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Thomas Carlyle
Peter had been in Berlin more than once
before; but almost always in a succinct rapid con-
dition; never with his "Court" about him till now.
This is his last, and by far his greatest, appearance in
Berlin.
Such a transit, of the Barbaric semi-fabulous Sove-
reignties, could not but be wonderful to everybody
? Voltaire: (Emrcs Completes (llistoire in Czar Pierre), xxxl. 336. --
KBhler, in ilUnzbelusligtmgeu, xvii. 386-392 (this very Medal the subject),
gives authentic account, day by day, of the Czar's visit there,
? ? 4th August 1717: Buchholz, i. 43.
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? CHAP. Vft. ] TRANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 189
1717.
there. It evidently struck Wilhelmina's fancy, now in
her ninth year, very much. What her little Brother
did in it, or thought of it, I nowhere find hinted; con-
clude only that it would remain in his head too, visible
occasionally to the end of his life. Wilhelmina's Nar-
rative, very loose, dateless or misdated, plainly wrong
in various particulars, has still its value for us: human
eyes, even a child's, are worth something, in comparison
to human want-of-eyes, which is too frequent in History-
books and elsewhere! -- Czar Peter is now fifty-five,
his Czarina Catherine about thirty-three. It was in
1698 that he first passed this way, going towards
Sardam and practical Shipbuilding: within which
twenty years, what a spell of work done! Victory of
Pultawa is eight years behind him;* victories in many
kinds are behind him: by this time he is to be reckoned
a triumphant Czar; and is certainly the strangest mix-
ture of heroic virtue and brutish Samoiedic savagery
the world at any time had.
It was Sunday, 19th September 1717, when the
Czar arrived in Berlin. Being already sated with
scenic parades, he had begged to be spared all cere-
mony; begged to be lodged in Monbijou, the Queen's
little Garden-Palace, with river and trees round it,
where he hoped to be quietest. Monbijou has been
set apart accordingly; the Queen, not in the benignest
humour, sweeping all her crystals and brittle things
away; knowing the manners of the Muscovites. Nor
in the way of ceremony was there much: King and
? 27th Jane 1709.
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? 190 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book IT.
* 1719
Queen drove-out to meet him; rampart-guns gave three
big salvoes, as the Czarish Majesty stept forth. "I am
glad to see you, my Brother Friedrich," said Peter, in
German, his only intelligible language; shaking hands
with the Brother Majesty, in a cordial human manner.
The Queen he, still more cordially, "would have kissed;"
but this she evaded, in some graceful, effective way.
As to the Czarina, -- who, for obstetric and other
reasons, of no moment to us, had staid in Wesel all
the time he was in France, -- she followed him now
at two-days distance; not along with him, as Wilhel-
mina has it . Wilhelmina says, she kissed the Queen's
hand, and again and again kissed it; begged to present
her Ladies, -- "about four-hundred so-called Ladies,
who were of her Suite. " -- Surely not so many as
Four-hundred, you too-witty Princess? "Mere German
"serving-maids for most part," says the witty Princess;
"Ladies when there is occasion, then acting as chamber-
"maids, cooks, washerwomen, when that is over. "
Queen Sophie was averse to salute these creatures;
but the Czarina Catherine making reprisals upon our
Margravines, and the King looking painfully earnest in
it, she prevailed upon herself. Was there ever seen
such a travelling tagraggery of a Sovereign Court be-
fore? "Several of these creatures" (prcsque toutes,
says the exaggerative Princess) "had, in their arms, a
"baby in rich dress; and if you asked, 'Is that yours,
"then? ' they answered, making salaams in Russian
"style, 'The Czar did me the honour (m'a fait Vhonneur
"de me faire cet enfant)! '" --
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? CHAP. TO. ] TRANSIT OP CZAR PETER. 191
1717.
Which statement, if we deduct the due 25 per-cent,
is probably not mythic, after all. A day or two ago,
the Czar had been at Magdeburg, on his way hither,
intent upon inspecting matters there; and the Official
Gentlemen, -- President Cocceji (afterwards a very
celebrated man) at the head of them, -- waited on the
Czar, to do what was needful. On entering, with the
proper Address or complimentary Harangue, they found
his Czarish Majesty "standing between two Russian
Ladies," clearly Ladies of the above sort; for they
stood close by him, one of his arms was round the
neck of each, and his hands amused themselves by
taking liberties in that posture, all the time Cocceji
spoke. Nay, even this was as nothing among the
Magdeburg phenomena. Next day, for instance, there
appeared in the audience-chamber a certain Serene high-
pacing Duke of Mecklenburg, with his Duchess; -- thrice-
unfortunate Duke, of whom we shall too often hear again;
who after some adventures, under Charles XII. first of
all, and then under the enemies of Charles, had, about
a year ago, after divorcing his first Wife, married a
Niece of Peter's: -- Duke and Duchess arrive now,
by order or gracious invitation of their Sovereign Uncle,
to accompany him in those parts; and are announced
to an eager Czar, giving audience to his select Magde-
burg public. At sight of which most desirable Duchess
and Brother's Daughter, how Peter started up, satyr-
like, clasping her in his arms, and snatching her into
an inner room, with the door left ajar, and there -- It
is too Samoiedic for human speech; and would excel
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? 192 friedrich's apprenticeship, first STAGE. [BOOK IT.
'1713-1723.
belief, were not the testimony so strong. * A Duke of
Mecklenburg, it would appear, who may count himself
the Non-plus-ultra of Husbands, in that epoch; -- as
among Sovereign Rulers, too, in a small or great way,
he seeks his fellow for ill luck!
Duke and Duchess accompanied the Czar to Berlin,
where Wilhelmina mentions them, as presentees; part
of these "four-hundred" anomalies. They took the
Czar home with them to Mecklenburg: where indeed
some Russian Regiments of his, left here on their return
from Denmark, had been very useful in coercing the
rebellious Rittershaft (Knightage, or Landed-Gentry) of
this Duke, -- till at length the general outcry, and
voice of the Reich itself, had ordered the said Regi-
ments to get on march again, and take themselves
away. ** For all is rebellion, passive-rebellion, in Mecklen-
burg; taxes being so indispensable; and the Knights
so disinclined; and this Duke a Sovereign, -- such as
we may construe from his quarrelling with almost every-
body, and his not quarrelling with an Uncle Peter of
that kind. *** His troubles as Sovereign Duke, his flights
to Dantzig, oustings, returns, law-pleadings and foolish
confusions, lasted all his life, thirty years to come; and
were bequeathed as a sorrowful legacy to Posterity and
* PSUnltl (Memoiren, Ii. 95) givesFrledrichWilhelm as voucher, "who
used to relate it as from eye-and-ear witnesses. "
? ? Tbe last of them, "July 1717;' two months ago. (Michaells, Ii. 418. )
? ? ? One poor hint, on his behalf, let us not omit: "Wife quitted him in 1719, and lived at Moscow afterwards! " (General Mannsteln: Memoirt of
ftuttia, London, 1770, p. 27 n. )
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? CHAP, vn. ]
193
TRANSIT OF CZAE PETER.
