"*
That was on the Thursday; Betrothal is on the
Monday following.
That was on the Thursday; Betrothal is on the
Monday following.
Thomas Carlyle
org/access_use#pd-google
? 234 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
lath Feb. 1732.
pause; so that Berlin cannot have the happiness of
seeing him quite so soon as it expected. The high
guests invited to meet Duke Franz, especially the high
Brunswicks, are already there. High Brunswicks,
Bevern with Duchess, and still more important, with
Son and with Daughter: -- insipid Corpus delicti her-
self has appeared on the scene; and Grumkow, we
find, has been writing some description of her to the
Crown-Prince. Description of an unfavourable nature;
below the truth, not above it, -- to avert disappoint-
ment, nay to create some gleam of inverse joy, when
the actual meeting occurs. That is his art in driving
the fiery little Arab ignominiously yoked to him; and
it is clear he has overdone it, for once. This is Fried-
rich's third utterance to him; much the most emphatic
there is:
To the General Feldmarschall von Grumkow.
"Ciistrin, 19th February 1732.
"Judge, my dear General, if I can have been much
"charmed with the description you give of the abominable ob-
ject of my desires! For the love of God, disabuse the King
"inregard to her" (show him that she is a fool, then); "and
"let him remember well that fools commonly are the most
"obstinate of creatures.
"Some months ago he wrote a Letter to Wolden," the ob-
sequious Goldstick, "of his giving me the choice of several
"Princesses: I hope he will not give himself the lie in that.
"I refer you entirely to the Letter, which Schulenburg will
"have delivered," -- little Schulenburg called here, in passing
your way; all hands busy. "For there is no hope of wealth,
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? CHAP. I. J PRINCESS OF BRUNSWICK-BEVEEN. 235
19th Feb. 1732.
"no reasoning, nor chance of fortune that could change my
"sentiment as expressed there" (namely, that I will not have
her, whatever become of me): "and miserable for miserable,
"it is all one! Let the King but think that it is not for him-
"self he is marrying me, but for myself; nay he too will have
"a thousand chagrins, to see two persons hating one another,
"and the miserablest marriage in the world; -- to hear their
"mutual complaints, which will be to him so many reproaches
"for having fashioned the instrument of our yoke. As a good
"Christian, let him consider, If it is well done to wish to force
"people; to cause divorces, and to be the occasion of all the
"sins that an ill-assorted marriage leads us to commit! I am
"determined to front everything in the world sooner: and
"since things are so, you may in some good way apprise
"the Duke" of Bevern"that, happen what may, Ineverwill
"have her.
"I have been unfortunate (malheureux) all my life; and I
"think it is my destiny to continue so. One must be patient,
"and take the time as it comes. Perhaps a sudden tract of
"good fortune, on the back of all the chagrins I have made
"profession of ever since I entered this world, would have
"made me too proud. In a word, happen what will, I have
"nothing to reproach myself with. I have suffered sufficiently
"for an exaggerated crime" (that of 'attempting to desert;'
-- Heavens! ) -- "and I will not engage myself to extend
"my miseries (chagrins) into future times. I have still re-
"sources: -- a pistol-shot can deliver me from my sorrows and
"my life: and I think a merciful God would not damn me for
"that; but taking pity on me, would, in exchange for a life
"of wretchedness, grant me salvation. This is witherward
"despair can lead a young person, whose blood is not so
"quiescent as if he were seventy. I have a feeling of myself,
"Monsieur; and perceive that, when one hates the methods
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? 236 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book k.
19th Feb. 1732.
"of force as much as I, our boiling blood will carry us always
"towards extremities. "
* * "If there are honest people in the world, they must
"think how to save me from one of the most perilous passages
"I have ever been in. I waste myself in gloomy ideas; I fear
"I shall not be able to hide my grief, on coming to Berlin.
"This is the sad state I am in; -- but it will never make me
"change from being," -- surely to an excessive degree, the
illustrious Grumkow's most &c. &c.
"FrideeicH. "
"I have received a Letter from the King; all agog (Wen
"coiffe) about the Princess. I think I may still finish the
"week here. * When his first fire of approbation is spent,
"you might, praising her all the while, lead him to notice
"her faults. Mon Dieu, has he not already seen what an ill-
assorted marriage comes to, -- my Sister of Anspach and
"her Husband, who hate one another like the fire! He has
"a thousand vexations from it every day. ** And what aim has
"the King? If it is to assure himself of me, that is not the
"way. Madame of Eisenach might do it; but a fool not (point
"une bete); -- on the contrary, it is morally impossible to love
"the cause of our misery. The King is reasonable; and I am
"persuaded he will understand this himself. "**
Very passionate pleading; but it might as well ad-
dress itself to the east-Svinds. Have east-winds a heart,
that they should feel pity? Jarni-bleu, Herr Feldzeug-
meister, -- only take care he don't overset things
again!
Grumkow, in these same hours, is writing a Letter
* 26th, did arrive in Berlin: Preuss (in (Euvres, xxvii. part 3d, p. 58n. ).
*? (Euvres de Frederic, xvi. 41-42.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 237
19th Feb. 1732.
to the Prince, which we still have,* How charmed his
Majesty is at such obedience; "shed tears of joy,"
writes Grumkow, "and said it was the happiest day of
his life. " Judge Grumkow's feelings soon after, on
this furious recalcitration breaking out! Grumkow's
Answer, which also we still have,** is truculence itself
in a polite form: -- horrorstruck as a Christian at the
suicide notion, at the -- in fact at the whole matter;
and begs, as a humble individual, not wishful of violent
death and destruction upon self and family, to wash
his poor hands of it altogether. Dangerous for the like
of him: "interfering between Royal Father and lloyal
"Son of such opposite humours, would break the neck
"of any man," thinks Grumkow; and sums-up with
this pithy reminiscence: "I remember always what the
"King said to me at Wusterhausen, when your Royal
"Highness lay prisoner in the Castle of Ciistrin, and I
"wished to take your part: 'Nein, Grumkow, denket an
"'diese Stelle, Gott gebe dass ich nicht wahr rede, aber
111 mem Sohn stirbt nicht eines natiirlichen Todes; und Gott
Ulgebe dass er nicht unter Henkers Ham. de konme. No,
"'Grumkow, think of what I now tell you: God grant
"'it do not come true, -- but my Son won't die a na-
'"tural death; God grant he do not come into the
"'Hangman's hands yet! ' I shuddered at these words,
"and the King repeated them twice to me: that is
"true, or may I never see God's face, or have part in
"the merits of Our Lord. " -- The Crown-Prince's
"pleadings" may fitly terminate here.
