though this last outrage
exceeded
them all.
Thomas Carlyle
handle.
net/2027/hvd.
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hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? 100 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOKXI.
Uth-Hth Sept. 1740.
mical disorder at this time, some Verses for the King
of Prussia, which he wished to be presented to his
\ Majesty. The presentation, owing to accidents, did
not take place; hear how Voltaire, from his cobweb
Palace at the Hague, busy with Anti-Macchiavel, Van
Duren and many other things, -- 18th October 1740,
on which day we find him writing many Letters, --
explains the sad accident:
Voltaire to M. de Cideville (at Rouen).
"At the Hague, King of Prussia's Palace, 18th October 1740.
# # # "This is my case, dear Cideville. When you
"sent me, enclosed in your Letter, those Verses (among which
"there are some of charming and inimitable turn) for our
"Marcus Aurelius of the North, I did well design to pay my
"court to him with them. He was at that time to have
"come to Brussels incognito: we expected him there; but the
"Quartan Fever, which unhappily he still has, deranged all
"his projects. He sent me a courier to Brussels," -- mark
that point, my Cideville; --, "and so I set out to find him in
"the neighbourhood of Cleve.
"It was there I saw one of the amiablest men in the world,
"who forms the charm of society, who would be everywhere
"sought after if he were not King; a philosopher without
"austerity; full of sweetness, complaisance and obliging ways
"(agremens); not remembering that he is King when he meets
"his friends; indeed so completely forgetting it that he made
"me too almost forget it, and I needed an effort of memory to
"recollect that I here saw sitting at the foot of my bed a
"Sovereign who had an Army of 100,000 men. That was the
"moment to have read your amiable Verses to him:" -- yes;
but then? -- "Madame du Chatelet, who was to have sent
"them to me, did not, ne Va pas fait. " Alas, no, they are still
at Brussels, those charming Verses; and I, for a month past,
am here in my cobweb Palace! But I swear to you, the instant
I return to Brussels, I &c. &c*
"lxxii. 282.
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? chap, iv. ] voltairb's first interview. 101
Uth-Uth Sept. 1740.
Finally, here is what Friedrich thought of it, ten
days after parting with Voltaire. We will read this
also (though otherwise ahead of us as yet); to be
certified on all sides, and sated for the rest of our lives,
concerning the Friedrich-Voltaire First Interview.
King Friedrich to M. Jordan (at Berlin,).
"Potsdam, 24th September 1740.
"Most respectable Inspector of the poor, the invalids,
"orphans, crazy people and Bedlams, -- 1 have read with ma-
"ture meditation the very profound Jordanic Letter which
"was waiting here;" -- and do accept your learned proposal.
"I have seen that Voltaire whom I was so curious to know;
"but I saw him with the Quartan hanging on me, and my
"mind as unstrung as my body. With men of his kind one
"ought not to be sick; one ought even to be specially well,
"and in better health than common, if one could.
"He has the eloquence of Cicero, the mildness of Pliny,
"the wisdom of Agrippa; he combines, in short, what is to be
"collected of virtues and talents from the three greatest men
"of Antiquity. "His intellect is at work incessantly; every
"drop of ink is a trait of wit from his pen. He declaimed his
"Mahomet to us, an admirable Tragedy which he has done,"
-- which the Official people smelling heresies in it (" tolera-
tion," "horrors of fanaticism," and the like) will not let him
act, as readers too well know: -- "he transported us out of
"ourselves; I could only admire and hold my tongue. The
"Du Chatelet is lucky to have him: for of the good things he
"flings out at random, a person who had no faculty but me-
"mory might make a brilliant Book. That Minerva has just
"published her Work on Physics: not wholly bad. It was
"Konig," -- whom we know, and whose late tempest in a cer-
tain teapot, -- "that dictated the theme to her: she has ad-
justed, ornamented here and there with some touch picked
"from Voltaire at her Suppers. The Chapter on Space is
"pitiable; the" -- in short she is still raw in the Pure
Sciences, and should have waited. * * *
"Adieu, most learned, most scientific, most profound Jor-
"dan, -- or rather most gallant, most amiable, most jovial
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? 102 FRIEDKICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [bOOKXI.
llth-Uth Sept. 1740.
"Jordan; -- I salute thee, with assurance of all those old
"feelings which thou hast the art of inspiring in every one
"that knows thee. Vale.
"I write the moment of my arrival: be obliged to me,
"friend; for I have been working, I am going to work still,
"like a Turk, or like a Jordan. " *
This is hastily thrown off for Friend Jordan, the
instant after his Majesty's circuitous return home.
Readers cannot yet attend his Majesty there, till they
have brought the Affair of Herstal, and other remainders
of the Cleve Journey, along with them.
* CEuvres dp Fi-idiric, xvii. 71.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFPArR OP HERSTAL.
103
4th-28th Sept. 1710.
CHAPTER V.
AFFAIR OF HERSTAL.
Tms Rambonet, whom Voltaire found walking in
the court of the old Castle of Moyland, is an official
gentleman, otherwise unknown to History, who has
lately been engaged in a Public Affair; and is now off
again about it, "on a hired hack" or otherwise, --
with very good instructions in his head. Affair which,
though in itself but small, is now beginning to make
great noise in the world, as Friedrich wends home-
wards out of his Cleve Journey. He has set it fairly
alight, Voltaire and he, before quitting Moyland; and
now it will go of itself. The Affair of Herstal, or of
the Bishop of Liege; Friedrich's first appearance on
the stage of politics. Concerning which some very
brief notice, if intelligible, will suffice readers of the
present day.
Heristal, now called Herstal, was once a Castle
known to all mankind; King Pipin's Castle, who styled
himself "Pipin of Heristal," before he became King of
the Franks and begot Charlemagne. It lies on the
Maas, in that fruitful Spa Country; left bank of the
Maas, a little to the north of Liege; and probably
began existence as a grander place than Liege (Liittich),
which was, at first, some Monastery dependent on
secular Herstal and its grandeurs: -- think only how
the race has gone between these two entities; spiritual
Liege now a big City, black with the smoke of forges
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? 104 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XT.
4th-l>>8th Sept. 1710.
and steam - mills; Herstal an insignificant Village,
accidentally talked of for a few weeks in 1740, and no
chance ever to be mentioned again by men.
Herstal, in the confused vicissitudes of a thousand
years, had passed through various fortunes, and under-
gone change of owners often enough. Fifty years ago
it was in the hands of the Nassau-Orange House;
Dutch William, our English Protestant King, who pro-
bably scarce knew of his possessing it, was Lord of
Herstal till his death. Dutch William had no children
to inherit Herstal: he was of kinship to the Prussian
House, as readers are aware; and from that circum-
stance, not without a great deal of discussion, and
difficult "Division of the Orange Heritage," this
Herstal had, at the long last, fallen to Friedrich Wil-
helm's share; it and Neuchatel, and the Cobweb Palace,
and some other places and pertinents.
For Dutch William was of kin, we say; Friedrich I.
of Prussia, by his Mother the noble Wife of the Great
Elector, was full cousin to Dutch William: and the
Marriage Contracts were express, -- though the High
Mightinesses made difficulties, and the collateral Orange
branches were abundantly reluctant, when it came to
the fulfilling point. For indeed the matter was
intricate. Orange itself, for example, what was to he
done with the Principality of Orange? Clearly
Prussia's; but it lies imbedded deep in the belly of
France: that will be a Ca;sarean-Operation for you!
