Si favois la
fatalite?
Thomas Carlyle
Continual, ubiquitous, and * Ifelden-Geschichte, iv.
340 ("26th March 1757").
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? 314 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. -- March 1757.
at the top of his bent, one fancies his effort must have
been, ---. though he makes no noise on the subject.
Considerable work he has with Hanover, this Winter;
with the poor English Government, and their "Army
of Observation," which is to appear in the Hanover
parts, versus those 100,000 French, next Spring. To
Hanover he has sent Schmettau (the Younger Schmettau,
Elder is now dead) in regard to said Army; has made
a new and closer Treaty with England (impossible to
be fulfilled on poor England's part); -- and laments,
as Mitchell often does, the tragically embroiled condi-
tion of that Country, struggling so vehemently, to no
purpose, to get out of bed, and not unlike strangling
or smothering itself in its own blankets, at present!
"With and in regard to Saxony, his work is of course
extremely considerable; and in regard to his own
Army, and its coming Business, considerablest of all.
Counter-Manifesto work, to state his case in a distinct
manner, and leave it with the Populations if the Diplo-
macies are deaf: this too is copiously proceeding; under
Artists who probably do not require much supervision.
In fact, no King living has such servants, in the Civil
or the Military part, to execute his will. And no King
so little wastes himself in noises; a King who has good
command of himself, first of all; not to be thrown off
his balance, by any terror, any provocation even, though
his temper is very sharp.
Friedrich in person is mainly at Dresden, lodged
in the Brtihl Palace; -- endless wardrobes and magni-
ficences there; three hundred and sixty-four Pairs of
Breeches hanging melancholy, in a widowed manner:
Cest assez de culottes; montrez-moi des vertus! Bruhl is
far away, in Poland; Madam Briihl has still her Apart-
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? CHAP. vm. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 315
Jan. -- March 1757.
ments in this Palace, -- a frugal King needs only the
necessary spaces. Madam Briihl is very busy here;
and not to good purpose, being well seen into. "She
"had a cask of wine sent her from Warsaw" says
Friedrich; "orders were given to decant for her every
"drop of the wine, but to be sure and bring us the
"cask. " Cask was found to have two bottoms, inter-
mediate space filled with spy-correspondence. Madam
Briihl protests and pleads, Friedrich not unpolite in
reply; his last Letter to her says, "Madam, it is better
that you go and join your Husband. "
Another high Dame gets sausages from Bohemia;
-- some of Friedrich's light troops have an appetite,
beyond strict law, for sausages; break in, find Letters
along with the other stuffing* Friedrich has a good
deal of watching and coercing to do in that kind, --
some arresting, conveyance even to Ciistrin for a time,
though nothing crueller proved needful. To the poor
Queen he keeps up civilities, but is obliged to be strict
as Argus; -- she made him a Gift too, the Night of
Correggio, admired Notte of Correggio; having heard
that he sat before it silent for half an hour, on entering
that fine Gallery, -- which is due to our Sovereign
Lord and his Briihl, alas! On the other hand, Friedrich
had to take from her Majesty's Royal Abode those
Hundred Swiss of Bodyguard; to discharge the same,
and put Prussians in their stead. Nay, at one time, on
loud outcry from her Majesty, and great private cause
of complaint against her, there was talk of sending the
poor Royal Lady to Warsaw, after her Husband; but
her objection being violent, nothing came of that:
* (Euvres lie Frederic, iv. 108; Mitchell, "27th March 1757" (Raumer,
p. 321).
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? 316 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. -- March 1757.
Winter following, her poor Majesty died,* and gave
nobody any farther trouble.
Friedrich's outposts, especially in the Lausitz, are
a good deal disturbed by Austrian Tolpatcheries; and
do feats, heroic in the small way, in smiting down that
rabble. A valuable Officer or two is lost in such poor
service, poor but indispensable;** and the troops have
not always the repose which is intended them.
