In Life, as on
railways
at
certain points, ,-- whether you know it or not, there
is but an inch, this way or that, into what tram you
are shunted; but try to get out of it again!
certain points, ,-- whether you know it or not, there
is but an inch, this way or that, into what tram you
are shunted; but try to get out of it again!
Thomas Carlyle
But they cannot speak nor
appeal for themselves; History has them much at
discretion. Rude burial urns, with a handful of ashes
in them, have been dug up in different places; these
are all the Archives and Histories the Quadi now
have. It appears their name signifies Wicked. They
are those poor Quadi (Wicked People) who always go
along with the Marcomanni (Marchmen), in the beadroll
Histories one reads; and I almost guess they must have
been of the same stock: "Wickeds and Borderers;''
considered, on both sides of the Border, to belong to
the Dangerous Classes in those times. Two things are
certain: First, quad and its derivatives have, to this
day, in the speech of rustic Germans, something of that
meaning, -- "nefarious," at least "injurious," "hate-
ful, and to be avoided:" for example, quad&el, "a*
nettle-burn;" quetschen, "to smash" (say, your thumb
while hammering); &c. &c. And then a second thing:
The Polish equivalent word is Zle (Biisching says
Zlezi); hence Zlezien, Schlesien, meaning merely Batl-
land, Quadland, what we might call Damagitis. , or
Country where you get into Trouble. That is the
etymology, or what passes for such. As to the History
of Schlesien, hitherwards of these burial urns dug up
in different places, I notice, as not yet entirely buriable,
Three Epochs.
First Epoch; Christianity: a. d. 966. Introduction of Chris-
tianity; to the length of founding a Bishoprick that year, so
hopeful were the aspects; "Bishoprick of Schmoger"
(Schmnyram, dim little Village still discoverable on the Polish
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? chap, i. ]
177
OF SCHLESIEN.
Uth-lCth Dec. 1710.
frontier, not far from the Town of Namslau); Bishoprick
which, after one removal farther inward, got across the Oder,
to "Wratislav," which we now callBreslau; and sticks there,
as Bishoprick of Breslau, to this day. Year 966: it was in
Adalbert, our Prussian Saint and Missionary's younger time.
Pleaching, by zealous Polacks, must have been going on,
while Adalbert, Bright in Nobleness, was studying at
Magdeburg, and ripening for high things in the general
estimation. This was a new gift from the Polacks, this of
Christianity; an infinitely more important one than that nick-
name of "Zlezien," or u Damagitia. " stuck upon the poor
Country, had been.
Second Epoch; Gel gradually cut loose from Poland: a. d.
1139-1159. Twenty years of great trouble in Poland, which
were of lasting benefit to Schlesien. In 1139 the Polack King,
a very potent Majesty whom we could name but do not, died;
and left his Dominions shared by punctual bequest among his
five sons. Punctual bequest did avail: but the eldest Son
(who was King, and had Schlesien with much else to his share)
began to encroach, to grasp; upon which the others rose upon
him, flung him out into exile; redivided; and hoped now they
might have quiet. Hoped, but were disappointed; and could
come to no sure bargain for the next twenty years, -- not till
"the eldest brother," first author of these strifes, "died an
exile in Holstein," or was just about dying, and had agreed
to take Schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth.
His, this eldest's, Three Sons did accordingly, in 1159,
get Schlesien instead of him; their uncles proving honourable.
Schlesien thereby was happy enough to get cut loose from
Poland, and to continue loose; steering a course of its own;
-- parting farther and farther from Poland and its habits and
fortunes. These Three Sons, of the late Polish Majesty who
died in exile in Holstein, are the "Piast Dukes," much talked
of in Silesian Histories: of whose merits I specify this only,
That they so soon as possible strove to be German. They
were Progenitors of all "the Piast Dukes," Proprietors of
Schlesien thenceforth, till the last of them died out in 1675, --
and a certain Erbverbriiderung they had entered into could not
take effect at that time. Their merits as Sovereign Dukes
seem to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom and
nobleness of mind not rare among them; and no doubt it was
Corljie, Frederick the Great. VI. 12
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? 178
FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book Xn.
13th-l6th Dec. 174. 0.
partly their merit, if partly also their good luck, that they took
to Germany, and leant thitherward; steering looser and looser
from Poland, in their new circumstances. They themselves
by degrees became altogether German; their Countries, by
silent immigration, introduction of the arts, the composures
and sobrieties, became essentially so. On the eastern rim
there is still aPolack remnant, its territories very sandy, its
condition very bad; remnant which surely ought to cease its
Polack jargon, and learn some dialect of intelligible Teutsch,
as the first condition of improvement. In all other parts,
Teutsch reigns; and Schlesien is a green abundant Country;
full of metallurgy, damask-weaving, grain-husbandry, in-
stead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, rags, dirt, and Nie
Pozwalam.
a. d. 1327; Get completely cut loose. The Piast Dukes, who
soon ceased to be Polish, and hung rather upon Bohemia, and
thereby upon Germany, made a great step in that direction,
when King Johann, old Ich-Dicn whom we ought to recollect,
persuaded most of them, all of them but two, "pretio ac prece,"
to become Feudatories (Quasi-Feudatories, but of a sovereign
sort) to his Crown of Bohemia. The two who stood out, re-
sisting prayer and price, were the Duke of Jauer and the
Duke of Schweidnitz, -- lofty-minded gentlemen, perhaps a
thought too lofty. But these also Johann's son, little Kaiser
KarirV. , "marrying their heiress," contrived to bring in; --
one fruitful adventure of little Karl's, among the many waste-
ful he made, in the German Reich. Schlesien is henceforth 8
bit of the Kingdom of Bohemia; indissolubly hooked to Ger-
many; and its progress in the arts and composures, under
wise Piasts with immigrating Germans, we guess to have be-
come doubly rapid. *
Third Epoch; Adopt the Reformation: a. d. 1414-1517. Schle-
sien , hanging to Bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted
Huss's doctrines; still more extensively Luther's; and that
was a difficult element in its lot, though, I believe, an un-
speakably precious one. It cost above a Century of sad
tumults, Zisca Wars; nay above Two Centuries, including
the sad Thirty-years War; -- which miseries, in Bohemia
Proper, were sometimes very sad and even horrible. But
Schlesien, the outlying Country, did, in all this, suffer less
* Busching, Erdbeschrcibitng, viii. 725; Hubner, t. 94.
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? CHAP. I. ] OP SCHLESIEN. 179
13a-16th Dec. 1740.
than Bohemia Proper; and did not lose its Evangelical Doc-
trine in result, as unfortunate Bohemia did, and sink into
sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big Crucifixes of japanned Tin
by the wayside," though in the course of subsequent years,
named of Peace, it was near doing so. Here are the steps, or
unavailing counter-steps, in that latter direction:
a. d. 1537. Occurred, as we know, the Erbverbrilderung;
Duke of Liegnitz, and of other extensive heritages, making
Deed of Brotherhood with Kur-Brandenburg; -- Deed for-
bidden, and so far as might be, rubbed out and annihilated
by the then King of Bohemia, subsequently Kaiser, Ferdi-
nand I. , Karl V. s Brother. Duke of Liegnitz had to give up
his parchments, and become zero in that matter: Kur-Bran-
denburg entirely refused to do so; kept his parchments, to see
if they would not turn to something.
a. d. 1624. Schlesien, especially the then Duke of Liegnitz
(great-grandson of the Erboerbriiderung one), and poor Johann
George, Duke of Jagerndorf, cadet of the then Kur-Branden-
burg, went warmly ahead into the Winter-King project, first
fire of the Thirty-years War; sufferings from Papal en-
croachment , in high quarters, being really extreme. Warmly
ahead; and had to smart sharply for it; --poor Johann George
with forfeiture of Jagerndorf, with Reiches-Acht (Ban of the
Empire), and total ruin; fighting against which he soon died.
