French
Ambassador
opens himself largely, at Warsaw,
?
?
Thomas Carlyle
vm.
] KING AUGUST DIES.
21
1st Feb. -fith Oct. 1733.
"of the phantom; Death and phantom were the same
"night," say Wilhelmina and the miraculous Berlin
public, -- but do not say what night for either of them
it was. * By help of which latter circumstance the
phantom becomes reasonably unmiraculous again, in a
nervous system tremulous from drink. "They had been
"sad at parting," Wilhelmina says, "having drank im-
"mensities of Hungary wine; the Patroon almost weep-
"ing over his Grumkow: 'Adieu, my dear Grumkow,'
"said he, 'I shall never see you more! '"
Miraculous or not, the catastrophe is true: August,
the once Physically Strong, lies dead; -- and there will
be no Partition of Poland for the present . He had the
Diet ready to assemble; waiting for him, at Warsaw; and good trains laid in the Diet, capable of fortunate
explosion under a good engineer. Engineer, alas! The
Grumkow drinking-bout had awakened that old sore in
his foot: he came to Warsaw, eager enough for bu-
siness; but with his stock of strength all out, and Death
now close upon him. The Diet met, 26-27th January;
engineer all alert about the good trains laid, and the
fortunate exploding of them; when, almost on the mor-
row,-- "Inflammation has come on! " said the Doctors,
and were futile to help farther. The strong body, and
its life, was done; and nothing remained but to call-in
the Archbishop, with his extreme unctions and soul-
apparatus.
August made no moaning or recalcitrating; took, on
* Wilhelmina, ii. 98: event happened, 1st February; news of it came
to Berlin, 4th February: Fassmann (p. 485); Buchholz; &c.
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? 22 fmedrich's apprenticeship, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
the prescribed terms, the inevitable that had come. Has
been a very great sinner, he confesses to the Arch-
bishop: "I have not at present strength to name my
"many and great sins to your Reverence," said he; "I
"hope for mercy on the" -- on the usual rash terms.
Terms perhaps known to August to be rash; to have
been frightfully rash: but what can he now do? Arch-
bishop thereupon gives absolution of his sins; Arch-
bishop does, -- a baddish, unlikely kind of man, as
August well knows. August "laid his hand on his
eyes," during such sad absolution-mummery; and in
that posture had breathed his last, before it was well
over. * Unhappy soul; who shall judge him? -- tran-
scendent King of edacious Flunkeys; not without fine
qualities, which he turned to such a use amid the temp-
tations of this world!
Poland has to find a new King.
His death brought vast miseries on Poland; kindled
foolish Europe generally into fighting, and gave our
Crown-Prince his first actual sight and experience of
the facts of War. For which reason, hardly for an-
other, the thing having otherwise little memorability at
present, let us give some brief synopsis of it, the briefer
the better. Here, excerpted from multifarious old Note-
books, are some main heads of the affair:
* "Sunday, 1st February 1788, quarter past 4 A. M. ** (Faumann: Leben
Frederici augusti Kdnigs in Pohlen, pp. 994-997).
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? CHAP. vin. ] KESQ AUGUST DIES. 23
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"On the disappearance of August the Strong, his plans of
"Partitioning Poland disappeared too, and his fine trains in
"the Diet abolished themselves. The Diet had now nothing
"to do, but proclaim the coming Election, giving a date to
"it; and go home to consider a little whom they would elect. *
"A question weighty to Poland. And not likely to be settled
"by Poland alone or chiefly; the sublime Republic, with
"liberum veto, and Diets capable only of anarchic noise,
"having now reached such a stage that its Neighbours every-
"where stood upon its skirts; asking, 'Whitherward, then,
''' with your anarchy? Not this way; -- we say, that way! '
"-- and were apt to get to battle about it, before such a thing
"could be settled. A house, in your street, with perpetual
"smoke coming through the slates of it, is not a pleasant
"house to be neighbour to! One honest interest the neigh-
"bours have, in an Election Crisis there, That the house
"do not get on fire, and kindle them. Dishonest interests,
"in the way of theft and otherwise, they may have with-
"out limit.
"The poor house, during last Election Crisis, -- when Au-
"gust the Strong was flung out, and Stanislaus brought in;
"Crisis presided over by Charles XDT. , with Czar Peter and
"others hanging on the outskirts, as Opposition party,--
"fairly got into flame;** but was quenched down again by
"that stout Swede; and his Stanislaus, a native Pole, was
"left peaceably as King for the years then running. Years
"ran; and Stanislaus was thrown out, Charles himself being
"thrown out; and had to make way for August the Strong
* "Interregnum proclaimed," 11th February; Preliminary Diet to
meet, 21st April; -- meets; settles, before May is done, that the Election
shall begin 25th August: it must end in six weeks thereafter, by law of the
land.
<< Description of it in Kb'hler: Munzbelttstigungen, vi. 228-230.
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? 24 fbibdbich's apprenticeship, last STAGE. [BooK IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"again: -- an ejected Stanislaus; King only in title; known
"to most readers of this time. *
"Poor man, he has been living in Zweibriick, in Weissen-
"burg and such places, in that Debateable French-German
"region, -- which the French are more and more getting
"stolen to themselves, in late centuries: -- generally on the
"outskirts of France he lives; having now connexions of the
"highest quality with France. He has had fine Country-
"houses in that Zweibriick (Two-Bridge, Deux-Ponts) region;
"had always the ghost of a Court there; plenty of money, --
"a sinecure Country-gentleman life; -- and no complaints
"have been heard from him. Charles XII. , as proprietor of
"Deux-Ponts, had first of all sent him into those parts for
"refuge; and in general, easy days have been the lot of
"Stanislaus there.
"Nor has History spoken of him since, except on one
"small occasion: when the French Politician Gentlemen, at
"a certain crisis of their game, chose a Daughter of his to be "Wife for young Louis XV. , and bring royal progeny, of
"which they were scarce. This was in 1724-5; Due de
"Bourbon, and other Politicians male and female, finding
"that the best move. A thing wonderful to the then Ga-
zetteers, for nine days; but not now worth much talk.
"The good young Lady, it is well known, a very pious crea-
"ture, and sore tried in her new station, did bring royal
"progeny enough, --and might as well have held her hand,
"had she foreseen what would become of them, poor souls!
