Already next morning, after that grand Dinner at Charlottenburg,
Friedrich Wilhelm, awakening with his due headache, thought, and was
heard saying, He had gone too far! Those gloomy looks of Hotham and
Dubourgay, on the occasion; they are a sad memento that our joyance was
premature. The English mean the Double-Marriage; and Friedrich
Wilhelm is not ready, and never fairly was, for more than the Single.
"Wilhelmina Princess of Wales, yes with all my heart; but Friedrich to
an English Princess--Hm, na;"--and in a day more: ["Instruction to his
Ministers, 5th April," cited by Ranke, i. 285 n.] plainly "No." And
there it finally rests; or if rocked about, always settles there again.
And why, No?--Truly, as regarded Crown-Prince Friedrich's marriage, the
question had its real difficulties: and then, still more, it had its
imaginary; and the subterranean activities were busy! The witnesses,
contemporaneous and other, assign three reasons, or considerations and
quasi-reasons, which the Tobacco-Parliament and Friedrich Wilhelm's
lively fancy could insist upon it till they became irrefragable:--
FIRST, his rooted discontent with the Crown-Prince, some even say his
jealousy of the Crown-Prince's talents, render it unpleasant to think of
promoting him in any way. SECOND, natural German loyalty, enlivened by
the hope of Julich and Berg, attaching Friedrich Wilhelm to the Kaiser's
side of things, repels him with a kind of horror from the Anti-Kaiser or
French-English side. "Marry my Daughter, if you like; I shall be glad to
salute her as Princess of Wales; but no union in your Treaty-of-Seville
operations: in politics go you your own road, if that is it, while I
go mine; no tying of us, by Double or other Marriages, to go one road."
THIRD, the magnificence of those English. "Regardless of expense,"
insinuates the Tobacco-Parliament; "they will send their grand Princess
hither, with no end of money; brought up in grandeur to look down on the
like of us. She can dazzle, she can purchase: in the end, may there not
be a Crown-Prince Party, capable of extinguishing your Majesty here
in your own Court, and making Prussia a bit of England; all eyes being
turned to such sumptuous Princess and her Crown-Prince,--Heir-Apparent,
or 'Rising Sun' as we may call him!"--
These really are three weighty almost dreadful considerations to a
poetic-tempered King and Smoking Parliament. Out of which there is no
refuge except indeed this plain fourth one: "No hurry about Fritz's
marriage; [Friedrich Wilhelm to Reichenbach (13th May), infra.] he is
but eighteen gone; evidently too young for housekeeping. Thirty is a
good time for marrying. 'There is, thank God, no lack of royal lineage;
I have two other Princes,'"--and another just at hand, if I knew it.
To all which there is to be added that ever-recurring invincible
gravitation towards the Kaiser, and also towards Julich and Berg, by
means of him,--well acted on by the Tobacco-Parliament for the space of
those six weeks. During which, accordingly, almost from the first day
after that Hotham Dinner of April 3d, the answer of the royal mind, with
superficial fluctuations, always is: "Wilhelmina at once, if you choose;
likely enough we might agree about Crown-Prince Friedrich too, if once
all were settled; but of the Double-Marriage, at this present time, HORE
NIT, [Ranke, i. 285 n.] I will have nothing to say." And as the English
answer steadily, "Both or none!"--meaning indeed to draw Prussia away
from the Kaiser's leading-strings, and out of his present enchanted
condition under the two Black-Artists he has about him, the Negotiation
sinks again into a mere smoking, and extinct or plainly extinguishing
state.
The Grumkow-NOSTI Cipher Correspondence might be reckoned as another
efficient cause; though, in fact, it was only a big concomitant symptom,
much depended on by both parties, and much disappointing both. In the
way of persuading or perverting Friedrich Wilhelm's judgment about
England, this deep-laid piece of machinery does not seem to have done
much, if anything; and Hotham, who with the English Court had calculated
on it (on their detection of it) as the grand means of blowing Grumkow
out of the field, produced a far opposite result on trying, as we shall
see! That was a bit of heavy ordnance which disappointed everybody.
Seized by the enemy before it could do any mischief; enemy turned it
round on the inventor; fired it off on the inventor, and--it exploded
through the touch-hole; singeing some people's whiskers: nothing more!--
A PEEP INTO THE NOSTI-GRUMKOW CORRESPONDENCE CAUGHT UP IN ST. MARY AXE.
Would the reader wish to look into this Nosti-Grumkow Correspondence at
all? I advise him, not. Good part of it still lies in the Paper-Office
here; [Prussian Despatches, vols. xl. xli.: in a fragmentary state; so
much of it as they had caught up, and tried to make use of;--far too
much.] likely to be published by the Prussian Dryasdust in coming
time: but a more sordid mass of eavesdroppings, kitchen-ashes and
floor-sweepings, collected and interchanged by a pair of treacherous
Flunkies (big bullying Flunky and little trembling cringing one, Grumkow
and Reichenbach), was never got together out of a gentleman's household.
To no idlest reader, armed even with barnacles, and holding mouth and
nose, can the stirring-up of such a dust-bin be long tolerable. But
the amazing problem was this Editor's, doomed to spell the Event into
clearness if he could, and put dates, physiognomy and outline to it, by
help of such Flunky-Sanscrit!--That Nosti-Grumkow Correspondence, as we
now have it in the Paper-Office,--interpretable only by acres of British
Despatches, by incondite dateless helpless Prussian Books ("printed
Blotches of Human Stupor," as Smelfungus calls them): how gladly would
one return them all to St. Mary Axe, there to lie through Eternity! It
is like holding dialogue with a rookery; asking your way (perhaps in
flight for life, as was partly my own case) by colloquy with successive
or even simultaneous Rookeries. Reader, have you tried such a thing? An
adventure, never to be spoken of again, when once DONE!
Wilhelmina pretends to give quotations [Wilhelmina, i. 233-235.] from
this subterranean Grumkow-Reichenbach Correspondence; but hers are only
extracts from some description or remembrance; hardly one word is close
to the original, though here and there some outline or shadow of a real
passage is traceable. What fractional elements, capable of gaining some
vestige of meaning when laid together in their cosmic order, I could
pick from the circumambient immensity not cosmic, are here for the
reader's behoof. Let him skip, if, like myself, he is weary; for
the substance of the story is elsewhere given. Or perhaps he has the
curiosity to know the speech of birds? With abridgment, by occasional
change of phrase, above all by immense omission,--here, in specimen, is
something like what the Rookery says to poor Friedrich Wilhelm and us,
through St. Mary Axe and the Copyists in the Foreign Office! Friedrich
Wilhelm reads it (Hotham gives him reading of it) some weeks hence; we
not till generations afterwards. I abridge to the utmost;--will mark
in single commas what is not Abridgment but exact Translation;--with
rigorous attention to dates, and my best fidelity to any meaning there
may be:--
TO NOSTI (the so-called Excellenz Reichenbach) IN LONDON:
Gumkow from Berlin LOQUITUR, Reichenbach listening with both his ears
(words caught up in St. Mary Axe).
