Well; if
"such a day never come again, then I perceive much
"else will never come.
"such a day never come again, then I perceive much
"else will never come.
Thomas Carlyle
's time.
Amongst the round of splendours now set on foot,
Friedrich Wilhelm had, by accident of Nature, the
spectacle of a house on fire, -- rather a symbolic one
in those parts, -- afforded him, almost to start with.
Deep in the first Saturday night, or rather about two
in the morning of Sunday, Wackerbart's grand house,
kindling by negligence somewhere in the garrets, blazed
up, irrepressible; and, with its endless upholsteries,
with a fine library even, went all into flame: so that
"his Majesty, scarcely saving his chatoulle (box of pre-
ciosities), had to hurry-out in undress;" -- over to
Flemming's where his Son was; where they both con-
tinued thenceforth. This was the one touch of rough,
amid so much of dulcet that occurred: no evil, this
touch, almost rather otherwise, except to poor Wacker-
bart, whose fine House lay wrecked by it.
The visit lasted till February 12th, four weeks and
a day. Never were such thrice-magnificent Carnival
amusements: illuminations, cannon salvoings and fire-
works; operas, comedies, redoubts, sow-baitings, fox-
and-badger baiting, reviewing, running at the ring: --
7*
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? 100 DOUBLE-MATiRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book VI.
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
dinners of never-imagined quality, this, as a daily item,
needs no express mention.
To the young Soldier-Apprentice all this was, of
course, in pleasant contrast with the Potsdam Guard-
house; and Friedrich Wilhelm himself is understood to
have liked at least the dinners, and the airy courteous
ways, light table-wit and extreme good humour of the
host. A successful visit; burns off like successful fire-
works, piece after piece: and what more is to be said?
Of all this nothing; -- nor, if we could help it, of
another little circumstance, not mentioned by the News-
papers or Fassmann, which constitutes the meaning of
this Visit for us now. It is a matter difficult to handle
in speech. An English Editor, chary of such topics,
will let two witnesses speak, credible both, though not
eyewitnesses; and leave it to the reader so. Babbling
Pollnitz is the first witness; he deposes, after alluding
to the sumptuous dinings and drinkings there:
"One day the two Kings, after dinner, went in domino to
"the redoubt" (ridotto, what we now call rout or evening-
party). "August had a mind to take an opportunity, and try
"whether the reports of Friedrich Wilhelm's indifference to
"the fair sex were correct or not. To this end, he had had a
"young damsel (Junge Person) of extraordinary beauty intro-
"duced into some side-room; where they now entered. She
"was lying on a bed, in a loose gauzy undress; and though
"masked, showed so many charms to the eye that the imagi-
nation could not but judge very favourably oftherest. The
"King of Poland approached, in that gallant way of his,
"which had gained him such favour with women. He begged
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? CHAT. II1. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 101
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
"her to unmask; she at first affected reluctance, and would
"not. He then told her who he was; and said, He hoped she
"would not refuse, when two Kings begged her to show them
"this complaisance. She thereupon took off her mask, and
"showed them one of the loveliest faces in the world. August
"seemed quite enchanted; and said, as if it had been the first
"time he ever saw her, He could not comprehend how so
"bewitching a beauty had hitherto remained unknown to
"him.
"Friedrich Wilhelm could not help looking at her. He
"said to the King of Poland, 'She is very beautiful, it must
''be owned;' -- but at the same instant, turned his eyes away
"from her; and left the room, and the ridotto altogether
"without delay; went home, and shut himself in his room.
"He then sent for Herr von Grumkow, and bitterly com-
"plained that the King of Poland wanted to tempt him. Herr
"von Grumkow, who was neither so chaste nor so conscien-
"tious as the King, was for making a jest of the matter; but
"the King took a very serious tone; and commanded him to
''tell the King of Poland in his name, 'That he begged him
"very much not to expose him again to accidents of that
"nature, unless he wished to have him quit Dresden at once. '
"Herr von Grumkow did his message. The King of Poland
"laughed heartily at it; went straight to Friedrich Wilhelm,
"and excused himself. The King of Prussia, however, kept
"his grim look; so that August ceased joking, and turned the
"dialogue on some other subject. " *
This is Pollnitz's testimony, gathered from the whis-
pers of the Tabagie, or rumours in the Court-circles,
and may be taken as indisputable in the main. Wil-
helmina, deriving from similar sources, and equally un-
* Pollnitz, ii. 256.
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? 102 DOUBLE-MAURIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT. [l! OOK Vt.
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
certain in details, paints more artistically; nor has she
forgotten the sequel for her Brother, which at present
is the essential circumstance;
"One evening, when the rites of Bacchus had been well
"attended to, the King of Poland led the King" (my Father),
"strolling about, by degrees, into a room very richly orna- "mented, all the furniture and arrangements of which were in
"a quite exquisite taste. The King, charmed with what he
"saw, paused to contemplate the beauties of it a little; when,
"all on a sudden, a curtain rose, and displayed to him one of
"the most extraordinary sights. It was a girl in the condition
"of our First Parents, carelessly lying on a bed. This crea-
"ture was more beautiful than they paint Venus and the
"Graces; she presented to view a form of ivory whiter than
"snow, and more gracefully shaped than the Venus de'Medici
"at Florence. The cabinet which contained this treasure
"was lighted by so many wax-candles that their brilliancy
"dazzled you, and gave a new splendour to the beauties of
"the goddess.
"The Authors of this fine comedy did not doubt but the
"object would make an impression on the King's heart; but
"it was quite otherwise. No sooner had he cast his eyes on
"the beauty than he whirled round with indignation; and
"seeing my Brother behind him, he pushed him roughly out
"of the room, and immediately quitted it himself; very angry
"at the scene they had been giving him. He spoke of it, that
"same evening, to Grumkow, in very strong terms; andde-
clared with emphasis that if the like frolics were tried on
"him again, he would at once quit Dresden.
"With my Brother it was otherwise. In spite of the King's
"care, he had got a full view of that Cabinet Venus; and the
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 103
Jan. -Fcb. 1728.
"sight of her did not inspire in him so much horror as in his
"Father. "*-- Very likely not! -- And in fact, "heobtained
4'her from the King of Poland, in a rather singular way (d'nne
fafnn assez singuliere)," -- describable, in condensed terms, as
follows:
Wilhelmina says, her poor Brother had been al-
ready charmed over head and ears by a gay young
baggage of a Countess Orzelska; a very high and airy
Countess there; whose history is not to be touched, ex-
cept upon compulsion, and as if with a pair of tongs,
-- thrice-famous as she once was in this Saxon Court
of Beelzebub. She was King August's natural daughter;
a French milliner in Warsaw had produced her for him
there. In due time, a male of the three-hundred and
fifty-four, one Rutowski, soldier by profession, whom
we shall again hear of, took her for mistress; regard-
less of natural half-sisterhood, which perhaps he did
not know of. The admiring Rutowski, being of a
participative turn, introduced her, after a while, to his
honoured parent and hers; by whom next -- Heavens,
human language is unequal to the history of such
things! And it is in this capacity she now shines su-
preme in the Saxon Court; ogling poor young Fritz,
and driving him distracted; -- which phenomenon the
Beelzebub Parent-Lover noticed with pain and jealousy,
it would appear.
