No More Learning

"He," the Herr Professor here, "has also treated of German
"Letter-writing, and has published specimens. "
King. "So? But have you written against the Chancery
"Style, then" (the painfully solemn style, of ceremonial and
circumlocution; Letters written so as to be mainly wig and
buckram)?
Gellert. "Achja, that have I, Ihro Majestat! "
King. "But why doesn't it change? The Devil must be
"in it (Es ist etwas Verteufeltes). They bring me whole sheets
"of that stuff, and I can make nothing of it! Gellert. "If
"your Majesty cannot alter it, still less can I. I can only re-
commend, where you command. "
King. "Can you repeat any of your Fables? Gellert. "I
"doubt it; my memory is very treacherous. "
King. "Bethink you a little; I will walk about" (Gellert
bethinks him, brow puckered. King, seeing the brow un-
pucker itself). "Well, have you one? " Gellert. "Yes,
"your Majesty: The Painter. " Gellert recites ("voice plain-
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-61. 159
18th Dec. 1760.
tive and hollow;" somewhat preachy, I should doubt, but not
cracked or shrieky); -- we condense him into prose abridg-
ment for English readers; German can look at the bottom of
the page:*
"'A prudent Painter in Athens, more intent on excellence than on
"'money, had done a God of War; and sent for a real Critic to give him
"'his opinion of it. ' On survey, the Critic shook his head: 'Too much
"'Art visible; won't do, my friend! ' The Painter strove to think other-
"wise; and was still arguing, when a young Coxcomb" (Geek, Gawk),
"stept in: 'Gods, what a masterpiece! ' cried he at the first glance: 'Ah,
"'that foot, those exquisitely-wrought toe-nails; helm, shield, mail, what
"'opulence of Art! ' The sorrowful Painter looked penitentially at the
"real Critic, looked at his brush; and the instant this Geek was gone,
"struck out his God of War. "
King. "And the Moral? "
Geliert (stillreciting):
"' When the Critic does not like thy Bit of Writing, it is a bad sign for
"'thee; but when the Fool admires, it is time thou at once strike it out. '"
King. "That is excellent; very fine indeed. You have a
"something of soft and flowing in your verses; them I under-
* "Ein kluger Maler in Athen,
Der minder, weil man ihn bezahlte,
Als weil er Ehre suchte, malte,
fyiess einen Kenner einst den Mars
im Hilde sehn,
Und hat sich seine Meinung aus.
Der Kenner sagt ihm frei heraus,
Dass ihm das Bild nicht ganz gefal-
len wollte,
Und dass es,um recht scho? n zu sein,
Weit minder Kunst verrathen sollte.
Der Maler wandle vieles ein;
Der Kenner stritt mit ihm aus Gru? n-
den,
Undkonntihn doch nicht u? berwinden.
Gleich trat ein junger Geck herein,
Und nahm das Bild in Augenschein.
'0/ rief er, bei dem ersten Blicke,
'Ihr Go? tter, welch ein Meisterstu? cke!
Ach, welcher Fuss! 0, wie geschickt
Sind nicht die Na? gel ausgedru? ckt!
Mars lebt durchaus in diesem Bilde*
Wie viele Kunst, wie viele Pi'acht,
Ist in dem Helm und in dem Schilde,
Und in der Bu? slung angebracht! ''
Der Maler ward bescha? mt geru? hret,
Und sah den Kenner kla? glich an.
rNun/ sprach er, 'bin ich u? berfu? h-
ret!
Ihr habt mir nicht zu viel gethanS
Der junge Geck war kaum hinaus,
So strich er seinen Kriegsgott aus. "
t MORAL.
"Wenn deine Schrift dem Kenner Doch, wenn sie gar des Narren Lob
nicht gefa? llt, erha? lt,
So ist es schon ein bo? ses Zeichen; So ist es Zeit, sie auszustreichen" --
(Geliert's Werke: Leipzig, 1840: 1. 136. )
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? 160 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
18th Dec. 1760.