Lieutenant-Colonel Loudon (Scotch by kindred, and
famous enough before long) is the soul of these Croat
enterprises, -- and gets his Colonelcy by them, in a
month or two; Browne recommending. Loudon had
arrived too late for Lobositz, but had been with Browne
to Schandau; and, on the march homewards, did a
bright feat of the Croat kind: -- surprisal, very com-
plete, of that Hill-Castle of Tetschen and considerable
Hussar Party there; done in a style which caught the
eye of Browne; and was the beginning of great things
to poor Loudon, after his twenty years of painful
eclipse under the Indigo Trencks, and miscellaneous
Doggeries, Austrian and Russian. ***
Tetschen, therefore, will again need capture by
the Prussians, if they again intend that way. And in
the mean while, Friedrich, to counterpoise those mis-
chievous Croat people, has bethought him of organising
a similar Force of his own; -- Foot chiefly, for, on
hint of former experience, he already has Hussars in
quantity. And, this Winter, there are accordingly, in
different Saxon Towns, three Irregular Regiments
* 27th November 1757.
** Funeral Discourses (of a very curious, ponderous and serious tone),
in Gcsammelte Nachrichten, n. 458, 464, &c.
*** La Vie du Feldmarechal Baron de Loudon (Translation of one Pezzl's
German: a Vienne et a Paris, 1792), i. 1-32.
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? CHAP. Vin. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 317
Jan. --March 1757.
getting ready for him; three "Volunteer Colonels"
busily enlisting each his "Free Corps," such the title
chosen; -- chief Colonel of them one Mayer, now in
Zwickau neighbourhood, with 6 or 700 loose handy
fellows round him, getting formed into strict battalion
there:* of whom, and of whose soldiering, we shall
hear further. For the plan was found to answer; and
extended itself year after year; and the "Prussian Free
Corps," one way and another, made considerable noise
in the world.
Outwardly Friedrich's Life is quiet; busy, none can
be more so; but to the onlooker, placid, polite especi-
ally. He hears sermon once or twice in the Kreuz-
Kirche (Protestant High Church); then next day, will
hear good music, devotional if you call it so, in the
Catholic Church, where her Polish Majesty is. Daily
at the old hour he has his own Concert, now and then
assisting with his own flute. Makes donations to the
Poor, and such like, due from Saxon Sovereignty
while held by him; on the other hand, reduces salaries
at a sad rate: Guarini, Queen's Confessor, from near
2,000/. , to little more than 300/. , for one instance; --
cuts off about 25,000/. in all, under this head. ** And
is heavy with billeting, as new Prussians arrive. Billets
at length in the very Ambassadors' Hotels, -- and by
way of apology to the Excellencies, signifies to them
in a body: "Sorry for the necessity, your Excellencies:
but ought not you to go to Warsaw rather? Your cre-
dentials are to his Polish Majesty. He is not here;
nor coming hither, for some time! " Which hint, I sup-
* Pauli (our old diffuse friend), Leben grosser Helden des gcgenwdrtigen
h'rieges (9 voll. , Halle, 1759-1764), in. 159, % Mayr.
** Helden-Geichichte, iv. 306 ("December 1756").
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? 318 SEVEN-YEARS WAK BEGINS, [book XVII.
Jan. --March 1757.
pose, the Excellencies mostly took. From his own
Forests there came by the Elbe great rafts of fire-wood,
to warm his soldiers in their quarters. Once or twice
he makes excursions, of a day, of two days; to the
Lausitz, to Leipzig (through Freyberg, where he has a
post of importance); -- very gracious to the University
people: "Students be troubled with soldiering? Far
from it, ye learned Gentlemen, servants of the Muses!
Recruitment, a lamentable necessity, is to go on under
your own Official people, and wholly by the old
methods. " *
Once and once only he made a run to Berlin, Jan-
uary 4th-13th, 1757: the last for six years and more.
Came with great despatch, Brother Henri with him,
whole journey in one day; got "to his Mother's about
11 at night. "** A joyful meeting for the kindred:
cheerful light-gleam in the dark time, so suddenly
eclipsed to them and others by those hurricanes that
have risen. His Majesty seems to be in perfect health;
and wears no look of gloom. At Berlin is no Carnival
this year; all are grave, sunk in sad contemplations of
the future. Of his businesses in this interval, which
were many, I will say nothing; only of one little Act
he did, the day before his departure: the writing of
this Secret Letter of Instructions to Graf Finck von
Finckenstein, his chief Home Minister, one of his old
boy-comrades, as readers may recollect. The Letter
was read by Count Finck with profound attention, 11th
* Heldengeschichte, iv. 303-313; Universitatsanschlag zu Leipzig, weqen
der Werbung (" University-Placard about Enlisting:" in Gesammelte Nach-
richlen, I. 811).
** lb. iv. 308.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 319
Jan. --March 1757.
