**
Well; -- but Barberina had, as is usual, subsidiary trades
* ROdenbeck, pp.
Well; -- but Barberina had, as is usual, subsidiary trades
* ROdenbeck, pp.
Thomas Carlyle
This is no fable; it is a fact,
somewhat formidable; brought about, they say, by one
* "19th February 1744," French and Spanish Fleets run out; 22d
February, are attacked by Matthews and Lestock; are rather beaten , not
beaten nearly enough (Matthews and Lestock blaming one another,
Spaniards and French ditto, ditto: Adelung, iv. 32-35); -- with the endless
janglings, correspondings, Court-martial-ings that ensue (Beatson, Naval
and Military Memoirs, i. 197 et sqq. ; Gentleman's Magazine, and Old News-
papers, for 1744; &c. &c).
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? 362 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDINO. [bOOKXIV.
Jan. --April 1744.
Cardinal Tencin, an Official Person of celebrity in the then
Versailles world; who owes his red hat (whatever such debt
really be) to old Jacobite influence, exerted for him at
Rome; and takes this method of paying his debt and his court
at once. Gets, namely, his proposal, of a Charles-Edward
Invasion of England, to dovetail in with the other wide
artilleries now bent on little George in the way we see. Had
not little George better have stayed at home out of these
Pragmatic Wars? Fifteen thousand, aided by the native
Jacobite hosts, under command of Saxe, -- a Saxe against a
Wade is fearful odds, -- may make some figure in England!
We hope always they will not be able to land. Imagination
may conceive the flurry, if not of Britannic mankind, at least
of Britannic Majesty and his Official People, and what a stir
and din they made: -- of which this is the compressed upshot.
"Saturday, 1st March 1744. For nearly a week past, there
"has been seen hanging about in the Channel, and danger-
"ously hovering to and fro" (had entered by the Land's-End,
was first noticed on Sunday last 'nigh the Eddistone'), "a
"considerable French Fleet, sixteen great ships; with four or
"five more, probably belonging to it, which now lie off Dun-
"kirk: the intention of which is too well known in high
"quarters. This is the grand Brest Fleet, Admiral Roque-
"feuille's; which believes it can command the Channel, in
"present circumstances, the English Channel Fleets being in
"a disjoined condition, -- till Comte de Saxe, with his Charles
"Edward and 15,000, do ship themselves across! Great alarm
"in consequence; our War-forces, 40,000 of them, all in
"Germany; not the least preparation to receive an Invasive
"Armament. Comte de Saxe is veritably at Dunkirk, since
"Saturday, March 1st; busy shipping his 15,000; equipments
"mostly shipped, and about 10,000 of the men: all is activity
"there; Boquefeuille hanging about Dungeness, with four of
"his twenty great ships detached for more immediate protec-
tion of Saxe and those Dunkirk industries. To meet which,
"old Admiral Norris, off and on towards the Nore and the
"Forelands, has been doing his best to rally force about him;
"hopes he will now be match for Roquefeuille:-- but if he
"should not?
"Thursday, 6th March. Afternoon of March 5th, old
"Admiral Norris, hoping he was at length in something like
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 363
Jan. --April 1744.
"equality, 'tided it round the South Foreland;' sawRoque-
"feuille hanging, in full tale, within few miles; -- and at once
"plunged into him? No, reader; not at once, nor indeed at
"all. A great seafight was expected; but our old Norris
"thought it late in the day; -- and in effect, no fight proved
"needful. Daylight was not yet sunk, when there rose from
"the north-eastward a heavy gale; blew all night, and by six
"next morning, was a raging storm; had blown Roquefeuille
"quite away out of those waters (fractions of him upon the
"rocks of Guernsey); had tumbled Comte de Saxe's Trans-
ports bottom uppermost (so to speak), in Dunkirk Roads; --
"and, in fact, had blown the Enterprise over the horizon, and
"relieved the Official Britannic mind in the usual miraculous
"manner.
"M. le Comte de Saxe, -- who had, by superhuman acti-
vity, saved nearly all his men, in that hideous topsy-turvy
"of the Transports and munitions,-- returned straightway,
"and much more M. le Comte de Spinelli with him, to Paris.
"Comte de Saxe was directly thereupon made Mare'ehal de
"France; appointed to be Colleague of Noailles in the ensuing
"Netherlands Campaign. 'Comte de Spinelli went to lodge
"with his Uncle, the Cardinal Grand-Almoner Fitz-James' (a
"zealous gentleman, of influence with the Holy Father), and
"there in privacy to wait other chances that might rise. 'The
"1,500 silver medals, that had been struck for distribution
"in Great Britain,' fell, for this time, into the melting pot
"again. *
"Great stir, in British Parliament and Public, there had
"latterly been on this matter: Arrestment of suspected per-
"sons, banishment of all Catholics ten miles from London;
"likewise registering of horses (to gallop with cannon whither
"wanted); likewise improvising of cavalry regiments by per-
"sons of condition,' Set our plush people on our coach-horses;
"there! ' (Yes, there will be a Cavalry, -- inferior to General
Ziethen's! ); "and were actually drilling them in several
"places, when that fortunate blast of storm (March 6th) blew
"everything to quiet again. Fieldmarshal Earl of Stair, in
"regard to the Scottish 'populations, had shown a noble
"magnanimity; which was recognised: and a General Sir
* Tindal, xxi. 22 (mostly a puddle of inaccuracies, as usual); Espagnac,
. 213; Gent lemon's -Magazine, xiv. 106, &c. ; Bar trier, ii. 382, 385, 388.
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? 364 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [BOOKXrv.
Jan. --April 1744.
"John Cope rode off, post-haste, to take the chief command
"in that Country; -- where, in about eighteen months hence,
"he made a very shining thing of it! -- Take this other
Cutting from Old Newspapers:
"Friday, 31s( (20th) March 1744, A general press began for
"recruiting his Majesty's regiments, and manning the Fleet;
"when upwards of 1,000 men were secured in the jails of Lon-
"don and Westminster; being allowed sixpence a head per
"diem, by the Commissioners of the Land-tax, who examine
"them, and send those away that are found fit for his Majesty's
"service. The same method was taken in each County. "
Press ceases; enough being got, -- press no more till farther
order: 5th (16th) June*
Britannic Majesty, shaken by such omens, does not
in person visit Germany at all this Year; nor, by his
Deputies, at all shine on the fields of War as lately.
He, his English and he, did indeed come down with
their cash in a prompt and manful manner, but showed
little other activity this year. Their troops were
already in the Netherlands, since Winter last; led now
by a Fieldmarshal Wade, of whom one has heard; to
whom joined themselves certain Austrians, under Due
d'Ahremberg, and certain Dutch, under some other man
in cocked-hat: the whole of whom, under Marshal
Wade's chief guidance, did as good as nothing what-
ever. "Inferior in force! " cried Marshal Wade; an
indolent incompetent old gentleman, frightful to see in
command of troops: "inferior in force! " cried he,
which was not at first quite the case. And when, by
additions to himself, and deductions (of a most unex-
pected nature) from his Enemy, he had become nearly
double in force, it was all the same: Marshal Wade
(against whom indeed was Mare'chal de Saxe, now in
* Gentleman's Magazine for 1744, pp. 226, 333.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 365
Feb. --April 1744.
sole command, as we shall see) took shelter in safe
places, witnessing therefrom the swift destruction of
the Netherlands, and would attempt nothing. Which
indeed was perhaps prudent on the Marshal's part.
