“Un fait aussi rare, aussi glorieux, mérite d’être écrit en
lettres d’or dans les fastes prussiens. Le Général Schwerin, _le
Major Chasot_ et beaucoup d’officiers s’y firent un nom immortel.”
How, then, is it that, in the later edition of Frederic’s “Histoire de mon
Temps,” the name of Chasot is erased? How is it that, during the whole of
the Seven Years’ War, Chasot is never mentioned? M. de Schlözer gives us a
complete answer to this question, and we must say that Frederic did not
behave well to the _matador de sa jeunesse_. Chasot had a duel with a
Major Bronickowsky, in which his opponent was killed. So far as we can
judge from the documents which M. de Schlözer has obtained from Chasot’s
family, Chasot had been forced to fight; but the king believed that he had
sought a quarrel with the Polish officer, and, though a court-martial
found him not guilty, Frederic sent him to the fortress of Spandau. This
was the first estrangement between Chasot and the king; and though after a
time he was received again at court, the friendship between the king and
the young nobleman who had saved his life had received a rude shock.
Chasot spent the next few years in garrison at Treptow; and, though he was
regularly invited by Frederic to be present at the great festivities at
Berlin, he seems to have been a more constant visitor at the small court
of the Duchess of Strelitz, not far from his garrison, than at Potsdam.
The king employed him on a diplomatic mission, and in this also Chasot was
successful. But notwithstanding the continuance of this friendly
intercourse, both parties felt chilled, and the least misunderstanding was
sure to lead to a rupture. The king, jealous perhaps of Chasot’s frequent
visits at Strelitz, and not satisfied with the drill of his regiment,
expressed himself in strong terms about Chasot at a review in 1751. The
latter asked for leave of absence in order to return to his country and
recruit his health. He had received fourteen wounds in the Prussian
service, and his application could not be refused. There was another cause
of complaint, on which Chasot seems to have expressed himself freely. He
imagined that Frederic had not rewarded his services with sufficient
liberality. He expressed himself in the following words:—
“Je ne sais quel malheureux guignon poursuit le roi: mais ce
guignon se reproduit dans tout ce que sa majesté entrepend ou
ordonne. Toujours ses vues sont bonnes, ses plans sont sages,
réfléchis et justes; et toujours le succès est nul ou
très-imparfait, et pourquoi? Toujours pour la même cause! parce
qu’il manque un louis à l’exécution! un louis de plus, et tout
irait à merveille. Son guignon veut que partout il retienne ce
maudit louis; et tout se fait mal.”
How far this is just, we are unable to say. Chasot was reckless about
money, and whatever the king might have allowed him, he would always have
wanted one louis more. But on the other hand, Chasot was not the only
person who complained of Frederic’s parsimony; and the French proverb, “On
ne peut pas travailler pour le roi de Prusse,” probably owes its origin to
the complaints of Frenchmen who flocked to Berlin at that time in great
numbers, and returned home disappointed. Chasot went to France, where he
was well received, and he soon sent an intimation to the king that he did
not mean to return to Berlin. In 1752 his name was struck off the Prussian
army-list. Frederic was offended, and the simultaneous loss of many
friends, who either died or left his court, made him _de mauvaise humeur_.
It is about this time that he writes to his sister:—
“J’étudie beaucoup, et cela me soulage réellement; mais lorsque
mon esprit fait des retours sur les temps passés, alors les plaies
du cœur se rouvrent et je regrette inutilement les pertes que j’ai
faites.”
Chasot, however, soon returned to Germany, and probably in order to be
near the court of Strelitz, took up his abode in the old free town of
Lübeck. He became a citizen of Lübeck in 1754, and in 1759 was made
commander of its militia. Here his life seems to have been very agreeable,
and he was treated with great consideration and liberality. Chasot was
still young, as he was born in 1716, and he now thought of marriage. This
he accomplished in the following manner. There was at that time an artist
of some celebrity at Lübeck,—Stefano Torelli. He had a daughter whom he
had left at Dresden to be educated, and whose portrait he carried about on
his snuff-box. Chasot met him at dinner, saw the snuff-box, fell in love
with the picture, and proposed to the father to marry his daughter
Camilla. Camilla was sent for. She left Dresden, travelled through the
country, which was then occupied by Prussian troops, met the king in his
camp, received his protection, arrived safely at Lübeck, and in the same
year was married to Chasot. Frederic was then in the thick of the Seven
Years’ War, but Chasot, though he was again on friendly terms with the
king, did not offer him his sword. He was too happy at Lübeck with his
Camilla, and he made himself useful to the king by sending him recruits.
One of the recruits he offered was his son, and in a letter, April 8,
1760, we see the king accepting this young recruit in the most gracious
terms:—
“J’accepte volontiers, cher de Chasot, la recrue qui vous doit son
être, et je serai parrain de l’enfant qui vous naîtra, au cas que
ce soit un fils. Nous tuons les hommes, tandis que vous en
faites.”