"This was a great event for Stanislaus, the sinecure Country-
* Stanislaus Lesczinsky, "Woywode of Posen," born 1677: King of
Poland, Charles XII. superintending, 1704 (age then 27); driven out 1709,
went to Charles XII. at Bender; to Zweibriick, 1714; thence, on Charles's
death, to Weissenburg (alsace, or Strasburg Country): Daughter married
to Louis XV. , 1723. age now 56. -- Hilbner, t. 97; Histoire de Stanislas I,
Hot da Pologne (English Translation, London, 1741), pp. 96-126; &c.
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 25
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"gentleman, in his French-German rustication. One other
"thing I have read of him, infinitely smaller, out of those ten
"years: in Zweibriick Country, or somewhere in that French-
"German region, he 'built a pleasure-cottage,' conceivable
"' to the mind, 'and called it Schuhflick (Shoe-Patch),' * -- a
"name that touches one's fancy on behalf of the innocent
"soul. Other fact I will not remember of him. He is now
"to quit Shoe-Patch and his pleasant Weissenburg Castle;
"to come on the public stage again, poor man; and suffer a
"second season of mischances and disgraces still worse than
"the first. As we shall see presently; -- a new Polish Election
"Crisis having come! --
"What individual the Polish Grandees would have chosen
"for King if entirely left alone to do it? is a question not im-
"portant; and indeed was never asked, in this or in late
"Elections. Not the individual who could have been a King
"among them were they, for a long time back, in the habit
"of seeking after; not him, but another and indeed reverse
"kind of individual, --the one in whom there lay most nourish-
"ment, nourishment of any kind, even of the cash kind, for
"a practical Polish Grandee. So that the question was no
"longer of the least importance, to Poland or the Universe;
"and in point of fact, the frugal Destinies had ceased to have
"it put, in that quarter. Not Grandees of Poland; but In-
"trusiveNeighbours, carrying Grandees of Poland 'in their
"breeches-pocket' (as our phrase is), were the voting parties.
"To that pass it was come. Under such stern penalty had
"Poland and its Grandees fallen, by dint of false voting:
"the frugal Destinies had ceased to ask about their vote; and
"they were become machines for voting with, or pistols for
"fighting with, by bad Neighbours who cared to vote! Nor
* Biisching: Erdbeschreibung, v. 1194.
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? 26 FRIEDRICH'S APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"did the frugal Destinies consider that the proper method,
"either; but had, as we shall see, determined to abolish that
"too, in about forty years more. "
Of the Candidates; of the Conditions. How the Election
went.
It was under such omens that the Polish Election
of 1733 had to transact itself. Austria, Russia, Prussia,
as next Neighbours, were the chief voting parties, if
they cared to intrude; -- which Austria and Russia
were clear for doing; Prussia not clear, or not beyond
the indispensable or evidently profitable. Seckendorf,
and one Lowenwolde the Russian Ambassador at Berlin,
had, some time ago, in foresight of this event, done
their utmost to bring Friedrich Wilhelm into coopera-
tion, -- offering fine baits, "Berg and-Julich" again,
among others; -- but nothing definite came of it:
peaceable, reasonably safe Election in Poland, other
interest Friedrich Wilhelm has not in the matter; and
compliance, not cooperation, is what can be expected
of him by the Kaiser and Czarina. Cooperating or
even complying, these Three could have settled it; and
would, -- had no other Neighbour interfered. But other neighbours can interfere; any neighbour that has
money to spend, or likes to bully in such a matter!
And that proved to be the case, in this unlucky in-
stance.
Austria and Russia, with Prussia complying, had,
-- a year ago, before the late August's decease, his
life seeming then an extremely uncertain one, and fore-
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 27
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
sight being always good, -- privately come to an under-
standing,* "in case of a Polish Election:
"1? . That France was to have no hand in it what-
ever-- no tool of France to be King; or as they more
"politely expressed it, having their eye upon Stanislaus,
"No Piast or native Pole could be eligible.
"2? . That neither could August's Son, the new
"August, who would then be Kurfurst of Saxony, be
"admitted King of Poland. -- And, on the whole,
"3". That an Emanuel Prince of Portugal would
"be the eligible man. " Emanuel of Portugal, King of
Portugal's Brother; a gentleman without employment,
as his very Title tells us; gentleman never heard of
before or since, in those parts or elsewhere; but doubt-
less of the due harmless quality, as Portugal itself was:
he is to be the Polish King, -- vote these Intrusive
Neighbours. What the vote of Poland itself may be,
the Destinies do not, of late, ask; finding it a super-
fluous question.
So had the Three Neighbours settled this matter;
-- or rather, I should say, so had Two of them; for
Friedrich Wilhelm wanted, now or afterwards, nothing
in this Election, but that it should not take fire and
kindle him. Two of the Neighbours: and of these two,
perhaps we might guess the Kaiser was the principal
contriver and suggester; France and Saxony being both
hateful to him, -- obstinate refusers of the Pragmatic
Sanction, to say nothing more. What the Czarina,
* 81st December 1731, "Treaty of Lb'wenwolde" (which never got
completed or became valid): Schb'll, ii. 223.
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? 28 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ix,
1st Feb. -Bth Oct. 1733.
Anne with the big cheek, specially wanted, I do not
learn, -- unless it were peaceable hold of Courland;
or perhaps merely to produce herself in these parts, as
a kind of regulating Pallas, along with the Jupiter
Kaiser of Western Europe; -- which might have effects
by and by.
Emanuel of Portugal was not elected, nor so much
as spoken of in the Diet. Nor did one of these Three
Regulations take effect; but much the contrary, --
other Neighbours having the power to interfere. France
saw good to interfere, a rather distant Neighbour:
Austria, Russia, could not endure the French vote at
all; and so the whole world got on fire by the business.
France is not a near Neighbour; but it has a Stanis-
laus much concerned, who is eminently under the pro-
tection of France: -- who may be called the "Father
of France," in a sense, or even the "Grandfather;" his
Daughter being Mother of a young creature they call
Dauphin, or "Child of France"? Fleury and the
French Court decide that Stanislaus, Grandfather of
France, was once King of Poland; that it will behove,
for various reasons, he be King again. Some say, old
Fleury did not care for Stanislaus; merely wanted a
quarrel with the Kaiser, -- having got himself in
readiness, "with Lorraine in his eye;" and seeing the
Kaiser not ready. It is likelier the hot young spirits,
Belleislo and others, controlled old Fleury into it . At
all events, Stanislaus is summoned from his rustication;
the French Ambassador at Warsaw gets his instructions.
