"*
Broglio, with Prince Karl in his bowels going at
such a rate, may judge now whether it was wise to lie
in that loose posture, scattered over two thousand
square miles, and snort on his judicious Seckendorfs
advices and urgencies as he did!
Broglio, with Prince Karl in his bowels going at
such a rate, may judge now whether it was wise to lie
in that loose posture, scattered over two thousand
square miles, and snort on his judicious Seckendorfs
advices and urgencies as he did!
Thomas Carlyle
III.
] CARNIVAL PHENOMENA IN WAR-TIME.
263
Feb. -March 1743.
by slow stages, visit after visit, in October last, --
some slake occurring, I suppose, in that interminable
Honsbruck Lawsuit; and much business, not to speak
of ennui, urging them back. They are now latterly in
Paris itself, safe in their own "little palace (petit palais)
at the point of the Isle;" little jewel of a house on the
Isle St. Louis, which they are warming again, after
long absence in Brussels and the barbarous countries.
They have returned hither, on sufferance, on good be-
haviour; multitudes of small interests, small to us, great
to them, -- death of old Fleury, hopeful changes of
Ministry, not to speak of theatricals and the like, --
giving opportunity and invitation. Madame, we ob-
serve, is marrying her Daughter: the happy man a
Duke of Montenero, illbuilt Neapolitan, complexion
rhubarb, and face consisting much of nose* Madame
never wants for business; business enough, were it only
in the way of shopping, visiting, consulting lawyers,
doing the Pure Sciences.
As to Voltaire, he has, as usual, Plays to get acted,
-- if he can. Mahomet, no; Mort de Cesar, yes or no;
for the Authorities are shy, in spite of the Public.
One Play Voltaire did get acted, -- with a success --
think of it, reader! The exquisite Tragedy Me'rope,
perhaps now hardly known to you; of which you shall
hear anon.
But Plays are not all. Old Fleury being dead,
there is again a Vacancy in the Academy; place among
the sacred Forty, -- vacant for Voltaire, if he can get
it. Voltaire attaches endless importance to this place;
beautiful as a feather in one's cap; useful also to the
solitary Ishmael of Literature, who will now in a cer-
* Letter of Voltaire, to (Euvres, Ixxlii. 84. .
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? 264 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKXIV.
Feb. --March 1743.
tain sense have Thirty-nine Comrades, and at least one
fixed House of Call in this world. In fine, nothing
can be more ardent than the wish of M. de Voltaire
for these supreme felicities. To be of the Forty, to
get his Plays acted, --*- Oh, then were the Saturnian
Kingdoms come; and a man might sing Io triumphe,
and take his ease in the Creation, more or less!
Stealthily, as if on shoes of felt, -- as if on paws of
velvet, with eyes luminous, tail bushy, -- he walks
warily, all energies compressively summoned, towards
that high goal. Hush, steady! May you soon catch
that bit of savoury red-herring, then; worthiest of the
human feline tribe! -- As to the Play Me'rope, here is
the notable passage:
"Paris, Wednesday, 20th February 1743. First night of
"Me'rope; which raised the Paris Public into transports, so
"that they knew not what to do, to express their feelings.
"'Author! M. de Voltaire! Author! ' shouted they; sum-
"moning the Author, what is now so common, but was then
"an unheard-of originality. 'Author! Author! ' Author, poor
"blushing creature, lay squatted somewhere, and durst not
"come; was ferretted out; produced in the Lady Villars'sBox,
"-- Dawager Marechale de Villars, and her Son's Wife
"Duche&sede Villars, being there, known friends of Voltaire's.
"Between these Two he stands ducking some kind of bow;
"uncertain, embarrassed what to do; with a Theatre all in
"rapturous delirium round him, -- uncertain it too, but not
"embarrassed. 'Kiss him! Madame la Duchesse de Villars,
'' embrassez Voltaire! ' Yes, kiss him, fair Duchess, in the name
"of France! shout all mortals; -- and the younger Lady has
"to do it; does it with a charming grace; urged by Madame la
"Mare'chale her mother-in-law. An, and Madame la Marechale
"was herself an old love of Voltaire's; who had been entirely
"unkind to him!
* Duvernet (T. J. D. V. ), Vie de Voltaire, p. 128; Voltaire himself,
(Enures, ii. 142; Barbier, ii. 358.
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? OHAP. III. ] CARNIVAL PHENOMENA IN WAR-TIME. 265
Feb. --March 1743.
"Thus are you made immortal by a Kiss; -- and have not
"your choice of the Kiss, Fate having chosen for you. The
"younger Lady was a Daughter of Marechal de Noailles"
(our fine old Mare'chal, gone to the Wars against his Britannic
Majesty in those very weeks): "infinitely clever (infiniment
"d'esprit); beautiful too, I understand, though towards forty;
"-- hangs to . the human memory, slightly but indissolubly,
"ever since that Wednesday Night of 1743. "
Old Marechal de Noailles is to the Wars, we said;
-- it is in a world all twinkling with watchfires, and
raked coals of War, that these fine Carnival things go
on. Noailles is 70,000 strong; posted in the Rhine
Countries, middle and upper Rhine; vigilantly patrol-
ling about, to support those staggering Bavarian Affairs;
especially to give account of his Britannic Majesty.
Britannic Majesty is thought to have got the Dutch
hoisted, after all; to have his sword out; -- and ere
long does actually get on march; up the Rhine hither-
ward, as is too evident, to Noailles, to the Kaiser and
everybody!
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? 266 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKXIV.
March--June 1713.
CHAPTEK IV.
AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNT TO A DANGEROUS HEIGHT.
Led by fond hopes, -- and driven also by that
sad fear, of a Visit from his Britannic Majesty, -- the
poor Kaiser, in the rear of those late Seckendorf suc-
cesses, quitted Frankfurt, April 17th; and the second
day after, got to Munchen. Saw himself in Munchen
again, after a space of more than two years; "all ranks
of people crowding out to welcome him;" the joy of
all people, for themselves and for him, being very
great. Next day he drove out to Nymphenburg; saw
the Pandour devastations there, -- might have seen
the window where the rugged old Unertl set up his
ladder, "For God's sake, your Serenity, have nothing
to do with those French! " -- and did not want for
sorrowful comparisons of past and present.
It was remarked, he quitted Munchen in a day or
two; preferring Country Palaces still unruined, -- for
example, Wolnzach, a Schloss he has, some fifty miles
off, down the Iser Valley, not far from the little Town
of Mosburg; which, at any rate, is among the Broglio-
Seckendorf posts, and convenient for business. Broglio
and Seckendorf lie dotted all about, from Braunau up
to Ingolstadt and farther; chiefly in the Iser and Inn
Valleys, but on the north side of the Donau too; over
an area, say of 2,000 square miles; Seckendorf preach-
ing incessantly to Broglio, what is sun-clear to all eyes
but Broglio's, "Let us concentrate, M. de Mare'chal;
let us march and attack! If Prince Karl come upon
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 267
0th-17th May 1743.
us in this scattered posture, what are we to do? "
Broglio continuing deaf; Broglio answering -- in a
way to drive one frantic.