Act of Ban and Forfeiture was done tyrannously, said most
men; and it was persisted in equally so, till men ceased speak-
ing of it;-- Jagerndorf Duchy, fruit of the Act, was held by
Austria, ever after, in defiance of the Laws of the Reich.
Religious Oppression lay heavy on Protestant Schlesien
thenceforth; and many lukewarm individualities were brought
back to Orthodoxy by that method, successful in the diligent
skilled hands of Jesuit Reverend Fathers, with fiscals and
soldiers in the rear of them.
a. d. 1648. Treaty of Westphalia mended much of this, and
set fair limits to Papist encroachment; -- had said Treaty
been kept: but how could it? By Orthodox Authority, anxious
to recover lost souls, or at least to have loyal subjects, it was
publicly kept in name; and tacitly, in substance, it was
violated more and more. -- Of the "Blossoming of Silesian
Literature," spoken of in Books; of the Poet Opitz, Poets
Logau, Hoffmannswaldau, who burst into a kind of Song
12*
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? 180 FIRST SILESIAH WAR. [boOKHI.
13th-10th Dec. 1740,
better or worse at this Period, we will remember nothing; but
request the reader to remember it, if he is tunefully given, or
thinks it a good symptom of Schlesien.
a. d. 1707. Treaty of Altranstadt: between Kaiser Joseph!
and Karl XII. Swedish Karl, marching through those parts,
-- out of Poland, in chase of August the Physically Strong,
towards Saxony^ there to beat him soft, -- was waited upon
by Silesian Deputations of a lamentable nature; was en-
treated, for the love of Christ and His Evangel, to "Protect
us poor Protestants, and get the Treaty of Westphalia
observed on our behalf, and fair play shown! " Which Karl
did; Kaiser Joseph, with such weight of French War lying
on him, being much struck with the tone of that dangerous
Swede. The Pope rebuked Kaiser Joseph for such compliance
in the Silesian matter: "Holy Father," answered this Kaiser
(not of distinguished orthodoxy in the House), "I am too
flad he did not ask me to become Lutheran; I know not how
should have helped myself! *"
These are the Three Epochs; -- most things, in re-
spect of this Third or Reformation Epoch, stepping
steadily downward hitherto. As to the Fourth Epoch,
dating "13th Dec. 1740," which continues, up to our
day and farther, and is the final and crowning Epoch
of Silesian History, -- read in the following Chapters.
* Pauli, Allqemeine PreusHscheStaats-Geschichle (viii. 298-592); Biisch-
ing, Erdbeschreibung (viii. 700-39); &c. -- Heinrich Wuttke, Fiiedrichs dcs
Grossen Besitzergreifung von Schlesien (Seizure of Silesia by Friedrich,
2 voll. Leipzig, 1843), I mention only lest ingenuous readers should be
tempted by the Title to buy it. Wuttke begins at the Creation of the
World; and having, in two heavy volumes, at last struggled down close
to the Besiizcrjreifung or Seizure in question, calls halt; and stands (at
ease, we will hope) immovably there for the seventeen years since.
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? cnAP. n. l FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU.
181
13th-16th Dec. 1740.
CHAPTER II.
FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU.
At what hour Friedrich ceased dancing on that
famous Ball-night of Bielfeld's, and how long he slept
after, or whether at all, no Bielfeld even mythically
says: but next morning, as is patent to all the world,
Tuesday 13th December 1740, at the stroke of nine,
he steps into his carriage; and with small escort rolls
away towards Frankfurt-on-Oder; * out upon an Enter-
prise which will have results for himself and others.
Two youngish military men, Adjutants-General
both, were with him, Wartenslcben, Borck; both once
fellow Captains in the Potsdam Giants, and much in
his intimacy ever since. Wartensleben we once saw
at Brunswick, on a Masonic occasion; Borck, whom we
here see for the first time, is not the Colonel Borck
(properly Major-General) who did the Herstal Opera-
tion lately; still less is he the venerable old Minister,
Marlborough Veteran, and now Field-Marshal Borck,
whom Hotham treated with, on a certain occasion.
There are numerous Borcks always in the King's ser-
vice; nor are these three, except by loose cousinry, re-
lated to one another. The Borcks all come from
Stettin quarter; a brave kindred, and old enough, --
"Old as the Devil, Das ist so old als de Borcken und
de Duwel" says the Pomeranian Proverb; -- the Ad-
jutant-General, a junior member of the clan, chances
to be the notablest of them at this moment. Wartens-
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 452; Preuss, Throttbetteigung, p. 456.
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? 182 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book HI.
13th-10th Dec. 1740.
leben, Borck, and a certain Colonel von der Golz,
whom also the King much esteems, these are his com-
pany on this drive. For escort, or guard of honour
out of Berlin to the next stages, there is a small body
of Hussars, Life-guard and other Cavalry, "perhaps
500 horse in all. "
They drive rapidly, through the gray Winter;
reach Frankfurt on the Oder, sixty miles or more;
where no doubt there is military business waiting.
They are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, forty
miles farther, at a small Town called Crossen, which
looks over into Silesia; and is, for the present, head-
quarters to a Prussian Army, standing ready there
and in the environs. Standing ready, or hourly march-
ing in, and rendezvousing; now about 28,000 strong,
horse and foot. A Rearguard of Ten or Twelve
Thousand will march from Berlin in two days, pause
hereabouts, and follow according to circumstances:
Prussian Army will then be some 40,000 in all.
Schwerin has been Commander, manager and main-
spring of the business hitherto: henceforth it is to be
the King; but Schwerin under him will still have a
Division of his own.
Among the Regiments, we notice "Schulenburg
Horse-Grenadiers," -- come along from Landsberg
hither, these Horse-Grenadiers, with little Schulenburg
at the head of them; -- "Dragoon Regiment Bay-
reuth," "Lifeguard Carbineers," "Derschau of Foot;"
and other Regiments and figures slightly known to us,
or that will be better known. * Rearguard, just getting
under way at Berlin, has for leaders the Prince of
Holstein-Beck ("Holstem-Vaisselle," say wags, since
* List in Helden-Geschichte, i. 453.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 183
13th-16th Dec. 1740.
the Principality went all to Silver-Plate) and the
Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, whom we called
the Young Dessauer, on the Strasburg Journey lately:
Rearguard, we say, is of 12,000; main Army is 28,000;
Horse and Foot are in the proportion of about 1 to 3.