BERLIN, 3d MARCH, 1730. "The time has now come when Reichenbach must
play his game. Let him write that the heads of the Opposition, who play
Austria as a card in Parliament, 'are in consternation, Walpole having
hinted to them that he was about to make friends with the King of
Prussia;' 'that by means of certain ministers at Berlin, and by other
subterranean channels (AUTRES SOUTERRAINS), his Prussian Majesty had
been brought to a disposition of that kind' [Knyphausen, Borck and
others will be much obliged to Reichenbach for so writing!], That
Reichenbach knows they intend sending a Minister to Berlin; but is
certain enough, as perhaps they are, his Prussian Majesty will not let
himself be lured or caught in the trap: but that the very rumor of its
being possible for him to change" from Austria, "would be an infinite
gain to the English Ministry,"--salvation of them, in fact, in the
Parliamentary cockpit. "That they had already given out in the way of
rumor, How sure they were of the Court of Berlin whenever it came to the
point. That Reichenbach had tried to learn from 73 [An Indecipherable.]
what the real result from Berlin was; and did not think it much, though
the Walpole people," all hanging so perilously upon Prussia for their
existence, 'affected a great gayety; and indeed felt what a gain it was
even to have renewed the Negotiation with his Prussian Majesty.' Here
is a King likely to get himself illuminated at first-hand upon English
affairs; by Ministers lying abroad for him, and lying at home!--
'And so the King,' concludes Grumkow, 'will think Reichenbach is a witch
(SORVIER) to be so well informed about all that, and will redouble the
good opinion he has of Reichenbach. And so, if Reichenbach second my
ideas, we will pack Borck and Knyphausen about their business; and will
do the King faithful service,'--having, some of us, our private 500
pounds a year from Austria for doing it. 'The King perceives only too
well that the Queen's sickness is but sham (MOMERIE): judge of the
effect that has! I am yours entirely (TOUT A VOUS). I wait in great
impatience to hear your news upon all this: for I inform you accurately
how the land lies here; so that it only depends upon yourself to shine,
and to pass for a miracle of just insight,'--"SORCIER," or witch at
guessing mysteries, Grumkow calls it again. He continues in another
Missive:--
BERLIN, 7th MARCH. (Let us give the original for a line or two): 'Queen
Sophie will soon rise from her bed of sickness, were this marriage done;
_La Mere du Prince-Royal affecte toujours d'etre bien mal; mais des que
l'affaire entre le Prince de Galles et la Princesse-Royale sera faite,
on la verra bientot sur pied.'_ "It will behoove that Reichenbach
signify to the Prince-Royal's Father that all this affair has been
concocted at Berlin with Borck and by 71 [An Indecipherable.] with
Knyphausen and 103. [An Indecipherable.] That they never lose sight of
an alliance with the English Princess and the Prince of Prussia; and
flatter themselves the Prince-Royal of Prussia will accompany the
Princess-Royal," Wilhelmina, "on HER marriage there." "In a word, that
all turns on this latter point," marriage of the PRINCE-Royal as well;
and "that Villa has given so favorable a description of this Prince,
that the English Princess will have him at what price soever. Nosti can
also allege the affair of 100,"--whom we at last decipher to be LORD
HARRINGTON, once Colonel Stanhope, of Soissons, of the Madrid Embassy,
of the descent on Vigo; a distinguished new Lord, with whom Newcastle
hopes to shove out Townshend,--"Lord Harrington, and the division
among the Ministers:"--great question, Shall the firm be Townshend
and Walpole, or Walpole and Townshend? just going on; brewing towards
decision; in which the Prussian Double-Marriage is really a kind of
card, and may by Nosti be represented as a trump card.
"The whole Town of Berlin said, This Villa was dismissed by order of the
King, for he taught the eldest Princess English; but I see well it
was Borck, 107, [An Indecipherable.] Knyphausen and Dubourgay that
despatched him, to give a true picture of the situation here. And if
Nosti has written to his Majesty to the same effect as he does to his
Friend [Despatch to Majesty has not yet come under Friend's eye] on
the Queen of England's views about the Prince-Royal of Prussia, it will
answer marvellously (CELA VIENT A MERVEILLE). I have apprised Seckendorf
of all that Nosti writes to me." 'For the rest, Nosti may perfectly
assure himself that the King never will abandon Reichenbach; and if the
Prince-Royal,' sudden Fate interfering, 'had the reins in his hand,--in
that case, Seckendorf promises to Reichenbach, on the part of the
Kaiser, all or more than all he can lose by the accession of the Prince.
Monsieur Reichenbach may depend upon that.' [Prussian Despatches, vol.
xl. The second of these two Letters is copied, we perceive, by VILLA;
who transmits it to Hotham's Secretary at Berlin, with great hopes from
it. Letter "unsigned," adds Villa (POINT SIGNEE). First was transmitted
by Townshend.--Following are transmitted by &c. &c. It is in that way
they have got into the State-Paper Office,--as ENCLOSURES in the varions
Despatches that carried them out to Berlin to serve as Diplomatic
Ammunition there.]
Slave Reichenbach at London, when this missive comes to hand, is busy
copying scandal according to former instructions for behoof of his
Prussian Majesty, and my Bashaw Grumkow; for example:--
TO THE HERR GRUMKOW AT BERLIN:
Excellenz Reichenbach LOQUITUR;--snatched in St. Mary Axe.
LONDON, 10th MARCH, 1730. "... Reichenbach has told his Prussian Majesty
to-day by a Courier who is to pass through Brussels [Austrian Kinsky's
Courier, no doubt], what amours the Prince of Wales," dissolute Fred,
"has on hand at present with actresses and opera-girls. The King of
Prussia will undoubtedly be astonished. The affair merits some attention
at present,"--especially from an Excellenz like me.--
[MISSIVE (body of important Grumkow Instructions just read by us) COMES
TO HAND.]
LONDON, 14th MARCH, 1730. 'Reichenbach will write by the first, Ordinary
[so they name Post, in those days] all that Glumkow orders. Reichenbach
sees well, they mean to play the deuce here (_jouent le diable a quatre
ici_): but Reichenbach will tell his Prussian Majesty what Grumkow finds
fit.' Good Excellenz Reichenbach 'flatters himself the King will remain
firm, and not let his enemies deceive him. If Grumkow and Seckendorf
have opportunity they may tell his Prussian Majesty that the whole
design of this Court is to render his Country a Province dependent on
England. When once the Princess-Royal of England shall be wedded to the
Prince-Royal of Prussia, the English, by that means, will form such a
party at Berlin, that they will altogether tie his Prussian Majesty's
hands.' A comfortable piece of news to his Prussian Majesty in
Tobacco-Parliament. 'Reichenbach will assuredly be vigilant; depend on
his answering Grumkow always by the first post.'
