"The next day, as we sat down to Dinner," our Host in the above shining
costume, "he said, in English tolerably pronounced:--
VOLTAIRE. "'We are here for liberty and property! [parody of some old
Speech in Parliament, let us guess,--liberty and property, my Lords!]
This Gentleman--whom let me present to Monsieur Sherlock--is a Jesuit
[old Pere Adam, whom I keep for playing Chess, in his old, unsheltered
days]; he wears his hat: I am a poor invalid,--I wear my nightcap.'...
"I do not now recollect why he quoted these verses, also in English, by
Rochester, on CHARLES SECOND:--
'Here lies the mutton-eating King,
Who never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.'
But speaking of Racine, he quoted this Couplet (of Roscomman's ESSAY ON
TRANSLATED VERSE):--
'The weighty bullion of one sterling line
Drawn to French wire would through whole pages shine.
SHERLOCK. "'The English prefer Corneille to Racine.'
VOLTAIRE. "'That is because the English are not sufficiently acquainted
with the French tongue to feel the beauties of Racine's style, or
the harmony of his versification. Corneille ought to please them more
because he is more striking; but Racine pleases the French because he
has more softness and tenderness.'
SHERLOCK. "'How did you find [LIKE] the English fare (LA CHERE
ANGLAISE?'--which Voltaire mischievously takes for 'the dear
Englishwoman').
VOLTAIRE. "'I found her very fresh and white,'--truly! [It should
be remembered, that when he made this pun upon Women he was in his
eighty-third year.]
SHERLOCK. "'Their language?'
VOLTAIRE. "'Energetic, precise and barbarous; they are the only Nation
that pronounce their A as E.... [And some time afterwards] Though I
cannot perfectly pronounce English, my ear is sensible of the harmony of
your language and of your versification. Pope and Dryden have the most
harmony in Poetry; Addison in Prose.' [Takes now the interrogating
side.]
VOLTAIRE. "'How have you liked (AVEX-VOUS TROUVE) the French?'
SHERLOCK. "'Amiable and witty. I only find one fault with them: they
imitate the English too much.'
VOLTAIRE. "'How! Do you think us worthy to be originals ourselves?'
SHERLOCK. "'Yes, Sir.'
VOLTAIRE. "'So do I too:--but it is of your Government that we are
envious.'
SHERLOCK. "'I have found the French freer than I expected.'
VOLTAIRE. "'Yes, as to walking, or eating whatever he pleases, or
lolling in his elbow-chair, a Frenchman is free enough; but as to
taxes--Ah, Monsieur, you are a lucky Nation; you can do what you like;
poor we are born in slavery: we cannot even die as we will; we must have
a Priest [can't get buried otherwise; am often thinking of that!]...
Well, if the English do sell themselves, it is a proof that they are
worth something: we French don't sell ourselves, probably because we are
worth nothing.'
SHERLOCK. "'What is your opinion of the ELOISE' [Rousseau's immortal
Work]?
VOLTAIRE. "'That it will not be read twenty years hence.'
SHERLOCK. "'Mademoiselle de l'Enclos wrote some good LETTERS?'
VOLTAIRE. "'She never wrote one; they were by the wretched Crebillon'
[my beggarly old "Rival" in the Pompadour epoch]!...
VOLTAIRE. "'The Italians are a Nation of brokers. Italy is an
Old-Clothes shop; in which there are many Old Dresses of exquisite
taste.... But we are still to know, Whether the subjects of the Pope
or of the Grand Turk are the more abject.' [We have now gone to the
Drawing-room, I think, though it is not jotted.]
"He talked of England and of Shakspeare; and explained to Madame Denis
part of a Scene in Henry Fifth, where the King makes love to Queen
Catherine in bad French; and of another in which that Queen takes a
lesson in English from her Waiting-woman, and where there are several
very gross double-entendres"--but, I hope, did not long dwell on
these....
VOLTAIRE. "'When I see an Englishman subtle and fond of lawsuits, I say,
"There is a Norman, who came in with William the Conqueror." When I
see a man good-natured and polite, "That is one who came with the
Plantagenets;" a brutal character, "That is a Dane:"--for your Nation,
Monsieur, as well as your Language, is a medley of many others.'
"After dinner, passing through a little Parlor where there was a head of
Locke, another of the Countess of Coventry, and several more, he took
me by the arm and stopped me: 'Do you know this Bust [bust of Sir
Isaac Newton]? It is the greatest genius that ever existed: if all the
geniuses of the Universe were assembled, he should lead the band.'
"It was of Newton, and of his own Works, that M. de Voltaire always
spoke with the greatest warmth." [Sherlock, LETTERS (London, 1802), i.
98-106.] (EXIT Sherlock, to jot down the above, and thence into Infinite
Space.)
GENERAL OR FIELDMARSHAL CONWAY, DIRECT FROM THE LONDON CIRCLES, ATTENDS
ONE OF FRIEDRICH'S REVIEWS (August-September, 1774).
Now that Friedrich's Military Department is got completely into trim
again, which he reckons to have been about 1770, his annual Reviews
are becoming very famous over Europe; and intelligent Officers of all
Countries are eager to be present, and instruct themselves there. The
Review is beautiful as a Spectacle; but that is in no sort the intention
of it. Rigorous business, as in the strictest of Universities examining
for Degrees, would be nearer the definition. Sometimes, when a new
manoeuvre or tactical invention of importance is to be tried by
experiment, you will find for many miles the environs of Potsdam, which
is usually the scene of such experiments, carefully shut in; sentries
on every road, no unfriendly eye admitted; the thing done as with closed
doors. Nor at any time can you attend without leave asked; though to
Foreign Officers, and persons that have really business there, there
appears to be liberality enough in granting it. The concourse of
military strangers seems to keep increasing every year, till Friedrich's
death. [Rodenbeck, iii. IN LOCIS.] French, more and more in quantity,
present themselves; multifarious German names; generally a few English
too,--Burgoyne (of Saratoga finally), Cornwallis, Duke of York, Marshal
Conway,--of which last we have something farther to say at present.
In Summer, 1774, Conway--the Marshal Conway, of whom Walpole is
continually talking as of a considerable Soldier and Politician, though
he was not in either character considerable, but was Walpole's friend,
and an honest modest man--had made up his mind, perhaps partly on
domestic grounds (for I have noticed glimpses of a "Lady C." much out
of humor), to make a Tour in Germany, and see the Reviews, both Austrian
and Prussian, Prussian especially. Two immense LETTERS of his on that
subject have come into my hands, [Kindly presented me by Charles Knight,
Esq., the well-known Author and Publisher (who possesses a Collection by
the same hand): these Two run to fourteen large pages in my Copy!] and
elsewhere incidentally there is printed record of the Tour; [In Keith
(Sir Robert Murray), _Memoirs and Correspondence,_ ii. 21 et, seq.]
unimportant as possible, both Tour and Letters, but capable, if squeezed
into compass, of still being read without disadvantage here.
Sir Robert Murray Keith--that is, the younger Excellency Keith, now
Minister at Dresden, whom we have sometimes heard of--accompanies Conway
on this Tour, or flies alongside of him, with frequent intersections
at the principal points; and there is printed record by Sir Robert, but
still less interesting than this of Conway, and perfectly conformable
to it:--so that, except for some words about the Lord Marischal, which
shall be given, Keith must remain silent, while the diffuse Conway
strives to become intelligible. Indeed, neither Conway nor Keith tell us
the least thing that is not abundantly, and even wearisomely known from
German sources; but to readers here, a pair of English eyes looking on
the matter (put straight in places by the help there is), may give it
a certain freshness of meaning. Here are Conway's Two Letters, with the
nine parts of water charitably squeezed out of them, by a skilful friend
of mine and his.
