es) about Count von Zinzendorf" (Founder of
Herrnhuth, far-shining spiritual Paladin of that day, whom her
Majesty thinks rather a spiritual Quixote); "and declared that
"they were strictly true.
Herrnhuth, far-shining spiritual Paladin of that day, whom her
Majesty thinks rather a spiritual Quixote); "and declared that
"they were strictly true.
Thomas Carlyle
" a fact which the 111 Margraf
could never get forgotten again. Lieutenant-General
Schulenburg, too, the didactic Schulenburg, presuming
on old familiarity, and willing to wipe out the mis-
fortune of having once condemned us to death, which
nobody is now upbraiding him with, rushes up from
Landsberg, unbidden, to pay his congratulations and
condolences, driven by irresistible exuberance of loyalty:
to his astonishment, he is reminded (thing certain,
manner of the thing not known), That an Officer cannot
quit his post without order; that he, at this moment,
ought to be in Landsberg! * Schulenburg has a hard
old military face; but here is a young face too, which
has grown unexpectedly rigorous. Fancy the blank
look of little Schulenburg; the light of him snuffed out
in this manner on a sudden. It is said he had thoughts
of resigning, so indignant was he: no doubt he went
home to Landsberg gloomily reflective, with the pipe-
clay of his mind in such a ruinous condition. But
there was no serious anger, on Friedrich's part; and he
consoled his little Schulenburg, soon after, by ex-
pediting some promotion he had intended him. "Ter-
ribly proud young Majesty this," exclaim the sweet
voices. And indeed, if they are to have a Saturnian
Kingdom, by appearance it will be on conditions
only!
Anticipations there had been, that old unkindnesses
against the Crown Prince, some of which were cruel
enough, might be remembered now: and certain people
had their just fears, considering what account stood
against them; others, vice versa, their hopes. But
* Stenzel, iv. 41; Preusa, Thronbestcigung: &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FMEDRICH's ACCESSION. 25
Jane--Sciit. 1710.
neither the fears nor the hopes realised themselves;
especially the fears proved altogether groundless.
Derschau, who had voted Death in that Cbpenick
Court-Martial, upon the Crown-Prince, is continued in
his functions, in the light of his King's countenance,
as if nothing such had been. Derschau, and all others
so concerned; not the least question was made of them,
nor of what they had thought or had done or said, on
an occasion once so tragically vital to a certain man.
Nor is reward much regulated by past services to
the Crown-Prince, or even by sufferings endured for
him. "Shocking ingratitude! " exclaim the sweet voices
here too, -- being of weak judgment, many of them!
Poor Katte's Father, a faithful old Soldier, not capable
of being more, he does, rather conspicuously, make
Feldmarschall, make Reichsgraf; happy, could these
honours be a consolation to the old man. The
Miinchows of Ciistrin, -- readers remember their kind-
ness 'in that sad time; how the young boy went into
petticoats again, and came to the Crown-Prince's cell
with all manner of furnishings, -- the Miinchows, father
and sons, tlds young gentleman of the petticoats among
them, he took immediate pains to reward by promo-
tion: eldest son was advanced into the General
Directorium; two younger sons, to Majorship, to
Captaincy, in their respective Regiments; him of the
petticoats "he had already taken altogether to him-
self," * -- and of him we shall see a glimpse at
Wilhelmina's shortly, as a "milkbeard (jeune morveuxy
in personal attendance on his Majesty. This was a
notable exception. And in effect there came good
public service, eminent some of it, from these Miinchows
* Preuss, i. 60.
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? 26 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI-
June--Sept. 1740.
in their various departments. And it was at length
perceived to have been, in the main, because they
were of visible faculty for doing work that they had
got work to do; and the exceptional case of the
Miinchows became confirmatory of the rule.
Lieutenant Keith, again, whom we once saw
galloping from Wesel to save his life in that bad affair
of the Crown-Prince's and his, was nothing like so
fortunate. Lieutenant Keith, by speed on that Wesel
occasion, and help of Chesterfield's Secretary, got
across to England; got into the Portuguese service;
and has there been soldiering, very silently, these ten
years past, -- skin and body safe, though his effigy
was cut in four quarters and nailed to the gallows at
Wesel; -- waiting a time that would come. Time
being come, Lieutenant Keith hastened home; appealed
to his effigy on the gallows; -- and was made a Lieute-
nant-Colonel merely, with some slight appendages, as
that of Stallmeister (Curator of the Stables) and some-
thing else; --, income still straitened, though enough to
live upon. * Small promotion, in comparison with hope,
thought the poor Lieutenant; but had to rest satisfied
with it; and struggle to understand that perhaps he
was fit for nothing bigger, and that he must exert him-
self to do this small thing well. Hardness of heart in
high places! Friedrich, one is glad to see, had not
forgotten the poor fellow, could he have done better
with him. Some ten years hence, quite incidentally,
there came to Keith, one morning, a fine purse of
money from his Majesty, one pretty gift in Keith's ex-
perience; -- much the topic in Berlin, while a certain
solemn English Gentleman happened to be passing that
* Preuss, Friedrich mit seinsn Verwandten und Frcunden, p. 281.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FKIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 27
June--Sept. 1740.
way (whom we mean to detain a little by and by),
who reports it for us with all the circumstances. *
Lieutenant Spaen too had got into trouble for the
Crown-Prince's sake, though we have forgotten him
again; had "admitted Katte to interviews," or we
forget what; -- had sat his "year in Spandau" in con-
sequence; been dismissed the Prussian service, and had
taken service with the Dutch. Lieutenant Spaen either
did not return at all, or disliked the aspects when he
did, and immediately withdrew to Holland again.
Which probably was wise of him. At a late period,
King Friedrich, then a great King, on one of his Cleve
Journeys, fell in with Spaen; who had become a Dutch
General of rank, and was of good manners and style
of conversation: King Friedrich was charmed to see
him; became his guest for the night; conversed delight-
fully with him, about old Prussian matters and about
new; and in the colloquy never once alluded to that
interesting passage in his young life and Spaen's. **
Hard as polished steel! thinks Spaen perhaps; but, if
candid, must ask himself withal, Are facts any softer,
or the Laws of Kingship to a man that holds it? --
Keith silently did his Lieutenant-Colonelcy with the
appendages, while life lasted: of the Page Keith, his
Brother, who indeed had blabbed upon the Prince, as
we remember, and was not entitled to be clamorous, I
never heard that there was any notice taken; and
figure him to myself as walking with shouldered fire-
lock, a private Fusileer, all his life afterwards, with
many reflections on things bygone. ***
* Sir Jonas Hanway: Travels, &c. (London, 1753), li. 203. Date of
the Gift is 1750.