January 1757, and conned over till he knew every
point of it; after which he sealed it up, inscribing on
the Cover: "Ilochsteigehhdtidige und ganz geheime" --
that is, "Highest-Autographic and altogether Secret
"Instructions, by the King, which, with the Appen-
"dixes, were delivered to me, Graf von Finckenstein,
"the 12th of January 1757. " In this docketing it lay,
sealed for many years (none knows how many), then
unsealed, still in strict keeping, in the Private Royal Archives,"* -- till on Friedrich's Birthday, 24th January 1854, it was, with some solemnity, lithographed
at Berlin, and distributed to a select public, -- as
readers shall see.
"Secret Instruction for the Graf von Finck.
"Berlin, 10th January 1757.
"In the critical situation our affairs are in, I ought to give
"you my orders, so that in all the disastrous cases which are
"in the possibility of events, you be authorised for taking the
"necessary steps.
"1? . If it chanced (which Heaven forbid) that one of my
"Armies in Saxony were totally beaten; or that the French
"should drive the Hanoverians from their Country" (which
they failed not to do), "and establish themselves there, and
"threaten us with an invasion into the Altmark; or that the
''Russians should get through by the Neumark, -- you are to
"save the Royal Family, the principal Dicasteria" (Land-
Schedules, Lists of Tax-dues), "the Ministries and theDirec-
"torium" (which is the central Ministry of all). "If it is in
"Saxony on the Leipzig side that we are beaten, the fittest
"place for the removal of the Royal Family, and of the
"Treasure, is to Ciistrin: in such case the Royal Family and
"all above-named must go, escorted by the whole Garrison"
of Berlin, "to Ciistrin. If the Russians entered by the Neu-
"mark, or if a misfortune befel us in the Lausitz, it would be
"to Magdeburg that all would have to go: in fine, the last * Preuss, i. 449.
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? 320 SEVEN-TEAKS WAR BEGINS. [book XVH.
Jan. --March 1757.
'refuge is Stettin, -- but you must not go till the last ex-
"tremity. The Garrison, the Royal Family, and the Treasure
"are inseparable, and go always together: to this must be
"added the Crown Diamonds, the Sflver Plate in the Grand
"Apartments, -- which, in such case, as well as the Gold
"Plate, must be at once coined into money.
"If it happened that I were killed, the Public Affairs
"must go on without the smallest alteration, or its being
"noticeable that they are in other hands: and, in this case,
"you must hasten forward the Oaths and Homagings, as well
"here as in Preussen; and, above all, in Silesia. If I should
"have the fatality to be taken prisoner by the Enemy, Ipro-
'hibit all of you from paying the least regard to my person,
"or taking the least heed of what I might write from my place
"of detention. Should such misfortune happen me, I wish
"to sacrifice myself for the State; and you must obey my
"Brother, -- who, as well as all my Ministers and Generals
"shall answer to me with their heads, Not to offer any Pro-
"vince or any Ransom for me, but to continue the War,
"pushing their advantages, as if I never had existed in the
"world.
"Ihope, and have ground to believe, that you, Count
"Finck, will not need to make use of this Instruction: but in
"case of misfortune, I authorise you to employ it; and, as
"mark that it is, after a mature and sound deliberation, my
"firm and constant will, I sign it with my Hand and confirm
"it with my seal. "
Or in Friedrich's own spelling, &c. , in Friedrich's
own hand, so far as our possibilities permit:
"Instruction Secrete Pour le Conte define.
"Berlin, ce 10 de Janv. 1757.
"Dans La Situation Critique ou se trouvent nos affaires je
"dois Vous donner mes Ordres pour que dans tout Les Cos Mal-
"heureux qui sont dans lapossibilite des Evenemens vous Soy&
"autorisse aux partis quil faut prendre. 1)* Sil arivoit (de quoi
"le del preserve) qu'une de mes Armies en Saxse fut totallement
* Yes; but there follows no "2)" anywhere, such the haste!
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? CHAP. VIII. ] WINTER IN DKESDEN. 321
Jan. --March 1757.
