And if there
"were a Plutarch in these times, with a good deal of leisure
"on his hands, he might run a Parallel between Friedrich and
"Chatham.
"were a Plutarch in these times, with a good deal of leisure
"on his hands, he might run a Parallel between Friedrich and
"Chatham.
Thomas Carlyle
org/access_use#pd-google
? 66 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK XvIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
place. Oldenburg's force was but some 2,000; Pirna
Saxons most of them: -- such a winter Oldenburg has
had with these Saxons; bursting out into actual mus-
ketry upon him once; Oldenburg, volcanically steady,
summoning the Prussian part, "To me, true Prussian
Bursche! " -- and hanging nine of the mutinous Saxons.
And has coerced and compesced them (all that did not
contrive to desert) into soldierly obedience; and, 20th
June, appears at the Gate of Erfurt with them, to do
his delicate errand there. Sharply conclusive, though
polite and punctual. "Send to Kur-Mainz, say you?
Well, as to your Citadel, and those 1,400 soldiers all
moving peaceably off thither, -- Yes. As to your City:
within one hour, Gate open to us, or we open it! "*
And Oldenburg marches in, as vice-sovereign for the
time: -- but, indeed, has soon to leave again; owing
to what Event in the distance, will be seen!
If Prag Siege go well, these Mayer-Oldenburg ex-
peditions will have an effect on the Reich: but if it go
ill, what are they, against Austria with its force of
steady pressure? All turns on the issue of Prag Siege:
-- a fact extremely evident to Friedrich too! But these
are what in the interim can be done. One neglects no
opportunity, tries by every method.
Of the singular quasi-bewitched Condition of England;
and what is to be hoped from it, for the Common Cause,
if Prag go amiss.
On the Britannic side too, the outlooks are not
good; -- much need Friedrich were through his Prag
* In Helden-Geschichte (v. 371-384), copious Account, with the Missives
to and from, the Reichs-Pleadings that followed, the &c. &c. Militair-
hexikm, g Oldenburg.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. | PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 67
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
affair, and "hastening with forty thousand to help his
Allies," -- that is, Royal Highness of Cumberland and
Britannic Purse, his only allies at this moment . Royal
Highness and Army of Observation (should have been
67,000, are 50 to 60,000, hired Germans; troops good
enough, were they tolerably led) finds the Hanover
Program as bad as Schmettau and Friedrich ever
represented it; and, already, -- unless Prag go well,
-- wears, to the understanding eye, a very contingent
aspect. D'Estrees outnumbers him; D'Estrees, too, is
something of a soldier, -- a very considerable advantage
in affairs of war.
D'Estrees, since April, is in Wesel; gathering in
the revenues, changing the Officialities: much out of
discipline, they say; -- "hanging" gradually "1,000
maraudeurs;" in round numbers 1,000 this year. *
D'Estrees does not yet push forward, owing to Prag.
If he do -- It is well known how Royal Highness
fared when he did, and what a Campaign Royal
Highness made of it this Year 1757! How the Weser
did prove wadeable, as Schmettau had said to no pur-
pose; wadeable, bridgeable; and Royal Highness had
to wriggle back, ever back; no stand to be made, or
far worse than none: back, ever back, till he got into
the Sea, for that matter, and to the end of more than
one thing! Poor man, friends say he has an incurable
Hanover Ministry, a Program that is inexecutable. As
yet he has not lost head, any head he ever had: but
he is wonderful, he; -- and his England is! We shall
have to look at him once again; and happily once
only. Here, from my Constitutional Historian, are
some Passages which we may as well read in the
* Stenzel, v. 65; Retzow, 1. 173.
5*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 68
SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK XvIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
present interim of expectation. I label, and try to
arrange:
1. England in Crisis. "England is indignant with its Hero
"of Culloden and his Campaign 1757; Dut really has no
"business to complain. Royal Highness of Cumberland,
"wriggling helplessly in that manner, is a fair representative
"of the England that now is. For years back, there has been,
"in regard to all things Foreign or Domestic, in thatCountry,
"by way of Nationalaction, the miserablest haggling as to
"which of various little-competent persons shall act tor the
"Nation. A melancholy condition indeed! --
"But the fact is, his Grace of Newcastle, ever since his
"poor Brother Pelham died(who was always a solid, loyal kind
"of man, though a dull; and had always, with patient affection,
"furnished his Grace, much unsupplied otherwise, with Com-
"mon-Sense hitherto), is quite insecure in Parliament, and
"knows not what hand to turn to. Fox is contemptuous of
"him; Pitt entirely impatient of him; Duke of Cumberland
"(great in the glory of Culloden) is aiming to oust him, and
"bear rule with his Young Nephew, the new Rising Sun, as
"the poor Papa and Grandfather gets old. Even Carteret
"(Earl Granville, as they now call him, a Carteret much
"changed since those high-soaring Worms-Hanau times! )
"was applied to. But the answer was -- what could the an-
"swerbe? High-soaring Carteret, scandalously overset and
"hurled out in that Hanau time, had already tried once (long
"ago, and with such result! ) to spring in again, and'deliver
"'his Majesty from factions;' and actually had made a
''' Granville Ministry;' Ministry which fell again in one day. *
"To the complete disgust of Carteret-Granville;--who, ever
"since, sits ponderously dormant (kind of Fixture in the
"Privy Council, this long while back); and is resigned, in a
"big contemptuous way, to have had his really considerable
"career closed upon him by the smallest of mankind; and,
"except occasional blurts of strong rugged speech which
"come from him, and a good deal of wine taken into him, dis-
"dains making further debate with the world and its elect
"Newcastles. Carteret, at this crisis, was again applied to,
* "llth February 1746" (Thackeray, Life of Chatham, I. 146).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP, m. j PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 69
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
""Cannot you? In behalf of an afflicted old King? ' But
"Carteret answered, No. *
"In short, it is admitted and bewailed by everybody,
"seldom was there seen such a Government of England (and
"England has seen some strange Governments), as in these
"last Three Years. Chaotic Imbecility reigning pretty
"supreme. Ruler's Work, -- policy, administration, govern-
'Unce, guidance, performance in any kind, -- where is it toe found? For if even a Walpole, when his Talking-Appa-
ratus gets out of gear upon him, is reduced to extremities,
"though the stoutest of men, -- fancy what it will be, in like
"case, and how the Acting-Apparatuses and Affairs generally
"will go, with a poor hysterical Newcastle, now when his
"Common-Sense is fatally withdrawn! The poor man has no
"resource but to shuffle about in aimless perpetual fidget;
"endeavouring vainly to say Yes and No to all questions,
"Foreign and Domestic, that may rise. Whereby, in the
"Affairs of England, there has, as it were, universal St.