Artillery "consists of 20 three-pounders; 4 twelve-
"pounders; 4 howitzers (Ilaubitzen); 4 big mortars,
"calibre fifty-pounds; and of Artillerymen 166 in
"all. "
With this Force the young King has, on his own
basis (pretty much in spite of all the world, as we find
now and afterwards), determined to invade Silesia, and
lay hold of the Property he has long had there; --
not computing, for none can compute, the sleeping
whirlwinds he may chance to awaken thereby. Thus
lightly does a man enter upon Enterprises which
prove unexpectedly momentous, and shape the whole
remainder of his days for him; crossing the Rubicon
as it were in his sleep.
In Life, as on railways at
certain points, ,-- whether you know it or not, there
is but an inch, this way or that, into what tram you
are shunted; but try to get out of it again! "The man
is mad, cet homme-la est foil" said Louis XV. when he
heard it. *
Friedrich at Crossen, and still in his own Territory,
lith-16th Dec; -- steps into Schlesien.
At all events, the man means to try; -- and is here
dining at Crossen, noon of Wednesday the 14th;
* Raamer, Beitrdge (English Translation, called Frederick II, and his
Times; from British Museum and State-Paper Office; -- a very indistinct
poor Book, in comparison with what it might have been), p. 73 (24th Dec.
1740).
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? 184 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book xn.
l6th Dec. 1740.
certain important persons, -- especially two Silesian
Gentlemen, deputed from Griinberg, the nearest Silesian
Town, who have come across the border on business,
-- having the honour to dine with him. To whom his
manner is lively and affable; lively in mood, as if
there lay no load upon his spirits. The business of
these two Silesian Gentlemen, a Baron von Hocke one
of them, a Baron von Kestlitz the other, was To pre-
sent, on the part of the Town and Amt of Griinberg,
a solemn Protest against this meditated entrance on
the Territory of Schlesien; Government itself, from
Breslau, ordering them to do so. Protest was duly
presented; Friedrich, as his manner is, and continues
to be on his march, glances politely into or at the
Protest; hands it, in silence, to some page or secretary
to reposit in the due^pigeon-hole or waste-basket; and
invites the two Silesian Gentlemen to dine with him;
as, we see, they have the honour to do. "He (Er)
lives near Griinberg, then, Mein Herr von Hocke? "
"Close to it, Ihro Majeatdt. My poor mansion, Schloss
of Deutsch-Kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; how in-
finitely at your Majesty's service, should the march
prove inevitable, and go that way! " -- "Well, per-
paps! " I 'find Friedrich did dine, the second day
hence, with one of these Gentlemen; and lodged with
the other. Government at Breslau has ordered such
Protest, on the part of the Frontier populations and
Official persons; and this is all that comes of it.
During these hours, it chanced that the big Bell of
Crossen dropped from its steeple, -- fulness of time, or
entire rottenness of axletree, being at last completed,
at this fateful moment. Perhaps an ominous thing?
Friedrich, as Caesar and others have done, cheerfully
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 185
16th Dec. 1740.
interprets the omen to his own advantage: "Sign that
the High is to be brought low! " says Friedrich. Were
the march-routes, wagon-trains, and multifarious ad-
justments perfect to the last item here at Crossen, he
will with much cheerfulness step into Silesia, inde-
pendent of all Griinberg Protests and fallen Bells.
On the second day he does actually cross; "the
"regiments marching in, at different points; some
"reaching as far as 25 miles in. " It is Friday 16th
Dec. 1740; there has a game begun which will last
long! They went through the Village of Lasgen; that
was the first point of Silesian ground ("Circle of
Schwiebus," our old friend, is on the left near by); and
"Schwerin's regiment was the foremost. " Others cross
more to the left or right; "marching through the Vil-
lage of Lessen," and other dim Villages and little
Towns, round and beyond Griinberg; all regiments and
divisions bearing upon Griinberg and the Great Road;
but artistically portioned out, -- several miles in breadth
(for the sake of quarters), and, as is generally the
rule, about a day's march in length. This evening
nearly the whole Army was on Silesian ground.
Printed "Patent" or Proclamation, briefly assuring
all Silesians, of whatever rank, condition or religion,
"That we have come as friends to them, and will pro-
tect all persons in their privileges, and molest no peace-
able mortal," is posted on Church-doors, and exten-
sively distributed by hand. Soldiers ale forbidden,
"under penalty of the rods," Officers under that of
"cassation with infamy," to take anything, without first
bargaining and paying ready money for it. On these
terms the Silesian villages cheerfully enough accept
their new guests, interesting to the rural mind; and
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? 186
[book xn.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
16th Dec. 1748.
though the billetting was rather heavy, "as many as
24 soldiers to a common Farmer (Gartner),'' no com-
plaints were made. In one Schloss, where the owners
had fled, and no human response was to be had by the
wayworn soldiery, there did occur some breakages and
impatient kickings about; which it grieved his Majesty
to hear of, next morning; -- in one, not in more.
Official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely
passive. This was the Bib-germeister's course at Griin-
berg to-night; Griinberg, first Town on the Frontier,
sets an example of passivity which cannot be surpassed.
Prussian troops being at the Gate of Griinberg, Biirger-
meister and adjuncts sitting in a tacit expectant con-
dition in their Townhall, there arrives a Prussian Lieu-
tenant requiring of the Biirgermeister the Key of said
Gate. "To deliver such Key? Would to God I durst
"Mein Herr Lieutenant; but how dare I! There is the
"Key lying: but to give it -- You are not the Queen
"of Hungary's Officer, I doubt? " -- The Prussian
Lieutenant has to put out hand, and take the Key:
which he readily does. And on the morrow, in return-
ing it, when the march recommences, there are the
same phenomena: Biirgermeister or assistants dare not
for the life of them touch that Key: It lay on the
table; and may again, in the course of Providence,
come to lie! -- The Prussian Lieutenant lays it down
accordingly, and hurries out, with a grin on his face.
There was much small laughter over this transaction;
Majesty himself laughing well at it. Higher perfection
of passivity no Biirgermeister could show.
The march, as readers understand, is towards
Glogau; a strongish Garrison Town, now some 40 miles
ahead; the key of Northern Schlesien. Griinberg
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDKICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 187
16th Dec. 1740.
(where my readers once slept for the night, in the late
King's time, though they have forgotten it) is the first
and only considerable Town on the hither side of
Glogau. On to Glogau, I rather perceive, the Army
is in good part provisioned before starting: after
Glogau -- we must see. Bread-wagons, Baggage-
wagons, Ammunition-and-Artillery-wagons, all is in
order; Army artistically portioned out. That is the
form of march; with Glogau ahead. King, as we said
above, dines with his Baron von Hocke, at the Schloss
of Deutsch-Kessel, short way beyond Griinberg, this
first day: but he by no means loiters there; -- cuts
across, a dozen miles westward, through a country
where Ms vanguard on its various lines of march ought
to be arriving; -- and goes to lodge, at the Schloss of
Schweinitz, with his other Baron, the Von Kestlitz, of
Wednesday at Crossen. * This is Friday 16th De-
cember, his first night on Silesian ground.
What Glogau, and the -Government at Sreslau, did
upon it.
Silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least
prepared for him. A month ago, there were not above
3,000 Austrian Foot and 600 Horse in the whole
Province: neither the military Governor Count Wallis,
nor the Imperial Court, nor any Official Person near
or far, had the least anticipation of such a Visit.
Count Wallis, who commands in Glogau, did in per-
son, nine or ten days ago, as the rumours rose ever
higher, run over to Crossen; saw with his eyes the un-
deniable there; and has been. zealously endeavouring
ever since, what he could, to take measures. Wallis is
* Helden-Geschichle,i. ib? .
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? 188
[book XV.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
10th Dec. 1710.
now shut in Glogau; his second, the now Acting Gov-
ernor, General Browne, a still more reflective man, is
doing likewise his utmost; but on forlorn terms, and
without the least guidance from Court. Browne has,
by violent industry, raked together, from Mahren and
the neighbouring countries, certain fractions which
raise his Force to 7,000 Foot: these he throws, in
small parties, into the defensible points; or, in larger,
into the Chief Garrisons. New Cavalry he cannot get;
the old 600 Horse he keeps for himself, all the march-
ing Army he has. *
Fain would he get possession ofBreslau, and throw
in some garrison there; but cannot. Neither he nor
Wallis could compass that. Breslau is a City divided
against itself, on this matter; full of emotions, of ex-
pectations, apprehensions for and against. There is a
Supreme Silesian Government (Obcr-Amt, "Head-Of-
fice," kind of Austrian Vice-Royalty) in Breslau; and
there is, on Breslau's own score, a Town-Rath; strictly
Catholic both these, Vienna the breath of their nostrils.
But then also there are forty-four Incorporated Trades;
Oppressed-Protestant in majority; to whom Vienna is
not breath, but rather the want of it. Lastly, the City
calls itself Free; and has crabbed privileges still valid:
a "jus prasidii" (or right to be one's own garrison) one
of them, and the most inconvenient just now. Breslau
is a Reichs-Stadt; in theory, sovereign member of the
Reich, and supreme over its own affairs, even as
Austria itself: -- and the truth is, old Theory and
new Fact, resolved not to quarrel, have lapsed into
one another's arm in a quite inextricable way, in
* Particulars in Helden-Gcschichte, i. 465; total of Austrian Force
seems to be 7,800 horse and foot.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDR1CH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 189
16th Dec. 1740.
Breslau as elsewhere! With a Head Government which
can get no orders from Vienna, the very Town-Rath
has little alacrity, inclines rather to passivity like
Grimberg; and a silent Population threatens to become
vocal if you press upon it.
Breslau, that is to say the Oher-Amt there, has
sent courier on courier to Vienna for weeks past: not
even an answer; -- what can Vienna answer, with Kur-
Baiern and others threatening war on it, and only
10,0007. in its National Purse? Answer at last is,
"Don't bother! Danger is not so near. Why spend
money on couriers, and get into such a taking? "
General Wallis came to Breslau, after what he had
seen at Crossen; and urged strongly, in the name of
self-preservation, first law of Nature, to get an
Austrian real Garrison introduced; wished much
(horrible to think of! ) "the suburbs should be burnt,
and better ramparts raised:" but could not succeed
in any of these points, nor even mention some of-them
in a public manner. "You shall have a Protestant for
commandant," suggested Wallis; "there is Count von
Roth, Silesian-Lutheran, an excellent Soldier! " --
"Thanks," answered they, "we can defend ourselves;
we had rather not have any! " And the Breslau Burghers
have, accordingly, set to drill themselves; are bringing
out old cannon in quantity; repairing breaches; very
strict in sentry-work: "Perfectly able to defend our
City, -- so far as we see good! " -- Tuesday last,
December 13th (the very day Friedrich left Berlin),
as this matter of the Garrison, long urged by the
Ober-Amt, had at last been got agreed to by the Town-
Rath, "on proviso of consulting the Incorporated
Trades," or at least consulting their Guild-Masters, who
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? 190
[book XII.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
lGth Dec. 1710.
are usually a silent folk, -- the Guild-Masters sud-
denly became in part vocal; and their Forty-four
Guilds unusually so: -- and there was tumult in Bres-
lau, in the Salz-Ring (big central Square or market-
place, which they call Jtinrj) such as had not been;
idle population, and guild-brethren of suspicious hu-
mour, gathering in multitudes into and round the fine
old Town-hall there; questioning, answering, in louder
and louder key; at last bellowing quite in alt; and on
the edge of flaming into one knew not what: * -- till
the matter of Austrian Garrison (much more, of burn-
ing the suburbs! ) had to be dropt; settled in what way
we see.
Head Government (Ober-Amt) has, through its
Northern official people, sent Protest, strict order to
the Silesian Population to look sour on the Prussians:
-- and we saw, in consequence, the Two Silesian Gen-
tlemen did dine with Friedrich, and he has returned
their visits; and the Mayor of Grunberg would not
touch his keys. Head Government is now redacting a
"Patent," or still more solemn Protest of its own;
which likewise it will affix in the Salz-Ring here, and
present to King Friedrich: and this, -- except "des-
patching by boat down the river a great deal of meal
to Glogau," which was an important quiet thing, of
Wallis's enforcing, -- is pretty much all it can do.
No Austrian Garrison can be got in ("Perfectly able
to defend ourselves! ") -- let Government and Wallis
or Browne contrive as they may. And as to burning
the suburbs, better not whisper of that again. Breslau
feels, or would fain feel itself "perfectly able;" --has
at any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains
* Uelden-Geschichle, 1, 469.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 191
16th Dec. 1740.
privately a great deal of Protestant humour. Of all
which, Friedrich, it is not doubted, has notice more or
less distinct; and quickens his march the more.
General Browne is at present in the Southern parts';
an able active man and soldier; but with such a force
what can he attempt to do? There are three strong
places in the Country, Glogau, then Brieg, both on the
Oder river; lastly Neisse, on the Neisse river, a branch
of the Oder (one of the four Neisse rivers there are in
Germany, mostly in Silesia, -- not handy to the ac-
curate reader of German Books). Browne is in Neisse;
and will start into a strange stare when the flying post
reaches him: Prussians actually On march! Debate
with them, if debate there is to be, Browne himself
must contrive to do; from Breslau, from Vienna, no
Government Supreme or Subordinate can yield his
8,000 and him the least help.
Glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least
General Wallis the Commandant does, in spite of the
Glogau public; and is, with his whole might, digging,
palisading, getting-in meal, salt meat and other pro-
vender; -- likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he,
in the small place; and clearing down the outside edi-
fices and shelters, at a diligent rate. Yesterday, 15th
December, he burnt down the "three Oder-Mills, which
"lie outside, the big suburban Tavern, also the Ziegel-
"Scheune (Tile-Manufactory)," and other valuable build-
ings, careless of public lamentation, ---, fire catching
the Town itself, and needing to be quenched again. *
Nay, he was clear for burning down, or blowing up,
the Protestant Church, indispensable sacred edifice
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 473-5.