* (Emres de Frediric, xvi. 48. <<* lb. pp. 44-46.
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? 238 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
26th Feb. 17i>>.
Duke of Lorraine arrives in Potsdam, and in Berlin.
Saturday, 23d February 1732, his Serene Highness
of Lorraine did at length come to hand. Arrived in
Potsdam that day; where the two Majesties, with the
Serene Beverns, with the Prince Alexander of Wurtem-
berg, and the other high guests, had been some time
in expectation. Suitable persons invited for the occa-
sion: Bevern, a titular Austrian Feldmarschall; Prince
Alexander of Wurtemberg, an actual one (poor old
Eberhard Ludwig's Cousin, and likely to be Heir there
soon): high quasi-Austrian Serenities; -- not to mention
Schulenburg and others officially related to Austria, or
acquainted with it. Nothing could be more distinguished
than the welcome of Duke Franz; and the things he
saw and did, during his three-weeks visit, are wonderful to Fassmann and the extinct Gazetteers. Saw the
Potsdam Giants do their "exercitia," transcendent in
perfection; had a boarhunt; "did divine-service in the
Potsdam Catholic Church;" -- went by himself to Span-
dau, on the Tuesday (26th), where all the guns broke
forth, and dinner was ready: King, Queen and Party
having made off for Berlin, in the interim, to be ready
for his advent there "in the evening about five. " Ma-
jesties wait at Berlin, with their Party, -- among
whom, say the old Newspapers, "is his Royal Highness
the Crown-Prince:" Crown-Prince just come in from
Ciistrin; just blessed with the first sight of his Charmer,
whom he finds perceptibly less detestable than he ex-
pected.
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? CHAP. 1. 1 PRINCESS OF BKUNSWICK-BETERN. 239
26th Feb. 1732.
Serene Highness of Lorraine arrived punctually at
five, with outburst of all the artilleries and hospitalities;
balls, soirees, exercitia of the Kleist Regiment, of the
Gens d'Armes; dinners with Grumkow, dinners with
Seckendorf, evening party with the Margravine Philip
(Margravine in high colours); -- one scenic miracle
succeeding another, for above a fortnight to come.
The very first spectacle his Highness saw, a private
one, and of no intense interest to him, we shall mention
here for our own behoof. "An hour after his arrival
"the Duke was carried away to his Excellency Herr
"Creutz the Finance Minister's; to attend a wedding
"there, along with his Majesty. Wedding of Excellency
"Creutz's only Daughter to the Herr Hofjagermeister "von Hacke," -- Hofjagermeister (Master of the Hunt),
and more specifically Captain Hacke, of the Potsdam
Guard or Giant regiment, much and deservedly a fa-
vourite with his Majesty. Majesty has known, a long
while, the merits military and other of this Hacke; a
valiant expert exact man, of good stature, good service
among the Giants and otherwise, though not himself
gigantic; age now turned of thirty; -- and unluckily
little but his pay to depend on. Majesty, by way of
increment to Hacke, small increment on the pecuniary
side, has lately made him "Master of the Hunt;" will,
before long, make him Adjutant-General, and his right-
hand man in Army matters, were he only rich; -- has,
in the mean while, made this excellent match for him;
which supplies that defect. Majesty was the making of
Creutz himself; who is grown very rich, and has but
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? 240 fried-rich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ii.
10th March 1732.
one Daughter: "Let Hacke have her! " his Majesty ad-
vised; -- and snatches off the Duke of Lorraine to see
it done. *
Did the reader ever hear of Finance-Minister Creutz,
once a poor Regiments-Auditor, when his Majesty, as
yet Crown-Prince, found talent in him? Can readers
fish up from their memory, twenty years hack, any tiling
of a terrific Spectre walking in the Berlin Place, for
certain nights, during that "Stralsund Expedition" or
famed Swedish-War time, to the terror of mankind?
Terrific Spectre, thought to be in Swedish pay, -- pro-
perly a spy Scullion, in a small concern of Grumkow
wersus Creutz? ** This is the same Creutz; of whom we
have never spoken more, nor shall again, now that his
rich Daughter is well married to Hacke, a favourite of
his Majesty's and ours. It was the Duke's first sight
in Berlin; February 26th; prologue to the flood of
scenic wonders there.
But perhaps the wonderfullest thing, had he quite
understood it, was that of the 10th March, which he
was invited to. Last obligation laid upon the Crown-
Prince, "to bind him to the House of Austria," that
evening. Of which take this account, external and in-
ternal, from authentic Documents in our hand.
* Fassmann, p. 430.
** Antca, vol. ii. pp. 175-177; Willielmiiia.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVEBN. 241
10th March 1732.
Betrothal of the Crown-Prince to the Brunswick Charmer,
Niece of Imperial Majesty, Monday Evening,
10th March 1732.
Document first is of an internal nature, from the
Prince's own hand, written to his Sister four days
before:
"To the Princess Wilhelmina at Baireuth.
"Berlin, 6th March 1732.
"My dearest Sister, -- Next Monday comes my Betrothal,
"which will be done just as yours was. The Person in question
"is neither beautiful nor ugly, not wanting for sense, but
"very ill brought up, timid, and totally behind in manners
"and social behaviour (manieres du savoir-vivre): that is the
"candid portrait of this Princess. You may judge by that,
"dearest Sister, if I find her to my taste or not. The greatest
"merit she has is that she has procured me the liberty of
"writing to you; which is the one solacement I have in your
"absence.
"You never can believe, my adorable Sister, how con-
"cerned I am about your happiness; all my wishes centre
"there, and every moment of my life I form such wishes. You
"may see by this that I preserve still that sincere friendship
"which has united our hearts from our tenderest years: --
"recognise at least, my dear Sister, that you did me a sen-
"sible wrong when you suspected me of fickleness towards
"you, and believed false reports of my listening to tale-
bearers; me, who love only you, and whom neither ab-
"sence nor lying rumours could change in respect of you.
"At least don't again believe such things on my score, and
"never mistrust me till you have had clear proof,--or till
"God has forsaken me, and I have lost my wits. And being
"persuaded that such miseries are not in store to overwhelm Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV. 16
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? 242 frtedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ix.
10th March 1732.
"me, I here repeat how much I love you, and with what re-
"spect and sincere veneration, -- I am and shall be till death,
"my dearest Sister, -- Your most humble and faithful Brother
"and Valet, -- FhidericH.