The Kaiser himself takes Broglio in hand; has a
scene with Broglio; which, to readers that study it,
may be symbolical of much that is gone and that is
coming. It fell "about the middle of May" (prior to
May 17th, as readers will guess before long); and here,
according to report, was the somewhat explosive finale
it had. Prince Conti, the same who ran to join Maille-
bois, and has proved a gallant fellow and got com-
mand of a Division, attends Broglio in this important
interview at Wolnzach:
Schloss of Wolnzach, Mayl7i3. * * "The Kaiser pressed,
"in the most emphatic manner, That the Two Armies"
(French and Bavarian) "should collect and unite for im-
"mediate action. To which Broglio declared he could by no
"means assent, not having any order from Paris of that tenor.
"The Kaiser thereupon:'I give you my order for it; I, by the
"Most Christian King's appointment, am Commander-in-
"Chief of your Army, as of my own; and I now order y ou! ' --
"taking out his Patent, and spreading it before Broglio with
"the sign-manual visible. Broglio knew the Patent very
"well; but answered, 'That he could not, for all that, follow
"the wish of his Imperial Majesty; that he, Broglio, had later
"orders, and must obey them! ' Upon which the Imperial
"Majesty, nature irrepressibly asserting itself, towered into
"Olympian height; flung his Patent on the table, telling Conti
"and Broglio, 'You can send that back, then; Patents like
"that are of no service to me! ' and quitted them in a blaze. " *
The indisputable fact is, Prince Karl is at the door;
nay he has beaten-in the door in a frightful manner;
and has Braunau, key of the Inn, again under siege.
* Adelung, iii. b. 150; cites Etat Politique (Annual Register of those
times), xiii. 16. Nothing of this scene in Cumpagnee, which is officially
careful to suppress the like of this.
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? 268 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
17th May 1743.
Not we getting Passau; it is lie getting Braunau! A
week ago (9th May) his vanguard, on the sudden, cut
to pieces our poor Bavarian 8,000, and their poor Mi-
nuzzi, who were covering Braunau, and has ended him
and them;--Minuzzi himself prisoner, not to be heard
of or beaten more; -- and is battering Braunau ever
since. That is the sad fact, whatever the theory may
have been. Prince Karl is rolling in from the east;
Lobkowitz (Prag now ended) is advancing from the
northward, Khevenhuller from the Salzburg southern
quarter: Is it in a sprinkle of disconnected fractions
that you will wait Prince Karl? The question of uni-
ting, and advancing, ought to be a simple one for
Broglio. Take this other symbolic passage, of nearly
the same date; -- posterior, as we guessed, to that In-
terview at Wolnzach.
"Dingelfingen, Ylth May 1743. AtDingelfingen on the Iser,
"a strongish central post of the French, about fifty miles
"farther down than that Schloss of Wolnzach, there is a se-
"cond argument, -- much corroborative of the Kaiser's
"reasoning. About sunrise of the 17th, the Austrians, in
"sufficient force, chiefly of Pandours, appeared on the heights
"to the south: they had been foreseen the night before; but
"the French covering General, luckier than Minuzzi, did not
"wait for them; only warned Dingelfingen, and withdrew
"across the River, to wait there on the safe left bank. Leader
"of the Austrians was one Leopold Graf von Daun, active
"man of thirty-five, already of good rank, who will be much
"heard of afterwards; Commandant in Dingelfingen is a Bri-
"gadier Du Chatelet, Marquis du Chatelet-Lamont; whom, --
"after search (in the interest of some idle readers), -- I dis-
cover to be no other than the Husband of a certain Algebraic
"Lady! Identity made out, mark what a pass he is at. Count
"Daun comes on in a tempest of furious fire; 'very heavy,'
"they say, from great guns and small; till close upon the
'' place, when he summons Du Chatelet: 'No;' and thereupon
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 269
27th May 1743.
"attempts scalade. Cannot scalade, Du Chatelet and his
"people being mettlesome; takes then to flinging shells, to
"burning the suburbs; Town itself catches fire, -- Town
"plainly indefensible. 'Truce for one hour'Iproposes Du
"Chatelet (wishful to consult the covering General across the
"River): 'No,' answers Daun. So that Du Chatelet has to
"jumble and wriggle himself out of the place; courageous to
"the last; but not in a very Parthian fashion, -- great difficulty
"to get his bridge ruined (very partially ruined), behind him;
"--and joins the covering General, in a flustery, singed con-
"dition! Were not pursued farther by Daun: and Prince
"Conti, Head General in those parts, called it a fine defence,
"on examining. "* Espagnac continues:
"On the 19th," after one rest-day, "Graf von Daun set
"out for Landau" (still on the Iser, farther down; Baiern has
its 'Landau' too, and its 'Landshut,' both on this River), "to
"seize Landau; which is another French place of strength.
"The Garrison defended themselves for some time; after
"which they retired over the River" (left bank, or wrong side
of the Iser, they too); "and set fire to the Bridge behind them.
"The fire of the Bridge caught the Town; Pandours helping
"it, as our people said; and Landau also was reduced to
"ashes. " -- PoorLandau, poorDingelfingen, they cannot have
the benefit of Louis XV. 's talent for governing Germany,
quite gratis, it would appear!
But where are the divine Emilie and Voltaire, that
morning, while the Brigadier is in such taking? Sit-
ting safe in "that dainty little palace of Madame's
(petit palais) at the point of the Isle de St. Louis," in-
tent on quite other adventures; disgusted with the
slavish Forty and their methods of Election (of which
by and by); and little thinking of M. le Brigadier and
the dangers of war. -- Prince de Conti praised the
Brigadier's defence: but very soon, alas, --
Deggendorf, 21th May. "Prince de Conti, at Deggendorf"
(other or north bank of the Donau, Head-quarters of Conti,
* Campagnet, viii. 239; Espagnac, i. 187; Hormayr, iv. 82,85. ,
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? 270 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOK XIV.
May--June 1743.
which was thought to be well secured by batteries and de-
fences on the steep heights to landward), "was himself
"suddenly attacked, the tenth day hence, 'May 27th, at day-
"break,' in a still more furious manner; and was tumbled out
"of Deggendorf amid whirlwinds of fire, in very flamy con-
"dition indeed. The Austrians , playing on us from the
"uplands with their heavy artillery, made a breach in our out-
"most battery: 'Not tenable! ' exclaimed the Captain there:
"' This way, my men 1' -- and withdrew, like a shot, he and
"party; sliding down the steep face of the mountain" (feet
foremost, I hope), "home to Deggendorf in this peculiar
"manner; leaving the Austrians to manage his guns. Our two
"lower batteries, ruled by this upper one, had now to be
"abandoned; and Conti ran, Bridge of the Townditch
"breaking under him; baggages, even to his own port-
"manteaus, all lost; and had a neck-and-neck race of it in
"getting to his Donau-Bridge, and across to the safe side.
