, on account
"of this Sovereignty so-called, what has the thing itself been
"to him?
"of this Sovereignty so-called, what has the thing itself been
"to him?
Thomas Carlyle
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
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? COLLECTION
OP
BRITISH AUTHORS.
VOL. CCCCXLVffl.
FREDERICK THE GREAT BY THOMAS CARLYLE.
VOL. V.
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? 9
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? HISTORY
OF
FRIEDRICHII. OF PRUSSIA,
CaLLED
FREDERICK THE GREAT.
DV
THOMAS CA11LYLE.
COPYRIGHT EDITION.
VOL. V.
LEIPZIG
BEKNIIARD TAUCHNITZ
1858.
The Right of Translation is reserved.
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? /'hARVARcT
UNIVERSITYl
LIBRARY
FEB 23 1959
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? CONTENTS
OF VOLUME V.
BOOK IX.
last stage of friedrich's apprenticeship: life in
ruppin. 1732-1736.
(Continued. )
CHAPTER PAGE
VI. King August meditating Gee at Things fob Po-
land 1
VII. Crown-Prince's Marriage 8
VIII. King August dies, and Poland takes fire . 20
Poland has to find a new King, p. 22.
Of the Candidates; of the Conditions How the Election
went, 26.
Poland on Fire; Dantzig stands Siege, 32.
IX. Kaiser's Shadow-Hunt has caught Fire . . 35
Subsequent course of the War, in the Italian part of it,
p. 39.
Course of the War, in the German part of it, 42.
X. Crown-Prince goes to the Bhine Campaign . 45
Glimpse of Lieutenant Chasot, and of other acquisitions,
p. 84.
Crown-Prince's visit to Baireuth on the way home, 88.
XL In Papa's Sick-room; Prussian Inspections:
End of War 94
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? VI
CONTENTS OP VOLUME V.
CHAPTER 'FACE
BOOK X.
AT REINSBERG. 1736-1740.
I. Mansion of Reinsberg . . . . . . . 121
Of Monsieur Jordan and the Literary Set, p. 135.
II. Of Voltaire and the Literary Coebespond-
ENCES 143
III. Cbown-Pbince makes a Morning Call. . . 184
IV. News of the Day 195
Of Berg and Jiilich again; and of Lniscina with the One
Razor, p. 203.
V. Visit at Loo 210
Crown-Prince becomes a Freemason; and is harangued
by Monsieur de Bielfeld, p. 214.
Seckendorf gets lodged in Gratz, 224.
The Ear of Jenkins reSmerges, 228.
VI. Last Year of Reinsberg; Joukney to Preussen 230
Pine's Horace, and the Anti-Macchiavel, p. 233.
Friedrich in Preussen again; at the Stud of Trakehnen.
A tragically great Eyent coming on, 240.
VII. Last Year of Reinsbero: Transit of Balti-
more and other Persons and Things . . 248
Bielfeld, what he saw at Kelnsberg and around, p. 254.
Turk War ends; Spanish War begins. A Wedding in
Petersburg, 259.
VIII. Death of Friedrich Wilhelm . . . 266
Philifsbubo
MAP.
80
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? BOOK IX.
LAST STAGE OF FRIED RICH'S APPRENTICESHIP:
LIFE IN RUPPIN.
(Continued. )
CHAPTER VI.
KING AUGUST MEDITATING GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND.
In the Newyear's days of 1733, the topic among
diplomatic gentlemen, which set many big wigs wag-
ging, and even tremulously came out in the gray
leaves of gazetteers and garretteers of the period, was
a royal drama dimly supposed to be getting itself up
in Poland at this time. Nothing known about it for
certain; much guessed. "Something in the rumour! "
nods this wig; "Nothing! " wags that, slightly oscil-
lating; and gazetteers, who would earn their wages,
and have a peck of coals apiece to glad them in the
cold weather, had to watch with all eagerness the
movements of King August, our poor old friend, the
Dilapidated-Strong, who is in Saxony at present; but
bound for Warsaw shortly,--just about lifting the
curtain on important events, it is thought and not
thought. Here are the certainties of it, now clear
enough, so far as they deserve a glance from us. Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 1
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? 2 friedrich's apprenticeship, last STAGE. [BooK ix.
11th Jan. 1733.
January 10th, 1733, August the Dilapidated-Strong
of Poland has been in Saxony, looking after his poor
Electorate a little; and is on the road from Dresden
homewards again; -- will cross a corner of the Prussian
Dominions, as his wont is on such occasions. Prussian
Majesty, if not appearing in person, will as usual, by
some Official of rank, send a polite Well-speed-you as
the brother Majesty passes. This time, however, it
was more than politeness; the Polish Majesty having,
as was thought, such intricate affairs in the wind. Let
Grumkow, the fittest man in all ways, go, and do the
greeting to his old Patroon: greeting, or whatever else
may be needed.