"stand altogether. But there was Gottsched, one day, read-
"ing me his Translation of Iphigenie; I had the French Copy
"in my hand, and could not understand a word of him" (a
Swan of Saxony, labouring in vain, that day)! "Theyre-
"commended me another Poet, one Peitsch (Herr Peitsch
ofKonisberg, Hofrath, Doctor and Professor there, Gott-
sched's Master in Art; edited by Gottsched thirty years ago:
now become a dumb idol, though at one time a god con-
fessed); "him I flung away. "
Gellert. "Ihro Majestat, him I also fling away. "
King. "Well, if I continue here, you must come again
"often; bring your Fables with you, and read me some-
"thing. "
Gellert. "I know not if I can read well; I have the singing
"kind of tone, native to the Hill Country. "
King. uJa, like the Silesians. No, you must read me the
"Fables yourself; they lose a great deal otherwise. Come
"back soon. "* (Exit Gellert. )
King (to Icilius, as we learn from a different Record).
"That is quite another man than Gottsched! " (Exeunt
omnes. )
The modest Gellert says he "remembered Jesus
Sirach's advice, Press not thyself on Kings,-- and never
came back;" nor was specially sent for, in the hurries
succeeding; though the King never quite forgot him.
Next day, at dinner, the King said, "He is the rea-
"sonablest man of all the German Literary People,
"(Test le plus raisonnable de tous les Savans Allemands. "
And to Garve, at Breslau, years afterwards: "Gellert
"is the only German that will reach posterity; his de-
partment is small, but he has worked in it with real
"felicity. " And indeed the King had, before that, as
practical result of the Gellert Dialogue, managed to set
* Gellert's Briefmechsel mit Demoiselle Lucius (already cited), pp. 632
et acq.
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? CHAP. vI. ] 'WIIsTER-QUAETEBS 1760-61. 161
18th Dec. 1760.
some Berlin Bookseller upon printing of these eligible
Fables, "for the use of our Prussian Schools;" in which
and other capacities the Fables still serve with accept-
ance, there and elsewhere. *
In regard to Gellert's Horse-exercise, I had still to
remember that Gellert, not long after, did get a Horse;
two successive Horses; both highly remarkable. The
first especially; which was Prince Henri's gift: "The
"Horse Prince Henri had ridden at the Battle of Frey-
"berg" (Battle to be mentioned hereafter); -- quadruped
that must have been astonished at itself! But a pretty
enough gift from the warlike admiring Prince to his
dyspeptic Great Man. This Horse having yielded to
Time, the very Kurfiirst (grandson of Polish Majesty
that now is) sent Gellert another, housing and furniture
complete; mounted on which, Gellert and it were
among the sights of Leipzig; -- well enough known
here to young Goethe, in his College days, who used
to meet the great man and princely horse, and do sa-
lutation, with perhaps some twinkle of scepticism in the
corner of his eye. ** Poor Gellert fell seriously ill in
December 1769; to the fear and grief of all the world:
"estafettes from the Kurfiirst himself galloped daily, or
"oftener, from Dresden for the sick bulletin;" but poor
Gellert died, all the same (13th of that month); and
we have (really with pathetic thoughts, even we) to bid
his amiable existence in this world, his bits of glories
and him, adieu forever.
* Preuss, n. 274.
** Dichtumj und Wuhrheit, Theil n. Buch 6 (in Goethe's Werke, xxv. 51
et seq. J.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XII. 11
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? 162 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
21st Jan. 1761.
Dialogue with General Saldern (in the Apel House,
Leipzig, 21st January 1761).
Four or five weeks after this of Gellert, Friedrich
had another Dialogue, which also is partly on record,
and is of more importance to us here: Dialogue with
Major-General Saldern; on a certain business, delicate,
yet profitable to the doer, -- nobody so fit for it as
Saldern, thinks the King. Saldern is he who did that
extraordinary feat of packing the wrecks of battle on
the Field of Liegnitz; a fine, clear-flowing, silent kind
of man, rapid and steady, with a great deal of methodic
and other good faculty in him, -- more, perhaps, than
he himself yet knows of. Him the King has sent for,
this morning; and it is on the business of Polish Ma-
jesty's Royal Hunting-Schloss at Hubertsburg,-- which
is a thing otherwise worth some notice from us.