"With loss of everything, we say, -- personal baggage all in-
"eluded; which latter item, Prince Karl politely returned him
. "next day.
"*
Broglio, with Prince Karl in his bowels going at
such a rate, may judge now whether it was wise to lie
in that loose posture, scattered over two thousand
square miles, and snort on his judicious Seckendorfs
advices and urgencies as he did! Readers anticipate
the issue; and shall not be wearied farther with detail.
There are, as we said, Three Austrian. Armies pressing
on this luckless Bavaria and its French Protectors:
Khevenhfiller, from Salzburg and the southern quarter,
pushing-in his Dauns; Lobkowitz, hanging over us
from the Ober-Pfalz (Naab-River Country) on the north;
and Prince Karl, on one or sometimes on both sides of
the Donau, pricking sharply into the rear of us; say-
ing, by bayonets, burnt bridges, bombshells, "Off;
swift; it will be better for you! " And Broglio has
* Espa^nac, p. 188.
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTINGS HIGH. 271
26th June 1712.
lost head, a mere whirlwind of flaming gases; and your
ablest Comte de Saxe in such position, what can he
do? Broglio writes to Versailles, That there will be
no continuing in Bavaria; that he recommends an order
to march homewards; -- much to the surprise of Ver-
sailles.
"The Court of Versailles was much astonished at the
"message it got from Broglio; Court of Versailles had always
"calculated that Broglio could keep Bavaria; and had gone
"into extensive measures for maintaining him there. Ex-
"perienced old Mare'chal de Noailles has a new French Army,
"70,000 or more, assembled in the Upper Rhine for that and
"the cognate objects" (of whom, more specially, anon):
"Noailles, by order from Court, has detached 12,000, who are
"now marching their best, to reinforce Broglio; -- and indeed
"the Court 'had already appointed the Generals and Staff-
"Officers for Broglio's Bavarian Army,' and gratified many
"men by promotions, which now went to smoke! *
"Versailles, however, has to expedite the order: 'Come
"home, then. ' Order or no order, Broglio's posts are all
"crackling off again, bursting aloft like a chain of powder-
"mines; Broglio is plunging head foremost, towards Donau-
"worth, towards Ingolstadt, his place of arms; Seckendorf
"now welcome to join him, but unable to do anything when
"joined. Blustering Broglio has no steadfastness of mind;
"explodes like an inflammable body, in this crackling-off of
"the posts, and becomes a mere whirlwind of flaming gases.
"Old snuffling Seckendorf, born to ill success in his old days,
"strong only in caution, how is he to quench or stay this
"crackling of the posts? Broglio blusters, reproaches, bullies;
"Seckendorf quarrels with him outright, as he may well do:
u'Jami-bleu, such a delirious whirlwind of a Marechal; mere
"bickering flames and soot! ' -- and looks out chiefly to keep
"his own skin and that of his poor Bavarians whole.
"The unhappy Kaiser has run from Miinchen again, to
"Augsburg for some brief shelter; cannot stay there either, in
"the circumstances. Will he have to hurry back to Frankfurt,
"to bankruptcy and furnished lodgings, -- nay to the Bri-
* Espagnac, i. 190.
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? 272 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [uOOKXrv.
27th Jane 1743.
"tannic Majesty's tender mercies, whose Army is now actually
"there? Those indignant prophesyings to Broglio, at the
"Schlossof Wolnzach, have so soon come true! And Broglio
"and the French are -- what a staff to lean upon! Enough,
"the poor Kaiser, after doleful 'Council of War held at Augs-
"burg, June 25th,' does on the morrow make off for Frankfurt
"again: -- whither else? Britannic Majesty's intentions,
"friends tell him, friend Wilhelm of Hessen tells him, are
"magnanimous; eager for Peace to Teutschland; hostile only
"to the French. Poor Karl took the road, June 26th; -- and
"will find news on his arrival, or before it.
'' On which same day, 26th of June, as it chances, Broglio
"too has made his packages; left a garrison in Ingolstadt,
"garrison in Eger; and is ferrying across at Donauworth, --
"will see the Marlborough Schellenberg as he passes, -- in
"full speed for the Rhine Countries, and the finis of this bad
"Business. * On the road, I believe at Donauworth itself,
"Noailles's 12,000, little foreseeing these retrogade events,
"met Broglio: 'Right about, you too! ' orders Broglio; and
"speeds Rhine-ward not the less. And the same day of that
"ferrying at Donauworth, and of the Kaiser's setting out for
"Frankfurt, Seckendorf, -- at Nieder-Schonfeld" (an old
Monastery near the Town of Rain, in those parts), "the Kaiser
"being now safe away, -- is making terms for himself with
"Khevenhiiller and Prince Karl: 'Will lie quiet as mere
"Reichs-Army, almost as Troops of the Swabian Circle, over
"at Wembdingen there, in said Circle, and be strictly neutral,
"if we can but get lived at all! '** Seckendorf concludes on
"the morrow, 27th June; -- which is elsewhere a memorable
"Day of Battle, as will be seen.
"Broglio marched in Five Divisions" (Du Chatelet in the
Second Division, poor soul, which was led by Comte de
Saxe):*** "always in Five Divisions, swiftly, half a march
"apart; through the Wiirtemberg Country; -- lost much
"baggage, many stragglers; Tolpatcheries in multitude con-
"tinually pricking at the skirts of him; Prince Karl following
"steadily, Rhine-wards also, a few marches behind. Here
"are omens to return with! 'But have you seen a retreat
"better managed? ' thinks Broglio to himself:" that is one
consoling circumstance.
* Adelung, iii. b. 152. ** lb. ill. b. 153. *** Espagnac, i. 198.
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 273
March--June 1743.
In this manner, then, has the Problem of Bavaria
solved itself. Hungarian Majesty, in these weeks, was
getting crowned in Prag; "Queen of Bohemia, I, not
you; in the sight of Heaven and of Earth! "* -- and
was purifying her Bohemia, with some rigour (it is
said), from foreign defacements, treasonous compliances
and the like, which there had been. To see your Ba-
varian Kaiser, false King of Bohemia, your Broglio
with his French, and the Bohemian-Bavarian Question
in whole, all rolling Ehinewards at their swiftest, with
Prince Karl sticking in the skirts of them: -- what
a satisfaction to that high Lady!
Britannic Majesty, with Sword actually drawn, has
marched meanwhile to the Frankfurt Countries, as
"'Pragmatic Army," ready for Battle and Treaty
alike.
Add to which fine set of results, simultaneously
with them: His Britannic Majesty, third effort success-
ful, has got his sword drawn, fairly out at last; and in
the air is making horrid circles with it, ever since March
last; nay does, he flatters himself, a very considerable
slash with it, in this current month of June. Of which,
though loth, we must now take some notice.