"*
That was on the Thursday; Betrothal is on the
Monday following. Document second is from poor old
Fassmann, and quite of external nature; which we much
abridge:
"Monday evening, all creatures are in gala, and the
"Eoyal Apartments upstairs are brilliantly alight; Duke of
"Lorraine with the other high strangers are requested to take
"their place up there, and wait for a short while. Prussian
"Majesty, Queen and Crown-Prince with him, proceeds then,
"in a solemn official manner, to the Durchlaucht ofBevern's
"Apartment, in a lower floor of the Palace; where the Bevern
"Party, Duke, Duchess, Son and intended Charmer are.
"Prussian Majesty asks the Durchlaucht and Spouse,
"' Whether the Marriage, some time treated of, between that
'"their Princess here present, and this his Crown-Prince
"'likewise here, is really a thing to their mind? ' Serene
"Spouses answer, to the effect, 'Yea surely, very much! '
"Upon which they all solemnly ascend to the Royal Apart-
"ments up stairs" (where we have seen Wilhelmina dancing
before now), "where Lorraine, Wurtemberg and the other
"sublimities are in waiting. Lorraine and the sublimities
"form a semicircle; with the two Majesties, and pair of young
"creatures, in the centre. You young creatures, you are of
"one intention with your parents in this matter? Alas, there
"is no doubt of it. Pledge yourselves, then, by exchange of
"rings! said his Majesty with due business brevity. The
"rings are exchanged: Majesty embraces the two young crea-
? (Euvres de Frediric, xxvll. part 1st, p. 5.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 243
2Kb. March 1783.
"tures with great tenderness;" as do Queen and Serenities;
and then all the world takes to embracing and congratulating:
and so the Betrothal is a finished thing. Bassoons and violins, striking up, whirl it off in universal dancing, -- in "supper of
"above Two hundred and sixty persons," princely, or other-
wise sublime in rank, "with spouses and noble ladies there"
in the due proportion. *
Here is fraction of another Note from the Crown-
Prince to his Sister at Baireuth, a fortnight after that
event:
Berlin, 2ithMarch 1732 (To Princess Wilhelmina). -- **
"God be praised that you are better, dearest Sister! For
"nobody can love you more tenderly than I do. --As to the
"Princess of Bevern"' (my Betrothed), "theQueen" (Mamma,
whom you have been consulting on these etiquettes) "bids me
"answer, Thatyou need notstyle her'Highness,' and that
"vou may write to her quite as to an indifferent Princess. As
"to 'kissing of the hands,' I assure you I have not kissed
"them, nor will kiss them; they are not pretty enough to
"tempt one that way. God long preserve you in perfect
"health! And you, preserve for me always the honour of your
"good graces; and believe, my charming Sister, that never
"brother in the world loved with such tenderness a sister so
? 'charming as mine; in short, believe, dear Sister, thatwith-
out compliments, and in literal truth, lam yours wholly (tout
"a vims): FridericH. "**
. This is the Betrothal of the Crown-Prince to an In-
sipidity of Brunswick. Insipidity's private feelings, per-
haps of a languidly glad sort, are not known to us;
* Fassmann, pp. 432-433. <<* lb. xxvii. part. 1st, p. 5.
16*
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? 244 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
24th March 1732.
Crown-Prince's we have in part seen. He has decided
to accept his fate without a murmur farther. Against
his poor Bride or her qualities not a word more. In
the Schloss of Berlin, amid such tempests of female
gossip (Mamma still secretly corresponding with Eng-
land), he has to be very reserved, on this head espe-
cially. It is understood he did not, in his heart, nearly
so much dislike the insipid Princess as he wished Papa
to think he did.
Duke Franz of Lorraine went off above a week ago,
on the Saturday following the Betrothal; an amiable
serene young gentleman, well-liked by the Crown-
Prince and everybody. "He avoided the Saxon Court,
"though passing near it," on his way to oldKur-Maintz;
"which is a sign," thinksFassmann, "that mutual mat-
"ters are on a weak footing in that quarter;" -- Prag-
matic Sanction never accepted there, and plenty of in-
tricacies existing. Crown-Prince Friedrich may now go
to Ruppin and the Regiment Goltz; his business and
destinies being now all reduced to a steady condition; --
steady sky, rather leaden, instead of the tempestuous
thunder-and-lightning weather which there heretofore
was. Leaden sky, he, if left well to himself, will per-
haps brighten a little. Study will be possible to him;
improvement of his own faculties, at any rate. It is
much his determination. Outwardly, besides drilling
the Regiment Goltz; he will have a steady correspon-
dence to keep up with his Brunswick Charmer; -- let
him see that he be not slack in that.
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? CHAP, n. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 245
April 1732.
CHAPTER n.
SMALL INCIDENTS AT HUPPIN.
Friedrich, after some farther pause in Berlin, till
things were got ready for him, went to Ruppin. This
is in the Spring of 1732;* and he continued to have
his residence there till August 1736. Four important
years of young life; of which we must endeavour to
give, in some intelligible condition, what traces go
hovering about in such records as there are.
Ruppin, where lies the main part of the Regiment
Goltz, and where the Crown-Prince Colonel of it dwells,
is a quiet dull little Town, in that northwestern region;
inhabitants, grown at this day to be 10,000, are per-
haps guessable then at 2,000. Regiment Goltz daily
rolls its drums in Ruppin: Town otherwise lifeless
enough, except on market-days; and the grandest event
ever known in it, this removal of the Crown-Prince
thither, -- which is doubtless much a theme, and proud
temporary miracle, to Ruppin at present. Of society
there or in the neighbourhood, for such a resident, we
hear nothing.
Quiet Ruppin stands in grassy flat country, much
of which is natural moor, and less of it reclaimed at
* Still in Berlin, 6th March; dates from Nauen (in the Ruppin neigh-
bourhood) for the first time, 25th April 1732, among his Letters yet extant:
Preuss, (Ettvres de Fre'de'ric, xxvii. part 1st, p. 4; xvi. 49.
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? 246 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookh.
April 1732.
that time than now. The environs, except that they
are a bit of the Earth, and have a bit of the sky over
them, do not set up for loveliness. Natural woods
abound in that region; also peatbogs not yet drained;
and fishy lakes and meres, of a dark complexion:
plenteous cattle there are, pigs among them; -- thick-
soled husbandmen inarticulately toiling and moiling.
Some glass-furnaces, a royal establishment, are the only
manufactures we hear of. Not a picturesque country;
but a quiet and innocent, where work is cut out, and
one hopes to be well left alone after doing it. This
Crown-Prince has been in far less desirable localities.
