No More Learning

May 5th); and, in a month more, has changed into
Treaty of Alliance; -- Czernichef ordered to stop short
at Thorn; to turn back, and join himself to this heroic
King instead of fighting against him. Which again
Czernichef, himself an admirer of this King, joyfully
does; -- though, unhappily, not with all the advantage
he expected to the King.
Swedish Peace, Queen Ulrique and the Anti-French
Party now getting the upper hand, had been hastening
forward in the interim (finished, at Hamburg, May 22): a most small matter in comparison to the Russian;
but welcome enough to Friedrich; -- though he said
slightingly of it, when first mentioned: "Peace? I
know not hardly of any War there has been with
Sweden; -- ask Colonel Belling about it! " Colonel
Belling, a most shining swift Hussar Colonel, who,
with a 2,000 sharp fellows, hanging always on the
Swedish flanks, sharp as lightning, "nowhere and yet
everywhere," as was said of him, has mainly, for the
last year or two, had the management of this extra-
ordinary "War. " Peace over all the North, Peace
and more, is now Friedrich's. Strangling imbroglio,
wide as the world, has ebbed to man's height; dawn of
day has ripened into sunrise for Friedrich; the way out
is now a thing credible and visible to him. Peter's
friendliness is boundless; almost too boundless! Peter
begs a Prussian Regiment, -- dresses himself in its
uniform, Colonel of Itzenplitz; Friedrich begs a Russian
Regiment, Colonel of Schuwalof: and all is joyful,
hopeful; marriage-bells instead of dirge ditto and gal-
lows ditto, -- unhappily not for very long.
In regard to Friedrich's feelings while all this went
on, take the following small utterances of his, before
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? 270 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
going farther: January 27th, 1762 (To Madame Camas,
-- eight days after the Russian Event): "I rejoice, my
'good Mamma, to find you have such courage; I ex-
"hort you to redouble it! All ends in this world; so
"we may hope this accursed War will not be the only
"thing eternal there. Since Death has trussed up a
"certain Catin of the Hyperborean Countries, our situation
"has advantageously changed, and becomes more sup-
portable than it was. We must hope that some other
"good events" (favour of the new Czar mainly) "will
"happen; by which we may profit to arrive at a good
"Peace. "
January 31st (To Minister Finckenstein): "Behold
"the first gleam of light that rises; -- Heaven be praised
"for it! We must hope good weather will succeed these
storms. God grant it. "f
End of March (To D'Argens): * * "All that" (at
Paris; about the Pompadourisms, the exile of Broglio
and Brother, and your other news) "is very miserable;
"as well as that discrepancy between King's Council
"and Parlement for and against the Jesuits! But, mon
"cher Marquis, my head is so ill, I can tell you nothing
"more, -- except that the Czar of Russia is a divine
"man; to whom I ought to erect altars. "++
May 2bth (To the same, -- Russian Peace three
weeks ago): "It is very pleasant to me, dear Marquis,
"that Sans-Souci could afford you an agreeable retreat
"during the beautiful Spring days. If it depended
"only on me, how soon should I be there beside you!
"But to the Six Campaigns there is a Seventh to be
"added, and will soon open; either because the Number
t Prcuss, n. 312.
tt (Enures de Frederic, xix. 301.
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? CHAP. X. ] j HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 271
Jan. --July 17ii_'.
"7 bad once mystic qualities, or because in the Book
"of Fate from all eternity the" -- * * "Jesuits banished
"from France? Ah, yes: -- hearing of that, I made
"my bit of plan for them" (mean to have my pick of
them as schoolmasters in Silesia here); "and am waiting
"only till I get Silesia cleared of Austrians as the first
"thing. You see we must not mow the corn till it is
"ripe. " f
May 28th (To the same): * * "Tartar Khan actually
"astir, 10,000 men of his in Hungary" (I am told);
"Turk potentially ditto, with 200,000" (futile both, as
ever): "All things show me the sure prospect of Peace
"by the end of this Year; and, in the background of
"it, Sans-Souci and my dear Marquis! A sweet calm
"springs up again in my soul; and a feeling of hope,
"to which for six years I had got unused, consoles me
"for all I have come through. Think only what a
"coil I shall be in, before a month hence" (Campaign
opened by that time, horrid Game begun again); "and
"what a pass we had come to, in December last:
"Country at its last gasp (agonisait), as if waiting for
"extreme unction: and now --! "tt * *
June 8t/i (To Madame Camas, -- Russian Alliance
now come): "I know well, my good Mamma, the sincere
"part you take in the lucky events that befal us.