Much money was spent, and men enough did puddle
themselves to death on the clay roads, or bivouacking
in the safe swamps; but not the least stroke of battle
was got out of them under this old Marshal. Had
perhaps "a divided command, though nominal Chief,"
poor old gentleman; -- yes, and a head that under-
stood nothing of his business withal. One of those
same astonishing "Generals" of the English, now be-
coming known in Natural History; the like of whom,
till within these hundred and fifty years, were not
heard of among sane Nations. Saxe versus Wade is
fearful odds. To judge by the way Saxe has of hand-
ling Wade, may not we thank Heaven that it was not
here in England the trial came on! Lift up both your
hands, and bless -- not General Wade, quite yet.
The young Duke of Wurtemberg gets a valedictory Ad-
vice; and Pbllnitz a ditto Testimonial (February 6th;
April 1st, 1744).
February 7th, 1744, Karl Eugen, the young Duke
of Wurtemberg, -- Friedrich having got, from the Kai-
ser, due Dispensation (venia cetatis) for the young gen-
tleman, and had him declared Duke Regnant, though
only sixteen, -- quitted Berlin with great pomp, for
his own Country, on that errand. Friedrich had hoped
hereby to settle the Wurtemberg matters on a good
footing, and be sure of a friend in Wurtemberg to the
Kaiser and himself. Which hope, like everybody's
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? 366 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKHV.
Feb. --April 1744.
hopes about this young gentleman, was entirely dis-
appointed; said young gentleman having got into per-
verse, haughty, sulky, ill-conditioned ways, and made
a bad Life and Reign of it, -- better to lie mostly
hidden from us henceforth, at least for many years to
come. The excellent Parting Letter which Friedrich
gave him got abroad into the world; was christened
the Mirror of Princes, and greatly admired by man-
kind. It is indeed an almost faultless Piece of its
kind; comprising, in a flowing yet precise way, with
admirable frankness, sincerity, sagacity, succinctness, a
Whole Duty of Regnant Man; * -- but I fear it would
only weary the reader; perfect advice having become
so plentiful in our Epoch, with little but "pavement"
to a certain Locality the consequence! --
There is, of the same months, a Testimonial to Poll-
nitz, which also got abroad and had its celebrity: this,
as specimen of Friedrich on the comic side, will per-
haps be less afflicting; and it will rid us of Pollnitz,
poor soul, on handsome terms.
Groldstick Pollnitz is at Baireuth in these months;
fallen quite disconsolate since we last heard of him.
His fine marriage went awry, -- rich lady, very wisely,
drawing back; -- and the foolish old creature has
decided on rechanging his religion; which he has
changed already thrice or so, in his vagabond straits;
for the purpose of "retiring to a convent"*this time.
Friedrich, in candid brief manner, rough but wise, and
not without some kindness for an old dog one is used
to, has answered, "Nonsense; that will never do! " But
Pollnitz persisting; formally demanding leave to demit,
* In (Euvres de Frederic, ix. 4-7.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 367
Feb. --April 1741.
and lay down the goldstick, with that view, -- Fried-
rich does at length send him Certificate of Leave;
"which is drawn out with all the forms, and was
"despatched through Eichel to the proper Board;" but
which bears date April First, and though officially
valid, is of quizzical nature: -- perhaps already known
to some readers; having got into the Newspapers, and
widely abroad, at a subsequent time. As authentic
sample of Friedrich in that kind, here it accurately is,
with only one or two slight abridgments, which are
indicated:
"Whereas the Baron de P611nitz,born at Berlin" (at Koln,
if it made any matter), "of honest parents so far as We know,
"-- after having served Our Grandfather as Gentleman of the
"Chamber, Madame d'Orle'ans' (wicked Regent's Mother, a
"famed German Lady) in the same rank, the King of Spain
"in quality of Colonel, the deceased Kaiser in that of Captain
"of Horse, the Pope as Chamberlain, the Duke of Brunswick as
"Chamberlain, Duke of Weimar as Ensign, Our Father as
"Chamberlain, and, in fine, Us as Grand Master of the Cere-
"monies," -- has, in spite of such accumulation of honours,
become disgusted with the world; and requests a Parting
Testimony, to support his good reputation, --
"We, remembering his important services to the House,
"in diverting for nine years long the late King our Father,
"and doing the honours of our Court during the now Reign,
"cannot refuse such request; but do hereby certify, That the
"said Baron has never assassinated, robbed on the highway,
"poisoned, forcibly cut purses, or done other atrocity or
"legal crime at our Court; but has always maintained gentle-
"manly behaviour, making not more than honest use of the
"industry and talents he has been endowed with at birth;
"imitating the object of the Drama, that is, correcting man-
"kind by gentle quizzing; following, in the matter of
"sobriety, Boerhaave's counsels; pushing Christian charity
"so far as often to make the rich understand that it is more
"blessed to give than to receive; -- possessing perfectly the
"anecdotes of our various Mansions, especially of our worn-
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? 368 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
May 1744.
"out Furnitures; rendering himself, by his merits, necessary
"to those who know him; and, with a very bad head, having
"a very good heart.
"Our anger the said Baron never kindled but once," -- in
atrociously violating the grave of an Ancestress (or Step-
Ancestress) of ours. * "But as the loveliest countries have
"their barren spots, the beautifullest forms their imperfec-
"tions, pictures by the greatest masters their faults, We are
"willing to cover with the veil of oblivion those of the said
"Baron; do hereby grant him, with regret, the Congee he
"requires; -- and abolish his Office altogether, to blot it from
"men's memory, not judging that anybody after the said
"Baron can be worthy to fill it.
"Done at Potsdam, this 1st of April 1744.
"FfiD^EIC. "**
The Office of Grand Master of the Ceremonies was,
accordingly, abolished altogether. But Pollnitz, left
loose in this manner, did not gallop direct, or go at
all, into monkhood, as he had expected; but, in fact,
by degrees, crept home to Berlin again; took the sub-
altern post of Chamberlain; and there, in the old
fashion (straitened in finance, making loans, retailing
anecdotes, not witty but the cause of wit), wore out
life's gray evening; till, about thirty years hence, he
died; "died as he had lived, swindling the very night
before his decease," writes Friedrich; *** who was always
rather kind to the poor old dog, though bantering him
a good deal.
* Step-Ancestress was Dorothea, the Great Elector's second Wife; of
whom Pollnitz, in his Memoirs and Letters, repeats the rumour that once
she, perhaps, tried to poison her Stepson Friedrich, First King. (See supra,
vol. i. p. 65. )
** iEuvres, xv. 193.
? ** Letter to Voltaire, 13th August 1775 (CEuvres de Friiirie, xxiii. 344).
See Preuss, v. 241 (Urkundenbuch), the Letters of Friedrich to Pollnitz.
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? CHAP. XIV. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 369
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
Two Conquests for Prussia, a gaseous and a solid: Con-
quest First, Barberina the Dancer.
Early in May, the Berlin Public first saw its
Barberina dance, and wrote ecstatic Latin Epigrams
about that miracle of nature and art; * -- miracle
alas, not entirely omissible by us. Here is her Story,
as the Books give it; slightly mythical, I judge, in
some of its non-essential parts; but good enough for
the subject:
Barbarina the Dancer had cost Friedrich some trouble;
the pains he took with her elegant pirouettings and pousset-
tings, and the heavy salary he gave her, are an unexpected
item in his history. He wished to favour the Arts, yes; but
did he reckon Opera-dancing a chief one among them? He
had indeed built an Opera-house, and gave free-admissions,
supporting the cost himself; and among his other governings,
foverned the dancer and singer troops of that establishment.