French Ambassador opens himself largely, at Warsaw,
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 29
25th Aug. 1733.
by eloquent speech, by copious money, on the subject
of Stanislaus; finds large audience, enthusiastic recepti-
vity; -- and readers will now understand the following
chronological phenomena of the Polish Election:
"August 25th, 1733. This day the Polish Election begins.
"So has the Preliminary Diet (kind of Polish Caucus) ordered
"it; -- Preliminary Diet itself a very stormy matter; minority
"like to be 'thrown out of window,' to be 'shot through the
"head,' on some occasions. * Actual Election begins; con-
"tinues su b dio, 'in the Field of Wola,' in a very tempestuous
"fashion; bound to conclude within six weeks. Kaiser has
"his troops assembled over the border, in Silesia, 'to protect
"' the freedom of election;' Czarina has 30,000 under Marshal
"Lacy, lying on the edge of Lithuania, bent on a like object;
"will increase them to 50,000, as the plot thickens.
'' So that Emanuel of Portugal is not heard of; and French
"interference is, with a vengeance, -- and Stanislaus, a born
"Piast, is overwhelmingly the favourite. Intolerable to
"Austria, to Russia; the reverse to Friedrich Wilhelm, who
"privately thinks him the right man. And Kurfiirst Au-
"gust of Saxony is the other Candidate,-- with troops of
"his own in the distance, but without support in Poland;
"and depending wholly on the Kaiser and Czarina for his
"chance, And our 'three settled points' are gone to water
"in this manner!
"August seeing there was not the least hope in Poland's
"own vote, judiciously went to the Kaiser first of all: 'Im-
"' perial Majesty, I will accept your Pragmatic Sanction root
"' and branch, swallow it whole; make me King of Poland! '
"'Done! ' answers Imperial Majesty; ** brings the Czarina over,
* History of Stanislaus (cited above), p. 136.
16th July 1733: Treaty In Schb'll, U, 224-231.
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? 30 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE. ftooK IX.
12th Sept. 1733.
"by good offers of August's and his; -- and now there is an
"effective Opposition Candidate in the field, with strength of his
"own, and good backing close at hand. Austrian, Russian
"Ambassadors at Warsaw lift up their voice, like the French
"one; open their purse, and bestir themselves; but with no
"success in the Field of Wola, except to the stirring up of
"noise and tumult there. They must look to other fields for
"success. The voice of Wola, and of Poland, if it had now
"a voice, is enthusiastic for Stanislaus.
"September 7lh. A couple of quiet-looking Merchants
"arrive in Warsaw, -- one of whom is Stanislaus in person.
"Newspapers say he is in the French Fleet of War, which is
"sailing minatory towards these Coasts: and there is in truth
"a Gentleman in Stanislaus's Clothes on board there; --to
"make the Newspapers believe. Stanislaus himself drove
"through Berlin, a day or two ago; gave the sentry a ducat
"at the Gate, to be speedy with the passports, -- whom
"Friedrich Wilhelm affected to put under arrest for such
"negligent speed. And so, on the 10th of the month, Stanis-
"laus being now rested and trimmed, makes his appearance
"on the Field of Wola itself; and captivates all hearts by
"the kind look of him. So that, on the second day after,
"12th September 1733, he is, as it were, unanimously
"elected: with acclamation, with enthusiasm; and sees him-
"self actual King of Poland, -- if France send proper back-
"ing to continue him there. As, surely, she will not fail?
"-- But there are alarming news that the Russians are ad-
vancing: Marshal Lacy with 30,000; and reinforcements in
"the rear of him.
"September 22d. Russians advancing more and more,
"no French help arrived yet, and the enthusiastic Polish
"Chivalry being good for nothing against regular musketry,
"--King Stanislaus finds that he will have to quit Warsaw,
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? CHaP. Via. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 31
8th Oct. 1733.
"and seek covert somewhere. Quits Warsaw this day; gets
"covert in Dantzig. And, in fact, from this 22d of Sep-
''tember, day of the autumnal equinox, 1733, is a fugi-
"tive, blockaded, besieged Stanislaus: an Imaginary King
"thenceforth. His Real Kingship had lasted precisely ten
"days.
"October 3d. Lacy and his Russians arrive in the suburbs
"of Warsaw, intent upon 'protecting freedom of election. '
"Bridges being broken, they do not yet cross the River, but
"invite the free electors to come across, and vote: 'A real
"King is very necessary, -- Stanislaus being an imaginary
"one, brought in by compulsion, by threats of flinging people
"out of window, and the like. ' The free electors do not
"cross. Whereupon a small handful, now free enough, and
"not to be thrown out of window, whom Lacy had about him,
"proceed to elect August ofSaxony: he, on the 5th ofOcto-
"ber, still one day within the legal six weeks, is chosen and
"declared the real King; --'twelve senators and about six
"hundred gentlemen' voting for him there, free they in
"Lacy's quarters, the rest ofPoland having lain under com-
"pulsion when voting for Stanislaus. That is the Polish
"Election, so far asPoland can settle it. We said theDestinies
"had ceased, sometime since, to ask Poland for its vote; it
"is other people who have now got the real power of voting.
"But that is the correct state of the poll at Warsaw, if im-
"portant to anybody. "
August is crowned in Cracow before long; "August
HI. ," whom we shall meet again in important circum-
stances. Lacy and his Russians have voted for August;
able, they, to disperse all manner of enthusiastic Polish
Chivalry; which indeed, we observe, usually stands but
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? 32 FRIEDBICh's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
5th Oct. 1738.
one volley from the Russian musketry; and flies else-
whither, to burn and plunder its own domestic enemies.
Far and wide, robbery and arson are prevalent in
Poland; Stanislaus lying under covert in Dantzig, --
an imaginary King ever since the equinox, but well
trusting that the French will give him a plumper vote.
French War-fleet is surely under way hither.
Poland on fire; Dantzig stands Siege.
These are the news our Crown-Prince hears at
Ruppin, in the first months of his wedded life there.
With what interest we may fancy. Brandenburg is
next neighbour; and these Polish troubles reach far
enough; -- the ever-smoking house having taken fire;
and all the street threatening to get on blaze. Fried-
rich Wilhelm, nearest neighbour, stands anxious to
quench, carefully sweeping the hot coals across again
from his own borders; and will not interfere on one or
the other side, for any persuasion.