"The mischief is, we are got so low, that we want at
"present all manner of fortunate events to raise us
"again; and Two grand conclusions of Peace" (the
Russian, the Swedish), "which might reestablish Peace
"throughout, are at this moment only a step towards
"finishing the War less unfortunately. " t+t
f (Euvres de Frederic, xix. 321.
ttt Ibid, iviu. U6-7.
tt Ibid. p. 323.
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? 272 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [dOOK XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
Same day, June 8th (To D'Argens): "Czernichef is
"on march to join us. Our Campaign will not open till
"towards the end of this month" (did open, July 1st);
"but think then, what a pretty noise in this poor Silesia
"again! In fine, my dear Marquis, the job ahead of me
"is hard and difficult; and nobody can say positively
"how it will all go. Pray for us; and don't forget a poor
"devil who kicks about strangely in his harness, who
"leads the life of one damned; and who nevertheless
"loves you sincerely. -- Adieu. "* D'Argens (May 24th)
has heard, by Letters from very well-informed persons
in Vienna, that "Imperial Majesty, for some time past,
"spends half of her time in praying to the Virgin, and
"the other half in weeping. " "I wish her," adds the
ungallant D'Argens, "as punishments for the mischiefs
"her ambition has cost mankind these seven years past,
"the fate of Phae'thons Sisters, and that she melt alto-
"gether into water! " ** -- Take one other little utterance;
and then to Colonel Hordt and the Petersburg side of
things.
June 19th (still to D'Argens): "What is now going
"on in Russia no Count Kaunitz could foresee: what
"has come to pass in England, -- of which the hate-
"fullest part" (Bute's altogether extraordinary attempts,
in the Kaunitz, in the Czar Peter direction, to force a
Peace upon me) "is not yet known to you, -- I had no
"notion of, in forming my plans! The Governor of a
"State, in troublous times, never can be sure. This is
"what disgusts me with the business, in comparison.
"A Man of Letters operates on something certain; a
* (Euvrcs de Frederic, xix. 327.
** Ibid. 320 ("24th May 1762").
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? CHAP. X. ] HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 273
Jan. -- July 1762.
"Politician can have almost no data of that kind. "*
(How easy everybody's trade but one's own! )
Readers know what a tragedy poor Peter's was.
His Czernichef did join the King; but with far less
advantage than Czernichef or anybody had anticipated!
-- It is none of our intention to go into the chaotic
Russian element, or that wildly-blazing sanguinary Ca-
tharine-and-Peter business; of which, at any rate, there
are plentiful accounts in common circulation, more or
less accurate,-^--especially M. Rulhiere's,** the most suc-
cinct, lucid, and least unsatisfactory, in the accessible
languages. Only so far as Friedrich was concerned
are we. But readers saw this Couple married, under
Friedrich's auspices, -- a Marriage which he thought
important twenty years ago; and sure enough the Dis-
solution of it did prove important to him, and is a ne-
cessary item here!
Readers, even those that know Rulhiere, will doubt-
less consent to a little supplementing from Two other
Eye-witnesses of credit. The first and principal is a
respectable Ex-Swedish Gentleman, whom readers used
to hear of; the Colonel Hordt above mentioned once
of the Free-Corps Hordt, but fallen Prisoner latterly;
-- whose experiences and reports are all the more in-
teresting to us, as Friedrich himself had specially to
depend on them at present; and doubtless, in times long
afterwards, now and then heard speech of them from
Hordt. Our second Eye-witness is the Reverend Herr
* (Entires de Frederic, x^x. P- 329.
