No More Learning

" Probably to something
considerable. Very certainly to something far short of
his aspirations; far different from his own hopes, and
the world's concerning him. It is not we, it is Father
Time that does the controlling and fulfilling of our
hopes; and strange work he makes of them and us.
For example, has not Friedrich's grand "New Era,"
inaugurated by him in a week, with the leading spirits
all adoring, issued since in French Revolution and a
"world well suicided," -- the leading spirits much
thrown-out in consequence! New Era has gone to
great lengths since Friedrich's time; and the leading
spirits do not now adore it, but yawn over it, or worse!
Which changes to us the then aspect of Friedrich, and
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? 38 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [book xr.
Jane--Sept. 1740.
his epoch and his aspirations, a good deal. -- On the
whole, Friedrich will go his way, Time and the lead-
ing spirits going theirs; and, like the rest of us, will
grow to what he can. His actual size is not great
among the Kingdoms: his outward resources are rather
to be called small. The Prussian Dominion at that
date is, in extent, about Four-fifths of an England
Proper, and perhaps not one-fifth so fertile: subject
Population is well under Two Millions and a Half;
Revenue not much above One Million Sterling, * --
very small, were not thrift such a vcctitjal.
This young King is magnanimous; not much to be
called ambitious, or not in the vulgar sense almost at
all, -- strange as it may sound to readers. His hopes
at this time are many; -- and among them, I perceive,
there is not wanting secretly, in spite of his experiences,
some hope that he himself may be a good deal "happier"
than formerly. Nor is there any ascetic humour, on his
part, to forbid trial. He is much determined to try.
Probably enough, as we guess and gather, his agree-
ablest anticipations, at this time, were of Reinsberg:
How, in the intervals of work well done, he would live
there wholly to the Muses; have his chosen spirits round
him, his colloquies, his suppers of the gods. Why not?
There might be a King of Intellects conceivable withal;
protecting, cherishing, practically guiding the chosen
Illuminative Souls of this world. A new Charlemagne,
the smallest new Charlemagne of Spiritual type, with
his Paladins round him; how glorious, how salutary in
the dim generations now going! -- These too were
* The exact statistic cipher is, at Friedrich's Accession: Prussian
Territories, 2,275 square miles German (56,875 English); Population,
2,240,000; Annnal Revenue, 7,371,707 thalers 7 groschen (1,105,756/. without
the pence). See Preuss, llucit fiir ledcrmatm, i. 49; Stenzel, iii. 692; &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FKIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 39
June--Sept. 1740.
hopes which proved signally futile. Rigorous Time
could not grant these at all; -- granted, in his own
hard way, other things instead. But, all along, the
Life-element, the Epoch, though Friedrich took it
kindly and never complained, was ungenial to such
"Somewhat of a rotten Epoch, this into which Friedrich
"has been born, to shape himself and his activities royal and
"Time, when the eternally awful meanings of this Universe
"had not yet sunk into dubieties to any one, much less into
"levities or into mendacities, into huge hypocrisies carefully
"regulated, -- so luminous, vivid and ingenuous a young
"creature had not wanted divine manna in his Pilgrimage
"through Life. Nor, in that case, had he come out of it in
"so lean a condition. But the highest man of us is born brother
"to his Contemporaries; struggle as he may, there is no
"escaping the family likeness. By spasmodic indignant con-
"tradiction of them, by stupid compliance with them, -- you
"will inversely resemble, if you do not directly; like the
"starling, you can't get out! -- Most surely, if there do fall
"manna from Heaven, in the given Generation, and nourish
"in us reverence and genial nobleness day by day, it is blessed
"and well. Failing that, in regard to our poor spiritual inter-
"ests, there is sure to be one of two results: mockery, con-
"tempt, disbelief, what we may call short-diet to the length of
"very famine (which was Friedrich's case); or else slow-
"poison, carefully elaborated and provided by way of daily
"nourishment.