He had a reasonable house, two houses made into
one for him, in the place. He laid out for himself a
garden in the outskirts, with what they call a "temple"
in it, -- some more or less ornamental garden-house,
-- from which I have read of his "letting off rockets"
in a summer twilight. Rockets to amuse a small
dinner-party, I should guess, -- dinner of Officers, such
as he had weekly or twice a week. On stiller evenings
we can fancy him there in solitude; reading meditative,
or musically fluting; -- looking out upon the silent
death of Day: how the summer gloaming steals over
the moorlands, and over all lands; shutting up the toil
of mortals; their very flocks and herds collapsing into
silence, and the big Skies and endless Times over-
arching him and them. With thoughts perhaps sombre
enough now and then, but profitable if he face them
piously.
His Father's affection is returning; would so fain
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? CHAP. II. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 247
April 1782. *
return if it durst. But the heart of Papa has been
sadly torn up: it is too good news to be quite believed,
that he has a son grown wise, and doing son-like!
Rumour also is very busy, rumour and the Tobacco-
Parliament for or against; a little rumour is capable
of stirring up great storms in the suspicious paternal
mind. All along during Friedrich's abode at Ruppin,
this is a constantly recurring weather-symptom; very
grievous now and then; not to be guarded against by
any precaution; -- though steady persistence in the
proper precaution will abate it, and as good as remove
it, in course of time. Already Friedrich Wilhelm
begins to understand that "there is much in this Fritz,"
-- who knows how much, though of a different type
from Papa's? -- and that it will be better if he and
Papa, so discrepant in type, and ticklishly related
otherwise, live not too constantly together, as hereto-
fore. Which is emphatically the Crown-Prince's notion
too.
I perceive he read a great deal at Ruppin: what
Books I know not specially; but judge them to be of
more serious solid quality than formerly; and that his
reading is now generally a kind of studying as well.
Not the express Sciences or Technologies; not these,
in any sort, -- except the military, and that an express
exception. These he never cared for, or regarded as
the noble knowledges for a king or man. History and
Moral Speculation; what mankind have done and been
in this world (so far as "History" will give one any
glimpse of that), and what the wisest men, poetical or
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? 248 friedrich's apprexticeship, last stage. [<<ook is.
April 1732.
other, have thought about mankind and their world:
this is what he evidently had the appetite for; appetite
insatiable, which lasted with him to the very end of
his days. Fontenelle, Rollin, Voltaire, all the then
French lights, and gradually others that lay deeper in
the firmament: -- what suppers of the gods one may
privately have at Ruppin, without expense of wine!
Such an opportunity for reading he had never had
before.
In his soldier business he is punctual, assiduous;
having an interest to shine that way. And is, in fact,
approvable as a practical ofiicer and soldier, by the
strictest judge then living. Reads on soldiering withal;
studious to know the rationale of it, the ancient and
modern methods of it, the essential from the unessential
in it; to understand it thoroughly, -- which he got to
do. One already hears of conferences, correspondences,
with the Old Dessauer on this head: "Account of the
Siege of Stralsund," with plans, with didactic commen-
taries, drawn up by that gunpowder Sage for behoof
of the Crown-Prince, did actually exist, though I know
not what has become of it. Now and afterwards this
Crown-Prince must have been a great military reader.
From Caesar's Commentaries, and earlier, to the Cheva-
lier Folard, and the Marquis Feuquiere;* from Epami-
nondas at Leuctra to Charles XII. at Pultawa, all
* Mdmoires sur la Guerre (specially on the Wars of Louis XIV. , in
which Feuquiere had himself shone): a new Book at this time (Amsterdam,
1731; first complete edition is, Paris, 1770 , 4 vols. 4to); at Buppin, and
afterwards, a chief favourite with Friedrich.
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? CHAP. II. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 249
April 1733.
manner of Military Histories, we perceive, are at his
finger-ends; and he has penetrated into the essential
heart of each, and learnt what it had to teach him.
Something of this, how much we know not, began at
Ruppin; and it did not end again.
On the whole, Friedrich is prepared to distinguish
himself henceforth by strictly conforming, in all out-
ward particulars possible, to the paternal will, and be-
coming the most obedient of sons. Partly from policy
and necessity, partly also from loyalty; for he loves
this rugged Father, and begins to perceive that there
is more sense in his peremptory notions than at first
appeared. The young man is himself rather wild, as
we have seen, with plenty of youthful petulance and
longings after forbidden fruit. And then he lives in
an element of gossip; his whole life enveloped in a vast
Dionysius'-Ear, every word and action liable to be debated in Tobacco-Parliament. He is very scarce of
money, too, Papa's allowance being extremely mode-
rate, "not above 6,000 thalers (900/. )," says Secken-
dorf once. * There will be contradictions enough to
settle: caution, silence, every kind of prudence will be much recommendable.
In all outward particulars the Crown-Prince will
conform; in the inward, he will exercise a judgment,
and if he cannot conform, will at least be careful to
hide. To do his Commandant duties at Ruppin, and
avoid offences, is much his determination. We observe
he takes great charge of his men's health; has the
* Fo'rster, HI. 114 (Seckendorf to Eugene).
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? 250 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
April 1732.
Regiment Goltz in a shiningly exact condition at the
grand reviews; -- is very industrious now and after-
wards to get tall recruits, as a dainty to Papa. Knows
that nothing in Nature is so sure of conciliating that
strange old gentleman; -- corresponds, accordingly, in
distant quarters; lays out, now and afterwards, sums
far too heavy for his means upon tall recruits for Papa.
But it is good to conciliate in that quarter, by every
method, and at every expense; -- Argus of Tobacco-
Parliament still watching one there; and Rumour need-
ing to be industriously dealt with, difficult to keep
down.
Such, so far as we can gather, is the general figure
of Friedrich's life at Ruppin. Specific facts of it, anec-
dotes about it, are few in those dim Books; are un-
certain as to truth, and without importance whether
true or not . For all his gravity and Colonelship, it
would appear the old spirit of frolic has not quitted
him. Here are two small incidents, pointing that way;
which stand on record; credible enough, though vague
and without importance otherwise. Incident first is to
the following feeble effect; indisputable, though ex-
tremely unmomentous: Regiment Goltz, it appears, used
to have gold trimmings; the Colonel Crown-Prince
petitioned that they might be of silver, which he liked
better: Papa answers, Yes.
