But one must
"take that bad leap; and reckoning you among my friends,
"I the more easily resolve to open myself to you.
"take that bad leap; and reckoning you among my friends,
"I the more easily resolve to open myself to you.
Thomas Carlyle
--If Hotham speak of the Single Marriage only, it is
"certain the Prince-Royal must mean to run away," and so
make it a Double one in time.
Yes, indeed! But these were transient terrors. The
day is our own, my Grumkow; yes our own, my Nosti:
-- and so our Colloquy of Rookeries shall be suppres-
sive henceforth.
His Majesty gets sight of the St. Mary Axe Documents;
but nothing follows from it.
We have only to add what Hotham reports (Berlin,
May 6th), That he "has had an interview with his
"Majesty, spoken of the St. Mary Axe affair; Knyp-
"hausen having found a moment to lay it before his
"Majesty. " So that the above Excerpts from St. Mary
Axe (all but the last two) -- the above, and many
more suppressed by us, -- are in his Majesty's hands:
and he is busy studying them; will, it is likely, produce
them in an amazed Tobacco-Parliament one of these
evenings! --
"What the emotions of the royal breast were during
the perusal of this extraordinary dialogue of birds,
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? 272 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vlt.
6tb-13lb May 1730.
which has come to him through St. Mary Axe --?
Manifold probably: manifold, questionable; but not
tragical, or not immediately so. Certainly it is de-
finable as the paltriest babble; no treason visible in it,
nor constructive-treason: but it painfully indicates, were
his Majesty candid, That his Majesty is subject to spies
in his own House; nay that certain parties do seem to
fancy they have got his Majesty by the nose, and are
piping tunes with an eye to his dancing thereto. This
is a painful thought, which, I believe, does much
agitate his Majesty now and afterwards. A painful
thought or suspicion, rising sometimes (in that tempera-
ment of his) to the pitch of the horrible. I believe it
occasionally, ever henceforth, keeps haunting the highly
poetic temperament of his Majesty, nor ever quits him
again at all; stalking always, now and then, through
the vacant chambers of his mind, in what we may call
the night-season (or time of solitude and hypochon-
driacal reflection), -- though in busy times again (in
daylight, so to speak) he impatiently casts it from him.
Poor Majesty!
But figure Grumkow, figure the Tobacco-Parliament
when Majesty laid these Papers on the Table! A Han-
sard of that night would be worth reading. There is
thunderous note of interrogation on his Majesty's face;
what a glimmer in the hard puckery eyes of Feldzeug-
meister Seckendorf, "Jarni-Bleu! " No doubt, an ex-
cessively astonished Parliament. Nothing but brass of
face will now serve the principal Honourable Gentleman
there; but in that, happily, he is not wanting.
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? CHAP. H. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 273
Ub-13th May 1730.
Of course Grumkow denies the Letters, point blank:
Mere forgeries, these, of the English Court, plotting to
ruin your Majesty's faithful servant, and bring in other
servants they will like better! May have written to
Reichenbach, nay indeed has, this or that trifling thing:
but those Copyists in St . Mary Axe, "deciphering," --
garbling, manufacturing, till they make a romance of
it, -- alas, your Majesty? Nay, at any rate, what are
the Letters? Grumkow can plead that they are the
foolishest insignificant rubbish of Court-gossip, not tend-
ing any bad road, if they have a tendency. That they
are adapted to the nature of the beast, and of the si-
tuation, -- this he will carefully abstain from remarking.
We have no Hansard of this Session; all is conjec-
ture and tobacco-smoke. What we know is, not the
least effect, except an internal trouble, was produced
on the royal mind by the St. Mary Axe Discovery.
Some Question there might well be, inarticulately as
yet, of Grumkow's fidelity, at least of his discretion;
seeds of suspicion as to Grumkow, which may sprout
up by and by; resolution to keep one's eye on Grum-
kow. But the first practical fruit of the matter is, fierce
jealousy that the English and their clique do really
wish to interfere in our ministerial appointments; so
that, for the present, Grumkow is firmer in his place
than ever. And privately, we need not doubt, the
matter continues painful to his Majesty.
One thing is certain, precisely a week after, his
Majesty, -- much fluctuating in mind evidently, for the
Document "has been changed three or four times
Carlnle, Frederic the Great. III. 18
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? 274 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vn.
13th May 1730.
within forty-eight hours," -- presents his final answer
to Hotham. Which runs to this effect ("outrageous,"
as Hotham defines it):
"1? . For Hanover and your great liberality on that score,
"much obliged; but upon reconsideration think it will not do.
"2? . Marriage first, Prince of Wales to Wilhelmina, -- Con-
"sent with pleasure. 3? . Marriage second, Crown-Prince
"Friedrich with your Amelia, -- for that also we are ex-
"tremely wishful, and trust it will one day take effect: but
"first these Seville-Treaty matters, and differences between
"the Kaiser and allied English and French will require to be
"pulled straight; that done, we will treat about the terms of
"Marriage second. One indispensable will be, --That the
"English guarantee our Succession in Jiilich and Berg. " *
"Outrageous" indeed! -- Crown-Prince sends, along
with this, a loving message by Hotham, of earnestly
deprecating tenor, to the Britannic Majesty; "begs
"his Britannic Majesty not to reject the King's Pro-
posals, whatever they may be, -- this for poor Sister
"Wilhelmina's sake. 'For though he, the Crown-Prince,
"was determined to lose his life sooner than marry
"anybody but the Princess Amelia, yet if this Nego-
"tiation were broken off, his Father would go to ex-
"tremities to force him and his poor Sister into other
"engagements. "' -- Which, alas, what can it avail with
the Britannic Majesty, in regard to such outrageous
Propositions from the Prussian?
Britannic Majesty's Ministry, as always, answers by
* Hotham's Despatch, 13th May 1730.
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 275
13th May 1730.
return of Courier: -- "May 22d. Both Marriages, or
"none: Seville has no concern with both, more than
"with one: ditto Julich and Berg, -- of which latter
"indeed we know nothing, -- nor (aside to Hotham)
"mean to know. "* Whereby Hotham perceives that
it is as good to throw away the bellows, and consider
the matter extinct. Hotham makes ready for an Ex-
cursion into Saxony, to a thing called Camp of Rade-
witz, or Encampment at Badewitz; a Military Spectacle
of never-imagined magnificence, to be given by August
the Strong there, whither all the world is crowding; --
and considers any Business he had at Berlin to be as
good as done.