The fact is, though Stair could not hoist the Dutch,
and our double-quick Britannic heroism had to drop
dead in consequence, Carteret has done it: Carteret
himself rushed over in that crisis, a fiery emphatic man
and chief minister,** -- "eager to please his Master's
* Crowned, 12th May 1743 (Adelung, iii. 6. 128); "news of Prince Karl's
"having taken Braunau'' (incipiency of all these successes) "had reached
"her that very morning. "
? * Arrived at the Hague, "5th October 1742" (Adelung, iii. a. 294).
Curlyle, Frederick the Great. VII. 18
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? 274 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
March--June 1743.
humour! " said enemies. Yes, doubtless; but acting on
his own turbid belief withal (says fact); and revolving
big thoughts in his head, about bringing Friedrich over
to the Cause of Liberty, giving French Ambition a les-
son for once, and the like. Carteret strongly pulley-
ing, "All hands, heave-oh! " -- and, no doubt, those
Maillebois-Broglio events from Prag assisting him, --
did bring the High Mightinesses to their legs; still in
a staggering splayfooted posture, but trying to steady
themselves. That is to say, the High Mightinesses did
agree to go with us in the Cause of Liberty; will now
pay actual Subsidies to her Hungarian Majesty (at the
rate of two for our three); and will add, so soon as
humanly possible, 20,000 men to those windbound
40,000 of ours; -- which latter shall now therefore, at
once, as "Pragmatic Army" (that is the term fixed on),
get on march, Frankfurt way; and strike home upon
the French and other enemies of Pragmatic Sanction.
This is what Noailles has been looking for, this good
while, and diligently adjusting himself, in those Middle-
Rhine Countries, to give account of.
Pragmatic Army lifted itself accordingly, -- Stair,
and the most of his English, from Ghent, where the
wearisome Head-quarters had been; Hanoverians, Hes-
sians, from we will forget where; -- and in various
streaks and streams, certain Austrians from Luxemburg
(with our old friend Neipperg in company) having
joined them, are flowing Rhine-ward ever since March
1st. * They cross the Rhine at three suitable points;
whence, by the north bank, home upon Frankfurt
Country, and the Noailles-Broglio operations in those
parts. The English crossed "at Neuwied, in the end
* "February 18th," o. s. (Old Newspapers).
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? CRAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 275
March--June 1743.
"of April" (if anybody is curious); "Lord Stair in
"person superintending them. " Lord Stair has been
much about, and a most busy person; General-in-Chief
of the Pragmatic Army till his Britannic Majesty ar-
rive. Generalissimo Lord Stair; and there is General
Clayton, General Ligonier, "General Heywood left
with the Reserve at Brussels:" -- and, from the ashes
of the Old Newspapers, the main stages and particulars
of this surprising Expedition (England marching as
Pragmatic Army into distant parts) can be riddled out;
though they require mostly to be flung in again.
Shocking weather on the march, mere Boreas and icy
tempests; snow in some places two feet deep; Rhine
much swollen, when we come to it.
The Austrian Chief General, -- who lies about
Wiesbaden, and consults with Stair, while the English
are crossing, -- is Duke d'Ahremberg (Father of the
Prince de Ligne, or "Prince of Coxcombs" as some
call him): little or nothing of military skill in D'Ahrem-
berg; but Neipperg is thought to have given much
counsel, such as it was. With the Hessians there was
some difficulty; hesitation onLandgrafWilhelm's part;
who pities the poor Kaiser, and would fain see him
back at Frankfurt, and awaken the Britannic magna-
nimities for him. "To Frankfurt, say you? We can-
not fight against the Kaiser! " -- and they had to be
left behind, for some time; but at length did come on,
though late for business, as it chanced. General of
these Hessians is Prince George of Hessen, worthy
stout gentleman, whom Wilhelmina met at the Frank-
furt Gaieties lately. George's elder Brother Wilhelm
is Manager or Vice-Landgraf, this long while back;
and in seven or eight years hence became, as had
18*
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? 276 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
March--Jane 1743.
been expected, actual Landgraf (old King of Sweden
dying childless) ;? -- of which Wilhelm we shall have
to hear, at 11 arum (a Town of his in those parts), and
perhaps slightly elsewhere, in the course of this busi-
ness. A fat, just man, he too; probably somewhat
iracund; not without troubles in his House. His eldest
Son, Heir-Apparent of Hessen, let me remind readers,
has an English Princess to Wife; Princess Mary, King
George's Daughter, wedded two years ago. That,
added to the Subsidies, is surely a point of union; --
though again there may such discrepancies rise! A
good while after this, the eldest Son becoming Catholic
(foolish wretch), to the horror of Papa, -- there rose
still other noises in the world, about Hessen and its
Landgraves. Of good Prince George, who doubtless
attended in War-Councils, but probably said little, we
hope to hear nothing more whatever.
From Neuwied to Frankfurt is but a few days'
march for the Pragmatic Army; in a direct line, not
sixty miles. Frankfurt itself, which is a Eeichs-ftadl
(Imperial City), they must not enter: "Fear not, City
or Country! " writes Stair to it: "We come as saviours,
pacificators, hostile to your enemies and disturbers
only; we understand discipline and the Laws of the
Reich, and will pay for everything. "* For the rest,
they are in no hurry. They linger in that Frankfurt-
Mainz region, all through the month of May; not un-
observant of Noailles and his movements, if he made
any; but occupied chiefly with gathering provisions;
forming, with difficulty, a Magazine in Hanau. "What
they intended, or intend, by coming hither? " asks the
"Letter itself, of brief magnanimous strain, in Campagncs de Noailles,
i. 127: date "Neuwied, 26th April 1743" (Adelung, iii. 6. 114).
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 277
March--June 1743.
Public everywhere: "To go into the Donau Countries,
and enclose Broglio between two fires? " That had
been, and was still, Stair's fine idea; but D'Ahremberg
had disapproved the methods. D'Ahremberg, it seems,
is rather given to opposing Stair;-- and there rise un-
certainties, in this Pragmatic Army: certain only
hitherto the Magazine in Hanau. And in secret, it af-
terwards appeared, the immediate real errand of this
Pragmatic Army had lain -- in the Chapter of
Mainz Cathedral, and an Election that was going on
there.
The old Kur-Mainz, namely, had just died; and
there was a new "Chief Spiritual Kurfurst" to be
elected by the Canons there. Kur-Mainz is Chairman
of the Reich, an important personage, analogous to
Speaker of the House of Commons; and ought to be,---
by no means the Kaiser's young Brother, as the French
and Kaiser are proposing; but a man with Austrian
leanings; -- say, Graf von Ostein, titular Dom-Custos
(Cathedral Keeper) here; lately Ambassador in Lon-
don, and known in select society for what he is. Not
much-of an Archbishop, of a Spiritual or Chief Spiri-
tual Herr hitherto; but capable of being made one, --
were the Pragmatic Army at his elbow! It was on
this errand that the Pragmatic Army had come hither,
or come so early, and with their plans still unripe.
