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diff --git a/old/22frd10.txt b/old/22frd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a26ecb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/22frd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1572 @@ +Project Gutenberg Appendix to History of Friedrich II of Prussia + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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The intercalated bits of Commentary were, +as is evident, all or mostly written at the same time:--these also, +though they are now become, in parts, SUPERFLUOUS to a reader that +has been diligent, I have not thought of changing, where not +compelled. Here and there, especially in the Introductory Part, +some slight additions have crept in;--which the above kind of +reader will possibly enough detect; and may even have, for friendly +reasons, some vestige of interest in assigning to their new date +and comparing with the old. (NOTE OF 1868.) + + + +A DAY WITH FRIEDRICH. +(23d July, 1779.) + +"OBERAMTMANN (Head-Manager) Fromme" was a sister's son of Poet, +Gleim,--Gleim Canon of Halberstadt, who wrote Prussian "grenadier- +songs" in, or in reference to, the Seven-Years War, songs still +printed, but worth little; who begged once, after Friedrich's +death, an OLD HAT of his, and took it with him to Halberstadt +(where I hope it still is); who had a "Temple-of-Honor," or little +Garden-house so named, with Portraits of his Friends hung in it; +who put Jean Paul VERY SOON there, with a great explosion of +praises; and who, in short, seems to have been a very good +effervescent creature, at last rather wealthy too, and able to +effervesce with some comfort;--Oberamtmann Fromme, I say, was this +Gleim's Nephew; and stood as a kind of Royal Land-Bailiff under +Frederick the Great, in a tract of country called the RHYN-LUCH (a +dreadfully moory country of sands and quagmires, all green and +fertile now, some twenty or thirty miles northwest of Berlin); +busy there in 1779, and had been for some years past. He had +originally been an Officer of the Artillery; but obtained his +discharge in 1769, and got, before long, into this employment. +A man of excellent disposition and temper; with a solid and heavy +stroke of work in him, whatever he might be set to; and who in this +OBERAMTMANNSHIP "became highly esteemed." He died in 1798; and has +left sons (now perhaps grandsons or great-grandsons), who continue +estimable in like situations under the Prussian Government. + +One of Fromme's useful gifts, the usefulest of all for us at +present, was "his wonderful talent of exact memory." He could +remember to a singular extent; and, we will hope, on this occasion, +was unusually conscientious to do it. For it so happened, in July, +1779 (23d July), Friedrich, just home from his troublesome Bavarian +War, [Had arrived at Berlin May 27th (Rodenbeck, iii. 201).] and +again looking into everything with his own eyes, determined to have +a personal view of those Moor Regions of Fromme's; to take a day's +driving through that RHYN-LUCH which had cost him so much effort +and outlay; and he ordered Fromme to attend him in the expedition. +Which took effect accordingly; Fromme riding swiftly at the left +wheel of Friedrich's carriage, and loudly answering questions of +his, all day.--Directly on getting home, Fromme consulted his +excellent memory, and wrote down everything; a considerable Paper, +--of which you shall now have an exact Translation, if it be worth +anything. Fromme gave the Paper to Uncle Gleim; who, in his +enthusiasm, showed it extensively about, and so soon as there was +liberty, had it "printed, at his own expense, for the benefit of +poor soldiers' children." ["Gleim's edition, brought out in 1786, +the year of Friedrich's death, is now quite gone,--the Book +undiscoverable. But the Paper was reprinted in an ANEKDOTEN- +SAMMLUNG (Collection of Anecdotes, Berlin, 1787, 8tes STUCK, where +I discover it yesterday (17th July, 1852) in a copy of mine, much +to my surprise; having before met with it in one Hildebrandt's +ANEKDOTEN-SAMMLUNG (Halberstadt, 1830, 4tes STUCK, a rather +slovenly Book), where it is given out as one of the rarest of all +rarities, and as having been specially 'furnished by a Dr. W. +Korte,' being unattainable otherwise! The two copies differ +slightly here and there,--not always to Dr. Korte's advantage, or +rather hardly ever. I keep them both before me in translating" +(MARGINALE OF 1852). + +"The RHYN" or Rhin, is a little river, which, near its higher +clearer sources, we were all once well acquainted with: +considerable little moorland river, with several branches coming +down from Ruppin Country, and certain lakes and plashes there, in a +southwest direction, towards the Elbe valley, towards the Havel +Stream; into which latter, through another plash or lake called +GULPER SEE, and a few miles farther, into the Elbe itself, it +conveys, after a course of say 50 English miles circuitously +southwest, the black drainings of those dreary and intricate +Peatbog-and-Sand countries. "LUCH," it appears, signifies LOCH (or +Hole, Hollow); and "Rhyn-Luch" will mean, to Prussian ears, the +Peatbog Quagmire drained by the RHYN.--New Ruppin, where this +beautiful black Stream first becomes considerable, and of steadily +black complexion, lies between 40 and 50 miles northwest of Berlin. +Ten or twelve miles farther north is REINSBERG (properly +RHYNSBERG), where Friedrich as Crown-Prince lived his happiest few +years. The details of which were familiar to us long ago,--and no +doubt dwell clear and soft, in their appropriate "pale moonlight," +in Friedrich's memory on this occasion. Some time after his +Accession, he gave the place to Prince Henri, who lived there till +1802. It is now fallen all dim; and there is nothing at New Ruppin +but a remembrance. + +To the hither edge of this Rhyn-Luoh, from Berlin, I guess there +may be five-and-twenty miles, in a northwest direction; +from Potsdam, whence Friedrich starts to-day, about, the same +distance north-by-west; "at Seelenhorst," where Fromme waits him, +Friedrich has already had 30 miles of driving,--rate 10 miles an +hour, as we chance to observe. Notable things, besides the Spade- +husbandries he is intent on, solicit his remembrance in this +region. Of Freisack and "Heavy-Peg" with her didactic batterings +there, I suppose he, in those fixed times, knows nothing, probably +has never heard: Freisack is on a branch of this same Rhyn, and he +might see it, to left a mile or two, if he cared. + +But