"Vitus'-dance supervened, at an important crisis: and the
"Preparations for America, and for a down-right Life-and-
"Death Wrestle with France on the Jenkins's-Ear Question,
"are quite in a bad way. In an ominously bad. Why cannot
"we draw a veil over these things! " --
2. Pitt, and the Hour of Tide. "The fidgetings and
"shufflings, the subtleties, inane trickeries, and futile hither- "ings and thitherings of Newcastle may be imagined: a man
"not incapable of trick; but anxious to be well with every-
"body; and to answer Yes andiHo to almost everything, -- and
"not a little puzzled, poor soul, to get through, in thatim-
"possible way! Such a paralysis of wriggling imbecility
"fallen over England, in this great crisis of its fortunes, as is
"still painful to contemplate: and indeed it has been mostly
"shaken out of mind by the modern Englishman; who tries to
"laugh at it, instead of weeping and considering, which would
"better beseem. Pitt speaks with a tragical vivacity, in all
"ingenious dialects, lively though serious; and with a depth
"of sad conviction, which is apt to be slurred over and missed
"altogether by a modern reader. Speaks as if this brave
"English Nation were about ended; little or no hope left for
"it; here a gleam of possibility, and there a gleam, which
* Thackeray, Life ofChatham, i. 264.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 70 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII-
Uth May -- 13th June 1757.
"soon vanishes again in the fatal murk of impotencies, do-
"nothingisms. Very sad to the heart of Pitt. A once brave
"Nation arrived at its critical point, and doomed to higgle
"and puddle there till it drown in the gutters: considerably
"tragical to Pitt; who is lively, ingenious, and, though not
"quitting the Parliamentary tone for the Hebrew-Prophetic,
"far more serious than the modern reader thinks.
"In Walpole'sBook* there is the liveliest Picture of this
"dismalParliamentary Hellbroth, -- such a Mother of Dead "Dogs as one has seldom looked into! For the Hour is great;
"and the Honourable Gentlemen, I must say, are small. The
"Hour, little as you dream of it, my Honourable Friends, is
"pregnant with questions that are immense. Wide Con-
"tinents, long Epochs and iEons hang on this poor jargoning
"of yours; the Eternal Destinies are asking their much-
"favoured Nation, "Will you, can you? " -- much-favoured "stupidity, and taking refuge in laughter. The Eternal
"Destinies are very patient with some Nations; and can dis-
regard their follies, for a long while; and have their Crom-
"well, have their Pitt, or what else is essential, ready for the
"poor Nation, in a grandly silent way!
"Certain it is, -- though how could poor Newcastle know
"it at all! -- here is again the hour of tide for England. Tide
"is full again; has been flowing long hundreds of years, and
"is full: certain, too, that time and tide wait on no man or
"nation. In a dialect different from Cromwell's or Pitt's, but
"with a sense true to theirs, I call it the Eternal Destinies
"knocking at England's door again: 'Are you ready for the
''' crisis, birth-point of long Ages to you, which is now come? '
"Greater question had not been, for centuries past. None to
"be named with it since that high Spiritual Question (truly a
"much higher, and which was in fact the parent of this, and. of
"all of high and great that lay ahead), which England and
"Oliver Cromwell were there to answer: 'Will you hold by
"Consecrated Formulas, then, you English, and expect salva-
"tion from traditions of the elders; or are you for Divine
"Realities, as the one sacred and indispensable thing? '
"Which they did answer, in what way we know. Truly the
"Highest Question; which, if a Nation can answer well, it
"Nation h
that manner. Astonished at its own Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SHAP. m. J PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 71
9th May -- 18th June 1757.
"will grow in this world, and may come to be considerable,
"and to have many high Questions to answer, -- this of Pitt's,
"for example. And the Answers given do always extend
"through coming ages; and do always bear harvests, ac-
cursed or else blessed, according as the Answers were. A
"thing awfully true, if you have eye for it; -- a thing to make
"Honourable Gentlemen serious, even in the age of percus-
sion-caps! No, my friend, Newcastleisms, impious Pol-
"trooneries, in a Nation, do not die: -- neither (thank God)
"do Cromwellisms and pious Heroisms; but are alive for the
"poorNation, even in its somnambulencies, in its stupidest
"dreams. For Nations have their somnambulencies; and, at
"any rate, the questions put to Nations, in different ages, vary
"much. Not in any age, or turning-point in History, had
"England answered the Destinies in such a dialect as now,
"under its Newcastle and National Palaver. "
3. Of Walpole, as Recording Angel. "Walpole's George "the Second is a Book of far more worth than is commonly
"ascribed to it; almost the one original English Book yet
"written on those times, -- which, by the accident of Pitt, are
"still memorable to us. But for Walpole, --burning like a
"small steady light there, shining faithfully, if stingily, on the
"evil and the good, -- that sordid muddle of the Pelham
"Parliaments, which chanced to be the element of things now
"recognisable enough as great, would be forever unintel-
ligible. He is unusually accurate, punctual, lucid; an
"irrefragable authority on English points. And if, in regard
"to Foreign, he cannot be called an understanding witness,
"he has read the best Documents accessible, has conversed
"with select Ambassadors (Mitchell and the like, as we can
"guess); and has informed himself to a degree far beyond
"most of his contemporaries. In regard to Pitt's Speeches,
"in particular, his brief jottings, done rapidly while the
"matter was still shining to him, are the only Reports that
"have the least human resemblance. We may thank Walpole
"that Pitt is not dumb to us, as well as dark. Very curious
"little scratchings and etchings, those of Walpole; frugal,
"swift, but punctual and exact; hasty pen-and-ink outlines;
"at first view, all barren; bald as an invoice, seemingly; but
"which yield you, after long study there and elsewhere, a
"conceivable notion of what and how excellent these Pitt
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 72 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII
9th May -- 13tll June 1757.
"Speeches may have been. Airy, winged, like arrow-flights
"of Phoebus Apollo;'very superlative Speeches indeed.
"Walpole's Book is carefully printed, -- few errors in it like
"that 'Chapeau' for Chasot" which readers remember: --
"but, in respect to editing, may be characterised as still want-
ing an Editor. A Book unedited; little but lazy ignorance
"of a very hopeless type, thick contented darkness, traceable
"throughout in the marginal part. No attempt at an Index,
"or at any of the natural helps to a reader now at such
"distance from it. Nay, till you have at least marked, on
"the top of each page, what Month and Year it actually is,
"the Book cannot De read at all, -- except by an idle crea-
'' ture, doing worse than nothing under the name of reading! "
4. Pitt's Speeches, foreshadowing What. "It is a kind of
"epoch in your studies of modern English History when you
"get to understand of Pitt's Speeches, that they are not Par-
"hamentary Eloquences, but things which with his whole soul
"he means, and is intent to do. This surprising circumstance,
"when at last become undeniable, makes, on the sudden, an
"immense difference for the Speeches and you! Speeches are
"not a thing of high moment to this Editor; it is the Thing
"spoken, and how far the speaker means to do it, that this
"Editor inquires for. Too many Speeches there are, which
''he hears admired all round, and has privately to entertain a
"very horrid notion of! Speeches, the finest in quality (were
"quality really 'fine' conceivable in such case), which want a
"corresponding fineness of source and intention, correspond-
ing nobleness of purport, conviction, tendency; these, if we
"will reflect, are frightful instead of beautiful. Yes; -- and
"always the frightfuller, the'finer' they are; the faster and
"and farther they go, sowing themselves in the dim vacancy
"of men's minds. For Speeches, like all human things,
"though the act is now little remembered, do always rank
"themselves as forever blessed or as forever unblessed.