Continues;--turning his rook-bill towards Majesty now. Same date (14th
March), same time, place and bird:--
TO HIS PRUSSIAN MAJESTY (from Excellenz Reichenbach).
'... P.S. I had closed this Letter when a person of confidence came
in [the fact being, my Grumkow's Missive of instructions came in, or
figuratively speaking, my Grumkow himself], and undertook to give me
in a few days a thorough insight into the intrigues which are concealed
under the sending of this new Minister,' Hotham, 'to Berlin; which, and
how they have been concocted, he says, it will astonish me to hear. Of
all this I shall immediately inform your Majesty in a letter of my own
hand; being ever eager to serve your Majesty alone.'
Hotham is now fairly gone, weeks ago; concluded to be now in Berlin,--to
the horror of both rooks. Here is a croak from NOSTI:--
TO THE HERR GRUMKOW AT BERLIN.
LONDON, APRIL, 1730. "... Hotham is no such conjurer as they fancy in
Berlin;--singular enough, how these English are given to undervalue
the Germans; whilst we in Germany overvalue them" (_avons une idee
trop vaste,_ they _trap petite_). 'There is, for instance, Lord
Chesterfield, passes here for a fair-enough kind of man (BON HOMME),
and is a favorite with the King [not with Walpole or the Queen, if
Nosti knew it]; but nobody thinks him such a prodigy as you all do in
Germany,'--which latter bit of Germanism is an undoubted fact; curious
enough to the English, and to the Germans that now read in extinct
Books.
Hotham, as we said, got to Berlin on the 2d of April. From Berlin comes
thereupon, at great length, sordid description by Grumkow, of that
initiatory Hotham Dinner, April Third, with fearful details of the
blazing favor Hotham is in. Which his Majesty (when Hotham hands it to
him, in due time) will read with painful interest; as Reichenbach now
does;--but which to us is all mere puddle, omissible in this place.
To which sad Strophe, there straightway follows due Anti-strophe,
Reichenbach croaking responsive;--and we are to note, the rooks always
speak in the third person and by ambiguous periphrasis; never once say
"I" or "You," unless forced by this Editor, for brevity's sake, to do
it. Reichenbach from his perch thus hoarsely chants:--
TO THE HERR GRUMKOW AT BERLIN.
LONDON, 11th APRIL. 'Reichenbach EST COUP-DE-FOUDRE,--is struck by
lightning,--to hear these Berlin news;'--and expresses, in the style of
a whipt dog, his sorrows, uncertainties and terrors, on the occasion.
"Struck with lightning. Feel myself quite ill, and not in a condition
to write much today. It requires another head than mine to veer round so
often (_changer si souvent de systame_). In fine, _Nosti est au bout de
son latin_ (is at his wit's end, poor devil)! Both Majesties have spoken
openly of the favorable news from Berlin; funds rose in consequence.
New Minister [Walpole come to the top of the Firm, Townshend soon to
withdraw, impatient of the bottom] is all-powerful now: O TEMPORA, O
MORES!" "I receive universal congratulations, and have to smile" in a
ghastly manner. "The King and Queen despise me. I put myself in their
way last Levee, bowing to the ground; but they did not even condescend
to look." _'Notre grand petit-maitre,'_ little George, the Olympian Jove
of these parts, "passed on as if I had not been there." 'Chesterfield,
they say, is to go, in great pomp, as Ambassador Extraordinary, and
fetch the Princess over. And'--Alas, in short, Once I was hap-hap-happy,
but now I'm MEEserable!
LONDON, 14th APRIL. "Slave Reichenbaoh cannot any longer write secret
Letters to his Prussian Majesty according to the old strain, of your
prescribing; but must stand by his vacant Official Despatches: the scene
being entirely changed, he also must change his manner of writing"--poor
knave. "He will have to inform his Majesty, however, by and by, though
it is not safe at present,"--for example,--'That his Britannic Majesty
is becoming from day to day more hated by all the world; and that the
Prince of Wales is no longer liked by the Public, as at first; because
he begins to give himself airs, and takes altogether the manners of
his Britannic Majesty, that is to say of a puppy (PETIT-MAITRE); let my
Amiable [Grumkow] be aware of that'--
Yes, let him be aware of that, to his comfort,--and still more, and all
readers along with him, of what follows:--
'Reichenbach likewise with great confidence informs the Greatest
Confidant he has in the world [same amiable Glumkow], that he has
discovered within this day or two,' a tremendous fact, known to our
readers some time ago, 'That the Prince-Royal of Prussia has given his
written assurances to the Queen here, Never to many anybody in the
world except the Princess Amelia of England, happen what will [Prussian
Majesty will read this with a terrible interest! Much nearer to him than
it is to us]. In consideration of which Promise, the Queen of England
is understood,' falsely, 'to have answered that they should, at present,
ask only the Princess-Royal of Prussia for their Prince of Wales,' and
let the Double-Marriage BE, seemingly, as his Prussian Majesty wishes
it. 'Monsieur de Reichenbaoh, did not speak of this to his Prussian
Majesty; feeling it too dangerous just now.--
'Lord Townshend is still at his place in the country [Rainham in
Norfolk]: but it is said he will soon come to Town; having heard the
great news that they had already got his Prussian Majesty by the nose.
Reichenbach forgets if he already told Grumkow that the rumor runs,
Lord Chesterfield, in quality of Ambassador to Berlin, is to bring
the Princess Wilhelmina over hither:'--you did already, poor confused
wretch; unusually bewildered, and under frightful eclipse at present.
Continues after four days:--
APRIL 18th. "... Lord Stratford [to me an unknown Lordship] and heads
of Opposition would like to ascertain what Hotham's offer to the King of
Prussia IS."
Truly, yes; they mean to ask in Parliament (as poor gamblers in that
Cockpit are wont), 'And why did not you make the offer sooner, then?
Friendship with his Prussian Majesty, last year, would have saved the
whole of that large Waterspout about the Meadows of Clamei! Nay need
we, a few months ago, have spent such loads of gold subsidizing those
Hessians and Danes against him? The treasures of this Country go
a strange road, Mr. Speaker! What is the use of our industries and
riches?' Heavens, yes, what! But we continue to excerpt and interpret:--
Reichenbach "has said nothing of this to his Prussian Majesty,
Reichenbach has not; too dangerous in own present down-pressed
state:--though amazingly exact always in news, and attached to his
Prussian Majesty as mortal seldom was. Need he fear their new Hotham,
then? Does not fear Hotham, not he him, being a man so careful of truth
in his news. Dare not, however, now send any intelligence about the
Royal Family here; Prussian Majesty having ordered him not to write
gossip like a spiteful woman: What is he to do? Instruct him, O my
Amiable.
