" -- "Keith gone, scandalous Keith, whom I
* Narrative of the march thither (Night of 7th November 1712), and
dextrous surprisal of the place, in Leopoldi van Anhall-Dessau Leben und
Thaten (Anonymous, by Ran/ft), pp.
* Narrative of the march thither (Night of 7th November 1712), and
dextrous surprisal of the place, in Leopoldi van Anhall-Dessau Leben und
Thaten (Anonymous, by Ran/ft), pp.
Thomas Carlyle
What the
passages between him and Friedrich Wilhelm were, on
this occasion, shall remain conjectural to all creatures.
Friedrich Wilhelm said, this Sunday evening at Darm-
stadt, to his own Prince: "Still here, then? I thought
"you would have been in Paris by this time! " -- To
which the Prince, with artificial firmness, answered,
He could certainly, if he had wished;* and being fa-
miliar with reproaches, perhaps hoped it was nothing.
From Darmstadt to Frankfurt-on-the-Mayn is not
quite forty miles, an easy morning drive; through the
old Country called of Katzenellenbogen; Cat's-Elbow,
a name ridiculous to hear. ** Berg-Strasse and the
Odenwald (Forest of the Otti) are gone; but blue on
the northeast yonder, if your Royal Highness will
please to look, may be seen summits of the Spessart,
a much grander Forest, -- tall branchy timbers yonder,
one day to be masts of admirals, when floated down as
* Seckendorf (In Fb'rster, iii. ), p. 3.
** Caltimelibocum, that is, Caltim-Melibocum {Calti a famed Nation,
Melibocus the chief Hill or Fortress of their Country), is said to bo the
original; -- which has got changed; like Aballaba into "Appleby," or God
encompass us into "The Goat and Compasses," among ourselves.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 67
7th Aug. 1730.
far as Rotterdam, whitherward one still meets them
going. Spessart; -- and nearer, well hidden on the
right, is an obscure village called Dettingen, not yet
become famous in the Newspapers of an idle world; of
an England surely very idle to go thither seeking
quarrels! All which is, naturally, in the highest degree
indifferent to a Crown-Prince so preoccupied. -- They
reach Frankfurt, Monday, still in good time.
Behold, at Frankfurt, the Trio of Vigilance, Bud-
denbrock and Company (horrible to think of! ) signify,
"That we have the King's express orders Not to enter
the Town at all with your Royal Highness. We, for
our part, are to go direct into one of the Royal Yachts,
which swing at anchor here, and to wait in the same
till his Majesty have done seeing Frankfurt, and return
to us. " Here is a message for the poor young Prince:
Detected, prisoner, and a volcanic Majesty now likely
to be in full play when he returns! -- Gilt weather-
cock on the Mayn Bridge (which one Goethe used to
look at, in the next generation) -- this, and the steeple-
tops of Frankfurt, especially that steeple-top with the
grinning scull of the mutinous malefactor on it, warning
to mankind what mutiny leads to: this, then, is what
we are to see of Frankfurt; and with such a symphony
as our thoughts are playing in the background. Un-
happy Son, unhappy Father, once more!
Nay Friedrich Wilhelm got new lights in Frank-
fart: Rittmeister Katte had an estafette waiting for him
there. Estafette with a certain Letter, which the Ritt5*
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? 68 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO
TthAug. 1730.
meister had picked up in Erlangen, and has shot across
by estafette to wait his Majesty here. Majesty has read
with open eyes and throat: Letter from the Crown-
Prince to Lieutenant Katte in Berlin: treasonous Flight-
project now indisputable as the sun at noon! -- His
Majesty stept on board the Yacht in such humour as
was never seen before: "Detestable rebel and deserter,
scandal of scandals --! " -- it is confidently written
everywhere (though Seckendorf diplomatically keeps
silence), his Majesty hustled and tussled the unfortunate
Crown-Prince, poked the handle of his cane into his
face and made the nose bleed, -- "Never did a Bran-
denburg face suffer the like of this! " cried the poor
Prince, driven to the edge of mad ignition and one
knows not what: when the Buddenbrocks, at whatever
peril, interfered; got the Prince brought on board a
different Yacht; and the conflagration moderated for the
moment. The Yachts get under way towards Maintz
and down the Rhine-stream. The Yachts glide swiftly
on the favouring current, taking advantage of what
wind there may be: were we once ashore at Wesel
in our own country, -- wait till then, thinks his Ma-
jesty!
And so it was on these terms that Friedrich made
his first acquaintance with the beauties of the Rhine;
-- readers can judge whether he was in a temper very
open to the picturesque. I know not that they paused
at Maintz, or recollected Barbarossa's World-Tourna-
ment or the Hochheim vineyards at all: I see the young
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? CHIP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 69
8th Aug. 1730.
man's Yacht dashing in swift gallop, not without danger,
through the Gap of Bingen; dancing wildly on the
boiling whirlpools of St. Goar, well threading the cliffs;
-- the young man gloomily insensible to danger of
life, and charm of the picturesque. Coblenz (Con-
fluentia), the Moselle and Ehrenbreitstein: Majesty,
smoking on deck if he like, can look at these through
grimly pacifying tobacco; but to the Crown-Prince life
itself is fallen haggard and bankrupt.
Over against Coblenz, nestled-in between the Rhine
and the foot of Ehrenbreitstein,* there, perhaps even
now, in his Hunting-Lodge of Kerlich yonder, is his
Serene Highness the fat little Kurfurst of Trier, one of
those Austrian Schonborns (Brother to him of Bam-
berg); upon whom why should we make a call? We
are due at Bonn; the fortunate young Kurfurst of Koln,
richest Pluralist in the Church, expects us at his Re-
sidence there. Friedrich Wilhelm views the fine For-
tress of Ehrenbreitstein: -- what would your Majesty
think if this were to be yours in a hundred years; this
and much else, by way of compound-interest for the
Berg-and-Jiilich and other out-standing debts? Courage,
your Majesty! -- On the fat little Kurfurst, at Kerlich
here, we do not call: probably out hunting; "hunts
every day,"** as if it were his trade, poor little soul.
At Bonn, where we do step ashore to lodge with a
lean Kurfurst, Friedrich Wilhelm strictly charges, in
my (Seckendorf's) hearing, the Trio of Vigilance to
, * Pb'llnitz, Memoirs and Letters, iii. 180.