"Sheep or goats; on the right hand of the Final Judge, or
"else on the left. There are Speeches which can be called
"true; and, again, Speeches which are not true: -- Heavens,
"only think what these latter are! Sacked wind, which you
"are intended to sow, -- that you may reap the whirlwind!
"After long reading, I find Chatham's Speeches to be what he
"pretends they are: true,and worth speaking then and there.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. ni. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 73
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"Noble indeed, I can call them with you: the highly noble
"Foreshadow, necessary preface and accompaniment of
"Actions which are still nobler. A very singular phenomenon
"within those walls, or without!
"Pitt, though nobly eloquent, is a Man of Action, not of
"Speech: an authentically Royal kind of Man.
And if there
"were a Plutarch in these times, with a good deal of leisure
"on his hands, he might run a Parallel between Friedrich and
"Chatham. Two radiant Kings; very shining Men of Action
"both; both of them hard bested, as the case often is. For
"your born King will generally have, if not 'all Europe
"against him,' at least pretty much all the Universe. Chat-
"ham's course to Kingship was not straight or smooth, -- as
"Friedrich, too, had his well-nigh fatal difficulties on the
"road. Again says the Plutarch, they are very brave men
"both; and of a clearness and veracity peculiar among their
"contemporaries. In Chatham, too, there is something of the
"flash of steel; a very sharp-cutting, penetrative, rapid in-
"dividual, he too; and shaped for action, first of all, though
"he has to talk so much in the world. Fastidious, proud, no
"King could be prouder, though his element is that of Free-
"Senate and Democracy. And he has a beautiful poetic
"delicacy, withal; great tenderness in him, playfulness,
"grace; in all ways, an airy as well as a solid loftiness of
"mind. Not born a King, -- alas, no, not officially so; only
"naturally so; has his kingdom to seek. The Conquering of
"Silesia, the Conquering of the Pelham Parliaments -- But
"we will shut up the Plutarch with time on his hands.
"Pitt's Speeches, as I spell them from Walpole and the
"other faint tracings left, are full of genius in the vocal kind,
"far beyond any Speeches delivered in Parliament: serious
"always, and the very truth, such as he has it; but going in
"many dialects and modes; full of airy flashings, twinkles
"and coruscations. Sport, as of sheet-lightning glancing
"about, the bolt lying under the horizon; bolt hidden, as is fit, "under such a horizon as he had. A singularly radiant man.
"Could have been a Poet, too, in some small measure, had
"he gone on that line. There are many touches of genius,
"comic, tragic, lyric, something of humour even, to be read
"in those Shadows of Speeches taken down for us by Wal-
"pole. * *
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 74 SEVEN-YEARS WAR 7USES TO A HEIGHT, [book xvm.
Oth May -- 13th June 1757.
"In one word, Pitt, shining like a gleam of sharp steel in
"that murk of contemptibilities, is carefully steering his way
"towards Kingship over it. Tragical it is (especially in Pitt s
"case, first and last) to see a Royal Man, or Born King,
"wading towards his throne in such an element. But, alas,
"the Born King (even when he tries, which I take to be the
"rarer case) so seldom can arrive there at all;--sinfulEpochs
"there are, when Heaven's curse has been spoken, and it is
"that awful Being, the Born Sham-King, that arrives! Pitt,
"however, does it. Yes; and the more we study Pitt, the more
"we shall find he does it in a peculiarly high, manful, and
"honourable as well as dextrous manner; and that English
"History has a right to call him 'the acme and highest man
"of Constitutional Parliaments; the like of whom was not in
"any Parliament called Constitutional, nor will again be. '
>>
Well, probably enough; too probably! But what it
more concerns us to remember here, is the fact, That
in these dismal shufflings which have been, Pitt, -- in
spite of Royal dislikes and Newcastle peddlings and
chicaneries, -- has been actually in Office, in the
due topmost place, the poor English Nation ardently
demanding him, in what ways it could. Been in
Office; -- and is actually out again, in spite of the
Nation. Was without real power in the Royal Councils;
though of noble promise, and planting himself down,
hero-like, evidently bent on work, and on ending that
unutterable "St . Vitus'-dance" that had gone so high
all round him. Without real power, we say; and has
had no permanency. Came in, 11th-19th November
1756; thrown out, 5th April 1757. After six months
trial, the St. Vitus finds that it cannot do with him;
and will prefer going on again. The last act his Royal
Highness of Cumberland did in England was to displace
Pitt: "Down you, lam the man! " said Royal Highness;
and went to the Weser Countries on those terms.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 75
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
Would the reader wish to see, in summary, what
Pitt's Offices have been, since he entered on this career
about thirty years ago? Here, from our Historian, is
the List of them in order of time; Stages of PitCs Course,
he calls it:
1? . "December 1734, Comes into Parliament, age now
"twenty-six; Cornet in the Blues as well; being poor, and in "absolute need of some career that will suit. April 1736,
"makes his First Speech: -- Prince Frederick the subject, --
"who was much used as battering-ram by the Opposition;
"whom perhaps Pitt admired for his madrigals, for his Liter-
"ary patronisings, and favour to the West-Wickham set.
"Speech, full of airy lightning, was much admired. Followed
"by many, with the lightning getting denser and denser;
"always on the Opposition side (once on the Jenkins's-Ear
Question, as we saw, when the Gazetteer Editor spelt him Mr.
Pitts): "so that Majesty was very angry, sulky Public much
"applausive; and Walpole was heard to say, 'We must
"muzzle, in some way, that terrible Cornet ofHorsel'-- but
"could not, on trial; this man's'price,' as would seem, being
"awfully high! August-October 1744, Sarah Duchess of Marl-
"borough bequeathed him 10,000 L, as Commissariat equip-
"ment in this his Campaign against the Mudgods,* -- glory
"to the old Heroine for so doing! Which lifted Pitt out of the
"Cornetcy or Horseguards element, I fancy; and was as the
"nailing of his Parliamentary colours to the mast.
2". "February 14th, 1746, Vice-Treasurer for Ireland: on
"occasion of that Pelham-Granville 'As-you-were! ' (Carteret
"Ministry, which lasted One Day), and the slight shufflings
"that were necessary. Now first in Office, ? after such Ten
"Years of colliding and conflicting, and fine steering in diffi-
"cult waters. Vice-Treasurer for Ireland: and 'soon after, on
"Lord Wilmington's death,' Paymaster of theForces. Continued
"Paymaster about nine years. Rejects, quietly and totally,
"the big income derivable from Interest of Government
"Moneys lying delayed in the Paymaster's hand (' Dishonest,
"1 tell you! ') -- and will none of it, though poor. Not yet
* Thackeray, i. 138.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 7G SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT. [BOOK XVIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"high, still low over the horizon, but shining brighter and
"brighter. Greatly contemptuous of Newcastle ana the Pla-
titudes and Poltrooneries; and still a good deal in the Op-
position strain, -- and not always tempering the wind to the
"shorn lamb. For example, Pitt (still Paymaster) to New-
"castle on King of the Romans Question (1752 or so): 'You
"engage forSubsidies, not knowing their extent; forTreaties,
"not knowing the terms! ' -- 'What a bashaw! ' moanNew-
? "castle and the top Officials. 'Best way is, don't mind it,'
"said Mr. Stone" (one of their terriers, -- a hard-headed
fellow, whose brother became Primate of Ireland by and by). 3? . "November 20th, 1755, Thrown out: -- on Pelham's
"death, and the general hurlyburly in Official regions, and
"change of partners with no little difficulty, which had then
"ensued! Sir Thomas Robinson," our old friend, "made
"Secretary, -- not found to answer. Pitt sulkily looking on
"America, on Minorca; on things German, on things in
"general; warily set on returning, as is thought; but How?