Patroon left Dresden, -- "having just opened the
Carnival" or fashionable Season there, opened and
nothing more, -- January 10th, 1733;* being in haste
home for a Polish Diet close at hand. On which same
day Grumkow, we suppose, drives forth from Berlin,
to intersect him, in the Neumark, about Crossen; and
have a friendly word again, in those localities, over
jolly wine. Intersection took place duly; -- there was
exuberant joy on the part of the Patroon; and such a
dinner and night of drinking, as has seldom been.
Abstruse things lie close ahead of August the Dilapi-
dated-Strong, important to Prussia, and for which
Prussia is important; let Grumkow try if he can fish
the matter into clearness out of these wine-cups. And
then August, on his side, wishes to know what the
* Fassmann: Leben Friedrich augusti des Groisen, p. 994.
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? CHaP. VI. ] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 3
11th Jan. 1733.
Kaiser said at Kladrup lately: there is much to be
fished into clearness.
Many are the times August the Strong has made
this journey; many are the carousals, on such and
other occasions, Grumkow and he have had. But there
comes an end to all things. This was their last meet-
ing, over flowing liquor or otherwise, in the world.
Satirical History says, they drank all night, endeavour-
ing to pump one another, and with such enthusiasm
that they never recovered it; drank themselves to death
at Crossen on that occasion. * It is certain, August
died within three weeks; and people said of Grumkow,
who lived six years longer, he was never well after
this bout . -- Is it worth any human creature's while to
look into the plans of this precious pair of individuals?
Without the least expense of drinking, the secrets they
were pumping out of each other are now accessible
enough, . --. if it were of importance now. One glance
I may perhaps commend to the reader, out of these
multifarious Notebooks in my possession:
"August, by change of his religion, and other sad opera-
"tions, got to be what they called the King of Poland, thirty-
"five years ago; but, though looking glorious to the idle
"public, it has been a crown of stinging-nettles to the poor
"man, -- a sedan-chair running on rapidly, with the bottom
"broken out! To say nothing of the scourgings he got, and
"poor Saxony along with him, from Charles XII.
, on account
"of this Sovereignty so-called, what has the thing itself been
"to him? In Poland, for these thirty-five years, the individual
* CEmres de Frederic (llimoires de Brandebourg), i. 163.
1*
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? 4 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
llth Jan. 1733.
"who had least of his real will done in public matters, has
"been, with infinite management, and display of such good-
"humour as at least deserves credit, the nominal Sovereign
"Majesty of Poland. Anarchic Grandees have been kings
"over him; ambitious, contentious, unmanageable; -- very
"fanatical too, and never persuaded that August's Apostasy
"was more than a sham one, not even when he made his Prince
"apostatise too. Their Sovereignty has been a mere peck of
"troubles, disgraces and vexations: for those thirty-five years,
"an ever-boiling pot of mutiny, contradiction, insolence, hardly
"tolerable even to such nerves as August's.
"August, for a long time back, has been thinking of
"schemes to clap some lid upon all that. To make the
"Sovereignty hereditary in his House: that, with the good
"Saxon troops we have, would be a remedy; -- and in fact it
"is the only remedy. John Casimir (who abdicated long ago,
"in the Great Elector's time, and went to Paris, -- much
"charmed with Ninon de l'Enclos there) told the Polish Diets,
"With their liberum veto, and 'right of confederation' and
"rebellion, they would bring the Country down under the feet
"of mankind, and reduce their Republic to zero one day, if
"they persisted. They have not failed to persist. With some
"Hereditary King over it, and a regulated Saxony to lean
"upon: truly might it not be a change to the better? To the
"worse, it could hardly be, thinks August the Strong; and
"goes intent upon that method, this long while back; -- and
"at length hopes now, in few days longer, at the Diet just
"assembling, to see fruits appear, and the thing actually
"begin.
"The difficulties truly are many; internal and external:
"-- but there are calculated methods, too. For the internal:
"Get up, by bribery, persuasion, some visible Minority to
"countenance you; with these manoeuvre in the Diets; on the
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? OHaP. tl] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 5
11th Jan. 1733.
"back of these, the 30,000 Saxon troops. But then what will
"the neighbouring Kings say? The neighbouring Kings,
"with their big-mouthed manifestoes, pities for an oppressed
"Republic, overwhelming forces, and invitations to 'con-
federate' and revolt: without their tolerance first had,
"nothing can be done. That is the external difficulty. For
"which too there is a remedy. Cut off sufficient outlying
"slices of Poland; fling these to the neighbouring Kings to
"produce consent: Partition of Poland, in fact; large sections
"of its Territory sliced away: that will be the method, thinks
"King August.
"Neighbouring Kings, Kaiser, Prussia, Russia, to them it
"is not grievous that Poland should remain in perennial
"anarchy, in perennial impotence; the reverse rather: a dead
"horse, or a dying, in the next stall, --he at least will not
"kick upon us, think the neighbouring Kings. And yet, --
"under another similitude, -- you do not like your next-door
"neighbour to be always on the point of catching fire; smoke
"issuing, thicker or thinner, through the slates of his roof, as
"a perennial phenomenon? August will conciliate the neigh-
"bouring Kings. Russia, big-cheeked Anne Czarina there,
"shall have not only Courland peaceably henceforth, but the
"Ukraine, Lithuania, and other large outlying slices; that
"surely will conciliate Russia. To Austria on its Hungarian
"Border, let us give the Country of Zips; -- nay there are
"other sops we have for Austria. Pragmatic Sanction, hitherto
"refused as contrary to plain rights of ours, -- that, if
"conceded to a spectre-hunting Kaiser? To Friedrich Wil-
"helm we could give West-Preussen; West-Preussen torn
"away three hundred years ago, and leaving a hiatus in the
"very continuity of Friedrich Wilhelm: would not that
"conciliate him? Of all enemies or friends, Friedrich Wil>>
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? 6 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
llth Jan. 1733.