Had not Neuchatel happened just then to fall home to
France (or in some measure to France) and be heirless,
Prussia's Heritage of Orange would have done little
for Prussia! Principality of Orange was, by this
chance, long since, mainly in the First King's time got
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? chap, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 105
<<h-28th Sopt. 1740.
settled: * but there needed many years more of good
waiting, and of good pushing, on Friedrich Wilhelm's
part; and it was not till 1732 that Friedrich Wilhelm
got the Dutch Heritages,finally brought to the square:
Neuchatel and Valengin, as aforesaid, in lieu of
Orange; and now furthermore, that Old Palace at Loo
(that Vicille Cour and biggest cobwebs), with pertinents,
with Garden of Honslardik; and a string of items,
bigger and less, not worth enumerating. Of the items,
this Herstal was one;-- and truly, so far as this went,
Friedrich Wilhelm often thought he had better never
have seen it, so much trouble did it bring him.
How the Herstallers had behaved to Friedrich
Wilhelm.
The Herstal people, knowing the Prussian recruiting-
system and other rigours, were extremely unwilling to
come under Friedrich Wilhelm's sway, could they have
helped it. They refused fealty, swore they never
would jswear; nor did they, till the appearance, or in-
dubitable foreshine, of Friedrich Wilhelm's bayonets
advancing on them from the East, brought compliance.
And always after, spite of such quasi-fealty, they
showed a pig-like obstinacy of humour; a certain in-
significant, and as it were impertinent, deep-rooted
desire to thwart, irritate and contradict the said Friedrich
Wilhelm. Especially in any recruiting matter that
might arise, knowing that to be the weak side of his
Prussian Majesty. All this would have amounted to
nothing, had it not been that their neighbour, the
* Neuchatel, 3d November 1707, to Friedrich I. , natives preferring him
to "Fifteen other Claimants;" Louis XIV. loudly protesting: not till
Treaty of Utrecht (14th March 1713, first month of Friedrich Wilhelm's
reign} would Louis XIV. , on cession of Orange, consent and sanction.
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? 106 PRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
4lh-28th Sept. 1740.
Prince Bishop of Liege, who imagined himself to have
some obscure claims of sovereignty over Herstal, and
thought the present a good opportunity for asserting
these, was diligent to aid and abet the Herstal people
in such their mutinous acts. Obscure claims; of which
this is the summary, should the reader not prefer to
skip it:
"The Bishop of Liege's claims on Herstal (which lie wrapt
"from mankind in the extensive jungle of his law-pleadings,
"like a Bedlam happily fallen extinct) seem to me to have
"grown mainly from two facts more or less radical.
"Fact first. In Kaiser Barbarossa's time, year 1171,
"Herstal had been given in pawn to the Church of Liege, for
"a loan, by the then proprietor, Duke of Lorraine and Bra-
"bant. Loan was repaid, I do not learn when, and the Pawn
"given back; to the satisfaction of said Duke, or Duke's
"Heirs; never quite to the satisfaction of the Church, which
"had been in possession, and was loth to quit, after hoping
"to continue. 'Give us back Herstal; it ought to be ours! '
"unappeasable sigh or grumble to this effect is heard thence-
"forth, at intervals, in the Chapter of Liege, and has not
"ceased in Friedrich's time. But as the world, in its loud
"thoroughfares, seldom or never heard, or could hear, such
'' sighing in the Chapter, nothing had come of it, -- till --
"Fact second. In Kaiser Karl V. 's time, the Prince Bishop
"of Lie'ge happened to be a Natural Son of old Kaiser Max's;
"-- and had friends at headquarters, of a very choice nature.
"Had, namely, in this sort, Kaiser Karl for Nephew or
"Half-Nephew; and what perhaps was still better, as nearer
"hand, had Karl's Aunt, Maria Queen of Hungary, then
"Governess of the Netherlands, for Half-Sister. Liege, in
"these choice circumstances, and by other good chances that
"turned up, again got temporary clutch or half-clutch of
"Herstal, for a couple of years (date 1546-'8, the Prince of
"Orange, real proprietor, whose Ancestor had bought it for
"money down, being then a minor); once, and perhaps a
"second time in like circumstance; but had always to re-
nounce it again, when the Prince of Orange came to ma-
"turity. And ever since, the Chapter of Liege sighs as be-
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 107
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
"fore, 'Herstal is perhaps in a sense ours. We had once
"'some kind of right to it! ' -- sigh inaudible in the loud
"public thoroughfares. That is the Bishop's claim. The
"name of him, if anybody care for it, is 'Georg Ludwig,
"'titular Count of Berg,' now a very old man: Bishop of Lidge,
"he, and has been snatching at Herstal again, very eagerly
"by any skirt or tagrag that might happen to fly loose, these
"eight years past, in a rash and provoking manner;* -- age
"eighty-two at present; poor old fool, he had better have sat
"quiet. There lies a rod in pickle for him, during these late
"months; and will be surprisingly laid on, were the time
"come! "
"I have Law Authority over Herstal, and power of
judging there in the last appeal," said this Bishop: --
"You! " thought Friedrich Wilhelm, who was far off,
and had little time to waste. -- "Any Prussian recruiter
that behaves ill, bring him to me! " said the Bishop,
who was on the spot. And accordingly it had been
done; one notable instance two years ago: A Prussian
Lieutenant locked in the Liege jail, on complaint of
riotous Herstal; thereupon a Prussian Officer of rank
(Colonel Kreutzen, worthy old Malplaquet gentleman)
coming as Royal Messenger, not admitted to audience,
nay laid hold of by the Lie'ge bailiff instead; and other
unheard-of procedures. ** So that Friedrich Wilhelm
had nothing but trouble with this petty Herstal, and
mnst have thought his neighbour Bishop a very con-
tentious highflying gentleman, who took great liberties
with the Lion's whiskers, when he had the big animal
at advantage.
The episcopal procedures, eight years ago, about
the First Homaging of Herstal, had been of similar
complexion; nor had other such failed in the interim,
* Micrs dn Pals de Liei)C (Liege, 1738); Belien-Geschichte, ii. 57-62.
llelden-Geschichte, ii. 03-73.
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? 108 FRIEDIilCH TAKES THE REIMS IN HAND. [book. XT.
<<h-28th Sept. 1740.
though this last outrage exceeded them all. This last
began in the end of 1738; and span itself out through
1739, when Friedrich Wilhelm lay in his final sick-
ness, less able to deal with it than formerly. Being a
peaceable man, unwilling to awaken conflagrations for
a small matter, Friedrich Wilhelm had offered, through
Kreutzen on this occasion, to part with Herstal
altogether; to sell it, "for 100,000 thalers," say
16,000/. , to the highflying Bishop, and honestly wash
his hands of it. But the highflying Bishop did not
consent, gave no definite answer; and so the matter
lay, -- like an unsettled extremely irritating paltry
little matter, -- at the time Friedrich Wilhelm died.
The Gazetteers and public knew little about these
particulars, or had forgotten them again; but at the
Prussian Court they were in lively remembrance.