"His Polish Majesty distinguished her extremely,"
says Pollnitz,** "and was continually visiting her; so
"that the universal inference was" -- to the above un-
* Wilhelmina, i. 113.
** Ucmoiren, II. 261.
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? 104 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
Jao. -Feb. 1728.
speakable effect. "She was of fine figure; had some-
"thing grand in her air and carriage, and the prettiest
"humour in the world. She often appeared in men's
"clothes, which became her very well. People said,
"she was extremely openhanded;" as indeed the Beelze-
bub Parent-Lover was of the like quality (when he
had cash about him), and to her, at this time, he was profuse beyond limit. Truly a tempting aspect of
the Devil, this expensive Orzelska: something beautiful
in her, if there are no Laws in this Universe; not so
beautiful, if there are! Enough to turn the head of
poor Crown-Prince, if she like, for some time. He
is just sixteen gone; one of the prettiest lads and
sprightliest; his homage, clearly enough, is not dis-
agreeable to the baggage. Wherefore jealous August,
the Beelzebub-Parent, takes his measures; signifies to
Fritz, in direct terms, or by discreet diplomatic hints
and innuendos, That he can have the Cabinet Venus
(Formera her name, of Opera-singer kind); -- ho-
ping thereby that the Orzelska will be left alone in
time coming. A "faqon assez singuliere" for a So-
vereign Majesty and Beelzebub Parent-Lover, thinks
Wilhelmina.
Thus has our poor Fritz fallen into the wake of
Beelzebub; and is not in a good way. Under such
and no better guidance, in this illicit premature man-
ner, he gets his introduction to the paradise of the
world. The Formera, beautiful as painted Chaos;
yes, her; -- and why not, after a while, the Orzelska
too, all the same? A wonderful Armida-Garden, sure
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? CHAP, m. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 105
J,in. -Fob. 1728.
enough. And cannot one adore the painted divine
beauties there (lovely as certain Apples of the Dead
Sea), for some time? -- The miseries all this brought
into his existence, -- into his relations with a Father
very rigorous in principle, and with a Universe still
more so, -- for years to come, were neither few nor
small. And that is the main outcome of the Dresden
visitings for him and us. --
Great pledges pass between the two Kings; Prussian
Crown-Prince decorated with the Order of the Saxon
Eagle, or what supreme distinction they had; Rutowski taken over to Berlin to learn war and drill, where he
did not remain long: in fact a certain liking seems to
have risen between the two heteroclite individualities,
which is perhaps worth remembering as a point in
natural-history, if not otherwise. One other small re-
sult of the visit is of pictorial nature. In the famed
Dresden Gallery there is still a Picture, high up,
visible if you have glasses, where the Saxon Court-
Painter, on Friedrich Wilhelm's bidding it is said,
soon after these auspicious occurrences, represents the
two Majesties as large as life, in their respective cos-
tumes and features (short Potsdam Grenadier-Colonel,
and tall Saxon Darius or Sardanapalus), in the act
of shaking hands; symbolically burying past grudges,
and swearing eternal friendship, so to speak. * To
this Editor the Picture did not seem good for much;
but Friedrich Wilhelm's Portrait in it, none of the
* FSrstcr, i. 226.
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? 106 DOUBLE -MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
1728.
best, may be of use to travelling friends of his who
have no other.
The visit ended on the 12th of February, as the
Newspapers testify. Long before daybreak, at three
in the morning, Friedrich Wilhelm, "who had smoked
after dinner till nine the night before," and taken
leave of everybody, was on the road; but was astonished
to find King August and the Electoral Prince or Heir-
Apparent (who had privately sat up for the purpose)
insist on conducting him to his carriage. * "Great
tokens of affection," known to the Newspapers, there
were; and one token not yet known, a promise on King
August's part that he would return this ever-memorable
compliment in person at Potsdam and Berlin in a few
months. Remember then! --
As for the poor Crown-Prince, whom already his
Father did not like, he now fell into circumstances
more abstruse than ever in that and other respects.
Bad health, a dangerous lingering fit of that, soon
after his return home, was one of the first conse-
quences. Frequent fits of bad health, for some years
coming; with ominous rumours, consultations of phy-
sicians, and reports to the paternal Majesty, which
produced small comfort in that quarter. The sad truth,
dimly indicated, is sufficiently visible: his life for the
next four or five years was "extremely dissolute. " Poor
young man, he has got into a disastrous course; con-
sorts chiefly with debauched young fellows, as Lieute-
* Boycr, xxxv. 199.
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? ciiAp. m. ]
107
VISIT TO DRESDEN.
J72<f.
nauts Katte, Keith, and others of their stamp, who lead
him on ways not pleasant to his Father, nor conformable to the Laws of this Universe. Health, either of
body or of mind, is not to be looked for in his present
way of life. The bright young soul, with its fine
strengths and gifts; wallowing like a young rhinoceros in
the mud-bath: -- some say, it is wholesome for a hu-
man soul; not we!
All this is too certain; rising to its height in the
years we are now got to, and not ending for four or
five years to come: and the reader can conceive all
this, and whether its effects were good or not . Fried-
rich Wilhelm's old-standing disfavour is converted into
open aversion and protest, many times into fits of sor-
row, rage and despair, on his luckless Son's behalf; --
and it appears doubtful whether this bright young hu-
man soul, comparable for the present to a rhinoceros
wallowing in the mud-bath, with nothing but its snout
visible, and a dirty gurgle all the sound it makes, will
ever get out again or not.
The rhinoceros soul got out; but not uninjured;
alas, no, bitterly polluted, tragically dimmed of its
finest radiances for the remainder of life. The distin-
guished Sauerteig, in his Spring- Wurzeln, has these
words: "To burn away, in mad waste, the divine
"aromas and plainly celestial elements from our exis-
"tence; to change our holy-of-holies into a place of
"riot; to make the soul itself hard, impious, barren!
"Surely a day is coming, when it will be known
"again what virtue is in purity and continence of life;
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? 108 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
1728.
"how divine is the blush of young human cheeks;
"how high, beneficent, sternly inexorable if forgotten,
"is the duty laid, not on women only, but on every
"creature, in regard to these particulars?
Well; if
"such a day never come again, then I perceive much
"else will never come. Magnanimity and depth of
"insight will never come; heroic purity of heart and
"of eye; noble pious valour, to amend us and the
"age of bronze and lacker, how can they ever come?
"The scandalous bronze-lacker age, of hungry anima-
"lisms, spiritual impotencies and mendacities, will have
"to run its course, till the Pit swallow it. " --
In the case of Friedrich, it is certain such a day
never fully came. The "age of bronze and lacker,"
so as it then stood, -- relieved truly by a backbone of
real Spartan iron (of right battle steel when needed):
this was all the world he ever got to dream of. His
ideal, compared to that of some, was but low; his
existence a hard and barren, though a genuine one,
and only worth much memory in the absence of better. Enough of all that
.
The Physically Strong pays his Counter-Visit.