For three months long, the King had been repre-
senting, in the proper quarters, what plunderings, and
riotous and even disgusting savageries, the Saxons had
perpetrated at Charlottenburg, Schonhausen, Friedrichs-
feld, in October last, while masters there for a few days:
but neither in Reichs Diet, where Plotho was eloquent,
nor elsewhere by the Diplomatic method, could he get
the least redress, or one civil word of regret. From
Polish Majesty himself, to whom Friedrich remonstrated
the matter, through the English Resident at Warsaw,
Friedrich had expected regret; but he got none. Some
think he had hoped that Polish Majesty, touched by
these horrors of war, and by the reciprocities evidently
liable to follow, might be induced to try something to-
wards mediating a General Peace: but Polish Majesty
did not; Polish Majesty answered simply nothing at
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-61. 163
21st Jan. 1761. '
all, nor would get into any correspondence: upon which
Friedrich, possibly a little piqued withal, had at length
determined on retaliation.
Within our cantonments, reflects Friedrich, here is
Hubertsburg Schloss, with such a hunting apparatus in
and around it; Polish Majesty's Hertzblatt ("lid of the
heart" as they call it; breastbone, at least, and pit of
his stomach, which inclines to nothing but hunting):
let his Hubertsburg become as our Charlottenburg is;
perhaps that will touch his feelings! Friedrich had
formed this resolution; and, Wednesday January 21st,
sends for Saldern, one of the most exact, deft-going,
and punctiliously honourable of all his Generals, to
execute it. Enter Saldern accordingly, -- royal
Audience-room "in the Apel'sche Haul, New Neumarkt,
No. 16," as above; -- to whom (one Kiister, a reliable
creature, reporting for us on Saldern's behalf) the
King says, in the distinct slowish tone of a King giving
orders:
King. "' Saldern, tomorrow morning you go'" (Er, He goes)
"'with a detachment of Infantry and Cavalry, in all silence,
"to Hubertsburg; beset the Schloss, get all the furnitures
"carefully packed up and invoiced. I want nothing with
"them; the money they bring I mean to bestow on our Field
"Hospitals, and will not forget you in disposing of it. '"
"Saldern, usually so prompt with his lJa' on any Order
"from the King, looks embarrassed, stands silent, -- to the
"King's great surprise; -- and after a moment or two says:
Saldern. "' Forgive me, your Majesty: but this is contrary
"to my honour and my oath. '"
King (still in a calm tone). "'You would be right to think
"so, if I did not intend this desperate method for a good ob-
"ject. Listen to me: great Lords don't feel it in their scalp
"when their subjects are torn bythehair; one has to griptheir
"own locks, as the only way to give them pain. '" ("These
11*
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? 164 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
21st Jan. 1761.
"last words the King said in a sharper tone: he again made
"his apology for the resolution he had formed; and renewed
"his Order. With the modesty usual to him, but also with
"manliness, Saldern replied:)
Saldern. '"Order me, your Majesty, to attack the enemy
"and his batteries, I will on the instant cheerfully obey: but
"against honour, oath, and duty, I cannot, 1 dare not!
"The King," with voice gradually rising, I suppose, "re-
"peated his demonstration that the thing was proper, neces-
"sary in the circumstances; but Saldern, true to the inward
"voice, answered steadily:
Saldern. "'For this commission your Majesty will easily
"find another person in my stead. '"
King ("whirling hastily round, with an angry counten-
"ance," but, I should say, an admirable preservation of his
dignity in such extreme case). "Saldern, Er will nichtreich
"werden,-- Saldern, you refuse to become rich. " And exit,
leaving Saldern to his own stiff courses.