Fehrbellin ("Ferry of BellEEN"), distinguished by the shining +victory which "the Great Elector," Friedrich's Great-Grandfather, +gained there, over the Swedes, in 1675, stands on the Rhyn itself, +about midway; and Friedrich will pass through it on this occasion. +General Ziethen, too, lives near it at Wusterau (as will be seen): +"Old Ziethen," a little stumpy man, with hanging brows and thick +pouting lips; unbeautiful to look upon, but pious, wise, silent, +and with a terrible blaze of fighting-talent in him; full of +obedience, of endurance, and yet of unsubduable "silent rage" +(which has brooked even the vocal rage of Friedrich, on occasion); +a really curious old Hussar General. He is now a kind of mythical +or demigod personage among the Prussians; and was then (1779), and +ever after the Seven-Years War, regarded popularly as their Ajax +(with a dash of the Ulysses superadded),--Seidlitz, another Horse +General, being the Achilles of that service. + +The date of this drive through the moors being "23d July, 1779," we +perceive it is just about two months since Friedrich got home from +the Bavarian War (what they now call "POTATO WAR," so barren was it +in fighting, so ripe in foraging); victorious in a sort;--and that +in his private thought, among the big troubles of the world on both +sides of the Atlantic, the infinitesimally small business of the +MILLER ARNOLD'S LAWSUIT is beginning to rise now and then. +[Supra 415, 429. Preuss, i. 362; &c. &c.] + +Friedrich is now 67 years old; has reigned 39: the Seven-Years War +is 16 years behind us; ever since which time Friedrich has been an +"old man,"--having returned home from it with his cheeks all +wrinkled, his temples white, and other marks of decay, at the age +of 51. The "wounds of that terrible business," as they say, "are +now all healed," perhaps above 100,000 burnt houses and huts +rebuilt, for one thing; and the "ALTE FRITZ," still brisk and wiry, +has been and is an unweariedly busy man in that affair, among +others. What bogs he has tapped and dried, what canals he has dug, +and stubborn strata he has bored through,--assisted by his Prussian +Brindley (one Brenkenhof, once a Stable-boy at Dessau);--and ever +planting "Colonies" on the reclaimed land, and watching how they +get on! As we shall see on this occasion,--to which let us hasten +(as to a feast not of dainties, but of honest SAUERKRAUT and +wholesome herbs), without farther parley. + +Oberamtmann Fromme (whom I mark "Ich") LOQUITUR: "Major-General +Graf von Gortz," whom Fromme keeps strictly mute all day, is a +distinguished man, of many military and other experiences; +much about Friedrich in this time and onwards. [Supra, 399.] +Introduces strangers, &c.; Bouille took him for "Head Chamberlain," +four or five years after this. He is ten years the King's junior; +a Hessian gentleman;--eldest Brother of the Envoy Gortz who in his +cloak of darkness did such diplomacies in the Bavarian matter, +January gone a year, and who is a rising man in that line ever +since. But let Fromme begin:-- [<italic> Anekdoten und Karakterzuge +aus dem Leben Friedrich des Zweyten <end italic> (Berlin, bei +Johann Friedrich Unger, 1787), 8te Sammlung, ss. 15-79.] + +"On the 23d of July, 1779, it pleased his Majesty the King to +undertake a journey to inspect those" mud "Colonies in the Rhyn- +Luch about Neustadt-on-the-Dosse, which his Majesty, at his own +cost, had settled; thereby reclaiming a tract of waste moor (EINEN +ODEN BRUCH URBAR MACHEN) into arability, where now 308 families +have their living. + +"His Majesty set off from Potsdam about 5 in the morning," in an +open carriage, General von Gortz along with him, and horses from +his own post-stations; "travelled over Ferlaudt, Tirotz, +Wustermark, Nauen, Konigshorst, Seelenhorst, Dechau, Fehrbellin," +[See Reimann's KREIS-KARTEN, Nos. 74,73.] and twelve other small +peat villages, looking all their brightest in the morning sun,-- +"to the hills at Stollen, where his Majesty, because a view of all +the Colonies could be had from those hills, was pleased to get out +for a little," as will afterwards be seen.--"Therefrom the journey +went by Hohen-Nauen to Rathenau:" a civilized place, "where his +Majesty arrived about 3 in the afternoon; and there dined, and +passed the night.-- Next morning, about 6, his Majesty continued +his drive into the Magdeburg region; inspected various reclaimed +moors (BRUCHE), which in part are already made arable, and in part +are being made so; came, in the afternoon, about 4, over Ziesar and +Brandenburg, back to Potsdam,--and did not dine till about 4, when +he arrived there, and had finished the Journey." His usual dinner- +hour is 12; the STATE hour, on gala days when company has been +invited, is 1 P.M.,--and he always likes his dinner; and has it of +a hot peppery quality! + +"Till Seelenhorst, the Amtsrath Sach of Konigshorst had ridden +before his Majesty; but here," at the border of my Fehrbellin +district, where with one of his forest-men I was in waiting by +appointment, "the turn came for me. About 8 o'clock A.M. his +Majesty arrived in Seelenhorst; had the Herr General Graf von Gortz +in the carriage with him," Gortz, we need n't say, sitting back +foremost:--here I, Fromme, with my woodman was respectfully in +readiness. "While the horses were changing, his Majesty spoke with +some of the Ziethen Hussar-Officers, who were upon grazing service +in the adjoining villages [all Friedrich's cavalry went out to +GRASS during certain months of the year; and it was a LAND-TAX on +every district to keep its quota of army-horses in this manner,-- +AUF GRASUNG]; and of me his Majesty as yet took no notice. As the +DAMME," Dams or Raised Roads through the Peat-bog, "are too narrow +hereabouts, I could not, ride beside him," and so went before? or +BEHIND, with woodman before? GOTT WEISS! "In Dechau his Majesty got +sight of Rittmeister von Ziethen," old Ajax Ziethen's son, "to whom +Dechau belongs; and took him into the carriage along with him, till +the point where the Dechau boundary is. Here there was again change +of horses. Captain von Rathenow, an old favorite of the King's, to +whom the property of Karvesee in part belongs, happened to be here +with his family; he now went forward to the carriage:-- + +CAPTAIN VON RATHENOW. "'Humblest servant, your Majesty!' +[UNTERTHANIGSTER KNECHT, different from the form of ending letters, +but really of the same import]. + +KING. "'Who are you?' + +CAPTAIN. "'I am Captain von Rathenow from Karvesee.' + +KING (clapping his hands together). "'Mein Gott, dear Rathenow, are +you still alive! ["LEBT ER NOCH, is HE still alive?"