Dantzig, strong in confidence of French help, refuses
to give up Stanislaus when summoned; will stand siege
rather. Stands siege; furious lengthy siege, -- with
enthusiastic defence; "a Lady of Rank firing off the
first gun," against the Russian batteries. Of the Siege
of Dantzig, which made the next Spring and Summer
loud for mankind (February -- June 1734) we shall
say nothing, -- our own poor field, which also grows
loud enough, lying far away from Dantzig, -- except:
First, That no French help came, or as good as
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? CHaP. TO! . ] POLAND TAKES FIRE. 33
6th Oct. 1733.
none; the minatory War-fleet having landed a poor
1,500 men, headed by the Comte de Plelo, who had
volunteered along with them; that they attempted one
onslaught on the Russian lines, and that Plelo was
shot, and the rest were blown to miscellaneous
ruin, and had to disappear, not once getting into
Dantzig. Secondly, That the Saxons, under Weissen-
fels, our poor old friend, with proper siege-artillery,
though not with enough, did, by effort (end of May),
get upon the scene; in which this is to be remarked,
that Weissenfels's siege-artillery "came by post;" two
big mortars expressly passing through Berlin, marked
as part of the Duke of Weissenfels's Luggage. And
thirdly, That Miinnich, who had succeeded Lacy as
Besieging General, and was in hot haste, and had not
artillery enough, made unheard-of assaults (2,000 men,
some say 4,000, lost in one night-attack upon a post
they call the Hagelberg; rash attack, much blamed by
military men);* -- but nevertheless, having now (by
Russian Fleet, middle of June) got siege-artillery
enough, advances irrepressibly day by day.
So that at length, things being now desperate,
Stanislaus, disguised as a cattle-dealer, privately quitted
Dantzig, night of 27th June 1734; got across the
intricate mud - and - water difficulties of the Weichsel
and its mouths, flying perilously towards Preussen
and Friedrich Wilhelm's protection. ** Whereby the
Siege of Dantzig ended in chamade, and levying of
* (Euvres de Fridiric,, xxvil. part 2d, p. 31.
** Narrative by himself, in History, pp. 235-248. Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 3
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? 34 friedbich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book is.
5th Oct. 1733.
penalties; penalties severe to a degree, though Fried-
rich Wilhelm interceded what he could. And with the
Siege of Dantzig, the blazing Polish Election went out
in like manner;* -- having already kindled, in quarters
far away from it, conflagrations quite otherwise interest-
ing to us. Whitherward we now hasten.
* Clear account, especially of Siege, in Mannstein (pp. 71-83), who
was there as Mttnnich's Aide-de- Camp.
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? chap, ix. ] kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. 35
Hth Oct. 1733.
CHAPTER IX.
kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire.
Franz of Lorraine, the young favourite of Fortune,
whom we once saw at Berlin on an interesting occasion,
was about this time to have married his Imperial Arch-
duchess; Kaiser's consent to be formally demanded and
given; nothing but joy and splendour looked for in
the Court of Vienna at present. Nothing to prevent
it, -- had there been no Polish Election; had not the
Kaiser, in his Shadow-Hunt (coursing the Pragmatic
Sanction chiefly, as he has done these twenty years
past), gone rashly into that combustible foreign element.
But so it is: this was the fatal limit. The poor Kaiser's
Shadow-Hunt, going scot-free this long while, and
merely tormenting other people, has, at this point, by
contact with inflammable Poland, unexpectedly itself
caught fire; goes now plunging, all in mad flame, over
precipices one knows not how deep: and there will be
a lamentable singeing and smashing before the Kaiser
get out of this, if he ever get! Kaiser Karl, from this
point, plunges down and down, all his days; and except
in that Shadow of a Pragmatic Sanction, if he can still
save that, has no comfort left. Marriages are not the
thing to be thought of at present! --
Scarcely had the news of August's Election, and
3*
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? 36 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookk.
14th Oct. 1733.
Stanislaus's flight to Dantzig, reacted Prance, when
France, all in a state of readiness, informed the Kaiser,
ready for nothing, his force lying in Silesia, doing the
Election functions on the Polish borders there, "That
he the Kaiser had, by such treatment of the Grand-
father of France and the Polish Kingdom fairly fallen
to him, insulted the most Christian Majesty; that in
consequence the most Christian Majesty did hereby
declare War against the said Kaiser," -- and in fact
had, that very day (14th October 1733), begun it.
Had marched over into Lorraine, namely, secured Lor-
raine against accidents; and, more specially, gone
across from Strasburg to the German side of the
Rhine, and laid siege to Kehl. Kehl Portress; a dila-
pidated outpost of the Reich there, which cannot resist
many hours. Here is news for the Kaiser, with his
few troops all on the Polish borders; minding his
neighbour's business, or chasing Pragmatic Sanction, in
those inflammable localities!
Pacific Fleury, it must be owned, if he wanted a
quarrel with the Kaiser, could not have managed it on
more advantageous terms. Generals, a Due de Berwick,
aNoailles, Belleisle; generals, troops, artillery, munitions,
nothing is wanting to Fleury; to the Kaiser all things.
It is surmised, the French had their eye on Lorraine,
not on Stanislaus, from the first. For many centuries,
especially for these last two, -- ever since that Siege
of Metz, which we once saw, under Kaiser Karl V. and
Albert Alcibiades, -- France has been wrenching and
screwing at this Lorraine, wriggling it off bit by bit;
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? chap, rx. ] kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. 37
14th Oct. -23d Deo. 1733.
till now, as we perceived on Lyttelton junior of Hag-
ley's visit, Lorraine seems all lying unscrewed; and
France, by any good opportunity, could stick it in her
pocket. Such opportunity sly Fleury contrived, they
say; -- or more likely it might be Belleisle and the
other adventurous spirits that urged it on pacific Fleury;
but at all events, he has got it. Dilapidated Kehl
yields straightway:* Sardinia, Spain declare alliance
with Fleury; and not Lorraine only, and the Swabian
Provinces, but Italy itself lies at his discretion, --
owing to your treatment of the Grandfather of France,
and these Polish Elective methods.
The astonished Kaiser rushes forward to fling him-
self into the arms of the Sea-Powers, his one resource
left: "Help! Moneys, subsidies, ye Sea-Powers! " But
the Sea-Powers stand obtuse, arms not open at all,
hands buttoning their pockets: "Sorry we cannot, your
Imperial Majesty. Fleury engages not to touch the
Netherlands, the Barrier Treaty; Polish Elections are
not our concern! " and callously decline. The Kaiser's
astonishment is extreme; his big heart swelling even
with a martyr-feeling; and he passionately appeals:
"Ungrateful, blind Sea-Powers!
1st Feb. -fith Oct. 1733.
