If I had
addressed
myself direct to thee, I
"' should have escaped much trouble, and thou too.
"' should have escaped much trouble, and thou too.
Thomas Carlyle
And on those terms
? Wllhelmlna, i. 375.
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? 198 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [book vnr.
20th Nov. 1731.
it was that Saxon Moritz (our dissolute friend, who will
be Marechal de Saxe one day) made his clutch at Cour-
land, backed by moneys of the French Actress; rumour
of which still floats vaguely about. Moritz might have
succeeded, could he have done the first part of the feat,
fallen in love with swoln-cheeked Anne, Dowager
there; but he could not; could only pretend it: Cour-
land therefore (now that the Swoln-cheek is become
Czarina) falls to one Bieren, a born Courlander, who
could. * -- We hurry to the "Grand Apartment" in
Berlin Schloss, and glance rapidly, with Wilhelmina (in an abridged form), how magnificent it is:
Royal Apartment, third floor of the Palace at Berlin, one
must say, few things equal it in the world. "From the Outer
"Saloon or Antechamber, called Salle des Suisses" (where the
halberdier and valet people wait) "you pass through six
"grand rooms, into a saloon magnificently decorated; thence
"through two rooms more, and so into what they call the
"Picture-Gallery, a room ninety feet long. All this is in a
"line. " Grand all this; but still only common in comparison.
From the Picture-Gallery you turn (to right or left, is not
said, nor does it matter) into a suite of Fourteen great rooms,
each more splendid than the other: lustre from the ceiling of
the first room, for example, is of solid silver; weighs, in
* Last Kcttlcr, Anne's Husband, died (leaving only an old Uncle,
fallen into Papistry and other futility, who, till his death some twenty years
after, had to reside abroad and be nominal merely), 1711; Moritz's attempt
with Adrienne Lecouvreur's cash was, 1726; Anne became Sovereign of all
the Russias (on her poor Cousin Peter II. 's death), 1730; Bieren (Biron as
he tried to write himself, being of poor birth) did not get installed till 1737;
and had, he and Courland both, several tumbles after that before getting to
stable equilibrium.
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? chap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 199
20th Nov. 1731.
pounds avoirdupois I know not what, but in silver coin
"10,000 crowns:" ceilings painted as by Correggio; "wall-
"mirrors between each pair of windows are twelve feet high,
"and their piers (trumeaux) are of massive silver; in front of
"each mirror, table can be laid for twelve;" twelve Serenities
may dine there, flanked by their mirror, enjoying the Cor-
reggiosities above, and the practical sublimities all round.
"And this is but the first of the Fourteen;" and you go on
increasing in superbness, till, for example, in the last, or
superlative Saloon, you find "a lustre weighing 50,000
"crowns; the globe of it big enough to hold a child of eight
"years; and the branches (gueridons) of it," I forget how
many feet or fathoms in extent: silver to the heart. Nay
the music-balcony is of silver; wearied fiddler lays his elbow
on balustrades of that precious metal. Seldom if ever was
seen the like. In this superlative Saloon, the Nuptial Bene-
diction was given. *
Old King Friedrich, the expensive Herr, it was he
that did the furnishing and Correggio-painting of these
sublime rooms: but this of the masses of wrought silver,
this was done by Friedrich Wilhelm, -- incited thereto
by what he saw at Dresden in August the Strong's
Establishment; and reflecting, too, that silver is silver,
whether you keep it in barrels in a coined form, or
work it into chandeliers, mirror-frames and music-bal-
conies. -- These things we should not have mentioned,
except to say that the massive silver did prove a hoard
available, in after times, against a rainy day. Massive
silver (well mixed with copper first) was all melted
<< Wilholmina, i. 381; Nioolai, ii. 881.
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? 200 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [bOOKVUD
80th Nov. 1731.
down, stamped into current coins, native and foreign,
and sent wandering over the world, before a certain
Prince got through his Seven-Years Wars and other
pinches that are ahead! --
In fine, Wilhelmina's Wedding was magnificent;
though one had rubs too; and Mamma was rather
severe. "Hair went all wrong, by dint of over-dress-
"ing; and hung on one's face like a boy's. Crown-royal
"they had put (as indeed was proper) on one's head:
"hair was in twenty-four locks the size of your arm:
"such was the Queen's order. Gown was of cloth-of-
"silver, trimmed with Spanish gold-lace (avec un point
"d'Espagne d'or); train twelve yards long; -- one was
"like to sink to the earth in such equipment. " Courage,
my Princess! -- In fact, the Wedding went beautifully
off; with dances and sublimities, slow solemn Torch- dance to conclude with, in those unparalleled upper
rooms; Grand-Aunt Meiningen and many other stars
and rainbows witnessing; even the Margravine of
Schwedt, in her high colours, was compelled to be
there. Such variegated splendour, such a dancing of
the Constellations; sublunary Berlin, and all the world,
on tiptoe round it! Slow Torch-dance, winding it up,
melted into the shades of midnight, for this time; and
there was silence in Berlin.
But, on the following nights, there were Balls of a
less solemn character; far pleasanter for dancing pur-
poses. It is to these, to one of these, that we direct
the attention of all readers. Friday 23d, there was
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? CHAP, vi. ] wilhelmtna's WEDDING. x 201
33d Nov. 1731.
again Ball and Royal Evening Party -- " Grand Apart-
ment" so-called. Immense Ball, "seven hundred couples,
all people of condition;" there were "Four Quadrilles,"
or dancing places in the big sea of quality-figures; each
at its due distance in the grand suite of rooms: Wilhel-
mina presides in Quadrille Number One: place assigned
her was in the room called Picture-Gallery; Queen and
all the Principalities were with Wilhelmina, she is to
lead-off their quadrille, and take charge of it. Which
she did, with her accustomed fire and elasticity; -- and
was circling there, on the light fantastic toe, time
six in the evening, when Grumkow, whom she had
been dunning for his bargain about Friedrich the day
before, came up:
"Hikeddancing," says she, "and was taking advantage
"of my chances. Grumkow came up, and interrupted me in
"the middle of a minuet: 'Eh, mon Dieu, Madame! ' said
"Grumkow, 'you seem to have got bit by the tarantula!