--way of +speaking to one palpably your inferior, scarcely now in use even to +servants; which Friedrich uses ALWAYS in speaking to the highest +uncrowned persons: it gives a strange dash of comic emphasis often +in his German talk:] I thought you were long since dead. How goes +it with you 7 Are you whole and well?" + +CAPTAIN. "'O ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Mein Gott, how fat He has (you are) grown!' + +CAPTAIN. "'Ja, your Majesty, I can still eat and drink; only the +feet get lazy' [won't go so well, WOLLEN NICHT FORT]. + +KING. "'Ja! that is so with me too. Are you married?' + +CAPTAIN. "'Yea, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Is your wife among the ladies yonder?' + +CAPTAIN. "'Yea, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Bring her to me, then!' [TO HER, TAKING OFF HIS HAT] +'I find in your Herr Husband a good old friend.' + +FRAU VON RATHENOW. "'Much grace and honor for my husband!' + +KING. "'What were YOU by birth?' ["WAS SIND SIE," the respectful +word, "FUR EINE GEBORNE?"] + +FRAU. "'A Fraulein von Krocher.' + +KING. "'Haha! A daughter of General von Krocher's?' + +FRAU. "'JA, IHRO MAJESTAT.' + +KING. "'Oh, I knew him very well.'--[TO RATHENOW] 'Have you +children too, Rathenow?' + +CAPTAIN. "'Yes, your Majesty. My sons are in the service,' +soldiering; 'and these are my daughters.' + +KING. "'Well, I am glad of that (NUN, DAS FREUT MICH). Fare HE +well. Fare He well.' + +"The road now went upon Fehrbellin; and Forster," Forester, "Brand, +as woodkeeper for the King in these parts, rode along with us. +When we came upon the patch of Sand-knolls which lie near +Fehrbellin, his Majesty cried:-- + +"'Forester, why aren't these sand-knolls sown?' + +FORESTER. "'Your Majesty, they don't belong to the Royal Forest; +they belong to the farm-ground. In part the people do sow them with +all manner of crops. Here, on the right hand, they have sown +fir-cones (KIENAPFEL)'. + +KING. "'Who sowed them?' + +FORESTER. "'The Oberamtmann [Fromme] here.' + +THE KING (TO ME). "'Na! Tell my Geheimer-Rath Michaelis that the +sand-patches must be sown.'--[TO THE FORESTER] 'But do you know how +fir-cones (KIENAPFEL) should be sown?' + +FORESTER. "'O ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Na! [a frequent interjection of Friedrich's and his +Father's], how are they sown, then? From east to west, or from +north to south?' ["VAN MORGEN GEGEN ABEND, ODER VAN ABEND GEGEN +MORGEN?" so in ORIG. (p. 22);--but, surely, except as above, it has +no sense? From north to south, there is but one fir-seed sown +against the wind; from east to west, there is a whole row.] + +FORESTER. "'From east to west.' + +KING. "'That is right. But why?' + +FORESTER. "'Because the most wind comes from the west.' + +KING. "'That's right.' + +"Now his Majesty arrived at Fehrbellin; spoke there with Lieutenant +Probst of the Ziethen Hussar regiment, [Probst is the leftmost +figure in that Chodowiecki Engraving of the famous Ziethen-and- +Friedrich CHAIR-scene, five years after this. (Supra. 374 n.)] and +with the Fehrbellin Postmeister, Captain von Mosch. So soon as the +horses were to, we continued our travel; and as his Majesty was +driving close by my Big Ditches," GRABEN, trenches, main-drains, +"which have been made in the Fehrbellin LUCH at the King's expense, +I rode up to the carriage, and said:-- + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, these now are the two new Drains, which by +your Majesty's favor we have got here; and which keep the Luch dry +for us.' + +KING. "'So, so; that I am glad of!--Who is He (are you)?' + +FROMME. "'Your Majesty, I am the Beamte here of Fehrbellin.' + +KING. "'What 's your name?' + +ICH. "'Fromme.' + +KING. "'Ha, ha! you are a son of the Landrath Fromme's.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty's pardon. My father was Amtsrath in the +AMT Luhnin.' + +KING. "'Amtsrath? Amtsrath? That isn't true! Your father was +Landrath. I knew him very well.--But tell me now (SAGT MIR EINMAL) +has the draining of the Luch been of much use to you here?' + +ICH. "'O ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Do you keep more cattle than your predecessor?' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty. On this farm I keep 40 more; on all the +farms together 70 more.' + +KING. "'That is right. The murrain (VIEHSEUCHE) is not here in +this quarter?' + +ICH. "'No, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Have you had it here?' + +ICH. "'Ja.' + +KING. "'Do but diligently use rock-salt, you won't have the +murrain again.' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty, I do use it too; but kitchen salt has +very nearly the same effect.' + +KING. "'No, don't fancy that! You must n't pound the rock-salt +small, but give it to the cattle so that they can lick it.' + +ICH. "'Yes, it shall be done.' + +KING. "'Are there still improvements needed here?' + +ICH. "'O ja, your Majesty. Here lies the Kemmensee [Kemmen-lake]: +if that were drained out, your Majesty would gain some 1,800 acres +[MORGEN, three-fifths English acre] of pasture-land, where +colonists could be settled; and then the whole country would have +navigation too, which would help the village of Fehrbellin and the +town of Ruppin to an uncommon degree.' + +KING. "'I suppose so! Be a great help to you, won't it; and many +will be ruined by the job, especially the proprietors of the ground +NICHT WAHR?' [Ha?] + +ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon [EW. MAJESTAT HALTEN ZU +GNADEN,--hold me to grace]: the ground belongs to the Royal Forest, +and there grows nothing but birches on it.' + +KING. "'Oh, if birchwood is all it produces, then we may see! +But you must not make your reckoning without your host either, that +the cost may not outrun the use.' + +ICH. "'The cost will certainly not outrun the use. For, first, your +Majesty may securely reckon that eighteen hundred acres will be won +from the water; that will be six-and-thirty colonists, allowing +each 50 acres. And now if there were a small light toll put upon +the raft-timber and the ships that will frequent the new canal, +there would be ample interest for the outlay.' + +KING. "'Na, tell my Geheimer-Rath Michaelis of it. The man +understands that kind of matters; and I will advise you to apply to +the man in every particular of such things, and wherever you know +that colonists can be settled. I don't want whole colonies at once; +but wherever there are two or three families of them, I say apply +to that man about it.' + +ICH. "'It shall he done, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Can't I see Wusterau,' where old Ajax Ziethen lives, +'from here?' