" My money is running
down, privately thinks he; guarantee Silesia, and I
shall be glad to go.
down, privately thinks he; guarantee Silesia, and I
shall be glad to go.
Thomas Carlyle
235, 299n.
(not the least of date allowed us in either case);
Valori, i. 240.
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? CHAP. XI. ] . CAMP OF CHLUM. 175
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
this, poor soul, "falls now into complete disgrace;"
waits daily upon Friedrich at the giving out of the
parole, "but frequently his Majesty does not speak to
me at all. " Hardly looks at me, or only looks as if I
had suddenly become Zero Incarnate. It is now in
these days, I suppose, that Friedrich writes about the
"Scamander Battle" (of Fontenoy), and "Capture of
Pekin," by way of helping one to fight the Austrians
according to Treaty. And has a touch of bitter sar-
casm in uttering his complaints against such treatment,
-- the heart of him, I suppose, bitter enough. Most
Christian King has felt this of the Scamander, Fried-
rich perceives; Louis's next letter testifies pique; --
and of course we are farther from help, on that side,
than ever. "From the Stdnde of the Kur-Mark"
(Brandenburg) "Friedrich was offered a considerable
"subsidy instead; and joyfully accepted the same, 'as
"'a loan:'"--paid it punctually back, too; and never,
all his days, forgot it of those Stande. *
Camp of Dieskau: Britannic Majesty makes Peace, for
himself, with Friedrich; but cannot for Austria or
Saxony.
About the middle of August, there are certain
Saxon phenomena which awaken dread expectation in
the world. Friedrich, watching, Argus-like, near and
far, in his Chlum observatory, has noticed that Prince
Karl is getting reinforced in Konigsgratz; 10,000 lately,
7,000 more coming; -- and contrariwise that the
Saxons seem to be straggling off from him; ebbing
away, corps after corps, -- towards Saxony, can it be?
* Stenzel, it. 255; Rlake, &c.
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? 176 SECOND SILESlAli WAR. [book XV.
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
There are whispers of "Bavarian auxiliaries" being
hired for them, too. And little Briihl's late insolence;
Briihl's evident belief that "we are finished (aux abois)? "
Putting all this together, Friedrich judges, -- with an
indignation very natural, -- that there is again some
insidious Saxon mischief, most likely an attack on
Brandenburg, in the wind. Friedrich orders the Old
Dessauer: "March into them, delay no longer! " and
publishes a clangorously indignant Manifesto (evidently
his own writing, and coming from the heart):* "How
they have, not bound by their Austrian Treaty, wan-
tonly invaded our Silesia; have, since and before, in
spite of our forbearance, done so many things: -- and,
in fact, have finally exhausted our patience; and are
forcing us to seek redress and safety by the natural
methods," which they will see how they like! --
Old Leopold advances straightway, as bidden,
direct for the Saxon frontier. To whom Friedrich
shoots off detachments, -- Prince Dietrich, with so
many thousands, to reinforce Papa; then General Gess-
ler with so many, -- till Papa is 30,000 odd; and
could eat Saxony at a mouthful; nothing whatever
being yet ready there on Briihl's part, though he has
such immense things in the wind! -- Nevertheless
Friedrich again paused; did not yet strike. The Saxon
question has Russian bugbears, no end of complica-
tions. His Britannic Majesty, now at Hanover, and
his prudent Harrington with him, are in the act of
labouring, with all earnestness, for a general Agree-
ment with Friedrich. Without further bitterness, em-
broilment and bloodshed: how much preferable for
* In Adelung, v, 64-71 (no date; "middle of August," say tho BookaJ.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 177
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
Friedrich! Old Dessauer, therefore, pauses: "Camp of
Dieskau," which we have often heard of, close on the
Saxon Border; stands there, looking over, as with
sword drawn, 30,000 good swords, -- but no stroke,
not for almost three months more. In three months,
wretched Briihl had not repented; but, on the con-
trary, had completed his preparations, and gone to
work; -- and the stroke did fall, as will be seen.
That is Bruhl's posture in the matter. *
To Britannic George, for a good while past, it has
been manifest that the Pragmatic Sanction, in its ori-
ginal form, is an extinct object; that reconquest of
Silesia, and such-like, is melancholy moonshine; and
that, in fact, towards fighting the French with effect,
it is highly necessary to make peace with Friedrich of
Prussia again. This once more is George's and his
Harrington's fixed view. Friedrich's own wishes are
known, or used to be, ever since the late Kaiser's
death, -- though latterly he has fallen silent, and even
avoids the topic when offered (knowing his man)! Har-
rington has to apply formally to Friedrich's Minister
at Hanover. "Very well, if they are in earnest this
time," so Friedrich instructs his Minister: "My terms are
known to you; no change admissible in the terms; --
do not speak with me on it farther: and, observe,
within four weeks, the thing finished, or else broken
off! "** And in this sense they are labouring inces-
santly, with Austria, with Saxony, -- without the least
success; -- and Excellency Robinson has again a
panting uncomfortable time. Here is a scene Robin-
son transacts at Vienna, which gives us a curious face-
* Ranke, m. 231, 814.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VIII.
** Eanke, m. 277-281.
12
-
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? 178
[book xv. 2d Aug. 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
to-face glimpse of her Hungarian Majesty, while Fried-
rich is in his Camp at Chlum.
Schonbrunn, 2d August 1745, Robinson has Audience of her
Hungarian Majesty.
Robinson, in a copious sonorous speech (rather apt to be
copious, and to fall into the Parliamentary canto-fermo), sets
forth how extremely ill we Allies are faring on the French
hand; nothing done upon Silesia either; a hopeless matter
that, -- is it not, your Majesty? And your Majesty's forces
all lying there, in mere dead-lock; and we in such need of
them! 'Peace with Prussia is indispensable. " -- To which
her Majesty listened, in statuesque silence mostly; "never
"saw her so reserved before, my Lord. ' * *
Robinson. * * '"Madam, the Dutch will be obliged to
"accept 'Neutrality'" (and plump down again, after such
hoisting)!