"of the phantom; Death and phantom were the same
"night," say Wilhelmina and the miraculous Berlin
public, -- but do not say what night for either of them
it was. * By help of which latter circumstance the
phantom becomes reasonably unmiraculous again, in a
nervous system tremulous from drink. "They had been
"sad at parting," Wilhelmina says, "having drank im-
"mensities of Hungary wine; the Patroon almost weep-
"ing over his Grumkow: 'Adieu, my dear Grumkow,'
"said he, 'I shall never see you more! '"
Miraculous or not, the catastrophe is true: August,
the once Physically Strong, lies dead; -- and there will
be no Partition of Poland for the present . He had the
Diet ready to assemble; waiting for him, at Warsaw; and good trains laid in the Diet, capable of fortunate
explosion under a good engineer. Engineer, alas! The
Grumkow drinking-bout had awakened that old sore in
his foot: he came to Warsaw, eager enough for bu-
siness; but with his stock of strength all out, and Death
now close upon him. The Diet met, 26-27th January;
engineer all alert about the good trains laid, and the
fortunate exploding of them; when, almost on the mor-
row,-- "Inflammation has come on! " said the Doctors,
and were futile to help farther. The strong body, and
its life, was done; and nothing remained but to call-in
the Archbishop, with his extreme unctions and soul-
apparatus.
August made no moaning or recalcitrating; took, on
* Wilhelmina, ii. 98: event happened, 1st February; news of it came
to Berlin, 4th February: Fassmann (p. 485); Buchholz; &c.
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? 22 fmedrich's apprenticeship, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
the prescribed terms, the inevitable that had come. Has
been a very great sinner, he confesses to the Arch-
bishop: "I have not at present strength to name my
"many and great sins to your Reverence," said he; "I
"hope for mercy on the" -- on the usual rash terms.
Terms perhaps known to August to be rash; to have
been frightfully rash: but what can he now do? Arch-
bishop thereupon gives absolution of his sins; Arch-
bishop does, -- a baddish, unlikely kind of man, as
August well knows. August "laid his hand on his
eyes," during such sad absolution-mummery; and in
that posture had breathed his last, before it was well
over. * Unhappy soul; who shall judge him? -- tran-
scendent King of edacious Flunkeys; not without fine
qualities, which he turned to such a use amid the temp-
tations of this world!
Poland has to find a new King.
His death brought vast miseries on Poland; kindled
foolish Europe generally into fighting, and gave our
Crown-Prince his first actual sight and experience of
the facts of War. For which reason, hardly for an-
other, the thing having otherwise little memorability at
present, let us give some brief synopsis of it, the briefer
the better. Here, excerpted from multifarious old Note-
books, are some main heads of the affair:
* "Sunday, 1st February 1788, quarter past 4 A. M. ** (Faumann: Leben
Frederici augusti Kdnigs in Pohlen, pp. 994-997).
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? CHAP. vin. ] KESQ AUGUST DIES. 23
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"On the disappearance of August the Strong, his plans of
"Partitioning Poland disappeared too, and his fine trains in
"the Diet abolished themselves. The Diet had now nothing
"to do, but proclaim the coming Election, giving a date to
"it; and go home to consider a little whom they would elect. *
"A question weighty to Poland. And not likely to be settled
"by Poland alone or chiefly; the sublime Republic, with
"liberum veto, and Diets capable only of anarchic noise,
"having now reached such a stage that its Neighbours every-
"where stood upon its skirts; asking, 'Whitherward, then,
''' with your anarchy? Not this way; -- we say, that way! '
"-- and were apt to get to battle about it, before such a thing
"could be settled. A house, in your street, with perpetual
"smoke coming through the slates of it, is not a pleasant
"house to be neighbour to! One honest interest the neigh-
"bours have, in an Election Crisis there, That the house
"do not get on fire, and kindle them. Dishonest interests,
"in the way of theft and otherwise, they may have with-
"out limit.
"The poor house, during last Election Crisis, -- when Au-
"gust the Strong was flung out, and Stanislaus brought in;
"Crisis presided over by Charles XDT. , with Czar Peter and
"others hanging on the outskirts, as Opposition party,--
"fairly got into flame;** but was quenched down again by
"that stout Swede; and his Stanislaus, a native Pole, was
"left peaceably as King for the years then running. Years
"ran; and Stanislaus was thrown out, Charles himself being
"thrown out; and had to make way for August the Strong
* "Interregnum proclaimed," 11th February; Preliminary Diet to
meet, 21st April; -- meets; settles, before May is done, that the Election
shall begin 25th August: it must end in six weeks thereafter, by law of the
land.
<< Description of it in Kb'hler: Munzbelttstigungen, vi. 228-230.
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? 24 fbibdbich's apprenticeship, last STAGE. [BooK IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"again: -- an ejected Stanislaus; King only in title; known
"to most readers of this time. *
"Poor man, he has been living in Zweibriick, in Weissen-
"burg and such places, in that Debateable French-German
"region, -- which the French are more and more getting
"stolen to themselves, in late centuries: -- generally on the
"outskirts of France he lives; having now connexions of the
"highest quality with France. He has had fine Country-
"houses in that Zweibriick (Two-Bridge, Deux-Ponts) region;
"had always the ghost of a Court there; plenty of money, --
"a sinecure Country-gentleman life; -- and no complaints
"have been heard from him. Charles XII. , as proprietor of
"Deux-Ponts, had first of all sent him into those parts for
"refuge; and in general, easy days have been the lot of
"Stanislaus there.
"Nor has History spoken of him since, except on one
"small occasion: when the French Politician Gentlemen, at
"a certain crisis of their game, chose a Daughter of his to be "Wife for young Louis XV. , and bring royal progeny, of
"which they were scarce. This was in 1724-5; Due de
"Bourbon, and other Politicians male and female, finding
"that the best move. A thing wonderful to the then Ga-
zetteers, for nine days; but not now worth much talk.
"The good young Lady, it is well known, a very pious crea-
"ture, and sore tried in her new station, did bring royal
"progeny enough, --and might as well have held her hand,
"had she foreseen what would become of them, poor souls!
"This was a great event for Stanislaus, the sinecure Country-
* Stanislaus Lesczinsky, "Woywode of Posen," born 1677: King of
Poland, Charles XII. superintending, 1704 (age then 27); driven out 1709,
went to Charles XII. at Bender; to Zweibriick, 1714; thence, on Charles's
death, to Weissenburg (alsace, or Strasburg Country): Daughter married
to Louis XV. , 1723. age now 56. -- Hilbner, t. 97; Histoire de Stanislas I,
Hot da Pologne (English Translation, London, 1741), pp. 96-126; &c.