1717.
the neighbouring Countries. Voltaire says, the Czar
wished to buy his Duchy from him. * And truly, for
this wretched Duke, it would have been good to sell it
at any price: but there were other words than his to
such a bargain, had it ever been seriously meditated.
By this extraordinary Duchess, he becomes Father
(real or putative) of a certain Princess, whom we may
hear of; and through her again is Grandfather of an
unfortunate Russian Prince, much bruited about, as
"the murdered Iwan," in subsequent times. With such
a Duke and Duchess let our acquaintance be the mini-
mum of what necessity compels.
Wilhelmina goes by hearsay hitherto; and, it is
to be hoped, had heard nothing of these Magdeburg-
Mecklenburg phenomena; but after the Czarina's arrival,
the little creature saw with her own eyes:
"Next day," that is Wednesday22d, "the Czar and his
"Spouse came to return the Queen's visit; and I saw the Court
"myself. " Palace Grand-Apartments; Queen advancing a
due length, even to the outer guard-room; giving the Czarina
her right hand, and leading her into her audience-chamber in
that distinguished manner: King and Czar followed close; --
and here it was thatWilhelmina's personal experiences began.
"The Czar at once recognised me, having seen me before five
"years ago" (March 1713). "He caught me in his arms; fell
"to kissing me, like to flay the skin off my face. I boxed his
"ears, sprawled, and struggled with all my strength; saying
"I would not allow such familiarities, and that he was dis-
"honouring me. He laughed greatly at this idea; made ? Ubi supra, uxl. 414.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. II. 13
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? 194 frtedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book Iv.
1713-1723.
"peace, and talked a long time with me. I had got my lesson:
"I spoke of his fleet and his conquests; -- which charmed him
"so much, that he said more than once to the Czarina, 'If he
"could have a child like me, he would willingly give one of his
"Provinces in exchange. ' The Czarina also caressed me a
"good deal. The Queen" (Mamma) "and she placed them-
"selves under the dais, each in an arm-chair" of proper
dignity; "I was at the Queen's side, and the Princesses of the
"Blood," Margravines above spoken of, "were opposite to
"her," -- all in a standing posture, as is proper.
"The Czarina was a little stumpy body, very brown, and
"had neither air nor grace; you needed only look at her, to
"guess her low extraction. " It is no secret, she had been a
kitchen-wench in her Lithuanian native country; afterwards
a female of the kind called unfortunate, under several figures:
however, she saved the Czar once, by her ready-wit and
courage, from a devouring Turkish Difficulty, and he made
her fortunate and a Czarina, to sit under the dais as now.
"With her huddle of clothes, she looked for all the world like
"a German Playactress; her dress, you would have said, had
"been bought at a second-hand shop; all was out of fashion,
"all was loaded with silver and greasy dirt. The front of her
"bodice she had ornamented with jewels in a very singular
"pattern: A double-eagle in embroidery, and the plumes of it
''set with poor little diamonds, of the smallest possible carat,
"and very ill mounted. All along the facing of her gown were
"Orders and little things of metal; a dozen Orders, and as
"many Portraits of saints, of relics and the like; so that when
"she walked, it was with a jingling, as if you heard a mule
"with bells to its harness. " -- Poor little Czarina; shifty nut-
brown fellow-creature, strangely chased-about from the bot-
tom to the top of this world; it is evident she does not succeed
at Queen Sophie Dorothee's Court! --
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? CHAP. vII. J TrANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 195
1717.
"The Czar, on the other hand, was very tall, and might be
'1 called handsome," continues Wilhelmina: "hiscountenance
"was beautiful, but had something of savage in it which put
"you in fear. " Partly a kind of Milton's-Devil physiognomy?
The Portraits give it rather so. Archangel not quite ruined,
yet in sadly ruinous condition; its heroism so bemired, -- with
a turn for strong-drink, too, at times! A physiognomy to make
one reflect. "His dress was of sailor fashion, coat altogether
"plain. "
"The Czarina, who spoke German very ill herself, and did
"not understand well what the Queen said, beckoned to her
"Fool to come near," -- a poor female creature, who had once
been a Princess Galitzin, but having got into mischief, had
been excused to the Czar by her high relations as mad, and
saved from death or Siberia, into her present strange harbour
of refuge. With her the Czarina talked in unknown Russ,
evidently "laughing much and loud," till Supper was an-
nounced.
"At table," continues Wilhelmina, "the Czar placed him-
"self beside the Queen. It is understood this Prince was at-
"tempted with poison in his youth, and that something of it
"had settled on his nerves ever after. One thing is certain,
"there took him very often a sort of convulsion, like Tic orSt. -
''Vitus, which it was beyond his power to control. That hap-
pened at table now. He got into contortions, gesticulations;
1'and as the knife was in his hand, and went dancing about
"within armslength of the Queen, it frightened her, and she
"motioned several times to rise. The Czar begged her not to
"mind, for he would do her no ill; at the same time he took
"her by the hand, which he grasped with such violence that
"the Queen was forced to shriek-out. This set him heartily
"laughing; saying she had not bones of so hard a texture as
"his Catherine's. Supper done, a grand Ball had been got
13*
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? 196 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, FIRST STAGE, [book Iv.
1713-1723.
"ready; but the Czar escaped at once, and walked home by
"himself to Monbijou, leaving the others to dance. "
Wilhelmina's story of the Cabinet of Antiques; of
the Indecent little Statue there, and of the orders
Catherine got to kiss it, with a "Kopf ab (Head off, if
you won't)! " from the bantering Czar, whom she had
to obey, -- is not incredible, after what we have seen.
It seems, he begged this bit of Antique Indecency from
Friedrich Wilhelm; who, we may fancy, would give
him such an article with especial readiness. That
same day, fourth of the Visit, Thursday, 23d of the
month, the august Party went its ways again; Friedrich
Wilhelm convoying "as far as Potsdam;" Czar and
Suite taking that route towards Mecklenburg, where he
still intends some little pause before proceeding home-
ward. Friedrich Wilhelm took farewell; and never
saw the Czar again.
It was on this Journey, best part of which is now
done, that the famous Order bore, "Do it for six-thou-
"sand thalers; won't allow you one other penny (nit
"einen Pfennig gebe mehr dazu); but give out to the world
"that it costs me thirty or forty thousand! " Nay, it
is on record that the sum proved abundant, and even
superabundant, near half of it being left as overplus. *
The hospitalities of Berlin, Friedrich Wilhelm took
upon himself, and he has done them as we see. You
shall defray his Czarish Majesty, to the last Prussian
milestone; punctually, properly, though with thrift!