"Know for the rest, and be aware of it, O Amiable, that Queen Caroline
here is of opinion, The Amiable Grumkow should be conciliated; and that
Queen Sophie and Hotham are understood to have been trying it. Do not
abandon me, O Amiable; nay I know you will not, you and Seckendorf,
never, though I am a poor man.
"Have found out a curious story, HISTOIRE FORT CRIEUSE,--about one of
Prince Fred's amourettes." Story which this Editor, in the name of the
whole human species, will totally suppress, and sweep into the cesspool,
to herald Reichenbach thither. Except only that this corollary by the
Duchess of Kendal may be appended to the thing:--
"Duchess of Kendal [Hop-pole EMERITA, now gone to devotion, whom we
know, piously turns up her eyes at such doings], thinks the Princess
Wilhelmina will have a bad life of it with Fred, and that she 'will need
the wisdom of Solomon to get on here.' Not a good bargain, this Prince
Fred and his Sister. A dissolute fellow he, not liked by the Public" (I
should hope). 'Then as to Princess Amelia, she, who was always haughty,
begins to give herself airs upon the Prince-Royal of Prussia; she is
as ill-tempered as her Father, and still more given to backbiting (PLUS
RAILLEUSE), and will greatly displease the Potsdam Majesty.'
These are cheering thoughts. "But what is to become of Nosti? Faithful
to his Grumkow, to his Seckendorf--to his pair of sheep-stealers, poor
dog. But if trouble rise;--oh, at least do not hang me, ye incomparable
pair!"--
THE HOTHAM DESPATCHES.
Slave Nosti's terrors, could he see behind the scenes, are without
foundation! the tremendous Hotham Negotiation, all ablaze at that
Charlottenburg Dinner, is sunk low enough into the smoking state,
threatening to go out altogether. Smoke there may still be, perceptible
vestiges of smoke; which indeed, for a long time, fitfully continued:
but, at the time while Nosti, quaking in every joint of him, writes
these terrors, Hotham perceives that his errand is vain; that
properly there has as good as extinction supervened. April 3d was the
flame-point; which lasted in its brightness only for a few days or
hours. April is not gone, or half gone, when flaming has quite ceased,
and the use of bellows, never so judicious, is becoming desperate: and
long before the end of May, no red is to be seen in the affair at all,
and the very bellows are laid down.
Here--are the epochs: riddled out of such a mass of extinct rubbish as
human nature seldom had to deal with;--here are certain extracts in a
greatly condensed state, from the authentic voluminous Hotham Despatches
and Responses;--which may conveniently interrupt the Nosti Babblement at
this point.
TO MY LORD TOWNSHEND AT LONDON:
Excellency Hotham LOQUITUR (in a greatly condensed form).
BERLIN, 12th APRIL, 1730. "... Of one or two noteworthy points I have to
apprise your Lordship. So soon as his Majesty was sober, he found that
he had gone too far at that grand dinner of Monday 3d; and was in very
bad humor in consequence. Crown-Prince has written from Potsdam to his
Sister, 'No doubt I am left here lest the English wind get at me (_de
peur que le vent anglais ne me touchat_).' Saw King at Parade, who was a
little vague; 'is giving matters his consideration.' Majesty has said to
Borck and Knyphausen, 'If they want the Double-Marriage, and to detach
me from the Kaiser, let them propose something about Julich and Berg.'
Sits the wind in that quarter? King has said since, to one Marschall,
a Private-Secretary who is in our interest: 'I hate my Son, and my
Son hates me: we are best asunder;--let them make him STATTHALTER
(Vice-regent) of Hanover, with his Princess!' Commission might be
made out in the Princess Amelia's name; proper conditions tied, and so
on:--Knyphausen suggests it could be done. Knyphausen is true to us; but
he stands alone [not alone, but cannot much help]; does not even stir in
the NOSTI or ST.-MARY-AXE Affair as yet."
Prince Friedrich to be STATTHALTER in Hanover with his English Princess?
That would save the expense of an Establishment for him at home. That
has been suggested by the Knyphausen or English party: and no doubt
it looked flattering to his Prussian Majesty for moments. This may be
called Epoch first, after that grand Charlottenburg Dinner.
Then as to the NOSTI Affair, in which Knyphausen "does not stir as
yet,"--the fact is, it was only put into Knyphausen's hands the day
before YESTERDAY, as we soon discover; and Knyphausen is not so sure
about it as some are! That Hotham Despatch is of Wednesday, 12th April.
And not till yesterday could Guy Dickens report performance of the
other important thing. Captain Guy Dickens, a brisk handy military man,
Secretary to Dubourgay this good while past, "Has duly received from
Headquarters the successive NOSTI-GRUMKOW documents, caught up in St.
Mary Axe; has now delivered them to Knyphausen, to be laid before his
Prussian Majesty in a good hour; and would fain (Tuesday, April 11th)
hope some result from this step." Not for almost a month does Hotham
himself say anything of it to the Prussian Majesty, good hour for
Knyphausen not having come. But now, in regard to that Hanover
Statthaltership, hear Townshend,--condensed, but not nearly so much
so, my Lord being a succinct man who sticks always creditably to the
point:--
TO THE EXCELLENCY HOTHAM AT BERLIN (from Lord Townshend).
LONDON, 27th APRIL. "Yes, you shall have the Hanover Vice-regency. We
will set up the Crown-Prince Friedrich in Hanover as desired; but will
give the Commission to our own Princess, that being more convenient for
several reasons: Crown-Prince, furthermore, must promise to come over to
England when we require him; ITEM may repay us our expenses hereafter,
As to Marriage-Portions, we will give none with our Princess, nor ask
any with theirs. Both marriages or none." Ann so enough.
Alas, nothing came of this; Prussian Majesty, in spite of thrift,
perceiving that, for several reasons, it would not do. Meanwhile
Grumkow, we learn from a secret source, [NOSTI, supra (18th April), p.
185; infra, p. 101.] has been considerably courted by Botham and her
Prussian Majesty; Queen Caroline having signified from England, That
they ought to gain that knave,--what price did he charge for himself?
But this also proves quite unavailing; never came to PRICING. And
so,--hear Hotham once more:--
TO LORD TOWNSHEND AT LONDON (from Excellency Hotham).
BERLIN, 18th APRIL. "... Grumkow is a thorn in my side: one would like
to do him some service in return." 'Cannot you stop an ORIGINAL Letter
of his' (we have only deciphered Copies as yet) to that Reichenbach
or NOSTI, 'strong enough to break his back?--They will try. Hotham
continues in next Despatch:--
BERLIN, 22d APRIL. "Dined with the King again; Crown-Prince was present:
dreadfully dejected,--'at which one cannot help being moved; there is
something so engaging in the Prince, and everybody says so much good of
him.'" Hear Hotham! Who again, three days after, says of our Fritz:
'If I am not much mistaken, this young Prince will one day make a very
considerable figure.' "Wish we could manage the Marriage; but this
Grumkow, this"--Cannot they contrive to send an ORIGINAL strong enough?