'"Don't you see those strangers who have just come in? ' Istopt
"short; and looking all round, I noticed at last a young man
"dressed in gray, whom I did not know. 'Go, then, embrace
'"the Prince-Royal; there he is before you! ' said Grumkow.
"All the blood in my body went topsy-turvy for joy. '0 "'Heaven, my Brother? ' cried I: 'But I don't see him; where
"'is he? In God's name, let me see him! ' Grumkow led
"me to the young man in gray. Coming near, I recognised
"him, though with difficulty: he had grown amazingly stouter
"(prodigieusement engraisse), shortened about the neck; his
"face too had much changed, and was no longer so beautiful
"as it had been. I sprang upon him with open arms (sautai
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? 202 CROWN-PEINCE RETRIEVED. [BOOK vm.
23d Mot. 1731.
"au cou); I was in such a state, I could speak nothing but
"broken exclamations: I wept, I laughed, like one gone de-
"lirious. In my life I have never felt so lively a joy.
"The first sane step was to throw myself at the feet of the
"King: King said, 'Are you content with me? You see I
"' have kept my word! ' I took my Brother by the hand; and
"entreated the King to restore him his friendship. This scene
"was so touching, it drew tears from the eyes of everybody.
"I then approached the Queen. She was obliged to embrace
"me, the King being close opposite; but I remarked that her
"joy was only affected. " -- Why then, 0 Princess? Guess,
if you can, the female humours of her Majesty! --
"I turned to my Brother again; I gave him a thousand
"caresses, and said the tenderest things to him: to all which
"he remained cold as ice, and answered only in monosyllables.
"I presented the Prince (my Husband); to whom he did hot
"say one word. I was astonished at this fashion of procedure!
"But I laid the blame of it on the King, who was observing
"us, and who I judged might be intimidating my Brother.
"But even his countenance surprised me: he wore a proud air,
"and seemed to look down on everybody. "
A much-changed Crown-Prince. What can be the meaning
of it? Neither King nor he appeared at supper: they were
supping elsewhere, with a select circle; and the whisper ran
among us, His Majesty was treating him with great friend-
liness. At which the Queen, contrary to hope, could not
conceal her secret pique. "In fact," says Wilhelmina, again
too hard on Mamma, "she did not love her children except
"as they served her ambitious views. " The fact that it was I,
and not she, who had achieved the Prince's deliverance, was
painful to her Majesty: alas, yes, in some degree!
"Ball having recommenced, Grumkow whispered to me,
"'That the King was pleased with my frank kind ways to my
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? cHap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 203
24th Nov. 1731.
'"Brother; and not pleased with my Brother's cold way of
"'returning it: Does he simulate, and mean still to deceive
"'me? Or is that all the thanks he has for Wilhelmina? "'thinks his Majesty. Go on with your sincerity, Madam;
"'and for God's sake admonish the Crown-Prince to avoid
"' finessing! ' Crown-Prince, when I did, in some interval of
"the dance, report this ofGrumkow, and say, Why so changed
"and cold, then, Brother of my heart? answered, That he
"was still the same; and that he had his reasons for what he
"did. " Wilhelmina continues; and cannot understand her
Crown-Prince at all:
"Next morning, by the King's order, he paid me a visit.
"The Prince," my Husband, "was polite enough to with-
draw, and left me and Sonsfeld alone with him. He gave
"me a recital of his misfortunes; I communicated mine to
"him,"--and howlhad at last bargained to get him free again
by my compliance. "He appeared much discountenanced at
"this last part of my narrative. He returned thanks for the
"obligations I had laid on him, -- with some caressings,
"which evidently did not proceed from the heart. To break
"this conversation, he started some indifferent topic; and,
"under pretence of seeing my Apartment, moved into the
"next room, where the Prince my Husband was. Him he ran
"over with his eyes from head to foot, for some time; then,
"after some constrained civilities to him, went his way. "
What to make of all this? "Madam Sonsfeld shrugged her
"shoulders;" no end of Madam Sonsfeld's astonishment at
such a Crown-Prince.
Alas, yes, poor Wilhelmina; a Crown-Prince got
into terrible cognisance of facts since we last met him!
Perhaps already sees, not only what a Height of place
is cut out for him in this world, but also in a dim way
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? 204 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [BOOK VIH.
24th Nov. 1731.
what a solitude of soul, if he will maintain his height?
Top of the frozen Schreckhorn; -- have you well con-
sidered such a position! And even the way thither is
dangerous, is terrible in this case. Be not too hard
upon your Crown-Prince. For it is certain he loves
you to the last!
Captain Dickens, who alone of all the Excellencies
was not at the Wedding, -- and never had believed it
would be a wedding, but only a rumour to bring Eng-
land round, -- duly chronicles this happy reappear-
ance of the Prince-Royal: "about six, yesterday even-
"ing, as the company was dancing, -- to the great joy
"and surprise of the whole Court;" -- and adds: "This
"morning the Prince came to the public Parade; where
"crowds of people of all ranks flocked to see his Royal
"Highness, and gave the most open demonstrations of
"pleasure. " *
Wilhelmina, these noisy tumults, not all of them
delightful, once done, gets out of the perplexed hurly-
burly, home towards still Baireuth, shortly after New-
year. ** "Berlin was become as odious to me as it had
"once been dear. I flattered myself that, renouncing
"grandeurs, I might lead a soft and tranquil life in my
"new Home, and begin a happier year than the one
"that had just ended. " Mamma was still perverse;
but on the edge of departure Wilhelmina contrived to
get a word of her Father, and privately open her
heart to him. Poor Father, after all that has come
and gone:
? Despatch, 24th Nov. 1731. ? ? 11th Jan. 1732 (Wilhelmina, li. 2).