"helm, close at hand with 80,000 men capable of fighting at 8
"week's notice, is by far the most important.
"These are August's plans: West-Preussen for the nearest
"Neighbour; Zips for Austria; Ukraine, Lithuania and ap-
pendages for the Russian Czarina: handsome Sections to be
"sliced off, and flung to good neighbours; as it were, all the
"outlying limbs and wings of the Polish Territory sliced off;
"compact body to remain, and become, by means of August
"and Saxon troops, a Kingdom with government, not an "imaginary Republic without government any longer. In
"fact, it was the 'Partition of Poland,' such as took effect
"forty years after, and has kept the Newspapers weeping ever
"since. Partition of Poland, -- minus the compact interior
"held under government, by a King with Saxon troops or
"otherwise. Compact interior, in that effective Partition, forty
"years after, was left as anarchic as ever; and had to be again
"partitioned, and cut away altogether, --with new torrents
"of loud tears from the Newspapers, refusing to be comforted
"to this day.
"It is not said that Friedrich Wilhelm had the least in-
"tention of countenancing August in these dangerous
"operations, still less of going shares with August: but he
"wished much, through Grumkow, to have some glimpse into
"the dim program of them; and August wished much to know
"Friedrich Wilhelm's and Grumkow's humour towards them.
"Grumkow and August drank copiously, or copiously pressed
"drink on one another, all night (11th- 12th January 1733, as
"I compute; some say atCrossen, some say at Frauendorf a
"royal domain near by), with the view of mutually fishing out
"those secrets; -- and killed one another in the business, as is
"rumoured. "
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? CHaP. VI. ] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 7
11th Jan. 1733.
What were Grumkow's news at home-coming, I did
not hear; but he continues very low and shaky; -- re-
fuses, almost with horror, to have the least hand in
Seckendorf's mad project of resuscitating the English
Double-Marriage, and breaking off the Brunswick one,
at the eleventh hour and after word pledged. Secken-
dorf himself continues to dislike and dissuade: but the
High Heads at Vienna are bent on it; and command
new strenuous attempts, -- literally at the last moment;
which is now come.
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? 8 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1
Jan. 1733.
CHAPTEE YH.
crown-prince's marriage.
Since November last, Wilhelmina is on visit at
Berlin, -- first visit since her marriage; -- she stays
there for almost ten months; not under the happiest
auspices, poor child. Mamma's reception of her, just
off the long winter journey, and extenuated with fa-
tigues and sickly chagrins, was of the most cutting
cruelty: "What do you want here? What is a mendi-
"cant like you come hither for? " And next night,
when Papa himself came home, it was little better.
"Ha, ha," said he, "here you are; I am glad to see
"you. " Then holding up a light, to take view of me:
"How changed you are! " said he: "What is little Fre-
"derica" (my little Baby at Baireuth) "doing? " And
on my answering, continued: "I am sorry for you, on
"my word. You have not bread to eat; and but for
"me you might go begging. I am a poor man myself,
"not able to give you much; but I will do what I can.
"I will give you now and then a twenty or a thirty
"shillings (par div ou douze florins), as my affairs per
"mit: it will always be something to assuage youi
"want. And you, Madam," said he, turning to the
Queen, "You will sometimes give her an old dress;
"for the poor child hasn't a shift to her back. "* This
* Wilhelmina, ii. 85.
.
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? CHaP. TCI. ] crown-prince's MARRIAGE.
Jan. 1733.
rugged paternal banter was taken too literally by Wil-
helmina, in her weak state; and she was like "to burst
in her skin," poor Princess.
So that,-- except her own good Hereditary Prince,
who was here, "over from Pasewalk" and his regimen-
tal duties, waiting to welcome her; in whose true heart,
full of honest human sunshine towards her, she could
always find shelter and defence, -- native Country and
Court offer little to the brave Wilhelmina. Chagrins
enough are here: chagrins also were there. At Baireuth
our old Father Margraf has his crotchets, his infirmities
and outbreaks; takes more and more to liquor; and
does always keep us frightfully bare in money. No
help from Papa here, either, on the finance side; no
real hope anywhere (thinks Seckendorf, when we con-
sult him) except only in the Margrafs death: "old
Margraf will soon drink himself dead," thinks Secken-
dorf; "and in the mean while there is Vienna, and a
noble Kaiserinn who knows her friends in case of ex-
tremity! " thinks he. * Poor Princess, in her weak
shattered state, she has a heavy time of it; but there
is a tough spirit in her; bright, sharp, like a swift
sabre, not to be quenched in any coil; but always cut-
ting its way, and emerging unsubdued.