? ?
appeal for themselves; History has them much at
discretion. Rude burial urns, with a handful of ashes
in them, have been dug up in different places; these
are all the Archives and Histories the Quadi now
have. It appears their name signifies Wicked. They
are those poor Quadi (Wicked People) who always go
along with the Marcomanni (Marchmen), in the beadroll
Histories one reads; and I almost guess they must have
been of the same stock: "Wickeds and Borderers;''
considered, on both sides of the Border, to belong to
the Dangerous Classes in those times. Two things are
certain: First, quad and its derivatives have, to this
day, in the speech of rustic Germans, something of that
meaning, -- "nefarious," at least "injurious," "hate-
ful, and to be avoided:" for example, quad&el, "a*
nettle-burn;" quetschen, "to smash" (say, your thumb
while hammering); &c. &c. And then a second thing:
The Polish equivalent word is Zle (Biisching says
Zlezi); hence Zlezien, Schlesien, meaning merely Batl-
land, Quadland, what we might call Damagitis. , or
Country where you get into Trouble. That is the
etymology, or what passes for such. As to the History
of Schlesien, hitherwards of these burial urns dug up
in different places, I notice, as not yet entirely buriable,
Three Epochs.
First Epoch; Christianity: a. d. 966. Introduction of Chris-
tianity; to the length of founding a Bishoprick that year, so
hopeful were the aspects; "Bishoprick of Schmoger"
(Schmnyram, dim little Village still discoverable on the Polish
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? chap, i. ]
177
OF SCHLESIEN.
Uth-lCth Dec. 1710.
frontier, not far from the Town of Namslau); Bishoprick
which, after one removal farther inward, got across the Oder,
to "Wratislav," which we now callBreslau; and sticks there,
as Bishoprick of Breslau, to this day. Year 966: it was in
Adalbert, our Prussian Saint and Missionary's younger time.
Pleaching, by zealous Polacks, must have been going on,
while Adalbert, Bright in Nobleness, was studying at
Magdeburg, and ripening for high things in the general
estimation. This was a new gift from the Polacks, this of
Christianity; an infinitely more important one than that nick-
name of "Zlezien," or u Damagitia. " stuck upon the poor
Country, had been.
Second Epoch; Gel gradually cut loose from Poland: a. d.
1139-1159. Twenty years of great trouble in Poland, which
were of lasting benefit to Schlesien. In 1139 the Polack King,
a very potent Majesty whom we could name but do not, died;
and left his Dominions shared by punctual bequest among his
five sons. Punctual bequest did avail: but the eldest Son
(who was King, and had Schlesien with much else to his share)
began to encroach, to grasp; upon which the others rose upon
him, flung him out into exile; redivided; and hoped now they
might have quiet. Hoped, but were disappointed; and could
come to no sure bargain for the next twenty years, -- not till
"the eldest brother," first author of these strifes, "died an
exile in Holstein," or was just about dying, and had agreed
to take Schlesien for all claims, and be quiet thenceforth.
His, this eldest's, Three Sons did accordingly, in 1159,
get Schlesien instead of him; their uncles proving honourable.
Schlesien thereby was happy enough to get cut loose from
Poland, and to continue loose; steering a course of its own;
-- parting farther and farther from Poland and its habits and
fortunes. These Three Sons, of the late Polish Majesty who
died in exile in Holstein, are the "Piast Dukes," much talked
of in Silesian Histories: of whose merits I specify this only,
That they so soon as possible strove to be German. They
were Progenitors of all "the Piast Dukes," Proprietors of
Schlesien thenceforth, till the last of them died out in 1675, --
and a certain Erbverbriiderung they had entered into could not
take effect at that time. Their merits as Sovereign Dukes
seem to have been considerable; a certain piety, wisdom and
nobleness of mind not rare among them; and no doubt it was
Corljie, Frederick the Great. VI. 12
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? 178
FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book Xn.
13th-l6th Dec. 174. 0.
partly their merit, if partly also their good luck, that they took
to Germany, and leant thitherward; steering looser and looser
from Poland, in their new circumstances. They themselves
by degrees became altogether German; their Countries, by
silent immigration, introduction of the arts, the composures
and sobrieties, became essentially so. On the eastern rim
there is still aPolack remnant, its territories very sandy, its
condition very bad; remnant which surely ought to cease its
Polack jargon, and learn some dialect of intelligible Teutsch,
as the first condition of improvement. In all other parts,
Teutsch reigns; and Schlesien is a green abundant Country;
full of metallurgy, damask-weaving, grain-husbandry, in-
stead of gasconade, gilt anarchy, rags, dirt, and Nie
Pozwalam.
a. d. 1327; Get completely cut loose. The Piast Dukes, who
soon ceased to be Polish, and hung rather upon Bohemia, and
thereby upon Germany, made a great step in that direction,
when King Johann, old Ich-Dicn whom we ought to recollect,
persuaded most of them, all of them but two, "pretio ac prece,"
to become Feudatories (Quasi-Feudatories, but of a sovereign
sort) to his Crown of Bohemia. The two who stood out, re-
sisting prayer and price, were the Duke of Jauer and the
Duke of Schweidnitz, -- lofty-minded gentlemen, perhaps a
thought too lofty. But these also Johann's son, little Kaiser
KarirV. , "marrying their heiress," contrived to bring in; --
one fruitful adventure of little Karl's, among the many waste-
ful he made, in the German Reich. Schlesien is henceforth 8
bit of the Kingdom of Bohemia; indissolubly hooked to Ger-
many; and its progress in the arts and composures, under
wise Piasts with immigrating Germans, we guess to have be-
come doubly rapid. *
Third Epoch; Adopt the Reformation: a. d. 1414-1517. Schle-
sien , hanging to Bohemia in this manner, extensively adopted
Huss's doctrines; still more extensively Luther's; and that
was a difficult element in its lot, though, I believe, an un-
speakably precious one. It cost above a Century of sad
tumults, Zisca Wars; nay above Two Centuries, including
the sad Thirty-years War; -- which miseries, in Bohemia
Proper, were sometimes very sad and even horrible. But
Schlesien, the outlying Country, did, in all this, suffer less
* Busching, Erdbeschrcibitng, viii. 725; Hubner, t. 94.
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? CHAP. I. ] OP SCHLESIEN. 179
13a-16th Dec. 1740.
than Bohemia Proper; and did not lose its Evangelical Doc-
trine in result, as unfortunate Bohemia did, and sink into
sluttish "fanatical torpor, and big Crucifixes of japanned Tin
by the wayside," though in the course of subsequent years,
named of Peace, it was near doing so. Here are the steps, or
unavailing counter-steps, in that latter direction:
a. d. 1537. Occurred, as we know, the Erbverbrilderung;
Duke of Liegnitz, and of other extensive heritages, making
Deed of Brotherhood with Kur-Brandenburg; -- Deed for-
bidden, and so far as might be, rubbed out and annihilated
by the then King of Bohemia, subsequently Kaiser, Ferdi-
nand I. , Karl V. s Brother. Duke of Liegnitz had to give up
his parchments, and become zero in that matter: Kur-Bran-
denburg entirely refused to do so; kept his parchments, to see
if they would not turn to something.
a. d. 1624. Schlesien, especially the then Duke of Liegnitz
(great-grandson of the Erboerbriiderung one), and poor Johann
George, Duke of Jagerndorf, cadet of the then Kur-Branden-
burg, went warmly ahead into the Winter-King project, first
fire of the Thirty-years War; sufferings from Papal en-
croachment , in high quarters, being really extreme. Warmly
ahead; and had to smart sharply for it; --poor Johann George
with forfeiture of Jagerndorf, with Reiches-Acht (Ban of the
Empire), and total ruin; fighting against which he soon died.