"Unhappy souls, these same! The slow-poison has gone
"deep into them. Instead of manna, this long while back,
"they have been living on mouldy corrupt meats sweetened by
"sugar-of-lead; -- or perhaps, like Voltaire, a few individuals
"prefer hunger as the cleaner alternative; and in con-
"temptuous, barren, mocking humour, not yet got the length
"of geniality or indignation, snuff the east-wind by way of
"spiritual diet. Pilgriming along on such nourishment, the
"best human soul fails to become very ruddy! -- Tidings
"about Heaven are fallen so uncertain, but the Earth and her
a man.
once: "In an older earnest
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? '10 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
June--Kept. 1710.
"joys are still interesting:' Take to the Earth and her joys; --
"let your soul go out, since it must; let your five senses and
"their appetites be well alive. ' That is a dreadful 'Sham-
"Christian Dispensation' to be born under! You wonder at
"the want of heroism in the Eighteenth Century. Wonder
"rather at the degree of heroism it had; wonder how many
"souls there still are to be met with in it of some effective
"capability, though dieting in that way, -- nothing else to be
"had in the shops about. Carterets, Belleisles, Friedrichs,
"Voltaires; Chathams, Franklins, Choiseuls: there is an
"effective stroke of work, a fine fire of heroic pride, in this
"man and the other; not yet extinguished by spiritual famine
"or slow-poison; so robust is Nature the mighty Mother! --
"But in general, that sad Gospel,' Souls extinct, Stomachs
"well alive! ' is the credible one, not articulately preached,
"but practically believed by the abject generations, and acted
"on as it never was before. What immense sensualities there
"were, is known; and also (as some small offset, though that
"has not yet begun in 1740) what immense quantities of Phy-
"sical Labour and contrivance were got out of mankind, in
"that Epoch and down to this day. As if, having lost its
'' Heaven, it had struck desperately down into the Earth; as if
"it were a beaver-kind, and not a mankind any more. We had
'' once a Barbarossa; and a world all grandly true. But from
"that to Karl VI. , and his Holy Romish Reich in such a state
"of 'Holiness' --! " -- I here cut short my abstruse Friend.
Readers are impatient to have done with these mis-
cellaneous preludings, and to be once definitely under
way, such a Journey lying ahead. Yes, readers; a
Journey indeed! And, at this point, permit me to
warn you that, where the ground, where Dryasdust
and the Destinies, yield anything humanly illustrative
of Friedrich and his Work, one will have to linger,
and carefully gather it, even as here. Large tracts
occur, bestrewn with mere pedantisms, diplomatic cob-
webberies, learned marine-stores, and inhuman matter,
over which we shall have to skip empty-handed: this
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FRIEDRICH1 S ACCESSION. 41
June-Sept. 1740.
also was among the sad conditions of our Enterprise,
that it has to go now too slow and again too fast; not
in proportion to natural importance of objects, but to
several inferior considerations withal. So busy has per-
verse Destiny been on it; perverse Destiny, edacious
Chance; -- and the Dryasdusts, too, and Nightmares,
in Prussia as elsewhere, we know how strong they
are!
Priedrich's character in old age has doubtless its
curious affinities, its disguised identities, with these
prognostic features and indications of his youth: and
to our readers, -- if we do ever get them to the goal,
of seeing Friedrich a little with their own eyes and
judgments, -- there may be pleasant contrasts and
comparisons of that kind in store, one day. But the
far commoner experience (which also has been my
own), -- here is Smelfungus's stern account of that:.
"My friend, you will be luckier than I, if, after ten years,
"not to say, in a sense, twenty years, thirty years, of reading
"and rummaging in those sad Prussian Books, ancient and
"new(which often are laudably authentic, too, and exact as to
"details),you can gather any character whatever of Friedrich,
"in any period of his life, or conceive him as a Human Entity
"at all! It is strange, after such thousandfold writing, but it is
"true, his History is considerably unintelligible to mankind at
"this hour; left chaotic, enigmatic, in a good many points, --
"the military part of it alone being brought to clearness, and
"rendered fairly conceivable and credible to those who will
"study. And as to the Man himself, or what his real Phy-
siognomy can have been --! -- Well, it must be owned few
"men were of such rapidity of face and aspect; so difficult to
"seizfc the features or. In his action, too, there was such
"rapidity, such secrecy, suddenness: a man that could not be
"read, even by the candid, except as in flashes of lightning.