One of the blessings reserved for her here, which
most of all concerns us, was the occasional sight of her
Brother. Brother in a day or two ** ran over from
* Wilhelmina, ii. 81-111.
** "18th November," she says; which date is wrong, if it were of
moment (see CEuvres de Frideric, xxvii part 1st, where their Correspon-
dence is).
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? 10 fbiedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book IX.
Jan. 1733.
Ruppin, on short leave, and had his first interview.
Very kind and affectionate; quite the old Brother again;
and "blushed" when, at supper, Mamma and the Prin-
cesses, especially that wicked Charlotte (Papa not pre-
sent), tore up his poor Bride at such a rate. "Has not
"a word to answer you, but Yes or No" said they; "stupid as a block. " "But were you ever at her toi-
lette? " said the wicked Charlotte: "Out of shape,
"completely: considerable waddings, I promise you:
"and then" -- still worse features, from that wicked
Charlotte, in presence of the domestics here. Wicked
Charlotte; who is to be her Sister-in-law soon; -- and
who is always flirting with my Husband, as if she liked
that better! -- Crown-Prince retired, directly after
supper; as did I, to my apartment, where in a minute
or two he joined me.
"To the question, How with the King and you? he an-
swered, 'That his situation was changing every moment;
"' that sometimes he was in favour, sometimes in disgrace; --
"' that his chief happiness consisted in absence. That he led
"'a soft and tranquil life with his Regiment at Ruppin; study
"'and music his principal occupations; he had built himself
"'a House there, and laid out a Garden, where he could
"'read, and walk about. ' Then as to his Bride, I begged
"him to tell me candidly if the portrait the Queen and my
"Sister had been making of her was the true one. 'We are
"'alone,' replied he, 'and I will conceal nothing from you.
"' The Queen, by her miserable intrigues, has been the source
"' of our misfortunes. Scarcely were you gone when she began
"'again with England; wished to substitute our Sister Char-
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? chap, vii. ] crown-prince's marriage. 11
Jan. 1733.
"' lotte for you; would have had me undertake to contradict
'"the King's will again, and flatly refuse the Brunswick
"' Match; -- which I declined. That is the source of her venom
"' against this poor Princess. As to the young Lady herself,
"'I do not hate her so much as I pretend; I affect complete
"'dislike, that the King may value my obedience more. She
"'is pretty, a complexion lily-and-rose; her features delicate;
"'face altogether of a beautiful person. True, she has no
"'breeding, and dresses very ill: but I flatter myself, when
"'she comes hither, you will have the goodness to take her
"'in hand. I recommend her to you, my dear Sister; and beg
"'your protection for her. ' It is easy to judge, my answer
"would be such as he desired. "*
For which small glimpse of the fact itself, at first-
hand, across a whirlwind of distracted rumours new
and old about the fact, let us be thankful to Wilhel mina. Seckendorfs hopeless attempts to resuscitate ex-
tinct English things, and make the Prussian Majesty
break his word, continue to the very last; but are
worth no notice from us. Grumkow's Drinking-bout
with the Dilapidated-Strong at Crossen, which follows
now in January, has been already noticed by us. And
the Dilapidated-Strong's farewell next morning, "Adieu,
"dear Grumkow; I think, I shall not see you again! "
as he rolled off towards Warsaw and the Diet, -- will
require farther notice; but must stand over till this
Marriage be got done. Of which latter Event, --
Wilhelmina once more kindling the old dark Books
* Wilhelmina, 1i. 89.
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? 12 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
Sth-12th June 1733.
into some light for us, -- the essential particulars are
briefly as follows.
Monday, 8th June 1733, the Crown-Prince is again
over from Ruppin: King, Queen and Crown-Prince are
rendezvoused at Potsdam; and they set off with due
retinues towards Wolfenbiittel, towards Salzdahlum the
Ducal Schloss there, -- Sister Wilhelmina sending
blessings, if she had them, on a poor Brother in such
interesting circumstances. Mamma was "plunged in
black melancholy;" King not the least; in the Crown-
Prince nothing particular to be remarked. They reached
Salzdahlum, Duke Ludwig Rudolf the Grandfather's Pa-
lace, -- one of the finest Palaces, with Gardens, with
Antiques, with Picture-Galleries no-end; a mile or two
from Wolfenbiittel; built by old Anton Ulrich, and still
the ornament of those parts: -- reached Salzdahlum,
Wednesday the 10th; where Bride, with Father, Mo-
ther, much more Grandfather, Grandmother, and all the
sublimities interested, are waiting in the highest gala;
Wedding to be on Friday next.
Friday morning, this incident fell out, notable and
somewhat contemptible: Seckendorf, who is of the re-
tinue, following his bad trade, visits his Majesty who
is still in bed: -- "Pardon, your Majesty: what shall
I say for excuse? Here is a Letter just come from
Vienna; in Prince Eugene's hand; -- Prince Eugene,
or a Higher, will say something, while it is still time! "
Majesty, not in impatience, reads the little Prince's and
the Kaiser's Letter, "Give up this, we entreat you for
the last time; marry with England after all!