? * Biischlng, Beytrige, iv. 201.
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? 70 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VH.
7th-8thAug-. 1730.
have an eye; to see that they hring the Prince on board
again, "living or dead. " -- No fear, your Majesty.
Prince listened with silent, almost defiant patience,
"mit grosser Oeduld. "* At Bonn the Prince contrived
to confide to Seckendorf, "That he had in very truth
"meant to run away: he could not, at the age he was
"come to, stand such indignities, actual strokes as in
"the Camp of Radewitz; -- and he would have gone
"long since, had it not been for the Queen and the
"Princess his Sister's sake. He could not repent what
"he had done: and if the King did not cease beating
"him in that manner, &c, he would still do it. For
"loss of his own life, such a life as his had grown, he
"cared little; his chief misery was, that those Officers
"who had known of the thing should come to misfor-
"tune by his means. If the King would pardon these
"poor gentlemen, he would tell him everything. For
"the rest, begged Seckendorf to help him in this laby-
rinth; -- nothing could ever so oblige him as help
"now;" and more of the like sort. These things he
said, at Bonn, to Seckendorf, the fountain of all his
woes. ** What Seckendorf's reflections on this his sad
handiwork now were, we do not know. Probably he
made none, being a strong-minded case-hardened old
stager; but resolved to do what he could for the poor
youth. Somewhere on this route, at Bonn more likely
than elsewhere, Friedrich wrote in pencil three words
to Lieutenant Keith at Wesel, and got it to the Post-
* Seckendorf (in Fb'rster, ill. 4).
? * lb. ill. *.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTEOPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 71
8tllAug. 1730.
Office: "Sauvez-vous, tout est decouvert (All is found
out; -- away)! "*
Clement August, expensive Kurfiirst of Koln (Elec-
tor of Cologne, as we call it), who does the hospitali-
ties here at Bonn, in a grand way, with "above a
hundred and fifty chamberlains" for one item,-- glance
at him, reader; perhaps we shall meet the man again.
He is younger Brother of the elegant ambitious Karl
Albert, Kurfiirst of Bavaria, whom we have transiently
heard of: sons both of them are of that "Elector of
Bavaria" who haunts us in the Marlborough Histories,
-- who joined Louis XIV. in the Succession War, and
got hunted about at such a rate, after Blenheim espe-
cially. His Boys, prisoners of the Kaiser, were bred
up in a confiscated state, as sons of a mere private gen-
tleman; nothing visibly ahead of them, at one time, but
an obscure and extremely limited destiny of that kind;
-- though now again, on French favour, and the turn
of Fortune's inconstant wheel, they are mounting very
high. Bavaria came all back to the old Elector of Ba-
varia; even Marlborough's "Principality of Mindelheim"
came. ** And the present Kurfiirst, who will not do the
Pragmatic Sanction at all, -- Kurfiirst Karl Albert of
Baiern, our old Karl Philip of Mannheim's genealogical
"Cousin;" -- we heard of abstruse colleaguings there,
1 Wilhelmina (i. 265) says it was a Pago of the Old Dessauer's , a com-
rade of Keith's, who, having known in time, gave him warning.
** At the Peace of Baden (corollary to Utrecht), 1714. Elector had been
"banned" (ge&chlet, solemnly drummed out), 1706; nothing but French
pay to live upon, till he got back: died, 26th February 1726, when Karl
Albert succeeded (Michaelis, ii. 255).
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? 72 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [l)OOK VH.
8th I2lli Aug. 1730.
tendencies to break the Pragmatic Sanction altogether,
and reduce it to waste sheepskin! Not impossible Karl
Albert will go high enough. And this Clement August
the cadet, he is Kurfiirst of Koln; by good election-
tactics, and favour of the French, he has managed to
succeed an Uncle here: has succeeded at Osnabriick in
like fashion; -- poor old Ernst August of Osnabriick
(to whom we once saw George I. galloping to die, and
who himself soon after died), his successor is this same
Clement August, the turn for a Catholic Bishop being
come at Osnabriick, and the French being kind. Kur-
fiirst of Koln, Bishop of Osnabriick, ditto of Paderborn and Miinster, ditto now of Hildesheim; richest Pluralist
of the Church. Goes about here in a languid expen-
sive manner; "in green coat trimmed with narrow
"silver-lace, small bagwig done with French garniture
"(Schleife) in front; and has red heels to his shoes. " A
lanky indolent figure, age now thirty; "tall and slouch-
"ing of person, long lean face, hook nose, black beard,
"mouth somewhat open. "* Has above one hundred
and fifty chamberlains; -- and, I doubt not, is inex-
pressibly wearisome to Friedrich Wilhelm in his Ma-
jesty's present mood. Patience for the moment, and
politeness above all things! -- The Trio of Vigilance
had no difficulty with Friedrich; brought him on board
safe again next day, and all proceeded on their voyage;
? Bflichlng (Beylrgge, iv. 201-204: from a certain Travelling Tutor's
Jfs. Diary of 1731; where also is detail of the Kurfiirst's mode of Dining, --
elaborate but dreary, both mode and detail). His Schloss is now the Bonn
University.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 78
8th-12tli Aug. 1730.
the Kurfurst in person politely escorting as far as K5ln.
Kbln, famed old City of the Three Kings, with its
famed Cathedral where those three gentlemen are buried, here the Kurfurst ceases escorting; and the flat old City
is left, exciting what reflections it can. The architec-
tural Dilettanti of the world gather here; St. Ursula and
her Eleven Thousand Virgins were once massacred
here, your Majesty; an English Princess she, it is said.
"Narrenpossen (Pack of nonsense)! " grumbles Majesty.
-- Pleasant Diisseldorf is much more interesting to his
Majesty; the pleasant Capital of Berg, which ought to
be ours, if right could be done; if old Pfalz would give
up his crotchets; and the bowls, in the big game play-
ing at Seville and elsewhere, would roll fair! Diisseldorf and that fine Palace of the Pfalzers, which ought
to be mine; -- and here next is Kaiserswerth, a place
of sieges, cannonadings, known to those I knew. 'M-na,
from father to son and grandson, it goes on, and there
is no end to trouble and war! --
His Majesty's next lodging is at Mors; old gaunt
Castle in the Town of Mors, which (thanks to Leopold
of Anhalt-Dessau and the Iron Ramrods) is now his
Majesty's, in spite of the Dutch. There the lodging is,
at an hour's drive westward from the Rhine-shore: --
where his Majesty quitted the River, I do not know; nor whether the Crown-Prince went to Mors with him,
or waited in his Yacht; but guess the latter. His Ma-
jesty intends for Geldern on the morrow, on matters of
business thither, for the Town is his: but what would
the Prince, in the present state of things, do there? --
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? 74 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO.