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 25
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"gentleman, in his French-German rustication. One other
"thing I have read of him, infinitely smaller, out of those ten
"years: in Zweibriick Country, or somewhere in that French-
"German region, he 'built a pleasure-cottage,' conceivable
"' to the mind, 'and called it Schuhflick (Shoe-Patch),' * -- a
"name that touches one's fancy on behalf of the innocent
"soul. Other fact I will not remember of him. He is now
"to quit Shoe-Patch and his pleasant Weissenburg Castle;
"to come on the public stage again, poor man; and suffer a
"second season of mischances and disgraces still worse than
"the first. As we shall see presently; -- a new Polish Election
"Crisis having come! --
"What individual the Polish Grandees would have chosen
"for King if entirely left alone to do it? is a question not im-
"portant; and indeed was never asked, in this or in late
"Elections. Not the individual who could have been a King
"among them were they, for a long time back, in the habit
"of seeking after; not him, but another and indeed reverse
"kind of individual, --the one in whom there lay most nourish-
"ment, nourishment of any kind, even of the cash kind, for
"a practical Polish Grandee. So that the question was no
"longer of the least importance, to Poland or the Universe;
"and in point of fact, the frugal Destinies had ceased to have
"it put, in that quarter. Not Grandees of Poland; but In-
"trusiveNeighbours, carrying Grandees of Poland 'in their
"breeches-pocket' (as our phrase is), were the voting parties.
"To that pass it was come. Under such stern penalty had
"Poland and its Grandees fallen, by dint of false voting:
"the frugal Destinies had ceased to ask about their vote; and
"they were become machines for voting with, or pistols for
"fighting with, by bad Neighbours who cared to vote! Nor
* Biisching: Erdbeschreibung, v. 1194.
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? 26 FRIEDRICH'S APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
"did the frugal Destinies consider that the proper method,
"either; but had, as we shall see, determined to abolish that
"too, in about forty years more. "
Of the Candidates; of the Conditions. How the Election
went.
It was under such omens that the Polish Election
of 1733 had to transact itself. Austria, Russia, Prussia,
as next Neighbours, were the chief voting parties, if
they cared to intrude; -- which Austria and Russia
were clear for doing; Prussia not clear, or not beyond
the indispensable or evidently profitable. Seckendorf,
and one Lowenwolde the Russian Ambassador at Berlin,
had, some time ago, in foresight of this event, done
their utmost to bring Friedrich Wilhelm into coopera-
tion, -- offering fine baits, "Berg and-Julich" again,
among others; -- but nothing definite came of it:
peaceable, reasonably safe Election in Poland, other
interest Friedrich Wilhelm has not in the matter; and
compliance, not cooperation, is what can be expected
of him by the Kaiser and Czarina. Cooperating or
even complying, these Three could have settled it; and
would, -- had no other Neighbour interfered. But other neighbours can interfere; any neighbour that has
money to spend, or likes to bully in such a matter!
And that proved to be the case, in this unlucky in-
stance.
Austria and Russia, with Prussia complying, had,
-- a year ago, before the late August's decease, his
life seeming then an extremely uncertain one, and fore-
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 27
1st Feb. -5th Oct. 1733.
sight being always good, -- privately come to an under-
standing,* "in case of a Polish Election:
"1? . That France was to have no hand in it what-
ever-- no tool of France to be King; or as they more
"politely expressed it, having their eye upon Stanislaus,
"No Piast or native Pole could be eligible.
"2? . That neither could August's Son, the new
"August, who would then be Kurfurst of Saxony, be
"admitted King of Poland. -- And, on the whole,
"3". That an Emanuel Prince of Portugal would
"be the eligible man. " Emanuel of Portugal, King of
Portugal's Brother; a gentleman without employment,
as his very Title tells us; gentleman never heard of
before or since, in those parts or elsewhere; but doubt-
less of the due harmless quality, as Portugal itself was:
he is to be the Polish King, -- vote these Intrusive
Neighbours. What the vote of Poland itself may be,
the Destinies do not, of late, ask; finding it a super-
fluous question.
So had the Three Neighbours settled this matter;
-- or rather, I should say, so had Two of them; for
Friedrich Wilhelm wanted, now or afterwards, nothing
in this Election, but that it should not take fire and
kindle him. Two of the Neighbours: and of these two,
perhaps we might guess the Kaiser was the principal
contriver and suggester; France and Saxony being both
hateful to him, -- obstinate refusers of the Pragmatic
Sanction, to say nothing more. What the Czarina,
* 81st December 1731, "Treaty of Lb'wenwolde" (which never got
completed or became valid): Schb'll, ii. 223.
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? 28 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ix,
1st Feb. -Bth Oct. 1733.
Anne with the big cheek, specially wanted, I do not
learn, -- unless it were peaceable hold of Courland;
or perhaps merely to produce herself in these parts, as
a kind of regulating Pallas, along with the Jupiter
Kaiser of Western Europe; -- which might have effects
by and by.
Emanuel of Portugal was not elected, nor so much
as spoken of in the Diet. Nor did one of these Three
Regulations take effect; but much the contrary, --
other Neighbours having the power to interfere. France
saw good to interfere, a rather distant Neighbour:
Austria, Russia, could not endure the French vote at
all; and so the whole world got on fire by the business.
France is not a near Neighbour; but it has a Stanis-
laus much concerned, who is eminently under the pro-
tection of France: -- who may be called the "Father
of France," in a sense, or even the "Grandfather;" his
Daughter being Mother of a young creature they call
Dauphin, or "Child of France"? Fleury and the
French Court decide that Stanislaus, Grandfather of
France, was once King of Poland; that it will behove,
for various reasons, he be King again. Some say, old
Fleury did not care for Stanislaus; merely wanted a
quarrel with the Kaiser, -- having got himself in
readiness, "with Lorraine in his eye;" and seeing the
Kaiser not ready. It is likelier the hot young spirits,
Belleislo and others, controlled old Fleury into it . At
all events, Stanislaus is summoned from his rustication;
the French Ambassador at Warsaw gets his instructions.
French Ambassador opens himself largely, at Warsaw,
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? CHaP. VIII. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 29
25th Aug. 1733.
by eloquent speech, by copious money, on the subject
of Stanislaus; finds large audience, enthusiastic recepti-
vity; -- and readers will now understand the following
chronological phenomena of the Polish Election:
"August 25th, 1733. This day the Polish Election begins.