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? COLLECTION
OP
BRITISH AUTHORS.
VOL. CCCCXLVffl.
FREDERICK THE GREAT BY THOMAS CARLYLE.
VOL. V.
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? 9
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? HISTORY
OF
FRIEDRICHII. OF PRUSSIA,
CaLLED
FREDERICK THE GREAT.
DV
THOMAS CA11LYLE.
COPYRIGHT EDITION.
VOL. V.
LEIPZIG
BEKNIIARD TAUCHNITZ
1858.
The Right of Translation is reserved.
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? /'hARVARcT
UNIVERSITYl
LIBRARY
FEB 23 1959
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? CONTENTS
OF VOLUME V.
BOOK IX.
last stage of friedrich's apprenticeship: life in
ruppin. 1732-1736.
(Continued. )
CHAPTER PAGE
VI. King August meditating Gee at Things fob Po-
land 1
VII. Crown-Prince's Marriage 8
VIII. King August dies, and Poland takes fire . 20
Poland has to find a new King, p. 22.
Of the Candidates; of the Conditions How the Election
went, 26.
Poland on Fire; Dantzig stands Siege, 32.
IX. Kaiser's Shadow-Hunt has caught Fire . . 35
Subsequent course of the War, in the Italian part of it,
p. 39.
Course of the War, in the German part of it, 42.
X. Crown-Prince goes to the Bhine Campaign . 45
Glimpse of Lieutenant Chasot, and of other acquisitions,
p. 84.
Crown-Prince's visit to Baireuth on the way home, 88.
XL In Papa's Sick-room; Prussian Inspections:
End of War 94
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? VI
CONTENTS OP VOLUME V.
CHAPTER 'FACE
BOOK X.
AT REINSBERG. 1736-1740.
I. Mansion of Reinsberg . . . . . . . 121
Of Monsieur Jordan and the Literary Set, p. 135.
II. Of Voltaire and the Literary Coebespond-
ENCES 143
III. Cbown-Pbince makes a Morning Call. . . 184
IV. News of the Day 195
Of Berg and Jiilich again; and of Lniscina with the One
Razor, p. 203.
V. Visit at Loo 210
Crown-Prince becomes a Freemason; and is harangued
by Monsieur de Bielfeld, p. 214.
Seckendorf gets lodged in Gratz, 224.
The Ear of Jenkins reSmerges, 228.
VI. Last Year of Reinsberg; Joukney to Preussen 230
Pine's Horace, and the Anti-Macchiavel, p. 233.
Friedrich in Preussen again; at the Stud of Trakehnen.
A tragically great Eyent coming on, 240.
VII. Last Year of Reinsbero: Transit of Balti-
more and other Persons and Things . . 248
Bielfeld, what he saw at Kelnsberg and around, p. 254.
Turk War ends; Spanish War begins. A Wedding in
Petersburg, 259.
VIII. Death of Friedrich Wilhelm . . . 266
Philifsbubo
MAP.
80
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? BOOK IX.
LAST STAGE OF FRIED RICH'S APPRENTICESHIP:
LIFE IN RUPPIN.
(Continued. )
CHAPTER VI.
KING AUGUST MEDITATING GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND.
In the Newyear's days of 1733, the topic among
diplomatic gentlemen, which set many big wigs wag-
ging, and even tremulously came out in the gray
leaves of gazetteers and garretteers of the period, was
a royal drama dimly supposed to be getting itself up
in Poland at this time. Nothing known about it for
certain; much guessed. "Something in the rumour! "
nods this wig; "Nothing! " wags that, slightly oscil-
lating; and gazetteers, who would earn their wages,
and have a peck of coals apiece to glad them in the
cold weather, had to watch with all eagerness the
movements of King August, our poor old friend, the
Dilapidated-Strong, who is in Saxony at present; but
bound for Warsaw shortly,--just about lifting the
curtain on important events, it is thought and not
thought. Here are the certainties of it, now clear
enough, so far as they deserve a glance from us. Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 1
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? 2 friedrich's apprenticeship, last STAGE. [BooK ix.
11th Jan. 1733.
January 10th, 1733, August the Dilapidated-Strong
of Poland has been in Saxony, looking after his poor
Electorate a little; and is on the road from Dresden
homewards again; -- will cross a corner of the Prussian
Dominions, as his wont is on such occasions. Prussian
Majesty, if not appearing in person, will as usual, by
some Official of rank, send a polite Well-speed-you as
the brother Majesty passes. This time, however, it
was more than politeness; the Polish Majesty having,
as was thought, such intricate affairs in the wind. Let
Grumkow, the fittest man in all ways, go, and do the
greeting to his old Patroon: greeting, or whatever else
may be needed.
Patroon left Dresden, -- "having just opened the
Carnival" or fashionable Season there, opened and
nothing more, -- January 10th, 1733;* being in haste
home for a Polish Diet close at hand. On which same
day Grumkow, we suppose, drives forth from Berlin,
to intersect him, in the Neumark, about Crossen; and
have a friendly word again, in those localities, over
jolly wine. Intersection took place duly; -- there was
exuberant joy on the part of the Patroon; and such a
dinner and night of drinking, as has seldom been.