CONWAY TO HIS BROTHER, MARQUIS OF HERTFORD (in London).
"BERLIN, July 17th, 1774.
"DEAR BROTHER,--In the hurry I live in--... Leaving Brunswick, where,
in absence of most of the Court, who are visiting at Potsdam, my old
Commander," Duke Ferdinand, now estranged from Potsdam, [Had a kind of
quarrel with Friedrich in 1766 (rough treatment by Adjutant von
Anhalt, not tolerable to a Captain now become so eminent), and quietly
withdrew,--still on speaking terms with the King, but never his Officer
more.] and living here among works of Art, and speculations on Free
Masonry, "was very kind to me, I went to Celle, in Hanover, to pay my
respects to the Queen of Denmark [unfortunate divorced Matilda, saved
by my friend Keith,--innocent, I will hope!]... She is grown extremely
fat.... At Magdeburg, the Prussian Frontier on this side, one is not
allowed, without a permit, even to walk on the ramparts,--such the
strictness of Prussian rule.... Driving through Potsdam, on my way to
Berlin, I was stopped by a servant of the good old Lord Marischal, who
had spied me as I passed under his window. He came out in his nightgown,
and insisted upon our staying to dine with him--[worthy old man; a word
of him, were this Letter done]. We ended, on consultation about times
and movements of the King, by staying three days at Potsdam, mostly with
this excellent old Lord.
"On the third day [yesterday evening, in fact], I went, by appointment,
to the New Palace, to wait upon the King of Prussia. There was some
delay: his Majesty had gone, in the interim, to a private Concert, which
he was giving to the Princesses [Duchess of Brunswick and other high
guests [Rodenbeck (IN DIE) iii. 98.]]; but the moment he was told I
was there, he came out from his company, and gave me a most flattering
gracious audience of more than half an hour; talking on a great variety
of things, with an ease and freedom the very reverse of what I had
been made to expect.... I asked, and received permission, to visit the
Silesian Camps next month, his Majesty most graciously telling me the
particular days they would begin and end [27th August-3d September,
Schmelwitz near Breslau, are time and place [Ib. iii. 101.]]. This
considerably deranges my Austrian movements, and will hurry my return
out of those parts: but who could resist such a temptation!--I saw the
Foot-Guards exercise, especially the splendid 'First Battalion;' I could
have conceived nothing so perfect and so exact as all I saw:--so well
dressed, such men, and so punctual in all they did.
"The New Palace at Potsdam is extremely noble. Not so perfect, perhaps,
in point of taste, but better than I had been led to expect. The King
dislikes living there; never does, except when there is high Company
about him; for seven or eight months in the year, he prefers Little
Sans-Souci, and freedom among his intimates and some of his Generals....
His Music still takes up a great share of the King's time. On a table in
his Cabinet there, I saw, I believe, twenty boxes with a German flute
in each; in his Bed-chamber, twice as many boxes of Spanish snuff; and,
alike in Cabinet and in Bed-chamber, three arm-chairs in a row for three
favorite dogs, each with a little stool by way of step, that the getting
up might be easy....
"The Town of Potsdam is a most extraordinary and, in its appearance,
beautiful Town; all the streets perfectly straight, all at right angles
to each other; and all the houses built with handsome, generally elegant
fronts.... He builds for everybody who has a bad or a small house, even
the lowest mechanic. He has done the same at Berlin." Altogether, his
Majesty's building operations are astonishing. And "from whence does
this money come, after a long expensive War? It is all fairyland and
enchantment,"--MAGNUM VECTIGAL PARSIMONIA, in fact!... "At Berlin here,
I saw the Porcelain Manufacture to-day, which is greatly improved. I
leave presently. Adieu, dear Brother; excuse my endless Letter [since
you cannot squeeze the water out of it, as some will!]--Yours most
sincerely,
"HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY."
Keith is now Minister at Dresden for some years back; and has, among
other topics, much to say of our brilliant friend the Electress there:
but his grand Diplomatic feat was at Copenhagen, on a sudden sally
out thither (in 1771): [In KEITH, i. 152 &c., nothing of intelligible
Narrative given, hardly the date discoverable.] the saving of Queen
Matilda, youngest Sister of George Third, from a hard doom. Unfortunate
Queen Matilda; one never knows how guilty, or whether guilty at all,
but she was very unfortunate, poor young Lady! What with a mad Husband
collapsed by debaucheries into stupor of insanity; what with a Doctor,
gradually a Prime Minister, Struensee, wretched scarecrow to look
upon, but wiser than most Danes about; and finally, with a
lynx-eyed Step-sister, whose Son, should Matilda mistake, will
inherit,--unfortunate Matilda had fallen into the awfulest troubles;
got divorced, imprisoned, would have lost her head along with
scarecrow Struensee had not her Brother George III. emphatically
intervened,--Excellency Keith, with Seventy-fours in the distance,
coming out very strong on the occasion,--and got her loose. Loose from
Danish axe and jail, at any rate; delivered into safety and solitude
at Celle in Hanover, where she now is,--and soon after suddenly dies of
fever, so closing a very sad short history.
Excellency Keith, famed in the Diplomatic circles ever since, is at
present ahead of Conway on their joint road to the Austrian Reviews.
Before giving Conway's Second Letter, let us hear Keith a little on his
kinsman the Old Marischal, whom he saw at Berlin years ago, and still
occasionally corresponds with, and mentions in his Correspondence. Keith
LOQUITUR; date is Dresden, February, 1770:--
HAS VISITED THE OLD MARISCHAL AT POTSDAM LATELY.... "My stay of three
days with Lord Marischal.... He is the most innocent of God's creatures;
and his heart is much warmer than his head. The place of his abode," I
must say, "is the very Temple of Dulness; and his Female Companion [a
poor Turk foundling, a perishing infant flung into his late Brother's
hands at the Fall of Oczakow, [Supra, vii. 82.]--whom the Marischal has
carefully brought up, and who refuses to marry away from him,--rather
stupid, not very pretty by the Portraits; must now be two-and-thirty
gone] is perfectly calculated to be the Priestess of it! Yet he
dawdles away his day in a manner not unpleasant to him; and I really am
persuaded he has a conscience that would gild the inside of a dungeon.
The feats of our bare-legged warriors in the late War [BERG-SCHOTTEN,
among whom I was a Colonel], accompanied by a PIBRACH [elegiac bagpipe
droning MORE SUO] in his outer room, have an effect on the old Don,
which would delight you." [Keith, i. 129; "Dresden, 25th February,
1770:" to his Sister in Scotland.]
AND THEN SEEN HIM IN BERLIN, ON THE SAME OCCASION.... "Lord Marischal
came to meet me at Sir Andrew's [Mitchell's, in Berlin, the last year of
the brave Mitchell's life], where we passed five days together. My visit
to his country residence," as you already know, "was of three days; and
I had reason to be convinced that it gave the old Don great pleasure.
He talked to me with the greatest openness and confidence of all the
material incidents of his life; and hinted often that the honor of the
Clan was now to be supported by our family, for all of whom he had the
greatest esteem. His taste, his ideas, and his manner of living, are a
mixture of Aberdeenshire and the Kingdom of Valencia; and as he seeks
to make no new friends, he seems to retain a strong, though silent,
attachment for his old ones. As to his political principles, I believe
him the most sincere of converts" to Whiggery and Orthodoxy.... "Since
I began this, I have had a most inimitable Letter from Lord Marischal. I
had mentioned Dr. Bailies to him [noted English Doctor at Dresden, bent
on inoculating and the like], and begged he would send me a state of his
case and infirmities, that the Doctor might prescribe for him. This is a
part of his answer:--
"'I thank you for your advice of consulting the English Doctor to repair
my old carcass. I have lately done so by my old coach, and it is now
almost as good as new. Please, therefore, to tell the Doctor, that from
him I expect a good repair, and shall state the case. First, he must
know that the machine is the worse for wear, being nearly eighty years
old. The reparation I propose he shall begin with is: One pair of new
eyes, one pair of new ears, some improvement on the memory. When this
is done, we shall ask new legs, and some change in the stomach. For
the present, this first reparation will be sufficient; and we must not
trouble the Doctor too much at once.'--You see by this how easy his
Lordship's infirmities sit upon him; and it is really so as he says.