What the young Friedrich's opinion about them had
been we gather from this succinct notice of the thing,
written seven or eight years afterwards, exact in all
points, and still carrying a breath of the old humour
in it. "A miserable Bishop of Lidge thought it a
"proud thing to insult the late King. Some subjects
"of Herstal, which belongs to Prussia, had revolted;
"the Bishop gave them his protection. Colonel
"Kreutzen was sent to Liege, to compose the thing by
"treaty; credentials with him, full power, and all in
"order. Imagine it, the Bishop would not receive him!
"Three days, day after day, he saw this Envoy apply
"at his Palace, and always denied him entrance.
"These things had grown past endurance. "* And
Friedrich had taken note of Herstal along with him,
on this Cleve Journey; privately intending to put
* Prenss, (Euvres (Mem. ie Brandenburg), ii. 53.
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? CHAP. V. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 109
1lh-28th Sept. 1740.
Herstal and thc highflying Bishop on a suitabler foot-
ing, before his return from those countries.
For indeed, on Friedrich's Accession, matters had
grown worse, not better. Of course there was Fealty
to be sworn; but the Herstal people, abetted by the
highflying Bishop, have declined swearing it. Apology
for the past, prospect of amendment for the future,
there is less than ever. What is the young King to
do with this paltry little Hamlet of Herstal? He could,
in theory, go into some Reichs-Hofrath, some Reichs-
Kammergericht (kind of treble and tenfold English
Court-of-Chancery, which has lawsuits 280 years old), --
if he were a theoretic German King. He can plead in
the Diets, and the Wetzlar Reichs-Kammergericht with-
out end: "all German Sovereigns have power to send
"their Ambassador thither, who is like a mastiff chained
"in the backyard" (observes Friedrich elsewhere) "with
"privilege of barking at the Moon," -- unrestricted
privilege of barking at the Moon, if that will avail a
practical man, or King's Ambassador. Or perhaps the
Bishop of Liege will bethink him, at last, what con-
siderable liberty he is taking with some people's
whiskers? Four months are gone; Bishop of Liege has
not in the least bethought him: we are in the neigh-
bourhood in person, with note of the thing in our
memory.
Friedrich takes-the Bod out of PicMe.
Accordingly the Rath Rambonet, whom Voltaire
found at Moyland that Sunday night, had been over at
Liege; went exactly a week before; with this message
of very peremptory tenor from his Majesty:
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? 110 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
To the Prince Bishop of Liege.
"Wesel, 4th September 1740.
"My Cousin, -- Knowing all the assaults (atteintes) made
"by you upon my indisputable rights over my free Barony of
"Herstal; and how the seditious ringleaders there, for several
"years past, have been countenanced (bestarkei) by you in
"their detestable acts of disobedience against me, -- I have
"commanded my Privy Councillor Kambonet to repair to
"your presence, and in my name to require from you, within
"two days, a distinct and categorical answer to this question:
"Whether you are still minded to assert your pretended sover-
"eignty over Herstal; and whether you will protect the rebels
"at Herstal, in their disorders and abominable disobedience?
"In case you refuse, or delay beyond the term, the Answer
"which I hereby of right demand, you will render yourself
"alone responsible, before the world, for the consequences
"which infallibly will follow. I am, with much consideration
"-- My Cousin, --
"Your very affectionate Cousin,
"Fbjedkich. " *
Rambonet had started straightway for Liege, with
this missive; and had duly presented it there, I guess
on the 7th, -- with notice that he would wait forty-
eight hours, and then return with what answer or no-
answer there might be. Getting no written answer, or
distinct verbal one; getting only some vague mumble-
ment as good as none, Rambonet had disappeared from
Liege on the 9th; and was home at Moyland when
Voltaire arrived that Sunday evening, -- just walking
about to come to heat again, after reporting progress
to the above effect.
Rambonet, I judge, enjoyed only one of those
divine Suppers at Moyland; and dashed off again, "on
hired hack" or otherwise, the very next morning; that
contingency of No-answer having been the anticipated
* Helden-Geschichle, ii. 75, 111.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. Ill
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
one, and all things put in perfect readiness for it.
Kambonet's new errand was to "take act," as Voltaire
calls it, "at the Gates of Liege," -- to deliver at
Liege a succinct Manifesto, Pair of Manifestoes, both
in Print (ready beforehand), and bearing date that
same Sunday, "Wesel, 11th September;" -- much
calculated to amaze his Reverence at Liege. Succinct
good Manifestoes, said to be of Friedrich's own writing;
the essential of the two is this:
Exposition of the Reasons which have induced his Majesty the King
of Prussia to make just Reprisals on the Prince Bishop of Liege.
"His Majesty the King of Prussia, being driven beyond
"boundsby the rude proceedingsof the Prince Bishop ofLiege,
"has with regret seen himself forced to recur to the Method of
"Arms, in order to repress the violence and affront which the
"Bishop has attempted to put upon him. This resolution has
"cost his Majesty much pain; the rather as he is, by principle
"and disposition, far remote from whatever could have the
"least relation to rigour and severity.
"But seeing himself compelled by the Bishop of Lie'ge to
"take new methods, he had no other course but to maintain
"the justice of his'rights (la justice de ses droits), and demand
"reparation for the indignity done upon his Minister Von
"Kreutzen, as well as for the contempt with which the Bishop
"of Lidge has neglected even to answer the Letter of the
"King. g g
"As too much rigour borders upon cruelty, so too much
"patience resembles weakness. Thus, although the King
"would willingly have sacrificed his interests to the public
"peace and tranquillity,it was not possible to do so in reference
"to his honour; and that is the chief motive which has de-
"termined him to this resolution, so contrary to his inten-
"tions.
"In vain has it been attempted, by methods of mildness,
"to come to a friendly agreement: it has been found, on the
"contrary, that the King's moderation only increased the
"Prince's arrogance; that mildness of conduct on one side
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? 112 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XL
11th Sept. 1740.
"only furnished resources to pride on the other; and that, in
"fine, instead of gaining by soft procedure, one was insen-
"sibly becoming an object of vexation and disdain.
"There being no means to have justice but in doing it for
"oneself, and the King being Sovereign enough for such a
"duty, -- he intends to make the Prince of Liege feel how far
"he was in the wrong to abuse such moderation so unworthily.
"But in spite of so much unhandsome behaviour on the part
"of this Prince, the King will not be inflexible; satisfied with
"having shown the said Prince that he can punish him, and
"too just to overwhelm him.
"FRiD^RIC. "*
"Wesel, September 11th, 1740. "
Whether Rambonet insinuated his Paper-Packet into
the Palace of Seraing, left it at the Gate of Liege (fixed
by nail, if he saw good), or in what manner he "took
act," I never knew; and, indeed, Rambonet vanishes
from human History at this point: it is certain only
that he did his Formality, say two days hence; -- and
that the Fact foreshadowed by it is likewise in the
same hours, hour after hour, getting steadily done.
For the Manifestoes printed beforehand, dated
Wesel, 11th September, were not the only thing ready
at Wesel; waiting, as on the slip, for the contingency
of No-answer. Major-General Borck, with the due
battalions, squadrons and equipments, was also ready.