8th-12th Aug. 1730.
At Mors, Seckendorf found means to address Lis Ma-
jesty privately, and snuffled into him suggestions of
mercy to the repentant Prince, and to the poor Officers
whom he was so anxious about. "Well, if he will
confess everything, and leave off his quirks and con-
cealments: but I know he won't! " answered Majesty.
In that dilapidated Castle of Mors, -- look at it,
reader, though in the dark; we may see it again, or
the shadow of it, perhaps by moonlight. A very gaunt
old Castle; next to nothing living in it, since the Old
Dessauer (by stratagem, and without shot fired) flung
out the Dutch, in the Treaty-of-Utrecht<< time; Mors
Castle and Territory being indisputably ours, though
always withheld from us on pretexts. *
At Geldern, in the pressure of business next day,
his Majesty got word from Wesel, that Lieutenant
Keith was not now to be found in Wesel. "Was last
seen there (that we can hear of) certain hours before
your Majesty's All-gracious Order arrived. Had sad-
dled his own horse; came ambling through the Brunen
Gate, "going out to have a ride," he said; "and did not
return.
" -- "Keith gone, scandalous Keith, whom I
* Narrative of the march thither (Night of 7th November 1712), and
dextrous surprisal of the place, in Leopoldi van Anhall-Dessau Leben und
Thaten (Anonymous, by Ran/ft), pp. 85-90; -- where the Despatch of the
astonished Dutch Commandant himself, to their High Mightinesses, is
given. Part of the Orange Heritage, this Mors, -- came by the Great
Elector's first Wife; -- but had hung sub lite (though the Parchments were
plain enough) ever since our King William's death, and earlier. Neuch&tel,
accepted instead of Orange, and not even of the value of Mors, was another
item of the same lot. Besides which, we shall hear of old Palaces at Loo
and other dilapidated objects, Incidentally in time coming.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 75
8th-12th Aug. 1730.
pardoned only few weeks ago; he too is in the Plot!
Will the very Army break its oath, then? " His Ma-
jesty bursts into fire and flame, at these new tidings;
orders that Colonel Dumoulin (our expertest rogue-
tracer) go instantly on the scent of Keith, and follow
him till found and caught. Also, on the other hand,
that the Crown-Prince be constituted prisoner; sail down
to Wesel, prisoner in his Yacht, and await upon the
Rhine there his Majesty's arrival. Formidable omens,
it is thought.
His Majesty, all business done in Geldern, drives
across to Wesel; can see Fritz's Yacht waiting duly in
the River, and black Care hovering over her. It is on
the evening of the 12th of August 1730. And so his
Majesty ends this memorable Tour into the Reich; but
has not yet ended the gloomy miseries, for himself and
others, which plentifully sprung out of that
.
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? 76 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VTT.
15th Aug. 1730.
CHAPTER VII.
CATASTROPHE, AND MAJESTY, ARRIVE IN BERLIN.
At Berlin dark rumours of this intended Flight,
and actual Arrest of the Crown-Prince, are agitating
all the world; especially Lieutenant Katte, and the
Queen and Wilhelmina, as we may suppose. The first
news of it came tragically on the young Princess. *
"Mamma had given a ball in honour of Papa's Birthday,"
-- Tuesday 15th August 1730; -- and we were all dancing in
the fine saloons of Monbijou, with pretty intervals in the cool
boscages and orangeries of the place: all of us as happy as
could be; Wilhelmina, in particular, dancing at an unusual
rate. "We recommenced the ball after supper. For six years
"I had not danced before: it was new fruit, and I took my fill
"of it, without heeding much what was passing. Madam
"Biilow, who with others of them had worn long faces all
"night, pleading 'illness' when one noticed it, said to me
'' several times: 'It is late, I wish you had done. ' --' Eh, mon
'''Dieu! ' I answered,'let me have enough of dancing this one
"'new time; it maybe long before it comes again. '-- 'That
"may well be! ' said she. I paid no regard, but continued to
"divert myself. She returned to the charge half an hour
"after: 'Will you end, then! ' said she with a vexed air:
* Apparently some rumour from Frankfurt, which she confuses in her
after-memory with the specific news from Wesel; for her dates here, as
nsual, are all awry (Wilhelmina, i. 246; Preuss, i. 42, iv. 478; Seckendorf,
inFBrster, iii. <<).
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? CHAP. TO. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 77
15th-20th Aug. 1730.
'"you are so engaged, you have eyes for nothing. '--'You are
'"in such a humour,' I replied,'that I know not what to make
"'of it. ' -- 'Look at the Queen, then, Madam; and you will
"'cease to reproach me! ' A glance which I gave that way
"filled me with terror. There sat the Queen, paler than death,
"in a corner of the room, in low conference with Sonsfeld
"and Countess Finckenstein. As my Brother was most in my
"anxieties, I asked, If it concerned him? 'Billow shrugged
"her shoulders, answering, 'I don't know at all! ' A moment
"after, the Queen gave Good-night; and got into her carriage
"with me, -- speaking no word, all the way to the Schloss; so
"that I thought my Brother must be dead, and I myself took
"violent palpitations, and Sonsfeld, contrary to orders, had at
'' last to tell me in the course of the night. " Poor Wilhelmina,
and poor Mother of Wilhelmina!
The fact, of Arrest, and unknown mischief to the
Prince, is taken for certain; but what may be the
issues of it; who besides the Prince have been involved
in it, especially who will be found to have been in-
volved, is matter of dire guess to the three who are
most interested here. Lieutenant Katte finds he ought
to dispose of the Prince's effects which were intrusted
to him; of the Thousand gold Thalers in particular,
and, beyond and before all, of the locked Writing-
desk, in which lies the Prince's Correspondence, the
very Queen and Princess likely to be concerned in it!