Your friend Sir Andrew is, I am afraid, less gay; but I have not heard
from him these three months." [Keith, i. 132, 133; "Dresden, 13th March,
1770:" to his Father.]
CONWAY TO KEITH, ON THE LATE THREE DAYS AT POTSDAM. [Date, "Dresden,
21st July, 1774:" in KEITH, ii. 15.] "I stayed three days at Potsdam,
with much entertainment, for good part of which I am obliged to your
Excellency's old friend Lord Marischal, who showed me all the kindness
and civility possible. He stopped me as I passed, and not only made me
dine with him that day, but in a manner live with him. He is not at all
blind, as you imagined; so much otherwise, that I saw him read, without
spectacles, a difficult hand I could not easily decipher.... Stayed but
a day at Berlin;" am rushing after you:--Here is my Second Letter:--
CONWAY'S SECOND LETTER (to his Brother, as before).
"SCHMELWITZ [near Breslau] HEAD-QUARTERS,
August 31st, 1774.
"DEAR BROTHER... I left that Camp [Austrian Camp, and Reviews in
Hungary, where the Kaiser and everybody had been very gracious to
me] with much regret." Parted regretfully with Keith;--had played, at
Presburg, in sight of him and fourteen other Englishmen, a game with the
Chess Automaton [brand-new miracle, just out]; [Account of it, and of
this game, in KEITH too (ii. 18; "View, 3d September, 1774:" Keith to
his Father).]--came on through Vienna hitherward, as fast as post-horses
could carry us; travelling night and day, without stopping, being rather
behind time. "Arrived at Breslau near dark, last night; where I learnt
that the Camp was twenty miles off; that the King was gone there,
and that the Manoeuvres would begin at four or five this morning. I
therefore ordered my chaise at twelve at night, and set out, in darkness
and rain, to be presented to the King of Prussia next morning at five,
at the head of his troops.... When I arrived, before five, at the place
called 'Head-quarters,' I found myself in the middle of a miserable
Village [this Schmelwitz here]; no creature alive or stirring, nor a
sentinel, or any Military object to be seen.... As soon as anything
alive was to be found, we asked, If the King was lodged in that Village?
'Yes,' they said, 'in that House' (pointing to a clay Hovel). But
General Lentulus soon appeared; and--
"His Majesty has been very gracious; asked me many questions about my
tour to Hungary. I saw all the Troops pass him as they arrived in Camp.
They made a very fine appearance really, though it rained hard the whole
time we were out; and as his Majesty [age 62] did not cloak, we were all
heartily wet. And, what was worse, went from the field to Orders
[giving out of Parole, and the like] at his Quarters, there to make our
bow;--where we stayed in our wet clothes an hour and half [towards 10
A.M. by this time].... How different at the Emperor's, when his Imperial
Majesty and everybody was cloaked! [Got no hurt by the wet, strange to
say.] ... These are our news to this day. And now, having sat up five
nights out of the last six, and been in rain and dirt almost all day, I
wish you sincerely good-night.--H. S. C.
"P.S. Breslau, 4th September.--... My Prussian Campaign is finished,
and as much to my satisfaction as possible. The beauty and order of
the Troops, their great discipline, their" &c. &c., "almost pass all
belief.... Yesterday we were on horseback early, at four o'clock. The
movement was conducted with a spirit and order, on both sides, that was
astonishing, and struck the more delightful (SIC) by the variety, as in
the course of the Action the Enemy, conducted by General Anhalt [head
all right as yet], took three different positions before his final
retreat.
"The moment it was over [nine o'clock or so], his Majesty got a fresh
horse, and set out for Potsdam, after receiving the compliments of those
present, or rather holding a kind of short Levee in the field. I can't
say how much, in my particular, I am obliged to his Majesty for his
extraordinary reception, and distinction shown me throughout. Each day
after the Manoeuvre, and giving the Orders of the day, he held a little
Levee at the door, or in the court; at which, I can assure you, it is
not an exaggeration of vanity to say, that he not only talked to me, but
literally to nobody else at all. It was a good deal each time, and as
soon as finished he made his bow, and retired, though all, or most, of
the other Foreigners were standing by, as well as his own Generals. He
also called me up, and spoke to me several times on horseback, when we
were out, which he seldom did to anybody.
"The Prince Royal also showed me much civility. The second day, he asked
me to come and drink a dish of tea with him after dinner, and kept me an
hour and half. He told me, among other things, that the King of Prussia
had a high opinion of me, and that it came chiefly from the favorable
manner in which Duke Ferdinand and the Hereditary Prince [of Brunswick]
had spoken of me.... Pray let Horace Walpole know my address, that I may
have all the chance I can of hearing from him. But if he comes to Paris,
I forgive him.--H. S. C."
Friedrich's Reviews, though fine to look upon, or indeed the finest in
the world, were by no means of spectacular nature; but of altogether
serious and practical, almost of solemn and terrible, to the parties
interested. Like the strictest College Examination for Degrees, as we
said; like a Royal Assize or Doomsday of the Year; to Military people,
and over the upper classes of Berlin Society, nothing could be more
serious, Major Kaltenborn, an Ex-Prussian Officer, presumably of
over-talkative habits, who sounds on us like a very mess-room of the
time all gathered under one hat,--describes in an almost awful manner
the kind of terror with which all people awaited these Annual Assizes
for trial of military merit.
"What a sight," says he, "and awakening what thoughts, that of a body
of from 18,000 to 20,000 soldiers, in solemn silence and in deepest
reverence, awaiting their fate from one man! A Review, in Friedrich's
time, was an important moment for almost the whole Country. The fortune
of whole families often depended on it: from wives, mothers, children
and friends, during those terrible three days, there arose fervent
wishes to Heaven, that misfortune might not, as was too frequently the
case, befall their husbands, fathers, sons and friends, in the course of
them. Here the King, as it were, weighed the merits of his Officers, and
distributed, according as he found them light or heavy, praise or blame,
rebukes or favors; and often, too often, punishments, to be felt through
life. One single unhappy moment [especially if it were the last of a
long series of such!] often deprived the bravest Officer of his bread,
painfully earned in peace and war, and of his reputation and honor,
at least in the eyes of most men, who judge of everything only by its
issue. The higher you had risen, the easier and deeper your fall might
be at an unlucky Review. The Heads and Commanders of regiments were
always in danger of being sent about their business (WEGGEJAGT)."
The fact is, I Kaltenborn quitted the Prussian Service, and took
Hessian,--being (presumably) of exaggerative, over-talkative nature, and
strongly gravitating Opposition way!--Kaltenborn admits that the King
delighted in nothing so much as to see people's faces cheerful about
him; provided the price for it were not too high. Here is another
passage from him:--
"At latest by 9 in the morning the day's Manoeuvre had finished, and
everything was already in its place again. Straight from the ground
all Heads of regiments, the Majors-DE-JOUR, all Aides-de-Camp, and from
every battalion one Officer, proceed to Head-quarters. It was impossible
to speak more beautifully, or instructively, than the King did on such
occasions, if he were not in bad humor. It was then a very delight to
hear him deliver a Military Lecture, as it were. He knew exactly who
had failed, what caused the fault, and how it might and should have been
retrieved. His voice was soft and persuasive (HINREISSEND); he looked
kindly, and appeared rather bent upon giving good advice than commands.