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? cHap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 205
26th Nov. 1731.
"My discourse produced its effect; he melted into tears,
"couldnot answer me for sobs; he explained his thoughts by
"his embracings of me. Making an effort, at length, he
"said: 'I am in despair that I did not know thee. They had
"'told me such horrible tales, I hated thee as much as I now
"'love thee.
If I had addressed myself direct to thee, I
"' should have escaped much trouble, and thou too. But they
"'hindered me from speaking; said thou wert ill-natured as
'"the Devil, and wouldst drive to extremities I wanted to
"'avoid. Thy Mother, by her intriguings, is in part the
"' cause of the misfortunes of the family; I have been deceived
"'and duped on every side. But my hands are tied; and
'"though my heart is torn in pieces, I must leave these ini-
"'quities unpunished! '" -- The Queen's intentions were al-
ways good, urged Wilhelmina. "Letus not enter into that
"detail," answered he: "what is past is past; I will try to
"forget it;" and assured Wilhelmina that she was the dearest
to him of the family, and that he would do great things
for her still, -- only part of which came to effect in the
sequel. "I am too sad of heart to take leave of you," con-
cluded he: "embrace your Husband on my part; I am so
"overcome that I must not see him. "* And so they rolled
away.
Crown-Prince was back to^Ciistrin again many
weeks before. Back to Custrin; but under totally
changed omens: his history, after that first emergence
in Wilhelmina's dance, "23d November about six p. m. ,"
and appearance at Parade on the morrow (Saturday
morning), had been as follows. Monday November
26th, there was again grand Ball, and the Prince there,
? Wilhelmina, ii. *; who dates, 11th January 1732.
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? 206 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [book TCI*,
29th Feb- 1732.
not in gray this time. Next day, the Old Dessauer
and all the higher Officers in Berlin petitioned, "Let
us have him in the Army again, your Majesty! "
Majesty consented: and so, Friday 30th, there was
grand dinner at Seckendorfs, Crown-Prince there, in
soldier's uniform again; a completely pardoned youth.
His uniform is of the Goltz Regiment, Infantry: Goltz
Eegiment, which lies at Ruppin, -- at and about, in
that moory Country to the Northeast, some thirty or
forty miles from Berlin; -- whither his destination
now is.
Crown-Prince had to resume his Kammer work at
Ciistrin, and see the Buildings at Carzig, for a three
months longer, till some arrangements in the Regiment
Goltz were perfected, and finishing improvements given
to it. But "on the last day of February" (29th, 1732
being leap-year), his Royal Highness1 s Commission to
be Colonel Commandant of said Regiment is made out;
and he proceeds, in discharge of the same, to Ruppin,
where his men lie. And so puts off the pike-gray coat,
and puts on the military blue one,* -- never to quit
it again, as turned out.
Ruppin is a little Town, in that northwest Fehr-
bellin region: Regiment Goltz had lain in detached
quarters hitherto; but is now to lie at Ruppin, the first
Battalion of it there, and the rest within reach. Here,
in Ruppin itself, or ultimately at Reinsberg in the
neighbourhood, was Friedrich's abode, for the next
? Preosa, i. 69.
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? chap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 207
1732.
eight years. Habitual residence; with transient ex-
cursions, chiefly to Berlin in Carnival time, or on other
great occasions, and always strictly on leave; his
employment being that of Colonel of Foot, a thing
requiring continual vigilance and industry in that
Country. Least of all to be neglected, in any point,
by one in his circumstances. He did his military
duties to a perfection satisfactory even to Papa; and
achieved on his own score many other duties and im-
provements, for which Papa had less value. These
eight years, it is always understood, were among the
most important of his life to him.
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? BOOK IX.
LAST STAGE OF FRIEDRICH'S APPRENTICESHIP:
LIFE IN RUPPIN.
1732-1736.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV.
14
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? Feb. 1732.
CHAPTER L
PRINCESS ELIZABETH CHRISTINA OF BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.
We described the Crown-Prince as intent to comply,
especially in all visible external particulars, with
Papa's will and pleasure; -- to distinguish himself by
real excellence in Commandantship of the Regiment
Goltz, first of alL But before ever getting into that,
there has another point risen, on which obedience,
equally essential, may be still more difficult.
Ever since the grand Catastrophe went off without
taking Friedrich's head along with it, and there began
to be hopes of a pacific settlement, question has been,
Whom shall the Crown-Prince marry? And the
debates about it in the royal breast and in Tobacco-
Parliament, and rumours about it in the world at large,
have been manifold and continual. In the Schulenburg
Letters we saw the Crown-Prince himself, much inter-
ested, and eagerly inquisitive on that head. As was
natural: but it is not in the Crown-Prince's mind, it is
in the Tobacco-Parliament, and the royal breast as
influenced there, that the thing must be decided. Who
in the world will it be, then?
Crown-Prince himself hears now of this party, now
of that. England is quite over, and the Princess
Amelia sunk below the horizon. Friedrich himself
appears a little piqued that Hotham carried his nose so
14*
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? 212 friedrich's apprenticeship, LAST STAGE, [book it.