"battue, oubien que Les franc? ais chassassent Les Hanovryeins de
"Leur pais et si etablissent et nous menassassent d'un Invassion
"dans la Vieille Marche, ou que les Russes penetrassent par La
"Nouvelle Marche, il faut Sauver la famille Royale, les prin-
"cipeaux Dicasteres les Ministres et le Directoire. Si nous somes
"battus en Saxse du Cote? de leipssic Le Lieu Le plus propre pour
"Le transport de La famille et du Tressor est a Custrin, il faut en
"ce Cas que la famille Royalle et touts cidesus nomez aillent
"esCorte? z de toute La Guarnisson a Custrin. Si les Russes
"entroient par la Nouvele Marche ou quil nous arivat un Malheur
"en Lusace, il faudroit que tout Se transporta^t a Magdebourg,
"enfin Le Dernier refuge est a Stetein, mais il ne faut y aller qu'a
"La Derniere exstremite? La Guarnisson la famille Royalle et le
"Tressort sont Inseparables et vont toujours ensemble il faut y
"ajouter les Diamans de la Couronne, et L'argenterie des Grands
"Apartements qui en pareil cas ainsi que la Veselle d'or doit e^tre "incontinant Monoye? e Si l arivoit que je fus tue? , il faut que
"Les affaires Continuent Leur train sans la Moindre allteration et
"Sans qu'on s'apersoive qu'elles sont en d'autre Mains, et en ce
"Cas il faut hater Sermens et homages tant ici qu'en prusse et
"surtout en Silesie.
Si favois la fatalite? d'etre pris prissonie? r
"par L'Enemy, je Defend qu'on Aye le Moindre egard pour ma
"perssonne ni qu'on fasse La Moindre reflextion sur ce que je
"pourois ecrire de Ma Detention, Si pareil Malheur m'arivoit je
"Veux me Sacriffie? r pour L'Etat et il faut qu'on obeisse a Mon
"fre`re le quel ainsi que tout Mes Ministres et Generaux me re-
"ponderont de leur Tette qu'on offrira ni province ni ransson
"pour moy et que Ion Continuera la Guerre en poussant Ses
"avantages tout Corne si je n'avais jamais exsiste? dans le Monde.
"J'espere et je dois Croire que Vous Conte fine ri'aure? z pas
"bessoin de faire usage de Cette Instruction mais en cas de
"Malheur je Vous autorisse a L'Employir, et Marque que Cest
"apre`s Une Mure et saine Deliberation Ma ferme et Constante
"Volonte? je le Signe de Ma Main et la Muni de mon Cachet
"FbdebicR. "*
These, privately made law in this manner, are
Friedrich's fixed feelings and resolutions; -- how fixed
* Facsimile of Autograph (Berlin, 24th January 1854), where is some
indistinct History of the Document. Printed also in OEuvres, xxv. 319-23.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. 21
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? 322 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. --March 1757.
is now farther apparent, by a fact which was then still
more private, guessable long afterwards only by one or
two, and never clearly known so long as Friedrich
lived: the fact that he had (now most probably, though
the date is not known) provided poison for himself,
and constantly wore it about his person through this
War. "Five or six small pills, in a small glass tube,
"with a bit of ribbon to it:" that stern relic lay, in a
worn condition, in some drawer of Friedrich's, after
Friedrich was gone* For the Facts are peremptory;
and a man that will deal with them must be equally so.
Two days after this Finck missive, Friday 12th,
Friedrich took farewell at Berlin, drove to Potsdam
that night with his Brother, to Dresden next day.
Adieu, Madame; Adieu, 0 Mother! said the King, in
royal terms, but with a heart altogether human. "May
God above bless you, my Son! " the old Lady would
reply: -- and the Two had seen one another for the
last time; Mother and son were to meet no more in
this world.
* Preuss, u. 175, 315n.
END OF VOL. IX.
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? PRINTING OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHES,
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? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:32 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:32 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
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? **. i T. * r *
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History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick the Great. By
Thomas Carlyle.
Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881. Leipzig, B. Tauchnitz, 1858-1865.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijk
Public Domain, Google-digitized
http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
We have determined this work to be in the public domain, meaning that it is not subject to copyright. Users are free to copy, use, and redistribute the work in part or in whole. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address. The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.
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? ^arbarb College Mrarp
FROM
Estate pf
. . . Ellzape th G Norton. . . .
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? COLLECTION
OF
BRITISH AUTHORS.
VOL. 601.
FEEDEEICK THE GEEAT BY THOMAS CAELYLE.
VOL. VI.
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? TAUCHNITZ EDITION-.
By the same Author
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 3 vols.
OLIVER CROMWELL'S LETTERS AND SPEECHES 4 vols.
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? HISTORY
OF
FRIEDRICH H. OF PRUSSIA,
CALLED
FREDERICK THE GREAT.
b*
THOMAS CARLYLE.