August the Strong paid his Return-visit in May
following. Of which sublime transaction, stupendous
as it then was to the Journalistic mind, we should
now make no mention, except for its connexion with
those points, -- and more especially for a foolish ru-
mour, which now rose about Prince Fred and the
Double-Marriage, on occasion of it. The magnificence
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? CHAP. III. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 109
May 172S.
of this visit and reception being so extreme, --
King August, for one item, sailing to it, with sound
of trumpet and hautbois, in silken flotillas gayer than
Cleopatra's, down the Elbe, -- there was a rush
towards Berlin of what we will not call the scum,
but must call the foam of mankind, rush of the idle
moneyed populations from all countries; and such a
crowd there, for the three weeks, as was seldom seen.
Foam everywhere is stirred up, and encouraged to get
under way.
Prince Frederick of Hanover and England, "Duke
of Edinburgh" as they now call him, "Duke of Glou-
cester" no longer, it would seem, nor "Prince of
Wales" as yet; he, foamy as another, had thoughts of
coming; and rumour of him rose very high in Berlin,
-- how high we have still singular proof. Here is
a myth, generated in the busy Court-Imagination of
Berlin at this time; written down by Pollnitz as plain
fact afterwards; and from him idly copied into Coxe*
and other English Books. We abridge from watery
Pollnitz, taking care of any sense he has. This is what
ran in certain high-frizzled heads then and there; and
was dealt-out in whispers to a privileged few, watery
Pollnitz's informers among them, till they got a myth
made of it. Frederick Duke of Edinburgh, second
hope of England at this time, he is the hero.
It appears, this loose young gentleman, standing
in no favour with his sovereign Father, had never yet
been across to England, the royal Parent preferring
<< Coxc's Walpole (London, 1798), i. 520.
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? 110 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT. [bOOKTT.
May 1728.
rather not to have him in sight; and was living idle
at Hanover; very eager to be wedded to Wilhelmina,
as one grand and at present grandest resource of his
existence. It is now May 1728; and Frederick Duke
of Edinburgh is twenty-one. He writes to his Aunt
and intended Mother-in-law, Queen Sophie (date not
ascertainable to a day, Note burnt as soon as read):
"That he can endure this tantalising suspense no longer;
such endless higgling about a supreme blessedness, virtu-
ally agreed upon, may be sport to others, but is death
to him. That he will come privately at once, and
wed his Wilhelmina; and so make an end; the bigwigs
to adjust it afterwards as they can and may. " Where-
upon Sophie Dorothee, gladdest of women, sends for
Dubourgay the British Ambassador (Brigadier Dubour-
gay, the respectable old gentleman who spells ill, who
is strong for the Double-Marriage always), to tell
him what fine news there is, and what answer she
has sent. Respectable Dubourgay stands silent, with
lengthening face: "Your Majesty, how unfortunate that
I of all men now hear it! I must instantly despatch a
courier with the news to London! " And the respect-
able man, stoically deaf to her Majesty's entreaties, to
all considerations but that of his evident duty, sends
the courier; -- nips thereby that fine Hanover specu-
lation in the bud, sees Prince Fred at once summoned
over to England, and produces several effects. Nearly
the whole of which, on examining the Documents,*
proves to be myth.
* Dubourgay's Despatches, in the State-Paper Office.
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. Ill
1728.
Pollnitz himself adds two circumstances, in regard
to it, which are pretty impossible: as, first, that Fried-
rich Wilhelm had joyfully consented to this clandestine
marriage, and was eagerly waiting for it; second, that
George II. , too, had privately favoured or even in-
stigated the adventure, being at heart willing to escape
the trouble of Messages to Parliament, to put his Son
in the wrong, and I know not what. * The particles
of fact in the affair are likewise two: First, that Queen
Sophie, and from her the Courtier Public generally,
expected the Hanover Royal Highness, who probably
had real thoughts of seeing Berlin and his Intended, on
this occasion; Dubourgay reports daily rumours of the
Royal Highness being actually "seen" there in an
evanescent manner; and Wilhelmina says, her Mother
was so certain of him, "she took every ass or mule for
the Royal Highness," -- heartily indifferent to Wilhelmina. This is the first particle of fact. The Second
is, that a subaltern Official about the Royal Highness,
one Lamothe of Hanover, who had appeared in Berlin
about that time, was thrown into prison not long after,
for what misbehaviour none knew, -- for encouraging
dissolute Royal Highness in wild schemes, it was guessed.
And so the Myth grew, and was found ready for Pollnitz
and his followers. Royal Highness did come over to
England; not then as the Myth bears, but nine months
afterwards in December next; and found other means
of irritating his imperative, flighty, irascible and rather
foolish little Father, in an ever-increasing degree.
* Pollnitz, 11. 272-274.
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? 112 D0UB1E-MAEE1AGE PROJECT GOINfi ADR1FF. [book vI.
ma.
"Very coldly received at Court," it is said: ill-seen by
Walpole and the Powers; being too likely to become a
focus of Opposition there.
The Visit, meanwhile, though there came no Duke of Edinburgh to see it, was sublime in the extreme;
Polish Majesty being magnificence itself; and the frugal
Friedrich Wilhelm lighting-up his dim Court into in-
surpassable brilliancy, regardless of expense; so that
even the Smoking Parliament (where August attended
now and then) became luminous. The Crown-Prince,
who in late months had languished in a state of miser-
able health, in a manner ominous to his physicians,
confined mostly to his room or his bed, was now hap-
pily on foot again; -- and Wilhelmina notes one cir-
cumstance which much contributed to his recovery:
That the fairOrzelska had attended her natural (or un-
natural) Parent, on this occasion; and seemed to be, as
Wilhelmina thinks, uncommonly kind to the Crown-
Prince. The Heir-Apparent of Saxony, a taciturn, in-
offensive, rather opaque-looking gentleman, now turned
of thirty, and gone over to Papistry long since, with
views to be King of Poland by and by, which proved
effectual as we shall find, was also here: Count Briihl,
too, still in a very subaltern capacity, and others whom
we and the Crown-Prince shall have to know. The
Heir-Apparent's Wife (actual Kaiser's Niece, late Kaiser
Joseph's Daughter, a severe Austrian lady, haughtier
than lovely) has staid at home in Dresden.
But here, at first hand, is a slight view of that unique
Polish Majesty, the Saxon Man of Sin; which the
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 113
29th May 1728.
reader may be pleased to accept out of idle curiosity,
if for no better reason. We abridge from Wilhelmina;*
whom Fassmann, kindled to triple accuracy by this
grand business, is at hand to correct where needful:**
"The King of Poland arrived upon us at Berlin on the
29th of May," says Wilhelmina; had been at Potsdam,
under Friedrich Wilhelm's care, for three days past:
Saturday afternoon, 29th May 1728; that is with exac-
titude the ever-memorable date
He paid his respects in her Majesty's apartment, for
an instant, that evening; but made his formal visit next
day. Very grand indeed. Carried by two shining par-
ticoloured creatures, heyducs so-called, through double
rows of mere peerages and sublimities, in a sublime sedan
(being lame of a foot, foot lately amputated of two toes,
sore still open): "in a sedan covered with red velvet
galooned with gold," says the devout Fassmann, tremblingly exact, "up the grand staircase along the grand
Gallery;" in which supreme region (Apartments of the
late King Friedrich of gorgeous memory) her Majesty
now is for the occasion. "The Queen received him at
* i. 124.