Fob. 1732.
high; that the English would not, in those life-and-
death circumstances, abate the least from their "Both
marriages or none," -- thinks they should have saved
Wilhelmina, and taken his word of honor for the rest. England is now out of his head; -- all romance is too
sorrowfully swept out: and instead of the "sacred air
cities of hope" in this high section of his history, the
young man is looking into the "mean clay hamlets of
reality," with an eye well recognising them for real.
With an eye and heart already tempered to the due
hardness for them. Not a fortunate result, though it
was an inevitable one. We saw him flirting with the
beautiful wedded Wreech; talking to Lieutenant-General
Schulenburg about marriage, in a way which shook the
pipeclay of that virtuous man. He knows he would
not get his choice, if he had one; strives not to care. Nor does he, in fact, much care; the romance being all
out of it. He looks mainly to outward advantages: to
personal appearance, temper, good manners; to
"religious principle," sometimes rather in the reverse
way (fearing an overplus rather); -- but always to
likelihood of moneys by the match, as a very direct
item. Ready command of money, he feels, will be
extremely desirable in a Wife; desirable and almost
indispensable, in present straitened circumstances. These
are the notions of this ill-situated Coelebs.
The parties proposed first and last, and rumoured
of in Newspapers and the idle brains of men, have been
very many, -- no limit to their numbers; it may be
anybody: an intending purchaser, though but possessed
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? OHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRCNSWICK-BEVERK. 213
Feb. 1732.
of sixpence, is in a sense proprietor of the whole Fair!
Through Schulenburg we heard his own account of them, last Autumn; -- but the far noblest of the lot
was hardly glanced at, or not at all, on that occasion.
The Kaiser's eldest Daughter, sole heiress of Austria
and these vast Pragmatic-Sanction operations; Arch-
duchess Maria Theresa herself, -- it is affirmed to have
been Prince Eugene's often-expressed wish, That the
Crown-Prince of Prussia should wed the future Empress. *
Which would indeed have saved immense confusions
to mankind! Nay she alone of Princesses, beautiful,
magnanimous, brave, was the mate for such a Prince,
-- had the Good Fairies been consulted, which seldom
happens: -- and Romance itself might have become
Reality in that case; with high results to the very soul
of this young Prince! Wishes are free: and wise Eugene
will have been heard, perhaps often, to express this wish;
but that must have been all. Alas, the preliminaries,
political, especially religious, are at once indispensable
and impossible: we have to dismiss that day-dream. A
Papal-Protestant controversy still exists among man-
kind; and this is one penalty they pay for not having
settled it sooner. The Imperial Court cannot afford
its Archduchess on the terms possible in that quarter.
What the Imperial Court can do is, to recommend
a Niece of theirs, insignificant young Princess, Elizabeth
Christina of Brunswick-Bevern, who is Niece to the
? Hormayr: AWjemeine Geschichte der neuesten Zeit (Wien, 1817),
L 18; cited in Preuss, i. 71.
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? 214 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book is.
Feb. 1732.
Empress; and may be made useful, in this way, to
herself and us, think the Imperial Majesties; -- will be
a new tie upon the Prussians and the Pragmatic
Sanction, and keep the Alliance still surer for our
Archduchess in times coming, think their Majesties.
She, it is insinuated by Seckendorf in Tobacco-Parlia-
ment; ought not she / Daughter of your Majesty's
esteemed friend, -- modest-minded, innocent young
Princess, with a Brother already betrothed in your
Majesty's House, -- to be the Lady? It is probable
she will.
Did we inform the reader once about Kaiser Karl's
young marriage adventures; and may we, to remind
him, mention them a second time? How Imperial
Majesty, some five-and-twenty years ago, then only
King of Spain, asked Princess Caroline of Anspach,
who was very poor, and an orphan in the world. Who
at once refused, declining to think of changing her
religion on such a score; -- and now governs England,
telegraphing with Walpole, as Queen there instead.
How Karl, now Imperial Majesty, then King of Spain,
next applied to Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel; and met with
a much better reception there. Applied to old Anton
Ulrich, reigning Duke, who writes big Novels, and does
other foolish goodnatured things; -- who persuaded
his Granddaughter that a change to Catholicism was
nothing in such a case, that he himself should not care
in the least to change. How the Granddaughter
changed accordingly, went to Barcelona, and was
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BE VEEN. . 215
Feb. 1732.
wedded; -- and bad to dun old Grand-Papa, "Why
don't you change, then! " Who did change thereupon;
thinking to himself, "Plague on it, I must then! " the
foolish old Herr. He is dead; and his Novels, in six
volumes quarto, are all dead: and the Granddaughter
is Kaiserinn, on those terms, a serene monotonous well-
favoured Lady, diligent in her Catholic exercises; of
whom I never heard any evil, good rather, in her
eminent serene position. Pity perhaps that she had
recommended her Niece for this young Prussian gentle-
man; whom it by no means did "attach to the Family"
so very careful about him at Vienna! But if there lay
a sin, and a punishment following on it, here or else-
where, in her Imperial position, surely it is to be
charged on foolish old Anton Ulrich; not on her,
poor Lady, who had never coveted such height, nor
durst for her soul take the leap thitherward, till the
serene old literary gentleman showed her how easy it
was.
Well, old Anton Ulrich is long since dead,* and
his religious accounts are all settled beyond cavil; and
only the sad duty devolves on me of explaining a little
what and who his rather insipid offspring are, so far as
related to readers of this History. Anton Ulrich left
two sons; the elder of whom was Duke, and the
younger had an Apanage, Blankenburg by name. Only
this younger had children, -- serene Kaiserinn that
now is, one of them. The elder died childless,** pre-
? 1714, age 70. HUbner, t. 180. ** 1731, Michaelis, i. 132.