'ook no little trouble about his Opera: -- yet perhaps he
privately knew its place, after all. "Wished to encourage
strangers of opulent condition to visit his Capital," say the
cunning ones. It may be so; and, at any rate, he probably
wished to act the King in such matters, and not grudge a little
money. He really loved music, even opera music, and knew
that his people loved it; to the rough natural man,all rhythm,
even of a Barberina's feet, may be didactic, beneficial: do
not higgle, let us do what is to be done in a liberal style. His
agent at Venice, -- for he has agents everywhere on the out-
look for him, -- reports that here is a Female Dancer of the
first quality, who has shone in London, Paris and the Capital
Cities, and might answer well, but whose terms will probably
be dear. "Engage her," answers Friedrich. And she is
engaged on pretty terms; she will be free in a month or t^o,
and then start.
**
Well; -- but Barberina had, as is usual, subsidiary trades
* ROdenbeck, pp. Ill, 190.
** Zimmermann, Fraqmente fiber Friedrich den Grossen (Leipzig, 17D0),
1. 88-92; Collini, ubi infra; Denina; &c. : compare ROdenbeck, p. 191.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. Vll. 24
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? 370 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
to her dancing: in particular, a young English Gentleman
had followed her up and down, says Zimmermann, and was
still here in Venice passionately attached to her. Which fact,
especially which young English gentleman, should have been
extremely indifferent to me, but for a circumstance soon to be
mentioned. The young English gentleman, clear against
Barberina's Prussian scheme, passionately opposes the same,
passionately renews his own offers; --induces Barberina to
inform the Prussian agent that she renounces her engagement
in that quarter. Prussian agent answers that it is not re-
nounceable; that he has legal writing on it, and that it must
be kept. Barberina rises into contumacy, will laugh at all
writing and compulsion. Prussian agent applies to Doge and
Senate on the subject, in his King's name; who answer po-
litely, but do nothing: "How happy to oblige so great a King;
but --" And so it lasts for certain months; Barberina and the
young English gentleman contumacious in Venice, and Doge
and Senate merely wishing we may get her.
Meanwhile a Venetian Ambassador happens to be passing
through Berlin, in his way to or from some Hyperborean
State; arrives at some hotel, in Berlin; -- finds, on the mor-
row, that his luggage is arrested by Royal Order; that he, or
at least il, cannot get farther, neither advance nor return,
till Barberina do come. "Impossible, Signor: a bargain is a'
bargain; and States ought to have law-courts that enforce
contracts entered into in their territories. " The Venetian
Doge and Senate do now lay hold of Barberina; pack her into
post-chaises, off towards Berlin, under the charge of armed
men, with the proper transit-papers, -- as it were under the
address, "For his Majesty of Prussia, this side uppermost,"
-- and thus she actually is conveyed, date or month uncertain,
by Innspruck or the Spliigen, I cannot say which, over moun-
tain, over valley, from country to country, and from stage
to Btage, till she arrives at Berlin; Ambassador with bag-
gage having been let go, so soon as the affair was seen to
be safe.
As for the young English gentleman passionately at-
tached, he followed, it is understood, faithful, constant as
shadow to the sun, always a stage behind; arrived in Berlin
two hours after his Barberina, stillpassionately attached; and
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 371
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
now, as the rumour goes, was threatening even to marry her,
and so save the matter. Supremely indifferent to my readers
and me. But here now is the circumstance that makes it men-
tionable. The young English is properly a young Scotch
gentleman; James Mackenzie the name of him, -- a Grand-
son of the celebrated Advocate, Sir George Mackenzie; and
younger Brother of a personage who, as Earl of Bute, became
extremely conspicuous in this Kingdom in after years. That
makes it mentionable, -- if only in the shape of myth. For
Friedrich, according to rumour, being still like to lose his
Dancer in that manner, warned the young gentleman's
friends; and had him peremptorily summoned home, and the
light fantastic toe left free in that respect. Which procedure
the indignant young gentleman (thinks my Author) never
forgave; continuing a hater of Friedrich all his days; and
instilling the same sentiment into the Earl of Bute at a period
which was very critical, as we shall see. This is my Author's,
the often fallacious though not mendacious Dr. Zimmer-
mann's, rather deliberate account; a man not given to men-
dacity, though filled with much vague wind, which renders
him fallacious in historical points.
Readers of Walpole's George the Third know enough of this
Mackenzie, "Earl's Brother, Mackinsy," and the sorrowful
difficulties about his Scotch law-office or benefice; in which
matter "Mackinsy" behaves always in a highway, and only
the Ministerial Outs and Ins higgle pedlar-like, vigilant of the
Liberties of England, as they call them. In the end, Mackinsy
kept his law-office or got it restored to him; 3,000/. a year
without excess of work; a man much the gentleman, accord-
ing to the rule then current: in contemplative rare moments,
the man, looking back through the dim posterns of the mind,
might see afar off a certain pirouetting Figure, once far from
indifferent, and not yet quite melted into cheerless gray
smoke, as so much of the rest is -- to Mr. Mackinsy and us. I
have made, in the Scotch Mackenzie circles, what inquiry was
due; find no evidence, but various likelihoods, that this of the
Barberina and him is fact, and a piece of his biography. As
to the inference deduced from it, in regard to Friedrich and
the Earl of Bute, on a critical occasion, -- that rests entirely
with Zimmermann; and the candid mind inclines to admit
that, probably, it is but rumour and conjecture; street-dust
24*
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? 372 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
25th May 1744.
sticking to the Doctor's shoes, and demanding merely to be
well swept out again. Heigho! --
Barberina, though a dancer, did not want for more essen-
tial graces. Very sprightly, very pretty and intelligent; not
without piquancy and pungency: the King himself has been
known to take tea with her in mixed society, though nothing
more; and with passionate young gentlemen she was very
successful. Not long after her coming to Berlin, she mado
conquest of Cocceji, the celebrated Chancellor's Son; who
finding no other resource, at length privately married her.
Voltaire's Collini, when he came to Berlin, in 1750, recom-
mended by a Signora Sister of the Barberina's, found the
Barberina and her Mother dining daily with this Cocceji as
their guest:* Signora Barberina privately informed Collini
how the matter was; Signorina still dancing all the same, --
though she had money in the English funds withal; and Fried-
rich had been so generous as give her the fixing of her own
salary, when she came to him, this-side-uppermost, in the way
we described. She had fixed, too modestly thinks Collini, on
5,000 thalers (about 750/. ) a year; having heart and head as
well as heels, poor little soul. Perhaps her notablest feat in
History, after all, was her leading this Collini, as she now did,
into the service of Voltaire, to be Voltaire's Secretary. As
will be seen. Whereby we have obtained a loyal little Book,
more credible than most others, about that notable man.
At a subsequent period, Barberina decided on declaring
her marriage with Cocceji; she drew her money from the
English funds, purchased a fine mansion, and went to live
with the said Cocceji there, giving up the Opera and public
pirouettes. But this did not answer either. Cocceji's Mother
scorned irreconcilably the Opera alliance; Friedrich, who did
not himself like it in his Chancellor's Son, promoted the young
man to some higher post in the distant Silesian region. But
there, alas, they themselves quarrelled; divorced one an-
other; and rumour again was busy. "You, Cocceji yourself,
are but a schoolmaster's grandson" (Barberina, one easily
supposes, might have a temper withal); "and it is I, if you
will recollect, that drew money from the English funds! "
Barberina married again; and to a nobleman of sixteen quar-
* Collini, Uon Sejour avpres de Voltaire (a Paris, 1807), pp. 13-19.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 373
25th May 1744.
ters this time, and with whom at least there was no divorce.