COPYRIGHT EDITION.
VOL. VI.
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? 314 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. -- March 1757.
at the top of his bent, one fancies his effort must have
been, ---. though he makes no noise on the subject.
Considerable work he has with Hanover, this Winter;
with the poor English Government, and their "Army
of Observation," which is to appear in the Hanover
parts, versus those 100,000 French, next Spring. To
Hanover he has sent Schmettau (the Younger Schmettau,
Elder is now dead) in regard to said Army; has made
a new and closer Treaty with England (impossible to
be fulfilled on poor England's part); -- and laments,
as Mitchell often does, the tragically embroiled condi-
tion of that Country, struggling so vehemently, to no
purpose, to get out of bed, and not unlike strangling
or smothering itself in its own blankets, at present!
"With and in regard to Saxony, his work is of course
extremely considerable; and in regard to his own
Army, and its coming Business, considerablest of all.
Counter-Manifesto work, to state his case in a distinct
manner, and leave it with the Populations if the Diplo-
macies are deaf: this too is copiously proceeding; under
Artists who probably do not require much supervision.
In fact, no King living has such servants, in the Civil
or the Military part, to execute his will. And no King
so little wastes himself in noises; a King who has good
command of himself, first of all; not to be thrown off
his balance, by any terror, any provocation even, though
his temper is very sharp.
Friedrich in person is mainly at Dresden, lodged
in the Brtihl Palace; -- endless wardrobes and magni-
ficences there; three hundred and sixty-four Pairs of
Breeches hanging melancholy, in a widowed manner:
Cest assez de culottes; montrez-moi des vertus! Bruhl is
far away, in Poland; Madam Briihl has still her Apart-
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? CHAP. vm. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 315
Jan. -- March 1757.
ments in this Palace, -- a frugal King needs only the
necessary spaces. Madam Briihl is very busy here;
and not to good purpose, being well seen into. "She
"had a cask of wine sent her from Warsaw" says
Friedrich; "orders were given to decant for her every
"drop of the wine, but to be sure and bring us the
"cask. " Cask was found to have two bottoms, inter-
mediate space filled with spy-correspondence. Madam
Briihl protests and pleads, Friedrich not unpolite in
reply; his last Letter to her says, "Madam, it is better
that you go and join your Husband. "
Another high Dame gets sausages from Bohemia;
-- some of Friedrich's light troops have an appetite,
beyond strict law, for sausages; break in, find Letters
along with the other stuffing* Friedrich has a good
deal of watching and coercing to do in that kind, --
some arresting, conveyance even to Ciistrin for a time,
though nothing crueller proved needful. To the poor
Queen he keeps up civilities, but is obliged to be strict
as Argus; -- she made him a Gift too, the Night of
Correggio, admired Notte of Correggio; having heard
that he sat before it silent for half an hour, on entering
that fine Gallery, -- which is due to our Sovereign
Lord and his Briihl, alas! On the other hand, Friedrich
had to take from her Majesty's Royal Abode those
Hundred Swiss of Bodyguard; to discharge the same,
and put Prussians in their stead. Nay, at one time, on
loud outcry from her Majesty, and great private cause
of complaint against her, there was talk of sending the
poor Royal Lady to Warsaw, after her Husband; but
her objection being violent, nothing came of that:
* (Euvres lie Frederic, iv. 108; Mitchell, "27th March 1757" (Raumer,
p. 321).
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? 316 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. -- March 1757.
Winter following, her poor Majesty died,* and gave
nobody any farther trouble.
Friedrich's outposts, especially in the Lausitz, are
a good deal disturbed by Austrian Tolpatcheries; and
do feats, heroic in the small way, in smiting down that
rabble. A valuable Officer or two is lost in such poor
service, poor but indispensable;** and the troops have
not always the repose which is intended them.
Lieutenant-Colonel Loudon (Scotch by kindred, and
famous enough before long) is the soul of these Croat
enterprises, -- and gets his Colonelcy by them, in a
month or two; Browne recommending. Loudon had
arrived too late for Lobositz, but had been with Browne
to Schandau; and, on the march homewards, did a
bright feat of the Croat kind: -- surprisal, very com-
plete, of that Hill-Castle of Tetschen and considerable
Hussar Party there; done in a style which caught the
eye of Browne; and was the beginning of great things
to poor Loudon, after his twenty years of painful
eclipse under the Indigo Trencks, and miscellaneous
Doggeries, Austrian and Russian. ***
Tetschen, therefore, will again need capture by
the Prussians, if they again intend that way. And in
the mean while, Friedrich, to counterpoise those mis-
chievous Croat people, has bethought him of organising
a similar Force of his own; -- Foot chiefly, for, on
hint of former experience, he already has Hussars in
quantity. And, this Winter, there are accordingly, in
different Saxon Towns, three Irregular Regiments
* 27th November 1757.