Act of Ban and Forfeiture was done tyrannously, said most
men; and it was persisted in equally so, till men ceased speak-
ing of it;-- Jagerndorf Duchy, fruit of the Act, was held by
Austria, ever after, in defiance of the Laws of the Reich.
Religious Oppression lay heavy on Protestant Schlesien
thenceforth; and many lukewarm individualities were brought
back to Orthodoxy by that method, successful in the diligent
skilled hands of Jesuit Reverend Fathers, with fiscals and
soldiers in the rear of them.
a. d. 1648. Treaty of Westphalia mended much of this, and
set fair limits to Papist encroachment; -- had said Treaty
been kept: but how could it? By Orthodox Authority, anxious
to recover lost souls, or at least to have loyal subjects, it was
publicly kept in name; and tacitly, in substance, it was
violated more and more. -- Of the "Blossoming of Silesian
Literature," spoken of in Books; of the Poet Opitz, Poets
Logau, Hoffmannswaldau, who burst into a kind of Song
12*
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? 180 FIRST SILESIAH WAR. [boOKHI.
13th-10th Dec. 1740,
better or worse at this Period, we will remember nothing; but
request the reader to remember it, if he is tunefully given, or
thinks it a good symptom of Schlesien.
a. d. 1707. Treaty of Altranstadt: between Kaiser Joseph!
and Karl XII. Swedish Karl, marching through those parts,
-- out of Poland, in chase of August the Physically Strong,
towards Saxony^ there to beat him soft, -- was waited upon
by Silesian Deputations of a lamentable nature; was en-
treated, for the love of Christ and His Evangel, to "Protect
us poor Protestants, and get the Treaty of Westphalia
observed on our behalf, and fair play shown! " Which Karl
did; Kaiser Joseph, with such weight of French War lying
on him, being much struck with the tone of that dangerous
Swede. The Pope rebuked Kaiser Joseph for such compliance
in the Silesian matter: "Holy Father," answered this Kaiser
(not of distinguished orthodoxy in the House), "I am too
flad he did not ask me to become Lutheran; I know not how
should have helped myself! *"
These are the Three Epochs; -- most things, in re-
spect of this Third or Reformation Epoch, stepping
steadily downward hitherto. As to the Fourth Epoch,
dating "13th Dec. 1740," which continues, up to our
day and farther, and is the final and crowning Epoch
of Silesian History, -- read in the following Chapters.
* Pauli, Allqemeine PreusHscheStaats-Geschichle (viii. 298-592); Biisch-
ing, Erdbeschreibung (viii. 700-39); &c. -- Heinrich Wuttke, Fiiedrichs dcs
Grossen Besitzergreifung von Schlesien (Seizure of Silesia by Friedrich,
2 voll. Leipzig, 1843), I mention only lest ingenuous readers should be
tempted by the Title to buy it. Wuttke begins at the Creation of the
World; and having, in two heavy volumes, at last struggled down close
to the Besiizcrjreifung or Seizure in question, calls halt; and stands (at
ease, we will hope) immovably there for the seventeen years since.
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? cnAP. n. l FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU.
181
13th-16th Dec. 1740.
CHAPTER II.
FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU.
At what hour Friedrich ceased dancing on that
famous Ball-night of Bielfeld's, and how long he slept
after, or whether at all, no Bielfeld even mythically
says: but next morning, as is patent to all the world,
Tuesday 13th December 1740, at the stroke of nine,
he steps into his carriage; and with small escort rolls
away towards Frankfurt-on-Oder; * out upon an Enter-
prise which will have results for himself and others.
Two youngish military men, Adjutants-General
both, were with him, Wartenslcben, Borck; both once
fellow Captains in the Potsdam Giants, and much in
his intimacy ever since. Wartensleben we once saw
at Brunswick, on a Masonic occasion; Borck, whom we
here see for the first time, is not the Colonel Borck
(properly Major-General) who did the Herstal Opera-
tion lately; still less is he the venerable old Minister,
Marlborough Veteran, and now Field-Marshal Borck,
whom Hotham treated with, on a certain occasion.
There are numerous Borcks always in the King's ser-
vice; nor are these three, except by loose cousinry, re-
lated to one another. The Borcks all come from
Stettin quarter; a brave kindred, and old enough, --
"Old as the Devil, Das ist so old als de Borcken und
de Duwel" says the Pomeranian Proverb; -- the Ad-
jutant-General, a junior member of the clan, chances
to be the notablest of them at this moment. Wartens-
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 452; Preuss, Throttbetteigung, p. 456.
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? 182 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book HI.
13th-10th Dec. 1740.
leben, Borck, and a certain Colonel von der Golz,
whom also the King much esteems, these are his com-
pany on this drive. For escort, or guard of honour
out of Berlin to the next stages, there is a small body
of Hussars, Life-guard and other Cavalry, "perhaps
500 horse in all. "
They drive rapidly, through the gray Winter;
reach Frankfurt on the Oder, sixty miles or more;
where no doubt there is military business waiting.
They are forward, on the morrow, for dinner, forty
miles farther, at a small Town called Crossen, which
looks over into Silesia; and is, for the present, head-
quarters to a Prussian Army, standing ready there
and in the environs. Standing ready, or hourly march-
ing in, and rendezvousing; now about 28,000 strong,
horse and foot. A Rearguard of Ten or Twelve
Thousand will march from Berlin in two days, pause
hereabouts, and follow according to circumstances:
Prussian Army will then be some 40,000 in all.
Schwerin has been Commander, manager and main-
spring of the business hitherto: henceforth it is to be
the King; but Schwerin under him will still have a
Division of his own.
Among the Regiments, we notice "Schulenburg
Horse-Grenadiers," -- come along from Landsberg
hither, these Horse-Grenadiers, with little Schulenburg
at the head of them; -- "Dragoon Regiment Bay-
reuth," "Lifeguard Carbineers," "Derschau of Foot;"
and other Regiments and figures slightly known to us,
or that will be better known. * Rearguard, just getting
under way at Berlin, has for leaders the Prince of
Holstein-Beck ("Holstem-Vaisselle," say wags, since
* List in Helden-Geschichte, i. 453.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 183
13th-16th Dec. 1740.
the Principality went all to Silver-Plate) and the
Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, whom we called
the Young Dessauer, on the Strasburg Journey lately:
Rearguard, we say, is of 12,000; main Army is 28,000;
Horse and Foot are in the proportion of about 1 to 3.