? FSrster, i. 2H.
? ?
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? CHAP. TO. ] TRANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 197
1717.
'Peter's viaticum, the Antique Indecency, Friedrich
Wilhelm did not grudge to part with; glad to purchase
the Czar's goodwill by coin of that kind. Last year,
at Havelberg, he had given the Czar an entire Cabinet
of Amber Articles, belonging to his late Father. Amber
Cabinet, in the lump; and likewise such a Yacht, for
shape, splendour and outfit, as probably Holland never
launched before; -- Yacht also belonging to his late
Father, and without value to Friedrich Wilhelm. The
old King had got it built in Holland, regardless of
expense, -- 15,000? . , they say, perhaps as good as
50,0001, now; -- and it lay at Potsdam: good for
what? Friedrich Wilhelm sent it down the Havel,
down the Elbe, silk sailors and all, towards Hamburg
and Petersburg, with a great deal of pleasure. For
the Czar, and peace and goodwill with the Czar, was
of essential value to him. Neither, at any rate, is the
Czar a man to take gifts without return. Tall fellows
for soldiers: that is always one prime object with
Friedrich Wilhelm; for already these Potsdam Guards
of his are getting ever more gigantic. Not less an
object, though less an ideal or poetic one (as we once
defined), was this other, To find buyers for the Manu-
factures, new and old, which he was so bent on encou-
raging. "It is astonishing, what quantities of cloth, of
"hardware, salt, and all kinds of manufactured articles
"the Russians buy from us," say the old Books; --
"see how our 'Russian Company' flourishes! " In both
these objects, not to speak of peace and goodwill in
general, the Czar is our man.
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? 198 FRIEDKICIl's APPRENTICESHIP, FIRST STAGE, [book Iv.
'1713-1723.
Thus, this very Autumn, there arrive, astonished
and astonishing, no fewer than a Hundred-and-fifty
human figures (one-half more than were promised),
probably from seven to eight feet high; the tallest the
Czar could riddle out from his Dominions: what a
windfall to the Potsdam Guard and its Colonel-King!
And all succeeding Autumns the like, so long as
Friedrich Wilhelm lived; every Autumn, out of Russia a Hundred of the tallest mortals living. Invaluable,
-- to a "man of genius" mounted on his hobby! One's
"stanza" can be polished at this rate.
In return for these Russian sons of Anak, Friedrich
Wilhelm grudged not to send German smiths, mill-
wrights, drill-sergeants, cannoneers, engineers; having
plenty of them. By whom, as Peter well calculated,
the inert opaque Russian mass might be kindled into
luminosity and vitality; and drilled to know the Art of
War, for one thing. Which followed accordingly. And
it is observable, ever since, that the Russian Art of
War has a tincture of German in it (solid German, as
contradistinguished from unsolid Revolutionary-French);
and hints to us of Friedrich Wilhelm and the Old-
Dessauer, to this hour. -- Exeant now the Barbaric
semi-fabulous Sovereignties, till wanted again.
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? CHAP. vin. ] CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 199
1719.
CHAPTER Vm.
THE CROWN-PRINCE IS PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING.
In his seventh year, young Friedrich was taken
out of the hands of the women; and had Tutors and
Sub-Tutors of masculine gender, who had been nomi-
nated for him some time ago, actually set to work upon
their function. These we have already heard of; they
came from Stralsund Siege, all the principal hands.
Duhan de Jandun, the young French gentleman
who had escaped from grammar-lessons to the trenches,
he is the practical teacher. Lieutenant-General Graf
Fink von Finkenstein, and Lieutenant-Colonel von
Kalkstein, they are Head Tutor (Oberhofmeister) and
Sub-Tutor; military men both, who had been in many
wars besides Stralsund. By these Three he was assidu-
ously educated, subordinate schoolmasters working
under them when needful, in such branches as the
paternal judgment would admit; the paternal object
and theirs being to infuse useful knowledge, reject use-
less, and wind-up the whole into a military finish.
These appointments, made at different precise dates,
took effect, all of them, in the year 1719.
Duhan, independently of his experience in the
trenches, appears to have been an accomplished, inge-
nious and conscientious man; who did credit to Friedrich
Wilhelm's judgment; and to whom Friedrich professed
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? 200 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book iv.
1718-1723.
himself much indebted in after-life. Their progress in
some of the technical branches, as we shall perceive,
was indisputably unsatisfactory. But the mind of the
Boy seems to have^been opened by this Duhan, to a
lively, and in some sort genial, perception of things
round him; -- of the strange confusedly opulent Uni-
verse he had got into; and of the noble and supreme
function which Intelligence holds there; supreme, in
Art as in Nature, beyond all other functions whatso-
ever. Duhan was now turned of thirty: a cheerful
amiable Frenchman; poor, though of good birth and
acquirements; originally from Champagne. Friedrich
loved him very much; always considered him his spiri-
tual father; and to the end of Duhan's life, twenty
years hence, was eager to do him any good in his
power. Anxious always to repair, for poor Duhan, the
great sorrows he came to on his account, as we shall
see.
Of Graf Fink von Finkenstein, who has had military
experiences of all kinds and all degrees, from marching
as prisoner into France, "wounded and without his
hat," to fighting at Malplaquet, at Blenheim, even at
Steenkirk, as well as Stralsund; who is now in his six-
tieth year, and seems to have been a gentleman of
rather high solemn manners, and indeed of undeniable
perfections, -- of this supreme Count Fink we learn
almost nothing farther in the Books, except that his
little Pupil did not dislike him either. The little Pupil
took not unkindly to Fink; welcoming any benignant
human ray, across these lofty gravities of the Oberhof-
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? CHAP. TO! . ] CEOWN-PRINCB PUT TO HIS SCHOOLnW 201
meister; went often to his house in Berlin; and made
acquaintance with Two young Finks about his own
age, whom he found there, and who became important
to him, especially the younger of them, in the course
of the future. * This Pupil, it maybe said, is creditably
known for his attachment to his Teachers and others;
an attached and attaching little Boy.
Of Kalkstein, a rational, experienced and earnest
kind of man, though as yet but young, it is certain also
that the little Fritz loved him; and furthermore that the
Great Friedrich was grateful to him, and had a high esteem
of his integrity and sense. "My master, Kalkstein,"
used to be his designation of him, when the name
chanced to be mentioned in after-times. They con-
tinued together, with various passages of mutual history,
for forty years afterwards, till Kalkstein's death. Kalk-
stein is at present twenty-eight, the youngest of the
three Tutors; then, and ever after, an altogether down-
right correct soldier and man. He is of Preussen, or
Prussia Proper, this Kalkstein; -- of the same kindred
as that mutinous Kalkstein, whom we once heard of,
who was "rolled in a carpet," and kidnapped out of
Warsaw, in the Great Elector's time. Not a direct
descendant of that beheaded Kalkstein's, but, as it
were, his nephew so many times removed. Preussen is
now far enough from mutiny; subdued, with all its
Kalksteins, into a respectful silence, not lightly using
the right even of petition, or submissive remonstrance,
? Zedlltz-Neukirch: Preutsisch? s Adels-f^exfkon (Jjeipzip, 1886), li. 168,
tfihtairrbwiltm, t. HO,
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? 202 freedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book iv.