** Histoire ou Anecdotes sur la Revolution de Russie en Vannee 1762
(written, 1768; first printed, Paris, 1797: English Translation, London
1797).
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XII. 18
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? 274 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XX.
Jan. -- July 1762.
Doctor Biisching (of the Erdbeschreibung, of the Beytrage, and many other Works, an invaluable friend to us
all along); who, in his wandering time, has come to be
"Pastor of the German Church at Petersburg" some
years back.
What Colonel Hordt and the Others saw at Petersburg
(January--July 1762).
Autumn 1759, in the sequel to Kunersdorf -- when the
Russians and Daun lay so long torpid, uncertain what to do
except keep Friedrich and Prince Henri well separate, and
Friedrich had such watchings, campings, and marchings
about on the hither skirt of them (skirt always veiled in Cos-
sacks , and producing skirmishes as you marched past), -- we
did mention Hordt's capture ;* not much hoping that readers
could remember it in such a press of things more memorable.
It was in, or as prelude to, one of those skirmishes (one of the
earliest, and a rather sharp one," atTrebatsch," inFrankfurt-
Liberose Country, "4th September 1759"), that Hordt had
his misfortune: he had been out reconnoitering, with an Or-
derlyor two, before the skirmish began, was suddenly "sur-
sounded by 200 Cossacks," and after desperate plunging into
bogs, desperate firing of pistols and the like, was taken pri-
soner. Was carted miserably to Petersburg, -- such a jour-
ney for dead ennui as Hordt never knew; and was then
tumbled out into solitary confinement in the Citadel, a place
like the Spanish Inquisition; not the least notice taken of his
requests for a few Books, for leave to answer his poor Wife's
Letter merely by the words, "Dear one, lam alive;" -- and
was left there, to the company of his own reflexions, and a life
as if in vacant Hades, for twenty-five months and three days.
After the lapse of that period, he has something to say to us
again, and we transiently look in upon him there.
The Book we excerpt from is, Memoires du Comte de Hordt
(second edition, 2 volumes 12mo, Berlin, 1789). This is Book-
seller Pitra's redaction of the Hordt Autobiography (Berlin,
1788, was Pitra's first edition): several years after, how many
is not said, nor whether Hordt (who had become a dignitary
* Supra, vol. xi. p. 234.
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? CHAP. X. ] HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 275
Jan. --July 1762.
in Berlin society before Pitra's feat) was still living or not, a
"M. Borelly, Professor in the Military School," undertook a
second considerably enlarged and improved redaction; -- of
which latter there is an English Translation; easy enough to
read; but nearly without meaning, I should fear, to readers
unacquainted with the scene and subject. * Hordt was
reckoned a perfectly veracious, intelligent kind of man: but
he seldom gives the least date, specification, or precise detail;
and his Book reads, not like the Testimony of an Eye-witness,
which it is, and valuable when you understand it; but more
like some vague Forgery, compiled by a destitute inventive
individual, regardless of the Ten Commandments (sparingly
consulting even his file of Old Newspapers), and writing a
Book which would deserve the treadmill, were there any
Police in his trade! --
Wednesday, 6th January 1762, Hordt's vacant Hades of an
existence in the Citadel of Petersburg was broken by a loud
sound: three minute guns went off from different sides, close
by; and then whole salvos, peal after peal: "Czarina gone
overnight, Peter III. Czar in her stead! " said the Officer,
rushing in to tell Hordt; to whom it was as news of resurrec-
tion from the dead. "Evening of same day, an Aide-de-
"Camp of the new Czar came to announce my liberty; equi-
page waiting to take me at once to his Russian Majesty.