? 234 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
lath Feb. 1732.
pause; so that Berlin cannot have the happiness of
seeing him quite so soon as it expected. The high
guests invited to meet Duke Franz, especially the high
Brunswicks, are already there. High Brunswicks,
Bevern with Duchess, and still more important, with
Son and with Daughter: -- insipid Corpus delicti her-
self has appeared on the scene; and Grumkow, we
find, has been writing some description of her to the
Crown-Prince. Description of an unfavourable nature;
below the truth, not above it, -- to avert disappoint-
ment, nay to create some gleam of inverse joy, when
the actual meeting occurs. That is his art in driving
the fiery little Arab ignominiously yoked to him; and
it is clear he has overdone it, for once. This is Fried-
rich's third utterance to him; much the most emphatic
there is:
To the General Feldmarschall von Grumkow.
"Ciistrin, 19th February 1732.
"Judge, my dear General, if I can have been much
"charmed with the description you give of the abominable ob-
ject of my desires! For the love of God, disabuse the King
"inregard to her" (show him that she is a fool, then); "and
"let him remember well that fools commonly are the most
"obstinate of creatures.
"Some months ago he wrote a Letter to Wolden," the ob-
sequious Goldstick, "of his giving me the choice of several
"Princesses: I hope he will not give himself the lie in that.
"I refer you entirely to the Letter, which Schulenburg will
"have delivered," -- little Schulenburg called here, in passing
your way; all hands busy. "For there is no hope of wealth,
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? CHAP. I. J PRINCESS OF BRUNSWICK-BEVEEN. 235
19th Feb. 1732.
"no reasoning, nor chance of fortune that could change my
"sentiment as expressed there" (namely, that I will not have
her, whatever become of me): "and miserable for miserable,
"it is all one! Let the King but think that it is not for him-
"self he is marrying me, but for myself; nay he too will have
"a thousand chagrins, to see two persons hating one another,
"and the miserablest marriage in the world; -- to hear their
"mutual complaints, which will be to him so many reproaches
"for having fashioned the instrument of our yoke. As a good
"Christian, let him consider, If it is well done to wish to force
"people; to cause divorces, and to be the occasion of all the
"sins that an ill-assorted marriage leads us to commit! I am
"determined to front everything in the world sooner: and
"since things are so, you may in some good way apprise
"the Duke" of Bevern"that, happen what may, Ineverwill
"have her.
"I have been unfortunate (malheureux) all my life; and I
"think it is my destiny to continue so. One must be patient,
"and take the time as it comes. Perhaps a sudden tract of
"good fortune, on the back of all the chagrins I have made
"profession of ever since I entered this world, would have
"made me too proud. In a word, happen what will, I have
"nothing to reproach myself with. I have suffered sufficiently
"for an exaggerated crime" (that of 'attempting to desert;'
-- Heavens! ) -- "and I will not engage myself to extend
"my miseries (chagrins) into future times. I have still re-
"sources: -- a pistol-shot can deliver me from my sorrows and
"my life: and I think a merciful God would not damn me for
"that; but taking pity on me, would, in exchange for a life
"of wretchedness, grant me salvation. This is witherward
"despair can lead a young person, whose blood is not so
"quiescent as if he were seventy. I have a feeling of myself,
"Monsieur; and perceive that, when one hates the methods
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? 236 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book k.
19th Feb. 1732.
"of force as much as I, our boiling blood will carry us always
"towards extremities. "
* * "If there are honest people in the world, they must
"think how to save me from one of the most perilous passages
"I have ever been in. I waste myself in gloomy ideas; I fear
"I shall not be able to hide my grief, on coming to Berlin.
"This is the sad state I am in; -- but it will never make me
"change from being," -- surely to an excessive degree, the
illustrious Grumkow's most &c. &c.
"FrideeicH. "
"I have received a Letter from the King; all agog (Wen
"coiffe) about the Princess. I think I may still finish the
"week here. * When his first fire of approbation is spent,
"you might, praising her all the while, lead him to notice
"her faults. Mon Dieu, has he not already seen what an ill-
assorted marriage comes to, -- my Sister of Anspach and
"her Husband, who hate one another like the fire! He has
"a thousand vexations from it every day. ** And what aim has
"the King? If it is to assure himself of me, that is not the
"way. Madame of Eisenach might do it; but a fool not (point
"une bete); -- on the contrary, it is morally impossible to love
"the cause of our misery. The King is reasonable; and I am
"persuaded he will understand this himself. "**
Very passionate pleading; but it might as well ad-
dress itself to the east-Svinds. Have east-winds a heart,
that they should feel pity? Jarni-bleu, Herr Feldzeug-
meister, -- only take care he don't overset things
again!
Grumkow, in these same hours, is writing a Letter
* 26th, did arrive in Berlin: Preuss (in (Euvres, xxvii. part 3d, p. 58n. ).
*? (Euvres de Frederic, xvi. 41-42.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 237
19th Feb. 1732.
to the Prince, which we still have,* How charmed his
Majesty is at such obedience; "shed tears of joy,"
writes Grumkow, "and said it was the happiest day of
his life. " Judge Grumkow's feelings soon after, on
this furious recalcitration breaking out! Grumkow's
Answer, which also we still have,** is truculence itself
in a polite form: -- horrorstruck as a Christian at the
suicide notion, at the -- in fact at the whole matter;
and begs, as a humble individual, not wishful of violent
death and destruction upon self and family, to wash
his poor hands of it altogether. Dangerous for the like
of him: "interfering between Royal Father and lloyal
"Son of such opposite humours, would break the neck
"of any man," thinks Grumkow; and sums-up with
this pithy reminiscence: "I remember always what the
"King said to me at Wusterhausen, when your Royal
"Highness lay prisoner in the Castle of Ciistrin, and I
"wished to take your part: 'Nein, Grumkow, denket an
"'diese Stelle, Gott gebe dass ich nicht wahr rede, aber
111 mem Sohn stirbt nicht eines natiirlichen Todes; und Gott
Ulgebe dass er nicht unter Henkers Ham. de konme. No,
"'Grumkow, think of what I now tell you: God grant
"'it do not come true, -- but my Son won't die a na-
'"tural death; God grant he do not come into the
"'Hangman's hands yet! ' I shuddered at these words,
"and the King repeated them twice to me: that is
"true, or may I never see God's face, or have part in
"the merits of Our Lord. " -- The Crown-Prince's
"pleadings" may fitly terminate here.
* (Emres de Frediric, xvi. 48. <<* lb. pp. 44-46.