Queen. "Well, and if they did, they? 'It would be
"' easier to accommodate with France itself, and so finish the
"' whole matter, than with Prussia. ' My Army could not get
"to the Netherlands this season. No General of mine would
"undertake conducting it at this day of the year. Peace with
"Prussia, what good could it do at present? "
Robinson. "'England has already found, for subsidies,
"'this year, 1,178,7531. Cannot go on at that rate. Peace
"'with Prussia is one of the returns the English Nation ex-
"'pects for all it has done. '"
Queen. "I must have Silesia again; without Silesia the
"Kaiserhood were an empty title. 'Or would you have us
"'administer it under the guardiancy of Prussia! ' * *
Robinson. "In Bohemia itself things don't look well; no-
"thing done on Friedrich: your Saxons seem to be quarrel-
Queen. "Prince Karl is himself capable of fighting the
"Prussians again. Till that, do not speak to me of Peace!
"Grant me only till October! "
Robinson. "Prussia will help the Grand-Duke to Kaiser-
ship. "
Queen. "The Grand-Duke is not so ambitious of an empty
"ling with
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? CHAP. JO. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 179
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
"honour as to engage in it under the tutelage of Prussia.
"Consider farther: the Imperial dignity, is it compatible with
"the fatal deprivation of Silesia? 'One other battle, I say!
"' Good God, give me only till the month of October! '"
Robinson. "A battle, Madam, if won, won't reconquer
"Silesia; iflost, your Majesty is ruined at home. "
Queen. ''? '? Dusse'-je conclure avec lui le lendemain, je luilivre-
"'rais bataille ce soir' (Had I to agree with him tomorrow, I
"would try him in a battle this evening)! " *
Her Majesty is not to be hindered; deaf to Robin-
son, to her Britannic George who pays the money.
"Cruel man, is that what you call keeping the Prag-
matic Sanction; dismembering me of Province after
Province, now in Germany, then in Italy, on pretext
of necessity? Has not England money, then? Does
not England love the Cause of Liberty? Give me till October! " Her Majesty did take till October, and
later, as we shall see; poor George not able to hinder,
by power of the purse or otherwise: who can hinder
high females, or low, when they get into their
humours? Much of this Austrian obstinacy, think im-
partial persons, was of female nature. We shall
see what profit her Majesty made by taking till
October.
As for George, the time being run, and her Majesty
and Saxony unpersuadable, he determined to accept
Friedrich's terms himself, in hope of gradually bring-
ing the others to do it. August 26th, at Hanover,
there is signed a Convention of Hanover between Fried-
rich and him: "Peace on the old Breslau-Berlin terms,
-- precisely the same terms, but Britannic Majesty to
* Robinson's Despatch, 4th August 1745. Ranke, in. 287; Raumer,
pp. 161,162.
12*
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? 180 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
26th Aug. 1745.
have them guaranteed by All the Powers, on the Ge-
neral Peace coming, -- so that there be no snake-pro-
cedure henceforth. " Silesia Friedrich's without fail,
dear Hanover unmolested even by a thought of Fried-
rich's; -- and her Hungarian Majesty to be invited,
nay urged by every feasible method, to accede. *
Which done, Britannic Majesty, -- for there has hung
itself out, in the Scotch Highlands, the other day
("Glenfinlas, August 12th"), a certain Standard
4 Tandem Triumphans,' and unpleasant things are im-
minent! -- hurries home at his best pace, and has his
hands full there, for some time. On Austria, on
Saxony, he could not prevail: "By no manner of
means! " answered they; and went their own road, --
jingling his Britannic subsidies in their pocket; re-
gardless of the once Supreme Jove, who is sunk
now to a very different figure on the German
boards.
Friedrich's outlook is very bad: such a War to go
on, and not even finance to do it with. His intimates,
his Rothenburg one time, have "found him sunk in
gloomy thought. " But he wears a bright face usually.
No wavering or doubting in him, his mind made up;
which is a great help that way. Friedrich indicates,
and has indicated everywhere, for many months, that
Peace, precisely on the old footing, is all he wants:
"The Kaiser being dead, whom I took up arms to
defend, what further object is there? " says he. "Re-
nounce Silesia, more honestly than last time; engage
to have it guaranteed by everybody at the General
Peace (or perhaps Hohenfriedberg will help to guarantee
* Adelung, v. 75; la "in Rousset, xix. 441;" in &c. &c.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLUM. 181
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
it), -- and I march home!
" My money is running
down, privately thinks he; guarantee Silesia, and I
shall be glad to go. If not, I must raise money some-
how; melt the big silver balustrades at Berlin, borrow
from the Stdnde, or do something; and, in fact, must
stand here, unless Silesia is guaranteed, and struggle
till I die.
That latter withal is still privately Friedrich's
thought. Under his light air, he carries unspoken that
grimly clear determination, at all times, now and
henceforth; and it is an immense help to the guidance
of him. An indispensable, indeed. No king or man,
attempting anything considerable in this world, need
expect to achieve it except, tacitly, on those same
terms, "I will achieve it or die! " For the world, in
spite of rumours to the contrary, is always much of a
bedlam to the sanity (so far as he may have any) of
every individual man. A strict place, moreover; its
very bedlamisms flowing by law, as do alike the sudden
mud-deluges, and the steady Atlantic tides, and all
things whatsoever: a world inexorable, truly, as gravita-
tion itself; -- and it will behove you to front it in a
similar humour, as the tacit basis for whatever wise
plans you lay. In Friedrich, from the first entrance
of him on the stage of things, we have had to re-
cognise this prime quality, in a fine tacit form, to a
complete degree; and till his last exit, we shall never
find it wanting. Tacit enough, unconscious almost,
not given to articulate itself at all; -- and if there be
less of piety than we could wish in the silence of it,
there is at least no play-actor mendacity, or cant of
devoutness, to poison the high worth of it. No braver
little figure stands on the Earth at that epoch. Ready,
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? 182 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
13th Sept. 1745.
at the due season, with his mind silently made up; --
able to answer diplomatic Robinsons, Bartensteins, and
the very Destinies when they apply. If you will
withdraw your snakish notions, will guarantee Silesia,
will give him back his old Treaty of Berlin in an
irrefragable shape, he will march home; if not, he will
never march home, but be carried thither dead rather.