Evidently Friedrich Wilhelm has not been much
wrought upon by the St. Mary Axe Documents! One
week they have been revolving in the royal mind;
part of a week in the Smoking Parliament (we know
not what day they were laid on the table there, but it
must have been a grand occurrence within those walls! )
-- and this already (May 13th) is the result arrived at:
Propositions, changed three or four times within forty-
eight hours, and definable at last as "outrageous;"
which induce Hotham to lay down the bellows, and
prepare to go his ways. Our St. Mary Axe Discovery
seems to have no effect at all! --
One other public result there is from it, and as
yet one only: Beichenbach, "from certain causes thereto
moving Us (aus gewissen Uns dazu bewegenden Griinden)"
* Despatch, Whitehall, 11th May (22d byn. s. ).
18*
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? 276 SHIPWRECK. OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [BOOK TO.
131b May 1730.
gets a formal Letter of Recall. Ostensible Letter, dated
Berlin, 13th May, and signed Friedrich Wilhelm; which
the English may read for their comfort. Only that
along with this, of the same date and signature, in-
tended for Reichenbach's comfort, the same Leather
Bag brings a Private Letter (which Dickens or another
has contrived to get sight of and copy), apprising
Beichenbach, That, uraostensibly, his proceedings are
approved of; that he is to continue at his post till
further orders, all the same, "and keep watch on these
"Marriages, about which there is such debating in the
"world (wovon in der Welt so viel debattirt wird); things
"being still in the same state as half a year ago. That
"is to say, I am ready for my Daughter's Marriage
"with the Prince of Wales: but for my Son, he is too
"young yet; und hat es damit keine Eile, weil ich Gottlob
"noch zivei Sdhne hab (nor is there any haste, as I have,
"thank God, two other sons," -- and a third coming, if I knew it): -- "besides one indispensable condition
will be, that the English guarantee Jiilich and Berg,"
which perhaps they are not in the least hurry for,
either! --
What does the English Court think of that? Dated
"Berlin, 13th May:" it is the same day when his Ma-
jesty's matured Proposals, "changed thrice or oftener
within the forty-eight hours," were handed to Hotham
for transmission to his Court. An interesting Leather
Bag, this Ordinary from Berlin. Beichenbach, we ob-
serve, will get his share of it some ten days after that
alarming rebuke from Townshend; and it will relieve
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? CHAP, n. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 277
22tl May 1780.
the poor wretch from his worst terrors: "Go on with
your eavesdroppings as before, you alarmed wretch! " --
There does one Degenfeld by and by, a man of better
quality (and on special haste, as we shall see) come
and supersede poor Nosti, and send him home: -- there
they give Nosti some exiguous Pension, with hint to
disappear forevermore. Which he does; leaving only
these St. Mary Axe Documents for his Lifemark in the
History of Mankind.
What the English Answer to his Majesty's Pro-
posals of Berlin, May 13th, was, we have already
seen; -- dated "London, 22d May," probably few
hours after the Courier arrived. Hotham, well antici-
pating what it would be, had already, as we phrased
it, "laid down the bellows;" left the Negotiation, as
essentially extinct; -- and was preparing for the "Camp
at Radewitz," Britannic Majesty being anxious to hear
what Friedrich Wilhelm and August the Strong have
on hand there.
"The King of Prussia's unsteadiness and want of
resolution," writes Hotham (Berlin, 20th May), "will
"hinder him from being either very useful to his
"friends, or very formidable to his enemies. " And
from the same place, just about quitting it for Rade-
witz, he writes again, exactly a week after ("Berlin,
27th May"), to enclose Copy of a remarkable Letter;
remarkable to us also; -- but which, he knows and
we, cannot influence the English Answer now close at
hand. Here is the copied Letter; copied in Guy
Dickens's hand; -- from which we translate -- and
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? 278 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, FbOOK TO.
27th May 1730.
also will give the original French in this instance, for
behoof of the curious:
To his Excellency the Chevalier Hotham.
[Potsdam, End of May 1730. ]
"Monsieur, -- Je crois que c'est de la dernie`re importance que
"je vous e? crive; et je suis assez triste d'avoir des choses a` vous
"dire que je devrais cacher a` toute la terre: mais il faut franchir
"ce mauvais pas la`; et vous comptant de mes amis, je me resouds
"plus facilement a` vous le dire. Cest que je suis traite? d'une
"manie`re inoui? e du Roi, et que je sais qu'a` present ils se trament
"de terribles choses contre moi, touchant certaines Lettres que
"j'ai e? crites Vhiver passe? , dont je crois que vous serez informe? .
"Enfin pour vous parler franchement, la vraie raison que le Roi a
"de ne vouloir point donner les mains a` ce Mariage est, qu'il me
"veut toujours tenir sur un bas pied, et me faire enrager toute sa
"vie, quand l'envie lui en prend; ainsi il ne l'accordera jamais.
"Si F on consent de votre co^te? que cette Princesse soit aussi traite? e
"ainsi, vous pouvez comprendre aise? ment que je serai fort triste de
"rendre malheureuse une personne que j'estime, et de rester ton-
"jours dans le me^me e? tat ou` je suis. Pour moi donc je crois qu'il
"vaudroit mieux finir le Mariage de ma Soeur ainsi auparavant,
"et ne point demander au Roi seulement des assurances sur mon
"sujet, d'autant plus que sa parole n'y fait rien: suffit que je
"reite`re les promesses que j'ai de? ja` fait au Roimon Oncle, dene
"prendre jamais d'autre e? pouse que sa seconde fille la Princesse
"Ame? lie. Je suis une personne de parole, quipourra faire re? ussir
"ce que j'avance, pourvu que Von se fie a` moi. Je vous lepro-
"mets, et a` pre? sent vous pouvez en avertir votre Cour; et je saurai
"tenir ma promesse. Je suis toujours tout a` vous,
"Fre? de? ric. "*
* State-Paper Office: Prussian Despatches, vol. xli. (enclosed in Sir
Charles Hotham's Despatch, Berlin 27th-16th May 1730).
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING:. 279
27th May 1730.
"Monsieur, -- I believe it is of the last importance that I
"should write to you; and I am very sad to have things to say
"which I ought to conceal from all the earth.