Abstruse things lie close ahead of August the Dilapi-
dated-Strong, important to Prussia, and for which
Prussia is important; let Grumkow try if he can fish
the matter into clearness out of these wine-cups. And
then August, on his side, wishes to know what the
* Fassmann: Leben Friedrich augusti des Groisen, p. 994.
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? CHaP. VI. ] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 3
11th Jan. 1733.
Kaiser said at Kladrup lately: there is much to be
fished into clearness.
Many are the times August the Strong has made
this journey; many are the carousals, on such and
other occasions, Grumkow and he have had. But there
comes an end to all things. This was their last meet-
ing, over flowing liquor or otherwise, in the world.
Satirical History says, they drank all night, endeavour-
ing to pump one another, and with such enthusiasm
that they never recovered it; drank themselves to death
at Crossen on that occasion. * It is certain, August
died within three weeks; and people said of Grumkow,
who lived six years longer, he was never well after
this bout . -- Is it worth any human creature's while to
look into the plans of this precious pair of individuals?
Without the least expense of drinking, the secrets they
were pumping out of each other are now accessible
enough, . --. if it were of importance now. One glance
I may perhaps commend to the reader, out of these
multifarious Notebooks in my possession:
"August, by change of his religion, and other sad opera-
"tions, got to be what they called the King of Poland, thirty-
"five years ago; but, though looking glorious to the idle
"public, it has been a crown of stinging-nettles to the poor
"man, -- a sedan-chair running on rapidly, with the bottom
"broken out! To say nothing of the scourgings he got, and
"poor Saxony along with him, from Charles XII.
, on account
"of this Sovereignty so-called, what has the thing itself been
"to him? In Poland, for these thirty-five years, the individual
* CEmres de Frederic (llimoires de Brandebourg), i. 163.
1*
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? 4 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
llth Jan. 1733.
"who had least of his real will done in public matters, has
"been, with infinite management, and display of such good-
"humour as at least deserves credit, the nominal Sovereign
"Majesty of Poland. Anarchic Grandees have been kings
"over him; ambitious, contentious, unmanageable; -- very
"fanatical too, and never persuaded that August's Apostasy
"was more than a sham one, not even when he made his Prince
"apostatise too. Their Sovereignty has been a mere peck of
"troubles, disgraces and vexations: for those thirty-five years,
"an ever-boiling pot of mutiny, contradiction, insolence, hardly
"tolerable even to such nerves as August's.
"August, for a long time back, has been thinking of
"schemes to clap some lid upon all that. To make the
"Sovereignty hereditary in his House: that, with the good
"Saxon troops we have, would be a remedy; -- and in fact it
"is the only remedy. John Casimir (who abdicated long ago,
"in the Great Elector's time, and went to Paris, -- much
"charmed with Ninon de l'Enclos there) told the Polish Diets,
"With their liberum veto, and 'right of confederation' and
"rebellion, they would bring the Country down under the feet
"of mankind, and reduce their Republic to zero one day, if
"they persisted. They have not failed to persist. With some
"Hereditary King over it, and a regulated Saxony to lean
"upon: truly might it not be a change to the better? To the
"worse, it could hardly be, thinks August the Strong; and
"goes intent upon that method, this long while back; -- and
"at length hopes now, in few days longer, at the Diet just
"assembling, to see fruits appear, and the thing actually
"begin.
"The difficulties truly are many; internal and external:
"-- but there are calculated methods, too. For the internal:
"Get up, by bribery, persuasion, some visible Minority to
"countenance you; with these manoeuvre in the Diets; on the
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? OHaP. tl] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 5
11th Jan. 1733.
"back of these, the 30,000 Saxon troops. But then what will
"the neighbouring Kings say? The neighbouring Kings,
"with their big-mouthed manifestoes, pities for an oppressed
"Republic, overwhelming forces, and invitations to 'con-
federate' and revolt: without their tolerance first had,
"nothing can be done. That is the external difficulty. For
"which too there is a remedy. Cut off sufficient outlying
"slices of Poland; fling these to the neighbouring Kings to
"produce consent: Partition of Poland, in fact; large sections
"of its Territory sliced away: that will be the method, thinks
"King August.
"Neighbouring Kings, Kaiser, Prussia, Russia, to them it
"is not grievous that Poland should remain in perennial
"anarchy, in perennial impotence; the reverse rather: a dead
"horse, or a dying, in the next stall, --he at least will not
"kick upon us, think the neighbouring Kings. And yet, --
"under another similitude, -- you do not like your next-door
"neighbour to be always on the point of catching fire; smoke
"issuing, thicker or thinner, through the slates of his roof, as
"a perennial phenomenon? August will conciliate the neigh-
"bouring Kings. Russia, big-cheeked Anne Czarina there,
"shall have not only Courland peaceably henceforth, but the
"Ukraine, Lithuania, and other large outlying slices; that
"surely will conciliate Russia. To Austria on its Hungarian
"Border, let us give the Country of Zips; -- nay there are
"other sops we have for Austria. Pragmatic Sanction, hitherto
"refused as contrary to plain rights of ours, -- that, if
"conceded to a spectre-hunting Kaiser? To Friedrich Wil-
"helm we could give West-Preussen; West-Preussen torn
"away three hundred years ago, and leaving a hiatus in the
"very continuity of Friedrich Wilhelm: would not that
"conciliate him? Of all enemies or friends, Friedrich Wil>>
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? 6 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
llth Jan. 1733.