** Funeral Discourses (of a very curious, ponderous and serious tone),
in Gcsammelte Nachrichten, n. 458, 464, &c.
*** La Vie du Feldmarechal Baron de Loudon (Translation of one Pezzl's
German: a Vienne et a Paris, 1792), i. 1-32.
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? CHAP. Vin. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 317
Jan. --March 1757.
getting ready for him; three "Volunteer Colonels"
busily enlisting each his "Free Corps," such the title
chosen; -- chief Colonel of them one Mayer, now in
Zwickau neighbourhood, with 6 or 700 loose handy
fellows round him, getting formed into strict battalion
there:* of whom, and of whose soldiering, we shall
hear further. For the plan was found to answer; and
extended itself year after year; and the "Prussian Free
Corps," one way and another, made considerable noise
in the world.
Outwardly Friedrich's Life is quiet; busy, none can
be more so; but to the onlooker, placid, polite especi-
ally. He hears sermon once or twice in the Kreuz-
Kirche (Protestant High Church); then next day, will
hear good music, devotional if you call it so, in the
Catholic Church, where her Polish Majesty is. Daily
at the old hour he has his own Concert, now and then
assisting with his own flute. Makes donations to the
Poor, and such like, due from Saxon Sovereignty
while held by him; on the other hand, reduces salaries
at a sad rate: Guarini, Queen's Confessor, from near
2,000/. , to little more than 300/. , for one instance; --
cuts off about 25,000/. in all, under this head. ** And
is heavy with billeting, as new Prussians arrive. Billets
at length in the very Ambassadors' Hotels, -- and by
way of apology to the Excellencies, signifies to them
in a body: "Sorry for the necessity, your Excellencies:
but ought not you to go to Warsaw rather? Your cre-
dentials are to his Polish Majesty. He is not here;
nor coming hither, for some time! " Which hint, I sup-
* Pauli (our old diffuse friend), Leben grosser Helden des gcgenwdrtigen
h'rieges (9 voll. , Halle, 1759-1764), in. 159, % Mayr.
** Helden-Geichichte, iv. 306 ("December 1756").
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? 318 SEVEN-YEARS WAK BEGINS, [book XVII.
Jan. --March 1757.
pose, the Excellencies mostly took. From his own
Forests there came by the Elbe great rafts of fire-wood,
to warm his soldiers in their quarters. Once or twice
he makes excursions, of a day, of two days; to the
Lausitz, to Leipzig (through Freyberg, where he has a
post of importance); -- very gracious to the University
people: "Students be troubled with soldiering? Far
from it, ye learned Gentlemen, servants of the Muses!
Recruitment, a lamentable necessity, is to go on under
your own Official people, and wholly by the old
methods. " *
Once and once only he made a run to Berlin, Jan-
uary 4th-13th, 1757: the last for six years and more.
Came with great despatch, Brother Henri with him,
whole journey in one day; got "to his Mother's about
11 at night. "** A joyful meeting for the kindred:
cheerful light-gleam in the dark time, so suddenly
eclipsed to them and others by those hurricanes that
have risen. His Majesty seems to be in perfect health;
and wears no look of gloom. At Berlin is no Carnival
this year; all are grave, sunk in sad contemplations of
the future. Of his businesses in this interval, which
were many, I will say nothing; only of one little Act
he did, the day before his departure: the writing of
this Secret Letter of Instructions to Graf Finck von
Finckenstein, his chief Home Minister, one of his old
boy-comrades, as readers may recollect. The Letter
was read by Count Finck with profound attention, 11th
* Heldengeschichte, iv. 303-313; Universitatsanschlag zu Leipzig, weqen
der Werbung (" University-Placard about Enlisting:" in Gesammelte Nach-
richlen, I. 811).
** lb. iv. 308.
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? CHAP. VIII. ] WINTER IN DRESDEN. 319
Jan. --March 1757.