Major-General Borck, the same who was with us at
Baireuth lately, had just returned from that journey,
when he got orders to collect 2,000 men, horse and
foot, with the due proportion of artillery, from the
Prussian Garrisons in these parts; and to be ready for
marching with them, the instant the contingency of
* Hclden Getchichle, ii. 77. Snid to be by Friedrich himself (Stenzt),
iv. 59).
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 113
Uth Sept. 1740.
No-answer arrives, -- Sunday, 11th, as can be fore-
seen. Borck knows his route: To Maaseyk, a respect-
able Town of the Bishop's, the handiest for Wesel; to
occupy Maaseyk and the adjoining "Counties of Lotz
and Horn;" and lie there at the Bishop's charge till his
Reverence's mind alter.
Borck is ready, to the last pontoon, the last muni-
tion-loaf; and no sooner is signal given of the No-
answer come, than Borck, that same "Sunday, 11th,"
gets under way; marches, steady as clock-work, to-
wards Maaseyk (fifty miles southwest of him, distance
now lessening every hour); crosses the Maas, by help
of his pontoons; is now in the Bishop's Territory, and
enters Maaseyk, evening of "Wednesday, 14th," --
that very day Voltaire and his Majesty had parted,
going different ways from Moyland; and probably about
the same hour while Rambonet was "taking act at the
'Gate of Lidge," by nail-hammer or otherwise. All,
goes punctual, swift, cog hitting pinion far and near,
in this small Herstal Business; and there is no mistake
made, and a minimum of time spent.
Borck's management was throughout good: punctual,
quietly exact, polite, mildly inflexible. Fain would
the Maaseyk Town-Raths have shut their gates on
him; desperately conjuring him, "Respite for a few
hours, till we send to Lidge for instructions! " But it
was to no purpose. "Unbolt, ihr Herren; swift, or the
petard will have to do it! " Borck publishes his Pro-
clamation, a mild-spoken rigorous Piece; signifies to
the Maaseyk Authorities, That he has to exact a Con-
tribution of 20,000 thalers (3,000/. ) here, Contribution
payable in three days; that he furthermore, while he
continues in these parts, will need such and such
Corljic, Frederick the Great. VI. 8
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? 114 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
14th Sept. 1740.
rations, accommodations, allowances, -- "fifty louis
(say guineas) daily for his own private expenses," one
item; -- and, in mild rhadamanthine language, waves
aside all remonstrance, refusal or delay, as superfluous
considerations: Unless said Contribution and required
supplies come in, it will be his painful duty to bring
them in. *
The highflying Bishop, much astonished, does now
eagerly answer his Prussian Majesty, "Was from home,
was ill, thought he had answered; is the most ill-used
of Bishops;" and other things of a hysteric character. **
And there came forth, as natural to the situation, mul-
titudinous complainings, manifestoings, applications to
the Kaiser, to the French, to the Dutch, of a very
shrieky character on the Bishop of Liege's part;
sparingly, if at all noticed on Friedrich's: the whole of
which we shall consider ourselves free to leave undis-
turbed in the rubbish-abysses, as henceforth conceivable
to the reader. uScd spem stupende fefellit eventus,"
shrieks the poor old Bishop, making moan to the Kaiser:
"ecce enim, prcemissa duntaxat one Letter," and little
more, "the said King of Borussia has, with about
"2,000 horse and foot, and warlike engines, in this
"month of September, entered theTerritory of Lidge;"*
which is an undeniable truth, but an unavailing. Borck
is there, and "2,000 good arguments with him," as
Voltaire defines the phenomenon. Friedrich, except to
explain pertinently what my readers already know,
does not write or speak farther on the subject; and
readers and he may consider the Herstal Affair, thus
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 427; ii. 113.
** Ibid. ii. 85, SO (date, lGth September).
*** Hcldea-Geschichte, ii. p. 88.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 115
14th Sept. 1740.
set agoing under Borck's auspices, as in effect finished;
and that his Majesty has left it on a satisfactory foot-
ing, and* may safely turn his back on it, to wait the
sure issue at Berlin before long.
What Voltaire thought of Herstal.
Voltaire told us he himself "did one Manifesto,
good or bad," on this Herstal Business: -- where is
that Piece, then, what has become of it? Dig well in
the realms of Chaos, rectifying stupidities more or less
enormous, the Piece itself is still discoverable; and,
were pieces by Voltaire less a rarity than they are,
might be resuscitated by a good Editor, and printed in
his Works. Lies buried in the lonesome rubbish-moun-
tains of that Helden-Geschichte, -- let a Siste Viator,
scratched on the surface, mark where. * Apparently
that is the Piece by Voltaire? Yes, on reading that,
it has every internal evidence; distinguishes itself from
the surrounding pieces, like a slab of compact polished
stone, in a floor rammed together out of ruinous old
bricks, broken bottles and mortar-dust; -- agrees, too,
if you examine by the miscroscope, with the external
indications, which are sure and at last clear, though
infinitesimally small; and is beyond doubt Voltaire's,
if it were now good for much.
It is not properly a Manifesto, but an anonymous
Memoir published in the Newspapers, explaining to
impartial mankind, in a legible brief manner, what the
old and recent History of Herstal, and the Troubles of
Herstal, have been, and how chimerical and "null to
the extreme of nullity (nulles de toute nullite)" this poor
* Helden-Geschichte, ii. pp. 93-98.
8*
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? 116 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XL
4th-28th Sept. 174U.
Bishop's pretensions upon it are. Voltaire expressly
piques himself on this Piece; * brags also how he
settled "M. de Fdndlon" (French Ambassador at the
Hague), "who came to me the day before yesterday,"
much out of square upon the Herstal Business, till I
pulled him straight. And it is evident (beautifully so,
your Majesty) how Voltaire busied himself in the Ga-
zettes and Diplomatic circles, setting Friedrich's case
right; Voltaire very loyal to Friedrich and his Liege
Cause at that time; -- and the contrast between what
his contemporary Letters say on the subject, and what
his ulterior Pasquil called Vie Prive'e says, is again
great.
The dull stagnant world, shaken awake by this
Lie^ge adventure, gives voice variously; and in the
G-azetteer and Diplomatic circles it is much criticised,
by no means everywhere in the favourable tone at this
first blush of the business. "He had written an Anti-
Machiavel," says the Abbd St. Pierre, and even says
Voltaire (in the Pasquil, not the contemporary Letters),
"and he acts thus! " Truly he does, Monsieur de Vol-
taire; and all men, with light upon the subject, or even
with the reverse upon it, must make their criticisms.
For the rest, Borck's "2,000 arguments" are there;
which Borck handles well, with polite calm rigour: by
degrees the dust will fall, and facts everywhere be seen
for what they are.
As to the highflying Bishop, finding that hysterics
are but wasted on Friedrich and Borck, and produce
* Letter to Friedrich! dateless, dateable "soon after 17th September;"
which the rash dark Editors have by guess misdated "August;" or, what
was safer for them, omitted altogether. (F. uvres de Voltaire (Paris, 1818,
40 voll. ) gives the Letter, xxxix. 442 (see also Ibid. 453, 463); later Editors,
and even Preuss, take the safer course.
? 100 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [bOOKXI.