But one must
"take that bad leap; and reckoning you among my friends,
"I the more easily resolve to open myself to you.
"The case is this: I am treated in an unheard-of manner
1'by the King; and I know there are terrible things in prepa-
ration against me, touching certain Letters which I wrote
"last winter, of which I believe you are informed. In a word,
"to speak frankly to you, the real secret reason why the King
"will not consent to this Marriage is, That he wishes to keep
"me on a low footing constantly, and to have the power of
"driving me mad, whenever the whim takes him, throughout
"his life; thus he never will give his consent. If it were
"possible that you on your side could consent that your Prin-
"cess too should be exposed to such treatment, you may well
"comprehend that I should be very sad to bring misery on a
"Person whom I esteem, and to remain always in the same
"state as now.
"For my own part, therefore, I believe it would be better
"to conclude my Sister's Marriage in the first place, and not
"even to ask from the King any assurances in regard to mine;
"the rather as his word has nothing to do with it: it is enough
"that I here reiterate the promises which I have already made
"to the King my Uncle, Never to take another wife than his
"second Daughter the Princess Amelia. I am a person of my
"word; and shall be able to bring about what I set forth, pro-
vided there is trust put in me. I promise it you; and now
"you may give your Court notice of it; and I shall manage to
"keep my promise. I remain yours always. "
The Crown-Prince, for Wilhelmina's sake and every-
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? 280 SIIIPWEECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vII.
27th May 1780.
body's, is extremely anxious they should agree to the
Single-Marriage in the interim: but the English Court, -- perhaps for no deep reason, perhaps chiefly because
little George had the whim of standing grandly im-
movable upon his first offer, -- never would hear of
that. Which was an angry thought to the Crown-
Prince in after times, as we sometimes notice.
Here, to the like effect, is another Fragment from
his Royal Highness, copied in the Dickens hand, and
enclosed in the same Despatch from Hotham; -- giving
us a glance into the inner workshop of his Royal
Highness, and his hidden assiduities and endeavourings
at that time:
". . . Vous pouvez croire queje feraitout ce que jepeuxpour faire
"reussir mon plan; mais Von n'en remarquera rien en dehors; --
"que Von m'en laisse agir en suite, je ferai bien moi seul reussir le
"reste. Je finis la par vous assurer encore, Monsieur, que je suis "tout a vous. -- Fb? d? bic Pbince R. "
". . . You may believe Iwill exert all myresources to succeed in
"my plan; but there will be no outward sign visible: -- leave
"me to act in this way, I will myself successfully bring it
"through. I end by again assuring you, Monsieur, that I am
"yours always. "
-- Which again produces no effect; the English Answer
being steadily, "Both Marriages, or none. "
And this, then, is what the Hotham mission is come
to? Good Dubourgay is home, recalled about a month
ago, "for the sake of his health,"* -- good old gentle-
* Townshend's polite Despatch to him, Whitehall, 21st April 1730.
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 281
S9th May 1780.
man, never to be heard of in Diplomatic History more.
Dubourgay went in the first days of May; and the
month is not out, when Hotham is off to the Camp of
Radewitz; leaving his Negotiation, as it were, extinct.
To the visible regret of the Berlin public generally; to
the grievous disappointment of Queen Sophie, of the
Crown-Prince and some others, -- not to speak of
Wilhelmina's feelings, which are unknown to us.
Regretful Berlin, Wilhelmina and Mamma among
the others, had, by accident, in these dejected circum-
stances, a strange Sign from the Heavens provided
them, one night, -- if we may be permitted to notice
it here. Monday, 29th May;-- and poor Queen Sophie,
we observe withal, is in the hands of the Monthly Nurse,
since Tuesday last! *
St. Peter's Church in Berlin has an Accident.
Monday, 29th May 1730, Friedrich Wilhelm and
the Crown-Prince and Party were at Potsdam, so far
on their way towards Radewitz. All is peaceable at
Potsdam that night: but it was a night of wild phe-
nomena at Berlin; or rather of one wild phenomenon,
the "Burning of the Sanct-Peters Kirche" which held
the whole City awake and in terror for its life. Dim
Fassmann becomes unusually luminous on this affair
(probably an eye-witness to it, poor old soul); and
enables us to fish-up one old Night of Berlin City and
* "Prince Ferdinand" (her last child, Father of him whose fate lay at
Jena seventy-six years afterwards), "born 23d May 1730. "
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? 282 SniPWRECK OP double-mArriAge PROJECT, [book vn.
29th May 1730.
its vanished populations into clear view again, if we
like.
For two years back Berlin had been diligently
building a non-plus-ultra of Steeples to that fine Church
of St. Peter's. Highest Steeple of them all; one of the
Steeples of the "World, in a manner; -- and Berlin was
now near ending it . Tower, or shaft, has been com-
,plete some time, interior fittings going on; and is just
about to get its ultimate apex, a "Crown Royal" set
on it by way of finis. For his Majesty, the great
-35dile, was much concerned in the thing; and had
given materials, multifarious helps: Three incomparable
Bells, especially, were his gift: melodious old Bells, of
distinguished tone, "bigger than the Great Bell of
Erfurt," than Tom of Lincoln, -- or, as brief popular
rumour has it, the biggest Bells in the world, at least
of such a tone. These Bells are hung, silent but ready
in their upper chamber of the Tower, and the gigantic
Crown or apex is to go on; then will the basket-work
of scaffolding be peeled away, and the Steeple stretch,
high and grand, into the air, for ages it is hoped.
Far otherwise. On Monday Evening, between eight
and nine, there gathered thunder over Berlin; wild
tumult of the elements: thunderbolt "thrice in swift
succession" struck the unfinished Steeple; in the "hood"
of which men thereupon noticed a light, as of a star,
or sparkle of the sun; and straightway, in spite of the
rain-torrents, there burst out blazes of flame. Blazes
unquenchable; grand yet perilous to behold. The fire-
drums beat, the alarm-bells clanged, and ceased not;
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING 283
? 29th May 1730.
all Berlin struggling there, all night, in vain. Such
volumes of smoke: "the heavens were black as if you
had hung them with mortcloth:" such roaring cataracts
of flame, "you could have picked up a copper doit at
the distance of 800 yards. " -- "Hiss -- s-- s! " What
hissing far aloft is that? That is the incomparable big
Bells melting. There they vanish, their fine tones
never to be tried more, and ooze through the redhot
ruin, "Hush -- sh -- sht! " the last sound heard from
them. And the Stem for holding that immense Crown-
royal,-- it is a bar and bars of iron, "weighing sixteen
hundredweight;" down it comes thundering, crashing
through the belly of St. Peter's, the fall of it like an
earthquake all round. And still the fire-drums beat,
and from all surviving Steeples of Berlin goes the
clangor of alarm; "none but the very young children
can have slept that night," says our vigilant old friend.