*
Nothing remained for Saldern but to fall ill, and retire
from the Service; which he did: a man honourably ruined,
thought everybody; -- which did not prove to be the case, by
and by.
This surely is a remarkable Dialogue; far beyond
any of the Gellert kind. An absolute King and Com-
mander-in-Chief, and of such a type in both characters,
getting flat refusal once in his life (this once only, so
far as I know), and how he takes it: -- one wishes
Kiister, or somebody, had been able to go into more
details! -- Details on the Quintus-Icilius procedure,
which followed next day, would also have been rather
welcome, had Kiister seen good. It is well known,
Quintus Icilius and his Battalion, on order now given,
went cheerfully, next day, in Saldern's stead. And
sacked Hubertsburg Castle, to the due extent or far-
ther: 100,000 thalers (15,000/. ) were to be raised from
* Kiister, Charakterzuge des General-Lieutenant v. Saldern (Berlin,
1793), p. 39-44.
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-01. 165
21st Jan. 1761.
it for' the Field-Hospital behoof; the rest was to be
Quintus's own; who, it was thought, made an excellent
thing of it for himself. And in hauling out the furni-
tures, especially in selling them, Quintus having an
enterprising sharp head in trade affairs, "it is certain,"
says Kiister, as says everybody, "various Schdndlich-
"keiten (scandals) occurred, which were contrary to the
"King's intention, and would not have happened under
"Saldern. " What the scandals particularly were, is
not specified to me anywhere, though I have searched
up and down; much less the net amount of money
realised by Quintus. I know only, poor Quintus was
bantered about it, all his life after, by this merci-
less King; and at Potsdam, in years coming, had
ample time and admonition for what penitence was
needful.
"The case was much canvassed in the Army," says
poor Kiister; "it was the topic in every tent among
"Officers and common Men. And among us Army-
"Chaplains too," poor honest souls, "the question of
"conflicting duties arose: Your King ordering one thing,
"and your own Conscience another, what ought a man
"to do? What ought an Army-Chaplain to preach or
"advise? And considerable mutual light in regard to
"it we struck out from one another, and saw how a
"prudent Army-Chaplain might steer his way. Our
"general conclusion was, That neither the King nor
"Saldern could well be called wrong. Saldern listening
"to the inner voice; right he, for certain. But withal
"the King, in his place, might judge such a thing ex-
pedient and fit; perhaps Saldern himself would,
"had Saldern been King of Prussia there in January
"1761. "
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? 1G6 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERAVHELMED. [book XX.
Dec. 1760 --April 1761.
Saldern's behaviour in his retirement was beautiful;
and after the Peace, he was recalled, and made more
use of than ever; being indeed a model for Army ar-
rangements and procedures, and reckoned the comple-
test General of Infantry now left, far and near. The
outcries made about Hubertsburg, which still linger in
Books, are so considerable, one fancies the poor Schloss
must have been quite ruined, and left standing as naked
walls. Such, however, we by no means find to be the
case; but, on the contrary, shall ourselves see that
everything was got refitted there, and put into perfect
order again, before long.
There are some War-movements during Winter; general
financiering Difficulties. Choiseul proposes Peace.
February 15th, there fell out, at Langensalza, on
the Unstrut, in Gotha Country, a bit of sharp fighting;
done by Friedrich's people and Duke Ferdinand's in
concert; which, and still more what followed on it,
made some noise in the quiet months. Not a great
thing, this of Langensalza, but a sudden, and success-
fully done; costing Broglio some 2,000 prisoners; and
the ruin of a considerable Post of his, which he had
lately pushed out thither, "to seize the Unstrut," as
he hoped. A Broglio grasping at more than he could
hold, in those Thuringen parts, as elsewhere! And,
indeed, the Fight of Langensalza was only the begin-
ning of a series of such; Duke Ferdinand being now
upon one of his grand Winter-Adventures: that of
suddenly surprising and exploding Broglio's Winter-
quarters altogether, and rolling him back to Frankfurt
for a lodging. So that, since the first days of February,
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-61. 167
Dec. 1760--April 1761.