Uth-Hth Sept. 1740.
mical disorder at this time, some Verses for the King
of Prussia, which he wished to be presented to his
\ Majesty. The presentation, owing to accidents, did
not take place; hear how Voltaire, from his cobweb
Palace at the Hague, busy with Anti-Macchiavel, Van
Duren and many other things, -- 18th October 1740,
on which day we find him writing many Letters, --
explains the sad accident:
Voltaire to M. de Cideville (at Rouen).
"At the Hague, King of Prussia's Palace, 18th October 1740.
# # # "This is my case, dear Cideville. When you
"sent me, enclosed in your Letter, those Verses (among which
"there are some of charming and inimitable turn) for our
"Marcus Aurelius of the North, I did well design to pay my
"court to him with them. He was at that time to have
"come to Brussels incognito: we expected him there; but the
"Quartan Fever, which unhappily he still has, deranged all
"his projects. He sent me a courier to Brussels," -- mark
that point, my Cideville; --, "and so I set out to find him in
"the neighbourhood of Cleve.
"It was there I saw one of the amiablest men in the world,
"who forms the charm of society, who would be everywhere
"sought after if he were not King; a philosopher without
"austerity; full of sweetness, complaisance and obliging ways
"(agremens); not remembering that he is King when he meets
"his friends; indeed so completely forgetting it that he made
"me too almost forget it, and I needed an effort of memory to
"recollect that I here saw sitting at the foot of my bed a
"Sovereign who had an Army of 100,000 men. That was the
"moment to have read your amiable Verses to him:" -- yes;
but then? -- "Madame du Chatelet, who was to have sent
"them to me, did not, ne Va pas fait. " Alas, no, they are still
at Brussels, those charming Verses; and I, for a month past,
am here in my cobweb Palace! But I swear to you, the instant
I return to Brussels, I &c. &c*
"lxxii. 282.
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? chap, iv. ] voltairb's first interview. 101
Uth-Uth Sept. 1740.
Finally, here is what Friedrich thought of it, ten
days after parting with Voltaire. We will read this
also (though otherwise ahead of us as yet); to be
certified on all sides, and sated for the rest of our lives,
concerning the Friedrich-Voltaire First Interview.
King Friedrich to M. Jordan (at Berlin,).
"Potsdam, 24th September 1740.
"Most respectable Inspector of the poor, the invalids,
"orphans, crazy people and Bedlams, -- 1 have read with ma-
"ture meditation the very profound Jordanic Letter which
"was waiting here;" -- and do accept your learned proposal.
"I have seen that Voltaire whom I was so curious to know;
"but I saw him with the Quartan hanging on me, and my
"mind as unstrung as my body. With men of his kind one
"ought not to be sick; one ought even to be specially well,
"and in better health than common, if one could.
"He has the eloquence of Cicero, the mildness of Pliny,
"the wisdom of Agrippa; he combines, in short, what is to be
"collected of virtues and talents from the three greatest men
"of Antiquity. "His intellect is at work incessantly; every
"drop of ink is a trait of wit from his pen. He declaimed his
"Mahomet to us, an admirable Tragedy which he has done,"
-- which the Official people smelling heresies in it (" tolera-
tion," "horrors of fanaticism," and the like) will not let him
act, as readers too well know: -- "he transported us out of
"ourselves; I could only admire and hold my tongue. The
"Du Chatelet is lucky to have him: for of the good things he
"flings out at random, a person who had no faculty but me-
"mory might make a brilliant Book. That Minerva has just
"published her Work on Physics: not wholly bad. It was
"Konig," -- whom we know, and whose late tempest in a cer-
tain teapot, -- "that dictated the theme to her: she has ad-
justed, ornamented here and there with some touch picked
"from Voltaire at her Suppers. The Chapter on Space is
"pitiable; the" -- in short she is still raw in the Pure
Sciences, and should have waited. * * *
"Adieu, most learned, most scientific, most profound Jor-
"dan, -- or rather most gallant, most amiable, most jovial
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? 102 FRIEDKICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [bOOKXI.
llth-Uth Sept. 1740.
"Jordan; -- I salute thee, with assurance of all those old
"feelings which thou hast the art of inspiring in every one
"that knows thee. Vale.
"I write the moment of my arrival: be obliged to me,
"friend; for I have been working, I am going to work still,
"like a Turk, or like a Jordan. " *
This is hastily thrown off for Friend Jordan, the
instant after his Majesty's circuitous return home.
Readers cannot yet attend his Majesty there, till they
have brought the Affair of Herstal, and other remainders
of the Cleve Journey, along with them.
* CEuvres dp Fi-idiric, xvii. 71.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFPArR OP HERSTAL.
103
4th-28th Sept. 1710.
CHAPTER V.
AFFAIR OF HERSTAL.
Tms Rambonet, whom Voltaire found walking in
the court of the old Castle of Moyland, is an official
gentleman, otherwise unknown to History, who has
lately been engaged in a Public Affair; and is now off
again about it, "on a hired hack" or otherwise, --
with very good instructions in his head. Affair which,
though in itself but small, is now beginning to make
great noise in the world, as Friedrich wends home-
wards out of his Cleve Journey. He has set it fairly
alight, Voltaire and he, before quitting Moyland; and
now it will go of itself. The Affair of Herstal, or of
the Bishop of Liege; Friedrich's first appearance on
the stage of politics. Concerning which some very
brief notice, if intelligible, will suffice readers of the
present day.
Heristal, now called Herstal, was once a Castle
known to all mankind; King Pipin's Castle, who styled
himself "Pipin of Heristal," before he became King of
the Franks and begot Charlemagne. It lies on the
Maas, in that fruitful Spa Country; left bank of the
Maas, a little to the north of Liege; and probably
began existence as a grander place than Liege (Liittich),
which was, at first, some Monastery dependent on
secular Herstal and its grandeurs: -- think only how
the race has gone between these two entities; spiritual
Liege now a big City, black with the smoke of forges
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? 104 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XT.
4th-l>>8th Sept. 1710.
and steam - mills; Herstal an insignificant Village,
accidentally talked of for a few weeks in 1740, and no
chance ever to be mentioned again by men.
Herstal, in the confused vicissitudes of a thousand
years, had passed through various fortunes, and under-
gone change of owners often enough. Fifty years ago
it was in the hands of the Nassau-Orange House;
Dutch William, our English Protestant King, who pro-
bably scarce knew of his possessing it, was Lord of
Herstal till his death. Dutch William had no children
to inherit Herstal: he was of kinship to the Prussian
House, as readers are aware; and from that circum-
stance, not without a great deal of discussion, and
difficult "Division of the Orange Heritage," this
Herstal had, at the long last, fallen to Friedrich Wil-
helm's share; it and Neuchatel, and the Cobweb Palace,
and some other places and pertinents.
For Dutch William was of kin, we say; Friedrich I.
of Prussia, by his Mother the noble Wife of the Great
Elector, was full cousin to Dutch William: and the
Marriage Contracts were express, -- though the High
Mightinesses made difficulties, and the collateral Orange
branches were abundantly reluctant, when it came to
the fulfilling point. For indeed the matter was
intricate. Orange itself, for example, what was to he
done with the Principality of Orange? Clearly
Prussia's; but it lies imbedded deep in the belly of
France: that will be a Ca;sarean-Operation for you!