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? 238 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
26th Feb. 17i>>.
Duke of Lorraine arrives in Potsdam, and in Berlin.
Saturday, 23d February 1732, his Serene Highness
of Lorraine did at length come to hand. Arrived in
Potsdam that day; where the two Majesties, with the
Serene Beverns, with the Prince Alexander of Wurtem-
berg, and the other high guests, had been some time
in expectation. Suitable persons invited for the occa-
sion: Bevern, a titular Austrian Feldmarschall; Prince
Alexander of Wurtemberg, an actual one (poor old
Eberhard Ludwig's Cousin, and likely to be Heir there
soon): high quasi-Austrian Serenities; -- not to mention
Schulenburg and others officially related to Austria, or
acquainted with it. Nothing could be more distinguished
than the welcome of Duke Franz; and the things he
saw and did, during his three-weeks visit, are wonderful to Fassmann and the extinct Gazetteers. Saw the
Potsdam Giants do their "exercitia," transcendent in
perfection; had a boarhunt; "did divine-service in the
Potsdam Catholic Church;" -- went by himself to Span-
dau, on the Tuesday (26th), where all the guns broke
forth, and dinner was ready: King, Queen and Party
having made off for Berlin, in the interim, to be ready
for his advent there "in the evening about five. " Ma-
jesties wait at Berlin, with their Party, -- among
whom, say the old Newspapers, "is his Royal Highness
the Crown-Prince:" Crown-Prince just come in from
Ciistrin; just blessed with the first sight of his Charmer,
whom he finds perceptibly less detestable than he ex-
pected.
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? CHAP. 1. 1 PRINCESS OF BKUNSWICK-BETERN. 239
26th Feb. 1732.
Serene Highness of Lorraine arrived punctually at
five, with outburst of all the artilleries and hospitalities;
balls, soirees, exercitia of the Kleist Regiment, of the
Gens d'Armes; dinners with Grumkow, dinners with
Seckendorf, evening party with the Margravine Philip
(Margravine in high colours); -- one scenic miracle
succeeding another, for above a fortnight to come.
The very first spectacle his Highness saw, a private
one, and of no intense interest to him, we shall mention
here for our own behoof. "An hour after his arrival
"the Duke was carried away to his Excellency Herr
"Creutz the Finance Minister's; to attend a wedding
"there, along with his Majesty. Wedding of Excellency
"Creutz's only Daughter to the Herr Hofjagermeister "von Hacke," -- Hofjagermeister (Master of the Hunt),
and more specifically Captain Hacke, of the Potsdam
Guard or Giant regiment, much and deservedly a fa-
vourite with his Majesty. Majesty has known, a long
while, the merits military and other of this Hacke; a
valiant expert exact man, of good stature, good service
among the Giants and otherwise, though not himself
gigantic; age now turned of thirty; -- and unluckily
little but his pay to depend on. Majesty, by way of
increment to Hacke, small increment on the pecuniary
side, has lately made him "Master of the Hunt;" will,
before long, make him Adjutant-General, and his right-
hand man in Army matters, were he only rich; -- has,
in the mean while, made this excellent match for him;
which supplies that defect. Majesty was the making of
Creutz himself; who is grown very rich, and has but
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? 240 fried-rich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ii.
10th March 1732.
one Daughter: "Let Hacke have her! " his Majesty ad-
vised; -- and snatches off the Duke of Lorraine to see
it done. *
Did the reader ever hear of Finance-Minister Creutz,
once a poor Regiments-Auditor, when his Majesty, as
yet Crown-Prince, found talent in him? Can readers
fish up from their memory, twenty years hack, any tiling
of a terrific Spectre walking in the Berlin Place, for
certain nights, during that "Stralsund Expedition" or
famed Swedish-War time, to the terror of mankind?
Terrific Spectre, thought to be in Swedish pay, -- pro-
perly a spy Scullion, in a small concern of Grumkow
wersus Creutz? ** This is the same Creutz; of whom we
have never spoken more, nor shall again, now that his
rich Daughter is well married to Hacke, a favourite of
his Majesty's and ours. It was the Duke's first sight
in Berlin; February 26th; prologue to the flood of
scenic wonders there.
But perhaps the wonderfullest thing, had he quite
understood it, was that of the 10th March, which he
was invited to. Last obligation laid upon the Crown-
Prince, "to bind him to the House of Austria," that
evening. Of which take this account, external and in-
ternal, from authentic Documents in our hand.
* Fassmann, p. 430.
** Antca, vol. ii. pp. 175-177; Willielmiiia.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVEBN. 241
10th March 1732.
Betrothal of the Crown-Prince to the Brunswick Charmer,
Niece of Imperial Majesty, Monday Evening,
10th March 1732.
Document first is of an internal nature, from the
Prince's own hand, written to his Sister four days
before:
"To the Princess Wilhelmina at Baireuth.
"Berlin, 6th March 1732.
"My dearest Sister, -- Next Monday comes my Betrothal,
"which will be done just as yours was. The Person in question
"is neither beautiful nor ugly, not wanting for sense, but
"very ill brought up, timid, and totally behind in manners
"and social behaviour (manieres du savoir-vivre): that is the
"candid portrait of this Princess. You may judge by that,
"dearest Sister, if I find her to my taste or not. The greatest
"merit she has is that she has procured me the liberty of
"writing to you; which is the one solacement I have in your
"absence.
"You never can believe, my adorable Sister, how con-
"cerned I am about your happiness; all my wishes centre
"there, and every moment of my life I form such wishes. You
"may see by this that I preserve still that sincere friendship
"which has united our hearts from our tenderest years: --
"recognise at least, my dear Sister, that you did me a sen-
"sible wrong when you suspected me of fickleness towards
"you, and believed false reports of my listening to tale-
bearers; me, who love only you, and whom neither ab-
"sence nor lying rumours could change in respect of you.
"At least don't again believe such things on my score, and
"never mistrust me till you have had clear proof,--or till
"God has forsaken me, and I have lost my wits. And being
"persuaded that such miseries are not in store to overwhelm Carlyle, Frederic the Great. IV. 16
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? 242 frtedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [book ix.
10th March 1732.
"me, I here repeat how much I love you, and with what re-
"spect and sincere veneration, -- I am and shall be till death,
"my dearest Sister, -- Your most humble and faithful Brother
"and Valet, -- FhidericH.