"And then the anger of bystanders, uncandid, who got hurt
"by him; the hasty malevolences, the stupidities, the opa-
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? 42 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
Jane-Sept. 17d0.
"cities: enough, in modern times, what is saying much, per-
"haps no man s motives, intentions, and procedure have been
"more belied, misunderstood, misrepresented, during his life.
"Nor, I think, since that, have many men fared worse, by the
"Limner or Biographic class, the favourable to him and the
"unfavourable; or been so smeared of and blotched of, and
"reduced to a mere blur and dazzlement of crosslights, in-
"coherences, incredibilities, in which nothing, not so much as
"a human nose, is clearly discernible by way of feature! " --
Courage, reader, nevertheless; on the above terms, let us
inarch according to promise.
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? OHAP. II. ] THE HOMAGINGS.
43
Jime--Sept. 1740.
CHAPTER II.
THE HOMAGINGS.
Young Friedrich, as his Father had done, considers
it unnecessary to be crowned. Old Friedrich, first of
the name, and of the King series, we did see crowned,
with a pinch of snuff tempering the solemnities. That
Coronation once well done suffices all his descendants
hitherto. Such an expense of money, -- of diluted
mendacity too! Such haranguing, gesturing, symbolic
fugling, all grown half-false: -- avoid lying, even with
your eyes, or knees, or the coat upon your back, so
far as you easily can! '
Nothing of Coronation: but it is thought needful
to have the Huldigungen (Homagings) done, the Fealties
sworn; and the young Majesty in due course goes
about, or gives directions, now here now there, in his
various Provinces, getting that accomplished. But
even in that, Friedrich is by no means strait-laced or
punctilious; does it commonly by Deputy: only in three
places, Konigsberg, Berlin, Cleve, does he appear in
person. Mainly by deputy; and always with the mi-
nimum of fuss, and no haranguing that could be
avoided. Nowhere are the old Stdnde (Provincial
Parliaments) assembled, now or afterwards: sufficient
for this and for every occasion are the "Permanent
Committees of the Stdndenor is much speaking, un-
essential for despatch of business, used to these.
"Sliinde, -- of Ritterschaft mainly, of Gentry small and
"great, -- existed once in all those Countries, as elsewhere,"
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? 44 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
says one Historian; "and some of them, in Preussen for
"example, used to be rather loud, and inclined to turbulence,
"till the curb, from a judicious bridle-hand, would admonish
"them. But, for a long while past, -- especially since the
"Great Elector's time, who got an 'ExciseLaw' passed, or the
"foundations of a good Excise Law laid;* and, what with
"Excise, what with Domain-Farms, had a fixed Annual
"Budget, which he reckoned fair to both parties, -- they have
"been dying out for want of work; and, under Friedrich Wil-
"helm, may be said to have gone quite dead. What work
"was left for them? Prussian Budget is fixed, many things are
"fixed: why talk of them farther? The Prussian King,
"nothing of a fool like certain others," -- which indeed is the
cardinal point, though my Author does not say so, -- "is
"respectfully aware of the facts round him; and can listen to
"the rumours too, so far as he finds good. The King sees
"himself terribly interested to get into the right course in all
"things, and avoid the wrong one! Probably he does, in his
"way, seek 'wise Advice concerning the arduous matters of
"the Kingdom;' nay I believe he is diligent to have it of the
"wisest: -- who knows if Stande would always give it wiser;
'' especially Stande in the haranguing condition? " -- Enough,
they are not applied to. There is no Freedom in that Country.
"No Freedom to speak of," continues he: "but I do a little
"envy them their Fixed Budget, and some other things. What
"pleasure there can be in naving your household arrange-
"ments tumbled into disorder every new Year, by a new-
"contrived scale of expenses for you, I never could as-
certain! " --
Friedrich is not the man to awaken Parliamentary
sleeping-dogs well settled by his Ancestors. Once or
twice, out of Preussen, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time,
there was heard some whimper, which sounded like
the beginning of a bark. But Friedrich Wilhelm was
on the alert for it: Are you coming in with your Nie
Pozwalam (your Liberum Veto), then? None of your
Polish vagaries here! "Tout le pays sera ruine (the
* Preuss, iv. 432; and Thronbestcigung, pp. 379-383.