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? Wllhelmlna, i. 375.
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? 198 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [book vnr.
20th Nov. 1731.
it was that Saxon Moritz (our dissolute friend, who will
be Marechal de Saxe one day) made his clutch at Cour-
land, backed by moneys of the French Actress; rumour
of which still floats vaguely about. Moritz might have
succeeded, could he have done the first part of the feat,
fallen in love with swoln-cheeked Anne, Dowager
there; but he could not; could only pretend it: Cour-
land therefore (now that the Swoln-cheek is become
Czarina) falls to one Bieren, a born Courlander, who
could. * -- We hurry to the "Grand Apartment" in
Berlin Schloss, and glance rapidly, with Wilhelmina (in an abridged form), how magnificent it is:
Royal Apartment, third floor of the Palace at Berlin, one
must say, few things equal it in the world. "From the Outer
"Saloon or Antechamber, called Salle des Suisses" (where the
halberdier and valet people wait) "you pass through six
"grand rooms, into a saloon magnificently decorated; thence
"through two rooms more, and so into what they call the
"Picture-Gallery, a room ninety feet long. All this is in a
"line. " Grand all this; but still only common in comparison.
From the Picture-Gallery you turn (to right or left, is not
said, nor does it matter) into a suite of Fourteen great rooms,
each more splendid than the other: lustre from the ceiling of
the first room, for example, is of solid silver; weighs, in
* Last Kcttlcr, Anne's Husband, died (leaving only an old Uncle,
fallen into Papistry and other futility, who, till his death some twenty years
after, had to reside abroad and be nominal merely), 1711; Moritz's attempt
with Adrienne Lecouvreur's cash was, 1726; Anne became Sovereign of all
the Russias (on her poor Cousin Peter II. 's death), 1730; Bieren (Biron as
he tried to write himself, being of poor birth) did not get installed till 1737;
and had, he and Courland both, several tumbles after that before getting to
stable equilibrium.
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? chap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 199
20th Nov. 1731.
pounds avoirdupois I know not what, but in silver coin
"10,000 crowns:" ceilings painted as by Correggio; "wall-
"mirrors between each pair of windows are twelve feet high,
"and their piers (trumeaux) are of massive silver; in front of
"each mirror, table can be laid for twelve;" twelve Serenities
may dine there, flanked by their mirror, enjoying the Cor-
reggiosities above, and the practical sublimities all round.
"And this is but the first of the Fourteen;" and you go on
increasing in superbness, till, for example, in the last, or
superlative Saloon, you find "a lustre weighing 50,000
"crowns; the globe of it big enough to hold a child of eight
"years; and the branches (gueridons) of it," I forget how
many feet or fathoms in extent: silver to the heart. Nay
the music-balcony is of silver; wearied fiddler lays his elbow
on balustrades of that precious metal. Seldom if ever was
seen the like. In this superlative Saloon, the Nuptial Bene-
diction was given. *
Old King Friedrich, the expensive Herr, it was he
that did the furnishing and Correggio-painting of these
sublime rooms: but this of the masses of wrought silver,
this was done by Friedrich Wilhelm, -- incited thereto
by what he saw at Dresden in August the Strong's
Establishment; and reflecting, too, that silver is silver,
whether you keep it in barrels in a coined form, or
work it into chandeliers, mirror-frames and music-bal-
conies. -- These things we should not have mentioned,
except to say that the massive silver did prove a hoard
available, in after times, against a rainy day. Massive
silver (well mixed with copper first) was all melted
<< Wilholmina, i. 381; Nioolai, ii. 881.
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? 200 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [bOOKVUD
80th Nov. 1731.
down, stamped into current coins, native and foreign,
and sent wandering over the world, before a certain
Prince got through his Seven-Years Wars and other
pinches that are ahead! --
In fine, Wilhelmina's Wedding was magnificent;
though one had rubs too; and Mamma was rather
severe. "Hair went all wrong, by dint of over-dress-
"ing; and hung on one's face like a boy's. Crown-royal
"they had put (as indeed was proper) on one's head:
"hair was in twenty-four locks the size of your arm:
"such was the Queen's order. Gown was of cloth-of-
"silver, trimmed with Spanish gold-lace (avec un point
"d'Espagne d'or); train twelve yards long; -- one was
"like to sink to the earth in such equipment. " Courage,
my Princess! -- In fact, the Wedding went beautifully
off; with dances and sublimities, slow solemn Torch- dance to conclude with, in those unparalleled upper
rooms; Grand-Aunt Meiningen and many other stars
and rainbows witnessing; even the Margravine of
Schwedt, in her high colours, was compelled to be
there. Such variegated splendour, such a dancing of
the Constellations; sublunary Berlin, and all the world,
on tiptoe round it! Slow Torch-dance, winding it up,
melted into the shades of midnight, for this time; and
there was silence in Berlin.
But, on the following nights, there were Balls of a
less solemn character; far pleasanter for dancing pur-
poses. It is to these, to one of these, that we direct
the attention of all readers. Friday 23d, there was
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? CHAP, vi. ] wilhelmtna's WEDDING. x 201
33d Nov. 1731.
again Ball and Royal Evening Party -- " Grand Apart-
ment" so-called. Immense Ball, "seven hundred couples,
all people of condition;" there were "Four Quadrilles,"
or dancing places in the big sea of quality-figures; each
at its due distance in the grand suite of rooms: Wilhel-
mina presides in Quadrille Number One: place assigned
her was in the room called Picture-Gallery; Queen and
all the Principalities were with Wilhelmina, she is to
lead-off their quadrille, and take charge of it. Which
she did, with her accustomed fire and elasticity; -- and
was circling there, on the light fantastic toe, time
six in the evening, when Grumkow, whom she had
been dunning for his bargain about Friedrich the day
before, came up:
"Hikeddancing," says she, "and was taking advantage
"of my chances. Grumkow came up, and interrupted me in
"the middle of a minuet: 'Eh, mon Dieu, Madame! ' said
"Grumkow, 'you seem to have got bit by the tarantula!