** Des glorwurdigsten Furslen und llerrn, llcrrn Friedricli Augnsti des
Grossen Leben und Helden-Thaten (Of that most glorious Prince and Lord,
Lord Friedrich August the Great, King of Poland, &c, the Life and Hcroio
Deeds), by D. F. (David Fassmann), Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1734; 12mo.
pp. 1040. A work written with upturned eyes of prostrate admiration for
"hero Majestdt ('Thelro' Majesty) August the Great;" exact too, but
dealing merely with the clothes of the matter, and such a matter: work
unreadable, except on compulsion, to the stupidest mortal. The same
Fassmann, who was at the Fair of St. Germain, who lodged sometimes
with the Potsdam Giant, and whose ways are all fallen dark to us. Carlijle, Frederic the Great. III. 8
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? 114 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
30th May 1728.
the door of her third Antichamber," says Wilhelmina;
third or outmost Antichamber, end of that grand Gallery
and its peerages and shining creatures: "he gave the
Queen his hand, and led her in. " We Princesses were
there, at least the grown ones of us were. All standing,
except the Queen only. "He refused to sit, and again
refused;" stoically talked graciosities, disregarding the
pain of his foot; and did not, till refusal threatened to
become uncivil, comply with her Majesty's entreaties.
"How unpolite! " smiled he to us young ones. "He
"had a majestic port and physiognomy; an affable po-
"lite air accompanied all his movements, all his actions. "
Kind of stereotyped smile on his face; nothing of the
inner gloom visible on our Charles II. and similar men
of sin. He looked often at Wilhelmina, and was com-
plimentary to a degree, -- for reasons undivinable to
Wilhelmina. For the rest, "much broken for his age;"
the terrible debaucheries (les debauches tembles) having
had their effect on him. He has fallen Widower last
year. His poor Wife was a Brandenburg-Baireuth
Princess; a devout kind of woman; austerely witnessing
the irremediable in her lot. He has got far on with his
Three hundred and fifty-four; is now going fifty-five;--
lame of a foot, as we see, which the great Petit of
Paris cannot cure, neither he nor any Surgeon, but can
only alleviate by cutting-off two toes. Pink of politeness,
no doubt of it; but otherwise the strangest dilapidated
hulk of a two-legged animal without feathers; probably,
in fact, the chief Natural Solecism under the Sun at
that epoch; -- extremely complimentary to us Prin-
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? CHAP, m. 1
115
VISIT TO DUESDKN.
1728.
cesses, to me especially. "He quitted her Majesty's
"Apartment after an hour's conversation: she rose to
"reconduct him, but he would by no manner of means
"permit that,"-- and so vanished, carried off doubtless
by the shining creatures again. "The Electoral Prince,"
Heir-Apparent, next made his visit; but he was a dry
subject in comparison, of whom no Princess can say
much. Prince Friedrich will know him better by
and by.
Young Maurice, "Count of Saxony," famed after-
wards as Marechal de Saxe, he also is here with his
Half-Sister Orzelska and the others, in the train of the
paternal Man of Sin; and makes acquaintance with
Friedrich. He is son of the female Konigsmark called
Aurora ("who alone of mortals could make Charles
Twelfth fly his ground"); nephew, therefore, of the
male Konigsmark who was cut down long ago at Hano-
ver, and buried in the fireplace. He resembles his
Father in strength, vivacity, above all things in debau-
chery, and disregard of finance. They married him at
the due years to some poor rich woman; but with her
he has already ended; with her and with many others.
Courland, Adrienne Lecouvreur, Anne Iwanowna with
the big cheek: -- the reader has perhaps searched out
these things for himself from the dull History-Books;
-- or perhaps it is better for him if he never sought
them? Dukedom of Courland, connected with Polish
sovereignty, and now about to fall vacant, was one of
Count Maurice's grand sallies in the world. Adrienne
Lecouvreur, foolish French Actress, lent him all the
8*
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? 116 DOUBLE-MAKIUAGE PROJECT GOING. ADRIFT, [book VI
1728.
30,0001, she had gathered by holding the mirror up to
Nature and otherwise, to prosecute this Courland busi-
ness; which proved impossible for him. He was ad-
venturous enough, audacious enough; fought well; but
the problem was, To fall in love with the Dowager
Anne Iwanowna, Cousin of Czar Peter II. ; big brazen
Russian woman (such a cheek the Pictures give her, in
size and somewhat in expression like a Westphalia
ham! ), who was Widow of the last active Duke: --
and this, with all his adventurous audacity, Count
Maurice could not do. The big Widow discovered that
he did not like Westphalia hams in that particular form;
that he only pretended to like them: upon which, in
just indignation, she disowned and dismissed him; and
falling herself to be Czarina not long afterwards, and
taking Biren the Courlander for her beloved, she made
Biren Duke, and Courland became impossible for Count
Maurice.
However, he too is a dashing young fellow; "cir-
"cular black eyebrows, eyes glittering bright, partly
"with animal vivacity, partly with spiritual;" stands
six feet in his stockings, breaks horse-shoes with his
hands; full of irregular ingenuity and audacity; has been soldiering about, ever since birth almost; and uflr ? 'derstands many a thing, though the worst speller ever
known. With him too young Fritz is much charmed:
the flower, he, of the illegitimate Three hundred and
fifty-four, and probably the chief achievement of the
Saxon Man of Sin in this world, where he took such
trouble. Friedrich and he maintained some occasional
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? CHAP. III. I
117
VISIT TO DKESDEN.
1728.
correspondence afterwards; but, to judge by Friedrich's
part of it (mere polite congratulations on Fontenoy, and
the like), it must have been of the last vacuity; and to
us it is now absolute zero, however clearly spelt and
printed. *
The Physically Strong, in some three weeks, after
kindling such an effulgence about Berlin as was never
seen before or since in Friedrich Wilhelm's reign, went
his way again, -- "towards Poland for the Diet," or
none of us cares whither or for what. Here at Berlin
he has been sublime enough. Some of the phenomena
surpassed anything Wilhelmina ever saw: such floods
and rows of resplendent people crowding-in to dinner;
and she could not but contrast the splendour of the
Polish retinues and their plumages and draperies, with
the strait-buttoned Prussian dignitaries, all in mere
soldier uniform, succinct "blue coat, white linen gaiters,"
and no superfluity even in the epaulettes and red facings.
At table, she says, they drank much, talked little, and
bored one another a great deal ($'ennuyoient beaucoup).
Of Princess Wilhelmina's Four Kings and other
ineffectual Suitors.
Dilapidated Polish Majesty, we observed, was ex-
tremely attentive to Wilhelmina; nor could she ascer-
* Given altogether in (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, xvil. 300-309.
See farther, whoever has curiosity, Preuss, Friedrichs Lebensgeschichte,
iii. 167-169; Espagnac, Vie da Comte dn Saxe (a good little military Boob,
done into German, Leipzig, 1774, 2 vols. ); Cramer, Denkwiirdigkeiten dor
Grdfm Aurora von Rinigsmark (Leipzig, 1836); &c.