** Nicolai: Anekdolen, vi. 178.
**' These and the other Prussian Keiths are all of Scotch extraction j
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? 28 FKIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
Old friendship, it would seem, is without weight in
public appointments here: old friends are somewhat
astonished to find this friend of theirs a King every
inch! To old comrades, if they were useless, much
more if they were worse than useless, how disappoint-
ing! "One wretched Herr" (name suppressed, but
known at the time, and talked of, and whispered of),
"who had, like several others, hoping to rise that way,
"been industrious in encouraging the Crown-Prince's
"vices as to women, was so shocked at the return he
"now met, that in despair he hanged himself in Lobe-
"jiin" (Lobegun, Magdeburg Country): here is a case
for the humane! --*
Friend Keyserling himself, "Csesarion" that used to
be, can get nothing, though we love him much; being
an idle topsyturvy fellow with revenues of his own.
Jordan, with his fine-drawn wit, French logics, Literary
Travels, thin exactitude; what can be done for Jordan?
Him also his new Majesty loves much; and knows
that, without some official living, poor Jordan has no
resource. Jordan, after some waiting and survey, is
made "Inspector of the Poor;" -- busy this Autumn
looking out for vacant houses, and arrangements for
the thousand spinning women; -- continues to be
employed in mixed literary services (hunting up of
Formey, for Editor, was one instance), and to be in
much real intimacy. That also was perhaps about the
real amount of amiable Jordan. To get Jordan a
living by planting him in some office which he could
not do; to warm Jordan by burning our royal bed for
the Prussians, in natural German fashion, pronounce their name, kah-it
(English "Kite" with nothing of the y in it), as may be worth remember-
ing in a more important instance.
* Kiister: Charactertiige des &c. con Suldern (Berlin, 1793), p. 63.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FRIEDRICh's ACCESSION. 29
June--Sept. 1740.
him: that had not entered into the mind of Jordan's
royal friend. The Miinehows he did promote; the
Finks, sons of his Tutor Finkenstein: to these and
other old comrades, in whom he had discovered fitness,
it is no doubt abundantly grateful to him to recognise
and employ it. As he notably does, in these and in
other instances. But before all things he has decided
to remember that he is King; that he must accept
the severe laws of that trust, and do it, or not have
done anything.
An inverse sign, pointing in the same way, is the
passionate search he is making in Foreign Countries
for such men as will suit him. In these same months,
for example, he bethinks him of two Counts Schmettau,
in the Austrian Service, with whom he had made ac-
quaintance in the Rhine Campaign; of a Count Von
Rothenburg, whom he saw in the French Camp there;
and is negotiating to have them if possible. The
Schmettaus are Prussian by birth, though in Austrian
Service; them he obtains under form of an Order home,
with good conditions under it; they came, and proved
useful men to him. Rothenburg, a shining kind of
figure in Diplomacy as well as Soldiership, was Alsatian
German, foreign to Prussia; but him too Friedrich ob-
tained, and made much of, as will bo notable by and
by. And in fact the soul of all these noble tendencies
in Friedrich, which surely are considerable, is even
this, That he loves men of merit, and does not love
men of none; that he has an endless appetite for men
of merit, and feels, consciously and otherwise, that
they are the one thing beautiful, the one thing needful
to him.
This, which is the product of all fine tendencies, is
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? 30 PR1EDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
likewise their centre or focus out of which they start
again, with some chance of fulfilment; -- and we may
judge in how many directions Friedrich was willing
to expand himself, by the multifarious kinds he was
inviting, and negotiating for. Academicians, -- and not
Maupertuis only, but all manner of mathematical
geniuses (Euler whom he got, 's Gravesande, Muschen-
broek, whom he failed of); and Literary geniuses in-
numerable, first and last. Academicians, Musicians,
Players, Dancers even; much more Soldiers and Civil-
Service men: no man that carries any honest "Can do"
about with him but may expect some welcome here.
Which continued through Friedrich's reign; and in-
volved him in much petty trouble, not always success-
ful in the lower kinds of it. For his Court was the
cynosure of ambitious creatures on the wing, or in-
clined for taking wing: like a lantern kindled in the
darkness of the world; -- and many owls impinged
upon him; whom he had to dismiss with brevity.
Perhaps it had been better to stand by mere Prus-
sian or German merit, native to the ground? Or
rather, undoubtedly it had! In some departments, as
in the military, the administrative, diplomatic, Friedrich
was himself among the best of judges; but in various
others he had mainly (mainly, by no means blindly or
solely) to accept noise of reputation as evidence of
merit; and in these, if we compute with rigour, his
success was intrinsically not considerable. The more
honour to him that he never wearied of trying. "A
man that does not care for merit," says the adage,
"cannot himself have any. " But a King that does not
care for merit, what shall we say of such a King! --
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FRIEDKICh's ACCESSION. 31
June--Sept. 1740.
Behaviour to his Mother; to his Wife.
One other fine feature, significant of many, let us
notice: his affection for his Mother. When his Mother
addressed him as "Your Majesty," he answered, as the
Books are careful to tell us: "Call me Son; that is the
Title of all others most agreeable to me! " Words
which, there can be no doubt, came from the heart.
Fain would he shoot forth to greatness in filial piety,
as otherwise; fain solace himself in doing something
kind to his Mother. Generously, lovingly; though
again with clear view of the limits. He decrees for
her a Title higher than had been customary, as well
as more accordant with his feelings; not "Queen
Dowager," but "Her Majesty the Queen Mother. " He
decides to build her a new Palace; "under the Lindens"
it is to be, and of due magnificence: in a month or
two, he had even got bits of the foundation dug, and
the Houses to be pulled down bought or bargained
for:* -- which enterprise, however, was renounced, no
doubt with consent, as the public aspects darkened.
Nothing in the way of honour, in the way of real
affection heartily felt and demonstrated, was wanting
to Queen Sophie in her widowhood. But, on the other
hand, of public influence no vestige was allowed, if
any was ever claimed; and the good kind Mother lived
in her Monbijou, the centre and summit of Berlin
society; and restricted herself wisely to private matters.
She has her domesticities, family affections, readings,
speculations; gives evening parties at Monbijou. One
glimpse of her in 1742 we get, that of a perfectly
* Rodenbeck, p. 15 (30th Juno -- 23d August 1710); and correctStenzel
(iv. 41).