Successful with passionate gentlemen; having money from
the English funds. Pier last name was Grafinn -- I really
know not what. Her descendants probably still live, with
sixteen quarters, in those parts. It was thus she did her
life-journey, waltzing and walking; successfully holding her
own against the world. History declares itself ashamed of
spending so many words on such a subject. But the Dancer of
Friedricn, and the authoress, prime or proximate, of Collim's
Voltaire, claims a passing remembrance. Let us, if we can
easily help it, never speak of her more.
Conquest Second is Ost-Friesland, of a solid Nature.
May 25th, 1744, just while Barberina began her
pirouettings at Berlin, poor Karl Edzard, Prince of
East Friesland, long a weak malingering creature, died,
rather suddenly; childless, and the last of his House,
which had endured there about 300 years. Our clever
Wilhelmina at Baireuth, though readers have forgotten
the small circumstance, had married a superfluous
Sister-in-law of hers to this Karl Edzard; and, they
say, it was some fond hope of progeny, suddenly
dashed into nothingness, that finished the poor man,
that night of May 25th. In any case, his Territory
falls to Prussia, by Reich's Settlement of long standing
(1683-1694); which had been confirmed anew to the
late King, Friedrich Wilhelm: -- we remember how
he returned with it, honest man, from that Kladrup
Journey in 1732, and was sniffed at for bringing
nothing better. And in the interim, his royal Hanover
Cousins, coveting East Friesland, had clapt up an
Erbverbriiderung with the poor Prince there (Father, I
think, of the one just dead): "A thing ultra vires"
argued Lawyers; "private, quasi-clandestine; and pos-
terior (in a sense) to Reich's Conclusum, 1694. "
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? 374 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. nu.
On which ground, however, George II. now sued
Friedrich at Reich's Law. -- Friedrich, we need not
say, having instantly taken possession of Ost-Friesland.
And there ensued arguing enough between them, for
years coming; very great expenditure of parchment,
and of mutual barking at the moon (done always by
proxy, and easy to do); which doubtless increased the
mutual ill feeling, but had no other effect. Friedrich,
who had been well awake to Ost-Friesland for some
time back, and had given his Official (Cocceji his
Minister of Justice, Chancellor by and by, and one or
two subordinates) their precise Instructions, laid hold
of it, with a maximum of promptitude; thereby
quashing a great deal of much more dangerous litiga-
tion than Uncle George's.
"In all Germany, not excepting even Mecklenburg, there
"had been no more anarchic spot than Ost-Friesland for the
"last sixty or seventy years. A Country with parliamentary -
"life in extraordinary vivacity (rising indeed to the suicidal or
"internecine pitch, in two or three directions), and next to no
"regent-life at all. A Country that had loved Freedom, not
"wisely but too well! Ritter Party, Prince's Party, Towns'
"Party; -- always two or more internecine Parties: 'False
"Parliament you, traitors! ' 'We? False you, traitors! ' --
"The Parish Constable, by general consent, kept walking;
"but for Government there was this of the Parliamentary Elo-
quences (three at once), and Freedom's battle, fancy it, be-
queathed from sire to son! 'The late Karl Edzard never
"once was in Embden, his chief Town, though he lived within
"a dozen miles of it. ' -- And then, still more questionable, all
"these energetic little Parties had applied to the Neigh-
"bouring Governments, and had each its small Foreign Bat-
"talion, 'To protect us and our just franchises! ' Imperial
"Reich's-Safeguard Battalion, Dutch Battalion, Danish Bat-
"talion, -- Prussian, it first of all was (year 1683, Town of
"Embden inviting the Great Elector), but it is not so now.
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? CHAP. vni. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 375
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
'The Prussians had needed to be quietly swift, on that 25th
'day of May 1744.
"And truly they were so: Cocceji having all things ready;
'leading party-men already secured to him, troops within
'call, and the like. The Prussians, -- Embden Town-Council
'inviting their astonished Dutch Battalion not to be at home,
'--marched quietly into Embden 'next day,' and took pos-
'session of the guns. Marched to Aurich (official metropolis),
'Danes and Imperial Safe-guard saying nothing: and, in
'short, within a week had, in their usual exact fashion, got
'firm hold of chaotic Ost-Friesland. And proceeded to man-
'age it, in like sort, -- with effects soon sensible, and
'steadily continuing. Their Parliamentary-life Friedrich
'left in its full vigour: 'Tax yourselves; what revenue you
'like; and see to the outlay of it yourselves. Allowme, as
'Landes-Herr, some trifle of overplus: how much, then?
'Furthermore a few recruits, -- or recruit-money in lieu, if
'you like better! ' And it was astonishing how the Parliament-
'ary vitality, not shortened of its least franchise, or coerced
'in any particular, but merely stroked the right way of the
'hair, by a gently formidable hand, with good head guiding,
'sank almost straightway into dove-life, and never gave Fried-
'rich any trouble, whatever else it might do. The manage-
'ment was good; the opportunity also was good. 'In one
'sitting, the Prussian Agent, arbitrating between Embden
'and the Ritters, settled their controversy, which had lasted
'fifty years. ' The poor Country felt grateful, which it might
'well do; as if for the laying of goblins, for the ending of
'long-continued local typhoon! Friedrich's first Visit, in
'1751, was welcomed with universal jubilation; and poor
'Ost-Friesland thanked him in still more solid ways, when
'occasion rose. *
"It is not an important Country: -- only about the size of
'Cheshire; wet like it, and much inferior to it in cheese, in
'resources for leather and live-stock, though it perhaps ex-
'cels, again, in clover-seeds, rape-seeds, Flanders horses, and
'the flax products. The 'clear overplus' it yielded to Fried -
'rich, as Sovereign Administrator and Defender, was only
'3,2001. ; for recruit-money, 6,0001. (no recruits in corpore); in
* Ranko, HI. 370-82.
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? 376 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
"all, little more than 9,000/. a year. But it had its uses too.
"Embden, bigger than Chester, and with a better harbour,
"was a place of good trade; and brought Friedrich into con-
"tact with sea-matters; in which, as we shall find, he did
"make some creditable incipiencies, raising expectations in
"the world; and might have carried it farther, had not new
"Wars, far worse than this now at hand, interrupted him. "
Friedrich was at Pyrmont, taking the waters, while
this of Friesland fell out; he had gone thither May
20th; was just arrived there, four days before the
death of Karl Edzard. * His Officials, well pre-in-
structed, managed the Ost-Friesland Question mainly
themselves. Friedrich was taking the waters; ostensibly
nothing more. But he was withal, and still more
earnestly, consulting with a French Excellency (who
also had felt a need of the waters), about the French
Campaign for this Season: Whether Coigny was strong
enough in the Middle Rhine Countries; how their
Grand Army of the Netherlands shaped to prosper;
and other the like interesting points. ** Frankfurt
Union is just signed (May 22d). Most Christian
Majesty is himself under way to the Netherlands, him-
self going to command there, as we shall see. "Good! "
answers Friedrich: "But don't weaken Coigny, think
of Prince Karl on that side; don't detach from Coigny,
and reduce his 60,000 to 40,000! "
Plenty of mutual consulting, as they walk in the
woods there. And how profoundly obscure, to certain
Official parties much concerned, judge from the follow-
ing small Document, preserved by accident:
* Rfldenbeck, p. 102. ** Ranke, iii.
somewhat formidable; brought about, they say, by one
* "19th February 1744," French and Spanish Fleets run out; 22d
February, are attacked by Matthews and Lestock; are rather beaten , not
beaten nearly enough (Matthews and Lestock blaming one another,
Spaniards and French ditto, ditto: Adelung, iv. 32-35); -- with the endless
janglings, correspondings, Court-martial-ings that ensue (Beatson, Naval
and Military Memoirs, i. 197 et sqq. ; Gentleman's Magazine, and Old News-
papers, for 1744; &c. &c).