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty; there to the right, that is it.' +It BELONGS to General von Ziethen; and terrible BUILDING he has had +here,--almost all his life! + +KING. "'Is the General at home?' + +ICH. "'Ja.' + +KING. "'How do you know?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, the Rittmeister von Lestock lies in my village +on GRAZING service; and last night the Herr General sent a letter +over to him by a groom. In that way I know it.' + +KING. "'Did General von Ziethen gain, among others, by the draining +of the Luch?' + +ICH. "'O ja; the Farm-stead there to the right he built in +consequence, and has made a dairy there, which he could not have +done, had not the Luch been drained.' + +KING. "'That I am glad of!--What is the Beamte's name in Alt- +Ruppin?' [Old Ruppin, I suppose, or part of its endless "RUPPIN or +RHYN MERE," catches the King's eye.] + +ICH. "'Honig.' + +KING. "'How long has he been there?' + +ICH. "'Since Trinity-term.' + +KING. "'Since Trinity-term! What was he before?' + +ICH. "'Kanonious' [a canon]. + +KING. "'Kanonicus? Kanonicus? How the Devil comes a Kanonicus to be +a Beamte?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, he is a young man who has money, and wanted to +have the honor of being a Beamte of your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Why did n't the old one stay?' + +ICH. "'Is dead.' + +KING. "'Well, the widow might have kept his AMT, then!' + +ICH. "'Is fallen into poverty.' + +KING. "'By woman husbandry!' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty's pardon! She cultivated well, but a heap of +mischances brought her down: those may happen to the best +husbandman. I myself, two years ago, lost so many cattle by the +murrain, and got no remission: since that, I never can get on +again either.' + +KING. "'My son, to-day I have some disorder in my left ear, and +cannot hear rightly on that side of my head' (!). + +ICH. "'It is a pity that Geheimer-Rath Michaelis has got the very +same disorder!'--I now retired a little back from the carriage; +I fancied his Majesty might take this answer ill. + +KING. "'Na, Amtmann, forward! Stay by the carriage; but TAKE CARE +OF YOURSELF, THAT YOU DON'T GET HURT. SPEAK LOUD, I UNDERSTAND VERY +WELL.' These words marked in Italics [capitals] his Majesty +repeated at least ten times in the course of the journey. 'Tell me +now, what is that village over on the right yonder?' + +ICH. "'Langen.' + +KING. "'To whom does it belong?' + +ICH. "'A third part of it to your Majesty, under the AMT of Alt- +Ruppin; a third to Herr von Hagen; and then the High Church (DOHM) +of Berlin has also tenants in it.' + +KING. "'You are mistaken, the High Church of Magdeburg.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon, the High Church of Berlin.' + +KING. "'But it is not so; the High Church of Berlin has no tenants!' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon, the High Church of Berlin +has three tenants in the village Karvesen in my own AMT.' + +KING. "'You mistake, it is the High Church of Magdeburg.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, I must be a bad Beamte, if I did not know what +tenants and what lordships there are in my own AMT.' + +KING. "'Ja, then you are in the right!--Tell me now: here on the +right there must be an estate, I can't think of the name; name me +the estates that lie here on the right.' + +ICH. "'Buschow, Rodenslieben, Sommerfeld, Beetz, Karbe.' + +KING. "'That's it, Karbe! To whom belongs that?' + +ICH. "'To Herr von Knesebeck.' + +KING. "'Was he in the service?' + +ICH. "'Yes, Lieutenant or Ensign in the Guards.' + +KING. "'In the Guards? [COUNTING ON HIS FINGERS.] You are right: +he was Lieutenant in the Guards. I am very glad the Estate is still +in the hands of the Knesebecks.--Na, tell me though, the road that +mounts up here goes to Ruppin, and here to the left is the grand +road for Hamburg?' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Do you know how long it is since I was here last?' + +ICH. "'No.' + +KING. "'It is three-and-forty years. Cannot I see Ruppin +somewhere here?' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty: the steeple rising there over the firs, +that is Ruppin.' + +KING (leaning out of the carriage with his prospect-glass). +"'Ja, ja, that is it, I know it yet. Can I see Drammitz hereabouts?' + +ICH. "'No, your Majesty: Drammitz lies too far to the left, close +on Kiritz.' + +KING. "'Sha'n't we see it, when we come closer?' + +ICH. "'Maybe, about Neustadt; but I am not sure.' + +KING. "'Pity, that. Can I see Pechlin?' + +ICH. "'Not just now, your Majesty; it lies too much in the hollow. +Who knows whether your Majesty will see it at all!' + +KING. "'Na, keep an eye; and if you see it, tell me. Where is the +Beamte of Alt-Ruppin?' + +ICH. "'In Protzen, where we change horses, he will be.' + +KING. "'Can't we yet see Pechlin?' + +ICH. "'No, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'To whom belongs it now?' + +ICH. "'To a certain Schonermark.' + +KING. "'Is he of the Nobility?' + +ICH. "'No.' + +KING. "'Who had it before him?' + +ICH. "'The Courier (FELDJAGER) Ahrens; he got it by inheritance +from his father. The property has always been in commoners' +(BURGERLICHEN) hands. + +KING. "'That I am aware of. How call we the village here +before us?' + +ICH. "'Walcho.' + +KING. "'To whom belongs it?' + +ICH. "'To you, your Majesty, under the Amt Alt-Ruppin.' + +KING. "'What is the village here before us?' + +ICH. "'Protzen.' + +KING. "'Whose is it?' + +ICH. "'Herr von Kleist's.' + +KING. "'What Kleist is that?' + +ICH. "'A son of General Kleist's.' + +KING. "'Of what General Kleist's.' + +ICH. "'His brother was FLUGELADJUTANT [WING-adjutant, whatever that +may be] with your Majesty; and is now at Magdeburg, Lieutenant- +Colonel in the Regiment Kalkstein.' + +KING. "'Ha, ha, that one! I know the Kleists very well. Has this +Kleist been in the service too?' + +ICH. "'Yea, your Majesty; he was ensign in the regiment +Prinz Ferdinand.' + +KING. "'Why did the man seek his discharge?' + +ICH. "'That I do not know.' + +KING. "'You may tell me, I have no view in asking: why did the man +take his discharge?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, I really cannot say.' + +"We had now got on to Protzen. I perceived old General van Ziethen +standing before the Manor-house in Protzen,"--rugged brave old +soul; with his hanging brows, and strange dim-fiery pious old +thoughts!