Katte despatches these two objects, the Money and
the little Desk, in all secrecy, to Madam Finckenstein,
as to the surest hand, with a short Note shadowing
out what he thinks they are: Countess Finckenstein, old
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? 78 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book VH.
20th Aug. 1730.
General von Finckenstein's Wife, and a second mother
to the Prince, she, like her Husband, a sworn partisan
of the Prince and his Mother, shall do with these pre-
cious and terrible objects what, to her own wise judg-
ment, seems best.
Madam Finckenstein carries them at once, in deep
silence, to the Queen. Huge dismay on the part of the
Queen and Princess. They know too well what Letters
may be there; and there is a seal on the Desk, and
no key to it; neither must it, in time coming, seem to
have been opened, even if we could now open it. A
desperate pinch, and it must be solved. Female wit
and Wilhelmina did solve it, by some preeminently
acute device of their despair;* and contrived to get
the Letters out: hundreds of Letters, enough to be our
death if read, says Wilhelmina. These Letters they burnt; and set to writing, fast as the pen would go,
other letters in their stead. Fancy the mood of these
two Royal Women, and the black whirlwind they were
in. Wilhelmina's despatch was incredible; pen went
at the gallop night and day: new letters, of old dates
and of no meaning, are got into the Desk again;
the Desk closed, without mark of injury, and shoved
aside while it is yet time. -- Time presses; his Ma-
jesty too, and the events, go at gallop. Here is a
Letter from his Majesty, to a trusty Mistress of the
Robes, or whatever she is; which, let it arrive through
what softening media it likes, will complete the poor
Queen's despair:
? Wilhelmina, i. 253-257.
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? CHAP, vn. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 79
J2th-27tb. Aug. 1730.
"My dear Frau von Kamecke, -- Fritz has attempted to
"desert. I have been under the necessity to have him arrested.
"I request you to tell my Wife of it in some good way, that
"the news may not terrify her. And pity an unhappy Father.
"FrIEDRICH WilHElM. "*
The same post brought an order to the Colonel of
the Gens-d'Armes to put that Lieutenant Katte of his
under close confinement: -- we hope the thoughtless
young fellow has already got out of the way? He is
getting his saddle altered; fettling about this and that;
does not consider what danger he is in. This same
Sunday, his Major met him on the Street of Berlin;
said, in a significant tone, "You still here, Katte! " --
"I go this night," answered Katte; but he again put it
off, did not go this night; and the order for his arrest
did come in. On the morrow morning, Colonel Panne-
witz, hoping now he was not there, went with the
rhadamanthine order; and finding the unlucky fellow,
was obliged to execute it. Katte lies in ward, awaiting
what may be prepared for him.
Friedrich Wilhelm at Wesel has had rough pas-
sages with the Prince and others. On the Saturday
evening, 12th August 1730,** his Majesty had the
Culprit brought on shore, to the Commandant's House,
for an interview. Culprit proving less remorseful than
was expected, and evidently not confessing everything,
a loud terrible scene ensued; which Friedrich Wilhelm,
* No date: "arrived" (fromWcscl, wo conclude), Sunday "20thAugust,"
at the Palace of Berlin (Preuss, i. 42).
>>* Preuss, It. 473; Seckendorf (Fb'rster, lii. 6) says 13th, but wrong.
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? 80 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MABRIAGE PBOJECT. [book VII.
12th-27th Aug. 1730.
the unhappy Father, winded up by drawing his sword
to run the unnatural Son through the body. Old
General Mosel, Commandant of Wesel, sprang between
them, "Sire, cut me to death, but spare your Son! "
and the sword was got back to its scabbard; and the
Prince lodged in a separate room, two sentries with
fixed bayonets keeping watch over him. Friedrich Wil-
helm did not see his face again for twelve months to
come, -- 'twelve months and three days. '
Military gentlemen of due grimness interrogated the
Prince next evening,* from a Paper drawn up by his
Majesty in the interim. Prince confesses little: Did
design to get across the Rhine to Landau; thence to
Strasburg, Paris, in the strictest incognito; intended to
volunteer there, thought he might take French service,
profoundly incognito, and signalise himself in the
Italian War (just expected to break out), which might
have recovered him some favour from his Majesty: does
not tell clearly where his money came from; shy ex-
tremely of elucidating Katte and Keith; -- in fact, as
we perceive, struggles against mendacity, but will not
tell the whole truth. "Let him lie in ward, then; and
take what doom the Laws have appointed for the like
of him! " Divine Laws, are they not? Well, yes,
your Majesty; divine and human; -- or are there per-
haps no laws but the human sort, completely explicit
in this case? "He is my Colonel at least," thinks
Friedrich Wilhehn, "and tried to desert and make
others desert. If a rebellious Crown-Prince, breaking
? Scckeudorf (in Ff rater, iii. 5).
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? CHAP. VII. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 81
12tt>-27th Aug. 1730.
his Father's heart, find the laws still inarticulate; a deserting Colonel of the Potsdam Kegiment finds
them speak plain enough! Let him take the answer they give him. " --
Dumoulin, in the mean while, can make nothing of Keith, the runaway Lieutenant. Dumoulin, with his sagacious organ, soon came upon the scent of Keith; and has discovered these things about him. One even-
ing, a week before his Majesty arrived, Sunday even-
ing 6th August 1730,* Lieutenant Keith, doubtless
smelling something, saddled his horse as above men- 'tioned, decided to have a ride in the country this fine
evening, and issued out at the Briinen Gate of Wesel.
He is on the right bank of the Rhine; pleasant yellow
fields on this hand and that. He ambles slowly, for a
space; then gradually awakens into speed, into full
speed; arrives, within a couple of hours, at Dingden,
a Village in the Munster Territory, safe over the
Prussian border, by the shortest line: and from Dingden
rides at more leisure, but without losing time, into the
Dutch Overyssel region, straight towards the Hague.
He must be in the Hague? said Dumoulin to the
Official persons, on arriving there, -- to Mardenfeld
the Prussian Ambassador there,** and to Keppel, Dutch
Official gentleman who was once Ambassador at Berlin.
Prussian Ambassador applies, and again applies, in the
highest quarters; but we fear they are slack. Dumoulin
discovers that the man was certainly here; Keppel
readily admits, He had Keith to dinner a few days
* Prcuss, iv. 473. ** Seckendorf (Forster, ill. 7).
