But the lame
"second messenger came hitching in" (halting messenger, Ger-
man proverb) "very soon.
"second messenger came hitching in" (halting messenger, Ger-
man proverb) "very soon.
Thomas Carlyle
449; Rfldenbeck, i.
204.
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? CHAP. V. ] STRANGERS OP NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 317
16th July 1750.
to us in time coming, as one could have wished. Be-
sides, he is Horace Walpole's friend and select London
Wit: he contributed a good deal to the English notions
about Friedrich; and has left considerable bits of acrid
testimony on Friedrich, "clear words of an Eye-wit-
ness," men call them, -- which are still read by every-
body; the said Walpole, and others, having since
printed them, in very dark condition. * Brevity is
much due to Hanbury and his testimonies, since silence
in the circumstances is not allowable. Here is one Ex-
cerpt, with the necessary light for reading it:
* * It is on this Romish-King, and other the like
chimerical errands, that witty Hanbury, then a much more
admirable man than we now find him, is prowling about in
the German Courts, off and on, for some ten years in all, six
of them still to come. A sharp-eyed man, of shrewish quality;
given to intriguing, to spying, to bribing; anxious to win his
Diplomatic game by every method, though the stake (as
here) is oftenest zero; with fatal proclivity to Scandal, and
what in London circles he has heard called Wit. Little or
nothing of real laughter in the soul of him, at any time; only
a laboured continual grin, always of malicious nature, and
much trouble and jerking about, to keep that up. Had
evidently some modicum of real intellect, of capacity for
being wise; but now has fatally devoted it nearly all to being
witty, on those poor terms! A perverse, barren, spiteful
little wretch; the grin of him generally an affliction, at this
date. His Diplomatic Correspondence I do not know. ** He
* In Walpole, George the Second (i. 448-461), the Pieces which regard
Friedrich. In Sir Charles Hanbury Williams's Works (edited by a diligent,
reverential, but ignorant gentleman, whom I could guess to be Bookseller
Jeffery in person: London, 1822, 3 vols. small 8vo), are witty Verses, and
considerable sections of Prose, relating to other persons and objects now
rather of an obsolete nature.
** Nothing of him is discoverable in the State-Paper Office. Many of
his Papers, it would seem, are in the Earl of Essex's hands; -- and might
be of some Historical use, not of very much, could the British Museum get
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? 318 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
16th July 1750.
did a great deal of Diplomatic business, issuing in zero,--
of which I have sometimes longed to know the exact dates;
seldom anything farther. His "History of Poland," trans-
mitted to the Right Hon. Henry Fox, by instalments from
Dresden, in 1748, is* -- Well, I should be obliged to call it
worthier of Goody Two-Shoes than of that Right Hon.
Henry, who was a man of parts, but evidently quite a vacuum
on the Polish side!
Of Hanbury's News-Letters from Foreign Courts, four or
five, incidentally printed, are like the contents of a slop-
pail; uncomfortable to the delicate mind. Not lies on the
part of Hanbury, but foolish scandal poured into him; a man
more filled with credulous incredible scandal, evil rumours,
of malfeasances by Kings and magnates, than most people
known. His rumoured mysteries between poor Polish Majesty
and pretty Daughter-in-law (the latter a clever and graceful
creature, Daughter of the late unfortunate Kaiser, and a
distinguished Correspondent of Friedrich's), are to be re-
garded as mere poisoned wind. ** That "Polish Majesty gets
"into his dressing-gown at two in the afternoon" (inacces-
sible thenceforth, poor lazy creature), one most readily be-
lieves; but there, or pretty much there, one's belief has to
stop. The stories, in Walpole, on the King of Prussia, have
a grain of fact in them, twisted into huge irrecognisable
caricature in the Williams optic-machinery. Much else one
can discern to be, in essence, false altogether. Friedrich,
who could not stand that intriguing, spying, shrewish, un-
friendly kind of fellow at his Court, applied to England in
not many months hence, and got Williams sent away:*** on
to Russia, or I forget whither; -- which did not mend the
Hanbury optical-machinery on that side.
The dull, tobacco-smoking Saxon-Polish Majesty, about
whom he idly retails so many scandals, had never done him
any offence. -- On the whole, if anybody wanted a swim in
possession of them. Abundance of Back-stairs History, on those Northern
Courts, especially on Petersburg, and Warsaw-Dresden, -- authentic Court-
gossip , generally malicious, often not true, but never mendacious on the
part of Williams, -- is one likely item.
* See Hanbury's Works, vol. in.
** In Hanbury's Works, n. 209-240.
? ** "22d January 1751" (Ms. List in State-Paper Office).
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? CHaP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME XO BERLIN. 319
16th July 1750.
the slop-pails of that extinct generation, Hanbury, could he
find an Editor to make him legible, might be printed. For
he really was deep in that slop-pail or extinct-scandal depart-
ment, and had heard a great many things. Apart from that,
in almost any other department, -- except in so far as he
seems to date rather carefully, -- I could not recommend him.
The Letters and Excerpts given in Walpole are definable as
one pennyworth of bread, -- much ruined by such immersion,
but very harmless otherwise, could you pick it out and clean
it, -- to twenty gallons of Hanbury sherris-sack, or chamber-
slop. I have found nothing that seems to be, in all points,
true or probable, but this; worth cutting out, and rendering
legible, on other accounts. Hanbury loquitur (in condensed
form):
"In the summer of last year, 1749, there was, somewhere
"in Mahren, a great Austrian Muster or Review;" all the
more interesting, as it was believed, or known, that the
Prussian methods and manoeuvres were now to be the rule for
Austria. Not much of a Review otherwise, this of 1749;
Empress-Queen and Husband not personally there, as in
coming Years they are wont to be; that high Lady being
ardent to reform her Army, root and branch, according to
the Prussian model, -- more praise to her. * "At this Muster
"in Miihren, Three Prussian Officers happened to make their
"appearance, -- for several imaginable reasons, of little "significance: 'For the purpose of inveigling people to
"'desert, and enlist with them! ' said the Austrian Autho-
"rities; and ordered the Three Prussian Officers uncere-
"moniously off the ground. Which Friedrich, when he
"heard of it, thought an unhandsome pipeclay procedure,
"and kept in mind against the Austrian Authorities.
"Next Summer," next Spring, 1750, "an Austrian Captain
"being in Mecklenburg, travelling about, met there an old
"acquaintance, one Chapeau" (Hat! can it be possible? )
"who is in great favour with the King of Prussia:"-- very
well, Excellency Hanbury; but who, in the name of wonder,
can this Hat, or Chapeau, have been? After study, one
perceives that Hanbury wrote Chazeau, meaning Chasot, an
* Maria Thercsiens Men, p. 160 (what she did that way, Anno 1749);
p. 162 (present at the Reviews, Anno 1750).