"helm, close at hand with 80,000 men capable of fighting at 8
"week's notice, is by far the most important.
"These are August's plans: West-Preussen for the nearest
"Neighbour; Zips for Austria; Ukraine, Lithuania and ap-
pendages for the Russian Czarina: handsome Sections to be
"sliced off, and flung to good neighbours; as it were, all the
"outlying limbs and wings of the Polish Territory sliced off;
"compact body to remain, and become, by means of August
"and Saxon troops, a Kingdom with government, not an "imaginary Republic without government any longer. In
"fact, it was the 'Partition of Poland,' such as took effect
"forty years after, and has kept the Newspapers weeping ever
"since. Partition of Poland, -- minus the compact interior
"held under government, by a King with Saxon troops or
"otherwise. Compact interior, in that effective Partition, forty
"years after, was left as anarchic as ever; and had to be again
"partitioned, and cut away altogether, --with new torrents
"of loud tears from the Newspapers, refusing to be comforted
"to this day.
"It is not said that Friedrich Wilhelm had the least in-
"tention of countenancing August in these dangerous
"operations, still less of going shares with August: but he
"wished much, through Grumkow, to have some glimpse into
"the dim program of them; and August wished much to know
"Friedrich Wilhelm's and Grumkow's humour towards them.
"Grumkow and August drank copiously, or copiously pressed
"drink on one another, all night (11th- 12th January 1733, as
"I compute; some say atCrossen, some say at Frauendorf a
"royal domain near by), with the view of mutually fishing out
"those secrets; -- and killed one another in the business, as is
"rumoured. "
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? CHaP. VI. ] GREAT THINGS FOR POLAND. 7
11th Jan. 1733.
What were Grumkow's news at home-coming, I did
not hear; but he continues very low and shaky; -- re-
fuses, almost with horror, to have the least hand in
Seckendorf's mad project of resuscitating the English
Double-Marriage, and breaking off the Brunswick one,
at the eleventh hour and after word pledged. Secken-
dorf himself continues to dislike and dissuade: but the
High Heads at Vienna are bent on it; and command
new strenuous attempts, -- literally at the last moment;
which is now come.
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? 8 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1
Jan. 1733.
CHAPTEE YH.
crown-prince's marriage.
Since November last, Wilhelmina is on visit at
Berlin, -- first visit since her marriage; -- she stays
there for almost ten months; not under the happiest
auspices, poor child. Mamma's reception of her, just
off the long winter journey, and extenuated with fa-
tigues and sickly chagrins, was of the most cutting
cruelty: "What do you want here? What is a mendi-
"cant like you come hither for? " And next night,
when Papa himself came home, it was little better.
"Ha, ha," said he, "here you are; I am glad to see
"you. " Then holding up a light, to take view of me:
"How changed you are! " said he: "What is little Fre-
"derica" (my little Baby at Baireuth) "doing? " And
on my answering, continued: "I am sorry for you, on
"my word. You have not bread to eat; and but for
"me you might go begging. I am a poor man myself,
"not able to give you much; but I will do what I can.
"I will give you now and then a twenty or a thirty
"shillings (par div ou douze florins), as my affairs per
"mit: it will always be something to assuage youi
"want. And you, Madam," said he, turning to the
Queen, "You will sometimes give her an old dress;
"for the poor child hasn't a shift to her back. "* This
* Wilhelmina, ii. 85.
.
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? CHaP. TCI. ] crown-prince's MARRIAGE.
Jan. 1733.
rugged paternal banter was taken too literally by Wil-
helmina, in her weak state; and she was like "to burst
in her skin," poor Princess.
So that,-- except her own good Hereditary Prince,
who was here, "over from Pasewalk" and his regimen-
tal duties, waiting to welcome her; in whose true heart,
full of honest human sunshine towards her, she could
always find shelter and defence, -- native Country and
Court offer little to the brave Wilhelmina. Chagrins
enough are here: chagrins also were there. At Baireuth
our old Father Margraf has his crotchets, his infirmities
and outbreaks; takes more and more to liquor; and
does always keep us frightfully bare in money. No
help from Papa here, either, on the finance side; no
real hope anywhere (thinks Seckendorf, when we con-
sult him) except only in the Margrafs death: "old
Margraf will soon drink himself dead," thinks Secken-
dorf; "and in the mean while there is Vienna, and a
noble Kaiserinn who knows her friends in case of ex-
tremity! " thinks he. * Poor Princess, in her weak
shattered state, she has a heavy time of it; but there
is a tough spirit in her; bright, sharp, like a swift
sabre, not to be quenched in any coil; but always cut-
ting its way, and emerging unsubdued.