--"I rode forward to the carriage and said:-- + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, the Herr General von Ziethen is [are, SIND] +also here.' + +KING. "'Where? where? Oh, ride forward, and tell the people to draw +up; they must halt, I'll get out.' + +"And now his Majesty got out; and was exceedingly delighted at the +sight of Herr General von Ziethen; talked with him and Herr von +Kleist of many things: Whether the draining of the Luch had done +him good; Whether the murrain had been there among their cattle?-- +and recommended rock-salt against the murrain. Suddenly his Majesty +stept aside, turned towards me, and called: 'Amtmann! [THEN CLOSE +INTO MY EAR] Who is the fat man there with the white coat?' + +ICH (ALSO CLOSE INTO HIS MAJESTY'S EAR). "'Your Majesty, that is +the Landrath Quast, of the Ruppin Circle.' + +KING. "'Very well.' + +"Now his Majesty went back to General von Ziethen and Herr von +Kleist, and spoke of different things. Herr von Kleist presented +some very fine fruit to his Majesty; all at once his Majesty turned +round, and said: 'Serviteur, Herr Landrath!'--As the Landrath ["fat +man there with the white coat"] was stepping towards his Majesty, +said his Majesty: 'Stay he there where he is; I know him. He is the +Landrath von Quast!'["Very good indeed, old Vater Fritz; let him +stand there in his white coat, a fat, sufficiently honored man!-- +Chodowiecki has an engraving of this incident;--I saw IT at the +British Museum once, where they have only seven others on Friedrich +altogether, all in one poor GOTHA ALMANAC; very small, very coarse, +but very good: this Quast (Anglice 'Tassel') was one of them" +(MARGINALE OF 1862).] + +"They had now yoked the horses. His Majesty took a very tender +leave of old General von Ziethen, waved an adieu to those about, +and drove on. Although his Majesty at Protzen would not take any +fruit, yet when once we were out of the village, his Majesty took a +luncheon from the carriage-pocket for himself and the Herr General +Graf von Gortz, and, all along, during the drive, ate apricots +(IMMER PFIRSCHE). + +At starting, his Majesty had fancied I was to stop here, and called +out of the carriage: 'Amtmann, come along with us!' + +KING. "'Where is the Beamte of Alt-Ruppin?' + +ICH. "'Apparently he must be unwell; otherwise he would have been +in Protzen at the change of horses there' ["at the VORSPANN:" Yes; +--and Manor-house, EDELHOF, where old Ziethen waited, was lower +down the street, and SOONER than the Post-house?] + +KING. "'Na, tell me now, don't you really know why that Kleist at +Protzen took his discharge?' [VOILA!] + +ICH. "'No, your Majesty, I really do not.' + +KING. "'What village is this before us?' + +ICH. "'Manker.' + +KING. "'And whose?' + +ICH. "'Yours, your Majesty, in the AMT Alt-Ruppin.' + +KING (looking round on the harvest-fields). "'Here you, now: +how are you content with the harvest?' + +ICH. "'Very well, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Very well? And to me they said, Very ill!' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, the winter-crop was somewhat frost-nipt; +but the summer-crop in return is so abundant it will richly make up +for the winter-crop.' His Majesty now looked round upon the fields, +shock standing upon shock. + +KING. "'It is a good harvest, you are right; shock stands close by +shock here!' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty; and the people here make STEIGS (mounts) +of them too.' + +KING. "'Steigs, what is that?' + +ICH. "'That is 20 sheaves piled all together.' + +KING. "'Oh, it is indisputably a good harvest. But tell me, though, +why did Kleist of Protzen take his discharge?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, I do not know. I suppose he was obliged to +take his father's estates in hand: no other cause do I know of.' + +KING. "'What's the name of this village we are coming to?' + +ICH. "'Garz.' + +KING. "'To whom belongs it?' + +ICH. "'To the Kriegsrath von Quast.' + +KING. "'To WHOM belongs it?' + +ICH. "'To Kriegsrath von Quast.' + +KING. "'EY WAS [pooh, pooh]! I know nothing of Kriegsraths!--To +whom does the Estate belong?' + +ICH. "'To Herr von Quast.' Friedrich had the greatest contempt for +Kriegsraths, and indeed for most other RATHS or titular shams, +labelled boxes with nothing in the inside: on a horrible winter- +morning (sleet, thunder, &c.), marching off hours before sunrise, +he has been heard to say, 'Would one were a Kriegsrath! + +KING. "'Na, that is the right answer.' + +"His Majesty now arrived at Garz. The changing of the horses was +managed by Herr von Luderitz of Nackeln, as first Deputy of the +Ruppin Circle. He had his hat on, and a white feather in it. +When the yoking was completed, our journey proceeded again. + +KING. "'To whom belongs this estate on the left here?' + +ICH. "'To Herr van Luderitz; it is called Nackeln.' + +KING. "'What Luderitz is that?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, he that was in Garz while the horses +were changing.' + +KING. "'Ha, ha, the Herr with the white feather!--Do you sow +wheat too?' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'How much have you sown?' + +ICH. "'Three WISPELS 12 SCHEFFELS,' unknown measures! + +KING. "'How much did your predecessor use to sow?' + +ICH. "'Four scheffels.' + +KING. "'How has it come that you sow so much more than he?' + +ICH. "'As I have already had the honor to tell your Majesty that I +keep seventy head of cows more than he, I have of course more +manure for my ground, and so put it in a better case for +bearing wheat.' + +KING. "'But why do you grow no hemp?' + +ICH. "'It would not answer here. In a cold climate it would answer +better. Our sailors can buy Russian hemp in Lubeck cheaper, and of +better quality than I could grow here.' + +KING. "'What do you sow, then, where you used to have hemp?' + +ICH. "'Wheat!' + +KING. "'Why do you sow no Farbekraut, ["DYE-HERB:" commonly called +"FARBERROTHE;" yields a coarse RED, on decoction of the twigs and +branches; from its roots the finer red called "KRAPP" (in French +GARANCE) is got.] no Krapp?' + +ICH. "'It will not prosper; the ground is n't good enough.' + +KING. "'That is people's talk: you should have made the trial.' + +ICH. "'I did make the trial; but it failed; and as Beamte I cannot +make many trials; for, let them fail or not, the rent must +be paid.' + +KING. "'What do you sow, then, where you would have put Farbekraut?' + +ICH. "'Wheat.' + +KING. "'Na! Then stand by wheat!