That is his intention, if the gods permit.
Grand-Duke Franz is elected Kaiser (13th September
1745); Friedrich, the Season and Forage being done,
makes for Silesia.
There occurred at Frankfurt, -- the clear majority,
seven of the nine Electors, Bavaria itself (nay Bohemia,
this time, "distaff" or not), and all the others but
Friedrich and Kur-Pfalz, being so disposed or so dis-
posable, Traun being master of the ground, -- no dif-
ficulty about electing Grand-Duke Franz Stephan of
Tuscany, Joint-King of Bohemia, to be Kaiser of the
Holy Romish Reich. Friedrich's envoy protested; ? --
as did Kur-Pfalz's, with still more vehemence, and then
withdrew to Hanau: the other Seven voted, Sep-
tember 13th, 1745: and it was done. A new Kaiser,
Franz Stephan, or Franz L, -- with our blessing on
him, if that can avail much. But I fear it cannot.
Upon such mendacious Empty-Case of Kaiserhood,
without even money to feed itself, not to speak of
governing, of defending and coercing; upon such
entities the blessings of man avail little; the gods,
having warned them to go, do not bless them for
staying! -- However, tar-barrels burn, the fountains
play (wine in some of them, I hope); Franz is to be
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLtTM. 183
13th Sept. 1745.
crowned in a fortnight hence, with extraordinary
magnificence. At this last part of it Maria Theresa
will, in her own high person, attend; and proceeds ac-
cordingly towards Frankfurt, in the end of September
(say the old Books), so soon as the Election is over.
Hungarian Majesty's bearing was not popular there,
according to Friedrich, -- who always admires her
after a sort, and always speaks of her like a king and
gentleman: -- but the High Lady, it is intimated, felt
somewhat too well that she was high. Not sorry to
have it known, under the due veils, that her Kaiser-
Husband is but of a mimetic nature; that it is she
who has the real power; and that indeed she is in a
victorious posture at present. Very high in her carriage
towards the Princes of the Reich, and their privileges:
-- poor Kur-Pfalz's notary, or herald, coming to
protest (I think, it was the second time) about some-
thing, she quite disregarded his tabards, pasteboards,
or whatever they were, and clapt him in prison. The
thing was commented upon; but Kur-Pfalz got no
redress. Need we repeat, -- lazy readers having so
often met him, and forgotten him again, -- this is a
new younger Kur-Pfalz: August Theodor, this one; not
Friedrich Wilhelm's old Friend, but his Successor, of
the Sulzbach line; of whom, after thirty years or so,
we may again hear. He can complain about his
violated tabard; will get his notary out of jail again,
but no redress.
Highish even towards her friends, this "Empress-
Queen" (Kaiserin-Konigin, such her new title), and has
a kind of 'Thank-you-for-Nothing' air towards them.
Prussian Majesty, she said, had unquestionable talents;
but, oh, what a character! Too much levity, she said,
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? 184 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
23d Aug. 1745.
by far; heterodox too, in the extreme; a boser Mann;
-- and what a neighbour has he been! As to Silesia,
she was heard to say, she would as soon part with her
petticoat as part with it. * -- So that there is not the
least prospect of peace here? "None," answer Fried-
rich's emissaries, whom he had empowered to hint the
thing. Which is heavy news to Friedrich.
Early in August, not long after that Audience of
Robinson's, her Majesty, after repeated written mess-
ages to Prince Karl, urging him to go into fight again
or attempt something, had sent two high messengers:
Prince Lobkowitz, Duke d'Ahremberg, high dignitaries
from Court, have come to Konigsgratz with the latest
urgencies, the newest ideas; and would fain help Prince
Karl to attempt something. Daily they used to come
out upon a little height, in view of Friedrich's tent,
and gaze in upon him, and round all Nature, 'with
big tubes,' he says, 'as if they had been astronomers;'
but never attempted anything. We remember D'Ahrem-
berg, and what part he has played, from theDettingen
times and onward. "A debauched old fellow," says
Friedrich; "gone all to hebetude by his labours in that
line; agrees always with the last speaker. " Prince
Karl seems to have little stomach himself; and does
not see his way into (or across) another Battle.
Lobkowitz, again, is always saying: "Try something!
We are now stronger than they, by their detachings,
by our reinforcings" (indeed, about twice their number,
regular and irregular), though most of the Saxons are
gone home. After much gazing through their tubes,
the Austrians (August 23d) do make a small shift of
place, insignificant otherwise; the Prussians, next day,
* (Enures de Frederic, hi. 126,128.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 185
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
do the like, in consequence; quit Chlum, burning their
huts; post themselves a little farther up the Elbe, --
their left at a place called Jaromirz, embouchure of
the Aupa into Elbe, * -- and are again unattackable.
The worst fact is the multitude of Pandours, more
and more infesting our provision roads; and that
horse-forage itself is, at last, running low. Detach-
ments lie all duly round to right and left, to secure
our communications with Silesia, especially to left, out
of Glatz, where runs one of the chief roads we have.