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV. 6
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? 82 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VII.
12th-27th Aug.
passages between him and Friedrich Wilhelm were, on
this occasion, shall remain conjectural to all creatures.
Friedrich Wilhelm said, this Sunday evening at Darm-
stadt, to his own Prince: "Still here, then? I thought
"you would have been in Paris by this time! " -- To
which the Prince, with artificial firmness, answered,
He could certainly, if he had wished;* and being fa-
miliar with reproaches, perhaps hoped it was nothing.
From Darmstadt to Frankfurt-on-the-Mayn is not
quite forty miles, an easy morning drive; through the
old Country called of Katzenellenbogen; Cat's-Elbow,
a name ridiculous to hear. ** Berg-Strasse and the
Odenwald (Forest of the Otti) are gone; but blue on
the northeast yonder, if your Royal Highness will
please to look, may be seen summits of the Spessart,
a much grander Forest, -- tall branchy timbers yonder,
one day to be masts of admirals, when floated down as
* Seckendorf (In Fb'rster, iii. ), p. 3.
** Caltimelibocum, that is, Caltim-Melibocum {Calti a famed Nation,
Melibocus the chief Hill or Fortress of their Country), is said to bo the
original; -- which has got changed; like Aballaba into "Appleby," or God
encompass us into "The Goat and Compasses," among ourselves.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 67
7th Aug. 1730.
far as Rotterdam, whitherward one still meets them
going. Spessart; -- and nearer, well hidden on the
right, is an obscure village called Dettingen, not yet
become famous in the Newspapers of an idle world; of
an England surely very idle to go thither seeking
quarrels! All which is, naturally, in the highest degree
indifferent to a Crown-Prince so preoccupied. -- They
reach Frankfurt, Monday, still in good time.
Behold, at Frankfurt, the Trio of Vigilance, Bud-
denbrock and Company (horrible to think of! ) signify,
"That we have the King's express orders Not to enter
the Town at all with your Royal Highness. We, for
our part, are to go direct into one of the Royal Yachts,
which swing at anchor here, and to wait in the same
till his Majesty have done seeing Frankfurt, and return
to us. " Here is a message for the poor young Prince:
Detected, prisoner, and a volcanic Majesty now likely
to be in full play when he returns! -- Gilt weather-
cock on the Mayn Bridge (which one Goethe used to
look at, in the next generation) -- this, and the steeple-
tops of Frankfurt, especially that steeple-top with the
grinning scull of the mutinous malefactor on it, warning
to mankind what mutiny leads to: this, then, is what
we are to see of Frankfurt; and with such a symphony
as our thoughts are playing in the background. Un-
happy Son, unhappy Father, once more!
Nay Friedrich Wilhelm got new lights in Frank-
fart: Rittmeister Katte had an estafette waiting for him
there. Estafette with a certain Letter, which the Ritt5*
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? 68 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO
TthAug. 1730.
meister had picked up in Erlangen, and has shot across
by estafette to wait his Majesty here. Majesty has read
with open eyes and throat: Letter from the Crown-
Prince to Lieutenant Katte in Berlin: treasonous Flight-
project now indisputable as the sun at noon! -- His
Majesty stept on board the Yacht in such humour as
was never seen before: "Detestable rebel and deserter,
scandal of scandals --! " -- it is confidently written
everywhere (though Seckendorf diplomatically keeps
silence), his Majesty hustled and tussled the unfortunate
Crown-Prince, poked the handle of his cane into his
face and made the nose bleed, -- "Never did a Bran-
denburg face suffer the like of this! " cried the poor
Prince, driven to the edge of mad ignition and one
knows not what: when the Buddenbrocks, at whatever
peril, interfered; got the Prince brought on board a
different Yacht; and the conflagration moderated for the
moment. The Yachts get under way towards Maintz
and down the Rhine-stream. The Yachts glide swiftly
on the favouring current, taking advantage of what
wind there may be: were we once ashore at Wesel
in our own country, -- wait till then, thinks his Ma-
jesty!
And so it was on these terms that Friedrich made
his first acquaintance with the beauties of the Rhine;
-- readers can judge whether he was in a temper very
open to the picturesque. I know not that they paused
at Maintz, or recollected Barbarossa's World-Tourna-
ment or the Hochheim vineyards at all: I see the young
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? CHIP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 69
8th Aug. 1730.
man's Yacht dashing in swift gallop, not without danger,
through the Gap of Bingen; dancing wildly on the
boiling whirlpools of St. Goar, well threading the cliffs;
-- the young man gloomily insensible to danger of
life, and charm of the picturesque. Coblenz (Con-
fluentia), the Moselle and Ehrenbreitstein: Majesty,
smoking on deck if he like, can look at these through
grimly pacifying tobacco; but to the Crown-Prince life
itself is fallen haggard and bankrupt.
Over against Coblenz, nestled-in between the Rhine
and the foot of Ehrenbreitstein,* there, perhaps even
now, in his Hunting-Lodge of Kerlich yonder, is his
Serene Highness the fat little Kurfurst of Trier, one of
those Austrian Schonborns (Brother to him of Bam-
berg); upon whom why should we make a call? We
are due at Bonn; the fortunate young Kurfurst of Koln,
richest Pluralist in the Church, expects us at his Re-
sidence there. Friedrich Wilhelm views the fine For-
tress of Ehrenbreitstein: -- what would your Majesty
think if this were to be yours in a hundred years; this
and much else, by way of compound-interest for the
Berg-and-Jiilich and other out-standing debts? Courage,
your Majesty! -- On the fat little Kurfurst, at Kerlich
here, we do not call: probably out hunting; "hunts
every day,"** as if it were his trade, poor little soul.
At Bonn, where we do step ashore to lodge with a
lean Kurfurst, Friedrich Wilhelm strictly charges, in
my (Seckendorf's) hearing, the Trio of Vigilance to
, * Pb'llnitz, Memoirs and Letters, iii. 180.
? * Biischlng, Beytrige, iv. 201.
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? 70 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VH.
7th-8thAug-. 1730.
have an eye; to see that they hring the Prince on board
again, "living or dead. " -- No fear, your Majesty.