"Thus, for instance, he once said to General van Lossow, Head of the
Black Hussars: 'Your (SEINE) Attack would have gone very well, had not
your own squadron pressed forward too much (VORGEPRELLT). The brave
fellows wanted to show me how they can ride. But don't I know that well
enough;--and also that you [covetous Lossow] always choose the best
horses from the whole remount for your own squadron! There was,
therefore, no need at all for that. Tell your people not to do so
to-morrow, and you will see it will go much better; all will remain
closer in their places, and the left wing be able to keep better in
line, in coming on.'--Another time, having observed, in a certain
Foot-regiment, that the soldiers were too long in getting out their
cartridges, he said to the Commandant: 'Do you know the cause of this,
my dear Colonel? Look, the cartouche, in the cartridge-box, has 32
holes; into these the fellow sticks his eight cartridges, without caring
how: and so the poor devil fumbles and gropes about, and cannot get hold
of any. But now, if the Officers would look to it that he place them
all well together in the middle of the cartouche, he would never make
a false grasp, and the loading would go as quick again. Only tell your
Officers that I had made this observation, and I am sure they will
gladly attend to it.'" [Anonymous (Kaltenborn), _Briefe eines alten
Preussischen Officiers_ (Hohenzollern, 1790), ii. 24-26.]
Of humane consolatory Anecdotes, in this kind, our Opposition Kaltenborn
gives several; of the rhadamanthine desolating or destructive kind,
though such also could not be wanting, if your Assize is to be good for
anything, he gives us none. And so far as I can learn, the effective
punishments, dismissals and the like, were of the due rarity and
propriety; though the flashes of unjust rebuke, fulminant severity,
lightnings from the gloom of one's own sorrows and ill-humor, were much
more frequent, but were seldom--I do not know if ever--persisted in to
the length of practical result. This is a Rhadamanthus much interested
not to be unjust, and to discriminate good from bad! Of Ziethen there
are two famous Review Anecdotes, omitted and omissible by Kaltenborn,
so well known are they: one of each kind. At a certain Review, year not
ascertainable,--long since, prior to the Seven-Years War,--the King's
humor was of the grimmest, nothing but faults all round; to Ziethen
himself, and the Ziethen Hussars, he said various hard things, and at
length this hardest: "Out of my sight with you!" [Madame de Blumenthal,
_Life of Ziethen,_ i. 265.] Upon which Ziethen--a stratum of red-hot
kindling in Ziethen too, as was easily possible--turns to his Hussars,
"Right about, RECHTS UM: march!" and on the instant did as bidden.
Disappeared, double-quick; and at the same high pace, in a high frame of
mind, rattled on to Berlin, home to his quarters, and there first drew
bridle. "Turn; for Heaven's sake, bethink you!" said more than one
friend whom he met on the road: but it was of no use. Everybody said,
"Ziethen is ruined;" but Ziethen never heard of the thing more.
Anecdote Second is not properly of a Review, but of an incidental Parade
of the Guard, at Berlin (25th December, 1784), by the King in person:
Parade, or rather giving out of the Parole after it, in the King's
Apartments; which is always a kind of Military Levee as well;--and
which, in this instance, was long famous among the Berlin people. King
is just arrived for Carnival season; old Ziethen will not fail to pay
his duty, though climbing of the stairs is heavy to a man of 85 gone.
This is Madam Blumenthal's Narrative (corrected, as it needs, in certain
points):--
"SATURDAY, 25th DECEMBER, 1784, Ziethen, in spite of the burden of
eighty-six years, went to the Palace, at the end of the Parade, to pay
his Sovereign this last tribute of respect, and to have the pleasure
of seeing him after six months' absence. The Parole was given out, the
orders imparted to the Generals, and the King had turned towards the
Princes of the Blood,--when he perceived Ziethen on the other side of
the Hall, between his Son and his two Aides-de-Camp. Surprised in a
very agreeable manner at this unexpected sight, he broke out into an
exclamation of joy; and directly making up to him,--'What, my good old
Ziethen, are you there!' said his Majesty: 'How sorry am I that you have
had the trouble of walking up the staircase! I should have called upon
you myself. How have you been of late?' 'Sire,' answered Ziethen, (my
health is not amiss, my appetite is good; but my strength! my strength!)
'This account,' replied the King, 'makes me happy by halves only: but
you must be tired;--I shall have a chair for you.' [Thing unexampled in
the annals of Royalty!] A chair," on order to Ziethen's Aides-de-Camp,
"was quickly brought. Ziethen, however, declared that he was not at all
fatigued: the King maintained that he was. 'Sit down, good Father (MEIN
LIEBER ALTER PAPA ZIETHEN, SETZE ER SICH DOCH)!' continued his Majesty:
'I will have it so; otherwise I must instantly leave the room; for I
cannot allow you to be incommoded under my own roof.' The old General
obeyed, and Friedrich the Great remained standing before him, in the
midst of a brilliant circle that had thronged round them. After asking
him many questions respecting his hearing, his memory and the general
state of his health, he at length took leave of him in these words:
'Adieu, my dear Ziethen [it was his last adieu!]--take care not to catch
cold; nurse yourself well, and live as long as you can, that I may often
have the pleasure of seeing you.' After having said this, the King,
instead of speaking to the other Generals, and walking through the
saloons, as usual, retired abruptly, and shut himself up in his closet."
[Blumenthal, ii. 341; _Militair-Lexikon,_ iv. 318. Chodowiecki has
made an Engraving of this Scene; useful to look at for its military
Portraits, if of little esteem otherwise. Strangely enough, both in
BLUMENTHAL and in Chodowiecki's ENGRAVING the year is given as 1785
(plainly impossible); _Militair-Lexikon_ misprints the month; and, one
way or other, only Rodenbeck (iii. 316) is right in both day and year.]
Following in date these small Conway Phenomena, if these, so extraneous
and insignificant, can have any glimmer of memorability to readers, are
two other occurrences, especially one other, which come in at this
part of the series, and greatly more require to be disengaged from the
dust-heaps, and presented for remembrance.
In 1775, the King had a fit of illness; which long occupied certain
Gazetteers and others. That is the first occurrence of the two, and far
the more important. He himself says of it, in his HISTORY, all that is
essential to us here:--
"Towards the end of 1775, the King was attacked by several strong
consecutive fits of gout. Van Swieten, a famous Doctor's Son, and
Minister of the Imperial Court at Berlin, took it into his head that
this gout was a declared dropsy; and, glad to announce to his Court
the approaching death of an enemy that had been dangerous to it, boldly
informed his Kaiser that the King was drawing to his end, and would
not last out the year. At this news the soul of Joseph flames into
enthusiasm; all the Austrian troops are got on march, their Rendezvous
marked in Bohemia; and the Kaiser waits, full of impatience, at Vienna,
till the expected event arrives; ready then to penetrate at once into
Saxony, and thence to the Frontiers of Brandenburg, and there propose
to the King's Successor the alternative of either surrendering Silesia
straightway to the House of Austria, or seeing himself overwhelmed by
Austrian troops before he could get his own assembled. All these things,
which were openly done, got noised abroad everywhere; and did not, as is
easy to believe, cement the friendship of the Two Courts. To the Public
this scene appeared the more ridiculous, as the King of Prussia, having
only had a common gout in larger dose than common, was already well
of it again, before the Austrian Army had got to their Rendezvous. The
Kaiser made all these troops return to their old quarters; and the Court
of Vienna had nothing but mockery for its imprudent conduct." [_OEuvres
de Frederic,_ vi. 124.]