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? 32 rRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1710.
private royal Lady; which though it has little meaning,
yet as it is authentic, coming from Biisching' s hand,
may serve as one little twinkle in that total darkness,
and shall be left to the reader and his fancy:
A Count Henkel, a Thiiringian gentleman, of high specu-
lation , high pietistic ways, extremely devout, and given even
to writing of religion, came to Berlin about some Silesian pro-
perties, -- a man I should think of lofty,melancholic aspect;
and, in severe type, somewhat of a lion, on account of his Book
called "Deathbed Scenes in four Volumes. " Came to Berlin;
and on the 15th August 1742, towards evening (as the ever-
punctual Biisching looking into Henkel's Papers gives it),
"was presented to the Queen Mother; who retained him to
"supper; supper not beginning till about ten o'clock. The
"Queen Mother was extremely gracious to Henkel; but in-
"vestigated him a good deal, and put a great many questions,"
not quite easy to answer in that circle, "as, Why he did not
"play? What he thought of comedies and operas? What
"Preachers he was acquainted with in Berlin? Whether he too
"was a Writer of Books? " (covertly alluding to the Deathbed
Scenes, notes Biisching). "And abundance of other question-
ing. She also recounted many fantastic anecdotes (viel
"Abenteverlich.
es) about Count von Zinzendorf" (Founder of
Herrnhuth, far-shining spiritual Paladin of that day, whom her
Majesty thinks rather a spiritual Quixote); "and declared that
"they were strictly true. " * Upon which, exit Henkel, borne
by Biisching, and our light is snuffed out.
This is one momentary glance I have met with of
Queen Sophie in her Dowager state. The rest, though
there were seventeen years of it in all, is silent to
mankind and me; and only her death, and her Son's
great grief about it, so great as to be surprising, is
mentioned in the Books.
Actual painful sorrow about his Father, much more
any new outburst of weeping and lamenting, is not on
* Biisching's Beytriqe, iv. 27.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDKICH's ACCESSION. 33
June--Sept. 1740.
record, after that first morning. Time does its work;
and in such a whirl of occupations, sooner than else-
where: and the loved Dead lie silent in their mauso-
leum in our hearts, -- serenely sad as Eternity, not
in loud sorrow as of Time. Friedrich was pious as a
Son, however he might be on other heads. To the
last years of his life, as from the first days of his reign,
it was evident in what honour he held Friedrich
Wilhelm's memory; and the words "my Father," when
they turned up in discourse, had in that fine voice of
his a tone which the observers noted. "To his Mother
"he failed no day, when in Berlin, however busy, to
"make his visit; and he never spoke to her, except hat
"in hand. "
With his own Queen, Friedrich still consorts a good
deal, in these first times; is with her at Charlottenburg,
Berlin, Potsdam, Reinsberg, for a day or two, as
occasion gives; sometimes at Keinsberg for weeks
running, in the intervals of war and business: glad to
be at rest amid his old pursuits, by the side of a kind
innocent being familiar to him. So it lasts for a length
of time. But these happy intervals, we can remark,
grow rarer; whether the Lady's humour, as they be-
came rarer, might not sink withal, and produce an
acceleration in the rate of decline? She was thought
to be capable of "pouting (faire la fdchee)" at one
period! We are left to our guesses; there is not any-
where the smallest whisper to guide us. Deep silence
reigns in all Prussian Books. -- To feel or to suspect
yourself neglected, and to become more amiable there-
upon (in which course alone lies hope), is difficult for
any Queen! Enough, we can observe these meetings,
within two or three years, have become much rarer;
Carljle, Frederick the Great. VI. 3
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? 34 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [boOK XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
and perhaps about the end of the third or fourth year,
they altogether cease; and pass merely into the formal
character. In which state they continued fixed, liable
to no uncertainty; and were transacted, to the end of
Friedrich's life, with inflexible regularity as the annual
reviews were. This is a curious section of his life;
which there will be other opportunities of noticing.
But there is yet no thought of it anywhere, nor for
years to come; though fables to the contrary were once
current in Books. *
No Change in his Father's Methods or Ministries.
In the old mode of Administration, in the Ministries,
Government Boards, he made no change. These ad-
ministrative methods of his wise Father's are admirable
to Friedrich, who knows them well; and they continue
to be so. These men of his Father's, them also
Friedrich knows, and that they were well chosen. In
methods or in men, he is inclined to make the minimum
of alteration at present. One Finance Hofrath of a
projecting turn, named Eckart, who had abused the
last weak years of Friedrich Wilhelm, and much
afflicted mankind by the favour he was in: this Eckart
Friedrich appointed a commission to inquire into;
found the public right in regard to Eckart, and dis-
missed him with ignominy, not with much other
punishment. Minister Boden, on the contrary, high in
the Finance Department, who had also been much
grumbled at, Friedrich found to be a good man: and
Friedrich not only retained Boden, but advanced him;
and continued to make more and more use of him in
* Laveaux; &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 35
June--Sept. 1740.
time coming. His love of perfection in work done,
his care of thrift, seemed almost greater than his late
Father's had been, -- to the disappointment of many.
In the other Departments, Podewils, Thulmeyer and
the rest, went on as heretofore; -- only in general
with less to do, the young King doing more himself than
had been usual. Valori, "more gros Valori, (my fat Valori),"
French Minister here, whom we shall know better,
writes home of the new King of Prussia: "He begins
"his government, as by all appearance he will carry
"it on, in a highly satisfactory way: everywhere traits
"of benevolence, sympathy for his subjects, respect
"shown to the memory of the Deceased,"* -- no change
made, where it evidently is not for the better.
Friedrich's "Three principal Secretaries of State,"
as we should designate them, are very remarkable.
Three Clerks he found, or had known of, somewhere
in the Public Offices; and now took, under some ad-
vanced title, to be specially his own Private Clerks:
three vigorous long-headed young fellows, "Eichel,
Schuhmacher, Lautensack" the obscure names of
them;*'* out of whom, now and all along henceforth,
he got immensities of work in that kind. They lasted
all his life; and, of course, grew ever more expert at
their function. Close, silent; exact as machinery; ever
ready, from the smallest clear hint, marginal pencil-
mark, almost from a glance of the eye, to clothe the
Royal Will in official form, with the due rugged clear-
ness and thrift of words. "Came punctually at four in
the morning in summer, five in winter;" did daily the
* Memoires des Negotiations du Marquis de Valori (a Paris, 1820), i. 20
("June 13th, 1740"). A valuable Book, which we shall often have to
quote: edited in a lamentably ignorant manner.
** ROdenbeck, 15th June 1740.
3*
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? 36 FKIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
day's work; and kept theiv mouths well shut. A very
notable Trio of men; serving his Majesty and the Prus-
sian Nation as Principal Secretaries of State, on those
cheap terms; -- nay almost as Houses of Parliament
with Standing-Committees and appendages, so many
Acts of Parliament, admittedly rather wise, being passed
daily by his Majesty's help and theirs! -- Friedrich
paid them rather well; they saw no society; lived
wholly to their work, and to their own families. Eichel
alone of the Three was mentioned at all by mankind,
and that obscurely; an "abstruse, reserved, longheaded
"kind of man;" and "made a great deal of money in
"the end," insinuates Biisching, * no friend of Fried-
rich's or his.