1713-173&
which it may still have. Nor, except on the score of
parliamentary eloquence, and newspaper copyright, does
it appear that Preussen has suffered by the change.
How these Fink-Kalkstein functionaries proceeded
in the great task they had got,--very great task, had
they known what Pupil had fallen to them, -- is not di-
rectly recorded for us, with any sequence or distinct-
ness. We infer only that everything went by inflexible routine; not asking at all, What pupil? -- nor much,
Whether it would suit any pupil? Duhan, with the
tendencies we have seen in him, who is willing to soften
the inflexible when possible, and to "guideNature" by
a rather loose rein, was probably a genial element in
the otherwise strict affair. Fritz had one unspeakable
advantage, rare among princes and even among pea-
sants in these ruined ages: that of not being taught, or
in general not, by the kind called "Hypocrites, and
even Sincere-Hypocrites," -- fatallest species of the
class Hypocrite. We perceive he was lessoned, all
along, not by enchanted Phantasms of that dangerous
sort, breathing mendacity of mind, unconsciously, out
of every look; but by real Men, who believed from the
heart outwards, and were daily doing, what they taught.
To which unspeakable advantage we add a second,
likewise considerable: That his masters, though rigorous, were not unlovable to him; -- that his affections, at
least, were kept alive; that whatever of seed (or of
chaff and hail, as was likelier) fell on his mind, had
sunshine to help in dealing with it. These are two ad-
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? CHAP, vm. ] CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 203
1719.
vantages still achievable, though with difficulty, in our
epoch, by an earnest father in behalf of his poor little
son. And these are, at present, nearly all; with these
well achieved, the earnest father and his son ought to
be thankful. Alas, in matter of education, there are
no highroads at present; or there are such only as do
not lead to the goal. Fritz, like the rest of us, had to
struggle his way, Nature and Didactic Art differing
very much from one another; and to do battle, in-
cessant partial battle, with his schoolmasters for any
education he had.
A very rough Document, giving Friedrich Wilhelm's
regulations on this subject, from his own hand, has
come down to us. Most dull, embroiled, heavy Docu-
ment; intricate, gnarled, and, in fine, rough and stiff
as natural bullheadedness helped by Prussian pipeclay
can make it;-- contains some excellent hints, too; and
will show us something of Fritzchen and of Friedrich
Wilhelm both at once. That is to say, always, if it
can be read! If by aid of abridging, elucidating and
arranging, we can get the reader engaged to peruse it
patiently; -- which seems doubtful. The points in-
sisted on, in a ponderous but straggling confused
manner, by his didactic Majesty, are chiefly these:
1? . "Must impress my Son with a proper love and fear of
"God, as the foundation and sole pillar of our temporal and
"eternal welfare. No false religions, or sects of Atheist, Arian
"(Arrian), Socinian, or whatever name the poisonous things
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? 204 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book IV.
1718-1723.
"have, which can so easily corrupt a young mind, are to be "even named in his hearing: on the other hand, a proper ab-
"horrence (Abscheu) of Papistry, and insight into its baseless-
ness and nonsensicality (Ungrund und Absurditat), is to be
"communicated to him:" -- Papistry, which is false enough,
like the others, but impossible to be ignored like them; men-
tion that, and give him due abhorrence for it. For we are
Protestant to the bone in this country; and cannot stand Ab-
surditat, least of all hypocritically-religious ditto! But the
grand thing will be, "To impress on him the true religion,
"which consists essentially in this, That Christ died for all
"men," and generally that the Almighty's justice is eternal
and omnipresent, -- "which consideration is the only means
"of keeping a sovereign person (souveraine Macht), or one
"freed from human penalties, in the right way. "
2? . "He is to learn no Latin;" observe that, however it
may surprise you. What has a living German man and King,
of the eighteenth Christian Sceculum, to do with dead old
Heathen Latins, Romans, and the lingo they spoke their
fraction of sense and nonsense in? Frightful, how the young
years of the European Generations have been wasted, for ten
centuries back; and the Thinkers of the world have become
mere walking Sacks of Marine-stores, 'Gelehrten, Learned,'
as they call themselves; and gone lost to the world, in that
manner, as a set of confiscated Pedants; -- babbling about
said Heathens, and their extinct lingo and fraction of sense and
nonsense, for the thousand years last past! Heathen Latins,
Romans; -- who perhaps were no great things of Heathen,
after all, if well seen into? I have heard judges say, they were
inferior, in real worth and grist, to German homegrowths we
have had, if the confiscated Pedants could have discerned it!
At any rate, they are dead, buried deep, these two-thousand
years; well out of our way; -- and nonsense enough of our
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? CHAP. TO1. J CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 205
1718.
own left, to keep sweeping into comers. Silence about their
lingo and them, to this new Crown-Prince! "Let the Prince
"learn French and German," so as to write and speak, "with
"brevity and propriety," in these two languages, which may
be useful to him in life. That will suffice for languages, --
provided he have anything effectually rational to say in them.
For the rest,
3? . "Let him learn Arithmetic, Mathematics, Artillery, --
"Economy to the very bottom. " And, in short, useful know-
ledge generally; useless ditto not at all. "History in parti-
cular; -- Ancient History only slightly (nur iiberhin); -- but
"the History of the lastHundred-and-fifty Years to the exact-
"est pitch. The Jus Nalurale and Jus Gentium," by way of
handlamp to History, "he must be completely master of; as
'' also of Geography, whatever is remarkable in each Country.
"And in Histories, most especially the History of theHouse of
"Brandenburg; where he will find domestic examples, which
"are always of more force than foreign. And along with
"Prussian History, chiefly that of the Countries which have
"been connected with it, as England, Brunswick, Hessen and
"the others. And in reading of wise History-books there
"must be considerations made (sollen beym Lesen kluger
"Historiarum Betrachtungen gemacht werden) upon the causes
"of the events. " -- Surely, 0 King!
4? . "With increasing years, you will more and more, to a
''most especial degree, go upon Fortification," -- mark you!
-- "the Formation of a Camp, and the other War-Sciences;
"that the Prince may, from youth upwards, be trained to act
"as Officer and General, and to seek all his glory in the soldier
"profession. " This is whither it must all tend. You, Finken-
stein and Kalkstein, "have both of you, in the highest
"measure, to make it your care to infuse into my Son" (einzu-
pragen, stamp into him) "a true love for the Soldier business,
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?
before; but almost always in a succinct rapid con-
dition; never with his "Court" about him till now.