especially since Langensalza day, there rose suddenly
a great deal of rushing about, in those regions, with
hard bits of fighting, at least of severe campaigning;
-- which lasted two whole months; -- filling the whole
world with noise that Winter; and requiring extreme
brevity from us here. It was specially Duke Ferdinand's
Adventure; Friedrich going on it, as per bargain, to
the Langensalza enterprise, but no farther; after which
it did not much concern Friedrich, nor indeed come to
much result for anybody:
"Strenuous Ferdinand, very impatient of the Gottingen
"business, and provoked to see Broglio's quarters extend into
"Hessen, so near hand, for the first time, silently determines
"to dislodge him. Broglio's chain of quarters, which goes
"from Frankfurt north as far as Marburg, then turns east to
"Ziegenhayn; thence north again to Cassel, toMUndenwith
"its Defiles; and again east, or south-east, to Langensalza
"even: this chain has above 150 miles of weak length; and
"various other grave faults to the eye of Ferdinand, -- especi-
ally this, that it is in the form, not of an elbow only, or
"joiner's square, which is entirely to be disapproved, but even
"of two elbows; in fact, of the profile of a chair" (if readers
"had a Map at hand). "Foot of the chair is Frankfurt; seat
"partis from Marburg to Ziegenhayn; back part, near where
"Ferdinand lies in chief force, is the Cassel region, on to
"Miinden, which is top of the back, -- still backwards from
"which, there is a kind of proud curl or overlapping, down to
"Langensalza in Gotha Country, which greedyBroglio has
"likewise grasped at! Broglio's friends say he himself
"knew the faultiness of this zigzag form, but had been over-
"ruled. Ferdinand certainly knows it, and proceeds to act
"upon it.
"In profound silence, namely, ranks himself (February 1st-
"12th) in three Divisions, wide enough asunder; bursts up
"sudden as lightning, at Langensalza and elsewhere; kicks
"to pieces Broglio's Chair-Profile, kicks out especially the
"bottom part, which ruins both foot and back, these being
"disjoined thereby, and each exposed to be taken in rear; --
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? 168 FRIEDEICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Dec. 1760--April 1761.
"and of course astonishes Broglio not a little; but does not
"steal his presence of mind.
"So that, in effect, Broglio had instantly to quitCassel and
"warm lodging, and take the field in person; to burn his
"Magazines; and, at the swiftest rate permissible, condense
"himself, at first partially about Fulda (well down the leg of
"his chair), and then gradually all into one mass near Frank-
"furt itself; -- with considerable losses, loss especially of all
"his Magazines, full or half-full. And has now, except Mar-
"burg, Ziegenhayn and Cassel, no post between Gottingen "and him. Ferdinand, with his Three Divisions, went storm-
"ing along in the wild weather, Granby as vanguard; prick-
"ing into the skirts of Broglio. Captured this and that of
"Corps, of Magazines that had not been got burnt; laid siege
"to Cassel, siege to Ziegenhayn; blocked Marburg, not
"having guns ready: and, for some three or four weeks, was
"by the Gazetteer world and general public thought to have
"done a very considerable feat; -- though to himself, such
"were the distances, difficulties of the season, of the long
"roads, it probably seemed very questionable whether, in the
"end, any feat at all.