"Fox to Pitt: 'Will you join mef-- Pitt: 'No,' --with such
"politeness, but in an unmistakable way! Ten months of con-
summate steering on the part of Pitt; Chancellor Hardwicke
"coming as messenger, he among others; Pitt's answer to him
"dextrous, modestly royal. Pitt's bearing, in this grand
"juncture and crisis, is royal, his speakings and also his
"silences notably fine. October 20th, 1756: to Newcastle face
"to face, 'I will accept no situation under your Grace! ' --
"and, about that day month, comes in, on his own footing.
"That is to say,
"November 19th, 1756, to England's great comfort, Sees
"himself Secretary of State (age now just forty-eight. ) Has
"pretty much all England at his back; but has, in face of him, ?
"Fox, Newcastle and Company, offering mere impediment
"and discouragement; Royal Highness of Cumberland looking
"deadly sour. Till finally,
"April 5th, 1757, King bids him resign; Royal Highness
"setting off for Germany the second day after. Pitt had been
"in rather more than Four months. England, at that time a
"silent Country in comparison, knew not well what to do;
"took to offering him Freedoms of Corporations in very great
"quantity. Town after Town, from all the four winds, sym-
pathetically firing off, upon a misguided Sacred Majesty,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 77
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"its little Box, in this oblique way, with extraordinary
"diligence. Whereby, after six-months bombardment by
"Boxes, and also by Events, JuneWth, 1757 "--We will expect
June 29th*
In these sad circumstances, Preparations, so-called,
have been making for Hanover, for America; -- such
preparations as were never seen before. Take only
one instance; let one be enough:
"By the London Gazette, well on in February 1756, we
"learn that Lord Loudon, a military gentleman of small
"faculty, but of good connexions, has been nominated to
"command the Forces in America; and then, more obscurely,
"some days after, that another has been nominated: -- one of
"them ought certainly to make haste out, if he could; the
"French, by account, have 25,000 men in those countries,
"with real officers to lead them! Haste out, however, is not
''what this Lord Loudon or his rival can make. In March, we
"learn that Lord Loudon has been again nominated; in an
"improved manner, this time; --and still does not look like
"going. 'Again nominated, why again? ' Alas, reader, there
"have beenhysterical fidgettings in a high quarter; internal
"shiftings and shufflings, contradictions, new proposals, one
"knows not what. ** One asks only: How is the business ever
"to be done, if you cannot even settle what imbecile is to go
"and try it?
"Seldom had Country more need of a Commander than
"America now. America itself is of willing mind; and surely
"has resources, in such a Cause; but is full of anarchies as
"well: the different States and sections of it, with their dis-
crepant Legislatures, their half-drilled Militias, pulling each
"a different way, there is, as in the poor Mother Country, little
"result except of the St. Vitus kind. In some Legislatures are
"anarchic Quakers, who think it unpermissible to fight with
"those hectoring French, and their tail of scalping Indians j
* Thackeray, I. 231, 264. Almon, Anecdotes of Pitt (London, 1810),
I. 151, 182, 218.
** Gentleman's Magazine for 1756, pp. 92, 150, 369,150.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 78 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book xvm.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"and that the 'method of love' ought to be tried with them.
"What is to become of those poor people, if not even a Lord
"Loudon can get out? "
The result was, Lord Loudon had not in his own
poor person come to hand in America till August 1756,
Season now done; and could only write home, "All is
St. Vitus out here! Must have reinforcement of 10,000
men! " "Yes," answers Pitt, who is now in Office: "you
shall have them; and we will take Cape Breton, please
Heaven! " -- but was thrown out; and by the wrigglings
that ensued, nothing of the 10,000 reached Lord Loudon
till Season 1757 too was done. Nor did they then stead
his Lordship much, then or afterwards; who never took
Cape Breton, nor was like doing it; -- but wriggled
too and fro a good deal, and revolved on his axis, ac-
cording to pattern given. And set (what chiefly in-
duces us to name him here) his not reverent enough
Subordinate, Lord Charles Hay, our old Fontenoy
friend, into angry impatient quizzing of him; -- and
by and by into Court Martial for such quizzing. * Court
Martial, which was much puzzled by the case; and
could decide nothing, but only adjourn and adjourn; --
as we will now do, not mentioning Lord Loudon farther,
or the numerous other instances at all.
Pitt, we just saw, far from being confirmed and
furthered, has been thrown out by Royal Highness of
Cumberland, the last thing before crossing to that ex-
quisite Weser Problem. "Nothing now left at home
to hinder and our Hanover and Weser Problem! "
thinks Royal Highness. No, indeed: a comfortable
pacific No-government, or Battle of the Four Elements,
left yonder; the Anarch Old waggling his addle head
* Peerage Books, ? Tweeddale.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 79
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
over it; ready to help everybody, and bring fire and
water, and Yes and No, into holy matrimony, if he
could! -- Let us return to Prag. Only one remark
more; upon "April 5th. " That was the Day of Pitt's
Dismissal at St. James's: and I find, at Schonbrunn it
is likewise the day when Reiche-Hofrath (Kaiser in
Privy Council) decides, in respect to Friedrich, that
Ban of the Reich must be proceeded with, and recom-
mends Reich's Diet to get through with the same. *
Official England ordering its Pitt into private life, and
Official Teutschland its Friedrich into outlawry ("Be
quiet henceforth, both of you! ") -- are, by chance,
synchronous phenomena. *
Phenomena of Prag Siege: -- PragSiege is interrupted.
Friedrich's Siege of Prag proved tedious beyond ex-
pectation. In four days he had done that exploit in
1744; but now, to the world's disappointment, in as
many weeks he cannot. Nothing was omitted on his
part: he seized all egresses from Prag, rapidly enough;
had beset them with batteries, on the very night or
morrow of the Battle \ every egress beset, cannon and
ruin forbidding any issue there. On the 9th of May,
cannonading began; proper siege-cannon and ammuni-
tion, coming up from Dresden, were completely come
May 19th; after which the place is industriously bat-
tered, bombarded with redhot balls; but except by
hunger, it will not do. Prag, as a fortress, is weak,
but as a breastwork for 50,000 men it is strong. The
Austrians tried sallies; but these availed nothing, --
very ill-conducted, say some. The Prussians, more
* Uelden-Geschichte (Reiuhs-Procedures, ubi supri).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 80 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book Xvirf.
19th -- 24th May 1757.
than once, had nearly got into the place by surprisal;
but, owing to mere luck of the Austrians, never could,
-- say the same parties. *
A Diarium of Prag Siege is still extant, Two Dia-
riums; punctual diurnal account, both Austrian and
Prussian:** which it is far from our intention to inflict
on readers, in this haste.