This is his last, and by far his greatest, appearance in
Berlin.
Such a transit, of the Barbaric semi-fabulous Sove-
reignties, could not but be wonderful to everybody
? Voltaire: (Emrcs Completes (llistoire in Czar Pierre), xxxl. 336. --
KBhler, in ilUnzbelusligtmgeu, xvii. 386-392 (this very Medal the subject),
gives authentic account, day by day, of the Czar's visit there,
? ? 4th August 1717: Buchholz, i. 43.
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? CHAP. Vft. ] TRANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 189
1717.
there. It evidently struck Wilhelmina's fancy, now in
her ninth year, very much. What her little Brother
did in it, or thought of it, I nowhere find hinted; con-
clude only that it would remain in his head too, visible
occasionally to the end of his life. Wilhelmina's Nar-
rative, very loose, dateless or misdated, plainly wrong
in various particulars, has still its value for us: human
eyes, even a child's, are worth something, in comparison
to human want-of-eyes, which is too frequent in History-
books and elsewhere! -- Czar Peter is now fifty-five,
his Czarina Catherine about thirty-three. It was in
1698 that he first passed this way, going towards
Sardam and practical Shipbuilding: within which
twenty years, what a spell of work done! Victory of
Pultawa is eight years behind him;* victories in many
kinds are behind him: by this time he is to be reckoned
a triumphant Czar; and is certainly the strangest mix-
ture of heroic virtue and brutish Samoiedic savagery
the world at any time had.
It was Sunday, 19th September 1717, when the
Czar arrived in Berlin. Being already sated with
scenic parades, he had begged to be spared all cere-
mony; begged to be lodged in Monbijou, the Queen's
little Garden-Palace, with river and trees round it,
where he hoped to be quietest. Monbijou has been
set apart accordingly; the Queen, not in the benignest
humour, sweeping all her crystals and brittle things
away; knowing the manners of the Muscovites. Nor
in the way of ceremony was there much: King and
? 27th Jane 1709.
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? 190 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book IT.
* 1719
Queen drove-out to meet him; rampart-guns gave three
big salvoes, as the Czarish Majesty stept forth. "I am
glad to see you, my Brother Friedrich," said Peter, in
German, his only intelligible language; shaking hands
with the Brother Majesty, in a cordial human manner.
The Queen he, still more cordially, "would have kissed;"
but this she evaded, in some graceful, effective way.
As to the Czarina, -- who, for obstetric and other
reasons, of no moment to us, had staid in Wesel all
the time he was in France, -- she followed him now
at two-days distance; not along with him, as Wilhel-
mina has it . Wilhelmina says, she kissed the Queen's
hand, and again and again kissed it; begged to present
her Ladies, -- "about four-hundred so-called Ladies,
who were of her Suite. " -- Surely not so many as
Four-hundred, you too-witty Princess? "Mere German
"serving-maids for most part," says the witty Princess;
"Ladies when there is occasion, then acting as chamber-
"maids, cooks, washerwomen, when that is over. "
Queen Sophie was averse to salute these creatures;
but the Czarina Catherine making reprisals upon our
Margravines, and the King looking painfully earnest in
it, she prevailed upon herself. Was there ever seen
such a travelling tagraggery of a Sovereign Court be-
fore? "Several of these creatures" (prcsque toutes,
says the exaggerative Princess) "had, in their arms, a
"baby in rich dress; and if you asked, 'Is that yours,
"then? ' they answered, making salaams in Russian
"style, 'The Czar did me the honour (m'a fait Vhonneur
"de me faire cet enfant)! '" --
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? CHAP. TO. ] TRANSIT OP CZAR PETER. 191
1717.
Which statement, if we deduct the due 25 per-cent,
is probably not mythic, after all. A day or two ago,
the Czar had been at Magdeburg, on his way hither,
intent upon inspecting matters there; and the Official
Gentlemen, -- President Cocceji (afterwards a very
celebrated man) at the head of them, -- waited on the
Czar, to do what was needful. On entering, with the
proper Address or complimentary Harangue, they found
his Czarish Majesty "standing between two Russian
Ladies," clearly Ladies of the above sort; for they
stood close by him, one of his arms was round the
neck of each, and his hands amused themselves by
taking liberties in that posture, all the time Cocceji
spoke. Nay, even this was as nothing among the
Magdeburg phenomena. Next day, for instance, there
appeared in the audience-chamber a certain Serene high-
pacing Duke of Mecklenburg, with his Duchess; -- thrice-
unfortunate Duke, of whom we shall too often hear again;
who after some adventures, under Charles XII. first of
all, and then under the enemies of Charles, had, about
a year ago, after divorcing his first Wife, married a
Niece of Peter's: -- Duke and Duchess arrive now,
by order or gracious invitation of their Sovereign Uncle,
to accompany him in those parts; and are announced
to an eager Czar, giving audience to his select Magde-
burg public. At sight of which most desirable Duchess
and Brother's Daughter, how Peter started up, satyr-
like, clasping her in his arms, and snatching her into
an inner room, with the door left ajar, and there -- It
is too Samoiedic for human speech; and would excel
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? 192 friedrich's apprenticeship, first STAGE. [BOOK IT.
'1713-1723.
belief, were not the testimony so strong. * A Duke of
Mecklenburg, it would appear, who may count himself
the Non-plus-ultra of Husbands, in that epoch; -- as
among Sovereign Rulers, too, in a small or great way,
he seeks his fellow for ill luck!
Duke and Duchess accompanied the Czar to Berlin,
where Wilhelmina mentions them, as presentees; part
of these "four-hundred" anomalies. They took the
Czar home with them to Mecklenburg: where indeed
some Russian Regiments of his, left here on their return
from Denmark, had been very useful in coercing the
rebellious Rittershaft (Knightage, or Landed-Gentry) of
this Duke, -- till at length the general outcry, and
voice of the Reich itself, had ordered the said Regi-
ments to get on march again, and take themselves
away. ** For all is rebellion, passive-rebellion, in Mecklen-
burg; taxes being so indispensable; and the Knights
so disinclined; and this Duke a Sovereign, -- such as
we may construe from his quarrelling with almost every-
body, and his not quarrelling with an Uncle Peter of
that kind. *** His troubles as Sovereign Duke, his flights
to Dantzig, oustings, returns, law-pleadings and foolish
confusions, lasted all his life, thirty years to come; and
were bequeathed as a sorrowful legacy to Posterity and
* PSUnltl (Memoiren, Ii. 95) givesFrledrichWilhelm as voucher, "who
used to relate it as from eye-and-ear witnesses. "
? ? Tbe last of them, "July 1717;' two months ago. (Michaells, Ii. 418. )
? ? ? One poor hint, on his behalf, let us not omit: "Wife quitted him in 1719, and lived at Moscow afterwards! " (General Mannsteln: Memoirt of
ftuttia, London, 1770, p. 27 n. )
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? CHAP, vn. ]
193
TRANSIT OF CZAE PETER.