In superficial respects, again, Friedrich finds that
the Prussian King ought to have a King's Establish-
ment, and maintain a decent splendour among his
neighbours, -- as is not quite the case at present. In
this respect he does make changes. A certain quantity
of new Pages, new Goldstick's; some considerable, not
too considerable, new-furbishing of the Royal House-
hold, -- as it were, a fair coat of new paint, with
gilding not profuse, -- brought it to the right pitch
for this King. About "a hundred and fifty" new figures
of the Page and Goldstick kind, is the reckoning
given. ** So many of these; and there is an increase
of 16,000 to one's Army going on: that is the propor-
tion noticeable. In the facts as his Father left them
Friedrich persisted all his life; in the semblances or
outer vestures he changed, to this extent for the pre-
sent. -- These are the Phenomena of Friedrich's Ac-
cession, noted by us.
* BeyMge, v. 238, &c. ** HvUlen-Gc. 'chichle, i. 35't.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDRICH'S ACCESSION. 37
June--Sept. 1740.
Readers see there is radiance enough, perhaps
slightly in excess, but of intrinsically good quality, in
the Aurora of this new Reign. A brilliant valiant
young King; much splendour of what we could call a
golden or soft nature (visible in those "New-Era" doings
of his, in those strong affections to his Friends); and
also, what we like almost better in him, something of
a steel-bright or stellar splendour (meaning, clearness
of eyesight, intrepidity, severe loyalty to fact), --
which is a fine addition to the softer element, and will
keep it and its philanthropies and magnanimities well
under rule. Such a man is rare in this world; how
extremely rare such a man born King! He is swift
and he is persistent; sharply discerning, fearless to re-
solve and perform; carries his great endowments lightly,
as if they were not heavy to him. He has known hard
misery, been taught by stripes; a light stoicism sits
gracefully on him.
"What he will grow to? " Probably to something
considerable. Very certainly to something far short of
his aspirations; far different from his own hopes, and
the world's concerning him. It is not we, it is Father
Time that does the controlling and fulfilling of our
hopes; and strange work he makes of them and us.
For example, has not Friedrich's grand "New Era,"
inaugurated by him in a week, with the leading spirits
all adoring, issued since in French Revolution and a
"world well suicided," -- the leading spirits much
thrown-out in consequence! New Era has gone to
great lengths since Friedrich's time; and the leading
spirits do not now adore it, but yawn over it, or worse!
Which changes to us the then aspect of Friedrich, and
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? 38 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [book xr.
Jane--Sept. 1740.
his epoch and his aspirations, a good deal. -- On the
whole, Friedrich will go his way, Time and the lead-
ing spirits going theirs; and, like the rest of us, will
grow to what he can. His actual size is not great
among the Kingdoms: his outward resources are rather
to be called small. The Prussian Dominion at that
date is, in extent, about Four-fifths of an England
Proper, and perhaps not one-fifth so fertile: subject
Population is well under Two Millions and a Half;
Revenue not much above One Million Sterling, * --
very small, were not thrift such a vcctitjal.
This young King is magnanimous; not much to be
called ambitious, or not in the vulgar sense almost at
all, -- strange as it may sound to readers. His hopes
at this time are many; -- and among them, I perceive,
there is not wanting secretly, in spite of his experiences,
some hope that he himself may be a good deal "happier"
than formerly. Nor is there any ascetic humour, on his
part, to forbid trial. He is much determined to try.
Probably enough, as we guess and gather, his agree-
ablest anticipations, at this time, were of Reinsberg:
How, in the intervals of work well done, he would live
there wholly to the Muses; have his chosen spirits round
him, his colloquies, his suppers of the gods. Why not?
There might be a King of Intellects conceivable withal;
protecting, cherishing, practically guiding the chosen
Illuminative Souls of this world. A new Charlemagne,
the smallest new Charlemagne of Spiritual type, with
his Paladins round him; how glorious, how salutary in
the dim generations now going! -- These too were
* The exact statistic cipher is, at Friedrich's Accession: Prussian
Territories, 2,275 square miles German (56,875 English); Population,
2,240,000; Annnal Revenue, 7,371,707 thalers 7 groschen (1,105,756/. without
the pence). See Preuss, llucit fiir ledcrmatm, i. 49; Stenzel, iii. 692; &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FKIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 39
June--Sept. 1740.
hopes which proved signally futile. Rigorous Time
could not grant these at all; -- granted, in his own
hard way, other things instead. But, all along, the
Life-element, the Epoch, though Friedrich took it
kindly and never complained, was ungenial to such
"Somewhat of a rotten Epoch, this into which Friedrich
"has been born, to shape himself and his activities royal and
"Time, when the eternally awful meanings of this Universe
"had not yet sunk into dubieties to any one, much less into
"levities or into mendacities, into huge hypocrisies carefully
"regulated, -- so luminous, vivid and ingenuous a young
"creature had not wanted divine manna in his Pilgrimage
"through Life. Nor, in that case, had he come out of it in
"so lean a condition. But the highest man of us is born brother
"to his Contemporaries; struggle as he may, there is no
"escaping the family likeness. By spasmodic indignant con-
"tradiction of them, by stupid compliance with them, -- you
"will inversely resemble, if you do not directly; like the
"starling, you can't get out! -- Most surely, if there do fall
"manna from Heaven, in the given Generation, and nourish
"in us reverence and genial nobleness day by day, it is blessed
"and well. Failing that, in regard to our poor spiritual inter-
"ests, there is sure to be one of two results: mockery, con-
"tempt, disbelief, what we may call short-diet to the length of
"very famine (which was Friedrich's case); or else slow-
"poison, carefully elaborated and provided by way of daily
"nourishment.
"Unhappy souls, these same! The slow-poison has gone
"deep into them. Instead of manna, this long while back,
"they have been living on mouldy corrupt meats sweetened by
"sugar-of-lead; -- or perhaps, like Voltaire, a few individuals
"prefer hunger as the cleaner alternative; and in con-
"temptuous, barren, mocking humour, not yet got the length
"of geniality or indignation, snuff the east-wind by way of
"spiritual diet. Pilgriming along on such nourishment, the
"best human soul fails to become very ruddy! -- Tidings
"about Heaven are fallen so uncertain, but the Earth and her
a man.
once: "In an older earnest
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? '10 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
June--Kept. 1710.