? 66 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK XvIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
place. Oldenburg's force was but some 2,000; Pirna
Saxons most of them: -- such a winter Oldenburg has
had with these Saxons; bursting out into actual mus-
ketry upon him once; Oldenburg, volcanically steady,
summoning the Prussian part, "To me, true Prussian
Bursche! " -- and hanging nine of the mutinous Saxons.
And has coerced and compesced them (all that did not
contrive to desert) into soldierly obedience; and, 20th
June, appears at the Gate of Erfurt with them, to do
his delicate errand there. Sharply conclusive, though
polite and punctual. "Send to Kur-Mainz, say you?
Well, as to your Citadel, and those 1,400 soldiers all
moving peaceably off thither, -- Yes. As to your City:
within one hour, Gate open to us, or we open it! "*
And Oldenburg marches in, as vice-sovereign for the
time: -- but, indeed, has soon to leave again; owing
to what Event in the distance, will be seen!
If Prag Siege go well, these Mayer-Oldenburg ex-
peditions will have an effect on the Reich: but if it go
ill, what are they, against Austria with its force of
steady pressure? All turns on the issue of Prag Siege:
-- a fact extremely evident to Friedrich too! But these
are what in the interim can be done. One neglects no
opportunity, tries by every method.
Of the singular quasi-bewitched Condition of England;
and what is to be hoped from it, for the Common Cause,
if Prag go amiss.
On the Britannic side too, the outlooks are not
good; -- much need Friedrich were through his Prag
* In Helden-Geschichte (v. 371-384), copious Account, with the Missives
to and from, the Reichs-Pleadings that followed, the &c. &c. Militair-
hexikm, g Oldenburg.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. | PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 67
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
affair, and "hastening with forty thousand to help his
Allies," -- that is, Royal Highness of Cumberland and
Britannic Purse, his only allies at this moment . Royal
Highness and Army of Observation (should have been
67,000, are 50 to 60,000, hired Germans; troops good
enough, were they tolerably led) finds the Hanover
Program as bad as Schmettau and Friedrich ever
represented it; and, already, -- unless Prag go well,
-- wears, to the understanding eye, a very contingent
aspect. D'Estrees outnumbers him; D'Estrees, too, is
something of a soldier, -- a very considerable advantage
in affairs of war.
D'Estrees, since April, is in Wesel; gathering in
the revenues, changing the Officialities: much out of
discipline, they say; -- "hanging" gradually "1,000
maraudeurs;" in round numbers 1,000 this year. *
D'Estrees does not yet push forward, owing to Prag.
If he do -- It is well known how Royal Highness
fared when he did, and what a Campaign Royal
Highness made of it this Year 1757! How the Weser
did prove wadeable, as Schmettau had said to no pur-
pose; wadeable, bridgeable; and Royal Highness had
to wriggle back, ever back; no stand to be made, or
far worse than none: back, ever back, till he got into
the Sea, for that matter, and to the end of more than
one thing! Poor man, friends say he has an incurable
Hanover Ministry, a Program that is inexecutable. As
yet he has not lost head, any head he ever had: but
he is wonderful, he; -- and his England is! We shall
have to look at him once again; and happily once
only. Here, from my Constitutional Historian, are
some Passages which we may as well read in the
* Stenzel, v. 65; Retzow, 1. 173.
5*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 68
SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK XvIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
present interim of expectation. I label, and try to
arrange:
1. England in Crisis. "England is indignant with its Hero
"of Culloden and his Campaign 1757; Dut really has no
"business to complain. Royal Highness of Cumberland,
"wriggling helplessly in that manner, is a fair representative
"of the England that now is. For years back, there has been,
"in regard to all things Foreign or Domestic, in thatCountry,
"by way of Nationalaction, the miserablest haggling as to
"which of various little-competent persons shall act tor the
"Nation. A melancholy condition indeed! --
"But the fact is, his Grace of Newcastle, ever since his
"poor Brother Pelham died(who was always a solid, loyal kind
"of man, though a dull; and had always, with patient affection,
"furnished his Grace, much unsupplied otherwise, with Com-
"mon-Sense hitherto), is quite insecure in Parliament, and
"knows not what hand to turn to. Fox is contemptuous of
"him; Pitt entirely impatient of him; Duke of Cumberland
"(great in the glory of Culloden) is aiming to oust him, and
"bear rule with his Young Nephew, the new Rising Sun, as
"the poor Papa and Grandfather gets old. Even Carteret
"(Earl Granville, as they now call him, a Carteret much
"changed since those high-soaring Worms-Hanau times! )
"was applied to. But the answer was -- what could the an-
"swerbe? High-soaring Carteret, scandalously overset and
"hurled out in that Hanau time, had already tried once (long
"ago, and with such result! ) to spring in again, and'deliver
"'his Majesty from factions;' and actually had made a
''' Granville Ministry;' Ministry which fell again in one day. *
"To the complete disgust of Carteret-Granville;--who, ever
"since, sits ponderously dormant (kind of Fixture in the
"Privy Council, this long while back); and is resigned, in a
"big contemptuous way, to have had his really considerable
"career closed upon him by the smallest of mankind; and,
"except occasional blurts of strong rugged speech which
"come from him, and a good deal of wine taken into him, dis-
"dains making further debate with the world and its elect
"Newcastles. Carteret, at this crisis, was again applied to,
* "llth February 1746" (Thackeray, Life of Chatham, I. 146).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP, m. j PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 69
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
""Cannot you? In behalf of an afflicted old King? ' But
"Carteret answered, No. *
"In short, it is admitted and bewailed by everybody,
"seldom was there seen such a Government of England (and
"England has seen some strange Governments), as in these
"last Three Years. Chaotic Imbecility reigning pretty
"supreme. Ruler's Work, -- policy, administration, govern-
'Unce, guidance, performance in any kind, -- where is it toe found? For if even a Walpole, when his Talking-Appa-
ratus gets out of gear upon him, is reduced to extremities,
"though the stoutest of men, -- fancy what it will be, in like
"case, and how the Acting-Apparatuses and Affairs generally
"will go, with a poor hysterical Newcastle, now when his
"Common-Sense is fatally withdrawn! The poor man has no
"resource but to shuffle about in aimless perpetual fidget;
"endeavouring vainly to say Yes and No to all questions,
"Foreign and Domestic, that may rise. Whereby, in the
"Affairs of England, there has, as it were, universal St.
"Vitus'-dance supervened, at an important crisis: and the
"Preparations for America, and for a down-right Life-and-
"Death Wrestle with France on the Jenkins's-Ear Question,
"are quite in a bad way. In an ominously bad. Why cannot
"we draw a veil over these things! " --
2. Pitt, and the Hour of Tide. "The fidgetings and
"shufflings, the subtleties, inane trickeries, and futile hither- "ings and thitherings of Newcastle may be imagined: a man
"not incapable of trick; but anxious to be well with every-
"body; and to answer Yes andiHo to almost everything, -- and
"not a little puzzled, poor soul, to get through, in thatim-
"possible way! Such a paralysis of wriggling imbecility
"fallen over England, in this great crisis of its fortunes, as is
"still painful to contemplate: and indeed it has been mostly
"shaken out of mind by the modern Englishman; who tries to
"laugh at it, instead of weeping and considering, which would
"better beseem. Pitt speaks with a tragical vivacity, in all
"ingenious dialects, lively though serious; and with a depth
"of sad conviction, which is apt to be slurred over and missed
"altogether by a modern reader. Speaks as if this brave
"English Nation were about ended; little or no hope left for
"it; here a gleam of possibility, and there a gleam, which
* Thackeray, Life ofChatham, i. 264.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 70 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII-
Uth May -- 13th June 1757.