--Your tenants are in good case, +I suppose?' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty. I can show by the Register of Hypothecks +(HYPOTHEKENBUCH) that they have about 50 thousand thalers of +capital among them.' + +KING. "'That is good.' + +ICH. "'Three years ago a tenant died who had 11,000 thalers,' say +2,000 pounds, 'in the Bank.' + +KING. "'How much?' + +ICH. "'Eleven thousand thalers.' + +KING. "'Keep them so always!' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty, it is very good that the tenant have +money; but he becomes mutinous too, as the tenants hereabouts do, +who have seven times over complained to your Majesty against me, to +get rid of the HOFDIENST,' stated work due from them. + +KING. "'They will have had some cause too!' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty will graciously pardon: there was an +investigation gone into, and it was found that I had not oppressed +the tenants, but had always gone upon my right, and merely held +them to do their duty. Nevertheless the matter stood as it was: +the tenants are not punished; your Majesty puts always the tenants +in the right, the poor Beamte is always in the wrong!' + +KING. "'Ja: that you, my son, will contrive to get justice, you, I +cannot but believe! You will send your Departmentsrath [Judge of +these affairs] such pretty gifts of butter, capons, poults!' + +ICH. "'No, your Majesty, we cannot. Corn brings no price: if one +did not turn a penny with other things, how could one raise the +rent at all?' + +KING. "'Where do you send your butter, capons and poults (PUTER) +for sale?' + +ICH. "'To Berlin.' + +KING. "'Why not to Ruppin?' + +ICH. "'Most of the Ruppin people keep cows, as many as are needed +for their own uses. The soldier eats nothing but old [salt] butter, +he cannot buy fresh.' + +KING. "'What do you get for your butter in Berlin?' + +ICH. "'Four groschen the pound; now the soldier at Ruppin buys his +salt butter at two.' + +KING. "'But your capons and poults, you could bring these +to Ruppin?' + +ICH. "'In the regiment there are just four Staff-Officers; they can +use but little: the burghers don't live delicately; they thank God +when they can get a bit of pork or bacon.' + +KING. "'Yes, there you are in the right! The Berliners, again, like +to eat some dainty article.--Na! do what you will with the tenants +[UNTERTHANEN, not quite ADSCRIPTS at that time on the Royal +Demesnes, but tied to many services, and by many shackles, from +which Friedrich all his days was gradually delivering them]; +only don't oppress them.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, that would never be my notion, nor any +reasonable Beamte's.' + +KING. "'Tell me, then, where does Stollen lie?' + +ICH. "'Stollen your Majesty cannot see just here. Those big hills +there on the left are the hills at Stollen; there your Majesty will +have a view of all the Colonies.' + +KING. "'So? That is well. Then ride you with us thither.' + +"Now his Majesty came upon a quantity of peasants who were mowing +rye; they had formed themselves into two rows, were wiping their +scythes, and so let his Majesty drive through them. + +KING. "'What the Devil, these people will be wanting money from me, +I suppose?' + +ICH. "'Oh no, your Majesty! They are full of joy that you are so +gracious as to visit this district.' + +KING. "'I'll give them nothing, though.--What village is that, +there ahead of us?' + +ICH. "'Barsekow.' + +KING. "'To whom belongs it?' + +ICH. "'To Herr von Mitschepfal.' + +KING. "'What Mitschepfal is that?' + +ICH. "'He was Major in the regiment which your Majesty had when +Crown-Prince.' [Supra, vii. 403.] + +KING. "'Mein Gott! Is he still alive?' + +ICH. "'No, HE is dead; his daughter has the estate.' + +"We now came into the village of Barsekow, where the Manor-house is +in ruins. + +KING. "'Hear! Is that the manor-house (EDELHOF)?' + +ICH. "'Ja.' + +KING. "'That does look miserable.' Here Mitschepfal's daughter, who +has married a baronial Herr von Kriegsheim from Mecklenburg, came +forward while the horses were changing. Kriegsheim came on account +of her into this country: the King has given them a Colony of 200 +MORGEN (acres). Coming to the carriage, Frau von Kriegsheim +handed some fruit to his Majesty. His Majesty declined with thanks; +asked, who her father was, when he died, &c. On a sudden, she +presented her husband; began to thank for the 200 MORGEN; +mounted on the coach-step; wished to kiss, if not his Majesty's +hand, at least his coat. His Majesty shifted quite to the other +side of the carriage, and cried"--good old Fritz!--"'Let be, my +daughter, let be! It is all well!--Amtmann, let us get along (MACHT +DASS WIR FORTKOMMEN)!' + +KING. "'Hear now: these people are not prospering here?' + +ICH. "'Far from it, your Majesty; they are in the greatest poverty.' + +KING. "'That is bad.--Tell me though; there lived a Landrath here +before: he had a quantity of children: can't you recollect +his name?' + +ICH. "'That will have been the Landrath von Gorgas of Genser.' + +KING. "'Ja, ja, that was he. Is he dead now?' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty. He died in 1771: and it was very singular; +in one fortnight he, his wife and four sons all died. The other +four that were left had all the same sickness too, which was a hot +fever; and though the sons, being in the Army, were in different +garrisons, and no brother had visited the other, they all got the +same illness, and came out of it with merely their life left.' + +KING. "'That was a desperate affair (VERZWEIFELTER UMSTAND +GEWESEN)! Where are the four sons that are still in life?' + +ICH. "'One is in the Ziethen Hussars, one in the Gens-d'-Armes, +another was in the regiment Prinz Ferdinand, and lives on the +Estate Dersau. The fourth is son-in-law of Herr General von +Ziethen. He was lieutenant in the Ziethen Regiment; but in the last +war (POTATO-WAR, 1778), on account of his ill health, your Majesty +gave him his discharge; and he now lives in Genser.' + +KING. "'So? That is one of the Gorgases, then!