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? 362 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDINO. [bOOKXIV.
Jan. --April 1744.
Cardinal Tencin, an Official Person of celebrity in the then
Versailles world; who owes his red hat (whatever such debt
really be) to old Jacobite influence, exerted for him at
Rome; and takes this method of paying his debt and his court
at once. Gets, namely, his proposal, of a Charles-Edward
Invasion of England, to dovetail in with the other wide
artilleries now bent on little George in the way we see. Had
not little George better have stayed at home out of these
Pragmatic Wars? Fifteen thousand, aided by the native
Jacobite hosts, under command of Saxe, -- a Saxe against a
Wade is fearful odds, -- may make some figure in England!
We hope always they will not be able to land. Imagination
may conceive the flurry, if not of Britannic mankind, at least
of Britannic Majesty and his Official People, and what a stir
and din they made: -- of which this is the compressed upshot.
"Saturday, 1st March 1744. For nearly a week past, there
"has been seen hanging about in the Channel, and danger-
"ously hovering to and fro" (had entered by the Land's-End,
was first noticed on Sunday last 'nigh the Eddistone'), "a
"considerable French Fleet, sixteen great ships; with four or
"five more, probably belonging to it, which now lie off Dun-
"kirk: the intention of which is too well known in high
"quarters. This is the grand Brest Fleet, Admiral Roque-
"feuille's; which believes it can command the Channel, in
"present circumstances, the English Channel Fleets being in
"a disjoined condition, -- till Comte de Saxe, with his Charles
"Edward and 15,000, do ship themselves across! Great alarm
"in consequence; our War-forces, 40,000 of them, all in
"Germany; not the least preparation to receive an Invasive
"Armament. Comte de Saxe is veritably at Dunkirk, since
"Saturday, March 1st; busy shipping his 15,000; equipments
"mostly shipped, and about 10,000 of the men: all is activity
"there; Boquefeuille hanging about Dungeness, with four of
"his twenty great ships detached for more immediate protec-
tion of Saxe and those Dunkirk industries. To meet which,
"old Admiral Norris, off and on towards the Nore and the
"Forelands, has been doing his best to rally force about him;
"hopes he will now be match for Roquefeuille:-- but if he
"should not?
"Thursday, 6th March. Afternoon of March 5th, old
"Admiral Norris, hoping he was at length in something like
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 363
Jan. --April 1744.
"equality, 'tided it round the South Foreland;' sawRoque-
"feuille hanging, in full tale, within few miles; -- and at once
"plunged into him? No, reader; not at once, nor indeed at
"all. A great seafight was expected; but our old Norris
"thought it late in the day; -- and in effect, no fight proved
"needful. Daylight was not yet sunk, when there rose from
"the north-eastward a heavy gale; blew all night, and by six
"next morning, was a raging storm; had blown Roquefeuille
"quite away out of those waters (fractions of him upon the
"rocks of Guernsey); had tumbled Comte de Saxe's Trans-
ports bottom uppermost (so to speak), in Dunkirk Roads; --
"and, in fact, had blown the Enterprise over the horizon, and
"relieved the Official Britannic mind in the usual miraculous
"manner.
"M. le Comte de Saxe, -- who had, by superhuman acti-
vity, saved nearly all his men, in that hideous topsy-turvy
"of the Transports and munitions,-- returned straightway,
"and much more M. le Comte de Spinelli with him, to Paris.
"Comte de Saxe was directly thereupon made Mare'ehal de
"France; appointed to be Colleague of Noailles in the ensuing
"Netherlands Campaign. 'Comte de Spinelli went to lodge
"with his Uncle, the Cardinal Grand-Almoner Fitz-James' (a
"zealous gentleman, of influence with the Holy Father), and
"there in privacy to wait other chances that might rise. 'The
"1,500 silver medals, that had been struck for distribution
"in Great Britain,' fell, for this time, into the melting pot
"again. *
"Great stir, in British Parliament and Public, there had
"latterly been on this matter: Arrestment of suspected per-
"sons, banishment of all Catholics ten miles from London;
"likewise registering of horses (to gallop with cannon whither
"wanted); likewise improvising of cavalry regiments by per-
"sons of condition,' Set our plush people on our coach-horses;
"there! ' (Yes, there will be a Cavalry, -- inferior to General
Ziethen's! ); "and were actually drilling them in several
"places, when that fortunate blast of storm (March 6th) blew
"everything to quiet again. Fieldmarshal Earl of Stair, in
"regard to the Scottish 'populations, had shown a noble
"magnanimity; which was recognised: and a General Sir
* Tindal, xxi. 22 (mostly a puddle of inaccuracies, as usual); Espagnac,
. 213; Gent lemon's -Magazine, xiv. 106, &c. ; Bar trier, ii. 382, 385, 388.
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? 364 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [BOOKXrv.
Jan. --April 1744.
"John Cope rode off, post-haste, to take the chief command
"in that Country; -- where, in about eighteen months hence,
"he made a very shining thing of it! -- Take this other
Cutting from Old Newspapers:
"Friday, 31s( (20th) March 1744, A general press began for
"recruiting his Majesty's regiments, and manning the Fleet;
"when upwards of 1,000 men were secured in the jails of Lon-
"don and Westminster; being allowed sixpence a head per
"diem, by the Commissioners of the Land-tax, who examine
"them, and send those away that are found fit for his Majesty's
"service. The same method was taken in each County. "
Press ceases; enough being got, -- press no more till farther
order: 5th (16th) June*
Britannic Majesty, shaken by such omens, does not
in person visit Germany at all this Year; nor, by his
Deputies, at all shine on the fields of War as lately.
He, his English and he, did indeed come down with
their cash in a prompt and manful manner, but showed
little other activity this year. Their troops were
already in the Netherlands, since Winter last; led now
by a Fieldmarshal Wade, of whom one has heard; to
whom joined themselves certain Austrians, under Due
d'Ahremberg, and certain Dutch, under some other man
in cocked-hat: the whole of whom, under Marshal
Wade's chief guidance, did as good as nothing what-
ever. "Inferior in force! " cried Marshal Wade; an
indolent incompetent old gentleman, frightful to see in
command of troops: "inferior in force! " cried he,
which was not at first quite the case. And when, by
additions to himself, and deductions (of a most unex-
pected nature) from his Enemy, he had become nearly
double in force, it was all the same: Marshal Wade
(against whom indeed was Mare'chal de Saxe, now in
* Gentleman's Magazine for 1744, pp. 226, 333.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 365
Feb. --April 1744.
sole command, as we shall see) took shelter in safe
places, witnessing therefrom the swift destruction of
the Netherlands, and would attempt nothing. Which
indeed was perhaps prudent on the Marshal's part.