Wind was awake, too; kindling the neighbouring
streets; -- storming towards the Powder-Magazine;
where labour innumerable Artillerymen, "busy with
hides from the tanpits, with stable-dung, and other ma-
terial;" speed to them, we will say! Forty dwelling-
houses went; but not the Powder-Magazine; not Berlin
utterly (so to speak) by the Powder-Magazine. On
the morrow St. Peter's and neighbourhood lay black,
but still inwardly burning; not for three days more
could the ruins be completely quenched.
That was the news for Friedrich Wilhelm, before
sunrise, on the point of his departure for Miihlberg and
King August's scenic exhibitions. "Hm; -- but we
>
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? 284 shipwreck or double-mArriAge project, [bookvii.
29lh May 1730.
must go, all the same! We will rebuild it! " said he.
-- And truly he did so. And the polite King August,
sorry to hear of the Peterskirche, "gave him excellent
"sandstone from the quarries of Pirna," says Fassmann:
"great blocks came boating down the Elbe" from that
notable Saxon-Switzerland Country, notable to readers
here in time coming; and are to be found, as ashlar, in
the modern St. Peter's at Berlin; a fact which the
reader, till Pirna be better known to him, may remem-
ber if he likes. *
And now let us to Radewitz without delay.
* Fassmann, pp. 406-409.
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? CHAP. III. ]
June 1780.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
285CHAPTER HI.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
I
The Camp of Muhlberg, called more properly the
Camp of Radewitz, towards which. Eriedrich Wilhelm,
with English Hotham and many dignitaries are now
gone, was one of the sublimest scenic military exhibi-
tions in the history of the world; leaving all manner
of imitation tournaments, modern "tin-tournaments,"
out of sight; and perhaps equalling the Field of the
Cloth of Gold, or Barbarossa's Maintz Tournament in
ancient times. It lasted for a month, regardless of
expense, -- June month of the year 1730; -- and
from far and wide the idle of mankind ran, by the
thousand, to see it. Shall the thing be abolished utterly,
-- as perhaps were proper, had not our Crown-Prince
been there, with eyes very open to it, and yet with
thoughts very shut; -- or shall some flying trace of
the big Zero be given? Riddling or screening certain
cartloads of heavy old German printed-rubbish,* to omit
* Chiefly the terrible compilation called Helden- Staats- tmd Lebens-
Geschichte des Ac. Friedrichs dcs Audern (History Beroical, Political and
Biographical of Friedrich the Second), Frankfurt and Leipzig. 1758-1760,
vol. i. first half, pp. 171-210. There are Ten thick and thin Half-volumes,
and perhaps more. One of the most hideous imbroglios ever published
under the name of Book, -- without vestige of Index, and on paper that has
no margin and cannot stand ink, -- yet with many curious articles stuffed
blindly into the awful belly of it, like jewels into a rag-sack, or into ten
rag-sacks all In one; with far more authenticity than you could expect in
such case. Let us call it, for brevity, Helden-Geschichle, in future
references.
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? 286 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MAKRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO.
June 1730.
the Hotham Despatches, we obtain the following shovel-
ful of authentic particulars, perhaps not quite insup-
portable to existing mankind.
The exact size of the Camp of Badewitz I nowhere
find measured; but to judge on the map,* it must have
covered, with its appendages, some ten or twelve square
miles of ground. All on the Elbe, right bank of the
Elbe: Town of Miihlberg, chief Town of the District,
lying some ten miles northwest; then, not much beyond
it, Torgau; and then famed Wittenberg, all on the
northwest, farther down the River: and on the other
side, Meissen with its Potteries not far to the southeast
of you, up the River, on the Dresden hand. Nay per-
haps many of my readers have seen the place, and
not known, in their touring expeditions; which are now
blinder than ever, and done by steam, without even
eyesight, not to say intelligence. Precisely where the
railway from Leipzig to Dresden crosses the Elbe, --
there, if you happen to have daylight, is a flat, rather
clayey country, dirty-greenish, as if depastured partly
by geese; with a big full River Elbe sweeping through
it, banks barish for a mile or two; River itself swift,
sleek and of flint-colour; not unpleasant to behold, thus
far on its journey from the Bohemian Giant-Mountains
sea-ward: precisely there, when you have crossed the
Bridge, is the southmost corner of August the Strong's
Encampment, -- vanished now like the last flock of
geese that soiled and nibbled these localities; -- and,
* Map at p. 300.
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? CHAP. III. |
June 1730.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
287without knowing it, you are actually upon memorable
ground.
Actually, we may well say; apart from August and
his fooleries. For here also it was, on the ground now
under your eye, that Kurfilrst Johann Friedrich the
Magnanimous, having been surprised the day before at
public worship in the above-mentioned Town of Miihl-
berg, and completely beaten by Kaiser Karl the Fifth
and his Spaniards and Duke of Alba, did, on Monday
25th April 1547, ride forth as Prisoner to meet the
said Kaiser; and had the worst reception from him,
poor man. "Take pity on me, 0 God! This is what "it is come to? " the magnanimous beaten Kurfurst was
heard murmuring as he rode. At sight of the Kaiser,
he dismounted, pulled off his ironplated gloves, knelt,
and was for humbly taking the Kaiser's hand, to kiss
it. Kaiser would not; Kaiser looked thunderous tor-
nado on him, with hands rigidly in the vertical direc-
tion. The magnanimous Kurfurst arose therefore;
doffed his hat: "Great-mightiest (c/rossmachtigster) all-
"gracious Kaiser, I am your Majesty's prisoner," said
he, confining himself to the historical. "I am Kaiser
"now, then? " answered the sullen Tornado, with a
black brow and hanging under-jaw. -- "I request my
"imprisonment may be prince-like," said the poor
Prince. "It shall be as your deserts have been! " --
"I am in your power; you will do your pleasure on
"me," answered the other; -- and was led away, to
hard durance and peril of life for five years to come;
his Cousin Moritz having expertly jockeyed his Elec-
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? 288 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT.