'"Don't you see those strangers who have just come in? ' Istopt
"short; and looking all round, I noticed at last a young man
"dressed in gray, whom I did not know. 'Go, then, embrace
'"the Prince-Royal; there he is before you! ' said Grumkow.
"All the blood in my body went topsy-turvy for joy. '0 "'Heaven, my Brother? ' cried I: 'But I don't see him; where
"'is he? In God's name, let me see him! ' Grumkow led
"me to the young man in gray. Coming near, I recognised
"him, though with difficulty: he had grown amazingly stouter
"(prodigieusement engraisse), shortened about the neck; his
"face too had much changed, and was no longer so beautiful
"as it had been. I sprang upon him with open arms (sautai
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? 202 CROWN-PEINCE RETRIEVED. [BOOK vm.
23d Mot. 1731.
"au cou); I was in such a state, I could speak nothing but
"broken exclamations: I wept, I laughed, like one gone de-
"lirious. In my life I have never felt so lively a joy.
"The first sane step was to throw myself at the feet of the
"King: King said, 'Are you content with me? You see I
"' have kept my word! ' I took my Brother by the hand; and
"entreated the King to restore him his friendship. This scene
"was so touching, it drew tears from the eyes of everybody.
"I then approached the Queen. She was obliged to embrace
"me, the King being close opposite; but I remarked that her
"joy was only affected. " -- Why then, 0 Princess? Guess,
if you can, the female humours of her Majesty! --
"I turned to my Brother again; I gave him a thousand
"caresses, and said the tenderest things to him: to all which
"he remained cold as ice, and answered only in monosyllables.
"I presented the Prince (my Husband); to whom he did hot
"say one word. I was astonished at this fashion of procedure!
"But I laid the blame of it on the King, who was observing
"us, and who I judged might be intimidating my Brother.
"But even his countenance surprised me: he wore a proud air,
"and seemed to look down on everybody. "
A much-changed Crown-Prince. What can be the meaning
of it? Neither King nor he appeared at supper: they were
supping elsewhere, with a select circle; and the whisper ran
among us, His Majesty was treating him with great friend-
liness. At which the Queen, contrary to hope, could not
conceal her secret pique. "In fact," says Wilhelmina, again
too hard on Mamma, "she did not love her children except
"as they served her ambitious views. " The fact that it was I,
and not she, who had achieved the Prince's deliverance, was
painful to her Majesty: alas, yes, in some degree!
"Ball having recommenced, Grumkow whispered to me,
"'That the King was pleased with my frank kind ways to my
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? cHap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 203
24th Nov. 1731.
'"Brother; and not pleased with my Brother's cold way of
"'returning it: Does he simulate, and mean still to deceive
"'me? Or is that all the thanks he has for Wilhelmina? "'thinks his Majesty. Go on with your sincerity, Madam;
"'and for God's sake admonish the Crown-Prince to avoid
"' finessing! ' Crown-Prince, when I did, in some interval of
"the dance, report this ofGrumkow, and say, Why so changed
"and cold, then, Brother of my heart? answered, That he
"was still the same; and that he had his reasons for what he
"did. " Wilhelmina continues; and cannot understand her
Crown-Prince at all:
"Next morning, by the King's order, he paid me a visit.
"The Prince," my Husband, "was polite enough to with-
draw, and left me and Sonsfeld alone with him. He gave
"me a recital of his misfortunes; I communicated mine to
"him,"--and howlhad at last bargained to get him free again
by my compliance. "He appeared much discountenanced at
"this last part of my narrative. He returned thanks for the
"obligations I had laid on him, -- with some caressings,
"which evidently did not proceed from the heart. To break
"this conversation, he started some indifferent topic; and,
"under pretence of seeing my Apartment, moved into the
"next room, where the Prince my Husband was. Him he ran
"over with his eyes from head to foot, for some time; then,
"after some constrained civilities to him, went his way. "
What to make of all this? "Madam Sonsfeld shrugged her
"shoulders;" no end of Madam Sonsfeld's astonishment at
such a Crown-Prince.
Alas, yes, poor Wilhelmina; a Crown-Prince got
into terrible cognisance of facts since we last met him!
Perhaps already sees, not only what a Height of place
is cut out for him in this world, but also in a dim way
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? 204 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [BOOK VIH.
24th Nov. 1731.
what a solitude of soul, if he will maintain his height?
Top of the frozen Schreckhorn; -- have you well con-
sidered such a position! And even the way thither is
dangerous, is terrible in this case. Be not too hard
upon your Crown-Prince. For it is certain he loves
you to the last!
Captain Dickens, who alone of all the Excellencies
was not at the Wedding, -- and never had believed it
would be a wedding, but only a rumour to bring Eng-
land round, -- duly chronicles this happy reappear-
ance of the Prince-Royal: "about six, yesterday even-
"ing, as the company was dancing, -- to the great joy
"and surprise of the whole Court;" -- and adds: "This
"morning the Prince came to the public Parade; where
"crowds of people of all ranks flocked to see his Royal
"Highness, and gave the most open demonstrations of
"pleasure. " *
Wilhelmina, these noisy tumults, not all of them
delightful, once done, gets out of the perplexed hurly-
burly, home towards still Baireuth, shortly after New-
year. ** "Berlin was become as odious to me as it had
"once been dear. I flattered myself that, renouncing
"grandeurs, I might lead a soft and tranquil life in my
"new Home, and begin a happier year than the one
"that had just ended. " Mamma was still perverse;
but on the edge of departure Wilhelmina contrived to
get a word of her Father, and privately open her
heart to him. Poor Father, after all that has come
and gone:
? Despatch, 24th Nov. 1731. ? ? 11th Jan. 1732 (Wilhelmina, li. 2).