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? 320 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVT.
16th July 1750.
old acquaintance of our own! Brilliant, sabring, melodying
Chasot, Lieutenant-Colonel of theBaireuth Dragoons; who
lies at Treptow, close on Mecklenburg, and is a declared
favourite of the Duchess, often running over to the Residenz
there. Often enough; but Honi soit, 0 reader; the clever
Lady is towards sixty, childless, musical; and her Husband,
-- do readers recollect him at all? -- is that collapsed
tailoring Duke whom Friedrich once visited, -- and whose
Niece, Half-Niece, is Charlotte, wise little hard-favoured
creature now of six, in clean bib and tucker, Ancestress of
England that is to be; whose Papa will succeed, if the Serene
Tailor die first, --which he did not quite. To this Duchess,
musical gallant Chasot may well be a resource, and she to
him. Naturally the Austrian Captain, having come to Meck-
lenburg, dined with Serene Highness, he and Chasot together,
with concert following, and what not, at the Schloss of Neu-
Strelitz: -- And now we will drop the "Chapeau," and say
Chasot, with comfort, and a shade of new interest.
"The grand May Review at Berlin just ahead, won't you
"lookin; it is straight on your road home? " suggests Chasot
to his travelling friend. "One would like it, of all things,"
answered the other: "butthe King? " "Tush," said Chasot;
"I will make that all straight! " And applies to the King,
accordingly: "Permission to an Austrian Officer, a good
"acquaintance of mine. " "Austrian Officer? " Friedrich's
eyes lighten; and he readily gives the permission. This was
at Berlin, on the very eve of the Review; and Chasot and his
Austrian are made happy in that small matter. "And on the
"morrow" (end of May 1750), "the Austrian attends accord-
"ingly; but to his astonishment, has hardly begun to taste
"the manoeuvres, when -- one of Friedrich's Aides-de-Camp
"gallops up: 'By the King's command, Mein Herr, you
'''retire on the instant! '
"Next day, the Austrian is for challenging Chasot. 'As
"'you like, that way,' answers Chasot; 'but learn first, that
"' on your affront I rode up to the King; and asked, publicly,
"' Did not your Majesty grant me permission? ' 'Unquestion-
"'ably. Monsieur Chasot;-- and if he had not come, how
"'could I have paid back the Moravian business of last
"'year! '"* -- This is much in Friedrich's way; not the
* Walpole, George the Second, i. 457, 458. , . .
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? CHaP. V. ] STRANGERS OP NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 321
Juno -- Aug. 1750.
unwelcomer that it includes a satirical twitch on Chasot,
whom he truly likes withal, or did like, though now a little
dissatisfied with those too frequent Mecklenburg excursions
and extra-military cares. Ot this, merely squeezing the
Hanbury venom out of it, I can believe every particular.
"Did you ever hear of anything so shocking? " isHan-
bury's meaning here and elsewhere. "I must tell you a
"story of the King of Prussia's regard for the Law of
"Nations," continues he to Walpole. * Which proves to be
a story, turned topsyturvy, of one Hofmann, Brunswick
Envoy, who (quite beyond commission, and a thing that must
not be thought of at all! ) had been detected in dangerous
intriguings with the ever-busy Russian Excellency, or
another; and got flung into Spandau,**--seemingly pretty
much his due in the matter. And so of other Hanbury things.
"What a Prussia; for rigour of command, one huge prison,
in a manner! " King intent on punctuality, and all his busi-
ness upon the square. Society, official and unofficial, kept
rather strictly to their tackle; their mode of movement not
that of loose oxen at all! "Such a detestable Tyrant," --
who has ordered me, Hanbury, elsewhither with my exquisite
talents and admired wit! --
Candidatus Linsenbartk (quasi "Lentil-beard") likewise
visits Berlin.
By far the notablest arrival in Berlin is M. de Vol-
taire's, July 10th; a few days before Hanbury got his
First Audience, "five minutes long. " But that arrival
will require a Chapter to itself; -- most important
arrival, that of all! The least important, again, is
probably that of Candidatus Linsenbarth, in these same
weeks; -- a rugged poverty-stricken old Licentiate of
Theology; important to no mortal in Berlin or else-
where: -- upon whom, however, and upon his proce-
* Walpole, George the Second, i. 458. 'I
** Adelung, v. 534; vn. 132-144. Carlyle, Frederick the Great. Vttl. 21
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? 322 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
June--Aug. 1750.
dures in that City, we propose, for our own objects, to
bestow a few glances; rugged Narrative of the thing,
in singular exotic dialect, but true every word, having
fortunately come to us from Linsenbarth's own hand. *
Berlin, it must be admitted, after all one's reading
in poor Dryasdust, remains a dim empty object;
Teutschland is dim and empty: and out of the forty
blind sacks, or out of four hundred such, what picture
can any human head form to itself of Friedrich as
King or Man? A trifling Adventure of that poor in-
dividual, called Linsenbarth Candidatus Theologiw, one
of the poorest of mortals, but true and credible in
every particular, comes gliding by chance athwart all
that; and like the glimmer of a poor rushlight, or
kindled straw, shows it us for moments, a thing visible,
palpable; as it worked and lived. In the great dearth,
Linsenbarth, if I can faithfully interpret him for the
modern reader, will be worth attending to.
Date of Linsenbarth's Adventure is June -- August
1750. "Schloss ofBeichlingen" and "Village of Hemm-
leben" are in the Thuringen Hill Country (Weimar
not far off to eastward): the Hero himself, a tall awk-
ward raw-boned creature, is, for perhaps near forty
years past, a Candidatus, say Licentiate, or Curate
without Cure. Subsists, I should guess, by school-
mastering,-- cheapest schoolmaster conceivable, wages
mere nothing, -- in the Villages about; in the Village
of Hemmleben latterly; age, as I discover, grown to
be sixty-one, in those straitened but by no means for-
lorn circumstances. And so, here is veteran Linsen-
barth of Hemmleben, a kind of Thuringian Dominie
Sampson; whose Interview with such a brother mortal
* Through Rodenbeck, Beytrage, 1. 463 et seq.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 323
June --Aug. 1750.
as Friedrich King of Prussia may be worth looking at,
-- if I can abridge it properly.
Well, it appears, in the year 1750, at this thrice-obscure
Village of Hemmleben, the worthy old Pastor Cannabich
died;-- worthy old man, how he had lived there, modestly
studious, frugal, chiefly on farm-produce, with tobacco and
Dutch theology; a modest blessing to his fellow creatures!