Artillery "consists of 20 three-pounders; 4 twelve-
"pounders; 4 howitzers (Ilaubitzen); 4 big mortars,
"calibre fifty-pounds; and of Artillerymen 166 in
"all. "
With this Force the young King has, on his own
basis (pretty much in spite of all the world, as we find
now and afterwards), determined to invade Silesia, and
lay hold of the Property he has long had there; --
not computing, for none can compute, the sleeping
whirlwinds he may chance to awaken thereby. Thus
lightly does a man enter upon Enterprises which
prove unexpectedly momentous, and shape the whole
remainder of his days for him; crossing the Rubicon
as it were in his sleep.
In Life, as on railways at
certain points, ,-- whether you know it or not, there
is but an inch, this way or that, into what tram you
are shunted; but try to get out of it again! "The man
is mad, cet homme-la est foil" said Louis XV. when he
heard it. *
Friedrich at Crossen, and still in his own Territory,
lith-16th Dec; -- steps into Schlesien.
At all events, the man means to try; -- and is here
dining at Crossen, noon of Wednesday the 14th;
* Raamer, Beitrdge (English Translation, called Frederick II, and his
Times; from British Museum and State-Paper Office; -- a very indistinct
poor Book, in comparison with what it might have been), p. 73 (24th Dec.
1740).
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? 184 FIRST SILESIAN WAR. [book xn.
l6th Dec. 1740.
certain important persons, -- especially two Silesian
Gentlemen, deputed from Griinberg, the nearest Silesian
Town, who have come across the border on business,
-- having the honour to dine with him. To whom his
manner is lively and affable; lively in mood, as if
there lay no load upon his spirits. The business of
these two Silesian Gentlemen, a Baron von Hocke one
of them, a Baron von Kestlitz the other, was To pre-
sent, on the part of the Town and Amt of Griinberg,
a solemn Protest against this meditated entrance on
the Territory of Schlesien; Government itself, from
Breslau, ordering them to do so. Protest was duly
presented; Friedrich, as his manner is, and continues
to be on his march, glances politely into or at the
Protest; hands it, in silence, to some page or secretary
to reposit in the due^pigeon-hole or waste-basket; and
invites the two Silesian Gentlemen to dine with him;
as, we see, they have the honour to do. "He (Er)
lives near Griinberg, then, Mein Herr von Hocke? "
"Close to it, Ihro Majeatdt. My poor mansion, Schloss
of Deutsch-Kessel, is some fifteen miles hence; how in-
finitely at your Majesty's service, should the march
prove inevitable, and go that way! " -- "Well, per-
paps! " I 'find Friedrich did dine, the second day
hence, with one of these Gentlemen; and lodged with
the other. Government at Breslau has ordered such
Protest, on the part of the Frontier populations and
Official persons; and this is all that comes of it.
During these hours, it chanced that the big Bell of
Crossen dropped from its steeple, -- fulness of time, or
entire rottenness of axletree, being at last completed,
at this fateful moment. Perhaps an ominous thing?
Friedrich, as Caesar and others have done, cheerfully
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 185
16th Dec. 1740.
interprets the omen to his own advantage: "Sign that
the High is to be brought low! " says Friedrich. Were
the march-routes, wagon-trains, and multifarious ad-
justments perfect to the last item here at Crossen, he
will with much cheerfulness step into Silesia, inde-
pendent of all Griinberg Protests and fallen Bells.
On the second day he does actually cross; "the
"regiments marching in, at different points; some
"reaching as far as 25 miles in. " It is Friday 16th
Dec. 1740; there has a game begun which will last
long! They went through the Village of Lasgen; that
was the first point of Silesian ground ("Circle of
Schwiebus," our old friend, is on the left near by); and
"Schwerin's regiment was the foremost. " Others cross
more to the left or right; "marching through the Vil-
lage of Lessen," and other dim Villages and little
Towns, round and beyond Griinberg; all regiments and
divisions bearing upon Griinberg and the Great Road;
but artistically portioned out, -- several miles in breadth
(for the sake of quarters), and, as is generally the
rule, about a day's march in length. This evening
nearly the whole Army was on Silesian ground.
Printed "Patent" or Proclamation, briefly assuring
all Silesians, of whatever rank, condition or religion,
"That we have come as friends to them, and will pro-
tect all persons in their privileges, and molest no peace-
able mortal," is posted on Church-doors, and exten-
sively distributed by hand. Soldiers ale forbidden,
"under penalty of the rods," Officers under that of
"cassation with infamy," to take anything, without first
bargaining and paying ready money for it. On these
terms the Silesian villages cheerfully enough accept
their new guests, interesting to the rural mind; and
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? 186
[book xn.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
16th Dec. 1748.
though the billetting was rather heavy, "as many as
24 soldiers to a common Farmer (Gartner),'' no com-
plaints were made. In one Schloss, where the owners
had fled, and no human response was to be had by the
wayworn soldiery, there did occur some breakages and
impatient kickings about; which it grieved his Majesty
to hear of, next morning; -- in one, not in more.
Official persons, we perceive, study to be absolutely
passive. This was the Bib-germeister's course at Griin-
berg to-night; Griinberg, first Town on the Frontier,
sets an example of passivity which cannot be surpassed.
Prussian troops being at the Gate of Griinberg, Biirger-
meister and adjuncts sitting in a tacit expectant con-
dition in their Townhall, there arrives a Prussian Lieu-
tenant requiring of the Biirgermeister the Key of said
Gate. "To deliver such Key? Would to God I durst
"Mein Herr Lieutenant; but how dare I! There is the
"Key lying: but to give it -- You are not the Queen
"of Hungary's Officer, I doubt? " -- The Prussian
Lieutenant has to put out hand, and take the Key:
which he readily does. And on the morrow, in return-
ing it, when the march recommences, there are the
same phenomena: Biirgermeister or assistants dare not
for the life of them touch that Key: It lay on the
table; and may again, in the course of Providence,
come to lie! -- The Prussian Lieutenant lays it down
accordingly, and hurries out, with a grin on his face.
There was much small laughter over this transaction;
Majesty himself laughing well at it. Higher perfection
of passivity no Biirgermeister could show.
The march, as readers understand, is towards
Glogau; a strongish Garrison Town, now some 40 miles
ahead; the key of Northern Schlesien. Griinberg
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDKICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 187
16th Dec. 1740.
(where my readers once slept for the night, in the late
King's time, though they have forgotten it) is the first
and only considerable Town on the hither side of
Glogau. On to Glogau, I rather perceive, the Army
is in good part provisioned before starting: after
Glogau -- we must see. Bread-wagons, Baggage-
wagons, Ammunition-and-Artillery-wagons, all is in
order; Army artistically portioned out. That is the
form of march; with Glogau ahead. King, as we said
above, dines with his Baron von Hocke, at the Schloss
of Deutsch-Kessel, short way beyond Griinberg, this
first day: but he by no means loiters there; -- cuts
across, a dozen miles westward, through a country
where Ms vanguard on its various lines of march ought
to be arriving; -- and goes to lodge, at the Schloss of
Schweinitz, with his other Baron, the Von Kestlitz, of
Wednesday at Crossen. * This is Friday 16th De-
cember, his first night on Silesian ground.
What Glogau, and the -Government at Sreslau, did
upon it.