The first of these gout-attacks seems to have come in the end of
September, and to have lasted about a month; after which the illness
abated, and everybody thought it was gone. The Kaiser-Joseph evolution
must have been in October, and have got its mockery in the next months.
Friedrich, writing to VOLTAIRE, October 22d, has these words:... "A pair
of charming Letters from Ferney; to which, had they been from the great
Demiurgus himself, I could not have dictated Answer. Gout held me tied
and garroted for four weeks;--gout in both feet and in both hands; and,
such its extreme liberality, in both elbows too: at present the pains
and the fever have abated, and I feel only a very great exhaustion."
[Ib. xxv. 44.] "Four consecutive attacks; hope they are now all over;"
but we read, within the Spring following, that there have been in
all twelve of them; and in May, 1776, the Newspapers count eighteen
quasi-consecutive. So that in reality the King's strength was sadly
reduced; and his health, which did not recover its old average till
about 1780, continued, for several years after this bad fit, to be a
constant theme of curiosity to the Gazetteer species, and a matter of
solicitude to his friends and to his enemies.
Of the Kaiser's immense ambition there can be no question. He is
stretching himself out on every side; "seriously wishing," thinks
Friedrich, "that he could 'revivify the German Reich,'"--new Barbarossa
in improved FIXED form; how noble! Certainly, to King Friedrich's sad
conviction, "the Austrian Court is aiming to swallow all manner of
dominions that may fall within its grasp." Wants Bosnia and Servia in
the East; longs to seize certain Venetian Territories, which would unite
Trieste and the Milanese to the Tyrol. Is throwing out hooks on Modena,
on the Ferrarese, on this and on that. Looking with eager eyes on
Bavaria,--the situation of which is peculiar; the present Kur-Baiern
being elderly, childless; and his Heir the like, who withal is already
Kur-Pfalz, and will unite the Two Electorates under one head; a thing
which Austria regards with marked dislike. [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ vi.
123.] These are anxious considerations to a King in Friedrich's sick
state. In his private circle, too, there are sorrows: death of Fouquet,
death of Quintus Icilius, of Seidlitz, Quantz (good old Quantz, with his
fine Flutings these fifty years, and the still finer memories he awoke!
[Friedrich's Teacher of the Flute; procured for him by his Mother
(supra vi. 144).]),--latterly an unusual number of deaths. The ruggedly
intelligent Quintus, a daily companion, and guest at the supper-table,
died few months before this fit of gout; and must have been greatly
missed by Friedrich. Fouquet, at Brandenburg, died last year: his
benefactor in the early Custrin distresses, his "Bayard," and chosen
friend ever since; how conspicuously dear to Friedrich to the last is
still evident. A Friedrich getting lonely enough, and the lights of his
life going out around him;--has but one sure consolation, which comes
to him as compulsion withal, and is not neglected, that of standing
steadfast to his work, whatever the mood and posture be.
The Event of 1776 is Czarowitsh Paul's arrival in Berlin, and Betrothal
to a second Wife there; his first having died in childbirth lately. The
first had been of Friedrich's choosing, but had behaved ill,--seduced by
Spanish-French Diplomacies, by this and that, poor young creature:--the
second also was of Friedrich's choosing, and a still nearer connection:
figure what a triumphant event! Event now fallen dead to every one of
us; and hardly admitting the smallest Note,--except for chronology's
sake, which it is always satisfactory to keep clear:--
"Czarowitsh Paul's first Wife, the Hessen-Darmstadt Princess of Three,
died of her first child April 26th, 1776: everybody whispered, 'It is
none of Paul's!' who, nevertheless, was inconsolable, the wild heart of
him like to break on the occurrence. By good luck, Prince Henri had set
out, by invitation, on a second visit to Petersburg; and arrived there
also on April 26th, [Rodenbeck, iii. 139-146.] the very day of the
fatality. Prince Henri soothed, consoled the poor Czarowitsh; gradually
brought him round; agreed with his Czarina Mother, that he must have a
new Wife; and dexterously fixed her choice on a 'Niece of the King's
and Henri's.' Eldest Daughter of Eugen of Wurtemberg, of whom, as an
excellent General, though also as a surly Husband, readers have some
memory; now living withdrawn at Mumpelgard, the Wurtemberg Apanage
[Montbeillard, as the French call it], in these piping times of
Peace:--she is the Princess. To King Friedrich's great surprise and joy.
The Mumpelgard Principalities, and fortunate Princess, are summoned
to Berlin. Czarowitsh Paul, under Henri's escort, and under gala and
festivities from the Frontier onward, arrived in Berlin 21st July, 1776;
was betrothed to his Wurtemberg Princess straightway; and after about a
fortnight of festivities still more transcendent, went home with her
to Petersburg; and was there wedded, 18th October following;--Czar and
Czarina, she and he, twenty years after, and their posterity reigning
ever since. [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ vi. 120-122.]
"At Vienna," says the King, "everybody was persuaded the Czarowitsh
would never come to Berlin. Prince Kaunitz had been,"--been at his old
tricks again, playing his sharpest, in the Court of Petersburg again:
what tricks (about Poland and otherwise) let us not report, for it is
now interesting to nobody. Of the Czarowitsh Visit itself I will remark
only,--what seems to be its one chance of dating itself in any of our
memories,--that it fell out shortly after the Sherlock dinner with
Voltaire (in 1776, April 27th the one event, July 21st the other);--and
that here is, by pure accident, the exuberant erratic Sherlock, once
more, and once only, emerging on us for a few moments!--
EXUBERANT SHERLOCK AND ELEVEN OTHER ENGLISH ARE PRESENTED TO FRIEDRICH
ON A COURT OCCASION (8th October, 1777); AND TWO OF THEM GET SPOKEN TO,
AND SPEAK EACH A WORD. EXCELLENCY HUGH ELLIOT IS THEIR INTRODUCER.
Harris, afterwards Earl of Malmesbury, succeeded Mitchell at Berlin;
"Polish troubles" (heartily indifferent to England), "Dantzig squabbles"
(miraculously important there),--nothing worth the least mention now.
Excellency Harris quitted Berlin in Autumn, 1776; gave place to an
Excellency Hugh Elliot (one of the Minto Elliots, Brother of the first
Earl of Minto, and himself considerably noted in the world), of whom we
have a few words to say.
Elliot has been here since April, 1777; stays some five years in this
post;--with not much Diplomatic employment, I should think, but with
a style of general bearing and social physiognomy, which, with some
procedures partly incidental as well, are still remembered in Berlin.
Something of spying, too, doubtless there was; bribing of menials,
opening of Letters: I believe a great deal of that went on; impossible
to prevent under the carefulest of Kings. [An ingenious young Friend of
mine, connected with Legationary Business, found lately, at the Hague, a
consecutive Series, complete for four or five years (I think, from 1780
onwards), of Friedrich's LETTERS to his MINISTER IN LONDON,--Copies
punctually filched as they went through the Post-office
there:--specimens of which I saw; and the whole of which I might have
seen, had it been worth the effort necessary. But Friedrich's London
Minister, in this case, was a person of no significance or intimacy; and
the King's Letters, though strangely exact, clear and even elucidative
on English Court-Politics and vicissitudes, seemed to be nearly barren
as to Prussian.] Hitherto, with one exception to be mentioned presently,
his main business seems to have been that of introducing, on different
Court-Days, a great number of Travelling English, who want to see the
King, and whom the King little wants, but quietly submits to. Incoherent
Sherlock, whom we discover to have been of the number, has, in his
tawdry disjointed Book, this Passage:--
"The last time of my seeing him [this Hero-King of my heart] was at
Berlin [not a hint of the time when]. He came thither to receive the
adieus of the Baron de Swieten, Minister from their Imperial Majesties
[thank you; that means 8th October, 1777 [Rodenbeck, iii. 172.]], and
to give audience to the new Minister, the Count Cobenzl. The Foreign
Ministers, the persons who were to be presented [we, for instance], and
the Military, were all that were at Court. We were ten English [thirteen
by tale]: the King spoke to the first and the last; not on account of
their situation, but because their names struck him. The first was Major
Dalrymple. To him the King said: 'You have been presented to me before?'