"certain the Prince-Royal must mean to run away," and so
make it a Double one in time.
Yes, indeed! But these were transient terrors. The
day is our own, my Grumkow; yes our own, my Nosti:
-- and so our Colloquy of Rookeries shall be suppres-
sive henceforth.
His Majesty gets sight of the St. Mary Axe Documents;
but nothing follows from it.
We have only to add what Hotham reports (Berlin,
May 6th), That he "has had an interview with his
"Majesty, spoken of the St. Mary Axe affair; Knyp-
"hausen having found a moment to lay it before his
"Majesty. " So that the above Excerpts from St. Mary
Axe (all but the last two) -- the above, and many
more suppressed by us, -- are in his Majesty's hands:
and he is busy studying them; will, it is likely, produce
them in an amazed Tobacco-Parliament one of these
evenings! --
"What the emotions of the royal breast were during
the perusal of this extraordinary dialogue of birds,
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? 272 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vlt.
6tb-13lb May 1730.
which has come to him through St. Mary Axe --?
Manifold probably: manifold, questionable; but not
tragical, or not immediately so. Certainly it is de-
finable as the paltriest babble; no treason visible in it,
nor constructive-treason: but it painfully indicates, were
his Majesty candid, That his Majesty is subject to spies
in his own House; nay that certain parties do seem to
fancy they have got his Majesty by the nose, and are
piping tunes with an eye to his dancing thereto. This
is a painful thought, which, I believe, does much
agitate his Majesty now and afterwards. A painful
thought or suspicion, rising sometimes (in that tempera-
ment of his) to the pitch of the horrible. I believe it
occasionally, ever henceforth, keeps haunting the highly
poetic temperament of his Majesty, nor ever quits him
again at all; stalking always, now and then, through
the vacant chambers of his mind, in what we may call
the night-season (or time of solitude and hypochon-
driacal reflection), -- though in busy times again (in
daylight, so to speak) he impatiently casts it from him.
Poor Majesty!
But figure Grumkow, figure the Tobacco-Parliament
when Majesty laid these Papers on the Table! A Han-
sard of that night would be worth reading. There is
thunderous note of interrogation on his Majesty's face;
what a glimmer in the hard puckery eyes of Feldzeug-
meister Seckendorf, "Jarni-Bleu! " No doubt, an ex-
cessively astonished Parliament. Nothing but brass of
face will now serve the principal Honourable Gentleman
there; but in that, happily, he is not wanting.
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? CHAP. H. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 273
Ub-13th May 1730.
Of course Grumkow denies the Letters, point blank:
Mere forgeries, these, of the English Court, plotting to
ruin your Majesty's faithful servant, and bring in other
servants they will like better! May have written to
Reichenbach, nay indeed has, this or that trifling thing:
but those Copyists in St . Mary Axe, "deciphering," --
garbling, manufacturing, till they make a romance of
it, -- alas, your Majesty? Nay, at any rate, what are
the Letters? Grumkow can plead that they are the
foolishest insignificant rubbish of Court-gossip, not tend-
ing any bad road, if they have a tendency. That they
are adapted to the nature of the beast, and of the si-
tuation, -- this he will carefully abstain from remarking.
We have no Hansard of this Session; all is conjec-
ture and tobacco-smoke. What we know is, not the
least effect, except an internal trouble, was produced
on the royal mind by the St. Mary Axe Discovery.
Some Question there might well be, inarticulately as
yet, of Grumkow's fidelity, at least of his discretion;
seeds of suspicion as to Grumkow, which may sprout
up by and by; resolution to keep one's eye on Grum-
kow. But the first practical fruit of the matter is, fierce
jealousy that the English and their clique do really
wish to interfere in our ministerial appointments; so
that, for the present, Grumkow is firmer in his place
than ever. And privately, we need not doubt, the
matter continues painful to his Majesty.
One thing is certain, precisely a week after, his
Majesty, -- much fluctuating in mind evidently, for the
Document "has been changed three or four times
Carlnle, Frederic the Great. III. 18
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? 274 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vn.
13th May 1730.
within forty-eight hours," -- presents his final answer
to Hotham. Which runs to this effect ("outrageous,"
as Hotham defines it):
"1? . For Hanover and your great liberality on that score,
"much obliged; but upon reconsideration think it will not do.
"2? . Marriage first, Prince of Wales to Wilhelmina, -- Con-
"sent with pleasure. 3? . Marriage second, Crown-Prince
"Friedrich with your Amelia, -- for that also we are ex-
"tremely wishful, and trust it will one day take effect: but
"first these Seville-Treaty matters, and differences between
"the Kaiser and allied English and French will require to be
"pulled straight; that done, we will treat about the terms of
"Marriage second. One indispensable will be, --That the
"English guarantee our Succession in Jiilich and Berg. " *
"Outrageous" indeed! -- Crown-Prince sends, along
with this, a loving message by Hotham, of earnestly
deprecating tenor, to the Britannic Majesty; "begs
"his Britannic Majesty not to reject the King's Pro-
posals, whatever they may be, -- this for poor Sister
"Wilhelmina's sake. 'For though he, the Crown-Prince,
"was determined to lose his life sooner than marry
"anybody but the Princess Amelia, yet if this Nego-
"tiation were broken off, his Father would go to ex-
"tremities to force him and his poor Sister into other
"engagements. "' -- Which, alas, what can it avail with
the Britannic Majesty, in regard to such outrageous
Propositions from the Prussian?
Britannic Majesty's Ministry, as always, answers by
* Hotham's Despatch, 13th May 1730.
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 275
13th May 1730.
return of Courier: -- "May 22d. Both Marriages, or
"none: Seville has no concern with both, more than
"with one: ditto Julich and Berg, -- of which latter
"indeed we know nothing, -- nor (aside to Hotham)
"mean to know. "* Whereby Hotham perceives that
it is as good to throw away the bellows, and consider
the matter extinct. Hotham makes ready for an Ex-
cursion into Saxony, to a thing called Camp of Rade-
witz, or Encampment at Badewitz; a Military Spectacle
of never-imagined magnificence, to be given by August
the Strong there, whither all the world is crowding; --
and considers any Business he had at Berlin to be as
good as done.