Alas, from the same secret source we learn, within a week, that
Grumkow's back is very strong; the Tobacco-Parliament in full blast
again, and Seckendorf's Couriers galloping to Vienna with the best news.
Nay his Majesty looks expressly "sour upon Hotham," or does not look at
all; will not even speak when he sees him;--for a reason we shall
hear. [NOSTI, infra (29th April), p. 191.] can it, be thought that any
liberality in use of the bellows or other fire-implements will now avail
with his Majesty?
SECOND AND LAST PEEP INTO THE NOSTI-GRUMKOW CORRESPONDENCE CAUGHT UP IN
ST. MARY AXE.
But at this point let our Two Rooks recommence a little: Nosti, on the
18th, we left quaking in every joint of him;--and good news was almost
at the door, had afflicted Nosti known it. Grumkow's strain (suppressed
by us here), all this while, is in general, almost ever since the blaze
of that Hotham Dinner went off into repentant headache: 'Pshaw, don't
fear!' Nay after a fortnight or so, it is again: 'Steady! we are
all right?' Tobacco-Parliament and the Royal Imagination making such
progress. This is still but the third week since that grand Dinner at
Charlottenburg:--
TO THE EXCELLENZ REICHENBACH AT LONDON (from Grumkow).
BERLIN, 22d APRIL. 'King wants to get rid of the Princess' Wilhelmina,
'who is grown lean, ugly, with pimples on her face (_qui est devenue
maigre, laide, couperosee,'_ [This is one of the sentences Wilhelmina
has got hold of (Wilhelmina, i. 234).]--dog: will nobody horsewhip that
lie out of him!)--'judge what a treat that will be to a Prince of Wales,
who has his amourettes!' All is right, Nosti, is it not?
BERLIN, 25th APRIL. "King declared to Seckendorf yesterday again, He
might write to the Kaiser, That while he lived, nothing should ever
part his Majesty from the Kaiser and his Cause; that the French dare
not attack Luxembourg, as is threatened; and if they do--! Upon which
Seckendorf despatched a Courier to Vienna.
"As to Hotham, he explains himself upon nothing,"--stalks about with his
nose in the air, as if there were nothing farther to be explained. "I
spoke yesterday of the Single Match, Wilhelmina and Prince of Wales;
King answered, even of the Single Match, Devil fly away with it!"--or a
still coarser phrase.
'Meanwhile the Queen, though at the end of her eighth month, is cheery
as a fish in water; [Wilhelmina has this too, in a disfigured state (i.
233).] and always forms grand project of totally ruining Seckendorf, by
Knyphausen's and other help.' "Hotham yesterday, glancing at Nosti no
doubt, said to the SIEUR DE POTSDAM [cant phrase for the King], 'That
great Princes were very unlucky to have ministers that durst not show
themselves in good society; for the result was, they sent nothing but
false news and rumors picked up in coffee-houses.'"
"Coffee-houses?" answers Reichenbach, by and by: "Reichenbach is in
English society of the first distinction, and receives visits from Lords
and Dukes. This all the world knows"--to be nothing like the case, as
Townshend too has occasionally mentioned.
At any rate, continues Grumkow, "the Queen's Husband said, aside, to
Nosti's Friend, 'I see he is glancing at Reichenbach; but he won't
make much of that (cynically speaking, _ne fera que de l'eau claire).'_
Hotham is by no means a man of brilliant mind, and his manners are
rough: but Ginkel," the Dutchman, "is cleverer (PLUS SOUPLE), and much
better liked by Nosti's Master."
ANTISTROPHE soon follows; London Raven is himself again;--Nosti
LOQUITUR:--
LONDON, 25th APRIL. "... King has written to me, I AM to report to him
any talk there may be in the Court here about his Majesty! My Amiable
and his Seckendorf, need they ask if Nosti will, and in a way to give
them pleasure?"...
STROPHE (allegro by the Berlin Raven or Rook, who has not yet heard the
above);--Grumkow LOQUITUR:--
BERLIN, 29th APRIL. "... Wrong not to write entertaining news of the
English Court as heretofore. King likes it.
"What you say of the Prince-Royal of Prussia's writing to the Queen of
England, is very curious; and you did well to say nothing of it to the
Father; the thing being of extreme delicacy, and the proof difficult.
But it seems likely. And I insinuated something of it to his Majesty,
the day before yesterday [27th April, 1730, therefore? One momentary
glance of Hansard into the Tobacco-Parliament], as of a thing I had
learned from a spy" (such my pretence, O Nosti)--spy "who is the
intimate friend of Knyphausen and plays traitor: you may fancy that it
struck terribly. "Yes!" And his Majesty has looked sour upon Hotham ever
since; and passed above an hour in colloquy with Seckendorf and me, in
sight both of English Hotham and Dutch Ginkel without speaking to them.
"It was true enough what Nosti heard of the Queen's fair speeches, and
Hotham's, to the Friend of Nosti. But it is all ended: the Queen's,
weeks ago, being in vain: Hotham too, after some civilities, seems now
indifferent. 'ENFIN ['Afin' he always writes it, copying the indistinct
gurgle of his own horse-dialect]--AFIN FILOUTERIE TOUT PURE' (whole of
it thimblerig, on their part).
"Admirable story, that of Prince Fred's amourette [sent to the cesspool
by us, herald of Reichenbach thither]: let his Majesty know it, by
all means. What the Duchess of Kendal [lean tall female in expensive
brocades, with gilt prayer-books, visible in the body to Nosti at that
time], what the Duchess of Kendal says to you is perfectly just; and as
the Princess Wilhelmina is very ill-looking [LAIDE,--how dare you say
so, dog?], I believe she will have a bad life of it, the Prince of Wales
being accustomed to daintier meats. Yes truly, she will, as the Duchess
says, 'need to be wiser than Solomon' to conciliate the humors down
there (LA BAS) with the genius of his Prussian Majesty and Queen.--'As
for your Princess Amelia, depend upon it, while the Commandant of
Potsdam lives, she will never get hold of the Prince-Royal, though he is
so furiously taken with the Britannic Majesties.'"
[Continues; in answer to a Nosti "Caw! Caw!" which we omit.]
BERLIN, 2d MAY.--"Wish you had not told the King so positively that
the English say, it shall be Double Match or none. Hotham said to
the Swedish Ambassador: 'Reichenbach, walking in the dark, would give
himself a fine knock on the nose (_aurait un furieux pied de nez_),
when,' or IF, 'the thing was done quite otherwise.' Have a caution what
you write."
