering down into Orcus and the shark's belly, in that +unutterable manner. Might have been didactic to Eugland, more than +it was; England's skin being very thick against lessons of that +nature. Might have broken the heart of a little Sovereign Gentleman +Curator of England, had he gone hypochondriacally into it; which he +was far from doing, brisk little Gentleman; looking out else- +whither, with those eyes A FLEUR DE TETE, and nothing of insoluble +admitted into the brain that dwelt inside. + +What became subsequently of the Spanish War, we in vain inquire of +History-Books. The War did not die for many years to come, but +neither did it publicly live; it disappears at this point: a River +Niger, seen once flowing broad enough; but issuing--Does it issue +nowhere, then? Where does it issue? Except for my Constitutional +Historian, still unpublished, I should never have known where.-- +By the time these disastrous Carthagena tidings reached England, +his Britannic Majesty was in Hanover; involved, he, and all his +State doctors, English and Hanoverian, in awful contemplation on +Pragmatic Sanction, Kaiserwahl, Celestial Balance, and the saving +of Nature's Keystone, should this still prove possible to human +effort and contrivance. In which Imminency of Doomsday itself, the +small English-Spanish matter, which the Official people, and his +Majesty as much as any, had bitterly disliked, was quite let go, +and dropped out of view. Forgotten by Official people; left to the +dumb English Nation, whose concern it was, to administer as +IT could. + +Anson--with his three ships gone to two, gone ultimately to one--is +henceforth what Spanish War there officially is. Anson could not +meet those Vernon-Wentworth gentlemen "from the other side of the +Isthmus of Darien," the gentlemen, with their Enterprise, being +already bankrupt and away. Anson, with three inconsiderable ships, +which rotted gradually into one, could not himself settle the +Spanish War: but he did, on his own score, a series of things, +ending in beautiful finis of the Acapulco Ship, which were of +considerable detriment, and of highly considerable disgrace, to +Spain;--and were, and are long likely to be, memorable among the +Sea-heroisms of the world. Giving proof that real Captains, +taciturn Sons of Anak, are still born in England; and Sea-kings, +equal to any that were. Luckily, too, he had some chaplain or +ship's-surgeon on board, who saw good to write account of that +memorable VOYAGE of his; and did it, in brief, perspicuous terms, +wise and credible: a real Poem in its kind, or Romance all Fact; +one of the pleasantest little Books in the World's Library at this +date. Anson sheds some tincture of heroic beauty over that +otherwise altogether hideous puddle of mismanagement, platitude, +disaster; and vindicates, in a pathetically potential way, the +honor of his poor Nation a little. + +Apart from Official Anson, the Spanish War fell mainly, we may say, +into the hands of--of Mr. Jenkins himself, and such Friends of his, +at Wapping, Bristol and the Seaports, as might be disposed to go +privateering. In which course, after some crosses at first, and +great complaints of losses to Spanish Privateers, Wapping and +Bristol did at length eminently get the upper hand; and thus +carried on this Spanish War (or Spanish-French, Spain and France +having got into one boat), for long years coming; in an entirely +inarticulate, but by no means quite ineffectual manner,--indeed, to +the ultimate clearance of the Seas from both French and Spaniard, +within the next twenty years. Readers shall take this little +Excerpt, dated Three Years hence, and set it twinkling in the night +of their imaginations:-- + +BRISTOL, MONDAY, 21st (10th) SEPTEMBER, 1744. ... "Nothing is to be +seen here but rejoicings for the number of French prizes brought +into this port. Our Sailors are in high spirits, and full of money; +and while on shore, spend their whole time in carousing, visiting +their mistresses, going to plays, serenading, &c., dressed out with +laced hats, tossels (SIC), swords with sword-knots, and every other +way of spending their money." [Extract of a Letter from Bristol, in +<italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> xiv. 504.] + +Carthagena, Walpole, Viners: here are Sorrows for a Britannic +Majesty;--and these are nothing like all. But poor readers should +have some respite; brief breathing-time, were it only to use their +pocket-handkerchiefs, and summon new courage! + + + +Chapter XIII. + +SMALL-WAR: FIRST EMERGENCE OF ZIETHEN THE HUSSAR GENERAL INTO NOTICE. + +After Brieg, Friedrich undertook nothing military, except strict +vigilance of Neipperg, for a couple of months or more. Military, +especially offensive operations, are not the methods just now. +Rest on your oars; see how this seething Ocean of European +Politics, and Peace or War, will settle itself into currents, into +set winds; by which of them a man may steer, who happens to have a +fixed port in view. Neipperg, too, is glad to be quiescent; +"my Infantry hopelessly inferior," he writes to head-quarters: +"Could not one hire 10,000 Saxons, think you,"--or do several other +chimerical things, for help? Except with his Pandour people, +working what mischief they can, Neipperg does nothing. But this +Hungarian rabble is extensively industrious, scouring the country +far and wide; and gives a great deal of trouble both to Friedrich +and the peaceable inhabitants. So that there is plenty of Small War +always going on:--not mentionable here, any passage of it, except +perhaps one, at a place called Rothschloss; which concerns a +remarkable Prussian Hussar Major, their famed Ziethen, and is still +remembered by the Prussian public. + +We