"soon vanishes again in the fatal murk of impotencies, do-
"nothingisms. Very sad to the heart of Pitt. A once brave
"Nation arrived at its critical point, and doomed to higgle
"and puddle there till it drown in the gutters: considerably
"tragical to Pitt; who is lively, ingenious, and, though not
"quitting the Parliamentary tone for the Hebrew-Prophetic,
"far more serious than the modern reader thinks.
"In Walpole'sBook* there is the liveliest Picture of this
"dismalParliamentary Hellbroth, -- such a Mother of Dead "Dogs as one has seldom looked into! For the Hour is great;
"and the Honourable Gentlemen, I must say, are small. The
"Hour, little as you dream of it, my Honourable Friends, is
"pregnant with questions that are immense. Wide Con-
"tinents, long Epochs and iEons hang on this poor jargoning
"of yours; the Eternal Destinies are asking their much-
"favoured Nation, "Will you, can you? " -- much-favoured "stupidity, and taking refuge in laughter. The Eternal
"Destinies are very patient with some Nations; and can dis-
regard their follies, for a long while; and have their Crom-
"well, have their Pitt, or what else is essential, ready for the
"poor Nation, in a grandly silent way!
"Certain it is, -- though how could poor Newcastle know
"it at all! -- here is again the hour of tide for England. Tide
"is full again; has been flowing long hundreds of years, and
"is full: certain, too, that time and tide wait on no man or
"nation. In a dialect different from Cromwell's or Pitt's, but
"with a sense true to theirs, I call it the Eternal Destinies
"knocking at England's door again: 'Are you ready for the
''' crisis, birth-point of long Ages to you, which is now come? '
"Greater question had not been, for centuries past. None to
"be named with it since that high Spiritual Question (truly a
"much higher, and which was in fact the parent of this, and. of
"all of high and great that lay ahead), which England and
"Oliver Cromwell were there to answer: 'Will you hold by
"Consecrated Formulas, then, you English, and expect salva-
"tion from traditions of the elders; or are you for Divine
"Realities, as the one sacred and indispensable thing? '
"Which they did answer, in what way we know. Truly the
"Highest Question; which, if a Nation can answer well, it
"Nation h
that manner. Astonished at its own Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SHAP. m. J PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 71
9th May -- 18th June 1757.
"will grow in this world, and may come to be considerable,
"and to have many high Questions to answer, -- this of Pitt's,
"for example. And the Answers given do always extend
"through coming ages; and do always bear harvests, ac-
cursed or else blessed, according as the Answers were. A
"thing awfully true, if you have eye for it; -- a thing to make
"Honourable Gentlemen serious, even in the age of percus-
sion-caps! No, my friend, Newcastleisms, impious Pol-
"trooneries, in a Nation, do not die: -- neither (thank God)
"do Cromwellisms and pious Heroisms; but are alive for the
"poorNation, even in its somnambulencies, in its stupidest
"dreams. For Nations have their somnambulencies; and, at
"any rate, the questions put to Nations, in different ages, vary
"much. Not in any age, or turning-point in History, had
"England answered the Destinies in such a dialect as now,
"under its Newcastle and National Palaver. "
3. Of Walpole, as Recording Angel. "Walpole's George "the Second is a Book of far more worth than is commonly
"ascribed to it; almost the one original English Book yet
"written on those times, -- which, by the accident of Pitt, are
"still memorable to us. But for Walpole, --burning like a
"small steady light there, shining faithfully, if stingily, on the
"evil and the good, -- that sordid muddle of the Pelham
"Parliaments, which chanced to be the element of things now
"recognisable enough as great, would be forever unintel-
ligible. He is unusually accurate, punctual, lucid; an
"irrefragable authority on English points. And if, in regard
"to Foreign, he cannot be called an understanding witness,
"he has read the best Documents accessible, has conversed
"with select Ambassadors (Mitchell and the like, as we can
"guess); and has informed himself to a degree far beyond
"most of his contemporaries. In regard to Pitt's Speeches,
"in particular, his brief jottings, done rapidly while the
"matter was still shining to him, are the only Reports that
"have the least human resemblance. We may thank Walpole
"that Pitt is not dumb to us, as well as dark. Very curious
"little scratchings and etchings, those of Walpole; frugal,
"swift, but punctual and exact; hasty pen-and-ink outlines;
"at first view, all barren; bald as an invoice, seemingly; but
"which yield you, after long study there and elsewhere, a
"conceivable notion of what and how excellent these Pitt
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 72 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII
9th May -- 13tll June 1757.
"Speeches may have been. Airy, winged, like arrow-flights
"of Phoebus Apollo;'very superlative Speeches indeed.
"Walpole's Book is carefully printed, -- few errors in it like
"that 'Chapeau' for Chasot" which readers remember: --
"but, in respect to editing, may be characterised as still want-
ing an Editor. A Book unedited; little but lazy ignorance
"of a very hopeless type, thick contented darkness, traceable
"throughout in the marginal part. No attempt at an Index,
"or at any of the natural helps to a reader now at such
"distance from it. Nay, till you have at least marked, on
"the top of each page, what Month and Year it actually is,
"the Book cannot De read at all, -- except by an idle crea-
'' ture, doing worse than nothing under the name of reading! "
4. Pitt's Speeches, foreshadowing What. "It is a kind of
"epoch in your studies of modern English History when you
"get to understand of Pitt's Speeches, that they are not Par-
"hamentary Eloquences, but things which with his whole soul
"he means, and is intent to do. This surprising circumstance,
"when at last become undeniable, makes, on the sudden, an
"immense difference for the Speeches and you! Speeches are
"not a thing of high moment to this Editor; it is the Thing
"spoken, and how far the speaker means to do it, that this
"Editor inquires for. Too many Speeches there are, which
''he hears admired all round, and has privately to entertain a
"very horrid notion of! Speeches, the finest in quality (were
"quality really 'fine' conceivable in such case), which want a
"corresponding fineness of source and intention, correspond-
ing nobleness of purport, conviction, tendency; these, if we
"will reflect, are frightful instead of beautiful. Yes; -- and
"always the frightfuller, the'finer' they are; the faster and
"and farther they go, sowing themselves in the dim vacancy
"of men's minds. For Speeches, like all human things,
"though the act is now little remembered, do always rank
"themselves as forever blessed or as forever unblessed.
"Sheep or goats; on the right hand of the Final Judge, or
"else on the left. There are Speeches which can be called
"true; and, again, Speeches which are not true: -- Heavens,
"only think what these latter are! Sacked wind, which you
"are intended to sow, -- that you may reap the whirlwind!