--Are you still +making experiments with the foreign kinds of corn?' + +ICH. "'O ja; this year I have sown Spanish barley. But it will not +rightly take hold; I must give it up again. However, the Holstein +STOOLing-rye (STAUDENROGGEN) has answered very well.' + +KING. "'What kind of rye is that?' + +ICH. "'It grows in Holstein in the Low Grounds (NIEDERUNG). +Never below the 10th grain [10 reaped for 1 sown] have I yet +had it.' + +KING. "'Nu, nu [Ho, ho], surely not the 10th grain all at once!' + +ICH. "'That is not much. Please your Majesty to ask the Herr +General von Gortz [who has not spoken a syllable all day]; he knows +this is not reckoned much in Holstein:'--(the General Graf von +Gortz I first had the honor to make acquaintance with in Holstein). + +"They now talked, for a while, of the rye, in the carriage +together. Presently his Majesty called to me from the carriage, +'Na, stand by the Holstein STAUDEN-rye, then; and give some to the +tenants too.' + +ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'But give me some idea: what kind of appearance had the Luch +before it was drained?' + +ICH. "'It was mere high rough masses of hillocks (HULLEN); +between them the water settled, and had no flow. In the driest +years we couldn't cart the hay out, but had to put it up in big +ricks. Only in winter, when the frost was sharp, could we get it +home. But now we have cut away the hillocks; and the trenches that +your Majesty got made for us take the water off. And now the Luch +is as dry as your Majesty sees, and we can carry out our hay when +we please.' + +KING. "'That is well. Have your tenants, too, more cattle +than formerly?' + +ICH. "'Ja!' + +KING. "'How many more?' + +ICH. "'Many have one cow, many two, according as their +means admit.' + +KING. "'But how many more have they in all? About how many, +that is?' + +ICH. "'About 150 head.' + +"His Majesty must lately have asked the Herr General von Gortz, how +I came to know him,--as I told his Majesty to ask General von Gortz +about the Holstein rye;--and presumably the Herr General must have +answered, what was the fact, That he had first known me in +Holstein, where I dealt in horses, and that I had been at Potsdam +with horses. Suddenly his Majesty said: 'Hear! I know you are fond +of horses. But give up that, and prefer cows; you will find your +account better there.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, I no longer deal in horses. I merely rear a +few foals every year.' + +KING. "'Rear calves instead; that will be better.' + +ICH. "'Oh, your Majesty, if one takes pains with it, there is no +loss in breeding horses. I know a man who got, two years ago, 1,000 +thalers for a stallion of his raising.' + +KING. "'He must have been a fool that gave it.' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, he was a Mecklenburg nobleman.' + +KING. "'But nevertheless a fool.' + +"We now came upon the territory of the Amt Neustadt; and here the +Amtsrath Klausius, who has the Amt in farm, was in waiting on the +boundary, and let his Majesty drive past. But as I began to get +tired of the speaking, and his Majesty went on always asking about +villages, which stand hereabouts in great quantity, and I had +always to name the owner, and say what sons he had in the Army,--I +brought up Herr Amtsrath Klausius to the carriage, and said:-- + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, this is the Amtsrath Klausius, of the Amt +Neustadt, in whose jurisdiction the Colonies are.' + +KING. "'So, so! that is very good (DAS IST MIR LIEB). +Bring him up.' + +KING. "'What's your name?' (from this point the King spoke mostly +with Amtsrath Klausius, and I only wrote down what I heard). + +KL. "'Klausius.' + +KING. "'Klau-si-us. Na, have you many cattle here on the Colonies?' + +KL. "'1,887 head of cows, your Majesty. There would have been above +3,000, had it not been for the murrain that was here.' + +KING. "'Do the people too increase well? Are there jolly children?' + +KL. "'O ja, your Majesty; there are now 1,576 souls upon +the Colonies.' + +KING. "'Are you married too?' + +KL. "'Ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'And have you children?' + +KL. "'Step-children, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Why not of your own?' + +KL. "'Don't know that, your Majesty; as it happens.' + +KING. "'Hear: Is it far to the Mecklenburg border, here where +we are?' + +KL. "'Only a short mile [5 miles English]. But there are some +villages scattered still within the boundary which belong to +Brandenburg. There are Stetzebart, Rosso and so on.' + +KING. "'Ja, ja, I know them. But I should not have thought we were +so near upon the Mecklenburg country.' [TO THE HERR AMTSRATH +KLAUSIUS] 'Where were you born?' + +KL. "'At Neustadt on the Dosse.' + +KING. "'What was your father?' + +KL. "'Clergyman.' + +KING. "'Are they good people, these Colonists? The first generation +of them is n't usually good for much.' + +KL. "'They are getting on, better or worse.' + +KING. "'Do they manage their husbandry well?' + +KL. "'O ja, your Majesty. His Excellency the Minister von Derschau, +too, has given me a Colony of 75 acres, to show the other Colonists +a good example in management.' + +KING (smiling). "'Ha, ha! good example! But tell me, I see no wood +here: where do the Colonists get their timber?' + +KL. "'From the Ruppin district.' + +KING. "'How far is that?' + +KL. "'3 miles' [15 English]. + +KING. "'Well, that's a great way . It should have been contrived +that they could have it nearer hand.' [TO ME] 'What man is that to +the right there?' + +ICH. "'Bauinspector [Buildings-Inspector] Menzelius, who has charge +of the buildings in these parts.' + +KING. "'Am I in Rome? They are mere Latin names!--Why is that +hedged in so high?' + +ICH. "'That is the mule-stud.' + +KING. "'What is the name of this Colony?' + +ICH. "'Klausiushof.' + +KL. "'Your Majesty, it should be called Klaushof.' + +KING. "'Its name is Klausiushof. What is the other Colony called?' + +ICH. "'Brenkenhof.' + +KING. "'That is not its name.' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty, I know it by no other!' + +KING. "'Its name is Brenken-hosius-hof!--Are these the Stollen +hills that lie before us?' + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Have I to drive through the village?' + +ICH. "'It is not indispensable; but the change of horses is there. +If your Majesty give order, I will ride forward, send the fresh +horses out of the village, and have them stationed to wait at the +foot of the hills.' + +KING. "'O ja, do so! Take one of my pages with you.' + +"I now took measures about the new team of horses, but so arranged +it, that when his Majesty got upon the hills I was there too. +At dismounting from his carriage on the hill-top, his Majesty +demanded a prospect-glass; looked round the whole region, and then +said: 'Well, in truth, that is beyond my expectation! That is +beautiful! I must say this to you, all of you that have worked in +this business, you have behaved like honorable people!'