January 1757, and conned over till he knew every
point of it; after which he sealed it up, inscribing on
the Cover: "Ilochsteigehhdtidige und ganz geheime" --
that is, "Highest-Autographic and altogether Secret
"Instructions, by the King, which, with the Appen-
"dixes, were delivered to me, Graf von Finckenstein,
"the 12th of January 1757. " In this docketing it lay,
sealed for many years (none knows how many), then
unsealed, still in strict keeping, in the Private Royal Archives,"* -- till on Friedrich's Birthday, 24th January 1854, it was, with some solemnity, lithographed
at Berlin, and distributed to a select public, -- as
readers shall see.
"Secret Instruction for the Graf von Finck.
"Berlin, 10th January 1757.
"In the critical situation our affairs are in, I ought to give
"you my orders, so that in all the disastrous cases which are
"in the possibility of events, you be authorised for taking the
"necessary steps.
"1? . If it chanced (which Heaven forbid) that one of my
"Armies in Saxony were totally beaten; or that the French
"should drive the Hanoverians from their Country" (which
they failed not to do), "and establish themselves there, and
"threaten us with an invasion into the Altmark; or that the
''Russians should get through by the Neumark, -- you are to
"save the Royal Family, the principal Dicasteria" (Land-
Schedules, Lists of Tax-dues), "the Ministries and theDirec-
"torium" (which is the central Ministry of all). "If it is in
"Saxony on the Leipzig side that we are beaten, the fittest
"place for the removal of the Royal Family, and of the
"Treasure, is to Ciistrin: in such case the Royal Family and
"all above-named must go, escorted by the whole Garrison"
of Berlin, "to Ciistrin. If the Russians entered by the Neu-
"mark, or if a misfortune befel us in the Lausitz, it would be
"to Magdeburg that all would have to go: in fine, the last * Preuss, i. 449.
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? 320 SEVEN-TEAKS WAR BEGINS. [book XVH.
Jan. --March 1757.
'refuge is Stettin, -- but you must not go till the last ex-
"tremity. The Garrison, the Royal Family, and the Treasure
"are inseparable, and go always together: to this must be
"added the Crown Diamonds, the Sflver Plate in the Grand
"Apartments, -- which, in such case, as well as the Gold
"Plate, must be at once coined into money.
"If it happened that I were killed, the Public Affairs
"must go on without the smallest alteration, or its being
"noticeable that they are in other hands: and, in this case,
"you must hasten forward the Oaths and Homagings, as well
"here as in Preussen; and, above all, in Silesia. If I should
"have the fatality to be taken prisoner by the Enemy, Ipro-
'hibit all of you from paying the least regard to my person,
"or taking the least heed of what I might write from my place
"of detention. Should such misfortune happen me, I wish
"to sacrifice myself for the State; and you must obey my
"Brother, -- who, as well as all my Ministers and Generals
"shall answer to me with their heads, Not to offer any Pro-
"vince or any Ransom for me, but to continue the War,
"pushing their advantages, as if I never had existed in the
"world.
"Ihope, and have ground to believe, that you, Count
"Finck, will not need to make use of this Instruction: but in
"case of misfortune, I authorise you to employ it; and, as
"mark that it is, after a mature and sound deliberation, my
"firm and constant will, I sign it with my Hand and confirm
"it with my seal. "
Or in Friedrich's own spelling, &c. , in Friedrich's
own hand, so far as our possibilities permit:
"Instruction Secrete Pour le Conte define.
"Berlin, ce 10 de Janv. 1757.
"Dans La Situation Critique ou se trouvent nos affaires je
"dois Vous donner mes Ordres pour que dans tout Les Cos Mal-
"heureux qui sont dans lapossibilite des Evenemens vous Soy&
"autorisse aux partis quil faut prendre. 1)* Sil arivoit (de quoi
"le del preserve) qu'une de mes Armies en Saxse fut totallement
* Yes; but there follows no "2)" anywhere, such the haste!
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? CHAP. VIII. ] WINTER IN DKESDEN. 321
Jan. --March 1757.