Amongst the round of splendours now set on foot,
Friedrich Wilhelm had, by accident of Nature, the
spectacle of a house on fire, -- rather a symbolic one
in those parts, -- afforded him, almost to start with.
Deep in the first Saturday night, or rather about two
in the morning of Sunday, Wackerbart's grand house,
kindling by negligence somewhere in the garrets, blazed
up, irrepressible; and, with its endless upholsteries,
with a fine library even, went all into flame: so that
"his Majesty, scarcely saving his chatoulle (box of pre-
ciosities), had to hurry-out in undress;" -- over to
Flemming's where his Son was; where they both con-
tinued thenceforth. This was the one touch of rough,
amid so much of dulcet that occurred: no evil, this
touch, almost rather otherwise, except to poor Wacker-
bart, whose fine House lay wrecked by it.
The visit lasted till February 12th, four weeks and
a day. Never were such thrice-magnificent Carnival
amusements: illuminations, cannon salvoings and fire-
works; operas, comedies, redoubts, sow-baitings, fox-
and-badger baiting, reviewing, running at the ring: --
7*
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? 100 DOUBLE-MATiRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book VI.
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
dinners of never-imagined quality, this, as a daily item,
needs no express mention.
To the young Soldier-Apprentice all this was, of
course, in pleasant contrast with the Potsdam Guard-
house; and Friedrich Wilhelm himself is understood to
have liked at least the dinners, and the airy courteous
ways, light table-wit and extreme good humour of the
host. A successful visit; burns off like successful fire-
works, piece after piece: and what more is to be said?
Of all this nothing; -- nor, if we could help it, of
another little circumstance, not mentioned by the News-
papers or Fassmann, which constitutes the meaning of
this Visit for us now. It is a matter difficult to handle
in speech. An English Editor, chary of such topics,
will let two witnesses speak, credible both, though not
eyewitnesses; and leave it to the reader so. Babbling
Pollnitz is the first witness; he deposes, after alluding
to the sumptuous dinings and drinkings there:
"One day the two Kings, after dinner, went in domino to
"the redoubt" (ridotto, what we now call rout or evening-
party). "August had a mind to take an opportunity, and try
"whether the reports of Friedrich Wilhelm's indifference to
"the fair sex were correct or not. To this end, he had had a
"young damsel (Junge Person) of extraordinary beauty intro-
"duced into some side-room; where they now entered. She
"was lying on a bed, in a loose gauzy undress; and though
"masked, showed so many charms to the eye that the imagi-
nation could not but judge very favourably oftherest. The
"King of Poland approached, in that gallant way of his,
"which had gained him such favour with women. He begged
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? CHAT. II1. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 101
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
"her to unmask; she at first affected reluctance, and would
"not. He then told her who he was; and said, He hoped she
"would not refuse, when two Kings begged her to show them
"this complaisance. She thereupon took off her mask, and
"showed them one of the loveliest faces in the world. August
"seemed quite enchanted; and said, as if it had been the first
"time he ever saw her, He could not comprehend how so
"bewitching a beauty had hitherto remained unknown to
"him.
"Friedrich Wilhelm could not help looking at her. He
"said to the King of Poland, 'She is very beautiful, it must
''be owned;' -- but at the same instant, turned his eyes away
"from her; and left the room, and the ridotto altogether
"without delay; went home, and shut himself in his room.
"He then sent for Herr von Grumkow, and bitterly com-
"plained that the King of Poland wanted to tempt him. Herr
"von Grumkow, who was neither so chaste nor so conscien-
"tious as the King, was for making a jest of the matter; but
"the King took a very serious tone; and commanded him to
''tell the King of Poland in his name, 'That he begged him
"very much not to expose him again to accidents of that
"nature, unless he wished to have him quit Dresden at once. '
"Herr von Grumkow did his message. The King of Poland
"laughed heartily at it; went straight to Friedrich Wilhelm,
"and excused himself. The King of Prussia, however, kept
"his grim look; so that August ceased joking, and turned the
"dialogue on some other subject. " *
This is Pollnitz's testimony, gathered from the whis-
pers of the Tabagie, or rumours in the Court-circles,
and may be taken as indisputable in the main. Wil-
helmina, deriving from similar sources, and equally un-
* Pollnitz, ii. 256.
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? 102 DOUBLE-MAURIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT. [l! OOK Vt.
Jan. -Feb. 1728.
certain in details, paints more artistically; nor has she
forgotten the sequel for her Brother, which at present
is the essential circumstance;
"One evening, when the rites of Bacchus had been well
"attended to, the King of Poland led the King" (my Father),
"strolling about, by degrees, into a room very richly orna- "mented, all the furniture and arrangements of which were in
"a quite exquisite taste. The King, charmed with what he
"saw, paused to contemplate the beauties of it a little; when,
"all on a sudden, a curtain rose, and displayed to him one of
"the most extraordinary sights. It was a girl in the condition
"of our First Parents, carelessly lying on a bed. This crea-
"ture was more beautiful than they paint Venus and the
"Graces; she presented to view a form of ivory whiter than
"snow, and more gracefully shaped than the Venus de'Medici
"at Florence. The cabinet which contained this treasure
"was lighted by so many wax-candles that their brilliancy
"dazzled you, and gave a new splendour to the beauties of
"the goddess.
"The Authors of this fine comedy did not doubt but the
"object would make an impression on the King's heart; but
"it was quite otherwise. No sooner had he cast his eyes on
"the beauty than he whirled round with indignation; and
"seeing my Brother behind him, he pushed him roughly out
"of the room, and immediately quitted it himself; very angry
"at the scene they had been giving him. He spoke of it, that
"same evening, to Grumkow, in very strong terms; andde-
clared with emphasis that if the like frolics were tried on
"him again, he would at once quit Dresden.
"With my Brother it was otherwise. In spite of the King's
"care, he had got a full view of that Cabinet Venus; and the
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 103
Jan. -Fcb. 1728.
"sight of her did not inspire in him so much horror as in his
"Father. "*-- Very likely not! -- And in fact, "heobtained
4'her from the King of Poland, in a rather singular way (d'nne
fafnn assez singuliere)," -- describable, in condensed terms, as
follows:
Wilhelmina says, her poor Brother had been al-
ready charmed over head and ears by a gay young
baggage of a Countess Orzelska; a very high and airy
Countess there; whose history is not to be touched, ex-
cept upon compulsion, and as if with a pair of tongs,
-- thrice-famous as she once was in this Saxon Court
of Beelzebub. She was King August's natural daughter;
a French milliner in Warsaw had produced her for him
there. In due time, a male of the three-hundred and
fifty-four, one Rutowski, soldier by profession, whom
we shall again hear of, took her for mistress; regard-
less of natural half-sisterhood, which perhaps he did
not know of. The admiring Rutowski, being of a
participative turn, introduced her, after a while, to his
honoured parent and hers; by whom next -- Heavens,
human language is unequal to the history of such
things! And it is in this capacity she now shines su-
preme in the Saxon Court; ogling poor young Fritz,
and driving him distracted; -- which phenomenon the
Beelzebub Parent-Lover noticed with pain and jealousy,
it would appear.