Pooh, pooh! Hotham must have said "if," not "when;" Swede is quite
astray!--And indeed we will here leave off, and shut down this magazine
of rubbish; right glad to wash ourselves wholly from it (in three
waters) forevermore. Possibly enough the Prussian Dryasdust will,
one day, print it IN EXTENSO, and with that lucidity of comment and
arrangement which is peculiar to him; exasperated readers will then see
whether I have used them ILL or not, according to the opportunity there
was!--Here, at any rate, my reader shall he free of it. Indeed he may
perceive, the negotiation was by this time come to a safe point, the
Nosti-Grumkows triumphant, and the interest of the matter mainly out.
Farther transient anxieties this amiable couple had,--traceable in that
last short croak from Grumkow,--lest the English might consent to that
of the "Single-Marriage in the mean time" (which the English never did,
or meant to do). For example, this other screech of Nosti, which shall
be his final last-screech:--
LONDON, 12th MAY.--"Lord Townshend alarmingly hinted to me: Better have
done with your Grumkow-and-Seckendorf speculations: the ill-intentioned
are perfectly sure to be found out at the end of the account; and their
tools will get ruined along with them. Nosti endeavored to talk big in
reply: but he shakes in his shoes nevertheless; and with a heart full of
distraction exclaims now, Save yourselves, save me!--If Hotham speak of
the Single-Marriage only, it is certain the Prince-Royal must mean to
run away," and so make it a Double one in time.
Yes, indeed! But these were transient terrors. The day is our own, my
Grumkow; yes, our own, my Nosti:--and so our Colloquy of Rookeries shall
be suppressible henceforth.
HIS MAJESTY GETS SIGHT OF THE ST.-MARY-AXE DOCUMENTS; BUT NOTHING
FOLLOWS FROM IT.
We have only to add what Hotham reports (Berlin, May 6th), That he
"has had an interview with his Majesty, and spoken of the St.-Mary-Axe
affair; Knyphausen having found a moment to lay it before his Majesty."
So that the above Excerpts from St. Mary Axe (all but the last
two),--the above, and many more suppressed by us,--are in his Majesty's
hands: and he is busy studying them; will, it is likely, produce them in
an amazed Tobacco-Parliament one of these evenings!--
What the emotions of the royal breast were during the perusal of this
extraordinary dialogue of birds, which has come to him through St. Mary
Axe--? Manifold probably: manifold, questionable; but not tragical, or
not immediately so. Certainly it is definable as the paltriest babble;
no treason visible in it, nor constructive treason; but it painfully
indicates, were his Majesty candid, That his Majesty is subject to spies
in his own House; nay that certain parties do seem to fancy they have
got his Majesty by the nose, and are piping tunes with an eye to his
dancing, thereto. This is a painful thought, which, I believe, does much
agitate his Majesty now and afterwards.--A painful thought or suspicion,
rising sometimes (in that temperament of his) to the pitch of the
horrible. I believe it occasionally, ever henceforth, keeps haunting the
highly poetic temperament of his Majesty, nor ever quits him again at
all; stalking always, now and then, through the vacant chambers of his
mind, in what we may call the night-season (or time of solitude and
hypochondriacal reflection),--though in busy times again (in daylight,
so to speak) he impatiently casts it from him. Poor Majesty!
But figure Grumkow, figure the Tobacco-Parliament when Majesty laid
these Papers on the Table! A HANSARD of that night would be worth
reading. There is thunderous note of interrogation on his Majesty's
face;--what a glimmer in the hard puckery eyes of Feldzeugmeister
Seckendorf, "JARNI-BLEU!" No doubt, an excessively astonished
Parliament. Nothing but brass of face will now serve the principal
Honorable Gentleman there; but in that happily he is not wanting.
Of course Grumkow denies the Letters point-blank: Mere forgeries, these,
of the English Court, plotting to ruin your Majesty's faithful servant,
and bring in other servants they will like better! May have written
to Reichenbach, nay indeed has, this or that trifling thing: but those
Copyists in St. Mary Axe, "deciphering,"--garbling, manufacturing, till
they make a romance of it,--alas, your Majesty? Nay, at any rate,
what are the Letters? Grumkow can plead that they are the foolishest
insignificant rubbish of Court-gossip, not tending any bad road, if they
have a tendency. That they are adapted to the nature of the beast, and
of the situation,--this he will carefully abstain from remarking.
We have no HANSARD of this Session; all is conjecture and tobacco-smoke.
What we know is, not the least effect, except an internal trouble, was
produced on the royal mind by the St.-Mary-Axe Discovery. Some Question
there might well be, inarticulately as yet, of Grumkow's fidelity, at
least of his discretion; seeds of suspicion as to Grumkow, which may
sprout up by and by; resolution to keep one's eye on Grumkow. But the
first practical fruit of the matter is, fierce jealousy that the
English and their clique do really wish to interfere in our ministerial
appointments; so that, for the present, Grumkow is firmer in his place
than ever. And privately, we need not doubt, the matter continues
painful to his Majesty.
One thing is certain, precisely a week after, his Majesty,--much
fluctuating in mind evidently, for the Document "has been changed three
or four times within forty-eight hours,"--presents his final answer
to Hotham. Which runs to this effect ("outrageous," as Hotham defines
it):--
"1. For Hanover and your great liberality on that score, much obliged;
but upon reconsideration think it will not do. 2. Marriage FIRST, Prince
of Wales to Wilhelmina,--Consent with pleasure. 3. Marriage SECOND,
Crown-Prince Friedrich with your Amelia,--for that also we are extremely
wishful, and trust it will one day take effect: but first these
Seville-Treaty matters, and differences between the Kaiser and allied
English and French will require to be pulled straight; that done, we
will treat about the terms of Marriage SECOND. One indispensable will
be,--That the English guarantee our Succession in Julich and Berg."
[Hotham's Despatch, 18th May, 1730.]
"Outrageous" indeed!--Crown-Prince sends, along with this, a loving
message by Hotham, of earnestly deprecating tenor, to the Britannic
Majesty; "begs his Britannic Majesty not to reject the King's Proposals,
whatever they may be,--this for poor Sister Wilhelmina's sake. 'For
though he, the Crown-Prince, was determined to lose his life sooner
than marry anybody but the Princess Amelia, yet if this Negotiation were
broken off, his Father would go to extremities to force him and his poor
Sister into other engagements.'"--Which, alas, what can it avail with
the Britannic Majesty, in regard to such outrageous Propositions from
the Prussian?
Britannic Majesty's Ministry, as always, answers by return of
Courier:--"MAY 22d. Both Marriages, or none: Seville has no concern with
both, more than with one: DITTO Julich and Berg,--of which latter
indeed we know nothing,--nor (ASIDE TO HOTHAM) mean to know." [Despatch,
Whitehall, 11th May (22d by N.S.)]. Whereby Hotham perceives that it
is as good to throw away the bellows, and consider the matter extinct.