"So has the Preliminary Diet (kind of Polish Caucus) ordered
"it; -- Preliminary Diet itself a very stormy matter; minority
"like to be 'thrown out of window,' to be 'shot through the
"head,' on some occasions. * Actual Election begins; con-
"tinues su b dio, 'in the Field of Wola,' in a very tempestuous
"fashion; bound to conclude within six weeks. Kaiser has
"his troops assembled over the border, in Silesia, 'to protect
"' the freedom of election;' Czarina has 30,000 under Marshal
"Lacy, lying on the edge of Lithuania, bent on a like object;
"will increase them to 50,000, as the plot thickens.
'' So that Emanuel of Portugal is not heard of; and French
"interference is, with a vengeance, -- and Stanislaus, a born
"Piast, is overwhelmingly the favourite. Intolerable to
"Austria, to Russia; the reverse to Friedrich Wilhelm, who
"privately thinks him the right man. And Kurfiirst Au-
"gust of Saxony is the other Candidate,-- with troops of
"his own in the distance, but without support in Poland;
"and depending wholly on the Kaiser and Czarina for his
"chance, And our 'three settled points' are gone to water
"in this manner!
"August seeing there was not the least hope in Poland's
"own vote, judiciously went to the Kaiser first of all: 'Im-
"' perial Majesty, I will accept your Pragmatic Sanction root
"' and branch, swallow it whole; make me King of Poland! '
"'Done! ' answers Imperial Majesty; ** brings the Czarina over,
* History of Stanislaus (cited above), p. 136.
16th July 1733: Treaty In Schb'll, U, 224-231.
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? 30 friedrich's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE. ftooK IX.
12th Sept. 1733.
"by good offers of August's and his; -- and now there is an
"effective Opposition Candidate in the field, with strength of his
"own, and good backing close at hand. Austrian, Russian
"Ambassadors at Warsaw lift up their voice, like the French
"one; open their purse, and bestir themselves; but with no
"success in the Field of Wola, except to the stirring up of
"noise and tumult there. They must look to other fields for
"success. The voice of Wola, and of Poland, if it had now
"a voice, is enthusiastic for Stanislaus.
"September 7lh. A couple of quiet-looking Merchants
"arrive in Warsaw, -- one of whom is Stanislaus in person.
"Newspapers say he is in the French Fleet of War, which is
"sailing minatory towards these Coasts: and there is in truth
"a Gentleman in Stanislaus's Clothes on board there; --to
"make the Newspapers believe. Stanislaus himself drove
"through Berlin, a day or two ago; gave the sentry a ducat
"at the Gate, to be speedy with the passports, -- whom
"Friedrich Wilhelm affected to put under arrest for such
"negligent speed. And so, on the 10th of the month, Stanis-
"laus being now rested and trimmed, makes his appearance
"on the Field of Wola itself; and captivates all hearts by
"the kind look of him. So that, on the second day after,
"12th September 1733, he is, as it were, unanimously
"elected: with acclamation, with enthusiasm; and sees him-
"self actual King of Poland, -- if France send proper back-
"ing to continue him there. As, surely, she will not fail?
"-- But there are alarming news that the Russians are ad-
vancing: Marshal Lacy with 30,000; and reinforcements in
"the rear of him.
"September 22d. Russians advancing more and more,
"no French help arrived yet, and the enthusiastic Polish
"Chivalry being good for nothing against regular musketry,
"--King Stanislaus finds that he will have to quit Warsaw,
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? CHaP. Via. ] KING AUGUST DIES. 31
8th Oct. 1733.
"and seek covert somewhere. Quits Warsaw this day; gets
"covert in Dantzig. And, in fact, from this 22d of Sep-
''tember, day of the autumnal equinox, 1733, is a fugi-
"tive, blockaded, besieged Stanislaus: an Imaginary King
"thenceforth. His Real Kingship had lasted precisely ten
"days.
"October 3d. Lacy and his Russians arrive in the suburbs
"of Warsaw, intent upon 'protecting freedom of election. '
"Bridges being broken, they do not yet cross the River, but
"invite the free electors to come across, and vote: 'A real
"King is very necessary, -- Stanislaus being an imaginary
"one, brought in by compulsion, by threats of flinging people
"out of window, and the like. ' The free electors do not
"cross. Whereupon a small handful, now free enough, and
"not to be thrown out of window, whom Lacy had about him,
"proceed to elect August ofSaxony: he, on the 5th ofOcto-
"ber, still one day within the legal six weeks, is chosen and
"declared the real King; --'twelve senators and about six
"hundred gentlemen' voting for him there, free they in
"Lacy's quarters, the rest ofPoland having lain under com-
"pulsion when voting for Stanislaus. That is the Polish
"Election, so far asPoland can settle it. We said theDestinies
"had ceased, sometime since, to ask Poland for its vote; it
"is other people who have now got the real power of voting.
"But that is the correct state of the poll at Warsaw, if im-
"portant to anybody. "
August is crowned in Cracow before long; "August
HI. ," whom we shall meet again in important circum-
stances. Lacy and his Russians have voted for August;
able, they, to disperse all manner of enthusiastic Polish
Chivalry; which indeed, we observe, usually stands but
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? 32 FRIEDBICh's APPRENTICESHIP, LAST STAGE, [book IX.
5th Oct. 1738.
one volley from the Russian musketry; and flies else-
whither, to burn and plunder its own domestic enemies.
Far and wide, robbery and arson are prevalent in
Poland; Stanislaus lying under covert in Dantzig, --
an imaginary King ever since the equinox, but well
trusting that the French will give him a plumper vote.
French War-fleet is surely under way hither.
Poland on fire; Dantzig stands Siege.
These are the news our Crown-Prince hears at
Ruppin, in the first months of his wedded life there.
With what interest we may fancy. Brandenburg is
next neighbour; and these Polish troubles reach far
enough; -- the ever-smoking house having taken fire;
and all the street threatening to get on blaze. Fried-
rich Wilhelm, nearest neighbour, stands anxious to
quench, carefully sweeping the hot coals across again
from his own borders; and will not interfere on one or
the other side, for any persuasion.