"joys are still interesting:' Take to the Earth and her joys; --
"let your soul go out, since it must; let your five senses and
"their appetites be well alive.
could never get forgotten again. Lieutenant-General
Schulenburg, too, the didactic Schulenburg, presuming
on old familiarity, and willing to wipe out the mis-
fortune of having once condemned us to death, which
nobody is now upbraiding him with, rushes up from
Landsberg, unbidden, to pay his congratulations and
condolences, driven by irresistible exuberance of loyalty:
to his astonishment, he is reminded (thing certain,
manner of the thing not known), That an Officer cannot
quit his post without order; that he, at this moment,
ought to be in Landsberg! * Schulenburg has a hard
old military face; but here is a young face too, which
has grown unexpectedly rigorous. Fancy the blank
look of little Schulenburg; the light of him snuffed out
in this manner on a sudden. It is said he had thoughts
of resigning, so indignant was he: no doubt he went
home to Landsberg gloomily reflective, with the pipe-
clay of his mind in such a ruinous condition. But
there was no serious anger, on Friedrich's part; and he
consoled his little Schulenburg, soon after, by ex-
pediting some promotion he had intended him. "Ter-
ribly proud young Majesty this," exclaim the sweet
voices. And indeed, if they are to have a Saturnian
Kingdom, by appearance it will be on conditions
only!
Anticipations there had been, that old unkindnesses
against the Crown Prince, some of which were cruel
enough, might be remembered now: and certain people
had their just fears, considering what account stood
against them; others, vice versa, their hopes. But
* Stenzel, iv. 41; Preusa, Thronbestcigung: &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FMEDRICH's ACCESSION. 25
Jane--Sciit. 1710.
neither the fears nor the hopes realised themselves;
especially the fears proved altogether groundless.
Derschau, who had voted Death in that Cbpenick
Court-Martial, upon the Crown-Prince, is continued in
his functions, in the light of his King's countenance,
as if nothing such had been. Derschau, and all others
so concerned; not the least question was made of them,
nor of what they had thought or had done or said, on
an occasion once so tragically vital to a certain man.
Nor is reward much regulated by past services to
the Crown-Prince, or even by sufferings endured for
him. "Shocking ingratitude! " exclaim the sweet voices
here too, -- being of weak judgment, many of them!
Poor Katte's Father, a faithful old Soldier, not capable
of being more, he does, rather conspicuously, make
Feldmarschall, make Reichsgraf; happy, could these
honours be a consolation to the old man. The
Miinchows of Ciistrin, -- readers remember their kind-
ness 'in that sad time; how the young boy went into
petticoats again, and came to the Crown-Prince's cell
with all manner of furnishings, -- the Miinchows, father
and sons, tlds young gentleman of the petticoats among
them, he took immediate pains to reward by promo-
tion: eldest son was advanced into the General
Directorium; two younger sons, to Majorship, to
Captaincy, in their respective Regiments; him of the
petticoats "he had already taken altogether to him-
self," * -- and of him we shall see a glimpse at
Wilhelmina's shortly, as a "milkbeard (jeune morveuxy
in personal attendance on his Majesty. This was a
notable exception. And in effect there came good
public service, eminent some of it, from these Miinchows
* Preuss, i. 60.
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? 26 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI-
June--Sept. 1740.
in their various departments. And it was at length
perceived to have been, in the main, because they
were of visible faculty for doing work that they had
got work to do; and the exceptional case of the
Miinchows became confirmatory of the rule.
Lieutenant Keith, again, whom we once saw
galloping from Wesel to save his life in that bad affair
of the Crown-Prince's and his, was nothing like so
fortunate. Lieutenant Keith, by speed on that Wesel
occasion, and help of Chesterfield's Secretary, got
across to England; got into the Portuguese service;
and has there been soldiering, very silently, these ten
years past, -- skin and body safe, though his effigy
was cut in four quarters and nailed to the gallows at
Wesel; -- waiting a time that would come. Time
being come, Lieutenant Keith hastened home; appealed
to his effigy on the gallows; -- and was made a Lieute-
nant-Colonel merely, with some slight appendages, as
that of Stallmeister (Curator of the Stables) and some-
thing else; --, income still straitened, though enough to
live upon. * Small promotion, in comparison with hope,
thought the poor Lieutenant; but had to rest satisfied
with it; and struggle to understand that perhaps he
was fit for nothing bigger, and that he must exert him-
self to do this small thing well. Hardness of heart in
high places! Friedrich, one is glad to see, had not
forgotten the poor fellow, could he have done better
with him. Some ten years hence, quite incidentally,
there came to Keith, one morning, a fine purse of
money from his Majesty, one pretty gift in Keith's ex-
perience; -- much the topic in Berlin, while a certain
solemn English Gentleman happened to be passing that
* Preuss, Friedrich mit seinsn Verwandten und Frcunden, p. 281.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FKIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 27
June--Sept. 1740.
way (whom we mean to detain a little by and by),
who reports it for us with all the circumstances. *
Lieutenant Spaen too had got into trouble for the
Crown-Prince's sake, though we have forgotten him
again; had "admitted Katte to interviews," or we
forget what; -- had sat his "year in Spandau" in con-
sequence; been dismissed the Prussian service, and had
taken service with the Dutch. Lieutenant Spaen either
did not return at all, or disliked the aspects when he
did, and immediately withdrew to Holland again.
Which probably was wise of him. At a late period,
King Friedrich, then a great King, on one of his Cleve
Journeys, fell in with Spaen; who had become a Dutch
General of rank, and was of good manners and style
of conversation: King Friedrich was charmed to see
him; became his guest for the night; conversed delight-
fully with him, about old Prussian matters and about
new; and in the colloquy never once alluded to that
interesting passage in his young life and Spaen's. **
Hard as polished steel! thinks Spaen perhaps; but, if
candid, must ask himself withal, Are facts any softer,
or the Laws of Kingship to a man that holds it? --
Keith silently did his Lieutenant-Colonelcy with the
appendages, while life lasted: of the Page Keith, his
Brother, who indeed had blabbed upon the Prince, as
we remember, and was not entitled to be clamorous, I
never heard that there was any notice taken; and
figure him to myself as walking with shouldered fire-
lock, a private Fusileer, all his life afterwards, with
many reflections on things bygone. ***
* Sir Jonas Hanway: Travels, &c. (London, 1753), li. 203. Date of
the Gift is 1750.
