THE GENERAL-IN-CHIEF OF THE SILESIAN ARMY.
General Blucher was more morose and dejected than he had been for a
long time. From the day he heard of the king's arrival at Breslau,
and immediately left his farm of Kunzendorf to repair to that city,
a perpetual sunshine lit up his face, and a new spring bloomed in
his heart. But now the old clouds of Kunzendorf were again lowering
on his brow, and a frost seemed to have blighted all the blossoms of
his hope.
He sat on the sofa, closely wrapped in his dressing-gown, drumming
with his hand a quickstep on the table in front of him, while he was
blowing clouds of smoke from his long pipe. Very gloomy thoughts
appeared to fill Blucher's soul, for his bushy eyebrows contracted,
the quickstep was more rapid, and the smoke arose in denser masses.
In the violence of his inward trouble, he grimly shook his head
without thinking of the fragile friend in his mouth. Its delicate
form struck against the corner of the table and broke into pieces.
"So," muttered Blucher to himself, "that was just wanting to my
afflictions. It is the second pipe broken to-day. Well, there will
be a day when Bonaparte shall pay me these pipes that he has already
cost me. That day must come, or there is no justice in Heaven.
Christian! O Christian!"
The door opened. Christian Hennemann appeared on the threshold,
awaiting the orders of the general.
"Another wounded pipe, Christian," said Blucher, pointing at the
pieces on the floor. "Pick them up, and see if there is not a short
pipe among them."
"No, your excellency," said Christian, approaching and carefully
picking up the pieces, "that is no wounded pipe, but a dead one.
Shall I fetch another to your excellency?"
He was about to turn away, but Blucher seized the lap of his hussar-
jacket. "Show me the broken pipe," he said, anxiously; "let me see
if it really will not do any more."
"Well, look at it, your excellency," said the pipe-master, in a
dignified tone, holding up the bowl with a very small part of the
tube. "It is impossible for you to use it again. If I should fill
the bowl with tobacco and light it, your excellency, it would
assuredly burn your nose."
"That is true," said Blucher, mournfully; "I believe you are right.
I might burn my nose, and that would be altogether unnecessary now.
I burn it here at Breslau every day."
"How did you do it?" asked Christian, in dismay. "Your excellency
has not yet smoked short pipes."
"Because I am myself like a short pipe," cried Blucher, with a grim
smile, "or because the miserable, sneaking vermin at court--well,
what does it concern you? Why do you stand and stare at me? Go,
Christian, and fetch me a new Pipe."
"What, a new pipe!" asked a voice by his side. "Why, Blucher, you
are still in your dressing-gown!"
It was his wife who had just entered the room by the side-door and
approached her husband without being noticed. She was in full
toilet, her head adorned with plumes, her delicate form wrapped in a
heavy dark satin dress, trimmed with costly silver lace. Her neck
and ears were ornamented with jewelry in which large diamonds shone;
in her hand, radiant with valuable rings, she held a huge fan,
inlaid with pearls and precious stones.
"Yes, Amelia, I am still in my dressing-gown," said Blucher,
gloomily gazing at his wife. "Why, you are splendidly dressed to-
day! What is it for?--and whither do you design to go?"
"Whither!" exclaimed the lady, in surprise. "But, husband, do you
forget, then, the festival to take place to-night?"
"Well, what is it?" asked Blucher, slowly drawing his long white
mustache through his fingers.
"Blucher, to-night the great ball takes place which the city of
Breslau gives at the city hall in honor of the Emperor of Russia,
when both their majesties will appear."
"Well, what does that concern me?"
"It concerns you a great deal, for you have solemnly promised the
burgomaster, who came personally to invite us, that you would attend
the ball to-night."
"And I shall not go to it after all, Amelia," cried Blucher,
striking with his hand on the table. "No, Amelia! I am no dancing-
bear to turn around at a ball, and to be led by the nose."
"But, Blucher, what has happened to you?" asked his wife,
wonderingly. "You were as merry and high-spirited as a young god of
spring; the violets laughed when they saw you pass by, and the snow-
drops rang their tiny bells in your honor, and now suddenly it is
winter again! Pray, tell me, what has happened to you?"
"Nothing at all has happened to me--that is just the misfortune,"
cried Blucher. "It is more than a month now since I have been
sitting here at Breslau, and nothing has happened. I am still what I
always was--an old pensioned general, who has no command, and
nothing to do but to retire to Kunzendorf and plant cabbage-heads,
while others in the field are cutting off French heads. And it will
be best for me to go back to Kunzendorf. I have nothing to do here;
no one cares for an old fellow like me. I have hoped on from day to
day, but all my hopes are gone now. Amelia, take off your tinsel,
and pack up our traps. The best thing we can do will be to start
this very evening and return to our miserable, accursed village!"
