THE DEFEAT.
"Field-Marshal Lacy," said the grand duke, "I claim your protection--the
protection of a man whom the empress has honored, and who has sworn to
obey her as his lawful sovereign."
"Even unto death," added Lacy solemnly.
The emperor groaned aloud, and his upraised arm fell powerless to his
side. A triumphant smile flickered over the pale features of Leopold. He
thrust his hand into his pocket and drew forth the dispatches of the
empress.
"The empress charged me," said he, "in case the emperor refused to read
these letters, to deliver them to you, Marshal Lacy, and to bid you, in
my presence, read them to him. Come, then, your excellency, let us obey
the commands of our sovereign."
Lacy bowed, and followed the grand duke in silence. The emperor
retreated to his cabinet, and, sinking upon a sofa, buried his face in
his hands. Nothing interrupted the stillness save the measured footsteps
of Lacy and the grand duke, who entered and closed the door behind them.
A long pause ensued. The grand duke retired to a window, where, with his
arms folded, he awaited the development of affairs with recovered
composure. Joseph still sat with his face hidden by his hands, while
Lacy with military decorum stood at the door with his letters, silent
until the emperor should signify that he might read. Finding that Joseph
would not speak, Lacy took a few steps forward. "Does your majesty allow
me to read the letters which, in the name of the empress, his imperial
highness, the grand duke, has delivered to me?"
"Read," said Joseph hoarsely, but without removing his hands. Lacy
approached the table, and from the various documents which he unfolded
and examined, selected the letter which was in the empress's own hand--
"My Dearest Emperor and Son: As co-regent and heir to my throne, I
hasten to advise you of the negotiations which have just been renewed
between the King of Prussia and myself. I have every hope that they will
terminate to our satisfaction, and thus not only save the lives of many
of our subjects, but relieve my heart of the pangs it has endured during
the absence of my beloved son. The King of Prussia has promised that,
pending our diplomatic correspondence, he will not attack our armies. I
therefore hope that you, my son, will concede as much, and scrupulously
avoid all collision that might interrupt our negotiations. I send you
copies of our correspondence, and will continue to do so regularly.
Hoping that God in His goodness will restore to me my imperial son, I
remain now as ever, your affectionate mother and empress, "MARIA
THERESA."
A deep sign that was almost a sob was heaved by the emperor. Slowly his
hands fell from his face, while with tearful eyes he turned to Lacy, and
said, "Is it really so? Are my hopes of glory all frustrated?"
Lacy answered with another sigh and a slight raising of the shoulder.
"Read on, Lacy," continued the emperor, mildly; "my eyes are dim and I
cannot see."
Lacy continued reading the correspondence: first the letter of the
empress; then the reply of the king, in which he promised that Maria
Theresa should have nothing to fear for the life of her beloved son.
When the emperor heard this he started; the color mounted to his face,
then faded away and left it pale as before. His lips moved, but with a
convulsive twitch he closed them again, and listened in silence. Two
more letters followed, full of mutual and distinguished consideration;
then came the propositions of the empress and the comments of the king.
Maria Theresa pledged herself, from that portion of Bavaria of which
Austria had possession, to retain only so much as would yield a revenue
of one million, offering to cede the remainder to the elector palatine,
or to exchange with him for territory situated elsewhere.
Then followed Frederick's conditions. He stipulated that Austria should
renounce all pretensions to Bavaria, contenting herself with a small
portion of Upper Bavaria, and recognizing and upholding the claims of
Charles Theodore, as well as those of his heir, the Duke of Zweibrucken.
"Further, further!" exclaimed Joseph, as Lacy paused.
"There is nothing further, sire; the correspondence ceases there."
"And to these disgraceful propositions we are not permitted to make the
only answer of which they are deserving--that is, to wipe them out with
blood! Oh, Lacy, Lacy, is it not fearful to be compelled like a
schoolboy to submit to the punishment which my tormentor judges fit to
inflict?"
"It is a painful duty, sire; but it is a duty, and your majesty must
submit."