** Nicolai: Anekdolen, vi. 178.
**' These and the other Prussian Keiths are all of Scotch extraction j
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? 28 FKIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
Old friendship, it would seem, is without weight in
public appointments here: old friends are somewhat
astonished to find this friend of theirs a King every
inch! To old comrades, if they were useless, much
more if they were worse than useless, how disappoint-
ing! "One wretched Herr" (name suppressed, but
known at the time, and talked of, and whispered of),
"who had, like several others, hoping to rise that way,
"been industrious in encouraging the Crown-Prince's
"vices as to women, was so shocked at the return he
"now met, that in despair he hanged himself in Lobe-
"jiin" (Lobegun, Magdeburg Country): here is a case
for the humane! --*
Friend Keyserling himself, "Csesarion" that used to
be, can get nothing, though we love him much; being
an idle topsyturvy fellow with revenues of his own.
Jordan, with his fine-drawn wit, French logics, Literary
Travels, thin exactitude; what can be done for Jordan?
Him also his new Majesty loves much; and knows
that, without some official living, poor Jordan has no
resource. Jordan, after some waiting and survey, is
made "Inspector of the Poor;" -- busy this Autumn
looking out for vacant houses, and arrangements for
the thousand spinning women; -- continues to be
employed in mixed literary services (hunting up of
Formey, for Editor, was one instance), and to be in
much real intimacy. That also was perhaps about the
real amount of amiable Jordan. To get Jordan a
living by planting him in some office which he could
not do; to warm Jordan by burning our royal bed for
the Prussians, in natural German fashion, pronounce their name, kah-it
(English "Kite" with nothing of the y in it), as may be worth remember-
ing in a more important instance.
* Kiister: Charactertiige des &c. con Suldern (Berlin, 1793), p. 63.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FRIEDRICh's ACCESSION. 29
June--Sept. 1740.
him: that had not entered into the mind of Jordan's
royal friend. The Miinehows he did promote; the
Finks, sons of his Tutor Finkenstein: to these and
other old comrades, in whom he had discovered fitness,
it is no doubt abundantly grateful to him to recognise
and employ it. As he notably does, in these and in
other instances. But before all things he has decided
to remember that he is King; that he must accept
the severe laws of that trust, and do it, or not have
done anything.
An inverse sign, pointing in the same way, is the
passionate search he is making in Foreign Countries
for such men as will suit him. In these same months,
for example, he bethinks him of two Counts Schmettau,
in the Austrian Service, with whom he had made ac-
quaintance in the Rhine Campaign; of a Count Von
Rothenburg, whom he saw in the French Camp there;
and is negotiating to have them if possible. The
Schmettaus are Prussian by birth, though in Austrian
Service; them he obtains under form of an Order home,
with good conditions under it; they came, and proved
useful men to him. Rothenburg, a shining kind of
figure in Diplomacy as well as Soldiership, was Alsatian
German, foreign to Prussia; but him too Friedrich ob-
tained, and made much of, as will bo notable by and
by. And in fact the soul of all these noble tendencies
in Friedrich, which surely are considerable, is even
this, That he loves men of merit, and does not love
men of none; that he has an endless appetite for men
of merit, and feels, consciously and otherwise, that
they are the one thing beautiful, the one thing needful
to him.
This, which is the product of all fine tendencies, is
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? 30 PR1EDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
likewise their centre or focus out of which they start
again, with some chance of fulfilment; -- and we may
judge in how many directions Friedrich was willing
to expand himself, by the multifarious kinds he was
inviting, and negotiating for. Academicians, -- and not
Maupertuis only, but all manner of mathematical
geniuses (Euler whom he got, 's Gravesande, Muschen-
broek, whom he failed of); and Literary geniuses in-
numerable, first and last. Academicians, Musicians,
Players, Dancers even; much more Soldiers and Civil-
Service men: no man that carries any honest "Can do"
about with him but may expect some welcome here.
Which continued through Friedrich's reign; and in-
volved him in much petty trouble, not always success-
ful in the lower kinds of it. For his Court was the
cynosure of ambitious creatures on the wing, or in-
clined for taking wing: like a lantern kindled in the
darkness of the world; -- and many owls impinged
upon him; whom he had to dismiss with brevity.
Perhaps it had been better to stand by mere Prus-
sian or German merit, native to the ground? Or
rather, undoubtedly it had! In some departments, as
in the military, the administrative, diplomatic, Friedrich
was himself among the best of judges; but in various
others he had mainly (mainly, by no means blindly or
solely) to accept noise of reputation as evidence of
merit; and in these, if we compute with rigour, his
success was intrinsically not considerable. The more
honour to him that he never wearied of trying. "A
man that does not care for merit," says the adage,
"cannot himself have any. " But a King that does not
care for merit, what shall we say of such a King! --
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OF FRIEDKICh's ACCESSION. 31
June--Sept. 1740.
Behaviour to his Mother; to his Wife.
One other fine feature, significant of many, let us
notice: his affection for his Mother. When his Mother
addressed him as "Your Majesty," he answered, as the
Books are careful to tell us: "Call me Son; that is the
Title of all others most agreeable to me! " Words
which, there can be no doubt, came from the heart.
Fain would he shoot forth to greatness in filial piety,
as otherwise; fain solace himself in doing something
kind to his Mother. Generously, lovingly; though
again with clear view of the limits. He decrees for
her a Title higher than had been customary, as well
as more accordant with his feelings; not "Queen
Dowager," but "Her Majesty the Queen Mother. " He
decides to build her a new Palace; "under the Lindens"
it is to be, and of due magnificence: in a month or
two, he had even got bits of the foundation dug, and
the Houses to be pulled down bought or bargained
for:* -- which enterprise, however, was renounced, no
doubt with consent, as the public aspects darkened.
Nothing in the way of honour, in the way of real
affection heartily felt and demonstrated, was wanting
to Queen Sophie in her widowhood. But, on the other
hand, of public influence no vestige was allowed, if
any was ever claimed; and the good kind Mother lived
in her Monbijou, the centre and summit of Berlin
society; and restricted herself wisely to private matters.
She has her domesticities, family affections, readings,
speculations; gives evening parties at Monbijou. One
glimpse of her in 1742 we get, that of a perfectly
* Rodenbeck, p. 15 (30th Juno -- 23d August 1710); and correctStenzel
(iv. 41).