And now he is dead, and the place vacant. Twenty pounds
a Year certain; let us guess it twenty, with glebeland, pig-
geries, poultry-hutches: who is now to get all that? Linsen-
- arth starts with his Narrative, in earnest. Linsenbarth, who I guess may have been Assistant to the
deceased Cannabich, and was now out of work, says: "I had
"not the least thought of profiting by this vacancy; but what
"happened? The Herr Graf von Werthern, at Schloss Beich-
"lingen, sent his Steward" (Lehnsdirector, Fief-director is the
title of this Steward, which gives rise to obsolete thought of
mill-dues, road-labour, payments in natura), "his Lehns-
"director, HerrKettenbeil, over to my logis" (cheap boarding
quarters); '' who brought a gracious salutation from his Lord;
"saying farther, That I knew too well" (excellent Cannabich
gone from us, alas! ) "the Pastorate of Hemmleben was
"vacant; that there had various competitors announced them-
"selves, supplicando, for the place; the Herr Graf, however,
"had yet given none of them the fiat, but waited always till
"I should apply. As I had not done so, he (the Lord Graf)
"would now of his own motion give me the preference, and
"hereby confer the Pastorate upon me! " --
"Without all controversy, here was a vocatio divina, to be
"received with the most submissive thanks!
But the lame
"second messenger came hitching in" (halting messenger, Ger-
man proverb) "very soon. Kettenbeil began again: 'He must
"'mention to me sub rosd, Her Ladyship the Frau Grafiri
"'wanted to have her Lady's-maid provided for by this pro-
emotion, too; I must marry her, and take the living at the
"'same time. '" ,
Whew! And this is the noble Lady's way of thinking, up
in her fine Schloss yonder? Linsenbarth will none of it.
"For my notion fell at once," says he, "when I heard it was
21*
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? 324 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XTI.
June--Aug. 1750.
"Do ut facias, Facio ut facias (I give that thou mayest do, I do
"that thou mayst do; Wilt have the kirk, then take the irk,
"Willst du die Pfarre, so nimm die Quarre); on those terms,
"my reply was: 'Most respectful thanks, Herr Fief-judge,
"'and No, for such a vocation! And why? The vocation must
"'have libertatem, there must be no vitium essentiale in it; it
"'must be right in essentiali, otherwise no honest man can
"'accept it with a good conscience. This were a marriage on
'"constraint; out of which a thousand inconvenientia; might
"'spring! '" Hear Linsenbarth, in the piebald dialect, with
the sound heart, and preference of starvation itself to some
other things! Kettenbeil (Chain-axe) went home; and there
was found another Candidatus willing for the marriage on
constraint, "out of which inconvenientia: might spring," in
Linsenbarth's opinion.
"And so did the sneakish courtly gentleman" (Hofmann,
courtier as Linsenbarth has it), "who grasped with both
"hands at my rejected offer, experience before long," con-
tinues Linsenbarth. "For the loose thing of court-tatters led
'' him such a life that, within three years, age yet only thirty,
"he had to bite the dust" (bite at the grass, says Linsenbarth,
proverbially), which was an inconvenientia including all others.
"And I had legitimam causam to refuse the vocation cum tali
"conditione.
"However, it was very ill taken of me. All over that
"Thuringian region, I was cried out upon as a headstrong
"foolish person: The Herr Graf von Werthern, so ran the
"story, had of his own kindness, without request of mine,
"offered me a living; rara avis, singular instance; and I,
"rash and without head, flung away such gracious offer. In
"short, I was told to my face" (by good-natured friends),
"Nobody would ever think of me for promotion again;" --
universal suffrage giving it clear against poor Linsenbarth, in
this way.
"To get out of people's sight at least," continues he, "I
"decided to leave my native place, and go to Berlin," 250
miles away or more. "And so it was that, on June the 20th,
"1750,1 landed at Berlin for the first time: and here straight-
"way at the Packhof (or Customhouse), in searching of my
"things, 400 thalers (some QOL), all in Niirnberg batzen, were
"seized from me;" -- batzen, quarter groats we may say;
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? PHAP. v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 325
June --Aug. 1750.
7? batzen go to a shilling; what a sack there must have been
of them, 9,000 in all, about the size of herring-scales, in bad
silver; fruit of Linsenbarth's stern thrift from birth upwards:
-- all snatched from him at one swoop. "And why? " says he,
quite historically: Yes, Why? The reader, to understand it
wholly, would need to read m Mylius's Edicten-Sammlung, in
Seyfarth and elsewhere;* and to know the scandalous con-
dition of German coinage at this time and long after; every
needy little Potentate mixing his coin with copper at discre-
tion , and swindling mankind with it for a season; needing to
be peremptorily forbidden, confiscated, or ordered home, by
the like of Friedrich. Linsenbarth answers his own "And
why? " with historical calmness:
"The King had, some (six) years ago, had the batzen
''utterly cried down (ganz undgar); they were not to circulate
"at all in his Countries; and I was so bold, I had brought
"batzen hither into the King's Capital, Kimigliche Residmz
"itself! At the Packhof, there was but one answer, 'Contra-
"'band, Contraband! '" -- Here was a welcome for aman.
"I made my excuses: Did not the least know; came straight
"from Thiiringen, many miles of road; could not guess there
"What His Majesty the King had been pleased to forbid in
"His (Theiro) Countries. 'You should have informed yourself,'
"said the Packhof people; and were deaf to such considera-
"tions. 'A man coming into such a Residenz Town as Berlin,
"'with intent to abide there, should have inquired a little
"'what was what, especially what coins were cried down,
"' and what allowed,' said they of the Packhof. " Poor Lin-
senbarth! "'But what amI to do now? How am I to live, if
'''you take my very money from me? ' 'That is your outlook,'
"said they; -- and added, He must even find stowage for his
"sack of herring-scales or batzen, so soon as it was sealed up;
'"we have no room for it in the Packhof! ' Here is a roughish
welcome for a man: "Imust leave all my money here; and
"find stowage for it, in a day or two.
"There was, accordingly, a truck-porter called in; he
"loaded my effects on his barrow, and rolled away. He
"brought me to the White Swan in the Judenstrasse" (none of
the grandest of streets, that Berlin Jewry), "threw my things
"out, and demanded four groschen. Two of my batzen,"
* Myliua, Edict xli. , January 1744; &c. &,o.
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? 326
[book XVI. June--Aug. 1750.
THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE.