"His Polish Majesty distinguished her extremely,"
says Pollnitz,** "and was continually visiting her; so
"that the universal inference was" -- to the above un-
* Wilhelmina, i. 113.
** Ucmoiren, II. 261.
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? 104 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
Jao. -Feb. 1728.
speakable effect. "She was of fine figure; had some-
"thing grand in her air and carriage, and the prettiest
"humour in the world. She often appeared in men's
"clothes, which became her very well. People said,
"she was extremely openhanded;" as indeed the Beelze-
bub Parent-Lover was of the like quality (when he
had cash about him), and to her, at this time, he was profuse beyond limit. Truly a tempting aspect of
the Devil, this expensive Orzelska: something beautiful
in her, if there are no Laws in this Universe; not so
beautiful, if there are! Enough to turn the head of
poor Crown-Prince, if she like, for some time. He
is just sixteen gone; one of the prettiest lads and
sprightliest; his homage, clearly enough, is not dis-
agreeable to the baggage. Wherefore jealous August,
the Beelzebub-Parent, takes his measures; signifies to
Fritz, in direct terms, or by discreet diplomatic hints
and innuendos, That he can have the Cabinet Venus
(Formera her name, of Opera-singer kind); -- ho-
ping thereby that the Orzelska will be left alone in
time coming. A "faqon assez singuliere" for a So-
vereign Majesty and Beelzebub Parent-Lover, thinks
Wilhelmina.
Thus has our poor Fritz fallen into the wake of
Beelzebub; and is not in a good way. Under such
and no better guidance, in this illicit premature man-
ner, he gets his introduction to the paradise of the
world. The Formera, beautiful as painted Chaos;
yes, her; -- and why not, after a while, the Orzelska
too, all the same? A wonderful Armida-Garden, sure
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? CHAP, m. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 105
J,in. -Fob. 1728.
enough. And cannot one adore the painted divine
beauties there (lovely as certain Apples of the Dead
Sea), for some time? -- The miseries all this brought
into his existence, -- into his relations with a Father
very rigorous in principle, and with a Universe still
more so, -- for years to come, were neither few nor
small. And that is the main outcome of the Dresden
visitings for him and us. --
Great pledges pass between the two Kings; Prussian
Crown-Prince decorated with the Order of the Saxon
Eagle, or what supreme distinction they had; Rutowski taken over to Berlin to learn war and drill, where he
did not remain long: in fact a certain liking seems to
have risen between the two heteroclite individualities,
which is perhaps worth remembering as a point in
natural-history, if not otherwise. One other small re-
sult of the visit is of pictorial nature. In the famed
Dresden Gallery there is still a Picture, high up,
visible if you have glasses, where the Saxon Court-
Painter, on Friedrich Wilhelm's bidding it is said,
soon after these auspicious occurrences, represents the
two Majesties as large as life, in their respective cos-
tumes and features (short Potsdam Grenadier-Colonel,
and tall Saxon Darius or Sardanapalus), in the act
of shaking hands; symbolically burying past grudges,
and swearing eternal friendship, so to speak. * To
this Editor the Picture did not seem good for much;
but Friedrich Wilhelm's Portrait in it, none of the
* FSrstcr, i. 226.
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? 106 DOUBLE -MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
1728.
best, may be of use to travelling friends of his who
have no other.
The visit ended on the 12th of February, as the
Newspapers testify. Long before daybreak, at three
in the morning, Friedrich Wilhelm, "who had smoked
after dinner till nine the night before," and taken
leave of everybody, was on the road; but was astonished
to find King August and the Electoral Prince or Heir-
Apparent (who had privately sat up for the purpose)
insist on conducting him to his carriage. * "Great
tokens of affection," known to the Newspapers, there
were; and one token not yet known, a promise on King
August's part that he would return this ever-memorable
compliment in person at Potsdam and Berlin in a few
months. Remember then! --
As for the poor Crown-Prince, whom already his
Father did not like, he now fell into circumstances
more abstruse than ever in that and other respects.
Bad health, a dangerous lingering fit of that, soon
after his return home, was one of the first conse-
quences. Frequent fits of bad health, for some years
coming; with ominous rumours, consultations of phy-
sicians, and reports to the paternal Majesty, which
produced small comfort in that quarter. The sad truth,
dimly indicated, is sufficiently visible: his life for the
next four or five years was "extremely dissolute. " Poor
young man, he has got into a disastrous course; con-
sorts chiefly with debauched young fellows, as Lieute-
* Boycr, xxxv. 199.
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? ciiAp. m. ]
107
VISIT TO DRESDEN.
J72<f.
nauts Katte, Keith, and others of their stamp, who lead
him on ways not pleasant to his Father, nor conformable to the Laws of this Universe. Health, either of
body or of mind, is not to be looked for in his present
way of life. The bright young soul, with its fine
strengths and gifts; wallowing like a young rhinoceros in
the mud-bath: -- some say, it is wholesome for a hu-
man soul; not we!
All this is too certain; rising to its height in the
years we are now got to, and not ending for four or
five years to come: and the reader can conceive all
this, and whether its effects were good or not . Fried-
rich Wilhelm's old-standing disfavour is converted into
open aversion and protest, many times into fits of sor-
row, rage and despair, on his luckless Son's behalf; --
and it appears doubtful whether this bright young hu-
man soul, comparable for the present to a rhinoceros
wallowing in the mud-bath, with nothing but its snout
visible, and a dirty gurgle all the sound it makes, will
ever get out again or not.
The rhinoceros soul got out; but not uninjured;
alas, no, bitterly polluted, tragically dimmed of its
finest radiances for the remainder of life. The distin-
guished Sauerteig, in his Spring- Wurzeln, has these
words: "To burn away, in mad waste, the divine
"aromas and plainly celestial elements from our exis-
"tence; to change our holy-of-holies into a place of
"riot; to make the soul itself hard, impious, barren!
"Surely a day is coming, when it will be known
"again what virtue is in purity and continence of life;
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? 108 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
1728.
"how divine is the blush of young human cheeks;
"how high, beneficent, sternly inexorable if forgotten,
"is the duty laid, not on women only, but on every
"creature, in regard to these particulars?
Well; if
"such a day never come again, then I perceive much
"else will never come. Magnanimity and depth of
"insight will never come; heroic purity of heart and
"of eye; noble pious valour, to amend us and the
"age of bronze and lacker, how can they ever come?
"The scandalous bronze-lacker age, of hungry anima-
"lisms, spiritual impotencies and mendacities, will have
"to run its course, till the Pit swallow it. " --
In the case of Friedrich, it is certain such a day
never fully came. The "age of bronze and lacker,"
so as it then stood, -- relieved truly by a backbone of
real Spartan iron (of right battle steel when needed):
this was all the world he ever got to dream of. His
ideal, compared to that of some, was but low; his
existence a hard and barren, though a genuine one,
and only worth much memory in the absence of better. Enough of all that
.
The Physically Strong pays his Counter-Visit.