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? 32 rRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
June--Sept. 1710.
private royal Lady; which though it has little meaning,
yet as it is authentic, coming from Biisching' s hand,
may serve as one little twinkle in that total darkness,
and shall be left to the reader and his fancy:
A Count Henkel, a Thiiringian gentleman, of high specu-
lation , high pietistic ways, extremely devout, and given even
to writing of religion, came to Berlin about some Silesian pro-
perties, -- a man I should think of lofty,melancholic aspect;
and, in severe type, somewhat of a lion, on account of his Book
called "Deathbed Scenes in four Volumes. " Came to Berlin;
and on the 15th August 1742, towards evening (as the ever-
punctual Biisching looking into Henkel's Papers gives it),
"was presented to the Queen Mother; who retained him to
"supper; supper not beginning till about ten o'clock. The
"Queen Mother was extremely gracious to Henkel; but in-
"vestigated him a good deal, and put a great many questions,"
not quite easy to answer in that circle, "as, Why he did not
"play? What he thought of comedies and operas? What
"Preachers he was acquainted with in Berlin? Whether he too
"was a Writer of Books? " (covertly alluding to the Deathbed
Scenes, notes Biisching). "And abundance of other question-
ing. She also recounted many fantastic anecdotes (viel
"Abenteverlich.
es) about Count von Zinzendorf" (Founder of
Herrnhuth, far-shining spiritual Paladin of that day, whom her
Majesty thinks rather a spiritual Quixote); "and declared that
"they were strictly true. " * Upon which, exit Henkel, borne
by Biisching, and our light is snuffed out.
This is one momentary glance I have met with of
Queen Sophie in her Dowager state. The rest, though
there were seventeen years of it in all, is silent to
mankind and me; and only her death, and her Son's
great grief about it, so great as to be surprising, is
mentioned in the Books.
Actual painful sorrow about his Father, much more
any new outburst of weeping and lamenting, is not on
* Biisching's Beytriqe, iv. 27.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDKICH's ACCESSION. 33
June--Sept. 1740.
record, after that first morning. Time does its work;
and in such a whirl of occupations, sooner than else-
where: and the loved Dead lie silent in their mauso-
leum in our hearts, -- serenely sad as Eternity, not
in loud sorrow as of Time. Friedrich was pious as a
Son, however he might be on other heads. To the
last years of his life, as from the first days of his reign,
it was evident in what honour he held Friedrich
Wilhelm's memory; and the words "my Father," when
they turned up in discourse, had in that fine voice of
his a tone which the observers noted. "To his Mother
"he failed no day, when in Berlin, however busy, to
"make his visit; and he never spoke to her, except hat
"in hand. "
With his own Queen, Friedrich still consorts a good
deal, in these first times; is with her at Charlottenburg,
Berlin, Potsdam, Reinsberg, for a day or two, as
occasion gives; sometimes at Keinsberg for weeks
running, in the intervals of war and business: glad to
be at rest amid his old pursuits, by the side of a kind
innocent being familiar to him. So it lasts for a length
of time. But these happy intervals, we can remark,
grow rarer; whether the Lady's humour, as they be-
came rarer, might not sink withal, and produce an
acceleration in the rate of decline? She was thought
to be capable of "pouting (faire la fdchee)" at one
period! We are left to our guesses; there is not any-
where the smallest whisper to guide us. Deep silence
reigns in all Prussian Books. -- To feel or to suspect
yourself neglected, and to become more amiable there-
upon (in which course alone lies hope), is difficult for
any Queen! Enough, we can observe these meetings,
within two or three years, have become much rarer;
Carljle, Frederick the Great. VI. 3
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? 34 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [boOK XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
and perhaps about the end of the third or fourth year,
they altogether cease; and pass merely into the formal
character. In which state they continued fixed, liable
to no uncertainty; and were transacted, to the end of
Friedrich's life, with inflexible regularity as the annual
reviews were. This is a curious section of his life;
which there will be other opportunities of noticing.
But there is yet no thought of it anywhere, nor for
years to come; though fables to the contrary were once
current in Books. *
No Change in his Father's Methods or Ministries.
In the old mode of Administration, in the Ministries,
Government Boards, he made no change. These ad-
ministrative methods of his wise Father's are admirable
to Friedrich, who knows them well; and they continue
to be so. These men of his Father's, them also
Friedrich knows, and that they were well chosen. In
methods or in men, he is inclined to make the minimum
of alteration at present. One Finance Hofrath of a
projecting turn, named Eckart, who had abused the
last weak years of Friedrich Wilhelm, and much
afflicted mankind by the favour he was in: this Eckart
Friedrich appointed a commission to inquire into;
found the public right in regard to Eckart, and dis-
missed him with ignominy, not with much other
punishment. Minister Boden, on the contrary, high in
the Finance Department, who had also been much
grumbled at, Friedrich found to be a good man: and
Friedrich not only retained Boden, but advanced him;
and continued to make more and more use of him in
* Laveaux; &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 35
June--Sept. 1740.
time coming. His love of perfection in work done,
his care of thrift, seemed almost greater than his late
Father's had been, -- to the disappointment of many.
In the other Departments, Podewils, Thulmeyer and
the rest, went on as heretofore; -- only in general
with less to do, the young King doing more himself than
had been usual. Valori, "more gros Valori, (my fat Valori),"
French Minister here, whom we shall know better,
writes home of the new King of Prussia: "He begins
"his government, as by all appearance he will carry
"it on, in a highly satisfactory way: everywhere traits
"of benevolence, sympathy for his subjects, respect
"shown to the memory of the Deceased,"* -- no change
made, where it evidently is not for the better.
Friedrich's "Three principal Secretaries of State,"
as we should designate them, are very remarkable.
Three Clerks he found, or had known of, somewhere
in the Public Offices; and now took, under some ad-
vanced title, to be specially his own Private Clerks:
three vigorous long-headed young fellows, "Eichel,
Schuhmacher, Lautensack" the obscure names of
them;*'* out of whom, now and all along henceforth,
he got immensities of work in that kind. They lasted
all his life; and, of course, grew ever more expert at
their function. Close, silent; exact as machinery; ever
ready, from the smallest clear hint, marginal pencil-
mark, almost from a glance of the eye, to clothe the
Royal Will in official form, with the due rugged clear-
ness and thrift of words. "Came punctually at four in
the morning in summer, five in winter;" did daily the
* Memoires des Negotiations du Marquis de Valori (a Paris, 1820), i. 20
("June 13th, 1740"). A valuable Book, which we shall often have to
quote: edited in a lamentably ignorant manner.
** ROdenbeck, 15th June 1740.
3*
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? 36 FKIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
June--Sept. 1740.
day's work; and kept theiv mouths well shut. A very
notable Trio of men; serving his Majesty and the Prus-
sian Nation as Principal Secretaries of State, on those
cheap terms; -- nay almost as Houses of Parliament
with Standing-Committees and appendages, so many
Acts of Parliament, admittedly rather wise, being passed
daily by his Majesty's help and theirs! -- Friedrich
paid them rather well; they saw no society; lived
wholly to their work, and to their own families. Eichel
alone of the Three was mentioned at all by mankind,
and that obscurely; an "abstruse, reserved, longheaded
"kind of man;" and "made a great deal of money in
"the end," insinuates Biisching, * no friend of Fried-
rich's or his.