'I ask your Majesty's pardon; it was my Uncle' (Lord Dalrymple, of
whom presently). Mr. Pitt [unknown to me which Pitt, subsequent Lord
Camelford or another] was the last. THE KING: 'Are you a relation of
Lord Chatham's?' 'Yes, Sire.'--'He is a man whom I highly esteem' [read
"esteemed"].
"He then went to the Foreign Ministers; and talked more to Prince
Dolgorucki, the Russian Ambassador, than to any other. In the midst of
his conversation with this Prince, he turned abruptly to Mr. Elliot, the
English Minister, and asked: 'What is the Duchess of Kingston's family
name?' This transition was less Pindaric than it appears; he had just
been speaking of the Court of Petersburg, and that Lady was then there."
[Sherlock, ii. 27.] Whereupon Sherlock hops his ways again; leaving us
considerably uncertain. But, by a curious accident, here, at first-hand,
is confirmation of the flighty creature;--a Letter from Excellency
Elliot himself having come our way:--
TO WILLIAM EDEN, ESQUIRE (of the Foreign Office, London; Elliot's
Brother-in-law; afterwards LORD AUCKLAND).
"BERLIN, 12th October, 1777.
"MY DEAR EDEN,--If you are waiting upon the pinnacle of all impatience
to give me news from the Howes [out on their then famous "Seizure of
Philadelphia," which came to what we know!], I am waiting with no less
impatience to receive it, and think every other subject too little
interesting to be mentioned. I must, however, tell you, the King has
been here; ["Came to Berlin 8th October," on the Van-Swieten errand;
"saw Princess Amelia twice; and on the 9th returned to Potsdam"
(Rodenbeck, iii. 172).] to the astonishment of all croakers, hearty and
in high spirits. He was very civil to all of us. I was attended by one
dozen English, which nearly completes my half-hundred this season.
Pitt made one of the twelve, and was particularly distinguished. KING:
_"Monsieur est-il parent de Mylord Chatham?'_ PITT: _'Oui, Sire.'_ KING:
_'C'est un homme que j'ai beaucoup estime.'_
"You have no idea of the joy the people expressed to see the King on
Horseback,--all the Grub-street nonsense of 'a Country groaning under
the weight of its burdens,' of 'a Nation governed with a rod of iron,'
vanished before the sincere acclamations of all ranks, who joined in
testifying their enthusiasm for their great Monarch. I long for Harris
and Company [Excellency Harris; making for Russia, I believe]; they are
to pig together in my house; so that I flatter myself with having a near
view, if not a taste, of connubial joys. My love to E and _e_ [your
big _E_leanor and your LITTLE, a baby in arms, who are my Sister and
Niece;--pretty, this!]. Your most affectionate, H. E.
"P.S. I quite forgot to tell you, I sent out a servant some time ago
to England to bring a couple of Horses. He will deliver some Packets to
you; which I beg you will send, with Lord Marischal's compliments, to
their respective Addresses. There is also a china cup for Mr. Macnamara,
Lawyer, in the Temple or Lincoln's Inn, from the same person [lively old
gentleman, age 91 gone; did die next year]. What does Eleanor mean about
my Congratulatory Letter to Lord Suffolk [our Foreign Secretary, on his
marriage lately]? I wished his Lordship, most sincerely, every happiness
in his new state, as soon as I knew of it. I beg, however, Eleanor will
do the like;--and although it is not my system to 'congratulate' anybody
upon marriage, yet I never fail to wish them what, I think, it is always
two to one they do not obtain." [EDEN-HOUSE CORRESPONDENCE (part of
which, not this, has been published in late years).]
As to the Dalrymple of SHERLOCK, read this (FRIEDRICH TO D'ALEMBERT, two
years before [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxv. 21: 5th August, 1775.]):...
"A Mylord of wonderful name [Lord Dalrymple, if I could remember it], of
amiable genius (AU NOM BAROQUE, A L'ESPRIT AIMABLE), gave me a Letter on
your part. 'Ah, how goes the Prince of Philosophers, then? Is he gay;
is he busy; did you see him often?' To which the Mylord: 'I? No; I am
straight from London!'"--"QUOI DONC--?" In short, knowing my Anaxagoras,
this Mylord preferred to be introduced by him; and was right: "One of
the amiablest Englishmen I have seen; I except only the name, which I
shall never remember [but do, on this new occasion]: Why doesn't he
get himself unchristened of it, and take that of Stair, which equally
belongs to him?" (Earl of Stair by and by; Nephew, or Grand-Nephew,
of the great Earl of Stair, once so well known to some of us. Becomes
English Minister here in 1785, if we much cared.)
That word of reminiscence about Pitt is worth more attention. Not spoken
lightly, but with meaning and sincerity; something almost pathetic
in it, after the sixteen years separation: "A man whom I much
esteemed,"--and had good reason to do so! Pitt's subsequent sad and
bright fortunes, from the end of the Seven-Years War and triumphant
summing up of the JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION, are known to readers. His
Burton-Pynsent meed of honor (Estate of 3,000 pounds a year bequeathed
him by an aged Patriot, "Let THIS bit of England go a noble road!");
his lofty silences, in the World Political; his vehement attempts in it,
when again asked to attempt, all futile,--with great pain to him, and
great disdain from him:--his passionate impatiences on minor matters,
"laborers [ornamenting Burton-Pynsent Park, in Somersetshire] planting
trees by torchlight;" "kitchen people [at Hayes in North Kent, House
still to be seen] roasting a series of chickens, chicken after chicken
all day, that at any hour, within ten minutes, my Lord may dine!"--these
things dwell in the memory of every worthy reader. Here, saved from my
poor friend Smelfungus (nobody knows how much of him I suppress), is a
brief jotting, in the form of rough MEMORANDA, if it be permissible:--
"Pitt four years King; lost in quicksands after that; off to Bath,
from gout, from semi-insanity; 'India should pay, but how?' Lost in
General-Warrants, in Wilkes Controversies, American Revolts,--generally,
in shallow quicksands;--dies at his post, but his post had become a
delirious one.
"A delicate, proud, noble man; pure as refined gold. Something
sensitive, almost feminine in him; yet with an edge, a fire, a
steadiness; liker Friedrich, in some fine principal points, than any
of his Contemporaries. The one King England has had, this King of Four
Years, since the Constitutional system set in. Oliver Cromwell, yes
indeed,--but he died, and there was nothing for it but to hang his body
on the gallows. Dutch William, too, might have been considerable,--but
he was Dutch, and to us proved to be nothing. Then again, so long as
Sarah Jennings held the Queen's Majesty in bondage, some gleams
of Kinghood for us under Marlborough:--after whom Noodleism and
Somnambulism, zero on the back of zero, and all our Affairs, temporal,
spiritual and eternal, jumbling at random, which we call the Career of
Freedom, till Pitt stretched out his hand upon them. For four years;
never again, he; never again one resembling him,--nor indeed can ever
be.