Much money was spent, and men enough did puddle
themselves to death on the clay roads, or bivouacking
in the safe swamps; but not the least stroke of battle
was got out of them under this old Marshal. Had
perhaps "a divided command, though nominal Chief,"
poor old gentleman; -- yes, and a head that under-
stood nothing of his business withal. One of those
same astonishing "Generals" of the English, now be-
coming known in Natural History; the like of whom,
till within these hundred and fifty years, were not
heard of among sane Nations. Saxe versus Wade is
fearful odds. To judge by the way Saxe has of hand-
ling Wade, may not we thank Heaven that it was not
here in England the trial came on! Lift up both your
hands, and bless -- not General Wade, quite yet.
The young Duke of Wurtemberg gets a valedictory Ad-
vice; and Pbllnitz a ditto Testimonial (February 6th;
April 1st, 1744).
February 7th, 1744, Karl Eugen, the young Duke
of Wurtemberg, -- Friedrich having got, from the Kai-
ser, due Dispensation (venia cetatis) for the young gen-
tleman, and had him declared Duke Regnant, though
only sixteen, -- quitted Berlin with great pomp, for
his own Country, on that errand. Friedrich had hoped
hereby to settle the Wurtemberg matters on a good
footing, and be sure of a friend in Wurtemberg to the
Kaiser and himself. Which hope, like everybody's
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? 366 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKHV.
Feb. --April 1744.
hopes about this young gentleman, was entirely dis-
appointed; said young gentleman having got into per-
verse, haughty, sulky, ill-conditioned ways, and made
a bad Life and Reign of it, -- better to lie mostly
hidden from us henceforth, at least for many years to
come. The excellent Parting Letter which Friedrich
gave him got abroad into the world; was christened
the Mirror of Princes, and greatly admired by man-
kind. It is indeed an almost faultless Piece of its
kind; comprising, in a flowing yet precise way, with
admirable frankness, sincerity, sagacity, succinctness, a
Whole Duty of Regnant Man; * -- but I fear it would
only weary the reader; perfect advice having become
so plentiful in our Epoch, with little but "pavement"
to a certain Locality the consequence! --
There is, of the same months, a Testimonial to Poll-
nitz, which also got abroad and had its celebrity: this,
as specimen of Friedrich on the comic side, will per-
haps be less afflicting; and it will rid us of Pollnitz,
poor soul, on handsome terms.
Groldstick Pollnitz is at Baireuth in these months;
fallen quite disconsolate since we last heard of him.
His fine marriage went awry, -- rich lady, very wisely,
drawing back; -- and the foolish old creature has
decided on rechanging his religion; which he has
changed already thrice or so, in his vagabond straits;
for the purpose of "retiring to a convent"*this time.
Friedrich, in candid brief manner, rough but wise, and
not without some kindness for an old dog one is used
to, has answered, "Nonsense; that will never do! " But
Pollnitz persisting; formally demanding leave to demit,
* In (Euvres de Frederic, ix. 4-7.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 367
Feb. --April 1741.
and lay down the goldstick, with that view, -- Fried-
rich does at length send him Certificate of Leave;
"which is drawn out with all the forms, and was
"despatched through Eichel to the proper Board;" but
which bears date April First, and though officially
valid, is of quizzical nature: -- perhaps already known
to some readers; having got into the Newspapers, and
widely abroad, at a subsequent time. As authentic
sample of Friedrich in that kind, here it accurately is,
with only one or two slight abridgments, which are
indicated:
"Whereas the Baron de P611nitz,born at Berlin" (at Koln,
if it made any matter), "of honest parents so far as We know,
"-- after having served Our Grandfather as Gentleman of the
"Chamber, Madame d'Orle'ans' (wicked Regent's Mother, a
"famed German Lady) in the same rank, the King of Spain
"in quality of Colonel, the deceased Kaiser in that of Captain
"of Horse, the Pope as Chamberlain, the Duke of Brunswick as
"Chamberlain, Duke of Weimar as Ensign, Our Father as
"Chamberlain, and, in fine, Us as Grand Master of the Cere-
"monies," -- has, in spite of such accumulation of honours,
become disgusted with the world; and requests a Parting
Testimony, to support his good reputation, --
"We, remembering his important services to the House,
"in diverting for nine years long the late King our Father,
"and doing the honours of our Court during the now Reign,
"cannot refuse such request; but do hereby certify, That the
"said Baron has never assassinated, robbed on the highway,
"poisoned, forcibly cut purses, or done other atrocity or
"legal crime at our Court; but has always maintained gentle-
"manly behaviour, making not more than honest use of the
"industry and talents he has been endowed with at birth;
"imitating the object of the Drama, that is, correcting man-
"kind by gentle quizzing; following, in the matter of
"sobriety, Boerhaave's counsels; pushing Christian charity
"so far as often to make the rich understand that it is more
"blessed to give than to receive; -- possessing perfectly the
"anecdotes of our various Mansions, especially of our worn-
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? 368 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
May 1744.
"out Furnitures; rendering himself, by his merits, necessary
"to those who know him; and, with a very bad head, having
"a very good heart.
"Our anger the said Baron never kindled but once," -- in
atrociously violating the grave of an Ancestress (or Step-
Ancestress) of ours. * "But as the loveliest countries have
"their barren spots, the beautifullest forms their imperfec-
"tions, pictures by the greatest masters their faults, We are
"willing to cover with the veil of oblivion those of the said
"Baron; do hereby grant him, with regret, the Congee he
"requires; -- and abolish his Office altogether, to blot it from
"men's memory, not judging that anybody after the said
"Baron can be worthy to fill it.
"Done at Potsdam, this 1st of April 1744.
"FfiD^EIC. "**
The Office of Grand Master of the Ceremonies was,
accordingly, abolished altogether. But Pollnitz, left
loose in this manner, did not gallop direct, or go at
all, into monkhood, as he had expected; but, in fact,
by degrees, crept home to Berlin again; took the sub-
altern post of Chamberlain; and there, in the old
fashion (straitened in finance, making loans, retailing
anecdotes, not witty but the cause of wit), wore out
life's gray evening; till, about thirty years hence, he
died; "died as he had lived, swindling the very night
before his decease," writes Friedrich; *** who was always
rather kind to the poor old dog, though bantering him
a good deal.
* Step-Ancestress was Dorothea, the Great Elector's second Wife; of
whom Pollnitz, in his Memoirs and Letters, repeats the rumour that once
she, perhaps, tried to poison her Stepson Friedrich, First King. (See supra,
vol. i. p. 65. )
** iEuvres, xv. 193.
? ** Letter to Voltaire, 13th August 1775 (CEuvres de Friiirie, xxiii. 344).
See Preuss, v. 241 (Urkundenbuch), the Letters of Friedrich to Pollnitz.
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? CHAP. XIV. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 369
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
Two Conquests for Prussia, a gaseous and a solid: Con-
quest First, Barberina the Dancer.
Early in May, the Berlin Public first saw its
Barberina dance, and wrote ecstatic Latin Epigrams
about that miracle of nature and art; * -- miracle
alas, not entirely omissible by us. Here is her Story,
as the Books give it; slightly mythical, I judge, in
some of its non-essential parts; but good enough for
the subject:
Barbarina the Dancer had cost Friedrich some trouble;
the pains he took with her elegant pirouettings and pousset-
tings, and the heavy salary he gave her, are an unexpected
item in his history. He wished to favour the Arts, yes; but
did he reckon Opera-dancing a chief one among them? He
had indeed built an Opera-house, and gave free-admissions,
supporting the cost himself; and among his other governings,
foverned the dancer and singer troops of that establishment.