1717.
the neighbouring Countries. Voltaire says, the Czar
wished to buy his Duchy from him. * And truly, for
this wretched Duke, it would have been good to sell it
at any price: but there were other words than his to
such a bargain, had it ever been seriously meditated.
By this extraordinary Duchess, he becomes Father
(real or putative) of a certain Princess, whom we may
hear of; and through her again is Grandfather of an
unfortunate Russian Prince, much bruited about, as
"the murdered Iwan," in subsequent times. With such
a Duke and Duchess let our acquaintance be the mini-
mum of what necessity compels.
Wilhelmina goes by hearsay hitherto; and, it is
to be hoped, had heard nothing of these Magdeburg-
Mecklenburg phenomena; but after the Czarina's arrival,
the little creature saw with her own eyes:
"Next day," that is Wednesday22d, "the Czar and his
"Spouse came to return the Queen's visit; and I saw the Court
"myself. " Palace Grand-Apartments; Queen advancing a
due length, even to the outer guard-room; giving the Czarina
her right hand, and leading her into her audience-chamber in
that distinguished manner: King and Czar followed close; --
and here it was thatWilhelmina's personal experiences began.
"The Czar at once recognised me, having seen me before five
"years ago" (March 1713). "He caught me in his arms; fell
"to kissing me, like to flay the skin off my face. I boxed his
"ears, sprawled, and struggled with all my strength; saying
"I would not allow such familiarities, and that he was dis-
"honouring me. He laughed greatly at this idea; made ? Ubi supra, uxl. 414.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. II. 13
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? 194 frtedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book Iv.
1713-1723.
"peace, and talked a long time with me. I had got my lesson:
"I spoke of his fleet and his conquests; -- which charmed him
"so much, that he said more than once to the Czarina, 'If he
"could have a child like me, he would willingly give one of his
"Provinces in exchange. ' The Czarina also caressed me a
"good deal. The Queen" (Mamma) "and she placed them-
"selves under the dais, each in an arm-chair" of proper
dignity; "I was at the Queen's side, and the Princesses of the
"Blood," Margravines above spoken of, "were opposite to
"her," -- all in a standing posture, as is proper.
"The Czarina was a little stumpy body, very brown, and
"had neither air nor grace; you needed only look at her, to
"guess her low extraction. " It is no secret, she had been a
kitchen-wench in her Lithuanian native country; afterwards
a female of the kind called unfortunate, under several figures:
however, she saved the Czar once, by her ready-wit and
courage, from a devouring Turkish Difficulty, and he made
her fortunate and a Czarina, to sit under the dais as now.
"With her huddle of clothes, she looked for all the world like
"a German Playactress; her dress, you would have said, had
"been bought at a second-hand shop; all was out of fashion,
"all was loaded with silver and greasy dirt. The front of her
"bodice she had ornamented with jewels in a very singular
"pattern: A double-eagle in embroidery, and the plumes of it
''set with poor little diamonds, of the smallest possible carat,
"and very ill mounted. All along the facing of her gown were
"Orders and little things of metal; a dozen Orders, and as
"many Portraits of saints, of relics and the like; so that when
"she walked, it was with a jingling, as if you heard a mule
"with bells to its harness. " -- Poor little Czarina; shifty nut-
brown fellow-creature, strangely chased-about from the bot-
tom to the top of this world; it is evident she does not succeed
at Queen Sophie Dorothee's Court! --
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? CHAP. vII. J TrANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 195
1717.
"The Czar, on the other hand, was very tall, and might be
'1 called handsome," continues Wilhelmina: "hiscountenance
"was beautiful, but had something of savage in it which put
"you in fear. " Partly a kind of Milton's-Devil physiognomy?
The Portraits give it rather so. Archangel not quite ruined,
yet in sadly ruinous condition; its heroism so bemired, -- with
a turn for strong-drink, too, at times! A physiognomy to make
one reflect. "His dress was of sailor fashion, coat altogether
"plain. "
"The Czarina, who spoke German very ill herself, and did
"not understand well what the Queen said, beckoned to her
"Fool to come near," -- a poor female creature, who had once
been a Princess Galitzin, but having got into mischief, had
been excused to the Czar by her high relations as mad, and
saved from death or Siberia, into her present strange harbour
of refuge. With her the Czarina talked in unknown Russ,
evidently "laughing much and loud," till Supper was an-
nounced.
"At table," continues Wilhelmina, "the Czar placed him-
"self beside the Queen. It is understood this Prince was at-
"tempted with poison in his youth, and that something of it
"had settled on his nerves ever after. One thing is certain,
"there took him very often a sort of convulsion, like Tic orSt. -
''Vitus, which it was beyond his power to control. That hap-
pened at table now. He got into contortions, gesticulations;
1'and as the knife was in his hand, and went dancing about
"within armslength of the Queen, it frightened her, and she
"motioned several times to rise. The Czar begged her not to
"mind, for he would do her no ill; at the same time he took
"her by the hand, which he grasped with such violence that
"the Queen was forced to shriek-out. This set him heartily
"laughing; saying she had not bones of so hard a texture as
"his Catherine's. Supper done, a grand Ball had been got
13*
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? 196 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, FIRST STAGE, [book Iv.
1713-1723.
"ready; but the Czar escaped at once, and walked home by
"himself to Monbijou, leaving the others to dance. "
Wilhelmina's story of the Cabinet of Antiques; of
the Indecent little Statue there, and of the orders
Catherine got to kiss it, with a "Kopf ab (Head off, if
you won't)! " from the bantering Czar, whom she had
to obey, -- is not incredible, after what we have seen.
It seems, he begged this bit of Antique Indecency from
Friedrich Wilhelm; who, we may fancy, would give
him such an article with especial readiness. That
same day, fourth of the Visit, Thursday, 23d of the
month, the august Party went its ways again; Friedrich
Wilhelm convoying "as far as Potsdam;" Czar and
Suite taking that route towards Mecklenburg, where he
still intends some little pause before proceeding home-
ward. Friedrich Wilhelm took farewell; and never
saw the Czar again.
It was on this Journey, best part of which is now
done, that the famous Order bore, "Do it for six-thou-
"sand thalers; won't allow you one other penny (nit
"einen Pfennig gebe mehr dazu); but give out to the world
"that it costs me thirty or forty thousand! " Nay, it
is on record that the sum proved abundant, and even
superabundant, near half of it being left as overplus. *
The hospitalities of Berlin, Friedrich Wilhelm took
upon himself, and he has done them as we see. You
shall defray his Czarish Majesty, to the last Prussian
milestone; punctually, properly, though with thrift!
? FSrster, i. 2H.
? ?