And truly they succeeded; got their Ostein chosen to
their mind:* a new Kur-Mainz, -- whose leanings and
procedures were very manifest in the sequel, and some
of them important before long. This was always
reckoned one result of his Britannic Majesty's Prag-
* "21st March 1743," Mainz vacant; "22d April," Ostein elected (Ade-
tag, iii. b. 113, 121).
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? 278 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
Feb. -March 1743.
by slow stages, visit after visit, in October last, --
some slake occurring, I suppose, in that interminable
Honsbruck Lawsuit; and much business, not to speak
of ennui, urging them back. They are now latterly in
Paris itself, safe in their own "little palace (petit palais)
at the point of the Isle;" little jewel of a house on the
Isle St. Louis, which they are warming again, after
long absence in Brussels and the barbarous countries.
They have returned hither, on sufferance, on good be-
haviour; multitudes of small interests, small to us, great
to them, -- death of old Fleury, hopeful changes of
Ministry, not to speak of theatricals and the like, --
giving opportunity and invitation. Madame, we ob-
serve, is marrying her Daughter: the happy man a
Duke of Montenero, illbuilt Neapolitan, complexion
rhubarb, and face consisting much of nose* Madame
never wants for business; business enough, were it only
in the way of shopping, visiting, consulting lawyers,
doing the Pure Sciences.
As to Voltaire, he has, as usual, Plays to get acted,
-- if he can. Mahomet, no; Mort de Cesar, yes or no;
for the Authorities are shy, in spite of the Public.
One Play Voltaire did get acted, -- with a success --
think of it, reader! The exquisite Tragedy Me'rope,
perhaps now hardly known to you; of which you shall
hear anon.
But Plays are not all. Old Fleury being dead,
there is again a Vacancy in the Academy; place among
the sacred Forty, -- vacant for Voltaire, if he can get
it. Voltaire attaches endless importance to this place;
beautiful as a feather in one's cap; useful also to the
solitary Ishmael of Literature, who will now in a cer-
* Letter of Voltaire, to (Euvres, Ixxlii. 84. .
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? 264 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKXIV.
Feb. --March 1743.
tain sense have Thirty-nine Comrades, and at least one
fixed House of Call in this world. In fine, nothing
can be more ardent than the wish of M. de Voltaire
for these supreme felicities. To be of the Forty, to
get his Plays acted, --*- Oh, then were the Saturnian
Kingdoms come; and a man might sing Io triumphe,
and take his ease in the Creation, more or less!
Stealthily, as if on shoes of felt, -- as if on paws of
velvet, with eyes luminous, tail bushy, -- he walks
warily, all energies compressively summoned, towards
that high goal. Hush, steady! May you soon catch
that bit of savoury red-herring, then; worthiest of the
human feline tribe! -- As to the Play Me'rope, here is
the notable passage:
"Paris, Wednesday, 20th February 1743. First night of
"Me'rope; which raised the Paris Public into transports, so
"that they knew not what to do, to express their feelings.
"'Author! M. de Voltaire! Author! ' shouted they; sum-
"moning the Author, what is now so common, but was then
"an unheard-of originality. 'Author! Author! ' Author, poor
"blushing creature, lay squatted somewhere, and durst not
"come; was ferretted out; produced in the Lady Villars'sBox,
"-- Dawager Marechale de Villars, and her Son's Wife
"Duche&sede Villars, being there, known friends of Voltaire's.
"Between these Two he stands ducking some kind of bow;
"uncertain, embarrassed what to do; with a Theatre all in
"rapturous delirium round him, -- uncertain it too, but not
"embarrassed. 'Kiss him! Madame la Duchesse de Villars,
'' embrassez Voltaire! ' Yes, kiss him, fair Duchess, in the name
"of France! shout all mortals; -- and the younger Lady has
"to do it; does it with a charming grace; urged by Madame la
"Mare'chale her mother-in-law. An, and Madame la Marechale
"was herself an old love of Voltaire's; who had been entirely
"unkind to him!
* Duvernet (T. J. D. V. ), Vie de Voltaire, p. 128; Voltaire himself,
(Enures, ii. 142; Barbier, ii. 358.
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? OHAP. III. ] CARNIVAL PHENOMENA IN WAR-TIME. 265
Feb. --March 1743.
"Thus are you made immortal by a Kiss; -- and have not
"your choice of the Kiss, Fate having chosen for you. The
"younger Lady was a Daughter of Marechal de Noailles"
(our fine old Mare'chal, gone to the Wars against his Britannic
Majesty in those very weeks): "infinitely clever (infiniment
"d'esprit); beautiful too, I understand, though towards forty;
"-- hangs to . the human memory, slightly but indissolubly,
"ever since that Wednesday Night of 1743. "
Old Marechal de Noailles is to the Wars, we said;
-- it is in a world all twinkling with watchfires, and
raked coals of War, that these fine Carnival things go
on. Noailles is 70,000 strong; posted in the Rhine
Countries, middle and upper Rhine; vigilantly patrol-
ling about, to support those staggering Bavarian Affairs;
especially to give account of his Britannic Majesty.
Britannic Majesty is thought to have got the Dutch
hoisted, after all; to have his sword out; -- and ere
long does actually get on march; up the Rhine hither-
ward, as is too evident, to Noailles, to the Kaiser and
everybody!
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? 266 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOKXIV.
March--June 1713.
CHAPTEK IV.
AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNT TO A DANGEROUS HEIGHT.
Led by fond hopes, -- and driven also by that
sad fear, of a Visit from his Britannic Majesty, -- the
poor Kaiser, in the rear of those late Seckendorf suc-
cesses, quitted Frankfurt, April 17th; and the second
day after, got to Munchen. Saw himself in Munchen
again, after a space of more than two years; "all ranks
of people crowding out to welcome him;" the joy of
all people, for themselves and for him, being very
great. Next day he drove out to Nymphenburg; saw
the Pandour devastations there, -- might have seen
the window where the rugged old Unertl set up his
ladder, "For God's sake, your Serenity, have nothing
to do with those French! " -- and did not want for
sorrowful comparisons of past and present.
It was remarked, he quitted Munchen in a day or
two; preferring Country Palaces still unruined, -- for
example, Wolnzach, a Schloss he has, some fifty miles
off, down the Iser Valley, not far from the little Town
of Mosburg; which, at any rate, is among the Broglio-
Seckendorf posts, and convenient for business. Broglio
and Seckendorf lie dotted all about, from Braunau up
to Ingolstadt and farther; chiefly in the Iser and Inn
Valleys, but on the north side of the Donau too; over
an area, say of 2,000 square miles; Seckendorf preach-
ing incessantly to Broglio, what is sun-clear to all eyes
but Broglio's, "Let us concentrate, M. de Mare'chal;
let us march and attack! If Prince Karl come upon
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 267
0th-17th May 1743.
us in this scattered posture, what are we to do? "
Broglio continuing deaf; Broglio answering -- in a
way to drive one frantic.