But the service is becoming daily more difficult For
example:
"Neustadt, 8th September. In that left-hand quarter, com-
"ing out of Glatz at a little Bohemian Town called Neustadt,
"the Prussian Commander, Tauenzien by name, was re-
peatedly assaulted; and from September 8th, had to stand
"actual siege, gallantly repulsing a full 10,000 with their big
"artillery, though his walls were all breached, for about a
"week, till Friedrich sent him relief. Prince Lobkowitz, our
"old anti-Belleisle friend, who is always of forward fiery
"humour, had set them on this enterprise; which has turned
"out fruitless. The King is much satisfied with Tauenzien; **
"of whom we shall hear again. Who indeed becomes notable
"to us, were it only for getting one Lessing as secretary, by
"andby: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, whose fame has since
"gone into all countries; the man having been appointed a
"'Secretary' to the very Destinies, in some sort; that is to
"say, a Writer of Books which have turned out to have truth
"in them! Tauenzien, a grimmish aquiline kind of man, of
"no superfluous words, has distinguished himself for the pre-
sent by defending Neustadt, which the Austrians fully
"counted to get hold of. "
Let us give another little scene; preparatory to
quitting this Country, as it is evident the King and
* (Euvres de Frediric, m. 129. ** lb. in. 132.
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? 186 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [b00KXV.
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
we will soon have to do; Country being quite eaten
out, Pandours getting ever rifer, and the Season
done:
Jaromirz, "early in September" 1745. "Jaromirz is a little
"Bohemian Town on the Aupa, or between the Aupa and Mc-
"tau branches of the upper Elbe; four or five miles north of
"Semonitz, where Friedrich's quarter now is. Valori, so
"seldom spoken to, is lodged in a suburb there: 'Had not
"'you better go into the town itself? ' his Majesty did once
"say; but Valori, dreading nothing, lodged on, -- 'Landlord
"' a Burgher whom I thought respectable. ' Respectable, yes
"he; but his son had been dealing with Franquini the Pan-
"dour, and had sold Valori, -- night appointed, measures all
"taken; a miracle if Valori escape. Franquini, chief of
"30,000 Pandours, has come in person to superintend this im-
"portant capture; and lies hidden, with a strong party, in
"the woods to rearward. Prussians about 200, scattered in
"posts, occupy the hedges in front, for guard of the ovens;
"to rear, Jaromirz being wholly ours, there is no suspicion.
"In the dead of the night, Franquini emerges from the
"woods; sends forward a party of sixty, under the young
"Judas; who, by methods suitable, gets them stealthily con-
"ducted into Papa's Barn, which looks across a courtyard
"into Valori's very windows. From the Barn it is easy, on
"paws of velvet, to get into the House, if you have a Judas
"to open it. Which you have: -- bolts all drawn for you, and
"evenbeams ready for barricading if you be meddled with.
"' Up stairs is his Excellency asleep; Excellency's room is --
"'to right, do you remember; or to left' -- 'Pshaw, we shall
"'find it! ' The Pandours mount; find a bedroom, break it
"open, -- some fifteen or sixteen of them, and one who knows
"a little French; -- come crowding forward: to the horror
"and terror of the poor inhabitant. '? Que voulez-vous doncf'
"'His Excellency Valori! ' 'Well, no violence; I am your
"'prisoner: let me dress! ' answers the supposed Excellency,
"-- and contrives to secrete portfolios, and tear, or make
"away with papers. And is marched off, under a select
"guard, who leave the rest to do the pillage. And was not
"Valori at all; was Valori's Secretary, one D'Arget, who
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? chap, xi. ] camp or CHLUM. 187
23d Aug. --18th Sept. 1745.
"had called himself Valori on this dangerous occasion! Va-
"lori sat quaking behind his partition; not till the Pandours
"began plundering the stables, did the Prussian sentry catch
"sound of them, and plunge in. "
Friedrich had his amusement out of this adven-
ture; liked D'Arget, the clever Secretary; got D'Arget
to himself before long, as will be seen; -- and, in
quieter times, dashed-off a considerable Explosion of
Rhyme, called Le Palladion (Valori as Prussia's "Pal-
ladium," with Devils attempting to steal him, and the
like), which was once thought an exquisite Burlesque,
-- Kings coveting a sight of it, in vain, -- but is
now wearisome enough to every reader. * -- Let us
attend his Majesty's exit from Bohemia.
* Valori, 1. 242; (Euvres de Frederic, nr. 130: for the Fact. Exquisite
Burlesque, Palladion itself, is in (Euvres, xi. 192-272 (see ib. 139): a bad
copy of that very bad Original, Jeanne d'Arc, -- the only thing now good in
it, Friedrich's polite yet positive refusal to gratify King Louis and his
Pompadour with a sight of it (see ib. Preface, x. -xiv. , Friedrich's Letter to
Louis; date of request and of refusal, March 1750).
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? 188
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
18th--30th Sept. 1745.
CHAPTER XII.
BATTLE OP SOHR.
The famed beautiful Elbe River rises in romantic
chasms, terrible to the picturesque beholder, at the
roots of the Riesengebirge; overlooked by the Hohe-
Kamms, and highest summits of that chain. "Out of
eleven wells," says gentle Dulness, "Eilf or Elf Quellen,
whence its name, Elbe for Elf. " Sure enough, it starts
out of various wells;* rushes out, like a great peacock's
or pasha's tail, from the roots of the Giant Mountains
thereabouts; and hurries southward, -- or even rather
eastward, at first; for (except the Iser to westward,
which does not fall in for a great while) its chief
branches come from the eastern side: Aupa, Metau,
Adler, the drainings of Glatz, and of that rugged
Country where Friedrich has been camping and
manceuvering all summer. On the whole, its course
is southward for the first seventy or eighty miles,
washing Jaromirz, Konigshof, Konigsgratz, down to
Pardubitz: at Pardubitz it turns abruptly westward,
and holds on so, bending even northward, by hill
and plain, through the rest of its five or six hundred
miles.
Its first considerable branch, on that eastern or left
bank, is the Aupa, which rises in the Pass of Schatz-
* Description, in Zollner, Briefe ubcr Schlesien, u. 805; in &c. &c.
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? CHAP. Xn. ] BATTLE OP SOHH. 189
18th Sept. 1745.
lar (great struggling there, for convoys, just now); goes
next by Trautenau, which has lately been burnt; and
joins the Elbe at Jaromirz, where Valori was stolen, or
nearly so, from under the Prussian left wing.