"*
That was on the Thursday; Betrothal is on the
Monday following. Document second is from poor old
Fassmann, and quite of external nature; which we much
abridge:
"Monday evening, all creatures are in gala, and the
"Eoyal Apartments upstairs are brilliantly alight; Duke of
"Lorraine with the other high strangers are requested to take
"their place up there, and wait for a short while. Prussian
"Majesty, Queen and Crown-Prince with him, proceeds then,
"in a solemn official manner, to the Durchlaucht ofBevern's
"Apartment, in a lower floor of the Palace; where the Bevern
"Party, Duke, Duchess, Son and intended Charmer are.
"Prussian Majesty asks the Durchlaucht and Spouse,
"' Whether the Marriage, some time treated of, between that
'"their Princess here present, and this his Crown-Prince
"'likewise here, is really a thing to their mind? ' Serene
"Spouses answer, to the effect, 'Yea surely, very much! '
"Upon which they all solemnly ascend to the Royal Apart-
"ments up stairs" (where we have seen Wilhelmina dancing
before now), "where Lorraine, Wurtemberg and the other
"sublimities are in waiting. Lorraine and the sublimities
"form a semicircle; with the two Majesties, and pair of young
"creatures, in the centre. You young creatures, you are of
"one intention with your parents in this matter? Alas, there
"is no doubt of it. Pledge yourselves, then, by exchange of
"rings! said his Majesty with due business brevity. The
"rings are exchanged: Majesty embraces the two young crea-
? (Euvres de Frediric, xxvll. part 1st, p. 5.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRINCESS OP BRUNSWICK-BEVERN. 243
2Kb. March 1783.
"tures with great tenderness;" as do Queen and Serenities;
and then all the world takes to embracing and congratulating:
and so the Betrothal is a finished thing. Bassoons and violins, striking up, whirl it off in universal dancing, -- in "supper of
"above Two hundred and sixty persons," princely, or other-
wise sublime in rank, "with spouses and noble ladies there"
in the due proportion. *
Here is fraction of another Note from the Crown-
Prince to his Sister at Baireuth, a fortnight after that
event:
Berlin, 2ithMarch 1732 (To Princess Wilhelmina). -- **
"God be praised that you are better, dearest Sister! For
"nobody can love you more tenderly than I do. --As to the
"Princess of Bevern"' (my Betrothed), "theQueen" (Mamma,
whom you have been consulting on these etiquettes) "bids me
"answer, Thatyou need notstyle her'Highness,' and that
"vou may write to her quite as to an indifferent Princess. As
"to 'kissing of the hands,' I assure you I have not kissed
"them, nor will kiss them; they are not pretty enough to
"tempt one that way. God long preserve you in perfect
"health! And you, preserve for me always the honour of your
"good graces; and believe, my charming Sister, that never
"brother in the world loved with such tenderness a sister so
? 'charming as mine; in short, believe, dear Sister, thatwith-
out compliments, and in literal truth, lam yours wholly (tout
"a vims): FridericH. "**
. This is the Betrothal of the Crown-Prince to an In-
sipidity of Brunswick. Insipidity's private feelings, per-
haps of a languidly glad sort, are not known to us;
* Fassmann, pp. 432-433. <<* lb. xxvii. part. 1st, p. 5.
16*
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? 244 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
24th March 1732.
Crown-Prince's we have in part seen. He has decided
to accept his fate without a murmur farther. Against
his poor Bride or her qualities not a word more. In
the Schloss of Berlin, amid such tempests of female
gossip (Mamma still secretly corresponding with Eng-
land), he has to be very reserved, on this head espe-
cially. It is understood he did not, in his heart, nearly
so much dislike the insipid Princess as he wished Papa
to think he did.
Duke Franz of Lorraine went off above a week ago,
on the Saturday following the Betrothal; an amiable
serene young gentleman, well-liked by the Crown-
Prince and everybody. "He avoided the Saxon Court,
"though passing near it," on his way to oldKur-Maintz;
"which is a sign," thinksFassmann, "that mutual mat-
"ters are on a weak footing in that quarter;" -- Prag-
matic Sanction never accepted there, and plenty of in-
tricacies existing. Crown-Prince Friedrich may now go
to Ruppin and the Regiment Goltz; his business and
destinies being now all reduced to a steady condition; --
steady sky, rather leaden, instead of the tempestuous
thunder-and-lightning weather which there heretofore
was. Leaden sky, he, if left well to himself, will per-
haps brighten a little. Study will be possible to him;
improvement of his own faculties, at any rate. It is
much his determination. Outwardly, besides drilling
the Regiment Goltz; he will have a steady correspon-
dence to keep up with his Brunswick Charmer; -- let
him see that he be not slack in that.
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? CHAP, n. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 245
April 1732.
CHAPTER n.
SMALL INCIDENTS AT HUPPIN.
Friedrich, after some farther pause in Berlin, till
things were got ready for him, went to Ruppin. This
is in the Spring of 1732;* and he continued to have
his residence there till August 1736. Four important
years of young life; of which we must endeavour to
give, in some intelligible condition, what traces go
hovering about in such records as there are.
Ruppin, where lies the main part of the Regiment
Goltz, and where the Crown-Prince Colonel of it dwells,
is a quiet dull little Town, in that northwestern region;
inhabitants, grown at this day to be 10,000, are per-
haps guessable then at 2,000. Regiment Goltz daily
rolls its drums in Ruppin: Town otherwise lifeless
enough, except on market-days; and the grandest event
ever known in it, this removal of the Crown-Prince
thither, -- which is doubtless much a theme, and proud
temporary miracle, to Ruppin at present. Of society
there or in the neighbourhood, for such a resident, we
hear nothing.
Quiet Ruppin stands in grassy flat country, much
of which is natural moor, and less of it reclaimed at
* Still in Berlin, 6th March; dates from Nauen (in the Ruppin neigh-
bourhood) for the first time, 25th April 1732, among his Letters yet extant:
Preuss, (Ettvres de Fre'de'ric, xxvii. part 1st, p. 4; xvi. 49.
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? 246 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookh.
April 1732.
that time than now. The environs, except that they
are a bit of the Earth, and have a bit of the sky over
them, do not set up for loveliness. Natural woods
abound in that region; also peatbogs not yet drained;
and fishy lakes and meres, of a dark complexion:
plenteous cattle there are, pigs among them; -- thick-
soled husbandmen inarticulately toiling and moiling.
Some glass-furnaces, a royal establishment, are the only
manufactures we hear of. Not a picturesque country;
but a quiet and innocent, where work is cut out, and
one hopes to be well left alone after doing it. This
Crown-Prince has been in far less desirable localities.