"Asked him to defer it till the following day; -- so agitated
"was I. " And indeed the Czar, busy taking acclamations,
oaths of fealty, riding about among his Troops by torchlight,
could have made little of me that evening. ** "Ultimately,
"my presentation was deferred till Sunday," January 10th,
"that it might be done with proper splendour, all theNobility
"being then usually assembled about his Majesty. "
"Waited, amid crowds of Nobility, in the Gallery, accord-
ingly. Was presented in the Gallery, through which the
"Czar, followed by Czarina and all the Court, were passing
"on their way to Chapel. Czar made a short kind speech
"('Delighted to do you an act of justice, Monsieur, and re-
"turn a valuable servant to the King I esteem'); gave me his
* Memoirs of the Count de Hordt: London, 1806: 2 voll. 12mo, -- only
the first volume of which (unavailable here) is in my possession.
** Hermann, Geschichte des Russischen Staats, v. 241.
18*
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? 276
FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
"hand to kiss: Czarina did the same. General Korf," an ex-
cellent friend, so kind to me atKonigsberg while I was get-
ting carted hither, and a General now in high Office here,
"who had been my introducer, led me into Chapel, to the
"Court's place (tribune de la Cour). Czar came across re-
"peatedly" (while public worship was going on; a Czar per-
haps too regardless that way! ) "to talk to me; dwelt much "Chamberlain whispered me, 'You dine with the Court. '"
Which, of course, I did.
"Table was of sixty covers; splendid as the Arabian
"Tales. Czar and Czarina sat side by side; Korf and I had
"the honour to be placed opposite them. Hardly were we
"seated when the Czar addressed me: 'You have had no
"'Prussian news this long while. I am glad to tell you that
"' the King is well, though he has had such fighting to right
"'and left;-- but I hope there will soon be an end to all that. '
''Words which everybody listened to like prophecy! " (Peter "'Prison? ' continued the Czar. 'Twenty-five months and
'"three days, your Majesty. ' 'Were you well treated? '" Hordt hesitated, knew not what to say; but the Czar urging
him, confessed, "'He had been always rather badly used; not
"'even allowed to buy a few books to read. ' At which the
"Czarina was evidently shocked: lCela est bien barbare! '
"she exclaimed aloud. " "I wished much to return home
"at once; and petitioned the Czar on that subject during
"coffee, in the withdrawing rooms; but he answered,'No, you
"'must not, -- not till an express Prussian Envoy arrive!
' I
"had to stay, therefore; and was thenceforth almost daily
"at Court," -- but unluckily a little vague, and altogether
dateless as to what I saw there!
Bieren and Milnnich, both of them just home from Siberia,
are to drink together (No date: Palace of Petersburg, Spring
1762). -- Peter had begun in a great way: all for liberalism, enlightenment, abolition of abuses, general magnanimity on
his own and everybody's part. Rulhiere did not see the fol-
lowing scene; but it seems to be well enough vouched for, and
Rulhiere heard it talked of in society. "As many as 20,000
"persons, it is counted, have come home from Siberian Exile:"
the L'Estocs, the MUnaichs, Bierens, all manner of internecine
"How long have you been in
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? CHAP. x. l HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 277
Jan. --July 1762.
figures, as if risen from the dead. "Since the night when
"Miinnich arrested Bieren" (readers possibly remember it,
and Mannstein's account of it*), "the first time these two met
"was in the gay and tumultuous crowd which surrounded the
"new Czar. 'Come, bygones be bygones,' said Peter,
'' noticing them;'let us three all drink together, like friends!