The Kaiser himself takes Broglio in hand; has a
scene with Broglio; which, to readers that study it,
may be symbolical of much that is gone and that is
coming. It fell "about the middle of May" (prior to
May 17th, as readers will guess before long); and here,
according to report, was the somewhat explosive finale
it had. Prince Conti, the same who ran to join Maille-
bois, and has proved a gallant fellow and got com-
mand of a Division, attends Broglio in this important
interview at Wolnzach:
Schloss of Wolnzach, Mayl7i3. * * "The Kaiser pressed,
"in the most emphatic manner, That the Two Armies"
(French and Bavarian) "should collect and unite for im-
"mediate action. To which Broglio declared he could by no
"means assent, not having any order from Paris of that tenor.
"The Kaiser thereupon:'I give you my order for it; I, by the
"Most Christian King's appointment, am Commander-in-
"Chief of your Army, as of my own; and I now order y ou! ' --
"taking out his Patent, and spreading it before Broglio with
"the sign-manual visible. Broglio knew the Patent very
"well; but answered, 'That he could not, for all that, follow
"the wish of his Imperial Majesty; that he, Broglio, had later
"orders, and must obey them! ' Upon which the Imperial
"Majesty, nature irrepressibly asserting itself, towered into
"Olympian height; flung his Patent on the table, telling Conti
"and Broglio, 'You can send that back, then; Patents like
"that are of no service to me! ' and quitted them in a blaze. " *
The indisputable fact is, Prince Karl is at the door;
nay he has beaten-in the door in a frightful manner;
and has Braunau, key of the Inn, again under siege.
* Adelung, iii. b. 150; cites Etat Politique (Annual Register of those
times), xiii. 16. Nothing of this scene in Cumpagnee, which is officially
careful to suppress the like of this.
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? 268 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
17th May 1743.
Not we getting Passau; it is lie getting Braunau! A
week ago (9th May) his vanguard, on the sudden, cut
to pieces our poor Bavarian 8,000, and their poor Mi-
nuzzi, who were covering Braunau, and has ended him
and them;--Minuzzi himself prisoner, not to be heard
of or beaten more; -- and is battering Braunau ever
since. That is the sad fact, whatever the theory may
have been. Prince Karl is rolling in from the east;
Lobkowitz (Prag now ended) is advancing from the
northward, Khevenhuller from the Salzburg southern
quarter: Is it in a sprinkle of disconnected fractions
that you will wait Prince Karl? The question of uni-
ting, and advancing, ought to be a simple one for
Broglio. Take this other symbolic passage, of nearly
the same date; -- posterior, as we guessed, to that In-
terview at Wolnzach.
"Dingelfingen, Ylth May 1743. AtDingelfingen on the Iser,
"a strongish central post of the French, about fifty miles
"farther down than that Schloss of Wolnzach, there is a se-
"cond argument, -- much corroborative of the Kaiser's
"reasoning. About sunrise of the 17th, the Austrians, in
"sufficient force, chiefly of Pandours, appeared on the heights
"to the south: they had been foreseen the night before; but
"the French covering General, luckier than Minuzzi, did not
"wait for them; only warned Dingelfingen, and withdrew
"across the River, to wait there on the safe left bank. Leader
"of the Austrians was one Leopold Graf von Daun, active
"man of thirty-five, already of good rank, who will be much
"heard of afterwards; Commandant in Dingelfingen is a Bri-
"gadier Du Chatelet, Marquis du Chatelet-Lamont; whom, --
"after search (in the interest of some idle readers), -- I dis-
cover to be no other than the Husband of a certain Algebraic
"Lady! Identity made out, mark what a pass he is at. Count
"Daun comes on in a tempest of furious fire; 'very heavy,'
"they say, from great guns and small; till close upon the
'' place, when he summons Du Chatelet: 'No;' and thereupon
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 269
27th May 1743.
"attempts scalade. Cannot scalade, Du Chatelet and his
"people being mettlesome; takes then to flinging shells, to
"burning the suburbs; Town itself catches fire, -- Town
"plainly indefensible. 'Truce for one hour'Iproposes Du
"Chatelet (wishful to consult the covering General across the
"River): 'No,' answers Daun. So that Du Chatelet has to
"jumble and wriggle himself out of the place; courageous to
"the last; but not in a very Parthian fashion, -- great difficulty
"to get his bridge ruined (very partially ruined), behind him;
"--and joins the covering General, in a flustery, singed con-
"dition! Were not pursued farther by Daun: and Prince
"Conti, Head General in those parts, called it a fine defence,
"on examining. "* Espagnac continues:
"On the 19th," after one rest-day, "Graf von Daun set
"out for Landau" (still on the Iser, farther down; Baiern has
its 'Landau' too, and its 'Landshut,' both on this River), "to
"seize Landau; which is another French place of strength.
"The Garrison defended themselves for some time; after
"which they retired over the River" (left bank, or wrong side
of the Iser, they too); "and set fire to the Bridge behind them.
"The fire of the Bridge caught the Town; Pandours helping
"it, as our people said; and Landau also was reduced to
"ashes. " -- PoorLandau, poorDingelfingen, they cannot have
the benefit of Louis XV. 's talent for governing Germany,
quite gratis, it would appear!
But where are the divine Emilie and Voltaire, that
morning, while the Brigadier is in such taking? Sit-
ting safe in "that dainty little palace of Madame's
(petit palais) at the point of the Isle de St. Louis," in-
tent on quite other adventures; disgusted with the
slavish Forty and their methods of Election (of which
by and by); and little thinking of M. le Brigadier and
the dangers of war. -- Prince de Conti praised the
Brigadier's defence: but very soon, alas, --
Deggendorf, 21th May. "Prince de Conti, at Deggendorf"
(other or north bank of the Donau, Head-quarters of Conti,
* Campagnet, viii. 239; Espagnac, i. 187; Hormayr, iv. 82,85. ,
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? 270 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [bOOK XIV.
May--June 1743.
which was thought to be well secured by batteries and de-
fences on the steep heights to landward), "was himself
"suddenly attacked, the tenth day hence, 'May 27th, at day-
"break,' in a still more furious manner; and was tumbled out
"of Deggendorf amid whirlwinds of fire, in very flamy con-
"dition indeed. The Austrians , playing on us from the
"uplands with their heavy artillery, made a breach in our out-
"most battery: 'Not tenable! ' exclaimed the Captain there:
"' This way, my men 1' -- and withdrew, like a shot, he and
"party; sliding down the steep face of the mountain" (feet
foremost, I hope), "home to Deggendorf in this peculiar
"manner; leaving the Austrians to manage his guns. Our two
"lower batteries, ruled by this upper one, had now to be
"abandoned; and Conti ran, Bridge of the Townditch
"breaking under him; baggages, even to his own port-
"manteaus, all lost; and had a neck-and-neck race of it in
"getting to his Donau-Bridge, and across to the safe side.
"With loss of everything, we say, -- personal baggage all in-
"eluded; which latter item, Prince Karl politely returned him
. "next day.
"*
Broglio, with Prince Karl in his bowels going at
such a rate, may judge now whether it was wise to lie
in that loose posture, scattered over two thousand
square miles, and snort on his judicious Seckendorfs
advices and urgencies as he did! Readers anticipate
the issue; and shall not be wearied farther with detail.