2? exact, "would have done; but I had no money at all. The
"landlord came out: seeing that I had a stuffed featherbed"
(note the luggage of Linsenbarth: "Fedei--bett," of extreme
tenuity), "a trunk full of linens, a bag of Books and other
"trifles, he paid the man; and sent me to a small room in the
"courtyard" (Inn forms a Court, perhaps four stories high):
"'I could stay there,'he said; 'he would give me food and
"' drink in the mean while. ' And so I lived in this Inn eight
"weeks long, without one red farthing, in mere fear and
15th; Voltaire in height of feather; and very great things just
ahead! * -- of which soon.
The White Swan was a place where Carriers lodged: some
limb of the Law, of subaltern sort, whom Linsenbarth calls
"der Advocat B. " (one of the Ousted of Cocceji, shall we
fancy! ), had to do with Carriers and their pie-powder law-
suits. Advocat B. had noticed the gray dreary Candidatus,
sitting sparrow-like in remote corners; had spoken to him; --
undertook for a Louis dor, no purchase no pay, to get back
his batzen for him. They went accordingly, one morning, to
"a grand House;" it was a Minister's (name not given), very
grand Official Man: he heard the Advocat B. 's short state-
ment; and made answer: "Monsieur, and is it you . that will
"pick holes in the King's Law? I have understood you were
"rather aiming at the Hausvogtei" (Common Jail of Berlin):
"Go on in that way, and you are sure of your promotion! " --
Advocat B. rushed out with Linsenbarth, into the street; and
there was neither pay nor purchase in that quarter.
Poor Linsenbarth was next advised, by simple neighbours,
to go direct to the King; as every poor man can, at certain
hours of the day. "Write out your Case (Memorial) with
"extreme brevity," said they; "nothing but the essential
"points, and those clear. " Linsenbarth, steam at the high
pressure, composed (conzipirte) a Memorial of that right
laconic sort; wrote it fair (mundirte es); -- and went off there-
with "at opening of the Gates" (middle time of August 1750,
no date farther) **--"without one farthing in my pocket, in
"God's name, to Potsdam. " He continues:
* "Grand Carrousel, 25th August;" &c. ** August 21st? (See ROdenbeck, Diary, which we often quote, i. 205.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 327
June --Aug. 1750.
"And at Potsdam I was lucky enough to see the King; my
"first sight of him. He was on the Palace Esplanade there,
"drilling his troops" (fine trim sanded Expanse, with the
Palace to rear, and Garden-walks and River to front; where
Friedrich Wilhelm sat, the last day he was out, and ordered
Jockey Philips's house to be actually set about; where the
troops do evolutions every morning; -- there is Friedrich with
cocked hat and blue coat; say about 11 A. m. ).
"When the drill was over, his Majesty went into the
"Garden, and the soldiers dispersed; only four Officers re-
"mained lounging upon the Esplanade, and walked up and
"down. For fright I knew not what to do; Ipulled thePapers
"out of my pocket, -- these were my Memorial, two Certi-
"ficates of character, and a Thiiringen Pass" (poor soul).
"The Officers noticed this; came straight to me, and said,
"'What Letters has He there, then? I thankfully and
"gladly imparted the whole; and when the Officers had read
"them, they said, 'We will give you' (Him, not even Thee)
"'a good advice. The King is extra-gracious today, and is
"' gone alone into the Garden. Follow him straight. Thou
"'wilt have luck. '
"This I would not do; my awe was too great. They there-
"upon laid hands on me" (the mischievous dogs, not ill-
humoured either): "one took me by the right arm, another
"by the left, 'Off, off; to the Garden! ' Having got me
"thither, they looked out for the King. He was among the
"gardeners, examining some rare plant; stooping over it,
"and had his back to us. Here I had to halt; and the Officers
"began, in underhand tone" (the dogs! ), "to put me through
"my drill: 'Hat under left arm! -- Right foot foremost! --
"' Breast well forward! -- Head up! -- Papers from Pouch! --
"'Papers aloft in right hand! -- Steady! Steady! ' -- And
"went their ways, looking always round, to see if I kept my
"posture. I perceived well enough they were pleased to
"make game of me; but I stood, all the same, like a wall,
"being full of fear. The Officers were hardly out of the
"Garden, when the King turned round, and saw thisextra-
"ordinary machine," -- telegraph figure or whatever we may
call it, with papers pointing to the sky. "He gave such a
"look at me, like a flash of sunbeams glancing through you;
"and sent one of the gardeners to bring my papers. Which
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? 328 THE TEN . YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
June--Aug. 1750.
"having got, he struck into another walk with them, and
"was out of sight. In few minutes he appeared again at the
"place where the rare plant was, with my Papers open in his
"left hand; and gave me a wave with them To come nearer.
"I plucked up a heart, and went straight towards him. Oh,
"how thrice and four-times graciously this great Monarch
"deigned to speak to me! --
King. "My good Thuringian (lieber Thilringer), you came
"to Berlin, seeking to earn your bread by industrious teach-
"ing of children; and here, at the Packhof, in searching
"your things, they have taken your Thiiringen hoard from
"you. True, the batzen are not legal here; but! thepeople
"should have said to you: You are a stranger, and didn't
"know the prohibition; -- well then, we will seal up the Bag
"of Batzen; you send it back to Thiiringen, get it changed
"for other sorts; we will not take it from you! --
"Be of heart, however, you shall have your money again,
"and interest too. -- But, my poor man, Berlin pavement is
"bare, they don't give anything gratis: you are a stranger;
"before you are known and get teaching, your bit of money
"is done; what then? "
"I understood the speech right well; but my awe was too
"great to say: 'Your Majesty will have the all-highest grace
"'to allow me something! ' But as 1 was so simple and asked
"for nothing, he did not offer anything. And so he turned
"away; but had scarcely gone six or eight steps, when he
"looked round, and gave me a sign I was to walk by him;
"and then began catechising:
King. "Where did you (Er) study? "
Linsenbarth. "Your Majesty, in Jena. "
King. "Whatyears? "
Linsenbarth. "From 1716 to 1720. " *
King. "Under what Pro-rector were you inscribed? "
Linsenbarth. "Under the ProfessorTlieologimDr. Fortsch. "
King. "Who were your other Professors in the Theologi-
cal Faculty? "
Linsenbarth --names famed men; sunk now, mostly, in
the bottomless waste-basket: "Buddaus" (who did a Diction-
ary of the Bayle sort, weighing four stone troy, out of which
I have learned many a thing), "Buddaeus," "Danz," "Weis-
? Born 1689 (p. 474); twenty-five when he went.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 329
Jane --Aug. 1750.
senborn," "Wolf" (now back at Halle after his tribula-
tions, -- poor man, his immortal System of Philosophy, where
is it! )
King. "Did you study Biblica diligently? " Linsenbarth. "With Buddseus (beym Buddao). "
King.