"-- and ordered three glasses of wine. Peter was beginning
"his glass to show the others an example, when somebody
"came with a message to him, which was delivered in a low
"tone; Peter listening drank out his wine, set down the glass,
"and hastened off; so that Bieren and Miinnich, the two old
"enemies, were left standing, glass in hand, each with his
"eyes on the Czar's glass; -- at length, as the Czar did not
"return, they flashed each his eyes into the other's face; and
"after a moment's survey, set down their glasses untasted, "and walked off in opposite directions. "** Won't coalesce,
it seems, in spite of the Czar's high wishes. An emblem of
much that betel the poor Czar in his present high course of
good intentions and headlong magnanimities! -- We return
to Hordt:
The Czar wears a Portrait of Friedrich on his Finger. "Czar
"Peter never disguised his Prussian predilections. One even-
"inghesaid, 'Propose to your friend Keith' (English Excel-
"lency here, whom we know) 'to give me a supper at his
'"house tomorrow night. The other Foreign/Ministers will
"'perhaps be jealous; but I don't care! ' Supper at the Eng-
"lish Embassy took place. "Only ten or twelve persons, of
"the Czar's choosing, were present. Czar very gay and in
"fine spirits. Talked much of the King of Prussia. Showed
"me a signet-ring on his finger, withFriedrich's Portrait in
"it; ring was handed round the table. "*** This is a signet-
ring famous at Court, in those months. One day Peter had
lost it (mislaid somewhere), and got into furious explosion till
it was found for him again. f Let us now hear Biisching, our
Geographical Friend, for a moment:
Herr Pastor Bu? sching does the Homaging for Self and People.
* * "In most Countries, it is Official or Military People that
"administer the Oath of Homage, on a change of Sovereigns.
"But in Petersburg, among the German population, it is the
* Supra, vol. vI. p. 262.
? ** Hordt, n, 118,124, 129.
*? Rulhiere, p. 33.
f Hermann, v. 258.
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? 278 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
"Pastors of their respective Churches. At the accession of
"Peter III. , I, for the first time" (being still a young hand
rather than an old), "took the Oath from several thousands in
"my Church," -- and handed it over, with my own, in the
proper quarter.
"As to the Congratulatory Addresses, the new Czar re-
ceived the Congratulations of all classes, and also of the
"Pastors of the Foreign Churches, in the following manner.
"He came walking slowly through a suite of rooms, in each
"of which a body of Congratulators were assembled. Court-
"officials preceded, State officials followed him. Then came
"the Czarina, attended in a similar way. And always on
"entering a new room, they received a new Congratulation
"from the spokesman of the party there. The spokesman of
"us Protestant Pastors was my colleague, Senior Trefurt;
"but the General-in-Chief and Head-of-Police, Baron von
"Korf" (Hordt'sfriend, known to us above, German, we per-
ceive, by creed and name), "thinking it was I that had to
"make the speech, and intending to present me at the same
"time to the Czar, motioned to me from his place behind the
"Czarto advance. But I did not push forward; thinking it
"inopportune and of no importance to me. " -- "Neitherdid
"I share the great expectations which Baron von Korf and
"everybody entertained of this new reign. All people now "promised themselves better times, without reflecting" (as
they should have done! ) "that the better men necessary to
"produce these were nowhere forthcoming 1"*
For the first two or three months, Peter was the idol of all
the world: Such generosities and magnanimities; such zeal
and diligence, one magnanimous improvement following
another! He had at once abolished Torture in his Law Courts;
resolved to have a regular Code of Laws, -- and Judges to be
depended on for doing justice. He "destroyed monopolies;"
"lowered the price of salt. " To the joy of everybody, he had
hastened (January 18th, second week of reign) to abolish the
Secret Chancery, -- a horrid Spanish-Inquisition engine of
domestic Politics. His Nobility he had determined should be
noble: January 28th (third week of reign just beginning), he
absolved the Nobility from all servile duties to him: "You can
travel when and where you please; you are not obliged to
* BUscbing'a Bejtrage, vi. ("Author's own Biography") 462 et scq.