"Cassel he could not take, after a month's siege under the
"best of Siege-Captains; Ziegenhayn still less under one of
"the worst. Provisions, ammunitions, were not to be had by
"force of wagonry: scant food for soldiers, doubly scant the
"food of Sieges;" -- "the road from Beverungen" (where the Weser-boats have to stop, which is 30 miles from Cassel, per-
haps 60 from Ziegenhayn, and perhaps 100 from the outmost
or southernmost of Ferdinand's parties) "is paved with dead
horses," "nor has even Cassel nearly enough of ammunition:--
"in a word, Broglio, finding the time come, bursts up from his
"Frankfurt Position (March 14th-21st) in a sharp and deter-
"mined manner; drives Ferdinand's people back, beats the
"Erbprinz himself one day (by surprisal, 'My compliment for
"Langensalza'), and sets his people running. Ferdinand
"sees the affair to be over; and deliberately retires; lucky,
"perhaps, that he still can deliberately: and matters return
"to their old posture. Broglio resumes his quarters, some-
"what altered in shape, and not quite so grasping asformerly;
"and beyond his half-filled Magazines, has lost nothing con-
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-61. 169
Dec. 1760 --April 1761.
"siderable, or more considerable than has Ferdinand him-
"self. "*
The vital element in Ferdinand's Adventure was
the Siege of Cassel; all had to fail, when this, by
defect of means, under the best of management, de-
clared itself a failure. Siege-Captain was a Graf von
Lippe-Biickeburg, Ferdinand's Ordnance-Master, who is
supposed to be "the best Artillery Officer in the world,"
-- and is a man of great mark in military and other
circles. He is Son and Successor of that fantastic
Lippe-Biickeburg, by whom Friedrich was introduced
to Free-Masonry long since. He has himself a good
deal of the fantast again, but with a better basis of
solidity beneath it. A man of excellent knowledge
and faculty in various departments; strict as steel, in
regard to discipline, to practice and conduct of all
kinds; a most punctilious, silently supercilious gen-
tleman, of polite but privately irrefragable turn of
mind. A tall, lean, dusky figure; much seen to by
neighbours, as he stalks loftily through this puddle of
a world, on terms of his own. Concerning whom there
circulates in military circles this Anecdote, among many
others: -- which is set down as a fact; and may be,
whether quite believable or not, a symbol of all the
rest, and of a man not unimportant in these Wars.
"Two years ago, on King Friedrich's birthday, 24th
"January 1759, the Count had a select dinner-party in
"his tent in Ferdinand's Camp, in honour of the occa-
sion. Dinner was well over, and wine handsomely
"flowing, when somebody at last thought of asking,
"'What is it, then, Herr Graf, that whistling kind of
? Tempelhof, v. 15-45; Mauvillon, n. 135-148.
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? 170 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Dec. 1760--April 1761.
"noise we hear every now and then overhead? ' 'That
"is nothing,' said the Graf, in his calm, dusky way:
"'that is only my Artillery-people practising; I have
"bidden them hit the pole of our tent if they can: un-
happily there is not the slightest danger. Push the
"bottles on. '"* Lippe-Biickeburg was Siege-Captain
at Cassel; Commandant besieged was Comte de Broglio,
the Marshal's younger Brother, formerly in the Diplo-
matic line; -- whom we saw once, five years ago, at
the Pirna Barrier, fly into fine frenzy, and kick vainly
against the pricks. Friedrich says once, to D'Argens
or somebody: "I hope we shall soon have Cassel, and
M. le Comte de Broglio prisoner" (deserves it for his
fine frenzies, at Pirna and since); -- but that comfort
was denied us.
Some careless Books say, Friedrich had at first
good hopes of this Enterprise; and "had himself lent
7,000 men to it:" which is the fact, but not the whole
fact. Friedrich had approved, and even advised this
plan of Ferdinand's, and had agreed to send 7,000
men to cooperate at Langensalza, -- which, so far out
in Thuringen, ' and pointing as if to the Reichsfolk, is
itself an eye-sorrow to Friedrich. The issue we have
seen. His 7,000 went accordingly, under a General
Syburg; met the Ferdinand people (General Sporken
head of these, and Walpole's "Conway" one of them);
found the Unstrut in flood, but crossed nevertheless;
dashed in upon the French and Saxons there, and
made a brilliant thing of it at Langensalza. ** Which
done, Syburg instantly withdrew, leaving Sporken and
* Archenholtz, n. 356.
** Bericht von der bey Langensalza am 15 Februar 1761 voryefaUcnen
Action (in Seyfarth, Beylagen, m. 75); Tcmpclhof, v. 22-27.