One of the blessings reserved for her here, which
most of all concerns us, was the occasional sight of her
Brother. Brother in a day or two ** ran over from
* Wilhelmina, ii. 81-111.
** "18th November," she says; which date is wrong, if it were of
moment (see CEuvres de Frideric, xxvii part 1st, where their Correspon-
dence is).
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? 10 fbiedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book IX.
Jan. 1733.
Ruppin, on short leave, and had his first interview.
Very kind and affectionate; quite the old Brother again;
and "blushed" when, at supper, Mamma and the Prin-
cesses, especially that wicked Charlotte (Papa not pre-
sent), tore up his poor Bride at such a rate. "Has not
"a word to answer you, but Yes or No" said they; "stupid as a block. " "But were you ever at her toi-
lette? " said the wicked Charlotte: "Out of shape,
"completely: considerable waddings, I promise you:
"and then" -- still worse features, from that wicked
Charlotte, in presence of the domestics here. Wicked
Charlotte; who is to be her Sister-in-law soon; -- and
who is always flirting with my Husband, as if she liked
that better! -- Crown-Prince retired, directly after
supper; as did I, to my apartment, where in a minute
or two he joined me.
"To the question, How with the King and you? he an-
swered, 'That his situation was changing every moment;
"' that sometimes he was in favour, sometimes in disgrace; --
"' that his chief happiness consisted in absence. That he led
"'a soft and tranquil life with his Regiment at Ruppin; study
"'and music his principal occupations; he had built himself
"'a House there, and laid out a Garden, where he could
"'read, and walk about. ' Then as to his Bride, I begged
"him to tell me candidly if the portrait the Queen and my
"Sister had been making of her was the true one. 'We are
"'alone,' replied he, 'and I will conceal nothing from you.
"' The Queen, by her miserable intrigues, has been the source
"' of our misfortunes. Scarcely were you gone when she began
"'again with England; wished to substitute our Sister Char-
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? chap, vii. ] crown-prince's marriage. 11
Jan. 1733.
"' lotte for you; would have had me undertake to contradict
'"the King's will again, and flatly refuse the Brunswick
"' Match; -- which I declined. That is the source of her venom
"' against this poor Princess. As to the young Lady herself,
"'I do not hate her so much as I pretend; I affect complete
"'dislike, that the King may value my obedience more. She
"'is pretty, a complexion lily-and-rose; her features delicate;
"'face altogether of a beautiful person. True, she has no
"'breeding, and dresses very ill: but I flatter myself, when
"'she comes hither, you will have the goodness to take her
"'in hand. I recommend her to you, my dear Sister; and beg
"'your protection for her. ' It is easy to judge, my answer
"would be such as he desired. "*
For which small glimpse of the fact itself, at first-
hand, across a whirlwind of distracted rumours new
and old about the fact, let us be thankful to Wilhel mina. Seckendorfs hopeless attempts to resuscitate ex-
tinct English things, and make the Prussian Majesty
break his word, continue to the very last; but are
worth no notice from us. Grumkow's Drinking-bout
with the Dilapidated-Strong at Crossen, which follows
now in January, has been already noticed by us. And
the Dilapidated-Strong's farewell next morning, "Adieu,
"dear Grumkow; I think, I shall not see you again! "
as he rolled off towards Warsaw and the Diet, -- will
require farther notice; but must stand over till this
Marriage be got done. Of which latter Event, --
Wilhelmina once more kindling the old dark Books
* Wilhelmina, 1i. 89.
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? 12 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
Sth-12th June 1733.
into some light for us, -- the essential particulars are
briefly as follows.
Monday, 8th June 1733, the Crown-Prince is again
over from Ruppin: King, Queen and Crown-Prince are
rendezvoused at Potsdam; and they set off with due
retinues towards Wolfenbiittel, towards Salzdahlum the
Ducal Schloss there, -- Sister Wilhelmina sending
blessings, if she had them, on a poor Brother in such
interesting circumstances. Mamma was "plunged in
black melancholy;" King not the least; in the Crown-
Prince nothing particular to be remarked. They reached
Salzdahlum, Duke Ludwig Rudolf the Grandfather's Pa-
lace, -- one of the finest Palaces, with Gardens, with
Antiques, with Picture-Galleries no-end; a mile or two
from Wolfenbiittel; built by old Anton Ulrich, and still
the ornament of those parts: -- reached Salzdahlum,
Wednesday the 10th; where Bride, with Father, Mo-
ther, much more Grandfather, Grandmother, and all the
sublimities interested, are waiting in the highest gala;
Wedding to be on Friday next.
Friday morning, this incident fell out, notable and
somewhat contemptible: Seckendorf, who is of the re-
tinue, following his bad trade, visits his Majesty who
is still in bed: -- "Pardon, your Majesty: what shall
I say for excuse? Here is a Letter just come from
Vienna; in Prince Eugene's hand; -- Prince Eugene,
or a Higher, will say something, while it is still time! "
Majesty, not in impatience, reads the little Prince's and
the Kaiser's Letter, "Give up this, we entreat you for
the last time; marry with England after all!