'ook no little trouble about his Opera: -- yet perhaps he
privately knew its place, after all. "Wished to encourage
strangers of opulent condition to visit his Capital," say the
cunning ones. It may be so; and, at any rate, he probably
wished to act the King in such matters, and not grudge a little
money. He really loved music, even opera music, and knew
that his people loved it; to the rough natural man,all rhythm,
even of a Barberina's feet, may be didactic, beneficial: do
not higgle, let us do what is to be done in a liberal style. His
agent at Venice, -- for he has agents everywhere on the out-
look for him, -- reports that here is a Female Dancer of the
first quality, who has shone in London, Paris and the Capital
Cities, and might answer well, but whose terms will probably
be dear. "Engage her," answers Friedrich. And she is
engaged on pretty terms; she will be free in a month or t^o,
and then start.
**
Well; -- but Barberina had, as is usual, subsidiary trades
* ROdenbeck, pp. Ill, 190.
** Zimmermann, Fraqmente fiber Friedrich den Grossen (Leipzig, 17D0),
1. 88-92; Collini, ubi infra; Denina; &c. : compare ROdenbeck, p. 191.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. Vll. 24
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? 370 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
to her dancing: in particular, a young English Gentleman
had followed her up and down, says Zimmermann, and was
still here in Venice passionately attached to her. Which fact,
especially which young English gentleman, should have been
extremely indifferent to me, but for a circumstance soon to be
mentioned. The young English gentleman, clear against
Barberina's Prussian scheme, passionately opposes the same,
passionately renews his own offers; --induces Barberina to
inform the Prussian agent that she renounces her engagement
in that quarter. Prussian agent answers that it is not re-
nounceable; that he has legal writing on it, and that it must
be kept. Barberina rises into contumacy, will laugh at all
writing and compulsion. Prussian agent applies to Doge and
Senate on the subject, in his King's name; who answer po-
litely, but do nothing: "How happy to oblige so great a King;
but --" And so it lasts for certain months; Barberina and the
young English gentleman contumacious in Venice, and Doge
and Senate merely wishing we may get her.
Meanwhile a Venetian Ambassador happens to be passing
through Berlin, in his way to or from some Hyperborean
State; arrives at some hotel, in Berlin; -- finds, on the mor-
row, that his luggage is arrested by Royal Order; that he, or
at least il, cannot get farther, neither advance nor return,
till Barberina do come. "Impossible, Signor: a bargain is a'
bargain; and States ought to have law-courts that enforce
contracts entered into in their territories. " The Venetian
Doge and Senate do now lay hold of Barberina; pack her into
post-chaises, off towards Berlin, under the charge of armed
men, with the proper transit-papers, -- as it were under the
address, "For his Majesty of Prussia, this side uppermost,"
-- and thus she actually is conveyed, date or month uncertain,
by Innspruck or the Spliigen, I cannot say which, over moun-
tain, over valley, from country to country, and from stage
to Btage, till she arrives at Berlin; Ambassador with bag-
gage having been let go, so soon as the affair was seen to
be safe.
As for the young English gentleman passionately at-
tached, he followed, it is understood, faithful, constant as
shadow to the sun, always a stage behind; arrived in Berlin
two hours after his Barberina, stillpassionately attached; and
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 371
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
now, as the rumour goes, was threatening even to marry her,
and so save the matter. Supremely indifferent to my readers
and me. But here now is the circumstance that makes it men-
tionable. The young English is properly a young Scotch
gentleman; James Mackenzie the name of him, -- a Grand-
son of the celebrated Advocate, Sir George Mackenzie; and
younger Brother of a personage who, as Earl of Bute, became
extremely conspicuous in this Kingdom in after years. That
makes it mentionable, -- if only in the shape of myth. For
Friedrich, according to rumour, being still like to lose his
Dancer in that manner, warned the young gentleman's
friends; and had him peremptorily summoned home, and the
light fantastic toe left free in that respect. Which procedure
the indignant young gentleman (thinks my Author) never
forgave; continuing a hater of Friedrich all his days; and
instilling the same sentiment into the Earl of Bute at a period
which was very critical, as we shall see. This is my Author's,
the often fallacious though not mendacious Dr. Zimmer-
mann's, rather deliberate account; a man not given to men-
dacity, though filled with much vague wind, which renders
him fallacious in historical points.
Readers of Walpole's George the Third know enough of this
Mackenzie, "Earl's Brother, Mackinsy," and the sorrowful
difficulties about his Scotch law-office or benefice; in which
matter "Mackinsy" behaves always in a highway, and only
the Ministerial Outs and Ins higgle pedlar-like, vigilant of the
Liberties of England, as they call them. In the end, Mackinsy
kept his law-office or got it restored to him; 3,000/. a year
without excess of work; a man much the gentleman, accord-
ing to the rule then current: in contemplative rare moments,
the man, looking back through the dim posterns of the mind,
might see afar off a certain pirouetting Figure, once far from
indifferent, and not yet quite melted into cheerless gray
smoke, as so much of the rest is -- to Mr. Mackinsy and us. I
have made, in the Scotch Mackenzie circles, what inquiry was
due; find no evidence, but various likelihoods, that this of the
Barberina and him is fact, and a piece of his biography. As
to the inference deduced from it, in regard to Friedrich and
the Earl of Bute, on a critical occasion, -- that rests entirely
with Zimmermann; and the candid mind inclines to admit
that, probably, it is but rumour and conjecture; street-dust
24*
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? 372 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
25th May 1744.
sticking to the Doctor's shoes, and demanding merely to be
well swept out again. Heigho! --
Barberina, though a dancer, did not want for more essen-
tial graces. Very sprightly, very pretty and intelligent; not
without piquancy and pungency: the King himself has been
known to take tea with her in mixed society, though nothing
more; and with passionate young gentlemen she was very
successful. Not long after her coming to Berlin, she mado
conquest of Cocceji, the celebrated Chancellor's Son; who
finding no other resource, at length privately married her.
Voltaire's Collini, when he came to Berlin, in 1750, recom-
mended by a Signora Sister of the Barberina's, found the
Barberina and her Mother dining daily with this Cocceji as
their guest:* Signora Barberina privately informed Collini
how the matter was; Signorina still dancing all the same, --
though she had money in the English funds withal; and Fried-
rich had been so generous as give her the fixing of her own
salary, when she came to him, this-side-uppermost, in the way
we described. She had fixed, too modestly thinks Collini, on
5,000 thalers (about 750/. ) a year; having heart and head as
well as heels, poor little soul. Perhaps her notablest feat in
History, after all, was her leading this Collini, as she now did,
into the service of Voltaire, to be Voltaire's Secretary. As
will be seen. Whereby we have obtained a loyal little Book,
more credible than most others, about that notable man.
At a subsequent period, Barberina decided on declaring
her marriage with Cocceji; she drew her money from the
English funds, purchased a fine mansion, and went to live
with the said Cocceji there, giving up the Opera and public
pirouettes. But this did not answer either. Cocceji's Mother
scorned irreconcilably the Opera alliance; Friedrich, who did
not himself like it in his Chancellor's Son, promoted the young
man to some higher post in the distant Silesian region. But
there, alas, they themselves quarrelled; divorced one an-
other; and rumour again was busy. "You, Cocceji yourself,
are but a schoolmaster's grandson" (Barberina, one easily
supposes, might have a temper withal); "and it is I, if you
will recollect, that drew money from the English funds! "
Barberina married again; and to a nobleman of sixteen quar-
* Collini, Uon Sejour avpres de Voltaire (a Paris, 1807), pp. 13-19.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 373
25th May 1744.
ters this time, and with whom at least there was no divorce.