--[TO ME] +'Tell me now, is the Elbe far from here?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, it is 2 miles off [10 miles]. Yonder is Wurben +in the Altmark; it lies upon the Elbe.' + +KING. "'That cannot be! Give me the glass again.--Ja, ja, it is +true, though. But what other steeple is that?' + +ICH. "'Your Majesty, that is Havelberg.' + +KING. "'Na, come here, all of you!' (THERE WERE AMTSRATH KLAUSIUS, +BAUINSPECTOR MENZELIUS AND I.) 'Hear now, the tract of moor here to +the left must also be reclaimed; and what is to the right too, so +far as the moor extends. What kind of wood is there on it?' + +ICH. "'Alders (ELSEN) and oaks, your Majesty.' + +KING. "'Na! the alders you may root out; and the oaks may continue +standing; the people may sell these, or use them otherwise. +When once the ground is arable, I reckon upon 300 families for it, +and 500 head of cows,--ha?'--Nobody answered; at last I began, +and said:-- + +ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty, perhaps!' + +KING. "'Hear now, you may answer me with confidence. There will be +more or fewer families. I know well enough one cannot, all at once, +exactly say. I was never there, don't know the ground; otherwise I +could understand equally with you how many families could be put +upon it.' + +THE BAUINSPECTOR. "'Your Majesty, the LUCH is still subject to +rights of common from a great many hands.' + +KING. "'No matter for that. You must make exchanges, give them an +equivalent, according as will answer best in the case. I want +nothing from anybody except at its value.' [TO AMTSRATH KLAUSIUS] +'Na, hear now, you can write to my Kammer [BOARD, Board-of-Works +that does NOT sit idle!], what it is that I want reclaimed to the +plough; the money for it I will give.' [TO ME] 'And you, you go to +Berlin, and explain to my Geheimer-Rath Michaelis, by word of +mouth, what it is I want reclaimed.' + +"His Majesty now stept into his carriage again [was Gortz sitting +all the while, still in silence? Or had he perhaps got out at the +bottom of the hill, and sat down to a contemplative pipe of +tobacco, the smoke of which, heart-cheering to Gortz, was always +disagreeable to Friedrich? Nobody knows!]--and drove down the hill; +there the horses were changed. And now, as his Majesty's order was +that I should 'attend him to the Stollen hills,' I went up to the +carriage, and asked:-- + +ICH. "'Does your Majesty command that I should yet accompany +farther' ["BEFEHLEN, command," in the plural is polite, "your +Majesty, that I yet farther shall WITH"]? + +KING. "'No, my son; ride, in God's name, home.'-- + +"The Herr Amtsrath [Klau-si-us] then accompanied his Majesty to +Rathenow, where he [THEY: His Majesty is plural] lodged in the +Post-house. At Rathenow, during dinner, his Majesty was uncommonly +cheerful: he dined with Herr Lieutenant-Colonel von Backhof of the +Carabineers, and the Herr Lieutenant-Colonel von Backhof himself +has related that his Majesty said:-- + +"'My good Von Backhof (MEIN LIEBER VON BACKHOF): if He [you] have +not for a long time been in the Fehrbellin neighborhood, go +there.'" Fehrbellin, the Prussian BANNOCKBURN; where the Great +Elector cut the hitherto invincible Swedes IN TWO, among the DAMS +and intricate moory quagmires, with a vastly inferior force, nearly +all of cavalry (led by one DERFLINGER, who in his apprentice time +had been a TAILOR); beat one end of them all to rags, then galloped +off and beat the other into ditto; quite taking the conceit out of +the Swedes, or at least clearing Prussia of them forever and a day: +a feat much admired by Friedrich: "'Go there,' he says. +'That region is uncommonly improved [as I saw to-day]! I have not +for a long time had such a pleasant drive. I decided on this +journey because I had no REVIEW on hand; and it has given me such +pleasure that I shall certainly have another by and by.' + +"'Tell me now: how did you get on in the last War [KARTOFFEL KRIEG, +no fighting, only a scramble for proviant and "potatoes"]? +Most likely ill! You in Saxony too could make nothing out. +The reason was, we had not men to fight against, but cannons! +I might have done a thing or two; but I should have sacrificed more +than the half of my Army, and shed innocent human blood. In that +case I should have deserved to be taken to the Guard-house door, +and to have got a sixscore there (EINEN OFFFENTLICHEN PRODUKT)! +Wars are becoming frightful to carry on.' + +"'This was surely touching to hear from the mouth of a great +Monarch,' said Herr Lieutenant-Colonel von Backhof to me, and tears +came into that old soldier's eyes." Afterwards his Majesty +had said:-- + +"Of the Battle of Fehrbellin I know everything, almost as if I +myself had been there! While I was Crown-Prince, and lay in Ruppin, +there was an old townsman, the man was even then very old: he could +describe the whole Battle, and knew the scene of it extremely well. +Once I got into a carriage, took my old genius with me, who showed +me all over the ground, and described everything so distinctly, I +was much contented with him. As we were coming back, I thought: +Come, let me have a little fun with the old blade;--so I asked him: +'Father, don't you know, then, why the two Sovereigns came to +quarrel with one another?'--'O ja, your Royal HighnessES [from this +point we have Platt-Deutsch, PRUSSIAN dialect, for the old man's +speech; barely intelligible, as Scotch is to an ingenious +Englishman], DAT WILL ICK SE WOHL SEGGEN, I can easily tell you +that. When our Chorforste [Kurfursts, Great Elector] was young, he +studied in Utrecht; and there the King of Sweden happened to be +too. And now the two young lords picked some quarrel, got to +pulling caps [fell into one another's hair], AND DIT IS NU DE PICKE +DAVON, and this now was the upshot of it.'--His Majesty spoke this +in Platt-Deutsch, as here given;--but grew at table so weary that +he (they) fell asleep." So far Backhof;--and now again Fromme by +way of finish:-- + +"Of his Majesty's journey I can give no farther description. +For though his Majesty spoke and asked many things else; it would +be difficult to bring them all to paper." And so ends the DAY WITH +FRIEDRICH THE GREAT; very flat, but I dare say very TRUE:-- +a Daguerrotype of one of his Days. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Appendix to History of Friedrich II of Prussia + diff --git a/old/22frd10.zip b/old/22frd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..167fbc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/22frd10.zip |