He had a reasonable house, two houses made into
one for him, in the place. He laid out for himself a
garden in the outskirts, with what they call a "temple"
in it, -- some more or less ornamental garden-house,
-- from which I have read of his "letting off rockets"
in a summer twilight. Rockets to amuse a small
dinner-party, I should guess, -- dinner of Officers, such
as he had weekly or twice a week. On stiller evenings
we can fancy him there in solitude; reading meditative,
or musically fluting; -- looking out upon the silent
death of Day: how the summer gloaming steals over
the moorlands, and over all lands; shutting up the toil
of mortals; their very flocks and herds collapsing into
silence, and the big Skies and endless Times over-
arching him and them. With thoughts perhaps sombre
enough now and then, but profitable if he face them
piously.
His Father's affection is returning; would so fain
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:23 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijm Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. II. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 247
April 1782. *
return if it durst. But the heart of Papa has been
sadly torn up: it is too good news to be quite believed,
that he has a son grown wise, and doing son-like!
Rumour also is very busy, rumour and the Tobacco-
Parliament for or against; a little rumour is capable
of stirring up great storms in the suspicious paternal
mind. All along during Friedrich's abode at Ruppin,
this is a constantly recurring weather-symptom; very
grievous now and then; not to be guarded against by
any precaution; -- though steady persistence in the
proper precaution will abate it, and as good as remove
it, in course of time. Already Friedrich Wilhelm
begins to understand that "there is much in this Fritz,"
-- who knows how much, though of a different type
from Papa's? -- and that it will be better if he and
Papa, so discrepant in type, and ticklishly related
otherwise, live not too constantly together, as hereto-
fore. Which is emphatically the Crown-Prince's notion
too.
I perceive he read a great deal at Ruppin: what
Books I know not specially; but judge them to be of
more serious solid quality than formerly; and that his
reading is now generally a kind of studying as well.
Not the express Sciences or Technologies; not these,
in any sort, -- except the military, and that an express
exception. These he never cared for, or regarded as
the noble knowledges for a king or man. History and
Moral Speculation; what mankind have done and been
in this world (so far as "History" will give one any
glimpse of that), and what the wisest men, poetical or
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:23 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijm Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 248 friedrich's apprexticeship, last stage. [<<ook is.
April 1732.
other, have thought about mankind and their world:
this is what he evidently had the appetite for; appetite
insatiable, which lasted with him to the very end of
his days. Fontenelle, Rollin, Voltaire, all the then
French lights, and gradually others that lay deeper in
the firmament: -- what suppers of the gods one may
privately have at Ruppin, without expense of wine!
Such an opportunity for reading he had never had
before.
In his soldier business he is punctual, assiduous;
having an interest to shine that way. And is, in fact,
approvable as a practical ofiicer and soldier, by the
strictest judge then living. Reads on soldiering withal;
studious to know the rationale of it, the ancient and
modern methods of it, the essential from the unessential
in it; to understand it thoroughly, -- which he got to
do. One already hears of conferences, correspondences,
with the Old Dessauer on this head: "Account of the
Siege of Stralsund," with plans, with didactic commen-
taries, drawn up by that gunpowder Sage for behoof
of the Crown-Prince, did actually exist, though I know
not what has become of it. Now and afterwards this
Crown-Prince must have been a great military reader.
From Caesar's Commentaries, and earlier, to the Cheva-
lier Folard, and the Marquis Feuquiere;* from Epami-
nondas at Leuctra to Charles XII. at Pultawa, all
* Mdmoires sur la Guerre (specially on the Wars of Louis XIV. , in
which Feuquiere had himself shone): a new Book at this time (Amsterdam,
1731; first complete edition is, Paris, 1770 , 4 vols. 4to); at Buppin, and
afterwards, a chief favourite with Friedrich.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:23 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijm Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. II. ] SMALL INCIDENTS AT RUPPIN. 249
April 1733.
manner of Military Histories, we perceive, are at his
finger-ends; and he has penetrated into the essential
heart of each, and learnt what it had to teach him.
Something of this, how much we know not, began at
Ruppin; and it did not end again.
On the whole, Friedrich is prepared to distinguish
himself henceforth by strictly conforming, in all out-
ward particulars possible, to the paternal will, and be-
coming the most obedient of sons. Partly from policy
and necessity, partly also from loyalty; for he loves
this rugged Father, and begins to perceive that there
is more sense in his peremptory notions than at first
appeared. The young man is himself rather wild, as
we have seen, with plenty of youthful petulance and
longings after forbidden fruit. And then he lives in
an element of gossip; his whole life enveloped in a vast
Dionysius'-Ear, every word and action liable to be debated in Tobacco-Parliament. He is very scarce of
money, too, Papa's allowance being extremely mode-
rate, "not above 6,000 thalers (900/. )," says Secken-
dorf once. * There will be contradictions enough to
settle: caution, silence, every kind of prudence will be much recommendable.
In all outward particulars the Crown-Prince will
conform; in the inward, he will exercise a judgment,
and if he cannot conform, will at least be careful to
hide. To do his Commandant duties at Ruppin, and
avoid offences, is much his determination. We observe
he takes great charge of his men's health; has the
* Fo'rster, HI. 114 (Seckendorf to Eugene).
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:23 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijm Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 250 friedrich's apprenticeship, last stage, [bookix.
April 1732.
Regiment Goltz in a shiningly exact condition at the
grand reviews; -- is very industrious now and after-
wards to get tall recruits, as a dainty to Papa. Knows
that nothing in Nature is so sure of conciliating that
strange old gentleman; -- corresponds, accordingly, in
distant quarters; lays out, now and afterwards, sums
far too heavy for his means upon tall recruits for Papa.
But it is good to conciliate in that quarter, by every
method, and at every expense; -- Argus of Tobacco-
Parliament still watching one there; and Rumour need-
ing to be industriously dealt with, difficult to keep
down.
Such, so far as we can gather, is the general figure
of Friedrich's life at Ruppin. Specific facts of it, anec-
dotes about it, are few in those dim Books; are un-
certain as to truth, and without importance whether
true or not . For all his gravity and Colonelship, it
would appear the old spirit of frolic has not quitted
him. Here are two small incidents, pointing that way;
which stand on record; credible enough, though vague
and without importance otherwise. Incident first is to
the following feeble effect; indisputable, though ex-
tremely unmomentous: Regiment Goltz, it appears, used
to have gold trimmings; the Colonel Crown-Prince
petitioned that they might be of silver, which he liked
better: Papa answers, Yes.