"Dear me! what a humor you are in!" exclaimed his wife, "Every thing
will be right in the end, my husband; you must not despair; things
are only taking their course a little more deliberately than my
firebrand wishes. But finally all will be precisely as you want it,
for without Blucher they are unable to accomplish any thing, and
will, therefore, at last resort to him."
"And I tell you they will try to get along without me," cried
Blucher; "I shall be a disgraced man, at whom the very chickens will
laugh, if he has to sneak back to Kunzendorf instead of taking the
field. Pack up. Amelia, wo shall leave this day!"
"But that is impossible, Blucher! It would look like a cowardly
flight, and your enemies would rejoice over it. No, you must go to
the ball to-night; you--"
"General Scharnhorst!" announced a footman at this moment, and there
appeared in the open door the general, dressed in his gala-uniform,
and his breast decked with orders.
"I am glad you have come, general," exclaimed Amelia, hastening to
him, and shaking hands with her friend. "Look at that stubborn old
man, who does not wish to go to the ball! Say yourself, general,
must he not go?"
"Certainly he must," said Scharnhorst, smiling, "and I come to beg
of you a seat in your carriage, and to let me have the honor of
appearing in the suite of General and Madame von Blucher. You had,
therefore, better dress at once, my dear general. It is high time.
Even their majesties have already set out."
Blucher gently shook his head, and slowly raised his eyes toward
Scharnhorst, who stood in front of him. "Scharnhorst," he said,
"every thing turns out wrong, and I wish myself dead rather than see
such a state of affairs."
"What do you mean, general?" inquired Scharnhorst. "What has
happened?"
Blucher cast a piercing glance on him, and seemed to read in the
depths of his soul. "Is the matter settled?" he asked. "Pray, my
friend, tell me the truth without circumlocution. It is better for
me to know it at once than allow this incertitude longer to gnaw at
my heart. Scharnhorst, I implore you, tell me the truth! Has the
commander of the Silesian army been appointed?"
"No, general," said Scharnhorst, gravely.
"And you do not know whom they will appoint? The truth, my friend!"
"Well, then, the truth is, that I do not know it, and that their
majesties themselves do not know it, although every patriot thinks
they ought not to doubt which of the three gentlemen who stand on
the list should be appointed, for every heart echoes, 'General
Blucher is the man whom we need, and who will lead us to victory.'
The emperor and the king are still vacillating; precious time is
lost--Napoleon is organizing new armies, and strengthening himself
on all sides, while they are hesitating."
"Three, then, stand on the list," said Blucher. "I have two
competitors. Who are they, general?"
"One is Field-Marshal Kalkreuth."
Blucher started, and his eyes flashed with anger. "What!" he cried.
"That childish old man to command an army! He who is constantly
singing hymns of praise to Napoleon and his French--he who, only the
other day, showed again that he deemed a frown of Bonaparte more
terrible than the peril of a German patriot! He command an army to
vanquish Napoleon! I suppose you know what he has done? He betrayed
to the French ambassador, Count St. Marsan, who followed our king to
Breslau in order to watch him, that Minister von Stein, our noblest
friend, had secretly come for the purpose of negotiating with the
king in the name of the Emperor of Russia; that he was living in a
garret, and that conferences of the enemies of Napoleon were held
there every night." [Footnote: Pertz's "Life of Stein," vol. iii.,
p. 210.]
"Yes, that is true," said Scharuhorst, "Field-Marshal Kalkreuth did
so, and it is no fault of his that Baron von Stein, with his
friends, one of whom I happen to be, was not secretly seized and
carried off by the French. Fortunately, dear Count St. Marsan did
not believe the field-marshal who betrayed his German countryman.
The French ambassador allowed himself to be deceived by the
stillness that reigned in the garret, which, according to the
statement Kalkreuth made to him, was inhabited by dangerous Minister
von Stein." [Footnote: Beitzke, vol. i., p. 170.]
"Well, and this man, the head of the French party, they wish to
appoint general-in-chief of the Silesian army," said Blucher,
mournfully. "Amelia, pack up our traps; let us return to
Kunzendorf."
"But Field-Marshal Kalkreuth has not yet been appointed," Said
Scharnhorst, smiling; "I believe his two competitors have as good--
nay, better prospects than he has."
"It is true, I forgot the second competitor," grumbled Blucher. "Who
is it?"
"It is Lieutenant-General Count Tauentzien, in whom the Emperor
Alexander takes a great deal of interest."