Prince listened with silent, almost defiant patience,
"mit grosser Oeduld. "* At Bonn the Prince contrived
to confide to Seckendorf, "That he had in very truth
"meant to run away: he could not, at the age he was
"come to, stand such indignities, actual strokes as in
"the Camp of Radewitz; -- and he would have gone
"long since, had it not been for the Queen and the
"Princess his Sister's sake. He could not repent what
"he had done: and if the King did not cease beating
"him in that manner, &c, he would still do it. For
"loss of his own life, such a life as his had grown, he
"cared little; his chief misery was, that those Officers
"who had known of the thing should come to misfor-
"tune by his means. If the King would pardon these
"poor gentlemen, he would tell him everything. For
"the rest, begged Seckendorf to help him in this laby-
rinth; -- nothing could ever so oblige him as help
"now;" and more of the like sort. These things he
said, at Bonn, to Seckendorf, the fountain of all his
woes. ** What Seckendorf's reflections on this his sad
handiwork now were, we do not know. Probably he
made none, being a strong-minded case-hardened old
stager; but resolved to do what he could for the poor
youth. Somewhere on this route, at Bonn more likely
than elsewhere, Friedrich wrote in pencil three words
to Lieutenant Keith at Wesel, and got it to the Post-
* Seckendorf (in Fb'rster, ill. 4).
? * lb. ill. *.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTEOPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 71
8tllAug. 1730.
Office: "Sauvez-vous, tout est decouvert (All is found
out; -- away)! "*
Clement August, expensive Kurfiirst of Koln (Elec-
tor of Cologne, as we call it), who does the hospitali-
ties here at Bonn, in a grand way, with "above a
hundred and fifty chamberlains" for one item,-- glance
at him, reader; perhaps we shall meet the man again.
He is younger Brother of the elegant ambitious Karl
Albert, Kurfiirst of Bavaria, whom we have transiently
heard of: sons both of them are of that "Elector of
Bavaria" who haunts us in the Marlborough Histories,
-- who joined Louis XIV. in the Succession War, and
got hunted about at such a rate, after Blenheim espe-
cially. His Boys, prisoners of the Kaiser, were bred
up in a confiscated state, as sons of a mere private gen-
tleman; nothing visibly ahead of them, at one time, but
an obscure and extremely limited destiny of that kind;
-- though now again, on French favour, and the turn
of Fortune's inconstant wheel, they are mounting very
high. Bavaria came all back to the old Elector of Ba-
varia; even Marlborough's "Principality of Mindelheim"
came. ** And the present Kurfiirst, who will not do the
Pragmatic Sanction at all, -- Kurfiirst Karl Albert of
Baiern, our old Karl Philip of Mannheim's genealogical
"Cousin;" -- we heard of abstruse colleaguings there,
1 Wilhelmina (i. 265) says it was a Pago of the Old Dessauer's , a com-
rade of Keith's, who, having known in time, gave him warning.
** At the Peace of Baden (corollary to Utrecht), 1714. Elector had been
"banned" (ge&chlet, solemnly drummed out), 1706; nothing but French
pay to live upon, till he got back: died, 26th February 1726, when Karl
Albert succeeded (Michaelis, ii. 255).
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? 72 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [l)OOK VH.
8th I2lli Aug. 1730.
tendencies to break the Pragmatic Sanction altogether,
and reduce it to waste sheepskin! Not impossible Karl
Albert will go high enough. And this Clement August
the cadet, he is Kurfiirst of Koln; by good election-
tactics, and favour of the French, he has managed to
succeed an Uncle here: has succeeded at Osnabriick in
like fashion; -- poor old Ernst August of Osnabriick
(to whom we once saw George I. galloping to die, and
who himself soon after died), his successor is this same
Clement August, the turn for a Catholic Bishop being
come at Osnabriick, and the French being kind. Kur-
fiirst of Koln, Bishop of Osnabriick, ditto of Paderborn and Miinster, ditto now of Hildesheim; richest Pluralist
of the Church. Goes about here in a languid expen-
sive manner; "in green coat trimmed with narrow
"silver-lace, small bagwig done with French garniture
"(Schleife) in front; and has red heels to his shoes. " A
lanky indolent figure, age now thirty; "tall and slouch-
"ing of person, long lean face, hook nose, black beard,
"mouth somewhat open. "* Has above one hundred
and fifty chamberlains; -- and, I doubt not, is inex-
pressibly wearisome to Friedrich Wilhelm in his Ma-
jesty's present mood. Patience for the moment, and
politeness above all things! -- The Trio of Vigilance
had no difficulty with Friedrich; brought him on board
safe again next day, and all proceeded on their voyage;
? Bflichlng (Beylrgge, iv. 201-204: from a certain Travelling Tutor's
Jfs. Diary of 1731; where also is detail of the Kurfiirst's mode of Dining, --
elaborate but dreary, both mode and detail). His Schloss is now the Bonn
University.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 78
8th-12tli Aug. 1730.
the Kurfurst in person politely escorting as far as K5ln.
Kbln, famed old City of the Three Kings, with its
famed Cathedral where those three gentlemen are buried, here the Kurfurst ceases escorting; and the flat old City
is left, exciting what reflections it can. The architec-
tural Dilettanti of the world gather here; St. Ursula and
her Eleven Thousand Virgins were once massacred
here, your Majesty; an English Princess she, it is said.
"Narrenpossen (Pack of nonsense)! " grumbles Majesty.
-- Pleasant Diisseldorf is much more interesting to his
Majesty; the pleasant Capital of Berg, which ought to
be ours, if right could be done; if old Pfalz would give
up his crotchets; and the bowls, in the big game play-
ing at Seville and elsewhere, would roll fair! Diisseldorf and that fine Palace of the Pfalzers, which ought
to be mine; -- and here next is Kaiserswerth, a place
of sieges, cannonadings, known to those I knew. 'M-na,
from father to son and grandson, it goes on, and there
is no end to trouble and war! --
His Majesty's next lodging is at Mors; old gaunt
Castle in the Town of Mors, which (thanks to Leopold
of Anhalt-Dessau and the Iron Ramrods) is now his
Majesty's, in spite of the Dutch. There the lodging is,
at an hour's drive westward from the Rhine-shore: --
where his Majesty quitted the River, I do not know; nor whether the Crown-Prince went to Mors with him,
or waited in his Yacht; but guess the latter. His Ma-
jesty intends for Geldern on the morrow, on matters of
business thither, for the Town is his: but what would
the Prince, in the present state of things, do there? --
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? 74 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book TO.