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? CHAP. TO. ] TRANSIT OF CZAR PETER. 197
1717.
'Peter's viaticum, the Antique Indecency, Friedrich
Wilhelm did not grudge to part with; glad to purchase
the Czar's goodwill by coin of that kind. Last year,
at Havelberg, he had given the Czar an entire Cabinet
of Amber Articles, belonging to his late Father. Amber
Cabinet, in the lump; and likewise such a Yacht, for
shape, splendour and outfit, as probably Holland never
launched before; -- Yacht also belonging to his late
Father, and without value to Friedrich Wilhelm. The
old King had got it built in Holland, regardless of
expense, -- 15,000? . , they say, perhaps as good as
50,0001, now; -- and it lay at Potsdam: good for
what? Friedrich Wilhelm sent it down the Havel,
down the Elbe, silk sailors and all, towards Hamburg
and Petersburg, with a great deal of pleasure. For
the Czar, and peace and goodwill with the Czar, was
of essential value to him. Neither, at any rate, is the
Czar a man to take gifts without return. Tall fellows
for soldiers: that is always one prime object with
Friedrich Wilhelm; for already these Potsdam Guards
of his are getting ever more gigantic. Not less an
object, though less an ideal or poetic one (as we once
defined), was this other, To find buyers for the Manu-
factures, new and old, which he was so bent on encou-
raging. "It is astonishing, what quantities of cloth, of
"hardware, salt, and all kinds of manufactured articles
"the Russians buy from us," say the old Books; --
"see how our 'Russian Company' flourishes! " In both
these objects, not to speak of peace and goodwill in
general, the Czar is our man.
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? 198 FRIEDKICIl's APPRENTICESHIP, FIRST STAGE, [book Iv.
'1713-1723.
Thus, this very Autumn, there arrive, astonished
and astonishing, no fewer than a Hundred-and-fifty
human figures (one-half more than were promised),
probably from seven to eight feet high; the tallest the
Czar could riddle out from his Dominions: what a
windfall to the Potsdam Guard and its Colonel-King!
And all succeeding Autumns the like, so long as
Friedrich Wilhelm lived; every Autumn, out of Russia a Hundred of the tallest mortals living. Invaluable,
-- to a "man of genius" mounted on his hobby! One's
"stanza" can be polished at this rate.
In return for these Russian sons of Anak, Friedrich
Wilhelm grudged not to send German smiths, mill-
wrights, drill-sergeants, cannoneers, engineers; having
plenty of them. By whom, as Peter well calculated,
the inert opaque Russian mass might be kindled into
luminosity and vitality; and drilled to know the Art of
War, for one thing. Which followed accordingly. And
it is observable, ever since, that the Russian Art of
War has a tincture of German in it (solid German, as
contradistinguished from unsolid Revolutionary-French);
and hints to us of Friedrich Wilhelm and the Old-
Dessauer, to this hour. -- Exeant now the Barbaric
semi-fabulous Sovereignties, till wanted again.
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? CHAP. vin. ] CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 199
1719.
CHAPTER Vm.
THE CROWN-PRINCE IS PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING.
In his seventh year, young Friedrich was taken
out of the hands of the women; and had Tutors and
Sub-Tutors of masculine gender, who had been nomi-
nated for him some time ago, actually set to work upon
their function. These we have already heard of; they
came from Stralsund Siege, all the principal hands.
Duhan de Jandun, the young French gentleman
who had escaped from grammar-lessons to the trenches,
he is the practical teacher. Lieutenant-General Graf
Fink von Finkenstein, and Lieutenant-Colonel von
Kalkstein, they are Head Tutor (Oberhofmeister) and
Sub-Tutor; military men both, who had been in many
wars besides Stralsund. By these Three he was assidu-
ously educated, subordinate schoolmasters working
under them when needful, in such branches as the
paternal judgment would admit; the paternal object
and theirs being to infuse useful knowledge, reject use-
less, and wind-up the whole into a military finish.
These appointments, made at different precise dates,
took effect, all of them, in the year 1719.
Duhan, independently of his experience in the
trenches, appears to have been an accomplished, inge-
nious and conscientious man; who did credit to Friedrich
Wilhelm's judgment; and to whom Friedrich professed
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? 200 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book iv.
1718-1723.
himself much indebted in after-life. Their progress in
some of the technical branches, as we shall perceive,
was indisputably unsatisfactory. But the mind of the
Boy seems to have^been opened by this Duhan, to a
lively, and in some sort genial, perception of things
round him; -- of the strange confusedly opulent Uni-
verse he had got into; and of the noble and supreme
function which Intelligence holds there; supreme, in
Art as in Nature, beyond all other functions whatso-
ever. Duhan was now turned of thirty: a cheerful
amiable Frenchman; poor, though of good birth and
acquirements; originally from Champagne. Friedrich
loved him very much; always considered him his spiri-
tual father; and to the end of Duhan's life, twenty
years hence, was eager to do him any good in his
power. Anxious always to repair, for poor Duhan, the
great sorrows he came to on his account, as we shall
see.
Of Graf Fink von Finkenstein, who has had military
experiences of all kinds and all degrees, from marching
as prisoner into France, "wounded and without his
hat," to fighting at Malplaquet, at Blenheim, even at
Steenkirk, as well as Stralsund; who is now in his six-
tieth year, and seems to have been a gentleman of
rather high solemn manners, and indeed of undeniable
perfections, -- of this supreme Count Fink we learn
almost nothing farther in the Books, except that his
little Pupil did not dislike him either. The little Pupil
took not unkindly to Fink; welcoming any benignant
human ray, across these lofty gravities of the Oberhof-
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? CHAP. TO! . ] CEOWN-PRINCB PUT TO HIS SCHOOLnW 201
meister; went often to his house in Berlin; and made
acquaintance with Two young Finks about his own
age, whom he found there, and who became important
to him, especially the younger of them, in the course
of the future. * This Pupil, it maybe said, is creditably
known for his attachment to his Teachers and others;
an attached and attaching little Boy.
Of Kalkstein, a rational, experienced and earnest
kind of man, though as yet but young, it is certain also
that the little Fritz loved him; and furthermore that the
Great Friedrich was grateful to him, and had a high esteem
of his integrity and sense. "My master, Kalkstein,"
used to be his designation of him, when the name
chanced to be mentioned in after-times. They con-
tinued together, with various passages of mutual history,
for forty years afterwards, till Kalkstein's death. Kalk-
stein is at present twenty-eight, the youngest of the
three Tutors; then, and ever after, an altogether down-
right correct soldier and man. He is of Preussen, or
Prussia Proper, this Kalkstein; -- of the same kindred
as that mutinous Kalkstein, whom we once heard of,
who was "rolled in a carpet," and kidnapped out of
Warsaw, in the Great Elector's time. Not a direct
descendant of that beheaded Kalkstein's, but, as it
were, his nephew so many times removed. Preussen is
now far enough from mutiny; subdued, with all its
Kalksteins, into a respectful silence, not lightly using
the right even of petition, or submissive remonstrance,
? Zedlltz-Neukirch: Preutsisch? s Adels-f^exfkon (Jjeipzip, 1886), li. 168,
tfihtairrbwiltm, t. HO,
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? 202 freedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book iv.