"After long reading, I find Chatham's Speeches to be what he
"pretends they are: true,and worth speaking then and there.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. ni. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 73
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"Noble indeed, I can call them with you: the highly noble
"Foreshadow, necessary preface and accompaniment of
"Actions which are still nobler. A very singular phenomenon
"within those walls, or without!
"Pitt, though nobly eloquent, is a Man of Action, not of
"Speech: an authentically Royal kind of Man.
And if there
"were a Plutarch in these times, with a good deal of leisure
"on his hands, he might run a Parallel between Friedrich and
"Chatham. Two radiant Kings; very shining Men of Action
"both; both of them hard bested, as the case often is. For
"your born King will generally have, if not 'all Europe
"against him,' at least pretty much all the Universe. Chat-
"ham's course to Kingship was not straight or smooth, -- as
"Friedrich, too, had his well-nigh fatal difficulties on the
"road. Again says the Plutarch, they are very brave men
"both; and of a clearness and veracity peculiar among their
"contemporaries. In Chatham, too, there is something of the
"flash of steel; a very sharp-cutting, penetrative, rapid in-
"dividual, he too; and shaped for action, first of all, though
"he has to talk so much in the world. Fastidious, proud, no
"King could be prouder, though his element is that of Free-
"Senate and Democracy. And he has a beautiful poetic
"delicacy, withal; great tenderness in him, playfulness,
"grace; in all ways, an airy as well as a solid loftiness of
"mind. Not born a King, -- alas, no, not officially so; only
"naturally so; has his kingdom to seek. The Conquering of
"Silesia, the Conquering of the Pelham Parliaments -- But
"we will shut up the Plutarch with time on his hands.
"Pitt's Speeches, as I spell them from Walpole and the
"other faint tracings left, are full of genius in the vocal kind,
"far beyond any Speeches delivered in Parliament: serious
"always, and the very truth, such as he has it; but going in
"many dialects and modes; full of airy flashings, twinkles
"and coruscations. Sport, as of sheet-lightning glancing
"about, the bolt lying under the horizon; bolt hidden, as is fit, "under such a horizon as he had. A singularly radiant man.
"Could have been a Poet, too, in some small measure, had
"he gone on that line. There are many touches of genius,
"comic, tragic, lyric, something of humour even, to be read
"in those Shadows of Speeches taken down for us by Wal-
"pole. * *
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 74 SEVEN-YEARS WAR 7USES TO A HEIGHT, [book xvm.
Oth May -- 13th June 1757.
"In one word, Pitt, shining like a gleam of sharp steel in
"that murk of contemptibilities, is carefully steering his way
"towards Kingship over it. Tragical it is (especially in Pitt s
"case, first and last) to see a Royal Man, or Born King,
"wading towards his throne in such an element. But, alas,
"the Born King (even when he tries, which I take to be the
"rarer case) so seldom can arrive there at all;--sinfulEpochs
"there are, when Heaven's curse has been spoken, and it is
"that awful Being, the Born Sham-King, that arrives! Pitt,
"however, does it. Yes; and the more we study Pitt, the more
"we shall find he does it in a peculiarly high, manful, and
"honourable as well as dextrous manner; and that English
"History has a right to call him 'the acme and highest man
"of Constitutional Parliaments; the like of whom was not in
"any Parliament called Constitutional, nor will again be. '
>>
Well, probably enough; too probably! But what it
more concerns us to remember here, is the fact, That
in these dismal shufflings which have been, Pitt, -- in
spite of Royal dislikes and Newcastle peddlings and
chicaneries, -- has been actually in Office, in the
due topmost place, the poor English Nation ardently
demanding him, in what ways it could. Been in
Office; -- and is actually out again, in spite of the
Nation. Was without real power in the Royal Councils;
though of noble promise, and planting himself down,
hero-like, evidently bent on work, and on ending that
unutterable "St . Vitus'-dance" that had gone so high
all round him. Without real power, we say; and has
had no permanency. Came in, 11th-19th November
1756; thrown out, 5th April 1757. After six months
trial, the St. Vitus finds that it cannot do with him;
and will prefer going on again. The last act his Royal
Highness of Cumberland did in England was to displace
Pitt: "Down you, lam the man! " said Royal Highness;
and went to the Weser Countries on those terms.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 75
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
Would the reader wish to see, in summary, what
Pitt's Offices have been, since he entered on this career
about thirty years ago? Here, from our Historian, is
the List of them in order of time; Stages of PitCs Course,
he calls it:
1? . "December 1734, Comes into Parliament, age now
"twenty-six; Cornet in the Blues as well; being poor, and in "absolute need of some career that will suit. April 1736,
"makes his First Speech: -- Prince Frederick the subject, --
"who was much used as battering-ram by the Opposition;
"whom perhaps Pitt admired for his madrigals, for his Liter-
"ary patronisings, and favour to the West-Wickham set.
"Speech, full of airy lightning, was much admired. Followed
"by many, with the lightning getting denser and denser;
"always on the Opposition side (once on the Jenkins's-Ear
Question, as we saw, when the Gazetteer Editor spelt him Mr.
Pitts): "so that Majesty was very angry, sulky Public much
"applausive; and Walpole was heard to say, 'We must
"muzzle, in some way, that terrible Cornet ofHorsel'-- but
"could not, on trial; this man's'price,' as would seem, being
"awfully high! August-October 1744, Sarah Duchess of Marl-
"borough bequeathed him 10,000 L, as Commissariat equip-
"ment in this his Campaign against the Mudgods,* -- glory
"to the old Heroine for so doing! Which lifted Pitt out of the
"Cornetcy or Horseguards element, I fancy; and was as the
"nailing of his Parliamentary colours to the mast.
2". "February 14th, 1746, Vice-Treasurer for Ireland: on
"occasion of that Pelham-Granville 'As-you-were! ' (Carteret
"Ministry, which lasted One Day), and the slight shufflings
"that were necessary. Now first in Office, ? after such Ten
"Years of colliding and conflicting, and fine steering in diffi-
"cult waters. Vice-Treasurer for Ireland: and 'soon after, on
"Lord Wilmington's death,' Paymaster of theForces. Continued
"Paymaster about nine years. Rejects, quietly and totally,
"the big income derivable from Interest of Government
"Moneys lying delayed in the Paymaster's hand (' Dishonest,
"1 tell you! ') -- and will none of it, though poor. Not yet
* Thackeray, i. 138.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 7G SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT. [BOOK XVIII.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"high, still low over the horizon, but shining brighter and
"brighter. Greatly contemptuous of Newcastle ana the Pla-
titudes and Poltrooneries; and still a good deal in the Op-
position strain, -- and not always tempering the wind to the
"shorn lamb. For example, Pitt (still Paymaster) to New-
"castle on King of the Romans Question (1752 or so): 'You
"engage forSubsidies, not knowing their extent; forTreaties,
"not knowing the terms! ' -- 'What a bashaw! ' moanNew-
? "castle and the top Officials. 'Best way is, don't mind it,'
"said Mr. Stone" (one of their terriers, -- a hard-headed
fellow, whose brother became Primate of Ireland by and by). 3? . "November 20th, 1755, Thrown out: -- on Pelham's
"death, and the general hurlyburly in Official regions, and
"change of partners with no little difficulty, which had then
"ensued! Sir Thomas Robinson," our old friend, "made
"Secretary, -- not found to answer. Pitt sulkily looking on
"America, on Minorca; on things German, on things in
"general; warily set on returning, as is thought; but How?