8th-12th Aug. 1730.
At Mors, Seckendorf found means to address Lis Ma-
jesty privately, and snuffled into him suggestions of
mercy to the repentant Prince, and to the poor Officers
whom he was so anxious about. "Well, if he will
confess everything, and leave off his quirks and con-
cealments: but I know he won't! " answered Majesty.
In that dilapidated Castle of Mors, -- look at it,
reader, though in the dark; we may see it again, or
the shadow of it, perhaps by moonlight. A very gaunt
old Castle; next to nothing living in it, since the Old
Dessauer (by stratagem, and without shot fired) flung
out the Dutch, in the Treaty-of-Utrecht<< time; Mors
Castle and Territory being indisputably ours, though
always withheld from us on pretexts. *
At Geldern, in the pressure of business next day,
his Majesty got word from Wesel, that Lieutenant
Keith was not now to be found in Wesel. "Was last
seen there (that we can hear of) certain hours before
your Majesty's All-gracious Order arrived. Had sad-
dled his own horse; came ambling through the Brunen
Gate, "going out to have a ride," he said; "and did not
return.
" -- "Keith gone, scandalous Keith, whom I
* Narrative of the march thither (Night of 7th November 1712), and
dextrous surprisal of the place, in Leopoldi van Anhall-Dessau Leben und
Thaten (Anonymous, by Ran/ft), pp. 85-90; -- where the Despatch of the
astonished Dutch Commandant himself, to their High Mightinesses, is
given. Part of the Orange Heritage, this Mors, -- came by the Great
Elector's first Wife; -- but had hung sub lite (though the Parchments were
plain enough) ever since our King William's death, and earlier. Neuch&tel,
accepted instead of Orange, and not even of the value of Mors, was another
item of the same lot. Besides which, we shall hear of old Palaces at Loo
and other dilapidated objects, Incidentally in time coming.
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? CHAP. VI. ] CATASTROPHE ON JOURNEY HOMEWARDS. 75
8th-12th Aug. 1730.
pardoned only few weeks ago; he too is in the Plot!
Will the very Army break its oath, then? " His Ma-
jesty bursts into fire and flame, at these new tidings;
orders that Colonel Dumoulin (our expertest rogue-
tracer) go instantly on the scent of Keith, and follow
him till found and caught. Also, on the other hand,
that the Crown-Prince be constituted prisoner; sail down
to Wesel, prisoner in his Yacht, and await upon the
Rhine there his Majesty's arrival. Formidable omens,
it is thought.
His Majesty, all business done in Geldern, drives
across to Wesel; can see Fritz's Yacht waiting duly in
the River, and black Care hovering over her. It is on
the evening of the 12th of August 1730. And so his
Majesty ends this memorable Tour into the Reich; but
has not yet ended the gloomy miseries, for himself and
others, which plentifully sprung out of that
.
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? 76 SHIPWRECK OP DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VTT.
15th Aug. 1730.
CHAPTER VII.
CATASTROPHE, AND MAJESTY, ARRIVE IN BERLIN.
At Berlin dark rumours of this intended Flight,
and actual Arrest of the Crown-Prince, are agitating
all the world; especially Lieutenant Katte, and the
Queen and Wilhelmina, as we may suppose. The first
news of it came tragically on the young Princess. *
"Mamma had given a ball in honour of Papa's Birthday,"
-- Tuesday 15th August 1730; -- and we were all dancing in
the fine saloons of Monbijou, with pretty intervals in the cool
boscages and orangeries of the place: all of us as happy as
could be; Wilhelmina, in particular, dancing at an unusual
rate. "We recommenced the ball after supper. For six years
"I had not danced before: it was new fruit, and I took my fill
"of it, without heeding much what was passing. Madam
"Biilow, who with others of them had worn long faces all
"night, pleading 'illness' when one noticed it, said to me
'' several times: 'It is late, I wish you had done. ' --' Eh, mon
'''Dieu! ' I answered,'let me have enough of dancing this one
"'new time; it maybe long before it comes again. '-- 'That
"may well be! ' said she. I paid no regard, but continued to
"divert myself. She returned to the charge half an hour
"after: 'Will you end, then! ' said she with a vexed air:
* Apparently some rumour from Frankfurt, which she confuses in her
after-memory with the specific news from Wesel; for her dates here, as
nsual, are all awry (Wilhelmina, i. 246; Preuss, i. 42, iv. 478; Seckendorf,
inFBrster, iii. <<).
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? CHAP. TO. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 77
15th-20th Aug. 1730.
'"you are so engaged, you have eyes for nothing. '--'You are
'"in such a humour,' I replied,'that I know not what to make
"'of it. ' -- 'Look at the Queen, then, Madam; and you will
"'cease to reproach me! ' A glance which I gave that way
"filled me with terror. There sat the Queen, paler than death,
"in a corner of the room, in low conference with Sonsfeld
"and Countess Finckenstein. As my Brother was most in my
"anxieties, I asked, If it concerned him? 'Billow shrugged
"her shoulders, answering, 'I don't know at all! ' A moment
"after, the Queen gave Good-night; and got into her carriage
"with me, -- speaking no word, all the way to the Schloss; so
"that I thought my Brother must be dead, and I myself took
"violent palpitations, and Sonsfeld, contrary to orders, had at
'' last to tell me in the course of the night. " Poor Wilhelmina,
and poor Mother of Wilhelmina!
The fact, of Arrest, and unknown mischief to the
Prince, is taken for certain; but what may be the
issues of it; who besides the Prince have been involved
in it, especially who will be found to have been in-
volved, is matter of dire guess to the three who are
most interested here. Lieutenant Katte finds he ought
to dispose of the Prince's effects which were intrusted
to him; of the Thousand gold Thalers in particular,
and, beyond and before all, of the locked Writing-
desk, in which lies the Prince's Correspondence, the
very Queen and Princess likely to be concerned in it!
Katte despatches these two objects, the Money and
the little Desk, in all secrecy, to Madam Finckenstein,
as to the surest hand, with a short Note shadowing
out what he thinks they are: Countess Finckenstein, old
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? 78 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT, [book VH.
20th Aug. 1730.