1713-173&
which it may still have. Nor, except on the score of
parliamentary eloquence, and newspaper copyright, does
it appear that Preussen has suffered by the change.
How these Fink-Kalkstein functionaries proceeded
in the great task they had got,--very great task, had
they known what Pupil had fallen to them, -- is not di-
rectly recorded for us, with any sequence or distinct-
ness. We infer only that everything went by inflexible routine; not asking at all, What pupil? -- nor much,
Whether it would suit any pupil? Duhan, with the
tendencies we have seen in him, who is willing to soften
the inflexible when possible, and to "guideNature" by
a rather loose rein, was probably a genial element in
the otherwise strict affair. Fritz had one unspeakable
advantage, rare among princes and even among pea-
sants in these ruined ages: that of not being taught, or
in general not, by the kind called "Hypocrites, and
even Sincere-Hypocrites," -- fatallest species of the
class Hypocrite. We perceive he was lessoned, all
along, not by enchanted Phantasms of that dangerous
sort, breathing mendacity of mind, unconsciously, out
of every look; but by real Men, who believed from the
heart outwards, and were daily doing, what they taught.
To which unspeakable advantage we add a second,
likewise considerable: That his masters, though rigorous, were not unlovable to him; -- that his affections, at
least, were kept alive; that whatever of seed (or of
chaff and hail, as was likelier) fell on his mind, had
sunshine to help in dealing with it. These are two ad-
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? CHAP, vm. ] CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 203
1719.
vantages still achievable, though with difficulty, in our
epoch, by an earnest father in behalf of his poor little
son. And these are, at present, nearly all; with these
well achieved, the earnest father and his son ought to
be thankful. Alas, in matter of education, there are
no highroads at present; or there are such only as do
not lead to the goal. Fritz, like the rest of us, had to
struggle his way, Nature and Didactic Art differing
very much from one another; and to do battle, in-
cessant partial battle, with his schoolmasters for any
education he had.
A very rough Document, giving Friedrich Wilhelm's
regulations on this subject, from his own hand, has
come down to us. Most dull, embroiled, heavy Docu-
ment; intricate, gnarled, and, in fine, rough and stiff
as natural bullheadedness helped by Prussian pipeclay
can make it;-- contains some excellent hints, too; and
will show us something of Fritzchen and of Friedrich
Wilhelm both at once. That is to say, always, if it
can be read! If by aid of abridging, elucidating and
arranging, we can get the reader engaged to peruse it
patiently; -- which seems doubtful. The points in-
sisted on, in a ponderous but straggling confused
manner, by his didactic Majesty, are chiefly these:
1? . "Must impress my Son with a proper love and fear of
"God, as the foundation and sole pillar of our temporal and
"eternal welfare. No false religions, or sects of Atheist, Arian
"(Arrian), Socinian, or whatever name the poisonous things
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? 204 friedrich's apprenticeship, first stage, [book IV.
1718-1723.
"have, which can so easily corrupt a young mind, are to be "even named in his hearing: on the other hand, a proper ab-
"horrence (Abscheu) of Papistry, and insight into its baseless-
ness and nonsensicality (Ungrund und Absurditat), is to be
"communicated to him:" -- Papistry, which is false enough,
like the others, but impossible to be ignored like them; men-
tion that, and give him due abhorrence for it. For we are
Protestant to the bone in this country; and cannot stand Ab-
surditat, least of all hypocritically-religious ditto! But the
grand thing will be, "To impress on him the true religion,
"which consists essentially in this, That Christ died for all
"men," and generally that the Almighty's justice is eternal
and omnipresent, -- "which consideration is the only means
"of keeping a sovereign person (souveraine Macht), or one
"freed from human penalties, in the right way. "
2? . "He is to learn no Latin;" observe that, however it
may surprise you. What has a living German man and King,
of the eighteenth Christian Sceculum, to do with dead old
Heathen Latins, Romans, and the lingo they spoke their
fraction of sense and nonsense in? Frightful, how the young
years of the European Generations have been wasted, for ten
centuries back; and the Thinkers of the world have become
mere walking Sacks of Marine-stores, 'Gelehrten, Learned,'
as they call themselves; and gone lost to the world, in that
manner, as a set of confiscated Pedants; -- babbling about
said Heathens, and their extinct lingo and fraction of sense and
nonsense, for the thousand years last past! Heathen Latins,
Romans; -- who perhaps were no great things of Heathen,
after all, if well seen into? I have heard judges say, they were
inferior, in real worth and grist, to German homegrowths we
have had, if the confiscated Pedants could have discerned it!
At any rate, they are dead, buried deep, these two-thousand
years; well out of our way; -- and nonsense enough of our
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? CHAP. TO1. J CROWN-PRINCE PUT TO HIS SCHOOLING. 205
1718.
own left, to keep sweeping into comers. Silence about their
lingo and them, to this new Crown-Prince! "Let the Prince
"learn French and German," so as to write and speak, "with
"brevity and propriety," in these two languages, which may
be useful to him in life. That will suffice for languages, --
provided he have anything effectually rational to say in them.
For the rest,
3? . "Let him learn Arithmetic, Mathematics, Artillery, --
"Economy to the very bottom. " And, in short, useful know-
ledge generally; useless ditto not at all. "History in parti-
cular; -- Ancient History only slightly (nur iiberhin); -- but
"the History of the lastHundred-and-fifty Years to the exact-
"est pitch. The Jus Nalurale and Jus Gentium," by way of
handlamp to History, "he must be completely master of; as
'' also of Geography, whatever is remarkable in each Country.
"And in Histories, most especially the History of theHouse of
"Brandenburg; where he will find domestic examples, which
"are always of more force than foreign. And along with
"Prussian History, chiefly that of the Countries which have
"been connected with it, as England, Brunswick, Hessen and
"the others. And in reading of wise History-books there
"must be considerations made (sollen beym Lesen kluger
"Historiarum Betrachtungen gemacht werden) upon the causes
"of the events. " -- Surely, 0 King!
4? . "With increasing years, you will more and more, to a
''most especial degree, go upon Fortification," -- mark you!
-- "the Formation of a Camp, and the other War-Sciences;
"that the Prince may, from youth upwards, be trained to act
"as Officer and General, and to seek all his glory in the soldier
"profession. " This is whither it must all tend. You, Finken-
stein and Kalkstein, "have both of you, in the highest
"measure, to make it your care to infuse into my Son" (einzu-
pragen, stamp into him) "a true love for the Soldier business,
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?