August the Strong paid his Return-visit in May
following. Of which sublime transaction, stupendous
as it then was to the Journalistic mind, we should
now make no mention, except for its connexion with
those points, -- and more especially for a foolish ru-
mour, which now rose about Prince Fred and the
Double-Marriage, on occasion of it. The magnificence
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? CHAP. III. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 109
May 172S.
of this visit and reception being so extreme, --
King August, for one item, sailing to it, with sound
of trumpet and hautbois, in silken flotillas gayer than
Cleopatra's, down the Elbe, -- there was a rush
towards Berlin of what we will not call the scum,
but must call the foam of mankind, rush of the idle
moneyed populations from all countries; and such a
crowd there, for the three weeks, as was seldom seen.
Foam everywhere is stirred up, and encouraged to get
under way.
Prince Frederick of Hanover and England, "Duke
of Edinburgh" as they now call him, "Duke of Glou-
cester" no longer, it would seem, nor "Prince of
Wales" as yet; he, foamy as another, had thoughts of
coming; and rumour of him rose very high in Berlin,
-- how high we have still singular proof. Here is
a myth, generated in the busy Court-Imagination of
Berlin at this time; written down by Pollnitz as plain
fact afterwards; and from him idly copied into Coxe*
and other English Books. We abridge from watery
Pollnitz, taking care of any sense he has. This is what
ran in certain high-frizzled heads then and there; and
was dealt-out in whispers to a privileged few, watery
Pollnitz's informers among them, till they got a myth
made of it. Frederick Duke of Edinburgh, second
hope of England at this time, he is the hero.
It appears, this loose young gentleman, standing
in no favour with his sovereign Father, had never yet
been across to England, the royal Parent preferring
<< Coxc's Walpole (London, 1798), i. 520.
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? 110 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT. [bOOKTT.
May 1728.
rather not to have him in sight; and was living idle
at Hanover; very eager to be wedded to Wilhelmina,
as one grand and at present grandest resource of his
existence. It is now May 1728; and Frederick Duke
of Edinburgh is twenty-one. He writes to his Aunt
and intended Mother-in-law, Queen Sophie (date not
ascertainable to a day, Note burnt as soon as read):
"That he can endure this tantalising suspense no longer;
such endless higgling about a supreme blessedness, virtu-
ally agreed upon, may be sport to others, but is death
to him. That he will come privately at once, and
wed his Wilhelmina; and so make an end; the bigwigs
to adjust it afterwards as they can and may. " Where-
upon Sophie Dorothee, gladdest of women, sends for
Dubourgay the British Ambassador (Brigadier Dubour-
gay, the respectable old gentleman who spells ill, who
is strong for the Double-Marriage always), to tell
him what fine news there is, and what answer she
has sent. Respectable Dubourgay stands silent, with
lengthening face: "Your Majesty, how unfortunate that
I of all men now hear it! I must instantly despatch a
courier with the news to London! " And the respect-
able man, stoically deaf to her Majesty's entreaties, to
all considerations but that of his evident duty, sends
the courier; -- nips thereby that fine Hanover specu-
lation in the bud, sees Prince Fred at once summoned
over to England, and produces several effects. Nearly
the whole of which, on examining the Documents,*
proves to be myth.
* Dubourgay's Despatches, in the State-Paper Office.
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. Ill
1728.
Pollnitz himself adds two circumstances, in regard
to it, which are pretty impossible: as, first, that Fried-
rich Wilhelm had joyfully consented to this clandestine
marriage, and was eagerly waiting for it; second, that
George II. , too, had privately favoured or even in-
stigated the adventure, being at heart willing to escape
the trouble of Messages to Parliament, to put his Son
in the wrong, and I know not what. * The particles
of fact in the affair are likewise two: First, that Queen
Sophie, and from her the Courtier Public generally,
expected the Hanover Royal Highness, who probably
had real thoughts of seeing Berlin and his Intended, on
this occasion; Dubourgay reports daily rumours of the
Royal Highness being actually "seen" there in an
evanescent manner; and Wilhelmina says, her Mother
was so certain of him, "she took every ass or mule for
the Royal Highness," -- heartily indifferent to Wilhelmina. This is the first particle of fact. The Second
is, that a subaltern Official about the Royal Highness,
one Lamothe of Hanover, who had appeared in Berlin
about that time, was thrown into prison not long after,
for what misbehaviour none knew, -- for encouraging
dissolute Royal Highness in wild schemes, it was guessed.
And so the Myth grew, and was found ready for Pollnitz
and his followers. Royal Highness did come over to
England; not then as the Myth bears, but nine months
afterwards in December next; and found other means
of irritating his imperative, flighty, irascible and rather
foolish little Father, in an ever-increasing degree.
* Pollnitz, 11. 272-274.
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? 112 D0UB1E-MAEE1AGE PROJECT GOINfi ADR1FF. [book vI.
ma.
"Very coldly received at Court," it is said: ill-seen by
Walpole and the Powers; being too likely to become a
focus of Opposition there.
The Visit, meanwhile, though there came no Duke of Edinburgh to see it, was sublime in the extreme;
Polish Majesty being magnificence itself; and the frugal
Friedrich Wilhelm lighting-up his dim Court into in-
surpassable brilliancy, regardless of expense; so that
even the Smoking Parliament (where August attended
now and then) became luminous. The Crown-Prince,
who in late months had languished in a state of miser-
able health, in a manner ominous to his physicians,
confined mostly to his room or his bed, was now hap-
pily on foot again; -- and Wilhelmina notes one cir-
cumstance which much contributed to his recovery:
That the fairOrzelska had attended her natural (or un-
natural) Parent, on this occasion; and seemed to be, as
Wilhelmina thinks, uncommonly kind to the Crown-
Prince. The Heir-Apparent of Saxony, a taciturn, in-
offensive, rather opaque-looking gentleman, now turned
of thirty, and gone over to Papistry long since, with
views to be King of Poland by and by, which proved
effectual as we shall find, was also here: Count Briihl,
too, still in a very subaltern capacity, and others whom
we and the Crown-Prince shall have to know. The
Heir-Apparent's Wife (actual Kaiser's Niece, late Kaiser
Joseph's Daughter, a severe Austrian lady, haughtier
than lovely) has staid at home in Dresden.
But here, at first hand, is a slight view of that unique
Polish Majesty, the Saxon Man of Sin; which the
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? CHAP, in. ] VISIT TO DRESDEN. 113
29th May 1728.
reader may be pleased to accept out of idle curiosity,
if for no better reason. We abridge from Wilhelmina;*
whom Fassmann, kindled to triple accuracy by this
grand business, is at hand to correct where needful:**
"The King of Poland arrived upon us at Berlin on the
29th of May," says Wilhelmina; had been at Potsdam,
under Friedrich Wilhelm's care, for three days past:
Saturday afternoon, 29th May 1728; that is with exac-
titude the ever-memorable date
He paid his respects in her Majesty's apartment, for
an instant, that evening; but made his formal visit next
day. Very grand indeed. Carried by two shining par-
ticoloured creatures, heyducs so-called, through double
rows of mere peerages and sublimities, in a sublime sedan
(being lame of a foot, foot lately amputated of two toes,
sore still open): "in a sedan covered with red velvet
galooned with gold," says the devout Fassmann, tremblingly exact, "up the grand staircase along the grand
Gallery;" in which supreme region (Apartments of the
late King Friedrich of gorgeous memory) her Majesty
now is for the occasion. "The Queen received him at
* i. 124.