have heard of Captain, now Major Ziethen, how Friedrich Wilhelm +sent him to the Rhine Campaign, six years ago, to learn the Hussar +Art from the Austrians there. One Baronay (BARONIAY, or even +BARANYAI, as others write him), an excellent hand, taught him the +Art;--and how well he has learned, Baronay now sadly experiences. +The affair of Rothschloss (in abridged form) befell as follows:-- + +"In these Small-War businesses, Baronay, Austrian Major-General of +Hussars, had been exceedingly mischievous hitherto. It was but the +other day, a Prussian regular party had to go out upon him, just in +time; and to RE-wrench 'sixty cart-loads of meal,' wrenched by him +from suffering individuals; with which he was making off to Neisse, +when the Prussians [from their Camp of Mollwitz, where they still +are] came in sight. + +"And now again (May 16th) news is, That Baronay, and 1,400 Hussars +with him, has another considerable set of meal-carts,--in the +Village of Rothschloss, about twenty miles southward, Frankenstein +way; and means to march with them Neisse-ward to-morrow. +Two marches or so will bring him home; if Prussian diligence +prevent not. 'Go instantly,' orders Friedrich,--appointing +Winterfeld to do it: Winterfeld with 300 dragoons, with Ziethen and +Hussars to the amount of 600; which is more than one to two +of Austrians. + +"Winterfeld and Ziethen march that same day; are in the +neighborhood of Rothschloss by nightfall; and take their measures, +--block the road to Neisse, and do other necessary things. And go +in upon Baronay next morning, at the due rate, fiery men both of +them; sweep poor Baronay away, MINUS the meal; who finds even his +road blocked (bridge bursting into cannon-shot upon him, at one +point), instead of bridge, a stream, or slow current of quagmire +for him,--and is in imminent hazard. Ziethen's behavior was +superlative (details of it unintelligible off the ground); +and Baronay fled totally in wreck;--his own horse shot, and at the +moment no other to be had; swam the quagmire, or swashed through +it, 'by help of a tree;" and had a near miss of capture. +Recovering himself on the other side, Baronay, we can fancy, gave a +grin of various expression, as he got into saddle again: 'The arrow +so near killing was feathered from one's own wing, too!'--And +indeed, a day or two after, he wrote Ziethen a handsome Letter to +that effect." [<italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> i. 927; +Orlich, i. 120. <italic> The Life of General de Zieten <end italic> +(English Translation, very ill printed, Berlin, 1803), BY FRAU VON +BLUMENTHAL (a vaguish eloquent Lady, but with access to +information, being a connection of Z.'s), p. 84.] + +Ziethen, for minor good feats, had been made Lieutenant-Colonel, +the very day he marched; his Commission dates May 16th, 1741; +and on the morrow he handsels it in this pretty manner. He is now +forty-two; much held down hitherto; being a man of inarticulate +turn, hot and abrupt in his ways,--liable always to multifarious +obstruction, and unjust contradiction from his fellow-creatures. +But Winterfeld's report on this occasion was emphatic; and Ziethen +shoots rapidly up henceforth; Colonel within the year, General in +1744; and more and more esteemed by Friedrich during their +subsequent long life together. + +Though perhaps the two most opposite men in Nature, and standing so +far apart, they fully recognized one another in their several +spheres. For Ziethen too had good eyesight, though in abstruse +sort:--rugged simple son of the moorlands; nourished, body and +soul, on orthodox frugal oatmeal (so to speak), with a large +sprinkling of fire and iron thrown in! A man born poor: son of some +poor Squirelet in the Ruppin Country;--"used to walk five miles +into Ruppin on Saturday nights," in early life, "and have his hair +done into club, which had to last him till the week following." +[<italic> Militair-Lexikon, <end italic> iv. 310.] A big-headed, +thick-lipped, decidedly ugly little man. And yet so beautiful in +his ugliness: wise, resolute, true, with a dash of high +uncomplaining sorrow in him;--not the "bleached nigger" at all, as +Print-Collectors sometimes call him! No; but (on those oatmeal +terms) the Socrates-Odysseus, the valiant pious Stoic, and much- +enduring man. One of the best Hussar Captains ever built. +By degrees King Friedrich and he grew to be,--with considerable +tiffs now and then, and intervals of gloom and eclipse,--what we +might call sworn friends. On which and on general grounds, Ziethen +has become, like Friedrich himself, a kind of mythical person with +the soldiery and common people; more of a demi-god than any other +of Friedrich's Captains. + +Friedrich is always eagerly in quest of men like Ziethen; +specially so at this time. He has meditated much on the bad figure +his Cavalry made at Mollwitz; and is already drilling them anew in +multiplex ways, during those leisure days he now has,--with evident +success on the next trial, this very Summer. And, as his wont is, +will not rest satisfied there. But strives incessantly, for a +series of summers and years to come, till he bring them to +perfection; or to the likeness of his own thought, which probably +was not far from that. Till at length it can be said his success +became world-famous; and he had such Seidlitzes and Ziethens as +were not seen before or since. + +MAP FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND SILESIAN WAR HERE--------- + + +END OF BOOK 12------- + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 12 + diff --git a/old/12frd10.zip b/old/12frd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a09570 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12frd10.zip |