Had not Neuchatel happened just then to fall home to
France (or in some measure to France) and be heirless,
Prussia's Heritage of Orange would have done little
for Prussia! Principality of Orange was, by this
chance, long since, mainly in the First King's time got
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? chap, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 105
<<h-28th Sopt. 1740.
settled: * but there needed many years more of good
waiting, and of good pushing, on Friedrich Wilhelm's
part; and it was not till 1732 that Friedrich Wilhelm
got the Dutch Heritages,finally brought to the square:
Neuchatel and Valengin, as aforesaid, in lieu of
Orange; and now furthermore, that Old Palace at Loo
(that Vicille Cour and biggest cobwebs), with pertinents,
with Garden of Honslardik; and a string of items,
bigger and less, not worth enumerating. Of the items,
this Herstal was one;-- and truly, so far as this went,
Friedrich Wilhelm often thought he had better never
have seen it, so much trouble did it bring him.
How the Herstallers had behaved to Friedrich
Wilhelm.
The Herstal people, knowing the Prussian recruiting-
system and other rigours, were extremely unwilling to
come under Friedrich Wilhelm's sway, could they have
helped it. They refused fealty, swore they never
would jswear; nor did they, till the appearance, or in-
dubitable foreshine, of Friedrich Wilhelm's bayonets
advancing on them from the East, brought compliance.
And always after, spite of such quasi-fealty, they
showed a pig-like obstinacy of humour; a certain in-
significant, and as it were impertinent, deep-rooted
desire to thwart, irritate and contradict the said Friedrich
Wilhelm. Especially in any recruiting matter that
might arise, knowing that to be the weak side of his
Prussian Majesty. All this would have amounted to
nothing, had it not been that their neighbour, the
* Neuchatel, 3d November 1707, to Friedrich I. , natives preferring him
to "Fifteen other Claimants;" Louis XIV. loudly protesting: not till
Treaty of Utrecht (14th March 1713, first month of Friedrich Wilhelm's
reign} would Louis XIV. , on cession of Orange, consent and sanction.
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? 106 PRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
4lh-28th Sept. 1740.
Prince Bishop of Liege, who imagined himself to have
some obscure claims of sovereignty over Herstal, and
thought the present a good opportunity for asserting
these, was diligent to aid and abet the Herstal people
in such their mutinous acts. Obscure claims; of which
this is the summary, should the reader not prefer to
skip it:
"The Bishop of Liege's claims on Herstal (which lie wrapt
"from mankind in the extensive jungle of his law-pleadings,
"like a Bedlam happily fallen extinct) seem to me to have
"grown mainly from two facts more or less radical.
"Fact first. In Kaiser Barbarossa's time, year 1171,
"Herstal had been given in pawn to the Church of Liege, for
"a loan, by the then proprietor, Duke of Lorraine and Bra-
"bant. Loan was repaid, I do not learn when, and the Pawn
"given back; to the satisfaction of said Duke, or Duke's
"Heirs; never quite to the satisfaction of the Church, which
"had been in possession, and was loth to quit, after hoping
"to continue. 'Give us back Herstal; it ought to be ours! '
"unappeasable sigh or grumble to this effect is heard thence-
"forth, at intervals, in the Chapter of Liege, and has not
"ceased in Friedrich's time. But as the world, in its loud
"thoroughfares, seldom or never heard, or could hear, such
'' sighing in the Chapter, nothing had come of it, -- till --
"Fact second. In Kaiser Karl V. 's time, the Prince Bishop
"of Lie'ge happened to be a Natural Son of old Kaiser Max's;
"-- and had friends at headquarters, of a very choice nature.
"Had, namely, in this sort, Kaiser Karl for Nephew or
"Half-Nephew; and what perhaps was still better, as nearer
"hand, had Karl's Aunt, Maria Queen of Hungary, then
"Governess of the Netherlands, for Half-Sister. Liege, in
"these choice circumstances, and by other good chances that
"turned up, again got temporary clutch or half-clutch of
"Herstal, for a couple of years (date 1546-'8, the Prince of
"Orange, real proprietor, whose Ancestor had bought it for
"money down, being then a minor); once, and perhaps a
"second time in like circumstance; but had always to re-
nounce it again, when the Prince of Orange came to ma-
"turity. And ever since, the Chapter of Liege sighs as be-
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 107
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
"fore, 'Herstal is perhaps in a sense ours. We had once
"'some kind of right to it! ' -- sigh inaudible in the loud
"public thoroughfares. That is the Bishop's claim. The
"name of him, if anybody care for it, is 'Georg Ludwig,
"'titular Count of Berg,' now a very old man: Bishop of Lidge,
"he, and has been snatching at Herstal again, very eagerly
"by any skirt or tagrag that might happen to fly loose, these
"eight years past, in a rash and provoking manner;* -- age
"eighty-two at present; poor old fool, he had better have sat
"quiet. There lies a rod in pickle for him, during these late
"months; and will be surprisingly laid on, were the time
"come! "
"I have Law Authority over Herstal, and power of
judging there in the last appeal," said this Bishop: --
"You! " thought Friedrich Wilhelm, who was far off,
and had little time to waste. -- "Any Prussian recruiter
that behaves ill, bring him to me! " said the Bishop,
who was on the spot. And accordingly it had been
done; one notable instance two years ago: A Prussian
Lieutenant locked in the Liege jail, on complaint of
riotous Herstal; thereupon a Prussian Officer of rank
(Colonel Kreutzen, worthy old Malplaquet gentleman)
coming as Royal Messenger, not admitted to audience,
nay laid hold of by the Lie'ge bailiff instead; and other
unheard-of procedures. ** So that Friedrich Wilhelm
had nothing but trouble with this petty Herstal, and
mnst have thought his neighbour Bishop a very con-
tentious highflying gentleman, who took great liberties
with the Lion's whiskers, when he had the big animal
at advantage.
The episcopal procedures, eight years ago, about
the First Homaging of Herstal, had been of similar
complexion; nor had other such failed in the interim,
* Micrs dn Pals de Liei)C (Liege, 1738); Belien-Geschichte, ii. 57-62.
llelden-Geschichte, ii. 03-73.
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? 108 FRIEDIilCH TAKES THE REIMS IN HAND. [book. XT.
<<h-28th Sept. 1740.
though this last outrage exceeded them all. This last
began in the end of 1738; and span itself out through
1739, when Friedrich Wilhelm lay in his final sick-
ness, less able to deal with it than formerly. Being a
peaceable man, unwilling to awaken conflagrations for
a small matter, Friedrich Wilhelm had offered, through
Kreutzen on this occasion, to part with Herstal
altogether; to sell it, "for 100,000 thalers," say
16,000/. , to the highflying Bishop, and honestly wash
his hands of it. But the highflying Bishop did not
consent, gave no definite answer; and so the matter
lay, -- like an unsettled extremely irritating paltry
little matter, -- at the time Friedrich Wilhelm died.
The Gazetteers and public knew little about these
particulars, or had forgotten them again; but at the
Prussian Court they were in lively remembrance.