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? CHAP, ii. ] THE HOMAGINGS. 45
June-Sept. 1740.
,whole Country will be ruined)," say you? (Such had
been the poor Marshal or Provincial Speaker's Re-
monstrance on one occasion): "I don't believe a word
"of that. But I do believe the Government by Junkers"
(Country Squires) "and Nie Pozwalam will be ruined,"
-- as it is fully meant to be! "I am establishing the
"King's Sovereignty like a rock of bronze (Ich stabi-
"lire die Souverainet&t wie einen Rocher von Bronze),"
some extremely strong kind of rock! * This was one
of Friedrich Wilhelm's marginalia in response to such
a thing; and the mutinous whimper died out again.
Parliamentary Assemblages are sometimes Collective
Wisdoms, but by no means always so. In Magdeburg
we remember what trouble Friedrich Wilhelm had
with his unreasonable Hitters. Ritters there, in their
assembled capacity, had the Reich behind them, and
could not be dealt with like Preussen: but Friedrich
Wilhelm, by wise slow methods, managed Magdeburg
too, and reduced it to silence, or to words necessary
for despatch of business.
In each Province, a Permanent Committee, --
chosen I suppose, by King and Knights assenting;
chosen I know not how, but admitted to be wisely
chosen, -- represents the once Parliament or Stdnde;
and has its potency for doing good service in regard
to all Provincial matters, from roads and bridges up-
wards, and is impotent to do the least harm.
Roads
and bridges, Church matters, repartition of the Land-
dues, Army matters, -- in fact they are an effective
non-haranguing Parliament, to the King's Deputy in
every such Province; well calculated to illuminate and
* Fflrster, b. iii. (Urkundenbuch, i. 50); Preuss , iv. 420n. "Me Poz-
>>(ilnm" (the formula of Liberum Velo) signifies, "I Don't Permit! "
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? 46 FRIEDKICH TAKES THE REINS IN IIAND. [book SI.
, June--Sept. 1740.
forward his subaltern Amtman and him. Nay, we ob-
serve it is oftenest in the way of gifts and solacements
that the King articulately communicates with these
Committees or their Ritterschafts. Projects for Draining
of Bogs, for improved Highways, for better Husbandry;
loans granted them, Loan-Banks established for the
Province's behoof: -- no need of parliamentary elo-
quence on such occasions, but of something far different.
It is from this quiescent, or busy but noiseless kind
of Stdnde and Populations that Fiiedrich has his JIul-
digang to take; -- and the operation, whether done
personally or by deputy, must be an abundantly simple
one. He, for his part, is fortunate enough to find every-
where the Sovereignty established; "rock of bronze"
not the least shaken in his time. He will graciously
undertake, by Written Act, which is read before the
Stdnde, King or King's Deputy witnessing there, "To
maintain the privileges" of his Stdnde and Populations;
the Stdnde answer, on oath, with lifted hand, and ex-
press invocation of Heaven, That they will obey him
as true subjects: And so, -- doubtless with something of
dining superadded, but no whisper of it put on record,--
the Huldigung will everywhere very quietly transact itself.
The Huldigung itself is nothing to us, even with
Friedrich there, -- as at Konigsberg, Berlin, Cleve,
the three exceptional places. To which, nevertheless,
let us briefly attend him, for the sake of here and there
some direct glimpse we may get of the then Friedrich's
actual physiognomy and ways. Other direct view, or
the chance of such, is not conceded us out of those
sad Prussian Books; which are very full on this of the
Huldigung, if silent on so many other points. *
* Preuss, Thronbesleignng, p. 382.
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? CHAP. II. ]
47
THE HOMAGINGS.
7th July 1740.
Friedrich accepts the Homages, personally, in Three
Places.