Valori, i. 240.
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? CHAP. XI. ] . CAMP OF CHLUM. 175
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
this, poor soul, "falls now into complete disgrace;"
waits daily upon Friedrich at the giving out of the
parole, "but frequently his Majesty does not speak to
me at all. " Hardly looks at me, or only looks as if I
had suddenly become Zero Incarnate. It is now in
these days, I suppose, that Friedrich writes about the
"Scamander Battle" (of Fontenoy), and "Capture of
Pekin," by way of helping one to fight the Austrians
according to Treaty. And has a touch of bitter sar-
casm in uttering his complaints against such treatment,
-- the heart of him, I suppose, bitter enough. Most
Christian King has felt this of the Scamander, Fried-
rich perceives; Louis's next letter testifies pique; --
and of course we are farther from help, on that side,
than ever. "From the Stdnde of the Kur-Mark"
(Brandenburg) "Friedrich was offered a considerable
"subsidy instead; and joyfully accepted the same, 'as
"'a loan:'"--paid it punctually back, too; and never,
all his days, forgot it of those Stande. *
Camp of Dieskau: Britannic Majesty makes Peace, for
himself, with Friedrich; but cannot for Austria or
Saxony.
About the middle of August, there are certain
Saxon phenomena which awaken dread expectation in
the world. Friedrich, watching, Argus-like, near and
far, in his Chlum observatory, has noticed that Prince
Karl is getting reinforced in Konigsgratz; 10,000 lately,
7,000 more coming; -- and contrariwise that the
Saxons seem to be straggling off from him; ebbing
away, corps after corps, -- towards Saxony, can it be?
* Stenzel, it. 255; Rlake, &c.
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? 176 SECOND SILESlAli WAR. [book XV.
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
There are whispers of "Bavarian auxiliaries" being
hired for them, too. And little Briihl's late insolence;
Briihl's evident belief that "we are finished (aux abois)? "
Putting all this together, Friedrich judges, -- with an
indignation very natural, -- that there is again some
insidious Saxon mischief, most likely an attack on
Brandenburg, in the wind. Friedrich orders the Old
Dessauer: "March into them, delay no longer! " and
publishes a clangorously indignant Manifesto (evidently
his own writing, and coming from the heart):* "How
they have, not bound by their Austrian Treaty, wan-
tonly invaded our Silesia; have, since and before, in
spite of our forbearance, done so many things: -- and,
in fact, have finally exhausted our patience; and are
forcing us to seek redress and safety by the natural
methods," which they will see how they like! --
Old Leopold advances straightway, as bidden,
direct for the Saxon frontier. To whom Friedrich
shoots off detachments, -- Prince Dietrich, with so
many thousands, to reinforce Papa; then General Gess-
ler with so many, -- till Papa is 30,000 odd; and
could eat Saxony at a mouthful; nothing whatever
being yet ready there on Briihl's part, though he has
such immense things in the wind! -- Nevertheless
Friedrich again paused; did not yet strike. The Saxon
question has Russian bugbears, no end of complica-
tions. His Britannic Majesty, now at Hanover, and
his prudent Harrington with him, are in the act of
labouring, with all earnestness, for a general Agree-
ment with Friedrich. Without further bitterness, em-
broilment and bloodshed: how much preferable for
* In Adelung, v, 64-71 (no date; "middle of August," say tho BookaJ.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 177
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
Friedrich! Old Dessauer, therefore, pauses: "Camp of
Dieskau," which we have often heard of, close on the
Saxon Border; stands there, looking over, as with
sword drawn, 30,000 good swords, -- but no stroke,
not for almost three months more. In three months,
wretched Briihl had not repented; but, on the con-
trary, had completed his preparations, and gone to
work; -- and the stroke did fall, as will be seen.
That is Bruhl's posture in the matter. *
To Britannic George, for a good while past, it has
been manifest that the Pragmatic Sanction, in its ori-
ginal form, is an extinct object; that reconquest of
Silesia, and such-like, is melancholy moonshine; and
that, in fact, towards fighting the French with effect,
it is highly necessary to make peace with Friedrich of
Prussia again. This once more is George's and his
Harrington's fixed view. Friedrich's own wishes are
known, or used to be, ever since the late Kaiser's
death, -- though latterly he has fallen silent, and even
avoids the topic when offered (knowing his man)! Har-
rington has to apply formally to Friedrich's Minister
at Hanover. "Very well, if they are in earnest this
time," so Friedrich instructs his Minister: "My terms are
known to you; no change admissible in the terms; --
do not speak with me on it farther: and, observe,
within four weeks, the thing finished, or else broken
off! "** And in this sense they are labouring inces-
santly, with Austria, with Saxony, -- without the least
success; -- and Excellency Robinson has again a
panting uncomfortable time. Here is a scene Robin-
son transacts at Vienna, which gives us a curious face-
* Ranke, m. 231, 814.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VIII.
** Eanke, m. 277-281.
12
-
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? 178
[book xv. 2d Aug. 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
to-face glimpse of her Hungarian Majesty, while Fried-
rich is in his Camp at Chlum.
Schonbrunn, 2d August 1745, Robinson has Audience of her
Hungarian Majesty.
Robinson, in a copious sonorous speech (rather apt to be
copious, and to fall into the Parliamentary canto-fermo), sets
forth how extremely ill we Allies are faring on the French
hand; nothing done upon Silesia either; a hopeless matter
that, -- is it not, your Majesty? And your Majesty's forces
all lying there, in mere dead-lock; and we in such need of
them! 'Peace with Prussia is indispensable. " -- To which
her Majesty listened, in statuesque silence mostly; "never
"saw her so reserved before, my Lord. ' * *
Robinson. * * '"Madam, the Dutch will be obliged to
"accept 'Neutrality'" (and plump down again, after such
hoisting)!