Silesia, in the way of resistance, is not in the least
prepared for him. A month ago, there were not above
3,000 Austrian Foot and 600 Horse in the whole
Province: neither the military Governor Count Wallis,
nor the Imperial Court, nor any Official Person near
or far, had the least anticipation of such a Visit.
Count Wallis, who commands in Glogau, did in per-
son, nine or ten days ago, as the rumours rose ever
higher, run over to Crossen; saw with his eyes the un-
deniable there; and has been. zealously endeavouring
ever since, what he could, to take measures. Wallis is
* Helden-Geschichle,i. ib? .
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? 188
[book XV.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
10th Dec. 1710.
now shut in Glogau; his second, the now Acting Gov-
ernor, General Browne, a still more reflective man, is
doing likewise his utmost; but on forlorn terms, and
without the least guidance from Court. Browne has,
by violent industry, raked together, from Mahren and
the neighbouring countries, certain fractions which
raise his Force to 7,000 Foot: these he throws, in
small parties, into the defensible points; or, in larger,
into the Chief Garrisons. New Cavalry he cannot get;
the old 600 Horse he keeps for himself, all the march-
ing Army he has. *
Fain would he get possession ofBreslau, and throw
in some garrison there; but cannot. Neither he nor
Wallis could compass that. Breslau is a City divided
against itself, on this matter; full of emotions, of ex-
pectations, apprehensions for and against. There is a
Supreme Silesian Government (Obcr-Amt, "Head-Of-
fice," kind of Austrian Vice-Royalty) in Breslau; and
there is, on Breslau's own score, a Town-Rath; strictly
Catholic both these, Vienna the breath of their nostrils.
But then also there are forty-four Incorporated Trades;
Oppressed-Protestant in majority; to whom Vienna is
not breath, but rather the want of it. Lastly, the City
calls itself Free; and has crabbed privileges still valid:
a "jus prasidii" (or right to be one's own garrison) one
of them, and the most inconvenient just now. Breslau
is a Reichs-Stadt; in theory, sovereign member of the
Reich, and supreme over its own affairs, even as
Austria itself: -- and the truth is, old Theory and
new Fact, resolved not to quarrel, have lapsed into
one another's arm in a quite inextricable way, in
* Particulars in Helden-Gcschichte, i. 465; total of Austrian Force
seems to be 7,800 horse and foot.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDR1CH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 189
16th Dec. 1740.
Breslau as elsewhere! With a Head Government which
can get no orders from Vienna, the very Town-Rath
has little alacrity, inclines rather to passivity like
Grimberg; and a silent Population threatens to become
vocal if you press upon it.
Breslau, that is to say the Oher-Amt there, has
sent courier on courier to Vienna for weeks past: not
even an answer; -- what can Vienna answer, with Kur-
Baiern and others threatening war on it, and only
10,0007. in its National Purse? Answer at last is,
"Don't bother! Danger is not so near. Why spend
money on couriers, and get into such a taking? "
General Wallis came to Breslau, after what he had
seen at Crossen; and urged strongly, in the name of
self-preservation, first law of Nature, to get an
Austrian real Garrison introduced; wished much
(horrible to think of! ) "the suburbs should be burnt,
and better ramparts raised:" but could not succeed
in any of these points, nor even mention some of-them
in a public manner. "You shall have a Protestant for
commandant," suggested Wallis; "there is Count von
Roth, Silesian-Lutheran, an excellent Soldier! " --
"Thanks," answered they, "we can defend ourselves;
we had rather not have any! " And the Breslau Burghers
have, accordingly, set to drill themselves; are bringing
out old cannon in quantity; repairing breaches; very
strict in sentry-work: "Perfectly able to defend our
City, -- so far as we see good! " -- Tuesday last,
December 13th (the very day Friedrich left Berlin),
as this matter of the Garrison, long urged by the
Ober-Amt, had at last been got agreed to by the Town-
Rath, "on proviso of consulting the Incorporated
Trades," or at least consulting their Guild-Masters, who
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? 190
[book XII.
FIRST SILESIAN WAR.
lGth Dec. 1710.
are usually a silent folk, -- the Guild-Masters sud-
denly became in part vocal; and their Forty-four
Guilds unusually so: -- and there was tumult in Bres-
lau, in the Salz-Ring (big central Square or market-
place, which they call Jtinrj) such as had not been;
idle population, and guild-brethren of suspicious hu-
mour, gathering in multitudes into and round the fine
old Town-hall there; questioning, answering, in louder
and louder key; at last bellowing quite in alt; and on
the edge of flaming into one knew not what: * -- till
the matter of Austrian Garrison (much more, of burn-
ing the suburbs! ) had to be dropt; settled in what way
we see.
Head Government (Ober-Amt) has, through its
Northern official people, sent Protest, strict order to
the Silesian Population to look sour on the Prussians:
-- and we saw, in consequence, the Two Silesian Gen-
tlemen did dine with Friedrich, and he has returned
their visits; and the Mayor of Grunberg would not
touch his keys. Head Government is now redacting a
"Patent," or still more solemn Protest of its own;
which likewise it will affix in the Salz-Ring here, and
present to King Friedrich: and this, -- except "des-
patching by boat down the river a great deal of meal
to Glogau," which was an important quiet thing, of
Wallis's enforcing, -- is pretty much all it can do.
No Austrian Garrison can be got in ("Perfectly able
to defend ourselves! ") -- let Government and Wallis
or Browne contrive as they may. And as to burning
the suburbs, better not whisper of that again. Breslau
feels, or would fain feel itself "perfectly able;" --has
at any rate no wish to be bombarded; and contains
* Uelden-Geschichle, 1, 469.
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? CHAP. II. ] FRIEDRICH MARCHES ON GLOGAU. 191
16th Dec. 1740.
privately a great deal of Protestant humour. Of all
which, Friedrich, it is not doubted, has notice more or
less distinct; and quickens his march the more.
General Browne is at present in the Southern parts';
an able active man and soldier; but with such a force
what can he attempt to do? There are three strong
places in the Country, Glogau, then Brieg, both on the
Oder river; lastly Neisse, on the Neisse river, a branch
of the Oder (one of the four Neisse rivers there are in
Germany, mostly in Silesia, -- not handy to the ac-
curate reader of German Books). Browne is in Neisse;
and will start into a strange stare when the flying post
reaches him: Prussians actually On march! Debate
with them, if debate there is to be, Browne himself
must contrive to do; from Breslau, from Vienna, no
Government Supreme or Subordinate can yield his
8,000 and him the least help.
Glogau, as we saw, means to defend itself; at least
General Wallis the Commandant does, in spite of the
Glogau public; and is, with his whole might, digging,
palisading, getting-in meal, salt meat and other pro-
vender; -- likewise burning suburbs, uncontrollable he,
in the small place; and clearing down the outside edi-
fices and shelters, at a diligent rate. Yesterday, 15th
December, he burnt down the "three Oder-Mills, which
"lie outside, the big suburban Tavern, also the Ziegel-
"Scheune (Tile-Manufactory)," and other valuable build-
ings, careless of public lamentation, ---, fire catching
the Town itself, and needing to be quenched again. *
Nay, he was clear for burning down, or blowing up,
the Protestant Church, indispensable sacred edifice
* Helden-Geschichle, i. 473-5.
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