"Never, I should think. Pitts are not born often; this Pitt's ideas
could occur in the History of Mankind once only. Stranger theory of
society, completely believed in by a clear, sharp and altogether human
head, incapable of falsity, was seldom heard of in the world. For King:
open your mouth, let the first gentleman that falls into it (a mass of
Hanover stolidity, stupidity, foreign to you, heedless of you) be King:
Supreme Majesty he, with hypothetical decorations, dignities, solemn
appliances, high as the stars (the whole, except the money, a mendacity,
and sin against Heaven): him you declare Sent-of-God, supreme Captain of
your England; and having done so,--tie him up (according to Pitt) with
Constitutional straps, so that he cannot stir hand or foot, for fear of
accidents: in which state he is fully cooked; throw me at his Majesty's
feet, and let me bless Heaven for such a Pillar of Cloud by day.
"Pitt, closely as I could scrutinize, seems never to have doubted in
his noble heart but he had some reverence for George II. 'Reverenced
his Office,' says a simple reader? Alas, no, my friend, man does not
'reverence Office,' but only sham-reverences it. I defy him to reverence
anything but a Man filling an Office (with or without salary) nobly.
Filling a noble office ignobly; doing a celestial task in a quietly
infernal manner? It were kinder perhaps to run your sword through him
(or through yourself) than to take to revering him! If inconvenient
to slay him or to slay yourself (as is oftenest likely),--keep well to
windward of him; be not, without necessity, partaker of his adventures
in this extremely earnest Universe!...
"No; Nature does not produce many Pitts:--nor will any Pitt ever again
apply in Parliament for a career. 'Your voices, your most sweet voices;
ye melodious torrents of Gadarenes Swine, galloping rapidly down steep
places, I, for one; know whither I'"...--Enough.
About four months before this time, Elliot had done a feat, not in
the Diplomatic line at all, or by his own choice at all, which had
considerably astonished the Diplomatic world at Berlin, and was
doubtless well in the King's thoughts during this introduction of the
Dozen. The American War is raging and blundering along,--a delectable
Lord George Germaine (ALIAS Sackville, no other than our old Minden
friend) managing as War-Minister, others equally skilful presiding at
the Parliamentary helm; all becoming worse and worse off, as the matter
proceeds. The revolted Colonies have their Franklins, Lees, busy in
European Courts: "Help us in our noble struggle, ye European Courts;,
now is your chance on tyrannous England!" To which France at least does
appear to be lending ear. Lee, turned out from Vienna, is at work in
Berlin, this while past; making what progress is uncertain to some
people.
I know not whether it was by my Lord Suffolk's instigation, or what had
put the Britannic Cabinet on such an idea,--perhaps the stolen Letters
of Friedrich, which show so exact a knowledge of the current of events
in America as well as England ("knows every step of it, as if he
were there himself, the Arch-Enemy of honest neighbors in a time of
stress!")--but it does appear they had got it into their sagacious heads
that the bad neighbor at Berlin was, in effect, the Arch-Enemy, probably
mainspring of the whole matter; and that it would be in the highest
degree interesting to see clearly what Lee and he had on hand. Order
thereupon to Elliot: "Do it, at any price;" and finally, as mere price
will not answer, "Do it by any method,--STEAL Lee's Despatch-Box for
us!"
Perhaps few Excellencies living had less appetite for such a job than
Elliot; but his Orders were peremptory, "Lee is a rebel, quasi-outlaw;
and you must!" Elliot thereupon took accurate survey of the matter; and
rapidly enough, and with perfect skill, though still a novice in Berlin
affairs, managed to do it. Privily hired, or made his servant hire, the
chief Housebreaker or Pickpocket in the City: "Lee lodges in such and
such a Hostelry; bring us his Red-Box for a thirty hours; it shall
be well worth your while!" And in brief space the Red-Box arrives,
accordingly; a score or two of ready-writers waiting for it, who copy
all day, all night, at the top of their speed, till they have enough:
which done, the Lee Red-Box is left on the stairs of the Lee Tavern; Box
locked again, and complete; only the Friedrich-Lee Secrets completely
pumped out of it, and now rushing day and night towards England, to
illuminate the Supreme Council-Board there.
This astonishing mass of papers is still extant in England; [In
the EDEN-HOUSE ARCHIVES; where a natural delicacy (unaware that the
questionable Legationary FACT stands in print for so many years past)
is properly averse to any promulgation of them.]--the outside of them I
have seen, by no means the inside, had I wished it;--but am able to say
from other sources, which are open to all the world, that seldom had a
Supreme Council-Board procured for itself, by improper or proper ways,
a Discovery of less value! Discovery that Lee has indeed been urgent at
Berlin; and has raised in Friedrich the question, "Have you got to such
a condition that I can, with safety and advantage, make a Treaty of
Commerce with you?"--That his Minister Schulenburg has, by Order, been
investigating Lee on that head; and has reported, "No, your Majesty, Lee
and People are not in such a condition;" that his Majesty has replied,
"Well, let him wait till they are;" and that Lee is waiting accordingly.
In general, That his Majesty is not less concerned in guidance or
encouragement of the American War than he is in ditto of the Atlantic
Tides or of the East-Wind (though he does keep barometers and
meteorological apparatus by him); and that we of the Council-Board are
a--what shall I say! Not since the case of poor Dr. Cameron, in 1753,
when Friedrich was to have joined the Highlanders with 15,000 chosen
Prussians for Jacobite purposes,--and the Cham of Tartary to have taken
part in the Bangorian Controversy,--was there a more perfect platitude,
or a deeper depth of ignorance as to adjacent objects on the part of
Governing Men. For shame, my friends!--
This surprising bit of Burglary, so far as I can gather from the
Prussian Books, must have been done on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25th, 1777;
Box (with essence pumped out) restored to staircase night of
Thursday,--Police already busy, Governor Ramin and Justice-President
Philippi already apprised, and suspicion falling on the English
Minister,--whose Servant ("Arrest him we cannot without a King's
Warrant, only procurable at Potsdam!") vanishes bodily. Friday, 27th,
Ramin and Philippi make report; King answers, "greatly astonished:" a
"GARSTIGE SACHE (ugly Business), which will do the English no honor:"
"Servant fled, say you? Trace it to the bottom; swift!" Excellency
Elliot, seeing how matters lay, owned honestly to the Official People,
That it was his Servant (Servant safe gone, Chief Pickpocket not
mentioned at all); SUNDAY EVENING, 29th, King orders thereupon, "Let the
matter drop." These Official Pieces, signed by the King, by Hertzberg,
Ramin and others, we do not give: here is Friedrich's own notice of it
to his Brother Henri:--
"POTSDAM, 29th JUNE, 1777.... There has just occurred a strange thing
at Berlin. Three days ago, in absence of the Sieur Lee, Envoy of the
American Colonies, the Envoy of England went [sent!] to the Inn where
Lee lodged, and carried off his Portfolio; it seems he was in fear,
however, and threw it down, without opening it, on the stairs [alas,
no, your Majesty, not till after pumping the essence out]. All Berlin is
talking of it. If one were to act with rigor, it would be necessary to
forbid this man the Court, since he has committed a public theft: but,
not to make a noise, I suppress the thing. Sha'n't fail, however, to
write to England about it, and indicate that there was another way of
dealing with such a matter, for they are impertinent" (say, ignorant,
blind as moles, your Majesty; that is the charitable reading!).
[_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxvi. 394. In PREUSS, v. (he calls it "iv." or
"URKUNDENBUCH to vol. iv.," but it is really and practically vol. v.)
278, 279, are the various Official Reports.]