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? CHAP. V. ] STRANGERS OP NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 317
16th July 1750.
to us in time coming, as one could have wished. Be-
sides, he is Horace Walpole's friend and select London
Wit: he contributed a good deal to the English notions
about Friedrich; and has left considerable bits of acrid
testimony on Friedrich, "clear words of an Eye-wit-
ness," men call them, -- which are still read by every-
body; the said Walpole, and others, having since
printed them, in very dark condition. * Brevity is
much due to Hanbury and his testimonies, since silence
in the circumstances is not allowable. Here is one Ex-
cerpt, with the necessary light for reading it:
* * It is on this Romish-King, and other the like
chimerical errands, that witty Hanbury, then a much more
admirable man than we now find him, is prowling about in
the German Courts, off and on, for some ten years in all, six
of them still to come. A sharp-eyed man, of shrewish quality;
given to intriguing, to spying, to bribing; anxious to win his
Diplomatic game by every method, though the stake (as
here) is oftenest zero; with fatal proclivity to Scandal, and
what in London circles he has heard called Wit. Little or
nothing of real laughter in the soul of him, at any time; only
a laboured continual grin, always of malicious nature, and
much trouble and jerking about, to keep that up. Had
evidently some modicum of real intellect, of capacity for
being wise; but now has fatally devoted it nearly all to being
witty, on those poor terms! A perverse, barren, spiteful
little wretch; the grin of him generally an affliction, at this
date. His Diplomatic Correspondence I do not know. ** He
* In Walpole, George the Second (i. 448-461), the Pieces which regard
Friedrich. In Sir Charles Hanbury Williams's Works (edited by a diligent,
reverential, but ignorant gentleman, whom I could guess to be Bookseller
Jeffery in person: London, 1822, 3 vols. small 8vo), are witty Verses, and
considerable sections of Prose, relating to other persons and objects now
rather of an obsolete nature.
** Nothing of him is discoverable in the State-Paper Office. Many of
his Papers, it would seem, are in the Earl of Essex's hands; -- and might
be of some Historical use, not of very much, could the British Museum get
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? 318 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
16th July 1750.
did a great deal of Diplomatic business, issuing in zero,--
of which I have sometimes longed to know the exact dates;
seldom anything farther. His "History of Poland," trans-
mitted to the Right Hon. Henry Fox, by instalments from
Dresden, in 1748, is* -- Well, I should be obliged to call it
worthier of Goody Two-Shoes than of that Right Hon.
Henry, who was a man of parts, but evidently quite a vacuum
on the Polish side!
Of Hanbury's News-Letters from Foreign Courts, four or
five, incidentally printed, are like the contents of a slop-
pail; uncomfortable to the delicate mind. Not lies on the
part of Hanbury, but foolish scandal poured into him; a man
more filled with credulous incredible scandal, evil rumours,
of malfeasances by Kings and magnates, than most people
known. His rumoured mysteries between poor Polish Majesty
and pretty Daughter-in-law (the latter a clever and graceful
creature, Daughter of the late unfortunate Kaiser, and a
distinguished Correspondent of Friedrich's), are to be re-
garded as mere poisoned wind. ** That "Polish Majesty gets
"into his dressing-gown at two in the afternoon" (inacces-
sible thenceforth, poor lazy creature), one most readily be-
lieves; but there, or pretty much there, one's belief has to
stop. The stories, in Walpole, on the King of Prussia, have
a grain of fact in them, twisted into huge irrecognisable
caricature in the Williams optic-machinery. Much else one
can discern to be, in essence, false altogether. Friedrich,
who could not stand that intriguing, spying, shrewish, un-
friendly kind of fellow at his Court, applied to England in
not many months hence, and got Williams sent away:*** on
to Russia, or I forget whither; -- which did not mend the
Hanbury optical-machinery on that side.
The dull, tobacco-smoking Saxon-Polish Majesty, about
whom he idly retails so many scandals, had never done him
any offence. -- On the whole, if anybody wanted a swim in
possession of them. Abundance of Back-stairs History, on those Northern
Courts, especially on Petersburg, and Warsaw-Dresden, -- authentic Court-
gossip , generally malicious, often not true, but never mendacious on the
part of Williams, -- is one likely item.
* See Hanbury's Works, vol. in.
** In Hanbury's Works, n. 209-240.
? ** "22d January 1751" (Ms. List in State-Paper Office).
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? CHaP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME XO BERLIN. 319
16th July 1750.
the slop-pails of that extinct generation, Hanbury, could he
find an Editor to make him legible, might be printed. For
he really was deep in that slop-pail or extinct-scandal depart-
ment, and had heard a great many things. Apart from that,
in almost any other department, -- except in so far as he
seems to date rather carefully, -- I could not recommend him.
The Letters and Excerpts given in Walpole are definable as
one pennyworth of bread, -- much ruined by such immersion,
but very harmless otherwise, could you pick it out and clean
it, -- to twenty gallons of Hanbury sherris-sack, or chamber-
slop. I have found nothing that seems to be, in all points,
true or probable, but this; worth cutting out, and rendering
legible, on other accounts. Hanbury loquitur (in condensed
form):
"In the summer of last year, 1749, there was, somewhere
"in Mahren, a great Austrian Muster or Review;" all the
more interesting, as it was believed, or known, that the
Prussian methods and manoeuvres were now to be the rule for
Austria. Not much of a Review otherwise, this of 1749;
Empress-Queen and Husband not personally there, as in
coming Years they are wont to be; that high Lady being
ardent to reform her Army, root and branch, according to
the Prussian model, -- more praise to her. * "At this Muster
"in Miihren, Three Prussian Officers happened to make their
"appearance, -- for several imaginable reasons, of little "significance: 'For the purpose of inveigling people to
"'desert, and enlist with them! ' said the Austrian Autho-
"rities; and ordered the Three Prussian Officers uncere-
"moniously off the ground. Which Friedrich, when he
"heard of it, thought an unhandsome pipeclay procedure,
"and kept in mind against the Austrian Authorities.
"Next Summer," next Spring, 1750, "an Austrian Captain
"being in Mecklenburg, travelling about, met there an old
"acquaintance, one Chapeau" (Hat! can it be possible? )
"who is in great favour with the King of Prussia:"-- very
well, Excellency Hanbury; but who, in the name of wonder,
can this Hat, or Chapeau, have been? After study, one
perceives that Hanbury wrote Chazeau, meaning Chasot, an
* Maria Thercsiens Men, p. 160 (what she did that way, Anno 1749);
p. 162 (present at the Reviews, Anno 1750).
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? 320 THE TEN YEARS OP PEACE. [book XVT.