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? cHap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 205
26th Nov. 1731.
"My discourse produced its effect; he melted into tears,
"couldnot answer me for sobs; he explained his thoughts by
"his embracings of me. Making an effort, at length, he
"said: 'I am in despair that I did not know thee. They had
"'told me such horrible tales, I hated thee as much as I now
"'love thee.
If I had addressed myself direct to thee, I
"' should have escaped much trouble, and thou too. But they
"'hindered me from speaking; said thou wert ill-natured as
'"the Devil, and wouldst drive to extremities I wanted to
"'avoid. Thy Mother, by her intriguings, is in part the
"' cause of the misfortunes of the family; I have been deceived
"'and duped on every side. But my hands are tied; and
'"though my heart is torn in pieces, I must leave these ini-
"'quities unpunished! '" -- The Queen's intentions were al-
ways good, urged Wilhelmina. "Letus not enter into that
"detail," answered he: "what is past is past; I will try to
"forget it;" and assured Wilhelmina that she was the dearest
to him of the family, and that he would do great things
for her still, -- only part of which came to effect in the
sequel. "I am too sad of heart to take leave of you," con-
cluded he: "embrace your Husband on my part; I am so
"overcome that I must not see him. "* And so they rolled
away.
Crown-Prince was back to^Ciistrin again many
weeks before. Back to Custrin; but under totally
changed omens: his history, after that first emergence
in Wilhelmina's dance, "23d November about six p. m. ,"
and appearance at Parade on the morrow (Saturday
morning), had been as follows. Monday November
26th, there was again grand Ball, and the Prince there,
? Wilhelmina, ii. *; who dates, 11th January 1732.
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? 206 CROWN-PRINCE RETRIEVED. [book TCI*,
29th Feb- 1732.
not in gray this time. Next day, the Old Dessauer
and all the higher Officers in Berlin petitioned, "Let
us have him in the Army again, your Majesty! "
Majesty consented: and so, Friday 30th, there was
grand dinner at Seckendorfs, Crown-Prince there, in
soldier's uniform again; a completely pardoned youth.
His uniform is of the Goltz Regiment, Infantry: Goltz
Eegiment, which lies at Ruppin, -- at and about, in
that moory Country to the Northeast, some thirty or
forty miles from Berlin; -- whither his destination
now is.
Crown-Prince had to resume his Kammer work at
Ciistrin, and see the Buildings at Carzig, for a three
months longer, till some arrangements in the Regiment
Goltz were perfected, and finishing improvements given
to it. But "on the last day of February" (29th, 1732
being leap-year), his Royal Highness1 s Commission to
be Colonel Commandant of said Regiment is made out;
and he proceeds, in discharge of the same, to Ruppin,
where his men lie. And so puts off the pike-gray coat,
and puts on the military blue one,* -- never to quit
it again, as turned out.
Ruppin is a little Town, in that northwest Fehr-
bellin region: Regiment Goltz had lain in detached
quarters hitherto; but is now to lie at Ruppin, the first
Battalion of it there, and the rest within reach. Here,
in Ruppin itself, or ultimately at Reinsberg in the
neighbourhood, was Friedrich's abode, for the next
? Preosa, i. 69.
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? chap, vi. ] wilhelmina's wedding. 207
1732.
eight years. Habitual residence; with transient ex-
cursions, chiefly to Berlin in Carnival time, or on other
great occasions, and always strictly on leave; his
employment being that of Colonel of Foot, a thing
requiring continual vigilance and industry in that
Country. Least of all to be neglected, in any point,
by one in his circumstances. He did his military
duties to a perfection satisfactory even to Papa; and
achieved on his own score many other duties and im-
provements, for which Papa had less value. These
eight years, it is always understood, were among the
most important of his life to him.
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? BOOK IX.
LAST STAGE OF FRIEDRICH'S APPRENTICESHIP:
LIFE IN RUPPIN.
1732-1736.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV.
14
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? Feb. 1732.
CHAPTER L
PRINCESS ELIZABETH CHRISTINA OF BRUNSWICK-BEVERN.
We described the Crown-Prince as intent to comply,
especially in all visible external particulars, with
Papa's will and pleasure; -- to distinguish himself by
real excellence in Commandantship of the Regiment
Goltz, first of alL But before ever getting into that,
there has another point risen, on which obedience,
equally essential, may be still more difficult.
Ever since the grand Catastrophe went off without
taking Friedrich's head along with it, and there began
to be hopes of a pacific settlement, question has been,
Whom shall the Crown-Prince marry? And the
debates about it in the royal breast and in Tobacco-
Parliament, and rumours about it in the world at large,
have been manifold and continual. In the Schulenburg
Letters we saw the Crown-Prince himself, much inter-
ested, and eagerly inquisitive on that head. As was
natural: but it is not in the Crown-Prince's mind, it is
in the Tobacco-Parliament, and the royal breast as
influenced there, that the thing must be decided. Who
in the world will it be, then?
Crown-Prince himself hears now of this party, now
of that. England is quite over, and the Princess
Amelia sunk below the horizon. Friedrich himself
appears a little piqued that Hotham carried his nose so
14*
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? 212 friedrich's apprenticeship, LAST STAGE, [book it.