"battue, oubien que Les franc? ais chassassent Les Hanovryeins de
"Leur pais et si etablissent et nous menassassent d'un Invassion
"dans la Vieille Marche, ou que les Russes penetrassent par La
"Nouvelle Marche, il faut Sauver la famille Royale, les prin-
"cipeaux Dicasteres les Ministres et le Directoire. Si nous somes
"battus en Saxse du Cote? de leipssic Le Lieu Le plus propre pour
"Le transport de La famille et du Tressor est a Custrin, il faut en
"ce Cas que la famille Royalle et touts cidesus nomez aillent
"esCorte? z de toute La Guarnisson a Custrin. Si les Russes
"entroient par la Nouvele Marche ou quil nous arivat un Malheur
"en Lusace, il faudroit que tout Se transporta^t a Magdebourg,
"enfin Le Dernier refuge est a Stetein, mais il ne faut y aller qu'a
"La Derniere exstremite? La Guarnisson la famille Royalle et le
"Tressort sont Inseparables et vont toujours ensemble il faut y
"ajouter les Diamans de la Couronne, et L'argenterie des Grands
"Apartements qui en pareil cas ainsi que la Veselle d'or doit e^tre "incontinant Monoye? e Si l arivoit que je fus tue? , il faut que
"Les affaires Continuent Leur train sans la Moindre allteration et
"Sans qu'on s'apersoive qu'elles sont en d'autre Mains, et en ce
"Cas il faut hater Sermens et homages tant ici qu'en prusse et
"surtout en Silesie.
Si favois la fatalite? d'etre pris prissonie? r
"par L'Enemy, je Defend qu'on Aye le Moindre egard pour ma
"perssonne ni qu'on fasse La Moindre reflextion sur ce que je
"pourois ecrire de Ma Detention, Si pareil Malheur m'arivoit je
"Veux me Sacriffie? r pour L'Etat et il faut qu'on obeisse a Mon
"fre`re le quel ainsi que tout Mes Ministres et Generaux me re-
"ponderont de leur Tette qu'on offrira ni province ni ransson
"pour moy et que Ion Continuera la Guerre en poussant Ses
"avantages tout Corne si je n'avais jamais exsiste? dans le Monde.
"J'espere et je dois Croire que Vous Conte fine ri'aure? z pas
"bessoin de faire usage de Cette Instruction mais en cas de
"Malheur je Vous autorisse a L'Employir, et Marque que Cest
"apre`s Une Mure et saine Deliberation Ma ferme et Constante
"Volonte? je le Signe de Ma Main et la Muni de mon Cachet
"FbdebicR. "*
These, privately made law in this manner, are
Friedrich's fixed feelings and resolutions; -- how fixed
* Facsimile of Autograph (Berlin, 24th January 1854), where is some
indistinct History of the Document. Printed also in OEuvres, xxv. 319-23.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. 21
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? 322 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
Jan. --March 1757.
is now farther apparent, by a fact which was then still
more private, guessable long afterwards only by one or
two, and never clearly known so long as Friedrich
lived: the fact that he had (now most probably, though
the date is not known) provided poison for himself,
and constantly wore it about his person through this
War. "Five or six small pills, in a small glass tube,
"with a bit of ribbon to it:" that stern relic lay, in a
worn condition, in some drawer of Friedrich's, after
Friedrich was gone* For the Facts are peremptory;
and a man that will deal with them must be equally so.
Two days after this Finck missive, Friday 12th,
Friedrich took farewell at Berlin, drove to Potsdam
that night with his Brother, to Dresden next day.
Adieu, Madame; Adieu, 0 Mother! said the King, in
royal terms, but with a heart altogether human. "May
God above bless you, my Son! " the old Lady would
reply: -- and the Two had seen one another for the
last time; Mother and son were to meet no more in
this world.
* Preuss, u. 175, 315n.
END OF VOL. IX.
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? PRINTING OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHES,
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? /
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? **. i T. * r *
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History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick the Great. By
Thomas Carlyle.
Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881. Leipzig, B. Tauchnitz, 1858-1865.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijk
Public Domain, Google-digitized
http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
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? ^arbarb College Mrarp
FROM
Estate pf
. . . Ellzape th G Norton. . . .
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? COLLECTION
OF
BRITISH AUTHORS.
VOL. 601.
FEEDEEICK THE GEEAT BY THOMAS CAELYLE.
VOL. VI.
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? TAUCHNITZ EDITION-.
By the same Author
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 3 vols.
OLIVER CROMWELL'S LETTERS AND SPEECHES 4 vols.
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? HISTORY
OF
FRIEDRICH H. OF PRUSSIA,
CALLED
FREDERICK THE GREAT.
b*
THOMAS CARLYLE.
COPYRIGHT EDITION.
VOL. VI.