To Konigsberg is his first excursion on this errand.
Preussen has perhaps, or may be suspected of having,
some remnants of sour humours left in it, and remem-
brances of Stande with haranguings, and even mutinies;
there if anywhere the King in person may do good on
such an occasion. He left Berlin, July 7th, bound
thitherward; here is Note of that first Royal Tour, --
specimen of several hundreds such, which he had to
do in the course of the next Forty-five years.
"Friend Algarotti, charming talker, attended him; who
"else, official and non-official, ask not. The Journey is to bo
"circuitous; to combine various businesses, and also to have
"its amusements. They went by Ciistrin; glancing at old
"known Country, which is at its greenest in this season. By
"Ciistrin, across the Neumark, intoPommern; after that by
"an intricate winding route; reviewing regiments, inspecting
"garrisons, now here now there; doing all manner of in-
spections; talking I know not what; oftenest lodging with
"favoured Generals, if it suited. Distance to Konigsberg, by
"the direct road, is about 500 miles; by this winding one, it
"must have been 800: Journey thither took nine days in all.
"Obliquely through Pommern, almost to the coast of the
"Baltic; their ultimatum there a place called Koslin, where
"they reviewed with strictness, -- omitting Colberg, a small
"Sea-Fortress not far rearward, time being short. Thence
"into West-Preussen, into Polish Territory, and swiftly
"across that; keeping Danzig and its noises wide enough to
"the left: one night in Poland; and the next they are in Ost-
"Preussen, place called Liebstadt, -- again on home-ground,
"and diligently reviewing there.
"The review at Liebstadt is remarkable in this, That the
"regiments, one regiment especially, not being what was fit, a
"certain Grenadier-Captain got cashiered on the spot; and
"the old Commandant himself was soon after pensioned, and
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? 48 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
7th July 1740.
"more gently sent his ways. So strict is his Majesty. Con-
'' trariwise, he found Lieutenant-General von Katte's Garrison,
"at Angerburg, next day, in a very high perfection; and
"Colonel Posadowsky's regiment specially so; with which
"latter gentleman he lodged that night, and made him farther
"happy by iheOrder of Merit: Colonel Posadowsky, Garrison
"of Angerburg, far off in East Preussen, Chevalier of the
"Order of Merit henceforth, if we ever meet him again. To
"the good old Lieutenant-General vonKatte, who no doubt
"dined with them, his Majesty handed, on the same occasion,
"a Patent of Feldmarschall; -- intends soon to make him
"Graf; and did it, as readers know. Both Colonel and General
"attended him thenceforth, still by a circuitous route, to
"Konigsberg, to assist in the solemnities there. By Gum-
"binnen, by Trakehnen, -- the Stud of Trakehnen: that also
"his Majesty saw, and made review of; not without emotion,
"we can fancy, as the sleek colts were trotted out on those
"new terms! At Trakehnen, Katte and the Colonel would be
"his Majesty's guests, for the night they stayed. This is
"their extreme point eastward; Konigsberg now lies a good
"way west of them. But at Trakehnen they turn; and, Satur-
"day 16th July 1740, after another hundred miles or so, along
"the pleasant valley of the Pregel, get to Konigsberg: ready
"to begin business on Monday morning, -- on Sunday if ne-
cessary. " *
On Sunday there did a kind of memorability occur:
The Huldigungs-Predigt (Homage Sermon) by a reverend
Herr Quandt, chief Preacher there. Which would not
be worth mentioning, except for this circumstance,
That his Majesty exceedingly admired Quandt, and
thought him a most Demosthenic genius, and the best
of all the Germans. Quandt's text was in these words:
"Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou Son of
"Jesse: Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine
"helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. n** Quandt began,
in a sonorous voice, raising his face with respectful
* From Preuss, ThronbestHgung, pp. 382, 385; Rodcnbeck, p. 16; &c.