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? CHAP. X. ] HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 279
Jan. --July 176>>.
serve in my Armies; you may serve in anybody's not at war
with me! " under plaudits loud and universal from that Order
of men. And was petitioned by a grateful Petersburg world:
"Permit us, magnanimous Czar, to raise a Statue of your
Majesty in solid Gold? " "Don't at all! " answered Peter:
"Ah, if by good governing I could raise a memorial in my
People's hearts; that would be the Statue for me! "* Poor
headlong Peter! -- It was a less lucky step that of informing
the Clergy (date not given), That in the Czarship lay Spiritual
Sovereignty as well as Temporal, and that he would hence-
forth administer their rich Abbey Lands and the like; -- this
gave a sad shock to the upper strata of Priesthood, extending
gradually to the lower, and ultimately raising an ominous
general thought (perhaps worse than a general cry) of
"Church in Danger! Alas, is our Czar regardless of Holy
Religion, then? Perhaps, at heart still Lutheran, and has no
Religion? " This, and his too headlong Prussian tendencies,
are counted to have done him infinite mischief.
Herr Bilsching sees the Czar on Horseback. "When the
"Czar's own Regiment of Cuirassiers came to Petersburg, the
"Czar, dressed in the uniform of the regiment, rode out to
"meet it; and returning at its head, rode repeatedly through
"certain quarters of the Town. His helmet was buckled
"tight with leather straps under the chin; he sat his horse as
"upright and stiff as a wooden image; held his sabre in
"equally stiff manner; turned fixedly his eyes to the right;
"and never by a hairsbreadth changed that posture. In such
"attitude he twice passed my house with his regiment,
"without changing a feature at sight of the many persons who
"crowded the windows. To me" (in my privately austere
judgment) "he seemed so kleingeistisch, so small-minded a per-
"son, that I" -- in fact, knew not what to think of it. **
Hordt sees the deceased Czarina lying in State. "One day,
"after dining at Court, General Korf proposed that we should
"go and see the Lit de Parade" (Parade-Bed) of the late
Czarina, which is in another Palace, not far off. "Count
Schuwalof" (not her old lover, who has died since her, poor old
creature; but his Son, a cultivated man, afterwards Voltaire's
friend) "accompanied us; and, his rooms being contiguous
* Hermann, v. 248.
** BUsching's Beytrage, vI. 464.
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? 280 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [bOOK XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
"to those of the dead Lady, he asked us to take coffee with
"him afterwards. The Imperial Bier stood in the Grand
"Saloon, which was hung all round with black, festooned and
"garlanded with cloth-of-silver; the glare of wax-lights quite
"blinding. Bier, covered with cloth-of-gold trimmed with
"silver lace, was raised upon steps. A rich Crown was on the
"head of the dead Czarina. Beside the bier stood Four
"Ladies, two on each hand, in grand mourning; immense
"crape training on the ground behind them. Two Officers
"of the Life-Guard occupied the lowest steps: on the topmost,
'' at the foot of the bier, was an Archimandrite (superior kind
"of Abbot), who had a Bible before him, from which he read
"aloud, -- continuously till relieved by another. This went
"on day and night without interruption. All round the bier,
"on stools (tabourets), were placed different Crowns and the
"insignia of various Orders,--those of Prussia, among others.
"It being established usage, I had, to my great repugnance,
"to kiss the hand of the corpse! We then talked a little to the
"Ladies in attendance (with their crape trains), joking about
"the article of hand-kissing; finally we adjourned for coffee
"to Count Schuwalofs apartments, which were of an in-
"credible magnificence. " That same evening, farther on, --
"I supped with the Czar in hisPetit Appartement, Private
"Rooms" (a fine free-and-easy nook of space! ) "The com-
"pany there consisted of the Countess Woronzow, a creature
"without any graces, bodily or mental, whom the Czar had
"chosen for his Mistress" (snub-nosed, pock-marked, fat, and
with a pert tongue at times), "whom I liked the less, as there
"were one or two other very handsome women there. Some
"Courtiers too; and no Foreigners but the English Envoy and
"myself. The supper was very gay, and was prolonged late
"into the night. These late orgies, however, did not prevent
"his Majesty from attending to business in good time next
"morning. He would appear unexpectedly, at an early hour,
"at the Senate, at the Synod" (Head Consistory), "making
"them stand to their duties," -- or pretend to do it. His
Majesty is not understood to have got much real work out of
either of these Governing Bodies; the former, the Senate, or
secular one, which had fallen very torpid latterly, was, not
long after this, suffered to die out altogether. Peter himself
was a violently pushing man, and never shrank from labour;
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. X. ] HAS NEWS FROM PETERSBURG. 281
Jan. --July 1762.
