Potsdam.
The day after our arrival here, I waited on the Count Finkenstein, and
desired to know when the D—— of H—— and I could have the honour of being
presented to the King, requesting, at the same time, the liberty of
attending at the reviews. I was not a little surprised when this minister
told me, that I must write a letter to his Majesty, informing him of that
request, and that I should certainly receive an answer the day following.
It appeared very singular to write to so great a Prince upon an affair
of such small importance; but the Count told me this was the established
rule. So I immediately did as I was desired.
Next morning one of the court-servants called for me at the inn, and
delivered a sealed letter addressed to me, and signed by the King,
importing, that as the court would soon be at Berlin, the minister in
waiting there would let the D—— of H—— and Mr. —— know when they might be
presented, and that they were very welcome to attend at all the reviews.
In the evening we were presented to the Prince and Princess of Prussia,
who reside almost constantly at Potsdam. He is a tall, stout-made,
handsome man, of about thirty-five years of age. The Princess is of the
family of Hesse-Darmstadt, and has a great resemblance to her aunt, whom
we had seen at Carlsruhe. We have had the honour of supping with them
twice during the few days we have been at Potsdam.
The Prince and all the officers have been employed every morning in
preparing for the reviews. Yesterday, for the second time, there were
seven thousand men reviewed by the King. The Prince of Prussia’s son, a
child of six or seven years old, was present on foot with his tutor, and
unattended by any officer or servant. They mingled without any mark of
distinction among the other spectators. I mentioned my surprise at this
to the tutor. In France, said he, it would be otherwise: the Dauphin,
at the age of this child, would be carried to the review in a coach,
with a troop of musqueteers to attend him; but here, the King and Prince
are equally desirous that their successor should be brought up in a
hardy manner, and without any strong impression of his own importance.
Sentiments of that kind will come soon enough, in spite of all the pains
that can be taken to exclude them.
The troops were drawn up in one line along the summits of some hills.
From this situation they descended over very unequal and rough ground,
firing in grand divisions all the way, till they came to the plain, where
they went through various evolutions. But as we were to set out in a
little time for Berlin, where the grand reviews of that garrison are to
take place, I shall say no more on the subject of reviews till then.
Our mornings, since we came hither, have always been passed with
the troops in the field. The forenoons we have spent in looking at
every thing curious in the town. The houses are built of a fine white
free-stone, almost all of them new, and nearly of the same height. The
streets are regular and well paved, and there are some very magnificent
public buildings; so that Potsdam has every requisite to form an
agreeable town, if by that word is meant the streets, stone-walls,
and external appearance. But if a more complex idea be annexed to the
word, and if it be thought to comprehend the finishing, furniture, and
conveniencies within the houses, in that case Potsdam is a very poor town
indeed.
The King having expressed a great inclination to see this town increase,
several monied people built houses, partly to pay their court to his
Majesty, and partly because, by letting them, they found they would
receive very good interest for their money. But as the town did not
augment so quickly as he wished, his Majesty ordered several streets to
be built at once, at his own expence. This immediately sunk the value of
houses, and the first builders found they had disposed of their money
very injudiciously.
Towns generally are formed by degrees, as the inhabitants increase in
numbers; and houses are built larger and more commodious as they increase
in riches; for men’s ideas of conveniency enlarge with their wealth. But
here the matter is reversed: the houses are reared in the first place,
in hopes that their fair outsides, like the nymphs of Circe, will allure
travellers, and attract inhabitants. Hitherto their power of attraction
has not been strong; for few towns are worse inhabited than Potsdam,
though the houses are let to merchants and trades-people at very small
rents.
I was not a little surprised, while I walked through the town, to see
buff-belts, breeches and waistcoats, hanging to dry from the genteelest
looking houses, till I was informed, that each housekeeper has two or
more soldiers quartered in his house, and their apartments are, for the
most part, on the first floor, with windows to the street; which I am
told is also the case at Berlin. The King chooses that his soldiers
should be quartered with the citizens, rather than in barracks. This
ought to be a sufficient answer to those military gentlemen, who insist
on building barracks for the soldiers in Britain, upon the supposition,
that our army cannot be well disciplined without them. For it could
scarcely be expected, or wished, that the British army were under more
rigid discipline than the Prussian.
I imagine the Prussian soldiers are quartered in private houses rather
than barracks, from considerations diametrically opposite to those which
produce the same effect in England.—The British parliament have always
shown an aversion to lodging the military in barracks, and have preferred
quartering them in the citizens’ houses, that a connection and good-will
may be cultivated between the soldiers and their fellow-citizens; and
that the former may not consider themselves as a distinct body of men,
with a separate interest from the rest of the community, and whose duty
it is implicitly to obey the will of the crown at all times, and upon all
occasions.
Whereas here it may not be thought expedient, to lodge great bodies of
armed men together in barracks, lest they should, during the night, form
combinations destructive of discipline, and dangerous to government. This
cannot happen in the day-time, because then the officers are present, and
the soldiers are not allowed even to speak to each other when under arms;
and while off duty, their time is wholly filled up in cleaning their
arms, accoutrements, and clothes, and preparing for the next guard.—I
imagine these may be part, at least, of the reasons which induce the
King of Prussia to prefer quartering his men in private houses; for in
all other respects, lodging them together in barracks would be more
convenient, and more agreeable to the genius of his government.
The palace at Potsdam, or what they call the castle, is a very noble
building, with magnificent gardens adjacent. I shall not trouble you
with a description of either, only it struck me as a thing rather
uncommon in a palace, to find the study by far the finest apartment in
it. The ornaments of this are of massy silver. The writing-desk, the
embellishments of the table, and the accommodations for the books, were
all in fine taste.
The person who attended us, asked if we had any desire to see his
Majesty’s wardrobe?—On being answered in the affirmative, he conducted
us to the chamber where the monarch’s clothes are deposited; it had a
very different appearance from his library. The whole wardrobe consisted
of two blue coats, faced with red, the lining of one a little torn;—two
yellow waistcoats, a good deal soiled with Spanish snuff;—three pair of
yellow breeches, and a suit of blue velvet, embroidered with silver, for
grand occasions.
I imagined at first, that the man had got a few of the King’s old
clothes, and kept them here to amuse strangers; but, upon enquiry, I was
assured, that what I have mentioned, with two suits of uniform which he
has at Sans-Souci, form the entire wardrobe of the King of Prussia. Our
attendant said, he had never known it more complete. As for the velvet
suit, it was about ten years of age, and still enjoyed all the vigour of
youth. Indeed, if the moths spared it as much as his Majesty has done,
it may last the age of Methusalem.—In the same room, are some standards
belonging to the cavalry. Instead of the usual square flag, two or three
of these have the figures of eagles in carved silver fixed on a pole.
In the bed-chamber where the late King died, at the lower part of the
window which looks into the garden, four panes have been removed, and a
piece of glass equal in size to all the four supplies their place. We
were informed that his late Majesty’s supreme delight through life had
been to see his troops exercise, and that he had retained this passion
till his last breath. When he was confined to his room by his last
illness, he used to sit and view them through the window, which had been
framed in this manner, that he might enjoy these dying contemplations
with the greater conveniency. Becoming gradually weaker by the increasing
distemper, he could not sit, but was obliged to lie on a couch through
the day. When at any time he was uncommonly languid, they raised his
head to the window, and a sight of the men under arms was perceived to
operate like a cordial, and revive his spirits.—By frequent repetition,
however, even this cordial lost its effect.—His eyes became dim—when his
head was raised, he could no longer perceive the soldiers, and he expired.
This was feeling the ruling passion as strong in death as any man ever
felt it.