"Of course," said Blucher, sarcastically, "he is a count, and he has
such a polish, and courtly manners; he knows how to flatter the
sovereigns, and tell them only what is agreeable. But now, you
yourself must admit, Scharnhorst, that it is best for me to set out
immediately for Kunzendorf, and that I have no prospects--none
whatever! The two sovereigns, the king and emperor, alone will make
the appointment, will they not?"
"Of course, they alone!"
"Well, each of them has a candidate of his own. The emperor is in
favor of Count Tauentzien, and the king is for Field-Marshal
Kalkreuth. Who, then, is to think of and speak for me?"
"Your glory will speak for you, general," said Scharnhorst,
feelingly; "the love which every soldier feels for you will speak,
and you will speak for yourself by your noble appearance--your self-
reliant bearing, your energy and strength, which do not shrink from
truth. Come, let us get ready for the ball, and, my friend, do not
impose any restraint upon yourself there; give the reins to your
discontent; tell every one frankly and bluntly that you are
dissatisfied--that you ardently desire to be appointed general-in-
chief, and that you would consider it a great misfortune if another
man should be preferred to you."
"But, dear general," exclaimed Madame von Blucher, in dismay, "how
can you give Blucher such advice? You know how hot-headed and rash
he is! He will rave about so, that the king and the emperor
themselves will hear him."
"Well," said Scharnhorst, smiling, "it is sometimes very well that
there should be a man courageous enough to tell the kings and
emperors the truth, and prove to them that mankind do not always
fawn upon them with polite submissiveness."
"Scharnhorst is right," exclaimed Blucher, suddenly straightening
himself; "yes, I will go to the ball, and tell them there at least
what sort of men those are whom they wish to appoint, and what we
may expect from them. They shall not afterward excuse themselves by
saying that they were not forewarned, and that no one had called
their attention to Blucher. I will do it myself--yes, thunder and
lightning! I will remind them of Blucher, and they shall hear and
understand me."
"Well," cried Madame von Blucher, "I beg permission to stay at home,
for Blucher will have a scene, at which I do not wish to be
present."
"Oh, no, there will be no scene whatever," said Blucher. "I shall
make my obeisance to their majesties and then step aside, but of
course I am not to keep altogether still, and--well, you know my
motto, 'At them!' [Footnote: "Immer drauf:"] Well, then, 'at them!'
Let us go to the bail. You must accompany me, Amelia, there is no
help for it; for it may be necessary for you to bring me back to
reason. You know well that no one but you can do that."
"I am sure, madame, you will not abandon us at this critical hour?"
begged Scharnhorst. "You do not desire his guardian angel to leave
him?"
"Yes, I will go with you," she said, smiling, "if for no other
purpose than to restrain my fiery thunderer in proper time."
"Well, it may not be of any avail," said Blucher, dryly. "By Heaven!
I must unbosom myself a little to-day--I must tell them the truth,
which no one here at Breslau likes to hear.--Well, Amelia, do me the
favor to turn toward the window. I wish to take off my dressing-gown
and pat on my uniform coat--then I am dressed; only my coat is
wanting; it lies on the chair yonder; wait until I have put it on,
and then we shall ride to the ball. I will call John to assist me."
"Do not call any one," said Scharnhorst, "but permit me to assist
you. Here is the coat."
"And here I am," cried Blucher, throwing off the dressing-gown and
quickly plunging into the coat which Scharnhorst handed him.
"But now listen, general," said Scharnhorst, handing Blucher the
sword and belt. "As you arc so very amiable and kind, I will tell
you good news. Gneisenau will be here to-morrow."
"What? Is he no longer in England?" asked Blucher, joyously.
"No, he is in Germany, and, as he wrote to me, will arrive to-morrow
at the latest. He landed nearly a week ago from a Swedish ship at
Colberg, where he was received with enthusiasm. The whole city was
illuminated on the evening of his arrival, and the citizens marched
in procession to his lodgings. [Footnote: Beitzke, vol. i., p. 196.]
You see the old hatred and the old love are still alive in the
people; they have not forgotten their oppressors, nor their heroes
either."
"Then Gneisenau has come, too," exclaimed Blucher; "he is the petrel
that heralds the storm. There will be war now, certainly; and if I
am not permitted to share in it, my heart will burst like an
overcharged gun. Gneisenau come! all men are coming, and Blucher is
to stay at home! Well, if they do not appoint me commanding general,
I will enlist as a private. For I must participate in the war that
is to put an end to Bonaparte's tyranny; and, if I cannot be first
dancer, I shall be one of the musicians.--Christian, have the
carriage brought to the door!"