** Des glorwurdigsten Furslen und llerrn, llcrrn Friedricli Augnsti des
Grossen Leben und Helden-Thaten (Of that most glorious Prince and Lord,
Lord Friedrich August the Great, King of Poland, &c, the Life and Hcroio
Deeds), by D. F. (David Fassmann), Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1734; 12mo.
pp. 1040. A work written with upturned eyes of prostrate admiration for
"hero Majestdt ('Thelro' Majesty) August the Great;" exact too, but
dealing merely with the clothes of the matter, and such a matter: work
unreadable, except on compulsion, to the stupidest mortal. The same
Fassmann, who was at the Fair of St. Germain, who lodged sometimes
with the Potsdam Giant, and whose ways are all fallen dark to us. Carlijle, Frederic the Great. III. 8
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? 114 DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT GOING ADRIFT, [book vI.
30th May 1728.
the door of her third Antichamber," says Wilhelmina;
third or outmost Antichamber, end of that grand Gallery
and its peerages and shining creatures: "he gave the
Queen his hand, and led her in. " We Princesses were
there, at least the grown ones of us were. All standing,
except the Queen only. "He refused to sit, and again
refused;" stoically talked graciosities, disregarding the
pain of his foot; and did not, till refusal threatened to
become uncivil, comply with her Majesty's entreaties.
"How unpolite! " smiled he to us young ones. "He
"had a majestic port and physiognomy; an affable po-
"lite air accompanied all his movements, all his actions. "
Kind of stereotyped smile on his face; nothing of the
inner gloom visible on our Charles II. and similar men
of sin. He looked often at Wilhelmina, and was com-
plimentary to a degree, -- for reasons undivinable to
Wilhelmina. For the rest, "much broken for his age;"
the terrible debaucheries (les debauches tembles) having
had their effect on him. He has fallen Widower last
year. His poor Wife was a Brandenburg-Baireuth
Princess; a devout kind of woman; austerely witnessing
the irremediable in her lot. He has got far on with his
Three hundred and fifty-four; is now going fifty-five;--
lame of a foot, as we see, which the great Petit of
Paris cannot cure, neither he nor any Surgeon, but can
only alleviate by cutting-off two toes. Pink of politeness,
no doubt of it; but otherwise the strangest dilapidated
hulk of a two-legged animal without feathers; probably,
in fact, the chief Natural Solecism under the Sun at
that epoch; -- extremely complimentary to us Prin-
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? CHAP, m. 1
115
VISIT TO DUESDKN.
1728.
cesses, to me especially. "He quitted her Majesty's
"Apartment after an hour's conversation: she rose to
"reconduct him, but he would by no manner of means
"permit that,"-- and so vanished, carried off doubtless
by the shining creatures again. "The Electoral Prince,"
Heir-Apparent, next made his visit; but he was a dry
subject in comparison, of whom no Princess can say
much. Prince Friedrich will know him better by
and by.
Young Maurice, "Count of Saxony," famed after-
wards as Marechal de Saxe, he also is here with his
Half-Sister Orzelska and the others, in the train of the
paternal Man of Sin; and makes acquaintance with
Friedrich. He is son of the female Konigsmark called
Aurora ("who alone of mortals could make Charles
Twelfth fly his ground"); nephew, therefore, of the
male Konigsmark who was cut down long ago at Hano-
ver, and buried in the fireplace. He resembles his
Father in strength, vivacity, above all things in debau-
chery, and disregard of finance. They married him at
the due years to some poor rich woman; but with her
he has already ended; with her and with many others.
Courland, Adrienne Lecouvreur, Anne Iwanowna with
the big cheek: -- the reader has perhaps searched out
these things for himself from the dull History-Books;
-- or perhaps it is better for him if he never sought
them? Dukedom of Courland, connected with Polish
sovereignty, and now about to fall vacant, was one of
Count Maurice's grand sallies in the world. Adrienne
Lecouvreur, foolish French Actress, lent him all the
8*
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? 116 DOUBLE-MAKIUAGE PROJECT GOING. ADRIFT, [book VI
1728.
30,0001, she had gathered by holding the mirror up to
Nature and otherwise, to prosecute this Courland busi-
ness; which proved impossible for him. He was ad-
venturous enough, audacious enough; fought well; but
the problem was, To fall in love with the Dowager
Anne Iwanowna, Cousin of Czar Peter II. ; big brazen
Russian woman (such a cheek the Pictures give her, in
size and somewhat in expression like a Westphalia
ham! ), who was Widow of the last active Duke: --
and this, with all his adventurous audacity, Count
Maurice could not do. The big Widow discovered that
he did not like Westphalia hams in that particular form;
that he only pretended to like them: upon which, in
just indignation, she disowned and dismissed him; and
falling herself to be Czarina not long afterwards, and
taking Biren the Courlander for her beloved, she made
Biren Duke, and Courland became impossible for Count
Maurice.
However, he too is a dashing young fellow; "cir-
"cular black eyebrows, eyes glittering bright, partly
"with animal vivacity, partly with spiritual;" stands
six feet in his stockings, breaks horse-shoes with his
hands; full of irregular ingenuity and audacity; has been soldiering about, ever since birth almost; and uflr ? 'derstands many a thing, though the worst speller ever
known. With him too young Fritz is much charmed:
the flower, he, of the illegitimate Three hundred and
fifty-four, and probably the chief achievement of the
Saxon Man of Sin in this world, where he took such
trouble. Friedrich and he maintained some occasional
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? CHAP. III. I
117
VISIT TO DKESDEN.
1728.
correspondence afterwards; but, to judge by Friedrich's
part of it (mere polite congratulations on Fontenoy, and
the like), it must have been of the last vacuity; and to
us it is now absolute zero, however clearly spelt and
printed. *
The Physically Strong, in some three weeks, after
kindling such an effulgence about Berlin as was never
seen before or since in Friedrich Wilhelm's reign, went
his way again, -- "towards Poland for the Diet," or
none of us cares whither or for what. Here at Berlin
he has been sublime enough. Some of the phenomena
surpassed anything Wilhelmina ever saw: such floods
and rows of resplendent people crowding-in to dinner;
and she could not but contrast the splendour of the
Polish retinues and their plumages and draperies, with
the strait-buttoned Prussian dignitaries, all in mere
soldier uniform, succinct "blue coat, white linen gaiters,"
and no superfluity even in the epaulettes and red facings.
At table, she says, they drank much, talked little, and
bored one another a great deal ($'ennuyoient beaucoup).
Of Princess Wilhelmina's Four Kings and other
ineffectual Suitors.
Dilapidated Polish Majesty, we observed, was ex-
tremely attentive to Wilhelmina; nor could she ascer-
* Given altogether in (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, xvil. 300-309.
See farther, whoever has curiosity, Preuss, Friedrichs Lebensgeschichte,
iii. 167-169; Espagnac, Vie da Comte dn Saxe (a good little military Boob,
done into German, Leipzig, 1774, 2 vols. ); Cramer, Denkwiirdigkeiten dor
Grdfm Aurora von Rinigsmark (Leipzig, 1836); &c.