Evidently Friedrich Wilhelm has not been much
wrought upon by the St. Mary Axe Documents! One
week they have been revolving in the royal mind;
part of a week in the Smoking Parliament (we know
not what day they were laid on the table there, but it
must have been a grand occurrence within those walls! )
-- and this already (May 13th) is the result arrived at:
Propositions, changed three or four times within forty-
eight hours, and definable at last as "outrageous;"
which induce Hotham to lay down the bellows, and
prepare to go his ways. Our St. Mary Axe Discovery
seems to have no effect at all! --
One other public result there is from it, and as
yet one only: Beichenbach, "from certain causes thereto
moving Us (aus gewissen Uns dazu bewegenden Griinden)"
* Despatch, Whitehall, 11th May (22d byn. s. ).
18*
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? 276 SHIPWRECK. OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [BOOK TO.
131b May 1730.
gets a formal Letter of Recall. Ostensible Letter, dated
Berlin, 13th May, and signed Friedrich Wilhelm; which
the English may read for their comfort. Only that
along with this, of the same date and signature, in-
tended for Reichenbach's comfort, the same Leather
Bag brings a Private Letter (which Dickens or another
has contrived to get sight of and copy), apprising
Beichenbach, That, uraostensibly, his proceedings are
approved of; that he is to continue at his post till
further orders, all the same, "and keep watch on these
"Marriages, about which there is such debating in the
"world (wovon in der Welt so viel debattirt wird); things
"being still in the same state as half a year ago. That
"is to say, I am ready for my Daughter's Marriage
"with the Prince of Wales: but for my Son, he is too
"young yet; und hat es damit keine Eile, weil ich Gottlob
"noch zivei Sdhne hab (nor is there any haste, as I have,
"thank God, two other sons," -- and a third coming, if I knew it): -- "besides one indispensable condition
will be, that the English guarantee Jiilich and Berg,"
which perhaps they are not in the least hurry for,
either! --
What does the English Court think of that? Dated
"Berlin, 13th May:" it is the same day when his Ma-
jesty's matured Proposals, "changed thrice or oftener
within the forty-eight hours," were handed to Hotham
for transmission to his Court. An interesting Leather
Bag, this Ordinary from Berlin. Beichenbach, we ob-
serve, will get his share of it some ten days after that
alarming rebuke from Townshend; and it will relieve
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? CHAP, n. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 277
22tl May 1780.
the poor wretch from his worst terrors: "Go on with
your eavesdroppings as before, you alarmed wretch! " --
There does one Degenfeld by and by, a man of better
quality (and on special haste, as we shall see) come
and supersede poor Nosti, and send him home: -- there
they give Nosti some exiguous Pension, with hint to
disappear forevermore. Which he does; leaving only
these St. Mary Axe Documents for his Lifemark in the
History of Mankind.
What the English Answer to his Majesty's Pro-
posals of Berlin, May 13th, was, we have already
seen; -- dated "London, 22d May," probably few
hours after the Courier arrived. Hotham, well antici-
pating what it would be, had already, as we phrased
it, "laid down the bellows;" left the Negotiation, as
essentially extinct; -- and was preparing for the "Camp
at Radewitz," Britannic Majesty being anxious to hear
what Friedrich Wilhelm and August the Strong have
on hand there.
"The King of Prussia's unsteadiness and want of
resolution," writes Hotham (Berlin, 20th May), "will
"hinder him from being either very useful to his
"friends, or very formidable to his enemies. " And
from the same place, just about quitting it for Rade-
witz, he writes again, exactly a week after ("Berlin,
27th May"), to enclose Copy of a remarkable Letter;
remarkable to us also; -- but which, he knows and
we, cannot influence the English Answer now close at
hand. Here is the copied Letter; copied in Guy
Dickens's hand; -- from which we translate -- and
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? 278 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, FbOOK TO.
27th May 1730.
also will give the original French in this instance, for
behoof of the curious:
To his Excellency the Chevalier Hotham.
[Potsdam, End of May 1730. ]
"Monsieur, -- Je crois que c'est de la dernie`re importance que
"je vous e? crive; et je suis assez triste d'avoir des choses a` vous
"dire que je devrais cacher a` toute la terre: mais il faut franchir
"ce mauvais pas la`; et vous comptant de mes amis, je me resouds
"plus facilement a` vous le dire. Cest que je suis traite? d'une
"manie`re inoui? e du Roi, et que je sais qu'a` present ils se trament
"de terribles choses contre moi, touchant certaines Lettres que
"j'ai e? crites Vhiver passe? , dont je crois que vous serez informe? .
"Enfin pour vous parler franchement, la vraie raison que le Roi a
"de ne vouloir point donner les mains a` ce Mariage est, qu'il me
"veut toujours tenir sur un bas pied, et me faire enrager toute sa
"vie, quand l'envie lui en prend; ainsi il ne l'accordera jamais.
"Si F on consent de votre co^te? que cette Princesse soit aussi traite? e
"ainsi, vous pouvez comprendre aise? ment que je serai fort triste de
"rendre malheureuse une personne que j'estime, et de rester ton-
"jours dans le me^me e? tat ou` je suis. Pour moi donc je crois qu'il
"vaudroit mieux finir le Mariage de ma Soeur ainsi auparavant,
"et ne point demander au Roi seulement des assurances sur mon
"sujet, d'autant plus que sa parole n'y fait rien: suffit que je
"reite`re les promesses que j'ai de? ja` fait au Roimon Oncle, dene
"prendre jamais d'autre e? pouse que sa seconde fille la Princesse
"Ame? lie. Je suis une personne de parole, quipourra faire re? ussir
"ce que j'avance, pourvu que Von se fie a` moi. Je vous lepro-
"mets, et a` pre? sent vous pouvez en avertir votre Cour; et je saurai
"tenir ma promesse. Je suis toujours tout a` vous,
"Fre? de? ric. "*
* State-Paper Office: Prussian Despatches, vol. xli. (enclosed in Sir
Charles Hotham's Despatch, Berlin 27th-16th May 1730).
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING:. 279
27th May 1730.
"Monsieur, -- I believe it is of the last importance that I
"should write to you; and I am very sad to have things to say
"which I ought to conceal from all the earth.
But one must
"take that bad leap; and reckoning you among my friends,
"I the more easily resolve to open myself to you.