Hotham makes ready for an Excursion into Saxony, to a thing called
CAMP OF RADEWITZ, or ENCAMPMENT OF RADEWITZ; a Military Spectacle of
never-imagined magnificence, to be given by August the Strong there,
whither all the world is crowding;--and considers any Business he had at
Berlin to be as good as done.
Evidently Friedrich Wilhelm has not been much wrought upon by the
St.-Mary-Axe Documents! One week they have been revolving in the royal
mind; part of a week in the Smoking Parliament (we know not what
day they were laid on the table there, but it must have been a grand
occurrence within those walls!)--and this already (May 13th) is the
result arrived at: Propositions, changed three or four times within
forty-eight hours, and definable at last as "outrageous;" which
induce Hotham to lay down the bellows, and prepare to go his ways. Our
St.-Mary-Axe discovery seems to have no effect at all!--
One other public result there is from it, and as yet one only:
Reichenbach, "from certain causes thereto moving Us (_aus gewissen Uns
dazu bewegenden Grunden_)," gets a formal Letter of Recall. Ostensible
Letter, dated Berlin, 13th May, and signed Friedrich Wilhelm; which the
English may read for their comfort. Only that along with this, of the
same date and signature, intended for Reichenbach's comfort, the same
Leather Bag brings a Private Letter (which Dickens or another has
contrived to get sight of and copy), apprising Reichenbach, That,
unostensibly, his proceedings are approved of; that he is to continue
at his post till further orders, all the same, "and keep watch on these
Marriages, about which there is such debating in the world (_wovon in
der Welt so viel debattirt wird_); things being still in the same
state as half a year ago. That is to say, I am ready for my Daughter's
Marriage with the Prince of Wales: but for my Son, he is too young yet;
_und hat es damit keine Eile, weil ich Gottlob noch zwei Sohne hab_
(nor is there any haste, as I have, thank God, two other sons,"--and a
third coming, if I knew it):--"besides one indispensable condition will
be, that the English guarantee Julich and Berg," which perhaps they are
not in the least hurry for, either!--
What does the English Court think of that? Dated "Berlin, 13th May:" it
is the same day when his Majesty's matured Proposals, "changed thrice
or oftener within the forty-eight hours," were handed to Hotham for
transmission to his Court. An interesting Leather Bag, this Ordinary
from Berlin. Reichenbach, we observe, will get his share of it some ten
days after that alarming rebuke from Townshend; and it will relieve the
poor wretch from his worst terrors: "Go on with your eavesdroppings as
before, you alarmed wretch!"--There does one Degenfeld by and by, a
man of better quality (and on special haste, as we shall see) come and
supersede poor Nosti, and send him home:--there they give Nosti some
exiguous Pension, with hint to disappear forevermore. Which he does;
leaving only these St.-Mary-Axe Documents for his Lifemark in the
History of Mankind.
What the English Answer to his Majesty's Proposals of Berlin, May 13th,
was, we have already seen;--dated "London, 22d May," probably few hours
after the Courier arrived. Hotham, well anticipating what it would
be, had already, as we phrased it, "laid down the bellows;" left the
Negotiation, as essentially extinct;--and was preparing for the "Camp
at Radewitz," Britannic Majesty being anxious to hear what Friedrioh
Wilhelm and August the Strong have on hand there.
"The King of Prussia's unsteadiness and want of resolution," writes
Hotham (Berlin, 20th May), "will hinder him from being either very
useful to his friends, or very formidable to his enemies." And from
the same place, just about quitting it for Radewitz, he writes again,
exactly a week after ("Berlin, 27th May"), to enclose Copy of a
remarkable Letter; remarkable to us also;--but which, he knows and
we, cannot influence the English Answer now close at hand. Here is
the copied Letter; copied in Guy Dickens's hand; from which we
translate,--and also will give the original French in this instance, for
behoof of the curious:--
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE CHEVALIER HOTHAM.
[POTSDAM, End of May, 1730.]
"MONSIEUR,--Je crois que c'est de la derniere importance que je vous
ecrive; et je suis assez triste d'avoir des chases a vous dire que je
devrois cacher a toute la terre: mais il faut franchir ce mauvais pas
la; et vous comptant de mes amis, je me resouds plus facilement a vous
le dire. C'est que je suis traite d'une maniere inouie du Roi, et que
je sais qu'a present ils se trament de terribles choses contre moi,
touchant certaines Lettres que j'ai ecrites l'hiver passe, dont je crois
que vous serez informe. Enfin pour vous parler franchement, la vraie
raison que le Roi a de ne vouloir point donner les mains a ce Mariage
est, qu'il me veut toujours tenir sur un bas pied, et me faire enrager
toute sa vie, quand l'envie lui en prend; ainsi il ne l'accordera
jamais. Si l'on consent de votre cote que cette Princesse soit aussi
traitee ainsi, vous pouvez comprendre aisement que je serai fort triste
de rendre malheureuse une personne que j'estime, et de rester toujours
dans le meme etat ou je suis. Pour moi done je crois qu'il vaudroit
mieux finir le Mariage de ma Soeur ainsi auparavant, et ne point
demander au Roi seulement des assurances sur mon sujet, d'autant plus
que sa parole n'y fait rien: suffit que je reitere les promesses que
j'ai deja fait au Roi mon Oncle, de ne prendre jamais d'autre epouse que
sa seconde fille la Princess Amelie. Je suis une personne de parole, qui
pourra faire reussir ce que j'avance, pourvu que l'on se fie a moi. Je
vous le promets, et a present vous pouvez en avertir votre Cour; et je
saurai tenir ma promesse. Je suis toujours tout a vous,
FREDERIC."
[State-Paper Office: Prussian Despatches, vol. xli. (enclosed in Sir
Charles Hotham's Despatch, Berlin, 27th-16th May, 1730).]
"Monsieur,--I believe it is of the last importance that I should write
to you; and I am very sad to have things to say which I ought to conceal
from all the earth. But one must take that bad leap; and reckoning you
among my friends, I the more easily resolve to open myself to you.
"The case is this: I am treated in an unheard-of manner by the King;
and I know there are terrible things in preparation against me, touching
certain letters which I wrote last winter, of which I believe you are
informed. In a word, to speak frankly to you, the real secret reason why
the King will not consent to this Marriage is, That he wishes to keep
me on a low footing constantly, and to have the power of driving me mad,
whenever the whim takes him, throughout his life; thus he never will
give his consent. If it were possible that you on your side could
consent that your Princess too should be exposed to such treatment,
you may well comprehend that I should be very sad to bring misery on a
Person whom I esteem, and to remain always in the same state as now.