This was not Excellency Elliot's Burglary, as readers see,--among all
the Excellencies going, I know not that there is one with less natural
appetite for such a job; but sometimes what can a necessitous Excellency
do? Elliot is still remembered in Berlin society, not for this only,
but for emphatic things of a better complexion which he did; a man more
justly estimated there, than generally here in our time. Here his chief
fame rests on a witty Anecdote, evidently apocryphal, and manufactured
in the London Clubs: "Who is this Hyder-Ali," said the old King to him,
one day (according to the London Clubs). "Hm," answered Elliot, with
exquisite promptitude, politeness and solidity of information, "C'EST UN
VIEUX VOLEUR QUI COMMENCE A RADOTER (An old robber, now falling into his
dotage),"--let his dotard Majesty take that.
Alas, my friends!--Ignorance by herself is an awkward lumpish wench;
not yet fallen into vicious courses, nor to be uncharitably treated: but
Ignorance and Insolence,--these are, for certain, an unlovely Mother and
Bastard! Yes;--and they may depend upon it, the grim Parish-beadles
of this Universe are out on the track of them, and oakum and the
correction-house are infallible sooner or later! The clever Elliot, who
knew a hawk from a hernshaw, never floundered into that platitude. This,
however, is a joke of his, better or worse (I think, on his quitting
Berlin in 1782, without visible resource or outlook): "I am far from
having a Sans-Souci," writes he to the Edens; "and I think I am coming
to be SANS SIX-SOUS."--Here still are two small Fractions, which I must
insert; and then rigorously close. Kaiser Joseph, in these months, is
travelling through France to instruct his Imperial mind. The following
is five weeks anterior to that of Lee's Red-Box:--
1. A BIT OF DIALOGUE AT PARIS (Saturday, 17th May, 1777). After solemn
Session of the ACADEMIE FRANCAISE, held in honor of an illustrious COMTE
DE FALKENSTEIN (privately, Kaiser Joseph II.), who has come to look at
France, [Minute and rather entertaining Account of his procedures there,
and especially of his two Visits to the Academy (first was May 10th),
in Mayer, _Reisen Josephs II._ (Leipzig, 1778), pp. 112-132, 147
et seq.]--Comte de Falkenstein was graciously pleased to step up to
D'Alembert, who is Perpetual Secretary here; and this little Dialogue
ensued:--
FALKENSTEIN. "I have heard you are for Germany this season; some say you
intend to become German altogether?"
D'ALEMBERT. "I did promise myself the high honor of a visit to his
Prussian Majesty, who has deigned to invite me, with all the kindness
possible: but, alas, for such hopes! The bad state of my health--"
FALKENSTEIN. "It seems to me you have already been to see the King of
Prussia?"
D'ALEMBERT. "Two times; once in 1756 [1755, 17th-19th June,--if you will
be exact], at Wesel, when I remained only a few days; and again in 1763,
when I had the honor to pass three or four months with him. Since that
time I have always longed to have the honor of seeing his Majesty again;
but circumstances hindered me. I, above all, regretted not to have been
able to pay my court to him that year he saw the Emperor at Neisse,--but
at this moment there is nothing more to be wished on that head" (Don't
bow: the Gentleman is INCOGNITO).
FALKENSTEIN. "It was very natural that the Emperor, young, and desiring
to instruct himself, should wish to see such a Prince as the King of
Prussia; so great a Captain, a Monarch of such reputation, and who has
played so great a part. It was a Scholar going to see his Master" (these
are his very words, your Majesty).
D'ALEMBERT. "I wish M. le Comte de Falkenstein could see the Letters
which the King of Prussia did me the honor to write after that
Interview: it would then appear how this Prince judged of the Emperor,
as all the world has since done." ["D'Alembert to Friedrich [in _OEuvres
de Frederic,_ xxv. 75], 23d May, 1777." Ib. xxv. 82; "13th August,
1777."]
KING TO D'ALEMBERT (three months after. Kaiser is home; passed Ferney,
early in August; and did not call on Voltaire, as is well known).... "I
hear the Comte de Falkenstein has been seeing harbors, arsenals, ships,
manufactures, and has n't seen Voltaire. Had I been in the Emperor's
place, I would not have passed Ferney without a glance at the old
Patriarch, were it only to say that I had seen and heard him. Arsenals,
ships, manufactures, these you can see anywhere; but it requires ages
to produce a Voltaire. By the rumors I hear, it will have been a certain
great Lady Theresa, very Orthodox and little Philosophical, who forbade
her Son to visit the Apostle of Tolerance."
D'ALEMBERT (in answer): "No doubt your Majesty's guess is right. It must
have been the Lady Mother. Nobody here believes that the advice came
from his Sister [Queen Marie Antoinette], who, they say, is full of
esteem for the Patriarch, and has more than once let him know it by
third parties." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xxv. 84.]
According to Friedrich, Joseph's reflections in France were very gloomy:
"This is all one Country; strenuously kneaded into perfect union and
incorporation by the Old Kings: my discordant Romish Reich is of
many Countries,--and should be of one, if Sovereigns were wise and
strenuous!" [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ vi. 125.]
2. A CABINET-ORDER AND ACTUAL (fac-simile) SIGNATURE OF
FRIEDRICH'S.--After unknown travels over the world, this poor brown Bit
of Paper, with a Signature of Friedrich's to it, has wandered hither;
and I have had it copied, worthy or not. A Royal Cabinet-Order on the
smallest of subjects; but perhaps all the more significant on that
account; and a Signature which readers may like to see.
Fordan, or Fordon, is in the Bromberg Department in West
Preussen,--Bromberg no longer a heap of ruins; but a lively,
new-built, paved, CANALLED and industrious trading Town. At Fordan is a
Grain-Magazine: Bein ("Leg," DER BEIN, as they slightingly call him) is
Proviant-Master there; and must consider his ways,--the King's eye being
on him. Readers can now look and understand:--
AN DEN OBER-PROVIANTMEISTER BEIN, zu Fordan.
"POTSDAM, den 9ten April, 1777.
_"Seiner Koniglicher Majestat von Preussen, Unser allergnadigster Herr,
lassen dem Ober-Proviantmeister Bein hiebey die Getraide-Preistabelle
des Brombergschen Departments zufertigen; Woraus derselbe ersiehet
wie niedrig solche an einigen Orthen sind, und dass zu Inovraclaw und
Strezeltnow der Scheffel Roggen um 12 Groschen kostet: da solches nun
hier so wohlfeil ist, somuss ja der Preis in Pohlen noch wohl geringer,
und ist daher nicht abzusehen warum die Pohlen auf so hohe Preise
bestehen; der Bein muss sich daher nun rechte Muhe gebem, und den
Einkauf so wohlfeil als nur immer mog_ lich zu machen suchen."
"His Royal Majesty of Preussen, Our most all-gracious Lord, lets
herewith, to the Head Proviant-Master Bein, the Grain-Prices Table of
the Bromberg Department be despatched; Wherefrom Bein perceives how low
in some places these are, and that, at Inovraclaw and Strezeltnow the
Bushel of Rye costs about 14 Pence: now, as it is so cheap there, the
price in Poland must be still smaller; and therefore it is not to be
conceived why the Poles demand such high prices," as the said Bein
reports: "Bein therefore is charged to take especial pains, and try not
to make the purchase dearer than is indispensable."
FRIEDRICH'S SIGNATURE HERE--PAGE 390, BOOK XXI----
[Reference re signature] Original kindly furnished me by Mr. W. H. Doeg,
Barlow Moor, Manchester: whose it now is,--purchased in London, A.D.
1863. The FRH of German CURSIV-SCHRIFT (current hand), which the
woodcutter has appended, shut off by a square, will show English readers
what the King means: an _"Frh"_ done as by a flourish of one's stick,
in the most compendious and really ingenious manner,--suitable for an
economic King, who has to repeat it scores of times every day of his
life!