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? CHAP. vI. ] WINTER-QUARTERS 1760-61. 171
Dec. 1760--April 1761.
his Conways to complete the Adventure; and, for his
part, set himself with his whole might "to raising con-
"tributions, recruits, horses, proviants, over Thiiringen;"
"which," says Tempelhof, "had been his grand errand
"there, and in which he succeeded wonderfully. "
Towards the end of Ferdinand's Affair, Cassel Siege
now evidently like to fail, Friedrich organised a small
Expedition for his own behoof: expedition into Voigt-
land, or Frankenland, against the intrusive Reichs
people, -- who have not now a Broglio or Langensalza
to look across to, but are mischievous upon our out-
posts on the edge of the Voigtland yonder. The ex-
pedition lasted only ten days (Aprillxt, it left quarters;
April 11th, was home again); a sharp, swift and very
pretty expedition;* of which we can here say only
that it was beautifully impressive on the Reichs gen-
tlemen, and sent their Croateries and them home again,
to Bamberg, to Eger, quite over the horizon, in a con-
siderably flurried state. After which there was no
Small-War farther, and everybody rested in cantonment,
making ready till the Great should come.
The Prussian wounded are all in Leipzig this
Winter; a crowded stirring Town; young Archenholtz,
among many others, going about in convalescent state,
-- not attending Gellert's course, that I hear of, -- but
noticing vividly to right and left. Much difficulty
about the contributions, Archenholtz observes; -- of
course an ever-increasing difficulty, here as everywhere,
in regard to finance! From Archenholtz chiefly, I
present the following particulars; which, though in
loose form, and without date, except the general one of
* Tempelhof, v. 48'57.
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? 172 FRIEDEICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Dec. 17CC -- April 1761.
Winter 1760-61, to any of them, are to be held sub-
stantially correct:
* * "'It is impossible to pay that Contribution,' ex-
"claim the Leipzigers: 'you said, long since, it was to be
"75,000/. on us by the year; and this year you rise to 160,000/. ;
"more than double! ' -- 'Perhaps that is because you fa-
voured the Reichsfolk while here? ' answer the Prussians, if
"they answer anything: 'It is the King's order. Pay it you
"must. ' -- 'Cannot; simply impossible. ' 'Possible, we tell
"you, and also certain; we will burn your Leipzig if you
"don't! ' And they actually, these Collector fellows, a stony-
hearted set, who had a percentage of their own on the sums
"levied, got soldiers drawn out more than once, pitch-link in
"hand, as if for immediate burning: but the Leipzigers
"thought to themselves, 'King Friedrich is not a Soltikof! '
"and openly laughed at those pitchlinks. Whereupon about
"a hundred of their Chief Merchants were thrown into prison,
"one hundred or so, riddled down in a day or two to Seven-
"teen; which latter Seventeen, as they stood out, were
"detained a good many days, how many is not said, but only
"that they were amazingly firm. Black-hole for lodging,
"bread-and-water for diet, straw for bed: nothing would
"avail on the Seventeen: 'Impossible,' they answered always;
"each unit of them, in sight of the other sixteen, was upon his
"honour, and could not think of flinching. 'You shall go
"for soldiers, then; -- possibly you will prefer that, you fine
"powdered velvet gentlemen? Up, then, and march; here
"are your firelocks, your seventeen knapsacks: to the road "the Seventeen, horror-struck at such quasi-actual possibility,
"gave in.
"Magnanimous Gotzkowsky, who had come to Leipzig on
"business at the time" (which will give us a date for this by
and by), "and been solemnly applied to by Deputation of the
"Rath, pleaded with his usual zealous fidelity in their behalf;
"got various alleviations, abatements; gave bills: -- 'Never
"was seen such magnanimity! ' said the Leipzig Town-
"Council solemnly, as that of Berlin, in October last, had
"done. '
t Archenhollz, u. 187-192.
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