** First Chronicles, xii. 18.
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? CHAP, n. ] THE IJOMAGINGS. 49
Jane-Sept. 1740.
enthusiasm to the King, "Thine are we, 0 Friedrich,
"and on thy side, thou Son of Friedrich Wilhelm;"
and so went on: sermon brief, sonorous, compact, and
sticking close to its text. Friedrich stood immovable,
gazing on the eloquent Demosthenic Quandt, with
admiration heightened by surprise; -- wrote of Quandt
to Voltaire; and, with sustained enthusiasm, to the
Public long afterwards; and to the end of his days
was wont to make Quandt an exception, if perhaps
almost the only one, from German barbarism, and dis-
harmony of mind and tongue. So that poor Quandt
cannot ever since get entirely forgotten, but needs
always to be raked up again, for this reason when
others have ceased: an almost melancholy adventure
for poor Quandt and Another! --
The Huldigung was rather grand; Harangue and
Counter-harangue permitted to the due length, and
proper festivities following: but the St ancle could not
manage to get into vocal covenanting or deliberating
at all; Friedrich before leaving Berlin had answered
their hint or request that way, in these words: "We
"are likewise graciously inclined to give to the said
"Stande, before their Homaging, the same assurance
"which they got from our Herr Father's Majesty, who
"is now with God," -- general assurance that their,
and everybody's, "Rights shall be maintained" (as we
see they are), -- "with which, it is hoped (hoffentlich),
"they will be content, and get to peace upon this
"matter (sich dabei beruhigen werden). "* It will be best
for them!
Friedrich gave away much corn here; that is,
opened his Corn-Granaries, on charitable terms, and
* Preuss, Thronbcsteiyung, p. 380.
Carljle, Frederick the Great. VI. 4
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? 50 PRIEDEICH TAKES THE REINS IN IIAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
took all manner of measures, here as in other places,
for relief of the scarcity there was. Of the illumina-
tions, never so grand, the reader shall hear nothing.
A "Torch Procession of the Students" turned out a
pretty thing: -- Students marching with torches, with
fine wind-music, regulated' enthusiasm, fine succinct
Address to his Majesty; and all the world escorting,
with its "Live Forever! " Friedrich gave the Students
"a Trinh-Gdag (Banquet of Liquors)," how arranged I
do not know: and to the Speaker of the Address, a
likely young gentleman with Von to his name, he offered
an Ensigncy of Foot ("in Camas's Fusileer Regiment,"
-- Camas now gone to Paris, embassying), which was
joyfully accepted. Joyfully accepted; -- and it turned
out well for all parties; the young gentleman having
risen, where merit was the rule of rising, and become
Graf and Lieutenant-General, in the course of the next
fifty years. '*
Huldigung and Torch-Procession over, the Royal
Party dashed rapidly off, next morning (21st July),
homewards by the shortest route; and, in three days
more, by Frankfurt on the Oder (where a glimpse of
General Schwerin, a favourite General, was to be had),
were safe in Berlin; received with acclamation, nay
with "blessings and even tears" some say, after this
pleasant Fortnight's Tour. General Schwerin, it is
rumoured, will be made Feldmarschall straightway,
the Munehows are getting so promoted as we said;
edicts are coming out, much business speeding forward,
and the tongues of men keep wagging.
Berlin Huldigung, -- and indeed, by Deputy, that
* Preuss, Thrmlestevjunj, p. 387.
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? CHAP. n ] THE HOMAGINGS. 51
June--Sept. 1740.