Successful with passionate gentlemen; having money from
the English funds. Pier last name was Grafinn -- I really
know not what. Her descendants probably still live, with
sixteen quarters, in those parts. It was thus she did her
life-journey, waltzing and walking; successfully holding her
own against the world. History declares itself ashamed of
spending so many words on such a subject. But the Dancer of
Friedricn, and the authoress, prime or proximate, of Collim's
Voltaire, claims a passing remembrance. Let us, if we can
easily help it, never speak of her more.
Conquest Second is Ost-Friesland, of a solid Nature.
May 25th, 1744, just while Barberina began her
pirouettings at Berlin, poor Karl Edzard, Prince of
East Friesland, long a weak malingering creature, died,
rather suddenly; childless, and the last of his House,
which had endured there about 300 years. Our clever
Wilhelmina at Baireuth, though readers have forgotten
the small circumstance, had married a superfluous
Sister-in-law of hers to this Karl Edzard; and, they
say, it was some fond hope of progeny, suddenly
dashed into nothingness, that finished the poor man,
that night of May 25th. In any case, his Territory
falls to Prussia, by Reich's Settlement of long standing
(1683-1694); which had been confirmed anew to the
late King, Friedrich Wilhelm: -- we remember how
he returned with it, honest man, from that Kladrup
Journey in 1732, and was sniffed at for bringing
nothing better. And in the interim, his royal Hanover
Cousins, coveting East Friesland, had clapt up an
Erbverbriiderung with the poor Prince there (Father, I
think, of the one just dead): "A thing ultra vires"
argued Lawyers; "private, quasi-clandestine; and pos-
terior (in a sense) to Reich's Conclusum, 1694. "
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? 374 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. nu.
On which ground, however, George II. now sued
Friedrich at Reich's Law. -- Friedrich, we need not
say, having instantly taken possession of Ost-Friesland.
And there ensued arguing enough between them, for
years coming; very great expenditure of parchment,
and of mutual barking at the moon (done always by
proxy, and easy to do); which doubtless increased the
mutual ill feeling, but had no other effect. Friedrich,
who had been well awake to Ost-Friesland for some
time back, and had given his Official (Cocceji his
Minister of Justice, Chancellor by and by, and one or
two subordinates) their precise Instructions, laid hold
of it, with a maximum of promptitude; thereby
quashing a great deal of much more dangerous litiga-
tion than Uncle George's.
"In all Germany, not excepting even Mecklenburg, there
"had been no more anarchic spot than Ost-Friesland for the
"last sixty or seventy years. A Country with parliamentary -
"life in extraordinary vivacity (rising indeed to the suicidal or
"internecine pitch, in two or three directions), and next to no
"regent-life at all. A Country that had loved Freedom, not
"wisely but too well! Ritter Party, Prince's Party, Towns'
"Party; -- always two or more internecine Parties: 'False
"Parliament you, traitors! ' 'We? False you, traitors! ' --
"The Parish Constable, by general consent, kept walking;
"but for Government there was this of the Parliamentary Elo-
quences (three at once), and Freedom's battle, fancy it, be-
queathed from sire to son! 'The late Karl Edzard never
"once was in Embden, his chief Town, though he lived within
"a dozen miles of it. ' -- And then, still more questionable, all
"these energetic little Parties had applied to the Neigh-
"bouring Governments, and had each its small Foreign Bat-
"talion, 'To protect us and our just franchises! ' Imperial
"Reich's-Safeguard Battalion, Dutch Battalion, Danish Bat-
"talion, -- Prussian, it first of all was (year 1683, Town of
"Embden inviting the Great Elector), but it is not so now.
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? CHAP. vni. ] PEACE AT BERLIN, WAR ALL ROUND. 375
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
'The Prussians had needed to be quietly swift, on that 25th
'day of May 1744.
"And truly they were so: Cocceji having all things ready;
'leading party-men already secured to him, troops within
'call, and the like. The Prussians, -- Embden Town-Council
'inviting their astonished Dutch Battalion not to be at home,
'--marched quietly into Embden 'next day,' and took pos-
'session of the guns. Marched to Aurich (official metropolis),
'Danes and Imperial Safe-guard saying nothing: and, in
'short, within a week had, in their usual exact fashion, got
'firm hold of chaotic Ost-Friesland. And proceeded to man-
'age it, in like sort, -- with effects soon sensible, and
'steadily continuing. Their Parliamentary-life Friedrich
'left in its full vigour: 'Tax yourselves; what revenue you
'like; and see to the outlay of it yourselves. Allowme, as
'Landes-Herr, some trifle of overplus: how much, then?
'Furthermore a few recruits, -- or recruit-money in lieu, if
'you like better! ' And it was astonishing how the Parliament-
'ary vitality, not shortened of its least franchise, or coerced
'in any particular, but merely stroked the right way of the
'hair, by a gently formidable hand, with good head guiding,
'sank almost straightway into dove-life, and never gave Fried-
'rich any trouble, whatever else it might do. The manage-
'ment was good; the opportunity also was good. 'In one
'sitting, the Prussian Agent, arbitrating between Embden
'and the Ritters, settled their controversy, which had lasted
'fifty years. ' The poor Country felt grateful, which it might
'well do; as if for the laying of goblins, for the ending of
'long-continued local typhoon! Friedrich's first Visit, in
'1751, was welcomed with universal jubilation; and poor
'Ost-Friesland thanked him in still more solid ways, when
'occasion rose. *
"It is not an important Country: -- only about the size of
'Cheshire; wet like it, and much inferior to it in cheese, in
'resources for leather and live-stock, though it perhaps ex-
'cels, again, in clover-seeds, rape-seeds, Flanders horses, and
'the flax products. The 'clear overplus' it yielded to Fried -
'rich, as Sovereign Administrator and Defender, was only
'3,2001. ; for recruit-money, 6,0001. (no recruits in corpore); in
* Ranko, HI. 370-82.
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? 376 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Jan. --Aug. 1744.
"all, little more than 9,000/. a year. But it had its uses too.
"Embden, bigger than Chester, and with a better harbour,
"was a place of good trade; and brought Friedrich into con-
"tact with sea-matters; in which, as we shall find, he did
"make some creditable incipiencies, raising expectations in
"the world; and might have carried it farther, had not new
"Wars, far worse than this now at hand, interrupted him. "
Friedrich was at Pyrmont, taking the waters, while
this of Friesland fell out; he had gone thither May
20th; was just arrived there, four days before the
death of Karl Edzard. * His Officials, well pre-in-
structed, managed the Ost-Friesland Question mainly
themselves. Friedrich was taking the waters; ostensibly
nothing more. But he was withal, and still more
earnestly, consulting with a French Excellency (who
also had felt a need of the waters), about the French
Campaign for this Season: Whether Coigny was strong
enough in the Middle Rhine Countries; how their
Grand Army of the Netherlands shaped to prosper;
and other the like interesting points. ** Frankfurt
Union is just signed (May 22d). Most Christian
Majesty is himself under way to the Netherlands, him-
self going to command there, as we shall see. "Good! "
answers Friedrich: "But don't weaken Coigny, think
of Prince Karl on that side; don't detach from Coigny,
and reduce his 60,000 to 40,000! "
Plenty of mutual consulting, as they walk in the
woods there. And how profoundly obscure, to certain
Official parties much concerned, judge from the follow-
ing small Document, preserved by accident:
* Rfldenbeck, p. 102. ** Ranke, iii.