"For my own part, therefore, I believe it would be better to conclude my
Sister's Marriage in the first place, and not, even to ask from the King
any assurances in regard to mine; the rather as his word has nothing to
do with it: it is enough that I here reiterate the promises which I have
already made to the King my Uncle, Never to take another wife than his
second Daughter the Princess Amelia. I am a person of my word; and shall
be able to bring about what I set forth, provided there is trust put in
me. I promise it you; and now you may give your Court notice of it; and
I shall manage to keep my promise. I remain yours always."
The Crown-Prince, for Wilhelmina's sake and everybody's, is extremely
anxious they should agree to the Single Marriage in the interim: but
the English Court--perhaps for no deep reason, perhaps chiefly because
little George had the whim of standing grandly immovable upon his first
offer--never would hear of that. Which was an angry thought to the
Crown-Prince in after times, as we sometimes notice.
Here, to the like effect, is another Fragment from his Royal Highness,
copied in the Dickens hand, and enclosed in the same Despatch from
Hotham;--giving us a glance into the inner workshop of his Royal
Highness, and his hidden assiduities and endeavorings at that time:--
"... Vous pouvez croire que je ferai tout ce que je peux pour faire
reussir mon plan; mais l'on n'en remarquera rien em dehors;--que l'on
m'en laisse agir en suite, je ferai bien moi seul reussir le reste. Je
finis la par vous assurer encore, Monsieur, que je suis tout a vous.
"FREDERIC PRINCE R."
"... You may believe I will exert all my resources to succeed in my
plan; but there will be no outward sign visible:--leave me to act in
this way, I will myself successfully bring it through. I end by again
assuring you, Monsieur, that I am yours always."--Which again produces
no effect; the English Answer being steadily, "Both Marriages, or none."
And this, then, is what the Hotham mission is come to? Good Dubourgay
is home, recalled about a month ago, "for the sake of his health,"
[Townshend's polite Despatch to him, Whitehall, 21st April, 1730.]--good
old gentleman, never to be heard of in Diplomatic History more.
Dubourgay went in the first days of May; and the month is not out, when
Hotham is off to the Camp of Radewitz; leaving his Negotiation, as it
were, extinct. To the visible regret of the Berlin public generally;
to the grievous disappointment of Queen Sophie, of the Crown-Prince and
some others,--not to speak of Wilhelmina's feelings, which are unknown
to us.
Regretful Berlin, Wilhelmina and Mamma among the others, had, by
accident, in these dejected circumstances, a strange Sign from the
Heavens provided them, one night,--if we may be permitted to notice it
here. Monday, 29th May;--and poor Queen Sophie, we observe withal, is
in the hands of the MONTHLY NURSE since Tuesday last! ["Prince Ferdinand
(her last child, Father of him whose fate lay at Jenz seventy-six years
afterwards), born 23d May, 1730."]
ST. PETER'S CHURCH IN BERLIN HAS AN ACCIDENT.
Monday 29th May, 1730, Friedrich Wilhelm and the Crown-Prince and Party
were at Potsdam, so far on their way towards Radewitz. All is peaceable
at Potsdam that night: but it was a night of wild phenomena at Berlin;
or rather of one wild phenomenon, the "Burning of the SANCT-PETERS
KIRCHE," which held the whole City awake and in terror for its life.
Dim Fassmann becomes unusually luminous on this affair (probably an
eye-witness to it, poor old soul); and enables us to fish up one old
Night of Berlin City and its vanished populations into clear view again,
if we like.
For two years back Berlin had been diligently building a non-plus-ultra
of Steeples to that fine Church of St. Peter's. Highest Steeple of them
all; one of the Steeples of the World, in a manner;--and Berlin was now
near ending it. Tower, or shaft, has been complete some time, interior
fittings going on; and is just about to get its ultimate apex, a
"Crown-Royal" set on it by way of finis. For his Majesty, the great
AEdile, was much concerned in the thing; and had given materials,
multifarious helps: Three incomparable Bells, especially, were his gift;
melodious old Bells, of distinguished tone, "bigger than the Great Bell
of Erfurt," than Tom of Lincoln,--or, as brief popular rumor has it,
the biggest Bells in the World, at least of such a TONE. These Bells
are hung, silent but ready in their upper chamber of the Tower, and
the gigantic Crown or apex is to go on; then will the basket-work of
scaffolding be peeled away, and the Steeple stretch, high and grand,
into the air, for ages it is hoped.
Far otherwise. On Monday evening, between eight and nine, there gathered
thunder over Berlin; wild tumult of the elements: thunder-bolt "thrice
in swift succession" struck the unfinished Steeple; in the "hood" of
which men thereupon noticed a light, as of a star, or sparkle of the
sun; and straight-way, in spite of the rain-torrents, there burst out
blazes of flame. Blazes unquenchable; grand yet perilous to behold. The
fire-drums beat, the alarm-bells clanged, and ceased not; all Berlin
struggling there, all night, in vain. Such volumes of smoke: "the
heavens were black as if you had hung them with mortcloth:" such roaring
cataracts of flame, "you could have picked up a copper doit at the
distance of 800 yards."--"Hiss-s-s!" what hissing far aloft is that?
That is the incomparable big Bells melting. There they vanish, their
fine tones never to be tried more, and ooze through the red-hot ruin,
"Hush-sh-sht!" the last sound heard from them. And the stem for holding
that immense Crown-royal,--it is a bar and bars of iron, "weighing
sixteen hundred-weight;" down it comes thundering, crashing through the
belly of St. Peter's, the fall of it like an earthquake all round. And
still the fire-drums beat, and from all surviving Steeples of Berlin
goes the clangor of alarm; "none but the very young children can have
slept that night," says our vigilant old friend.
Wind was awake, too; kindling the neighboring streets;--storming towards
the Powder-Magazine; where labor innumerable Artillerymen, "busy with
hides from the tan-pits, with stable-dung, and other material;" speed
to them, we will say! Forty dwelling-houses went; but not
the Powder-Magazine; not Berlin utterly (so to speak) by the
Powder-Magazine. On the morrow St. Peter's and neighborhood lay black,
but still inwardly burning; not for three days more could the ruins be
completely quenched.
That was the news for Friedrich Wilhelm, before sunrise, on the point
of his departure for Muhlberg and King August's scenic exhibitions.
"HM;--but we must go, all the same! We will rebuild it!" said he.--And
truly he did so. And the polite King August, sorry to hear of the
Peterskirche, "gave him excellent sandstone from the quarries of Pirna,"
says: Fassmann: "great blocks came boating down the Elbe" from that
notable Saxon Switzerland Country, notable to readers here in time
coming; and are to be found, as ashlar, in the modern St. Peter's at
Berlin; a fact which the reader, till Pirna be better known to him, may
remember if he likes. [Fassmann, pp. 406-409.]
And now let us to Radewitz without delay.