There are, as we said, Three Austrian. Armies pressing
on this luckless Bavaria and its French Protectors:
Khevenhfiller, from Salzburg and the southern quarter,
pushing-in his Dauns; Lobkowitz, hanging over us
from the Ober-Pfalz (Naab-River Country) on the north;
and Prince Karl, on one or sometimes on both sides of
the Donau, pricking sharply into the rear of us; say-
ing, by bayonets, burnt bridges, bombshells, "Off;
swift; it will be better for you! " And Broglio has
* Espa^nac, p. 188.
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTINGS HIGH. 271
26th June 1712.
lost head, a mere whirlwind of flaming gases; and your
ablest Comte de Saxe in such position, what can he
do? Broglio writes to Versailles, That there will be
no continuing in Bavaria; that he recommends an order
to march homewards; -- much to the surprise of Ver-
sailles.
"The Court of Versailles was much astonished at the
"message it got from Broglio; Court of Versailles had always
"calculated that Broglio could keep Bavaria; and had gone
"into extensive measures for maintaining him there. Ex-
"perienced old Mare'chal de Noailles has a new French Army,
"70,000 or more, assembled in the Upper Rhine for that and
"the cognate objects" (of whom, more specially, anon):
"Noailles, by order from Court, has detached 12,000, who are
"now marching their best, to reinforce Broglio; -- and indeed
"the Court 'had already appointed the Generals and Staff-
"Officers for Broglio's Bavarian Army,' and gratified many
"men by promotions, which now went to smoke! *
"Versailles, however, has to expedite the order: 'Come
"home, then. ' Order or no order, Broglio's posts are all
"crackling off again, bursting aloft like a chain of powder-
"mines; Broglio is plunging head foremost, towards Donau-
"worth, towards Ingolstadt, his place of arms; Seckendorf
"now welcome to join him, but unable to do anything when
"joined. Blustering Broglio has no steadfastness of mind;
"explodes like an inflammable body, in this crackling-off of
"the posts, and becomes a mere whirlwind of flaming gases.
"Old snuffling Seckendorf, born to ill success in his old days,
"strong only in caution, how is he to quench or stay this
"crackling of the posts? Broglio blusters, reproaches, bullies;
"Seckendorf quarrels with him outright, as he may well do:
u'Jami-bleu, such a delirious whirlwind of a Marechal; mere
"bickering flames and soot! ' -- and looks out chiefly to keep
"his own skin and that of his poor Bavarians whole.
"The unhappy Kaiser has run from Miinchen again, to
"Augsburg for some brief shelter; cannot stay there either, in
"the circumstances. Will he have to hurry back to Frankfurt,
"to bankruptcy and furnished lodgings, -- nay to the Bri-
* Espagnac, i. 190.
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? 272 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [uOOKXrv.
27th Jane 1743.
"tannic Majesty's tender mercies, whose Army is now actually
"there? Those indignant prophesyings to Broglio, at the
"Schlossof Wolnzach, have so soon come true! And Broglio
"and the French are -- what a staff to lean upon! Enough,
"the poor Kaiser, after doleful 'Council of War held at Augs-
"burg, June 25th,' does on the morrow make off for Frankfurt
"again: -- whither else? Britannic Majesty's intentions,
"friends tell him, friend Wilhelm of Hessen tells him, are
"magnanimous; eager for Peace to Teutschland; hostile only
"to the French. Poor Karl took the road, June 26th; -- and
"will find news on his arrival, or before it.
'' On which same day, 26th of June, as it chances, Broglio
"too has made his packages; left a garrison in Ingolstadt,
"garrison in Eger; and is ferrying across at Donauworth, --
"will see the Marlborough Schellenberg as he passes, -- in
"full speed for the Rhine Countries, and the finis of this bad
"Business. * On the road, I believe at Donauworth itself,
"Noailles's 12,000, little foreseeing these retrogade events,
"met Broglio: 'Right about, you too! ' orders Broglio; and
"speeds Rhine-ward not the less. And the same day of that
"ferrying at Donauworth, and of the Kaiser's setting out for
"Frankfurt, Seckendorf, -- at Nieder-Schonfeld" (an old
Monastery near the Town of Rain, in those parts), "the Kaiser
"being now safe away, -- is making terms for himself with
"Khevenhiiller and Prince Karl: 'Will lie quiet as mere
"Reichs-Army, almost as Troops of the Swabian Circle, over
"at Wembdingen there, in said Circle, and be strictly neutral,
"if we can but get lived at all! '** Seckendorf concludes on
"the morrow, 27th June; -- which is elsewhere a memorable
"Day of Battle, as will be seen.
"Broglio marched in Five Divisions" (Du Chatelet in the
Second Division, poor soul, which was led by Comte de
Saxe):*** "always in Five Divisions, swiftly, half a march
"apart; through the Wiirtemberg Country; -- lost much
"baggage, many stragglers; Tolpatcheries in multitude con-
"tinually pricking at the skirts of him; Prince Karl following
"steadily, Rhine-wards also, a few marches behind. Here
"are omens to return with! 'But have you seen a retreat
"better managed? ' thinks Broglio to himself:" that is one
consoling circumstance.
* Adelung, iii. b. 152. ** lb. ill. b. 153. *** Espagnac, i. 198.
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 273
March--June 1743.
In this manner, then, has the Problem of Bavaria
solved itself. Hungarian Majesty, in these weeks, was
getting crowned in Prag; "Queen of Bohemia, I, not
you; in the sight of Heaven and of Earth! "* -- and
was purifying her Bohemia, with some rigour (it is
said), from foreign defacements, treasonous compliances
and the like, which there had been. To see your Ba-
varian Kaiser, false King of Bohemia, your Broglio
with his French, and the Bohemian-Bavarian Question
in whole, all rolling Ehinewards at their swiftest, with
Prince Karl sticking in the skirts of them: -- what
a satisfaction to that high Lady!
Britannic Majesty, with Sword actually drawn, has
marched meanwhile to the Frankfurt Countries, as
"'Pragmatic Army," ready for Battle and Treaty
alike.
Add to which fine set of results, simultaneously
with them: His Britannic Majesty, third effort success-
ful, has got his sword drawn, fairly out at last; and in
the air is making horrid circles with it, ever since March
last; nay does, he flatters himself, a very considerable
slash with it, in this current month of June. Of which,
though loth, we must now take some notice.
The fact is, though Stair could not hoist the Dutch,
and our double-quick Britannic heroism had to drop
dead in consequence, Carteret has done it: Carteret
himself rushed over in that crisis, a fiery emphatic man
and chief minister,** -- "eager to please his Master's
* Crowned, 12th May 1743 (Adelung, iii. 6. 128); "news of Prince Karl's
"having taken Braunau'' (incipiency of all these successes) "had reached
"her that very morning. "
? * Arrived at the Hague, "5th October 1742" (Adelung, iii. a. 294).