Queen. "Well, and if they did, they? 'It would be
"' easier to accommodate with France itself, and so finish the
"' whole matter, than with Prussia. ' My Army could not get
"to the Netherlands this season. No General of mine would
"undertake conducting it at this day of the year. Peace with
"Prussia, what good could it do at present? "
Robinson. "'England has already found, for subsidies,
"'this year, 1,178,7531. Cannot go on at that rate. Peace
"'with Prussia is one of the returns the English Nation ex-
"'pects for all it has done. '"
Queen. "I must have Silesia again; without Silesia the
"Kaiserhood were an empty title. 'Or would you have us
"'administer it under the guardiancy of Prussia! ' * *
Robinson. "In Bohemia itself things don't look well; no-
"thing done on Friedrich: your Saxons seem to be quarrel-
Queen. "Prince Karl is himself capable of fighting the
"Prussians again. Till that, do not speak to me of Peace!
"Grant me only till October! "
Robinson. "Prussia will help the Grand-Duke to Kaiser-
ship. "
Queen. "The Grand-Duke is not so ambitious of an empty
"ling with
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? CHAP. JO. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 179
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
"honour as to engage in it under the tutelage of Prussia.
"Consider farther: the Imperial dignity, is it compatible with
"the fatal deprivation of Silesia? 'One other battle, I say!
"' Good God, give me only till the month of October! '"
Robinson. "A battle, Madam, if won, won't reconquer
"Silesia; iflost, your Majesty is ruined at home. "
Queen. ''? '? Dusse'-je conclure avec lui le lendemain, je luilivre-
"'rais bataille ce soir' (Had I to agree with him tomorrow, I
"would try him in a battle this evening)! " *
Her Majesty is not to be hindered; deaf to Robin-
son, to her Britannic George who pays the money.
"Cruel man, is that what you call keeping the Prag-
matic Sanction; dismembering me of Province after
Province, now in Germany, then in Italy, on pretext
of necessity? Has not England money, then? Does
not England love the Cause of Liberty? Give me till October! " Her Majesty did take till October, and
later, as we shall see; poor George not able to hinder,
by power of the purse or otherwise: who can hinder
high females, or low, when they get into their
humours? Much of this Austrian obstinacy, think im-
partial persons, was of female nature. We shall
see what profit her Majesty made by taking till
October.
As for George, the time being run, and her Majesty
and Saxony unpersuadable, he determined to accept
Friedrich's terms himself, in hope of gradually bring-
ing the others to do it. August 26th, at Hanover,
there is signed a Convention of Hanover between Fried-
rich and him: "Peace on the old Breslau-Berlin terms,
-- precisely the same terms, but Britannic Majesty to
* Robinson's Despatch, 4th August 1745. Ranke, in. 287; Raumer,
pp. 161,162.
12*
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? 180 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
26th Aug. 1745.
have them guaranteed by All the Powers, on the Ge-
neral Peace coming, -- so that there be no snake-pro-
cedure henceforth. " Silesia Friedrich's without fail,
dear Hanover unmolested even by a thought of Fried-
rich's; -- and her Hungarian Majesty to be invited,
nay urged by every feasible method, to accede. *
Which done, Britannic Majesty, -- for there has hung
itself out, in the Scotch Highlands, the other day
("Glenfinlas, August 12th"), a certain Standard
4 Tandem Triumphans,' and unpleasant things are im-
minent! -- hurries home at his best pace, and has his
hands full there, for some time. On Austria, on
Saxony, he could not prevail: "By no manner of
means! " answered they; and went their own road, --
jingling his Britannic subsidies in their pocket; re-
gardless of the once Supreme Jove, who is sunk
now to a very different figure on the German
boards.
Friedrich's outlook is very bad: such a War to go
on, and not even finance to do it with. His intimates,
his Rothenburg one time, have "found him sunk in
gloomy thought. " But he wears a bright face usually.
No wavering or doubting in him, his mind made up;
which is a great help that way. Friedrich indicates,
and has indicated everywhere, for many months, that
Peace, precisely on the old footing, is all he wants:
"The Kaiser being dead, whom I took up arms to
defend, what further object is there? " says he. "Re-
nounce Silesia, more honestly than last time; engage
to have it guaranteed by everybody at the General
Peace (or perhaps Hohenfriedberg will help to guarantee
* Adelung, v. 75; la "in Rousset, xix. 441;" in &c. &c.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLUM. 181
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
it), -- and I march home!
" My money is running
down, privately thinks he; guarantee Silesia, and I
shall be glad to go. If not, I must raise money some-
how; melt the big silver balustrades at Berlin, borrow
from the Stdnde, or do something; and, in fact, must
stand here, unless Silesia is guaranteed, and struggle
till I die.
That latter withal is still privately Friedrich's
thought. Under his light air, he carries unspoken that
grimly clear determination, at all times, now and
henceforth; and it is an immense help to the guidance
of him. An indispensable, indeed. No king or man,
attempting anything considerable in this world, need
expect to achieve it except, tacitly, on those same
terms, "I will achieve it or die! " For the world, in
spite of rumours to the contrary, is always much of a
bedlam to the sanity (so far as he may have any) of
every individual man. A strict place, moreover; its
very bedlamisms flowing by law, as do alike the sudden
mud-deluges, and the steady Atlantic tides, and all
things whatsoever: a world inexorable, truly, as gravita-
tion itself; -- and it will behove you to front it in a
similar humour, as the tacit basis for whatever wise
plans you lay. In Friedrich, from the first entrance
of him on the stage of things, we have had to re-
cognise this prime quality, in a fine tacit form, to a
complete degree; and till his last exit, we shall never
find it wanting. Tacit enough, unconscious almost,
not given to articulate itself at all; -- and if there be
less of piety than we could wish in the silence of it,
there is at least no play-actor mendacity, or cant of
devoutness, to poison the high worth of it. No braver
little figure stands on the Earth at that epoch. Ready,
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? 182 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
13th Sept. 1745.
at the due season, with his mind silently made up; --
able to answer diplomatic Robinsons, Bartensteins, and
the very Destinies when they apply. If you will
withdraw your snakish notions, will guarantee Silesia,
will give him back his old Treaty of Berlin in an
irrefragable shape, he will march home; if not, he will
never march home, but be carried thither dead rather.