16th July 1750.
old acquaintance of our own! Brilliant, sabring, melodying
Chasot, Lieutenant-Colonel of theBaireuth Dragoons; who
lies at Treptow, close on Mecklenburg, and is a declared
favourite of the Duchess, often running over to the Residenz
there. Often enough; but Honi soit, 0 reader; the clever
Lady is towards sixty, childless, musical; and her Husband,
-- do readers recollect him at all? -- is that collapsed
tailoring Duke whom Friedrich once visited, -- and whose
Niece, Half-Niece, is Charlotte, wise little hard-favoured
creature now of six, in clean bib and tucker, Ancestress of
England that is to be; whose Papa will succeed, if the Serene
Tailor die first, --which he did not quite. To this Duchess,
musical gallant Chasot may well be a resource, and she to
him. Naturally the Austrian Captain, having come to Meck-
lenburg, dined with Serene Highness, he and Chasot together,
with concert following, and what not, at the Schloss of Neu-
Strelitz: -- And now we will drop the "Chapeau," and say
Chasot, with comfort, and a shade of new interest.
"The grand May Review at Berlin just ahead, won't you
"lookin; it is straight on your road home? " suggests Chasot
to his travelling friend. "One would like it, of all things,"
answered the other: "butthe King? " "Tush," said Chasot;
"I will make that all straight! " And applies to the King,
accordingly: "Permission to an Austrian Officer, a good
"acquaintance of mine. " "Austrian Officer? " Friedrich's
eyes lighten; and he readily gives the permission. This was
at Berlin, on the very eve of the Review; and Chasot and his
Austrian are made happy in that small matter. "And on the
"morrow" (end of May 1750), "the Austrian attends accord-
"ingly; but to his astonishment, has hardly begun to taste
"the manoeuvres, when -- one of Friedrich's Aides-de-Camp
"gallops up: 'By the King's command, Mein Herr, you
'''retire on the instant! '
"Next day, the Austrian is for challenging Chasot. 'As
"'you like, that way,' answers Chasot; 'but learn first, that
"' on your affront I rode up to the King; and asked, publicly,
"' Did not your Majesty grant me permission? ' 'Unquestion-
"'ably. Monsieur Chasot;-- and if he had not come, how
"'could I have paid back the Moravian business of last
"'year! '"* -- This is much in Friedrich's way; not the
* Walpole, George the Second, i. 457, 458. , . .
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? CHaP. V. ] STRANGERS OP NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 321
Juno -- Aug. 1750.
unwelcomer that it includes a satirical twitch on Chasot,
whom he truly likes withal, or did like, though now a little
dissatisfied with those too frequent Mecklenburg excursions
and extra-military cares. Ot this, merely squeezing the
Hanbury venom out of it, I can believe every particular.
"Did you ever hear of anything so shocking? " isHan-
bury's meaning here and elsewhere. "I must tell you a
"story of the King of Prussia's regard for the Law of
"Nations," continues he to Walpole. * Which proves to be
a story, turned topsyturvy, of one Hofmann, Brunswick
Envoy, who (quite beyond commission, and a thing that must
not be thought of at all! ) had been detected in dangerous
intriguings with the ever-busy Russian Excellency, or
another; and got flung into Spandau,**--seemingly pretty
much his due in the matter. And so of other Hanbury things.
"What a Prussia; for rigour of command, one huge prison,
in a manner! " King intent on punctuality, and all his busi-
ness upon the square. Society, official and unofficial, kept
rather strictly to their tackle; their mode of movement not
that of loose oxen at all! "Such a detestable Tyrant," --
who has ordered me, Hanbury, elsewhither with my exquisite
talents and admired wit! --
Candidatus Linsenbartk (quasi "Lentil-beard") likewise
visits Berlin.
By far the notablest arrival in Berlin is M. de Vol-
taire's, July 10th; a few days before Hanbury got his
First Audience, "five minutes long. " But that arrival
will require a Chapter to itself; -- most important
arrival, that of all! The least important, again, is
probably that of Candidatus Linsenbarth, in these same
weeks; -- a rugged poverty-stricken old Licentiate of
Theology; important to no mortal in Berlin or else-
where: -- upon whom, however, and upon his proce-
* Walpole, George the Second, i. 458. 'I
** Adelung, v. 534; vn. 132-144. Carlyle, Frederick the Great. Vttl. 21
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? 322 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
June--Aug. 1750.
dures in that City, we propose, for our own objects, to
bestow a few glances; rugged Narrative of the thing,
in singular exotic dialect, but true every word, having
fortunately come to us from Linsenbarth's own hand. *
Berlin, it must be admitted, after all one's reading
in poor Dryasdust, remains a dim empty object;
Teutschland is dim and empty: and out of the forty
blind sacks, or out of four hundred such, what picture
can any human head form to itself of Friedrich as
King or Man? A trifling Adventure of that poor in-
dividual, called Linsenbarth Candidatus Theologiw, one
of the poorest of mortals, but true and credible in
every particular, comes gliding by chance athwart all
that; and like the glimmer of a poor rushlight, or
kindled straw, shows it us for moments, a thing visible,
palpable; as it worked and lived. In the great dearth,
Linsenbarth, if I can faithfully interpret him for the
modern reader, will be worth attending to.
Date of Linsenbarth's Adventure is June -- August
1750. "Schloss ofBeichlingen" and "Village of Hemm-
leben" are in the Thuringen Hill Country (Weimar
not far off to eastward): the Hero himself, a tall awk-
ward raw-boned creature, is, for perhaps near forty
years past, a Candidatus, say Licentiate, or Curate
without Cure. Subsists, I should guess, by school-
mastering,-- cheapest schoolmaster conceivable, wages
mere nothing, -- in the Villages about; in the Village
of Hemmleben latterly; age, as I discover, grown to
be sixty-one, in those straitened but by no means for-
lorn circumstances. And so, here is veteran Linsen-
barth of Hemmleben, a kind of Thuringian Dominie
Sampson; whose Interview with such a brother mortal
* Through Rodenbeck, Beytrage, 1. 463 et seq.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 323
June --Aug. 1750.
as Friedrich King of Prussia may be worth looking at,
-- if I can abridge it properly.
Well, it appears, in the year 1750, at this thrice-obscure
Village of Hemmleben, the worthy old Pastor Cannabich
died;-- worthy old man, how he had lived there, modestly
studious, frugal, chiefly on farm-produce, with tobacco and
Dutch theology; a modest blessing to his fellow creatures!