always in a plunge of hurries, and of irregular hours. Inhis
final time, people whispered, "The Czar is killing himself;
sits smoking, tippling, talking till 2 in the morning; and is
overhead inbusiness again by 7! "
Czarina Elizabeth's Funeral, as seen by Hordt (much
abridged). "At 10 in the morning all the bells in Petersburg
"broke out; and tolled incessantly" (day or month not hinted
at,--nor worth seeking; grim darkness of universal frost per-
ceptible enough; clangour of bells; and procession seem-
ingly of miles long, -- on this extremely high errand! ) --
"Minute-guns were fired from the moment the procession set
"out from the Castle till it arrived at the Citadel, a distance of
"two English miles and a half. Planks were laid all the way;
"forming a sort of bridge through the streets, and over the ice
"of the Neva. All the soldiers of the Garrison were ranked
"in espalier on each side. Three hundred grenadiers opened
"the march; after them, three hundred priests, in sacerdotal
"costume; walking two-and-two, singing hymns. All the
"Crowns and Orders, above mentioned by me, were carried
"by high Dignitaries of the Court, walking in single file, each
"a chamberlain behind him. Hearse was followed by the
"Czar, his black cloak carried by Twelve Chamberlains, each
"a lighted taper in the other hand. Prince George of Holstein"
(Czar's Uncle) "came next, then Holstein-Beck" (Czar's
Cousin). "Czarina Catharine followed, also on foot, with a
"lighted taper; her cloak borne by all her Ladies. Three
"hundred grenadiers closed the procession. Bells tolling,
"minute-guns firing, seas of people crowding. " -- Thus the
Russians buried their Czarina. Day and its dusky frost-cur-
tains sank; and Bootes, looking down from the starry deeps,
found one Telluric Anomaly forever hidden from him. She
had left of unworn Dresses, the richest procurable in Nature
(five a-day her usual allowance, and never or seldom worn
twice), "15,000 and some hundreds. "*
Hortlt is of the new Czarina Catharine's Evening Parties.
"The Czarina received company every morning. She received
"everybody with great affability and grace. But notwith-
standing her efforts to appear gay, one could perceive a
"deep background of sadness in her. She knew better than
"anybody the violent (ardente) character of her husband;
* Hermann, v. 176.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 282 FRIEDEICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
Jan. --July 1762.
"and perhaps she then already foresaw what would come.
"She also had her circle evening, and always asked the com-
"pany to stay supper. One evening, when I was of her party,
"a confidential Equerry of the Czar came in, and whispered
"me That I had been searched for all over Town, to come to
"supper at the Countess's (that was the usual designation of
"the Sultana," -- das Fraulein, spelt in Russian ways, is the
more usual). "I begged to be excused for this time, being
"engaged to sup with the Czarina, to whom I could not well
"state the reason for which I was to leave. The Equerry had
"not gone long, when suddenly a great noise was heard, the
"two wings of the door were flung open, and the Czar entered.
"He saluted politely the Czarina and her circle; called me
"with that smiling and gracious air which he always had;
"took me by the arm, and said to the Czarina: 'Excuse me,
"Madam, if tonight I carry off one of your guests; it is this
"Prussian I had searched for all over theTown. ' The Czarina
"laughed; I made her a deep bow, and went away with my
"conductor. Next morning I went to the Czarina; who, with-
"out mentioning what had passed last night, said smiling,
"' Come and sup with me always when there is nothing to pre-
sent it. '"
February 21s? , Hordi at Zarshoe-Zeloe. "On occasion of the
"Czar's birthday" (which gives us a date, for once),* "there
"were great festivities, lasting a week.