What the young Friedrich's opinion about them had
been we gather from this succinct notice of the thing,
written seven or eight years afterwards, exact in all
points, and still carrying a breath of the old humour
in it. "A miserable Bishop of Lidge thought it a
"proud thing to insult the late King. Some subjects
"of Herstal, which belongs to Prussia, had revolted;
"the Bishop gave them his protection. Colonel
"Kreutzen was sent to Liege, to compose the thing by
"treaty; credentials with him, full power, and all in
"order. Imagine it, the Bishop would not receive him!
"Three days, day after day, he saw this Envoy apply
"at his Palace, and always denied him entrance.
"These things had grown past endurance. "* And
Friedrich had taken note of Herstal along with him,
on this Cleve Journey; privately intending to put
* Prenss, (Euvres (Mem. ie Brandenburg), ii. 53.
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? CHAP. V. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 109
1lh-28th Sept. 1740.
Herstal and thc highflying Bishop on a suitabler foot-
ing, before his return from those countries.
For indeed, on Friedrich's Accession, matters had
grown worse, not better. Of course there was Fealty
to be sworn; but the Herstal people, abetted by the
highflying Bishop, have declined swearing it. Apology
for the past, prospect of amendment for the future,
there is less than ever. What is the young King to
do with this paltry little Hamlet of Herstal? He could,
in theory, go into some Reichs-Hofrath, some Reichs-
Kammergericht (kind of treble and tenfold English
Court-of-Chancery, which has lawsuits 280 years old), --
if he were a theoretic German King. He can plead in
the Diets, and the Wetzlar Reichs-Kammergericht with-
out end: "all German Sovereigns have power to send
"their Ambassador thither, who is like a mastiff chained
"in the backyard" (observes Friedrich elsewhere) "with
"privilege of barking at the Moon," -- unrestricted
privilege of barking at the Moon, if that will avail a
practical man, or King's Ambassador. Or perhaps the
Bishop of Liege will bethink him, at last, what con-
siderable liberty he is taking with some people's
whiskers? Four months are gone; Bishop of Liege has
not in the least bethought him: we are in the neigh-
bourhood in person, with note of the thing in our
memory.
Friedrich takes-the Bod out of PicMe.
Accordingly the Rath Rambonet, whom Voltaire
found at Moyland that Sunday night, had been over at
Liege; went exactly a week before; with this message
of very peremptory tenor from his Majesty:
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? 110 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XI.
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
To the Prince Bishop of Liege.
"Wesel, 4th September 1740.
"My Cousin, -- Knowing all the assaults (atteintes) made
"by you upon my indisputable rights over my free Barony of
"Herstal; and how the seditious ringleaders there, for several
"years past, have been countenanced (bestarkei) by you in
"their detestable acts of disobedience against me, -- I have
"commanded my Privy Councillor Kambonet to repair to
"your presence, and in my name to require from you, within
"two days, a distinct and categorical answer to this question:
"Whether you are still minded to assert your pretended sover-
"eignty over Herstal; and whether you will protect the rebels
"at Herstal, in their disorders and abominable disobedience?
"In case you refuse, or delay beyond the term, the Answer
"which I hereby of right demand, you will render yourself
"alone responsible, before the world, for the consequences
"which infallibly will follow. I am, with much consideration
"-- My Cousin, --
"Your very affectionate Cousin,
"Fbjedkich. " *
Rambonet had started straightway for Liege, with
this missive; and had duly presented it there, I guess
on the 7th, -- with notice that he would wait forty-
eight hours, and then return with what answer or no-
answer there might be. Getting no written answer, or
distinct verbal one; getting only some vague mumble-
ment as good as none, Rambonet had disappeared from
Liege on the 9th; and was home at Moyland when
Voltaire arrived that Sunday evening, -- just walking
about to come to heat again, after reporting progress
to the above effect.
Rambonet, I judge, enjoyed only one of those
divine Suppers at Moyland; and dashed off again, "on
hired hack" or otherwise, the very next morning; that
contingency of No-answer having been the anticipated
* Helden-Geschichle, ii. 75, 111.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. Ill
4th-28th Sept. 1740.
one, and all things put in perfect readiness for it.
Kambonet's new errand was to "take act," as Voltaire
calls it, "at the Gates of Liege," -- to deliver at
Liege a succinct Manifesto, Pair of Manifestoes, both
in Print (ready beforehand), and bearing date that
same Sunday, "Wesel, 11th September;" -- much
calculated to amaze his Reverence at Liege. Succinct
good Manifestoes, said to be of Friedrich's own writing;
the essential of the two is this:
Exposition of the Reasons which have induced his Majesty the King
of Prussia to make just Reprisals on the Prince Bishop of Liege.
"His Majesty the King of Prussia, being driven beyond
"boundsby the rude proceedingsof the Prince Bishop ofLiege,
"has with regret seen himself forced to recur to the Method of
"Arms, in order to repress the violence and affront which the
"Bishop has attempted to put upon him. This resolution has
"cost his Majesty much pain; the rather as he is, by principle
"and disposition, far remote from whatever could have the
"least relation to rigour and severity.
"But seeing himself compelled by the Bishop of Lie'ge to
"take new methods, he had no other course but to maintain
"the justice of his'rights (la justice de ses droits), and demand
"reparation for the indignity done upon his Minister Von
"Kreutzen, as well as for the contempt with which the Bishop
"of Lidge has neglected even to answer the Letter of the
"King. g g
"As too much rigour borders upon cruelty, so too much
"patience resembles weakness. Thus, although the King
"would willingly have sacrificed his interests to the public
"peace and tranquillity,it was not possible to do so in reference
"to his honour; and that is the chief motive which has de-
"termined him to this resolution, so contrary to his inten-
"tions.
"In vain has it been attempted, by methods of mildness,
"to come to a friendly agreement: it has been found, on the
"contrary, that the King's moderation only increased the
"Prince's arrogance; that mildness of conduct on one side
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? 112 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XL
11th Sept. 1740.
"only furnished resources to pride on the other; and that, in
"fine, instead of gaining by soft procedure, one was insen-
"sibly becoming an object of vexation and disdain.
"There being no means to have justice but in doing it for
"oneself, and the King being Sovereign enough for such a
"duty, -- he intends to make the Prince of Liege feel how far
"he was in the wrong to abuse such moderation so unworthily.
"But in spite of so much unhandsome behaviour on the part
"of this Prince, the King will not be inflexible; satisfied with
"having shown the said Prince that he can punish him, and
"too just to overwhelm him.
"FRiD^RIC. "*
"Wesel, September 11th, 1740. "
Whether Rambonet insinuated his Paper-Packet into
the Palace of Seraing, left it at the Gate of Liege (fixed
by nail, if he saw good), or in what manner he "took
act," I never knew; and, indeed, Rambonet vanishes
from human History at this point: it is certain only
that he did his Formality, say two days hence; -- and
that the Fact foreshadowed by it is likewise in the
same hours, hour after hour, getting steadily done.
For the Manifestoes printed beforehand, dated
Wesel, 11th September, were not the only thing ready
at Wesel; waiting, as on the slip, for the contingency
of No-answer. Major-General Borck, with the due
battalions, squadrons and equipments, was also ready.