That is his intention, if the gods permit.
Grand-Duke Franz is elected Kaiser (13th September
1745); Friedrich, the Season and Forage being done,
makes for Silesia.
There occurred at Frankfurt, -- the clear majority,
seven of the nine Electors, Bavaria itself (nay Bohemia,
this time, "distaff" or not), and all the others but
Friedrich and Kur-Pfalz, being so disposed or so dis-
posable, Traun being master of the ground, -- no dif-
ficulty about electing Grand-Duke Franz Stephan of
Tuscany, Joint-King of Bohemia, to be Kaiser of the
Holy Romish Reich. Friedrich's envoy protested; ? --
as did Kur-Pfalz's, with still more vehemence, and then
withdrew to Hanau: the other Seven voted, Sep-
tember 13th, 1745: and it was done. A new Kaiser,
Franz Stephan, or Franz L, -- with our blessing on
him, if that can avail much. But I fear it cannot.
Upon such mendacious Empty-Case of Kaiserhood,
without even money to feed itself, not to speak of
governing, of defending and coercing; upon such
entities the blessings of man avail little; the gods,
having warned them to go, do not bless them for
staying! -- However, tar-barrels burn, the fountains
play (wine in some of them, I hope); Franz is to be
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLtTM. 183
13th Sept. 1745.
crowned in a fortnight hence, with extraordinary
magnificence. At this last part of it Maria Theresa
will, in her own high person, attend; and proceeds ac-
cordingly towards Frankfurt, in the end of September
(say the old Books), so soon as the Election is over.
Hungarian Majesty's bearing was not popular there,
according to Friedrich, -- who always admires her
after a sort, and always speaks of her like a king and
gentleman: -- but the High Lady, it is intimated, felt
somewhat too well that she was high. Not sorry to
have it known, under the due veils, that her Kaiser-
Husband is but of a mimetic nature; that it is she
who has the real power; and that indeed she is in a
victorious posture at present. Very high in her carriage
towards the Princes of the Reich, and their privileges:
-- poor Kur-Pfalz's notary, or herald, coming to
protest (I think, it was the second time) about some-
thing, she quite disregarded his tabards, pasteboards,
or whatever they were, and clapt him in prison. The
thing was commented upon; but Kur-Pfalz got no
redress. Need we repeat, -- lazy readers having so
often met him, and forgotten him again, -- this is a
new younger Kur-Pfalz: August Theodor, this one; not
Friedrich Wilhelm's old Friend, but his Successor, of
the Sulzbach line; of whom, after thirty years or so,
we may again hear. He can complain about his
violated tabard; will get his notary out of jail again,
but no redress.
Highish even towards her friends, this "Empress-
Queen" (Kaiserin-Konigin, such her new title), and has
a kind of 'Thank-you-for-Nothing' air towards them.
Prussian Majesty, she said, had unquestionable talents;
but, oh, what a character! Too much levity, she said,
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? 184 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
23d Aug. 1745.
by far; heterodox too, in the extreme; a boser Mann;
-- and what a neighbour has he been! As to Silesia,
she was heard to say, she would as soon part with her
petticoat as part with it. * -- So that there is not the
least prospect of peace here? "None," answer Fried-
rich's emissaries, whom he had empowered to hint the
thing. Which is heavy news to Friedrich.
Early in August, not long after that Audience of
Robinson's, her Majesty, after repeated written mess-
ages to Prince Karl, urging him to go into fight again
or attempt something, had sent two high messengers:
Prince Lobkowitz, Duke d'Ahremberg, high dignitaries
from Court, have come to Konigsgratz with the latest
urgencies, the newest ideas; and would fain help Prince
Karl to attempt something. Daily they used to come
out upon a little height, in view of Friedrich's tent,
and gaze in upon him, and round all Nature, 'with
big tubes,' he says, 'as if they had been astronomers;'
but never attempted anything. We remember D'Ahrem-
berg, and what part he has played, from theDettingen
times and onward. "A debauched old fellow," says
Friedrich; "gone all to hebetude by his labours in that
line; agrees always with the last speaker. " Prince
Karl seems to have little stomach himself; and does
not see his way into (or across) another Battle.
Lobkowitz, again, is always saying: "Try something!
We are now stronger than they, by their detachings,
by our reinforcings" (indeed, about twice their number,
regular and irregular), though most of the Saxons are
gone home. After much gazing through their tubes,
the Austrians (August 23d) do make a small shift of
place, insignificant otherwise; the Prussians, next day,
* (Enures de Frederic, hi. 126,128.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 185
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
do the like, in consequence; quit Chlum, burning their
huts; post themselves a little farther up the Elbe, --
their left at a place called Jaromirz, embouchure of
the Aupa into Elbe, * -- and are again unattackable.
The worst fact is the multitude of Pandours, more
and more infesting our provision roads; and that
horse-forage itself is, at last, running low. Detach-
ments lie all duly round to right and left, to secure
our communications with Silesia, especially to left, out
of Glatz, where runs one of the chief roads we have.