Fob. 1732.
high; that the English would not, in those life-and-
death circumstances, abate the least from their "Both
marriages or none," -- thinks they should have saved
Wilhelmina, and taken his word of honor for the rest. England is now out of his head; -- all romance is too
sorrowfully swept out: and instead of the "sacred air
cities of hope" in this high section of his history, the
young man is looking into the "mean clay hamlets of
reality," with an eye well recognising them for real.
With an eye and heart already tempered to the due
hardness for them. Not a fortunate result, though it
was an inevitable one. We saw him flirting with the
beautiful wedded Wreech; talking to Lieutenant-General
Schulenburg about marriage, in a way which shook the
pipeclay of that virtuous man. He knows he would
not get his choice, if he had one; strives not to care. Nor does he, in fact, much care; the romance being all
out of it. He looks mainly to outward advantages: to
personal appearance, temper, good manners; to
"religious principle," sometimes rather in the reverse
way (fearing an overplus rather); -- but always to
likelihood of moneys by the match, as a very direct
item. Ready command of money, he feels, will be
extremely desirable in a Wife; desirable and almost
indispensable, in present straitened circumstances. These
are the notions of this ill-situated Coelebs.
The parties proposed first and last, and rumoured
of in Newspapers and the idle brains of men, have been
very many, -- no limit to their numbers; it may be
anybody: an intending purchaser, though but possessed
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? OHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRCNSWICK-BEVERK. 213
Feb. 1732.
of sixpence, is in a sense proprietor of the whole Fair!
Through Schulenburg we heard his own account of them, last Autumn; -- but the far noblest of the lot
was hardly glanced at, or not at all, on that occasion.
The Kaiser's eldest Daughter, sole heiress of Austria
and these vast Pragmatic-Sanction operations; Arch-
duchess Maria Theresa herself, -- it is affirmed to have
been Prince Eugene's often-expressed wish, That the
Crown-Prince of Prussia should wed the future Empress. *
Which would indeed have saved immense confusions
to mankind! Nay she alone of Princesses, beautiful,
magnanimous, brave, was the mate for such a Prince,
-- had the Good Fairies been consulted, which seldom
happens: -- and Romance itself might have become
Reality in that case; with high results to the very soul
of this young Prince! Wishes are free: and wise Eugene
will have been heard, perhaps often, to express this wish;
but that must have been all. Alas, the preliminaries,
political, especially religious, are at once indispensable
and impossible: we have to dismiss that day-dream. A
Papal-Protestant controversy still exists among man-
kind; and this is one penalty they pay for not having
settled it sooner. The Imperial Court cannot afford
its Archduchess on the terms possible in that quarter.
What the Imperial Court can do is, to recommend
a Niece of theirs, insignificant young Princess, Elizabeth
Christina of Brunswick-Bevern, who is Niece to the
? Hormayr: AWjemeine Geschichte der neuesten Zeit (Wien, 1817),
L 18; cited in Preuss, i. 71.
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? 214 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book is.
Feb. 1732.
Empress; and may be made useful, in this way, to
herself and us, think the Imperial Majesties; -- will be
a new tie upon the Prussians and the Pragmatic
Sanction, and keep the Alliance still surer for our
Archduchess in times coming, think their Majesties.
She, it is insinuated by Seckendorf in Tobacco-Parlia-
ment; ought not she / Daughter of your Majesty's
esteemed friend, -- modest-minded, innocent young
Princess, with a Brother already betrothed in your
Majesty's House, -- to be the Lady? It is probable
she will.
Did we inform the reader once about Kaiser Karl's
young marriage adventures; and may we, to remind
him, mention them a second time? How Imperial
Majesty, some five-and-twenty years ago, then only
King of Spain, asked Princess Caroline of Anspach,
who was very poor, and an orphan in the world. Who
at once refused, declining to think of changing her
religion on such a score; -- and now governs England,
telegraphing with Walpole, as Queen there instead.
How Karl, now Imperial Majesty, then King of Spain,
next applied to Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel; and met with
a much better reception there. Applied to old Anton
Ulrich, reigning Duke, who writes big Novels, and does
other foolish goodnatured things; -- who persuaded
his Granddaughter that a change to Catholicism was
nothing in such a case, that he himself should not care
in the least to change. How the Granddaughter
changed accordingly, went to Barcelona, and was
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BE VEEN. . 215
Feb. 1732.
wedded; -- and bad to dun old Grand-Papa, "Why
don't you change, then! " Who did change thereupon;
thinking to himself, "Plague on it, I must then! " the
foolish old Herr. He is dead; and his Novels, in six
volumes quarto, are all dead: and the Granddaughter
is Kaiserinn, on those terms, a serene monotonous well-
favoured Lady, diligent in her Catholic exercises; of
whom I never heard any evil, good rather, in her
eminent serene position. Pity perhaps that she had
recommended her Niece for this young Prussian gentle-
man; whom it by no means did "attach to the Family"
so very careful about him at Vienna! But if there lay
a sin, and a punishment following on it, here or else-
where, in her Imperial position, surely it is to be
charged on foolish old Anton Ulrich; not on her,
poor Lady, who had never coveted such height, nor
durst for her soul take the leap thitherward, till the
serene old literary gentleman showed her how easy it
was.
Well, old Anton Ulrich is long since dead,* and
his religious accounts are all settled beyond cavil; and
only the sad duty devolves on me of explaining a little
what and who his rather insipid offspring are, so far as
related to readers of this History. Anton Ulrich left
two sons; the elder of whom was Duke, and the
younger had an Apanage, Blankenburg by name. Only
this younger had children, -- serene Kaiserinn that
now is, one of them. The elder died childless,** pre-
? 1714, age 70. HUbner, t. 180. ** 1731, Michaelis, i. 132.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijm Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust.