"I must not submit!" exclaimed Joseph in bitter anguish, while he sprang
from the sofa. But suddenly his eager, fluttering glances were turned
toward the window where stood the grand duke quietly surveying his
movements.
"Have you not gone?" asked the, emperor. "I thought that your mission
being fulfilled, your imperial highness had nothing more to do here."
"I await your majesty's answer," replied the grand duke. "Oh, you wish
to mock me, do you?" cried Joseph, trembling with passion, "for well you
know there is but one answer to the empress's commands, and that
is--obedience. But since you are anxious to take a message, here is one,
and mark it well. Say to the empress that I submit as becomes her
subject, and so long as it suits her without my knowledge and behind my
back to hold conferences with the enemy, I will abstain from engaging
him in battle, although by so doing I shall ruin my reputation forever.
Tell her furthermore that should she accept the dishonorable proposals
made by Frederick and conclude a peace upon the basis of his conditions,
she need never expect to see me again in Vienna. I never shall go near
her so long as I live, but shall take up my abode in Aix la Chapelle, or
in some other free city, as it was once the custom of the Emperors of
Germany to do."' [Footnote: Joseph's own words. See Dohm's Memoirs vol.
i., p. 143.]
"Oh, sire!" exclaimed Lacy, shocked, "retract those words, I implore of
you!"
"I will not retract them," replied Joseph, imperatively; "I order the
envoy of the empress to repeat them faithfully."
"I shall obey your majesty, the co-regent of the empress," said the
Grand Duke of Tuscany. "Has your majesty any other commands?"
"Yes!" shouted the emperor, fiercely. "When you shall have accomplished
your mission in Vienna, go home to your priests in Tuscany, and bid them
say a mass for the repose of your brother's soul, for from this day you
have lost him who was called Joseph. He is dead to you forever."
The grand duke returned his brother's look with one of equal hatred. "I
can scarcely lose that which I have never possessed," replied he with
composure. "Had the affront which your majesty has put upon me to-day
come from a brother, we should have measured swords together before the
sun had set upon the insult. But he who stands before me is my emperor,
and of him I am prohibited from demanding satisfaction."
"Our paths in life lie apart, and I trust that we shall never be forced
to look upon each other again," said Joseph in reply.
"Since we can never meet as brothers, I am compelled to echo the wish,"
returned Leopold. "Farewell!"
"Farewell--and let it be farewell forever!"
The grand duke crossed the room and opened the door, while Joseph
watched his disappearance with glaring eyes and stormy brow, and Lacy in
anguish of heart looked first at one brother, then at the other. The
door closed, and the jar it made caused Lacy of start. He recovered
himself and hastened to the emperor's side.
"Call him back, sire," implored he. "Call him back. He is your brother
and the son of your mother. He is also the hope of those who tremble
with apprehension of your majesty's reign."
"Oh, yes--he is the leader of my enemies, the head of the pious
conspirators who have cursed my life by their diabolical opposition. But
a day will come when I shall crush the whole brood in their owl's nest,
and put my house in order. In that day I shall remember this interview
with the Grand Duke of Tuscany." [Footnote: The two brothers never met
again. Although Leopold was next heir to the crown, Joseph would not
allow him to receive the title of King of Rome, but bestowed it upon
Leopold's son and heir, Francis. Even upon his death-bed the emperor
refused to see his brother. By his explicit commands, it was only when
his death had taken place, that a courier was sent to inform Leoold of
his accession to the throne.]
"Sire," insisted Lacy, "I entreat of you, recall him--if not as your
brother, as the envoy of your sovereign. Before it is too late, retract
those fearful words, which in a moment of--"
"Lacy!" interrupted the emperor, in a loud, angry voice, "I have this
day lost a brother and a battle. Am I also to lose a friend?"
The tears rose to Lacy's eyes. "Sire," said he in a voice of emotion,
"forgive your truest friend if he has presumed to oppose you. I have no
kindred to love: my heart is bound to you, and if I lose your regard, I
am desolate and alone in the world!"