of nearly all the other Towns, -->> was on Tuesday,
August 2d. At Berlin his Majesty was present in the
matter: but, except the gazing multitudes, and hussar
regiments, ranked in the Schloss-Platz and streets
adjoining, there was little of notable in it; the up-
holstery arrangements thrifty in the extreme. His
Majesty is prone to thrift in this of the Huldigung, as
would appear; perhaps regarding the affair as scenic
merely. Here, besides this of Berlin, is another in-
stance just occurring. It appears, the Quedlinburg
people, shut out from the light of the actual Royal
Countenance, cannot do their Homaging by Deputy,
without at least a Portrait of the King and of the
Queen: How manage? asks the official Person. "Have
a Couple of Daubs done in Berlin, three guineas
apiece; send them these," answers the King! *
Here in the Berlin Schloss, scene the Large Hall
within doors, there is a "platform raised three steps;
"and on this, by way of a kind of throne, an armchair
"covered with old black velvet;" the whole surmounted
by a canopy also of old black velvet: not a sublime
piece of upholstery; but reckoned adequate. Friedrich
mounted the three steps; stood before the old chair,
his Princes standing promiscuously behind it; his
Eitters in quantity, in front and to right and left, on I
the floor. Some Minister of the Interior explains
suitably, not at too great length, what they are met
for; some junior Official, junior but of quality, re-
sponded briefly, for himself and his order, to the effect,
'Tea, truly:" the Huldigungs- Urkun. de (Deed of Homage)
was then read by the proper Clerk, and the Ritters all
* "On doit faire barbouiller de mauraises copies a Berlin, In piece a 20
ecus. -- Pu. " Preuss, ii. (Urkundeniuch, s. 222). i
4*
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? 52 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XT.
June--Sept. 1710.
swore; audibly, with lifted hands. This is the Ritter
Huldigung.
His Majesty then steps out to the Balcony, for
Oath and Homage of the general Population. General
population gave its oath, and "three great shouts over
and above. " uEs lebe der Konig! " thrice, with all
their throats. Upon which a shower of Medals, "Ho-
mage-Medals," gold and silver (quantity not mentioned),
rained down upon them, in due succession-, and were
scrambled for, in the usual way. "His Majesty," they
write, and this is perhaps the one point worth notice,
"his Majesty, contrary to custom and to etiquette,
"remained on the Balcony, some time after the cere-
"mony, perhaps a full half-hour;" -- silent there,
"with his look fixed attentively on the immeasurable
"multitude before the Schloss; and seemed sunk in
"deep reflection (Betrachtungy. '' -- an almost awfully
eloquent though inarticulate phenomenon to his Majesty,
that of those multitudes scrambling and huzzahing
there! *
These, with the Cleve one, are all the Homagings
Friedrich was personally present at; the others he did
by Deputy, all in one day (2d August); and without
fuss. Scenic matters these; in which, except where
he can, as in the Konigsberg case, combine inspections
and grave businesses with them, he takes no interest.
However, he is now, for the sake chiefly of inspections
and other real objects, bent on a Journey to Cleve; --
the fellow of that to Konigsberg: Konigsberg, Preussen,
the easternmost outlying wing of his long straggling
Dominions; and then Cleve-Jtilich, its counterpart on
* Preuss, TUronbestcigung, p. 389.
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? CHAP. n. ] THE HOMAGINGS. 53
Uth Aug. 1740.
the south-western side, -- there also, with such con-
tingencies hanging over Cleve-Julich, it were proper to
make some mustering of the Frontier garrisons and
affairs. * His Majesty so purposes: and we purpose
again to accompany, -- not for inspection and muster-
ing, but for an unexpected reason. The grave Journey
to Cleve has an appendage, or comic side-piece, hanging
to it; more than one appendage; which the reader
must not miss! -- Before setting out, read these two
Fractions, snatched from the Diplomatist Wastebag;
looking well, we gain there some momentary view of
Friedrich on the business side. Of Friedrich, and also
of Another:
Sunday, 14th August 1740, Dickens, who has been report-
ing hitherto in a favourable, though in a languid exoteric
manner, not being in any height of favour, England or he, --
had express Audience of his Majesty; being summoned out to
Potsdam for that end: "Sunday evening, about 7 p. m. ," --
Majesty intending to be off on the Cleve Journey to-morrow.
Let us accompany Dickens. Readers may remember, George
II. has been at Hanover for some weeks past; Bielfeld di-
ligently grinning euphemisms and courtly graciosities to him;
Truchsess hinting, on opportunity, that there are perhaps
weighty businesses in the rear; which, however, on the Bri-
tannic side, seem loth to start. Britannic Majesty is much at
a loss about his Spanish War, so dangerous for kindling France
and the whole world upon him. In regard to which Prussia
might be so important, for or against. -- This, in compressed
form, is what Dickens witnesses at Potsdam, that Sunday
evening from 7 p. m.