"The case is this: I am treated in an unheard-of manner
1'by the King; and I know there are terrible things in prepa-
ration against me, touching certain Letters which I wrote
"last winter, of which I believe you are informed. In a word,
"to speak frankly to you, the real secret reason why the King
"will not consent to this Marriage is, That he wishes to keep
"me on a low footing constantly, and to have the power of
"driving me mad, whenever the whim takes him, throughout
"his life; thus he never will give his consent. If it were
"possible that you on your side could consent that your Prin-
"cess too should be exposed to such treatment, you may well
"comprehend that I should be very sad to bring misery on a
"Person whom I esteem, and to remain always in the same
"state as now.
"For my own part, therefore, I believe it would be better
"to conclude my Sister's Marriage in the first place, and not
"even to ask from the King any assurances in regard to mine;
"the rather as his word has nothing to do with it: it is enough
"that I here reiterate the promises which I have already made
"to the King my Uncle, Never to take another wife than his
"second Daughter the Princess Amelia. I am a person of my
"word; and shall be able to bring about what I set forth, pro-
vided there is trust put in me. I promise it you; and now
"you may give your Court notice of it; and I shall manage to
"keep my promise. I remain yours always. "
The Crown-Prince, for Wilhelmina's sake and every-
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? 280 SIIIPWEECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book vII.
27th May 1780.
body's, is extremely anxious they should agree to the
Single-Marriage in the interim: but the English Court, -- perhaps for no deep reason, perhaps chiefly because
little George had the whim of standing grandly im-
movable upon his first offer, -- never would hear of
that. Which was an angry thought to the Crown-
Prince in after times, as we sometimes notice.
Here, to the like effect, is another Fragment from
his Royal Highness, copied in the Dickens hand, and
enclosed in the same Despatch from Hotham; -- giving
us a glance into the inner workshop of his Royal
Highness, and his hidden assiduities and endeavourings
at that time:
". . . Vous pouvez croire queje feraitout ce que jepeuxpour faire
"reussir mon plan; mais Von n'en remarquera rien en dehors; --
"que Von m'en laisse agir en suite, je ferai bien moi seul reussir le
"reste. Je finis la par vous assurer encore, Monsieur, que je suis "tout a vous. -- Fb? d? bic Pbince R. "
". . . You may believe Iwill exert all myresources to succeed in
"my plan; but there will be no outward sign visible: -- leave
"me to act in this way, I will myself successfully bring it
"through. I end by again assuring you, Monsieur, that I am
"yours always. "
-- Which again produces no effect; the English Answer
being steadily, "Both Marriages, or none. "
And this, then, is what the Hotham mission is come
to? Good Dubourgay is home, recalled about a month
ago, "for the sake of his health,"* -- good old gentle-
* Townshend's polite Despatch to him, Whitehall, 21st April 1730.
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING. 281
S9th May 1780.
man, never to be heard of in Diplomatic History more.
Dubourgay went in the first days of May; and the
month is not out, when Hotham is off to the Camp of
Radewitz; leaving his Negotiation, as it were, extinct.
To the visible regret of the Berlin public generally; to
the grievous disappointment of Queen Sophie, of the
Crown-Prince and some others, -- not to speak of
Wilhelmina's feelings, which are unknown to us.
Regretful Berlin, Wilhelmina and Mamma among
the others, had, by accident, in these dejected circum-
stances, a strange Sign from the Heavens provided
them, one night, -- if we may be permitted to notice
it here. Monday, 29th May;-- and poor Queen Sophie,
we observe withal, is in the hands of the Monthly Nurse,
since Tuesday last! *
St. Peter's Church in Berlin has an Accident.
Monday, 29th May 1730, Friedrich Wilhelm and
the Crown-Prince and Party were at Potsdam, so far
on their way towards Radewitz. All is peaceable at
Potsdam that night: but it was a night of wild phe-
nomena at Berlin; or rather of one wild phenomenon,
the "Burning of the Sanct-Peters Kirche" which held
the whole City awake and in terror for its life. Dim
Fassmann becomes unusually luminous on this affair
(probably an eye-witness to it, poor old soul); and
enables us to fish-up one old Night of Berlin City and
* "Prince Ferdinand" (her last child, Father of him whose fate lay at
Jena seventy-six years afterwards), "born 23d May 1730. "
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? 282 SniPWRECK OP double-mArriAge PROJECT, [book vn.
29th May 1730.
its vanished populations into clear view again, if we
like.
For two years back Berlin had been diligently
building a non-plus-ultra of Steeples to that fine Church
of St. Peter's. Highest Steeple of them all; one of the
Steeples of the "World, in a manner; -- and Berlin was
now near ending it . Tower, or shaft, has been com-
,plete some time, interior fittings going on; and is just
about to get its ultimate apex, a "Crown Royal" set
on it by way of finis. For his Majesty, the great
-35dile, was much concerned in the thing; and had
given materials, multifarious helps: Three incomparable
Bells, especially, were his gift: melodious old Bells, of
distinguished tone, "bigger than the Great Bell of
Erfurt," than Tom of Lincoln, -- or, as brief popular
rumour has it, the biggest Bells in the world, at least
of such a tone. These Bells are hung, silent but ready
in their upper chamber of the Tower, and the gigantic
Crown or apex is to go on; then will the basket-work
of scaffolding be peeled away, and the Steeple stretch,
high and grand, into the air, for ages it is hoped.
Far otherwise. On Monday Evening, between eight
and nine, there gathered thunder over Berlin; wild
tumult of the elements: thunderbolt "thrice in swift
succession" struck the unfinished Steeple; in the "hood"
of which men thereupon noticed a light, as of a star,
or sparkle of the sun; and straightway, in spite of the
rain-torrents, there burst out blazes of flame. Blazes
unquenchable; grand yet perilous to behold. The fire-
drums beat, the alarm-bells clanged, and ceased not;
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? CHAP. II. ] EXCELLENCY HOTHAM PROVES UNAVAILING 283
? 29th May 1730.
all Berlin struggling there, all night, in vain. Such
volumes of smoke: "the heavens were black as if you
had hung them with mortcloth:" such roaring cataracts
of flame, "you could have picked up a copper doit at
the distance of 800 yards. " -- "Hiss -- s-- s! " What
hissing far aloft is that? That is the incomparable big
Bells melting. There they vanish, their fine tones
never to be tried more, and ooze through the redhot
ruin, "Hush -- sh -- sht! " the last sound heard from
them. And the Stem for holding that immense Crown-
royal,-- it is a bar and bars of iron, "weighing sixteen
hundredweight;" down it comes thundering, crashing
through the belly of St. Peter's, the fall of it like an
earthquake all round. And still the fire-drums beat,
and from all surviving Steeples of Berlin goes the
clangor of alarm; "none but the very young children
can have slept that night," says our vigilant old friend.