And now he is dead, and the place vacant. Twenty pounds
a Year certain; let us guess it twenty, with glebeland, pig-
geries, poultry-hutches: who is now to get all that? Linsen-
- arth starts with his Narrative, in earnest. Linsenbarth, who I guess may have been Assistant to the
deceased Cannabich, and was now out of work, says: "I had
"not the least thought of profiting by this vacancy; but what
"happened? The Herr Graf von Werthern, at Schloss Beich-
"lingen, sent his Steward" (Lehnsdirector, Fief-director is the
title of this Steward, which gives rise to obsolete thought of
mill-dues, road-labour, payments in natura), "his Lehns-
"director, HerrKettenbeil, over to my logis" (cheap boarding
quarters); '' who brought a gracious salutation from his Lord;
"saying farther, That I knew too well" (excellent Cannabich
gone from us, alas! ) "the Pastorate of Hemmleben was
"vacant; that there had various competitors announced them-
"selves, supplicando, for the place; the Herr Graf, however,
"had yet given none of them the fiat, but waited always till
"I should apply. As I had not done so, he (the Lord Graf)
"would now of his own motion give me the preference, and
"hereby confer the Pastorate upon me! " --
"Without all controversy, here was a vocatio divina, to be
"received with the most submissive thanks!
But the lame
"second messenger came hitching in" (halting messenger, Ger-
man proverb) "very soon. Kettenbeil began again: 'He must
"'mention to me sub rosd, Her Ladyship the Frau Grafiri
"'wanted to have her Lady's-maid provided for by this pro-
emotion, too; I must marry her, and take the living at the
"'same time. '" ,
Whew! And this is the noble Lady's way of thinking, up
in her fine Schloss yonder? Linsenbarth will none of it.
"For my notion fell at once," says he, "when I heard it was
21*
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? 324 THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE. [book XTI.
June--Aug. 1750.
"Do ut facias, Facio ut facias (I give that thou mayest do, I do
"that thou mayst do; Wilt have the kirk, then take the irk,
"Willst du die Pfarre, so nimm die Quarre); on those terms,
"my reply was: 'Most respectful thanks, Herr Fief-judge,
"'and No, for such a vocation! And why? The vocation must
"'have libertatem, there must be no vitium essentiale in it; it
"'must be right in essentiali, otherwise no honest man can
"'accept it with a good conscience. This were a marriage on
'"constraint; out of which a thousand inconvenientia; might
"'spring! '" Hear Linsenbarth, in the piebald dialect, with
the sound heart, and preference of starvation itself to some
other things! Kettenbeil (Chain-axe) went home; and there
was found another Candidatus willing for the marriage on
constraint, "out of which inconvenientia: might spring," in
Linsenbarth's opinion.
"And so did the sneakish courtly gentleman" (Hofmann,
courtier as Linsenbarth has it), "who grasped with both
"hands at my rejected offer, experience before long," con-
tinues Linsenbarth. "For the loose thing of court-tatters led
'' him such a life that, within three years, age yet only thirty,
"he had to bite the dust" (bite at the grass, says Linsenbarth,
proverbially), which was an inconvenientia including all others.
"And I had legitimam causam to refuse the vocation cum tali
"conditione.
"However, it was very ill taken of me. All over that
"Thuringian region, I was cried out upon as a headstrong
"foolish person: The Herr Graf von Werthern, so ran the
"story, had of his own kindness, without request of mine,
"offered me a living; rara avis, singular instance; and I,
"rash and without head, flung away such gracious offer. In
"short, I was told to my face" (by good-natured friends),
"Nobody would ever think of me for promotion again;" --
universal suffrage giving it clear against poor Linsenbarth, in
this way.
"To get out of people's sight at least," continues he, "I
"decided to leave my native place, and go to Berlin," 250
miles away or more. "And so it was that, on June the 20th,
"1750,1 landed at Berlin for the first time: and here straight-
"way at the Packhof (or Customhouse), in searching of my
"things, 400 thalers (some QOL), all in Niirnberg batzen, were
"seized from me;" -- batzen, quarter groats we may say;
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? PHAP. v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 325
June --Aug. 1750.
7? batzen go to a shilling; what a sack there must have been
of them, 9,000 in all, about the size of herring-scales, in bad
silver; fruit of Linsenbarth's stern thrift from birth upwards:
-- all snatched from him at one swoop. "And why? " says he,
quite historically: Yes, Why? The reader, to understand it
wholly, would need to read m Mylius's Edicten-Sammlung, in
Seyfarth and elsewhere;* and to know the scandalous con-
dition of German coinage at this time and long after; every
needy little Potentate mixing his coin with copper at discre-
tion , and swindling mankind with it for a season; needing to
be peremptorily forbidden, confiscated, or ordered home, by
the like of Friedrich. Linsenbarth answers his own "And
why? " with historical calmness:
"The King had, some (six) years ago, had the batzen
''utterly cried down (ganz undgar); they were not to circulate
"at all in his Countries; and I was so bold, I had brought
"batzen hither into the King's Capital, Kimigliche Residmz
"itself! At the Packhof, there was but one answer, 'Contra-
"'band, Contraband! '" -- Here was a welcome for aman.
"I made my excuses: Did not the least know; came straight
"from Thiiringen, many miles of road; could not guess there
"What His Majesty the King had been pleased to forbid in
"His (Theiro) Countries. 'You should have informed yourself,'
"said the Packhof people; and were deaf to such considera-
"tions. 'A man coming into such a Residenz Town as Berlin,
"'with intent to abide there, should have inquired a little
"'what was what, especially what coins were cried down,
"' and what allowed,' said they of the Packhof. " Poor Lin-
senbarth! "'But what amI to do now? How am I to live, if
'''you take my very money from me? ' 'That is your outlook,'
"said they; -- and added, He must even find stowage for his
"sack of herring-scales or batzen, so soon as it was sealed up;
'"we have no room for it in the Packhof! ' Here is a roughish
welcome for a man: "Imust leave all my money here; and
"find stowage for it, in a day or two.
"There was, accordingly, a truck-porter called in; he
"loaded my effects on his barrow, and rolled away. He
"brought me to the White Swan in the Judenstrasse" (none of
the grandest of streets, that Berlin Jewry), "threw my things
"out, and demanded four groschen. Two of my batzen,"
* Myliua, Edict xli. , January 1744; &c. &,o.
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? 326
[book XVI. June--Aug. 1750.
THE TEN YEARS OF PEACE.
2? exact, "would have done; but I had no money at all. The
"landlord came out: seeing that I had a stuffed featherbed"
(note the luggage of Linsenbarth: "Fedei--bett," of extreme
tenuity), "a trunk full of linens, a bag of Books and other
"trifles, he paid the man; and sent me to a small room in the
"courtyard" (Inn forms a Court, perhaps four stories high):
"'I could stay there,'he said; 'he would give me food and
"' drink in the mean while. ' And so I lived in this Inn eight
"weeks long, without one red farthing, in mere fear and
15th; Voltaire in height of feather; and very great things just
ahead! * -- of which soon.