Dantzig, strong in confidence of French help, refuses
to give up Stanislaus when summoned; will stand siege
rather. Stands siege; furious lengthy siege, -- with
enthusiastic defence; "a Lady of Rank firing off the
first gun," against the Russian batteries. Of the Siege
of Dantzig, which made the next Spring and Summer
loud for mankind (February -- June 1734) we shall
say nothing, -- our own poor field, which also grows
loud enough, lying far away from Dantzig, -- except:
First, That no French help came, or as good as
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? CHaP. TO! . ] POLAND TAKES FIRE. 33
6th Oct. 1733.
none; the minatory War-fleet having landed a poor
1,500 men, headed by the Comte de Plelo, who had
volunteered along with them; that they attempted one
onslaught on the Russian lines, and that Plelo was
shot, and the rest were blown to miscellaneous
ruin, and had to disappear, not once getting into
Dantzig. Secondly, That the Saxons, under Weissen-
fels, our poor old friend, with proper siege-artillery,
though not with enough, did, by effort (end of May),
get upon the scene; in which this is to be remarked,
that Weissenfels's siege-artillery "came by post;" two
big mortars expressly passing through Berlin, marked
as part of the Duke of Weissenfels's Luggage. And
thirdly, That Miinnich, who had succeeded Lacy as
Besieging General, and was in hot haste, and had not
artillery enough, made unheard-of assaults (2,000 men,
some say 4,000, lost in one night-attack upon a post
they call the Hagelberg; rash attack, much blamed by
military men);* -- but nevertheless, having now (by
Russian Fleet, middle of June) got siege-artillery
enough, advances irrepressibly day by day.
So that at length, things being now desperate,
Stanislaus, disguised as a cattle-dealer, privately quitted
Dantzig, night of 27th June 1734; got across the
intricate mud - and - water difficulties of the Weichsel
and its mouths, flying perilously towards Preussen
and Friedrich Wilhelm's protection. ** Whereby the
Siege of Dantzig ended in chamade, and levying of
* (Euvres de Fridiric,, xxvil. part 2d, p. 31.
** Narrative by himself, in History, pp. 235-248. Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 3
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? 34 friedbich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book is.
5th Oct. 1733.
penalties; penalties severe to a degree, though Fried-
rich Wilhelm interceded what he could. And with the
Siege of Dantzig, the blazing Polish Election went out
in like manner;* -- having already kindled, in quarters
far away from it, conflagrations quite otherwise interest-
ing to us. Whitherward we now hasten.
* Clear account, especially of Siege, in Mannstein (pp. 71-83), who
was there as Mttnnich's Aide-de- Camp.
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? chap, ix. ] kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. 35
Hth Oct. 1733.
CHAPTER IX.
kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire.
Franz of Lorraine, the young favourite of Fortune,
whom we once saw at Berlin on an interesting occasion,
was about this time to have married his Imperial Arch-
duchess; Kaiser's consent to be formally demanded and
given; nothing but joy and splendour looked for in
the Court of Vienna at present. Nothing to prevent
it, -- had there been no Polish Election; had not the
Kaiser, in his Shadow-Hunt (coursing the Pragmatic
Sanction chiefly, as he has done these twenty years
past), gone rashly into that combustible foreign element.
But so it is: this was the fatal limit. The poor Kaiser's
Shadow-Hunt, going scot-free this long while, and
merely tormenting other people, has, at this point, by
contact with inflammable Poland, unexpectedly itself
caught fire; goes now plunging, all in mad flame, over
precipices one knows not how deep: and there will be
a lamentable singeing and smashing before the Kaiser
get out of this, if he ever get! Kaiser Karl, from this
point, plunges down and down, all his days; and except
in that Shadow of a Pragmatic Sanction, if he can still
save that, has no comfort left. Marriages are not the
thing to be thought of at present! --
Scarcely had the news of August's Election, and
3*
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? 36 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookk.
14th Oct. 1733.
Stanislaus's flight to Dantzig, reacted Prance, when
France, all in a state of readiness, informed the Kaiser,
ready for nothing, his force lying in Silesia, doing the
Election functions on the Polish borders there, "That
he the Kaiser had, by such treatment of the Grand-
father of France and the Polish Kingdom fairly fallen
to him, insulted the most Christian Majesty; that in
consequence the most Christian Majesty did hereby
declare War against the said Kaiser," -- and in fact
had, that very day (14th October 1733), begun it.
Had marched over into Lorraine, namely, secured Lor-
raine against accidents; and, more specially, gone
across from Strasburg to the German side of the
Rhine, and laid siege to Kehl. Kehl Portress; a dila-
pidated outpost of the Reich there, which cannot resist
many hours. Here is news for the Kaiser, with his
few troops all on the Polish borders; minding his
neighbour's business, or chasing Pragmatic Sanction, in
those inflammable localities!
Pacific Fleury, it must be owned, if he wanted a
quarrel with the Kaiser, could not have managed it on
more advantageous terms. Generals, a Due de Berwick,
aNoailles, Belleisle; generals, troops, artillery, munitions,
nothing is wanting to Fleury; to the Kaiser all things.
It is surmised, the French had their eye on Lorraine,
not on Stanislaus, from the first. For many centuries,
especially for these last two, -- ever since that Siege
of Metz, which we once saw, under Kaiser Karl V. and
Albert Alcibiades, -- France has been wrenching and
screwing at this Lorraine, wriggling it off bit by bit;
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? chap, rx. ] kaiser's shadow-hunt has caught fire. 37
14th Oct. -23d Deo. 1733.
till now, as we perceived on Lyttelton junior of Hag-
ley's visit, Lorraine seems all lying unscrewed; and
France, by any good opportunity, could stick it in her
pocket. Such opportunity sly Fleury contrived, they
say; -- or more likely it might be Belleisle and the
other adventurous spirits that urged it on pacific Fleury;
but at all events, he has got it. Dilapidated Kehl
yields straightway:* Sardinia, Spain declare alliance
with Fleury; and not Lorraine only, and the Swabian
Provinces, but Italy itself lies at his discretion, --
owing to your treatment of the Grandfather of France,
and these Polish Elective methods.
The astonished Kaiser rushes forward to fling him-
self into the arms of the Sea-Powers, his one resource
left: "Help! Moneys, subsidies, ye Sea-Powers! " But
the Sea-Powers stand obtuse, arms not open at all,
hands buttoning their pockets: "Sorry we cannot, your
Imperial Majesty. Fleury engages not to touch the
Netherlands, the Barrier Treaty; Polish Elections are
not our concern! " and callously decline. The Kaiser's
astonishment is extreme; his big heart swelling even
with a martyr-feeling; and he passionately appeals:
"Ungrateful, blind Sea-Powers!