"You shall not lose it, my dear, dear friend," exclaimed Joseph,
throwing his arms around Lacy's neck. "O God, you do not know how I
suffer I I feel as if I had lost some beloved friend. And is it not so?
Have I not buried to-day the hopes of a whole life? The hopes which from
my youth I had cherished of winning glory and fame through Frederick's
humiliation!--I would give years of my life to have measured swords with
him, for--let me tell you a secret, Lacy--I hate that man as much as I
once fancied that I loved him. He is the cause of every misfortune that
has befallen our house for forty years past. His fame is our shame, his
splendor our obscuration. I might forgive him his robbery of Silesia,
but that he has reduced me to the role of an imitator, I can never
forgive! Every thing on earth that I imagine, he executes before me. If
I desire to free my people from the dominion of the clergy, he has
already liberated his; if I seek to advance art, literature, or
manufactures, he has just afforded them protection in Prussia; if I
recommend toleration, lo! he has removed the disabilities of the Jews,
and has pronounced all sects equal before the law. Would I excel in
music, or yearn for military glory, the world has long since pronounced
him a hero, and his flute was heard before I learned the violoncello.
Oh, I hate him, I hate him, for his greatness is the rock upon which my
originality is fated to split; and his shadow projects forever before me
and my unborn deeds. He forces me to pass for a counterfeit of his true
coin, and yet I feel that my individuality is as marked as his! He is
the evil genius of my destiny, vanquishing me even in that which I would
have done for the good of my subjects and the advancement of the world!"
"Your majesty goes too far," said Lacy, smiling. "There is one thing
which Frederick has never dreamed of doing, and it is precisely there
that you are destined to eclipse him. He has never sought to do any
thing for Germany. A German prince, the ruler of a German people, he is
the patron of foreign industry, literature, and art. The most
insignificant writer in France is better known to him than Lessing or
Winklemann; and while he is perfectly familiar with the composers of
Italy, be has blundered into depreciation of Gluck's inspired music.
There is the great and glorious contrast which your majesty presents to
Frederick of Prussia; and the German people, whom he has despised, will
look up to you, sire, as to the Messiah of their decaying greatness."
"He will foil me there as in all else," replied Joseph, disconsolately.
"Has he not already guessed my plans in Germany, and has he not torn my
banner from my hand to flaunt it above his own head, as the defender of
German liberties! And Maria Theresa, too, is deceived by his infernal
logic. Oh, Lacy! I hate him beyond expression. I hate him for the letter
wherein he promises to spare her son, a man whom he loves, although he
differs with him on the subject of German nationality. [Footnote:
Gross-Hoffinger, "Records of the Life of Joseph II.," p. 41.] The
cowardly remnant of a warrior! He takes refuge under my mother's hooped
petticoat, and whispers in her credulous ear that this war is a great
sin. Do you really think that I am bound to sheathe my sword at the ipse
dixit of my mother?"
"Your mother is the reigning empress, sire, and it is for you to give to
her other subjects an example of loyalty and obedience."
"Ah," sighed Joseph, "I must still the throbbings of my bursting heart,
and suffer in silence!"
For a while he paced the room with hasty, uncertain steps, murmuring
inaudible words, and darting despairing looks toward the window, whence
gay throngs of soldiery were to be seen preparing to leave the
encampment, while they sang their martial songs, and speculated together
upon the events of the morrow. Suddenly the emperor turned his head
toward Lacy, and said:
"Field-marshal, I withdraw my plans of battle. The empress-queen has
spoken, it is for us to obey. Apprise the army of the change. We remain
where we are."
"Sire," exclaimed Lacy enthusiastically, "your victory has been won
to-day. A victory over self!"
The emperor raised his eyes with a sad, weary expression, and shook his
head: "It was harder to win than could have been that which I
contemplated for to-morrow. Go, Lacy, go, we must still hope and
pray--pray God to grant that at some future day we may be revenged."