But the service is becoming daily more difficult For
example:
"Neustadt, 8th September. In that left-hand quarter, com-
"ing out of Glatz at a little Bohemian Town called Neustadt,
"the Prussian Commander, Tauenzien by name, was re-
peatedly assaulted; and from September 8th, had to stand
"actual siege, gallantly repulsing a full 10,000 with their big
"artillery, though his walls were all breached, for about a
"week, till Friedrich sent him relief. Prince Lobkowitz, our
"old anti-Belleisle friend, who is always of forward fiery
"humour, had set them on this enterprise; which has turned
"out fruitless. The King is much satisfied with Tauenzien; **
"of whom we shall hear again. Who indeed becomes notable
"to us, were it only for getting one Lessing as secretary, by
"andby: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, whose fame has since
"gone into all countries; the man having been appointed a
"'Secretary' to the very Destinies, in some sort; that is to
"say, a Writer of Books which have turned out to have truth
"in them! Tauenzien, a grimmish aquiline kind of man, of
"no superfluous words, has distinguished himself for the pre-
sent by defending Neustadt, which the Austrians fully
"counted to get hold of. "
Let us give another little scene; preparatory to
quitting this Country, as it is evident the King and
* (Euvres de Frediric, m. 129. ** lb. in. 132.
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? 186 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [b00KXV.
23d Aug. -- 18th Sept. 1745.
we will soon have to do; Country being quite eaten
out, Pandours getting ever rifer, and the Season
done:
Jaromirz, "early in September" 1745. "Jaromirz is a little
"Bohemian Town on the Aupa, or between the Aupa and Mc-
"tau branches of the upper Elbe; four or five miles north of
"Semonitz, where Friedrich's quarter now is. Valori, so
"seldom spoken to, is lodged in a suburb there: 'Had not
"'you better go into the town itself? ' his Majesty did once
"say; but Valori, dreading nothing, lodged on, -- 'Landlord
"' a Burgher whom I thought respectable. ' Respectable, yes
"he; but his son had been dealing with Franquini the Pan-
"dour, and had sold Valori, -- night appointed, measures all
"taken; a miracle if Valori escape. Franquini, chief of
"30,000 Pandours, has come in person to superintend this im-
"portant capture; and lies hidden, with a strong party, in
"the woods to rearward. Prussians about 200, scattered in
"posts, occupy the hedges in front, for guard of the ovens;
"to rear, Jaromirz being wholly ours, there is no suspicion.
"In the dead of the night, Franquini emerges from the
"woods; sends forward a party of sixty, under the young
"Judas; who, by methods suitable, gets them stealthily con-
"ducted into Papa's Barn, which looks across a courtyard
"into Valori's very windows. From the Barn it is easy, on
"paws of velvet, to get into the House, if you have a Judas
"to open it. Which you have: -- bolts all drawn for you, and
"evenbeams ready for barricading if you be meddled with.
"' Up stairs is his Excellency asleep; Excellency's room is --
"'to right, do you remember; or to left' -- 'Pshaw, we shall
"'find it! ' The Pandours mount; find a bedroom, break it
"open, -- some fifteen or sixteen of them, and one who knows
"a little French; -- come crowding forward: to the horror
"and terror of the poor inhabitant. '? Que voulez-vous doncf'
"'His Excellency Valori! ' 'Well, no violence; I am your
"'prisoner: let me dress! ' answers the supposed Excellency,
"-- and contrives to secrete portfolios, and tear, or make
"away with papers. And is marched off, under a select
"guard, who leave the rest to do the pillage. And was not
"Valori at all; was Valori's Secretary, one D'Arget, who
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? chap, xi. ] camp or CHLUM. 187
23d Aug. --18th Sept. 1745.
"had called himself Valori on this dangerous occasion! Va-
"lori sat quaking behind his partition; not till the Pandours
"began plundering the stables, did the Prussian sentry catch
"sound of them, and plunge in. "
Friedrich had his amusement out of this adven-
ture; liked D'Arget, the clever Secretary; got D'Arget
to himself before long, as will be seen; -- and, in
quieter times, dashed-off a considerable Explosion of
Rhyme, called Le Palladion (Valori as Prussia's "Pal-
ladium," with Devils attempting to steal him, and the
like), which was once thought an exquisite Burlesque,
-- Kings coveting a sight of it, in vain, -- but is
now wearisome enough to every reader. * -- Let us
attend his Majesty's exit from Bohemia.
* Valori, 1. 242; (Euvres de Frederic, nr. 130: for the Fact. Exquisite
Burlesque, Palladion itself, is in (Euvres, xi. 192-272 (see ib. 139): a bad
copy of that very bad Original, Jeanne d'Arc, -- the only thing now good in
it, Friedrich's polite yet positive refusal to gratify King Louis and his
Pompadour with a sight of it (see ib. Preface, x. -xiv. , Friedrich's Letter to
Louis; date of request and of refusal, March 1750).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiiji Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 188
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
18th--30th Sept. 1745.
CHAPTER XII.
BATTLE OP SOHR.
The famed beautiful Elbe River rises in romantic
chasms, terrible to the picturesque beholder, at the
roots of the Riesengebirge; overlooked by the Hohe-
Kamms, and highest summits of that chain. "Out of
eleven wells," says gentle Dulness, "Eilf or Elf Quellen,
whence its name, Elbe for Elf. " Sure enough, it starts
out of various wells;* rushes out, like a great peacock's
or pasha's tail, from the roots of the Giant Mountains
thereabouts; and hurries southward, -- or even rather
eastward, at first; for (except the Iser to westward,
which does not fall in for a great while) its chief
branches come from the eastern side: Aupa, Metau,
Adler, the drainings of Glatz, and of that rugged
Country where Friedrich has been camping and
manceuvering all summer. On the whole, its course
is southward for the first seventy or eighty miles,
washing Jaromirz, Konigshof, Konigsgratz, down to
Pardubitz: at Pardubitz it turns abruptly westward,
and holds on so, bending even northward, by hill
and plain, through the rest of its five or six hundred
miles.
Its first considerable branch, on that eastern or left
bank, is the Aupa, which rises in the Pass of Schatz-
* Description, in Zollner, Briefe ubcr Schlesien, u. 805; in &c. &c.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiiji Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. Xn. ] BATTLE OP SOHH. 189
18th Sept. 1745.
lar (great struggling there, for convoys, just now); goes
next by Trautenau, which has lately been burnt; and
joins the Elbe at Jaromirz, where Valori was stolen, or
nearly so, from under the Prussian left wing.