General von Finckenstein's Wife, and a second mother
to the Prince, she, like her Husband, a sworn partisan
of the Prince and his Mother, shall do with these pre-
cious and terrible objects what, to her own wise judg-
ment, seems best.
Madam Finckenstein carries them at once, in deep
silence, to the Queen. Huge dismay on the part of the
Queen and Princess. They know too well what Letters
may be there; and there is a seal on the Desk, and
no key to it; neither must it, in time coming, seem to
have been opened, even if we could now open it. A
desperate pinch, and it must be solved. Female wit
and Wilhelmina did solve it, by some preeminently
acute device of their despair;* and contrived to get
the Letters out: hundreds of Letters, enough to be our
death if read, says Wilhelmina. These Letters they burnt; and set to writing, fast as the pen would go,
other letters in their stead. Fancy the mood of these
two Royal Women, and the black whirlwind they were
in. Wilhelmina's despatch was incredible; pen went
at the gallop night and day: new letters, of old dates
and of no meaning, are got into the Desk again;
the Desk closed, without mark of injury, and shoved
aside while it is yet time. -- Time presses; his Ma-
jesty too, and the events, go at gallop. Here is a
Letter from his Majesty, to a trusty Mistress of the
Robes, or whatever she is; which, let it arrive through
what softening media it likes, will complete the poor
Queen's despair:
? Wilhelmina, i. 253-257.
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? CHAP, vn. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 79
J2th-27tb. Aug. 1730.
"My dear Frau von Kamecke, -- Fritz has attempted to
"desert. I have been under the necessity to have him arrested.
"I request you to tell my Wife of it in some good way, that
"the news may not terrify her. And pity an unhappy Father.
"FrIEDRICH WilHElM. "*
The same post brought an order to the Colonel of
the Gens-d'Armes to put that Lieutenant Katte of his
under close confinement: -- we hope the thoughtless
young fellow has already got out of the way? He is
getting his saddle altered; fettling about this and that;
does not consider what danger he is in. This same
Sunday, his Major met him on the Street of Berlin;
said, in a significant tone, "You still here, Katte! " --
"I go this night," answered Katte; but he again put it
off, did not go this night; and the order for his arrest
did come in. On the morrow morning, Colonel Panne-
witz, hoping now he was not there, went with the
rhadamanthine order; and finding the unlucky fellow,
was obliged to execute it. Katte lies in ward, awaiting
what may be prepared for him.
Friedrich Wilhelm at Wesel has had rough pas-
sages with the Prince and others. On the Saturday
evening, 12th August 1730,** his Majesty had the
Culprit brought on shore, to the Commandant's House,
for an interview. Culprit proving less remorseful than
was expected, and evidently not confessing everything,
a loud terrible scene ensued; which Friedrich Wilhelm,
* No date: "arrived" (fromWcscl, wo conclude), Sunday "20thAugust,"
at the Palace of Berlin (Preuss, i. 42).
>>* Preuss, It. 473; Seckendorf (Fb'rster, lii. 6) says 13th, but wrong.
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? 80 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MABRIAGE PBOJECT. [book VII.
12th-27th Aug. 1730.
the unhappy Father, winded up by drawing his sword
to run the unnatural Son through the body. Old
General Mosel, Commandant of Wesel, sprang between
them, "Sire, cut me to death, but spare your Son! "
and the sword was got back to its scabbard; and the
Prince lodged in a separate room, two sentries with
fixed bayonets keeping watch over him. Friedrich Wil-
helm did not see his face again for twelve months to
come, -- 'twelve months and three days. '
Military gentlemen of due grimness interrogated the
Prince next evening,* from a Paper drawn up by his
Majesty in the interim. Prince confesses little: Did
design to get across the Rhine to Landau; thence to
Strasburg, Paris, in the strictest incognito; intended to
volunteer there, thought he might take French service,
profoundly incognito, and signalise himself in the
Italian War (just expected to break out), which might
have recovered him some favour from his Majesty: does
not tell clearly where his money came from; shy ex-
tremely of elucidating Katte and Keith; -- in fact, as
we perceive, struggles against mendacity, but will not
tell the whole truth. "Let him lie in ward, then; and
take what doom the Laws have appointed for the like
of him! " Divine Laws, are they not? Well, yes,
your Majesty; divine and human; -- or are there per-
haps no laws but the human sort, completely explicit
in this case? "He is my Colonel at least," thinks
Friedrich Wilhehn, "and tried to desert and make
others desert. If a rebellious Crown-Prince, breaking
? Scckeudorf (in Ff rater, iii. 5).
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? CHAP. VII. ] MAJESTY ARRIVES IN BERLIN. 81
12tt>-27th Aug. 1730.
his Father's heart, find the laws still inarticulate; a deserting Colonel of the Potsdam Kegiment finds
them speak plain enough! Let him take the answer they give him. " --
Dumoulin, in the mean while, can make nothing of Keith, the runaway Lieutenant. Dumoulin, with his sagacious organ, soon came upon the scent of Keith; and has discovered these things about him. One even-
ing, a week before his Majesty arrived, Sunday even-
ing 6th August 1730,* Lieutenant Keith, doubtless
smelling something, saddled his horse as above men- 'tioned, decided to have a ride in the country this fine
evening, and issued out at the Briinen Gate of Wesel.
He is on the right bank of the Rhine; pleasant yellow
fields on this hand and that. He ambles slowly, for a
space; then gradually awakens into speed, into full
speed; arrives, within a couple of hours, at Dingden,
a Village in the Munster Territory, safe over the
Prussian border, by the shortest line: and from Dingden
rides at more leisure, but without losing time, into the
Dutch Overyssel region, straight towards the Hague.
He must be in the Hague? said Dumoulin to the
Official persons, on arriving there, -- to Mardenfeld
the Prussian Ambassador there,** and to Keppel, Dutch
Official gentleman who was once Ambassador at Berlin.
Prussian Ambassador applies, and again applies, in the
highest quarters; but we fear they are slack. Dumoulin
discovers that the man was certainly here; Keppel
readily admits, He had Keith to dinner a few days
* Prcuss, iv. 473. ** Seckendorf (Forster, ill. 7).
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV. 6
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? 82 SHIPWRECK OF DOUBLE-MARRIAGE PROJECT. [BOOK VII.
12th-27th Aug.