Curlyle, Frederick the Great. VII. 18
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? 274 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
March--June 1743.
humour! " said enemies. Yes, doubtless; but acting on
his own turbid belief withal (says fact); and revolving
big thoughts in his head, about bringing Friedrich over
to the Cause of Liberty, giving French Ambition a les-
son for once, and the like. Carteret strongly pulley-
ing, "All hands, heave-oh! " -- and, no doubt, those
Maillebois-Broglio events from Prag assisting him, --
did bring the High Mightinesses to their legs; still in
a staggering splayfooted posture, but trying to steady
themselves. That is to say, the High Mightinesses did
agree to go with us in the Cause of Liberty; will now
pay actual Subsidies to her Hungarian Majesty (at the
rate of two for our three); and will add, so soon as
humanly possible, 20,000 men to those windbound
40,000 of ours; -- which latter shall now therefore, at
once, as "Pragmatic Army" (that is the term fixed on),
get on march, Frankfurt way; and strike home upon
the French and other enemies of Pragmatic Sanction.
This is what Noailles has been looking for, this good
while, and diligently adjusting himself, in those Middle-
Rhine Countries, to give account of.
Pragmatic Army lifted itself accordingly, -- Stair,
and the most of his English, from Ghent, where the
wearisome Head-quarters had been; Hanoverians, Hes-
sians, from we will forget where; -- and in various
streaks and streams, certain Austrians from Luxemburg
(with our old friend Neipperg in company) having
joined them, are flowing Rhine-ward ever since March
1st. * They cross the Rhine at three suitable points;
whence, by the north bank, home upon Frankfurt
Country, and the Noailles-Broglio operations in those
parts. The English crossed "at Neuwied, in the end
* "February 18th," o. s. (Old Newspapers).
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? CRAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 275
March--June 1743.
"of April" (if anybody is curious); "Lord Stair in
"person superintending them. " Lord Stair has been
much about, and a most busy person; General-in-Chief
of the Pragmatic Army till his Britannic Majesty ar-
rive. Generalissimo Lord Stair; and there is General
Clayton, General Ligonier, "General Heywood left
with the Reserve at Brussels:" -- and, from the ashes
of the Old Newspapers, the main stages and particulars
of this surprising Expedition (England marching as
Pragmatic Army into distant parts) can be riddled out;
though they require mostly to be flung in again.
Shocking weather on the march, mere Boreas and icy
tempests; snow in some places two feet deep; Rhine
much swollen, when we come to it.
The Austrian Chief General, -- who lies about
Wiesbaden, and consults with Stair, while the English
are crossing, -- is Duke d'Ahremberg (Father of the
Prince de Ligne, or "Prince of Coxcombs" as some
call him): little or nothing of military skill in D'Ahrem-
berg; but Neipperg is thought to have given much
counsel, such as it was. With the Hessians there was
some difficulty; hesitation onLandgrafWilhelm's part;
who pities the poor Kaiser, and would fain see him
back at Frankfurt, and awaken the Britannic magna-
nimities for him. "To Frankfurt, say you? We can-
not fight against the Kaiser! " -- and they had to be
left behind, for some time; but at length did come on,
though late for business, as it chanced. General of
these Hessians is Prince George of Hessen, worthy
stout gentleman, whom Wilhelmina met at the Frank-
furt Gaieties lately. George's elder Brother Wilhelm
is Manager or Vice-Landgraf, this long while back;
and in seven or eight years hence became, as had
18*
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? 276 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
March--Jane 1743.
been expected, actual Landgraf (old King of Sweden
dying childless) ;? -- of which Wilhelm we shall have
to hear, at 11 arum (a Town of his in those parts), and
perhaps slightly elsewhere, in the course of this busi-
ness. A fat, just man, he too; probably somewhat
iracund; not without troubles in his House. His eldest
Son, Heir-Apparent of Hessen, let me remind readers,
has an English Princess to Wife; Princess Mary, King
George's Daughter, wedded two years ago. That,
added to the Subsidies, is surely a point of union; --
though again there may such discrepancies rise! A
good while after this, the eldest Son becoming Catholic
(foolish wretch), to the horror of Papa, -- there rose
still other noises in the world, about Hessen and its
Landgraves. Of good Prince George, who doubtless
attended in War-Councils, but probably said little, we
hope to hear nothing more whatever.
From Neuwied to Frankfurt is but a few days'
march for the Pragmatic Army; in a direct line, not
sixty miles. Frankfurt itself, which is a Eeichs-ftadl
(Imperial City), they must not enter: "Fear not, City
or Country! " writes Stair to it: "We come as saviours,
pacificators, hostile to your enemies and disturbers
only; we understand discipline and the Laws of the
Reich, and will pay for everything. "* For the rest,
they are in no hurry. They linger in that Frankfurt-
Mainz region, all through the month of May; not un-
observant of Noailles and his movements, if he made
any; but occupied chiefly with gathering provisions;
forming, with difficulty, a Magazine in Hanau. "What
they intended, or intend, by coming hither? " asks the
"Letter itself, of brief magnanimous strain, in Campagncs de Noailles,
i. 127: date "Neuwied, 26th April 1743" (Adelung, iii. 6. 114).
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? CHAP. IV. ] AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS MOUNTING HIGH. 277
March--June 1743.
Public everywhere: "To go into the Donau Countries,
and enclose Broglio between two fires? " That had
been, and was still, Stair's fine idea; but D'Ahremberg
had disapproved the methods. D'Ahremberg, it seems,
is rather given to opposing Stair;-- and there rise un-
certainties, in this Pragmatic Army: certain only
hitherto the Magazine in Hanau. And in secret, it af-
terwards appeared, the immediate real errand of this
Pragmatic Army had lain -- in the Chapter of
Mainz Cathedral, and an Election that was going on
there.
The old Kur-Mainz, namely, had just died; and
there was a new "Chief Spiritual Kurfurst" to be
elected by the Canons there. Kur-Mainz is Chairman
of the Reich, an important personage, analogous to
Speaker of the House of Commons; and ought to be,---
by no means the Kaiser's young Brother, as the French
and Kaiser are proposing; but a man with Austrian
leanings; -- say, Graf von Ostein, titular Dom-Custos
(Cathedral Keeper) here; lately Ambassador in Lon-
don, and known in select society for what he is. Not
much-of an Archbishop, of a Spiritual or Chief Spiri-
tual Herr hitherto; but capable of being made one, --
were the Pragmatic Army at his elbow! It was on
this errand that the Pragmatic Army had come hither,
or come so early, and with their plans still unripe.
And truly they succeeded; got their Ostein chosen to
their mind:* a new Kur-Mainz, -- whose leanings and
procedures were very manifest in the sequel, and some
of them important before long. This was always
reckoned one result of his Britannic Majesty's Prag-
* "21st March 1743," Mainz vacant; "22d April," Ostein elected (Ade-
tag, iii. b. 113, 121).
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? 278 EUROPEAN WAR NOT ENDING. [book XIV.