Major-General Borck, the same who was with us at
Baireuth lately, had just returned from that journey,
when he got orders to collect 2,000 men, horse and
foot, with the due proportion of artillery, from the
Prussian Garrisons in these parts; and to be ready for
marching with them, the instant the contingency of
* Hclden Getchichle, ii. 77. Snid to be by Friedrich himself (Stenzt),
iv. 59).
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 113
Uth Sept. 1740.
No-answer arrives, -- Sunday, 11th, as can be fore-
seen. Borck knows his route: To Maaseyk, a respect-
able Town of the Bishop's, the handiest for Wesel; to
occupy Maaseyk and the adjoining "Counties of Lotz
and Horn;" and lie there at the Bishop's charge till his
Reverence's mind alter.
Borck is ready, to the last pontoon, the last muni-
tion-loaf; and no sooner is signal given of the No-
answer come, than Borck, that same "Sunday, 11th,"
gets under way; marches, steady as clock-work, to-
wards Maaseyk (fifty miles southwest of him, distance
now lessening every hour); crosses the Maas, by help
of his pontoons; is now in the Bishop's Territory, and
enters Maaseyk, evening of "Wednesday, 14th," --
that very day Voltaire and his Majesty had parted,
going different ways from Moyland; and probably about
the same hour while Rambonet was "taking act at the
'Gate of Lidge," by nail-hammer or otherwise. All,
goes punctual, swift, cog hitting pinion far and near,
in this small Herstal Business; and there is no mistake
made, and a minimum of time spent.
Borck's management was throughout good: punctual,
quietly exact, polite, mildly inflexible. Fain would
the Maaseyk Town-Raths have shut their gates on
him; desperately conjuring him, "Respite for a few
hours, till we send to Lidge for instructions! " But it
was to no purpose. "Unbolt, ihr Herren; swift, or the
petard will have to do it! " Borck publishes his Pro-
clamation, a mild-spoken rigorous Piece; signifies to
the Maaseyk Authorities, That he has to exact a Con-
tribution of 20,000 thalers (3,000/. ) here, Contribution
payable in three days; that he furthermore, while he
continues in these parts, will need such and such
Corljic, Frederick the Great. VI. 8
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? 114 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE KEINS IN HAND. [bOOK XI.
14th Sept. 1740.
rations, accommodations, allowances, -- "fifty louis
(say guineas) daily for his own private expenses," one
item; -- and, in mild rhadamanthine language, waves
aside all remonstrance, refusal or delay, as superfluous
considerations: Unless said Contribution and required
supplies come in, it will be his painful duty to bring
them in. *
The highflying Bishop, much astonished, does now
eagerly answer his Prussian Majesty, "Was from home,
was ill, thought he had answered; is the most ill-used
of Bishops;" and other things of a hysteric character. **
And there came forth, as natural to the situation, mul-
titudinous complainings, manifestoings, applications to
the Kaiser, to the French, to the Dutch, of a very
shrieky character on the Bishop of Liege's part;
sparingly, if at all noticed on Friedrich's: the whole of
which we shall consider ourselves free to leave undis-
turbed in the rubbish-abysses, as henceforth conceivable
to the reader. uScd spem stupende fefellit eventus,"
shrieks the poor old Bishop, making moan to the Kaiser:
"ecce enim, prcemissa duntaxat one Letter," and little
more, "the said King of Borussia has, with about
"2,000 horse and foot, and warlike engines, in this
"month of September, entered theTerritory of Lidge;"*
which is an undeniable truth, but an unavailing. Borck
is there, and "2,000 good arguments with him," as
Voltaire defines the phenomenon. Friedrich, except to
explain pertinently what my readers already know,
does not write or speak farther on the subject; and
readers and he may consider the Herstal Affair, thus
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 427; ii. 113.
** Ibid. ii. 85, SO (date, lGth September).
*** Hcldea-Geschichte, ii. p. 88.
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? CHAP, v. ] AFFAIR OF HERSTAL. 115
14th Sept. 1740.
set agoing under Borck's auspices, as in effect finished;
and that his Majesty has left it on a satisfactory foot-
ing, and* may safely turn his back on it, to wait the
sure issue at Berlin before long.
What Voltaire thought of Herstal.
Voltaire told us he himself "did one Manifesto,
good or bad," on this Herstal Business: -- where is
that Piece, then, what has become of it? Dig well in
the realms of Chaos, rectifying stupidities more or less
enormous, the Piece itself is still discoverable; and,
were pieces by Voltaire less a rarity than they are,
might be resuscitated by a good Editor, and printed in
his Works. Lies buried in the lonesome rubbish-moun-
tains of that Helden-Geschichte, -- let a Siste Viator,
scratched on the surface, mark where. * Apparently
that is the Piece by Voltaire? Yes, on reading that,
it has every internal evidence; distinguishes itself from
the surrounding pieces, like a slab of compact polished
stone, in a floor rammed together out of ruinous old
bricks, broken bottles and mortar-dust; -- agrees, too,
if you examine by the miscroscope, with the external
indications, which are sure and at last clear, though
infinitesimally small; and is beyond doubt Voltaire's,
if it were now good for much.
It is not properly a Manifesto, but an anonymous
Memoir published in the Newspapers, explaining to
impartial mankind, in a legible brief manner, what the
old and recent History of Herstal, and the Troubles of
Herstal, have been, and how chimerical and "null to
the extreme of nullity (nulles de toute nullite)" this poor
* Helden-Geschichte, ii. pp. 93-98.
8*
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? 116 FRIEDRICH TAKES THE REINS IN HAND. [book XL
4th-28th Sept. 174U.
Bishop's pretensions upon it are. Voltaire expressly
piques himself on this Piece; * brags also how he
settled "M. de Fdndlon" (French Ambassador at the
Hague), "who came to me the day before yesterday,"
much out of square upon the Herstal Business, till I
pulled him straight. And it is evident (beautifully so,
your Majesty) how Voltaire busied himself in the Ga-
zettes and Diplomatic circles, setting Friedrich's case
right; Voltaire very loyal to Friedrich and his Liege
Cause at that time; -- and the contrast between what
his contemporary Letters say on the subject, and what
his ulterior Pasquil called Vie Prive'e says, is again
great.
The dull stagnant world, shaken awake by this
Lie^ge adventure, gives voice variously; and in the
G-azetteer and Diplomatic circles it is much criticised,
by no means everywhere in the favourable tone at this
first blush of the business. "He had written an Anti-
Machiavel," says the Abbd St. Pierre, and even says
Voltaire (in the Pasquil, not the contemporary Letters),
"and he acts thus! " Truly he does, Monsieur de Vol-
taire; and all men, with light upon the subject, or even
with the reverse upon it, must make their criticisms.
For the rest, Borck's "2,000 arguments" are there;
which Borck handles well, with polite calm rigour: by
degrees the dust will fall, and facts everywhere be seen
for what they are.
As to the highflying Bishop, finding that hysterics
are but wasted on Friedrich and Borck, and produce
* Letter to Friedrich! dateless, dateable "soon after 17th September;"
which the rash dark Editors have by guess misdated "August;" or, what
was safer for them, omitted altogether. (F. uvres de Voltaire (Paris, 1818,
40 voll. ) gives the Letter, xxxix. 442 (see also Ibid. 453, 463); later Editors,
and even Preuss, take the safer course.