In superficial respects, again, Friedrich finds that
the Prussian King ought to have a King's Establish-
ment, and maintain a decent splendour among his
neighbours, -- as is not quite the case at present. In
this respect he does make changes. A certain quantity
of new Pages, new Goldstick's; some considerable, not
too considerable, new-furbishing of the Royal House-
hold, -- as it were, a fair coat of new paint, with
gilding not profuse, -- brought it to the right pitch
for this King. About "a hundred and fifty" new figures
of the Page and Goldstick kind, is the reckoning
given. ** So many of these; and there is an increase
of 16,000 to one's Army going on: that is the propor-
tion noticeable. In the facts as his Father left them
Friedrich persisted all his life; in the semblances or
outer vestures he changed, to this extent for the pre-
sent. -- These are the Phenomena of Friedrich's Ac-
cession, noted by us.
* BeyMge, v. 238, &c. ** HvUlen-Gc. 'chichle, i. 35't.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FRIEDRICH'S ACCESSION. 37
June--Sept. 1740.
Readers see there is radiance enough, perhaps
slightly in excess, but of intrinsically good quality, in
the Aurora of this new Reign. A brilliant valiant
young King; much splendour of what we could call a
golden or soft nature (visible in those "New-Era" doings
of his, in those strong affections to his Friends); and
also, what we like almost better in him, something of
a steel-bright or stellar splendour (meaning, clearness
of eyesight, intrepidity, severe loyalty to fact), --
which is a fine addition to the softer element, and will
keep it and its philanthropies and magnanimities well
under rule. Such a man is rare in this world; how
extremely rare such a man born King! He is swift
and he is persistent; sharply discerning, fearless to re-
solve and perform; carries his great endowments lightly,
as if they were not heavy to him. He has known hard
misery, been taught by stripes; a light stoicism sits
gracefully on him.
"What he will grow to? " Probably to something
considerable. Very certainly to something far short of
his aspirations; far different from his own hopes, and
the world's concerning him. It is not we, it is Father
Time that does the controlling and fulfilling of our
hopes; and strange work he makes of them and us.
For example, has not Friedrich's grand "New Era,"
inaugurated by him in a week, with the leading spirits
all adoring, issued since in French Revolution and a
"world well suicided," -- the leading spirits much
thrown-out in consequence! New Era has gone to
great lengths since Friedrich's time; and the leading
spirits do not now adore it, but yawn over it, or worse!
Which changes to us the then aspect of Friedrich, and
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? 38 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [book xr.
Jane--Sept. 1740.
his epoch and his aspirations, a good deal. -- On the
whole, Friedrich will go his way, Time and the lead-
ing spirits going theirs; and, like the rest of us, will
grow to what he can. His actual size is not great
among the Kingdoms: his outward resources are rather
to be called small. The Prussian Dominion at that
date is, in extent, about Four-fifths of an England
Proper, and perhaps not one-fifth so fertile: subject
Population is well under Two Millions and a Half;
Revenue not much above One Million Sterling, * --
very small, were not thrift such a vcctitjal.
This young King is magnanimous; not much to be
called ambitious, or not in the vulgar sense almost at
all, -- strange as it may sound to readers. His hopes
at this time are many; -- and among them, I perceive,
there is not wanting secretly, in spite of his experiences,
some hope that he himself may be a good deal "happier"
than formerly. Nor is there any ascetic humour, on his
part, to forbid trial. He is much determined to try.
Probably enough, as we guess and gather, his agree-
ablest anticipations, at this time, were of Reinsberg:
How, in the intervals of work well done, he would live
there wholly to the Muses; have his chosen spirits round
him, his colloquies, his suppers of the gods. Why not?
There might be a King of Intellects conceivable withal;
protecting, cherishing, practically guiding the chosen
Illuminative Souls of this world. A new Charlemagne,
the smallest new Charlemagne of Spiritual type, with
his Paladins round him; how glorious, how salutary in
the dim generations now going! -- These too were
* The exact statistic cipher is, at Friedrich's Accession: Prussian
Territories, 2,275 square miles German (56,875 English); Population,
2,240,000; Annnal Revenue, 7,371,707 thalers 7 groschen (1,105,756/. without
the pence). See Preuss, llucit fiir ledcrmatm, i. 49; Stenzel, iii. 692; &c.
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? CHAP. I. ] PHENOMENA OP FKIEDRICH's ACCESSION. 39
June--Sept. 1740.
hopes which proved signally futile. Rigorous Time
could not grant these at all; -- granted, in his own
hard way, other things instead. But, all along, the
Life-element, the Epoch, though Friedrich took it
kindly and never complained, was ungenial to such
"Somewhat of a rotten Epoch, this into which Friedrich
"has been born, to shape himself and his activities royal and
"Time, when the eternally awful meanings of this Universe
"had not yet sunk into dubieties to any one, much less into
"levities or into mendacities, into huge hypocrisies carefully
"regulated, -- so luminous, vivid and ingenuous a young
"creature had not wanted divine manna in his Pilgrimage
"through Life. Nor, in that case, had he come out of it in
"so lean a condition. But the highest man of us is born brother
"to his Contemporaries; struggle as he may, there is no
"escaping the family likeness. By spasmodic indignant con-
"tradiction of them, by stupid compliance with them, -- you
"will inversely resemble, if you do not directly; like the
"starling, you can't get out! -- Most surely, if there do fall
"manna from Heaven, in the given Generation, and nourish
"in us reverence and genial nobleness day by day, it is blessed
"and well. Failing that, in regard to our poor spiritual inter-
"ests, there is sure to be one of two results: mockery, con-
"tempt, disbelief, what we may call short-diet to the length of
"very famine (which was Friedrich's case); or else slow-
"poison, carefully elaborated and provided by way of daily
"nourishment.
"Unhappy souls, these same! The slow-poison has gone
"deep into them. Instead of manna, this long while back,
"they have been living on mouldy corrupt meats sweetened by
"sugar-of-lead; -- or perhaps, like Voltaire, a few individuals
"prefer hunger as the cleaner alternative; and in con-
"temptuous, barren, mocking humour, not yet got the length
"of geniality or indignation, snuff the east-wind by way of
"spiritual diet. Pilgriming along on such nourishment, the
"best human soul fails to become very ruddy! -- Tidings
"about Heaven are fallen so uncertain, but the Earth and her
a man.
once: "In an older earnest
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? '10 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
June--Kept. 1710.
"joys are still interesting:' Take to the Earth and her joys; --
"let your soul go out, since it must; let your five senses and
"their appetites be well alive.