"Fox to Pitt: 'Will you join mef-- Pitt: 'No,' --with such
"politeness, but in an unmistakable way! Ten months of con-
summate steering on the part of Pitt; Chancellor Hardwicke
"coming as messenger, he among others; Pitt's answer to him
"dextrous, modestly royal. Pitt's bearing, in this grand
"juncture and crisis, is royal, his speakings and also his
"silences notably fine. October 20th, 1756: to Newcastle face
"to face, 'I will accept no situation under your Grace! ' --
"and, about that day month, comes in, on his own footing.
"That is to say,
"November 19th, 1756, to England's great comfort, Sees
"himself Secretary of State (age now just forty-eight. ) Has
"pretty much all England at his back; but has, in face of him, ?
"Fox, Newcastle and Company, offering mere impediment
"and discouragement; Royal Highness of Cumberland looking
"deadly sour. Till finally,
"April 5th, 1757, King bids him resign; Royal Highness
"setting off for Germany the second day after. Pitt had been
"in rather more than Four months. England, at that time a
"silent Country in comparison, knew not well what to do;
"took to offering him Freedoms of Corporations in very great
"quantity. Town after Town, from all the four winds, sym-
pathetically firing off, upon a misguided Sacred Majesty,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 77
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"its little Box, in this oblique way, with extraordinary
"diligence. Whereby, after six-months bombardment by
"Boxes, and also by Events, JuneWth, 1757 "--We will expect
June 29th*
In these sad circumstances, Preparations, so-called,
have been making for Hanover, for America; -- such
preparations as were never seen before. Take only
one instance; let one be enough:
"By the London Gazette, well on in February 1756, we
"learn that Lord Loudon, a military gentleman of small
"faculty, but of good connexions, has been nominated to
"command the Forces in America; and then, more obscurely,
"some days after, that another has been nominated: -- one of
"them ought certainly to make haste out, if he could; the
"French, by account, have 25,000 men in those countries,
"with real officers to lead them! Haste out, however, is not
''what this Lord Loudon or his rival can make. In March, we
"learn that Lord Loudon has been again nominated; in an
"improved manner, this time; --and still does not look like
"going. 'Again nominated, why again? ' Alas, reader, there
"have beenhysterical fidgettings in a high quarter; internal
"shiftings and shufflings, contradictions, new proposals, one
"knows not what. ** One asks only: How is the business ever
"to be done, if you cannot even settle what imbecile is to go
"and try it?
"Seldom had Country more need of a Commander than
"America now. America itself is of willing mind; and surely
"has resources, in such a Cause; but is full of anarchies as
"well: the different States and sections of it, with their dis-
crepant Legislatures, their half-drilled Militias, pulling each
"a different way, there is, as in the poor Mother Country, little
"result except of the St. Vitus kind. In some Legislatures are
"anarchic Quakers, who think it unpermissible to fight with
"those hectoring French, and their tail of scalping Indians j
* Thackeray, I. 231, 264. Almon, Anecdotes of Pitt (London, 1810),
I. 151, 182, 218.
** Gentleman's Magazine for 1756, pp. 92, 150, 369,150.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 78 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book xvm.
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
"and that the 'method of love' ought to be tried with them.
"What is to become of those poor people, if not even a Lord
"Loudon can get out? "
The result was, Lord Loudon had not in his own
poor person come to hand in America till August 1756,
Season now done; and could only write home, "All is
St. Vitus out here! Must have reinforcement of 10,000
men! " "Yes," answers Pitt, who is now in Office: "you
shall have them; and we will take Cape Breton, please
Heaven! " -- but was thrown out; and by the wrigglings
that ensued, nothing of the 10,000 reached Lord Loudon
till Season 1757 too was done. Nor did they then stead
his Lordship much, then or afterwards; who never took
Cape Breton, nor was like doing it; -- but wriggled
too and fro a good deal, and revolved on his axis, ac-
cording to pattern given. And set (what chiefly in-
duces us to name him here) his not reverent enough
Subordinate, Lord Charles Hay, our old Fontenoy
friend, into angry impatient quizzing of him; -- and
by and by into Court Martial for such quizzing. * Court
Martial, which was much puzzled by the case; and
could decide nothing, but only adjourn and adjourn; --
as we will now do, not mentioning Lord Loudon farther,
or the numerous other instances at all.
Pitt, we just saw, far from being confirmed and
furthered, has been thrown out by Royal Highness of
Cumberland, the last thing before crossing to that ex-
quisite Weser Problem. "Nothing now left at home
to hinder and our Hanover and Weser Problem! "
thinks Royal Highness. No, indeed: a comfortable
pacific No-government, or Battle of the Four Elements,
left yonder; the Anarch Old waggling his addle head
* Peerage Books, ? Tweeddale.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP m. ] PRAG CANNOT BE GOT AT ONCE. 79
9th May -- 13th June 1757.
over it; ready to help everybody, and bring fire and
water, and Yes and No, into holy matrimony, if he
could! -- Let us return to Prag. Only one remark
more; upon "April 5th. " That was the Day of Pitt's
Dismissal at St. James's: and I find, at Schonbrunn it
is likewise the day when Reiche-Hofrath (Kaiser in
Privy Council) decides, in respect to Friedrich, that
Ban of the Reich must be proceeded with, and recom-
mends Reich's Diet to get through with the same. *
Official England ordering its Pitt into private life, and
Official Teutschland its Friedrich into outlawry ("Be
quiet henceforth, both of you! ") -- are, by chance,
synchronous phenomena. *
Phenomena of Prag Siege: -- PragSiege is interrupted.
Friedrich's Siege of Prag proved tedious beyond ex-
pectation. In four days he had done that exploit in
1744; but now, to the world's disappointment, in as
many weeks he cannot. Nothing was omitted on his
part: he seized all egresses from Prag, rapidly enough;
had beset them with batteries, on the very night or
morrow of the Battle \ every egress beset, cannon and
ruin forbidding any issue there. On the 9th of May,
cannonading began; proper siege-cannon and ammuni-
tion, coming up from Dresden, were completely come
May 19th; after which the place is industriously bat-
tered, bombarded with redhot balls; but except by
hunger, it will not do. Prag, as a fortress, is weak,
but as a breastwork for 50,000 men it is strong. The
Austrians tried sallies; but these availed nothing, --
very ill-conducted, say some. The Prussians, more
* Uelden-Geschichte (Reiuhs-Procedures, ubi supri).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn6m83 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 80 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book Xvirf.
19th -- 24th May 1757.
than once, had nearly got into the place by surprisal;
but, owing to mere luck of the Austrians, never could,
-- say the same parties. *
A Diarium of Prag Siege is still extant, Two Dia-
riums; punctual diurnal account, both Austrian and
Prussian:** which it is far from our intention to inflict
on readers, in this haste.