Wind was awake, too; kindling the neighbouring
streets; -- storming towards the Powder-Magazine;
where labour innumerable Artillerymen, "busy with
hides from the tanpits, with stable-dung, and other ma-
terial;" speed to them, we will say! Forty dwelling-
houses went; but not the Powder-Magazine; not Berlin
utterly (so to speak) by the Powder-Magazine. On
the morrow St. Peter's and neighbourhood lay black,
but still inwardly burning; not for three days more
could the ruins be completely quenched.
That was the news for Friedrich Wilhelm, before
sunrise, on the point of his departure for Miihlberg and
King August's scenic exhibitions. "Hm; -- but we
>
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? 284 shipwreck or double-mArriAge project, [bookvii.
29lh May 1730.
must go, all the same! We will rebuild it! " said he.
-- And truly he did so. And the polite King August,
sorry to hear of the Peterskirche, "gave him excellent
"sandstone from the quarries of Pirna," says Fassmann:
"great blocks came boating down the Elbe" from that
notable Saxon-Switzerland Country, notable to readers
here in time coming; and are to be found, as ashlar, in
the modern St. Peter's at Berlin; a fact which the
reader, till Pirna be better known to him, may remem-
ber if he likes. *
And now let us to Radewitz without delay.
* Fassmann, pp. 406-409.
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? CHAP. III. ]
June 1780.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
285CHAPTER HI.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
I
The Camp of Muhlberg, called more properly the
Camp of Radewitz, towards which. Eriedrich Wilhelm,
with English Hotham and many dignitaries are now
gone, was one of the sublimest scenic military exhibi-
tions in the history of the world; leaving all manner
of imitation tournaments, modern "tin-tournaments,"
out of sight; and perhaps equalling the Field of the
Cloth of Gold, or Barbarossa's Maintz Tournament in
ancient times. It lasted for a month, regardless of
expense, -- June month of the year 1730; -- and
from far and wide the idle of mankind ran, by the
thousand, to see it. Shall the thing be abolished utterly,
-- as perhaps were proper, had not our Crown-Prince
been there, with eyes very open to it, and yet with
thoughts very shut; -- or shall some flying trace of
the big Zero be given? Riddling or screening certain
cartloads of heavy old German printed-rubbish,* to omit
* Chiefly the terrible compilation called Helden- Staats- tmd Lebens-
Geschichte des Ac. Friedrichs dcs Audern (History Beroical, Political and
Biographical of Friedrich the Second), Frankfurt and Leipzig. 1758-1760,
vol. i. first half, pp. 171-210. There are Ten thick and thin Half-volumes,
and perhaps more. One of the most hideous imbroglios ever published
under the name of Book, -- without vestige of Index, and on paper that has
no margin and cannot stand ink, -- yet with many curious articles stuffed
blindly into the awful belly of it, like jewels into a rag-sack, or into ten
rag-sacks all In one; with far more authenticity than you could expect in
such case. Let us call it, for brevity, Helden-Geschichle, in future
references.
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? 286 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MAKRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO.
June 1730.
the Hotham Despatches, we obtain the following shovel-
ful of authentic particulars, perhaps not quite insup-
portable to existing mankind.
The exact size of the Camp of Badewitz I nowhere
find measured; but to judge on the map,* it must have
covered, with its appendages, some ten or twelve square
miles of ground. All on the Elbe, right bank of the
Elbe: Town of Miihlberg, chief Town of the District,
lying some ten miles northwest; then, not much beyond
it, Torgau; and then famed Wittenberg, all on the
northwest, farther down the River: and on the other
side, Meissen with its Potteries not far to the southeast
of you, up the River, on the Dresden hand. Nay per-
haps many of my readers have seen the place, and
not known, in their touring expeditions; which are now
blinder than ever, and done by steam, without even
eyesight, not to say intelligence. Precisely where the
railway from Leipzig to Dresden crosses the Elbe, --
there, if you happen to have daylight, is a flat, rather
clayey country, dirty-greenish, as if depastured partly
by geese; with a big full River Elbe sweeping through
it, banks barish for a mile or two; River itself swift,
sleek and of flint-colour; not unpleasant to behold, thus
far on its journey from the Bohemian Giant-Mountains
sea-ward: precisely there, when you have crossed the
Bridge, is the southmost corner of August the Strong's
Encampment, -- vanished now like the last flock of
geese that soiled and nibbled these localities; -- and,
* Map at p. 300.
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? CHAP. III. |
June 1730.
CAMP OF RADEWITZ.
287without knowing it, you are actually upon memorable
ground.
Actually, we may well say; apart from August and
his fooleries. For here also it was, on the ground now
under your eye, that Kurfilrst Johann Friedrich the
Magnanimous, having been surprised the day before at
public worship in the above-mentioned Town of Miihl-
berg, and completely beaten by Kaiser Karl the Fifth
and his Spaniards and Duke of Alba, did, on Monday
25th April 1547, ride forth as Prisoner to meet the
said Kaiser; and had the worst reception from him,
poor man. "Take pity on me, 0 God! This is what "it is come to? " the magnanimous beaten Kurfurst was
heard murmuring as he rode. At sight of the Kaiser,
he dismounted, pulled off his ironplated gloves, knelt,
and was for humbly taking the Kaiser's hand, to kiss
it. Kaiser would not; Kaiser looked thunderous tor-
nado on him, with hands rigidly in the vertical direc-
tion. The magnanimous Kurfurst arose therefore;
doffed his hat: "Great-mightiest (c/rossmachtigster) all-
"gracious Kaiser, I am your Majesty's prisoner," said
he, confining himself to the historical. "I am Kaiser
"now, then? " answered the sullen Tornado, with a
black brow and hanging under-jaw. -- "I request my
"imprisonment may be prince-like," said the poor
Prince. "It shall be as your deserts have been! " --
"I am in your power; you will do your pleasure on
"me," answered the other; -- and was led away, to
hard durance and peril of life for five years to come;
his Cousin Moritz having expertly jockeyed his Elec-
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? 288 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT.