The White Swan was a place where Carriers lodged: some
limb of the Law, of subaltern sort, whom Linsenbarth calls
"der Advocat B. " (one of the Ousted of Cocceji, shall we
fancy! ), had to do with Carriers and their pie-powder law-
suits. Advocat B. had noticed the gray dreary Candidatus,
sitting sparrow-like in remote corners; had spoken to him; --
undertook for a Louis dor, no purchase no pay, to get back
his batzen for him. They went accordingly, one morning, to
"a grand House;" it was a Minister's (name not given), very
grand Official Man: he heard the Advocat B. 's short state-
ment; and made answer: "Monsieur, and is it you . that will
"pick holes in the King's Law? I have understood you were
"rather aiming at the Hausvogtei" (Common Jail of Berlin):
"Go on in that way, and you are sure of your promotion! " --
Advocat B. rushed out with Linsenbarth, into the street; and
there was neither pay nor purchase in that quarter.
Poor Linsenbarth was next advised, by simple neighbours,
to go direct to the King; as every poor man can, at certain
hours of the day. "Write out your Case (Memorial) with
"extreme brevity," said they; "nothing but the essential
"points, and those clear. " Linsenbarth, steam at the high
pressure, composed (conzipirte) a Memorial of that right
laconic sort; wrote it fair (mundirte es); -- and went off there-
with "at opening of the Gates" (middle time of August 1750,
no date farther) **--"without one farthing in my pocket, in
"God's name, to Potsdam. " He continues:
* "Grand Carrousel, 25th August;" &c. ** August 21st? (See ROdenbeck, Diary, which we often quote, i. 205.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 327
June --Aug. 1750.
"And at Potsdam I was lucky enough to see the King; my
"first sight of him. He was on the Palace Esplanade there,
"drilling his troops" (fine trim sanded Expanse, with the
Palace to rear, and Garden-walks and River to front; where
Friedrich Wilhelm sat, the last day he was out, and ordered
Jockey Philips's house to be actually set about; where the
troops do evolutions every morning; -- there is Friedrich with
cocked hat and blue coat; say about 11 A. m. ).
"When the drill was over, his Majesty went into the
"Garden, and the soldiers dispersed; only four Officers re-
"mained lounging upon the Esplanade, and walked up and
"down. For fright I knew not what to do; Ipulled thePapers
"out of my pocket, -- these were my Memorial, two Certi-
"ficates of character, and a Thiiringen Pass" (poor soul).
"The Officers noticed this; came straight to me, and said,
"'What Letters has He there, then? I thankfully and
"gladly imparted the whole; and when the Officers had read
"them, they said, 'We will give you' (Him, not even Thee)
"'a good advice. The King is extra-gracious today, and is
"' gone alone into the Garden. Follow him straight. Thou
"'wilt have luck. '
"This I would not do; my awe was too great. They there-
"upon laid hands on me" (the mischievous dogs, not ill-
humoured either): "one took me by the right arm, another
"by the left, 'Off, off; to the Garden! ' Having got me
"thither, they looked out for the King. He was among the
"gardeners, examining some rare plant; stooping over it,
"and had his back to us. Here I had to halt; and the Officers
"began, in underhand tone" (the dogs! ), "to put me through
"my drill: 'Hat under left arm! -- Right foot foremost! --
"' Breast well forward! -- Head up! -- Papers from Pouch! --
"'Papers aloft in right hand! -- Steady! Steady! ' -- And
"went their ways, looking always round, to see if I kept my
"posture. I perceived well enough they were pleased to
"make game of me; but I stood, all the same, like a wall,
"being full of fear. The Officers were hardly out of the
"Garden, when the King turned round, and saw thisextra-
"ordinary machine," -- telegraph figure or whatever we may
call it, with papers pointing to the sky. "He gave such a
"look at me, like a flash of sunbeams glancing through you;
"and sent one of the gardeners to bring my papers. Which
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? 328 THE TEN . YEARS OF PEACE. [book XVI.
June--Aug. 1750.
"having got, he struck into another walk with them, and
"was out of sight. In few minutes he appeared again at the
"place where the rare plant was, with my Papers open in his
"left hand; and gave me a wave with them To come nearer.
"I plucked up a heart, and went straight towards him. Oh,
"how thrice and four-times graciously this great Monarch
"deigned to speak to me! --
King. "My good Thuringian (lieber Thilringer), you came
"to Berlin, seeking to earn your bread by industrious teach-
"ing of children; and here, at the Packhof, in searching
"your things, they have taken your Thiiringen hoard from
"you. True, the batzen are not legal here; but! thepeople
"should have said to you: You are a stranger, and didn't
"know the prohibition; -- well then, we will seal up the Bag
"of Batzen; you send it back to Thiiringen, get it changed
"for other sorts; we will not take it from you! --
"Be of heart, however, you shall have your money again,
"and interest too. -- But, my poor man, Berlin pavement is
"bare, they don't give anything gratis: you are a stranger;
"before you are known and get teaching, your bit of money
"is done; what then? "
"I understood the speech right well; but my awe was too
"great to say: 'Your Majesty will have the all-highest grace
"'to allow me something! ' But as 1 was so simple and asked
"for nothing, he did not offer anything. And so he turned
"away; but had scarcely gone six or eight steps, when he
"looked round, and gave me a sign I was to walk by him;
"and then began catechising:
King. "Where did you (Er) study? "
Linsenbarth. "Your Majesty, in Jena. "
King. "Whatyears? "
Linsenbarth. "From 1716 to 1720. " *
King. "Under what Pro-rector were you inscribed? "
Linsenbarth. "Under the ProfessorTlieologimDr. Fortsch. "
King. "Who were your other Professors in the Theologi-
cal Faculty? "
Linsenbarth --names famed men; sunk now, mostly, in
the bottomless waste-basket: "Buddaus" (who did a Diction-
ary of the Bayle sort, weighing four stone troy, out of which
I have learned many a thing), "Buddaeus," "Danz," "Weis-
? Born 1689 (p. 474); twenty-five when he went.
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? CHAP, v. ] STRANGERS OF NOTE COME TO BERLIN. 329
Jane --Aug. 1750.
senborn," "Wolf" (now back at Halle after his tribula-
tions, -- poor man, his immortal System of Philosophy, where
is it! )
King. "Did you study Biblica diligently? " Linsenbarth. "With Buddseus (beym Buddao). "
King.
