Papa's good opi-
nion of the Prince has sensibly risen, in the course of
this Journey, "So rational, serious, not dangling about
among the women as formerly;" -- and what a shock
would this of Korn's Hotel be, should Papa hear of it!
nion of the Prince has sensibly risen, in the course of
this Journey, "So rational, serious, not dangling about
among the women as formerly;" -- and what a shock
would this of Korn's Hotel be, should Papa hear of it!
Thomas Carlyle
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? 212 AT REINSBERG. [book X.
8th July 1738.
creature, after all, and "more serious" than formerly.
"Hm, you don't know what things are in that Fritz! "
his Majesty murmured sometimes, in these later years,
with a fine light in his eyes.
Loo itself is a beautiful Palace: "Loo, close by the
"Village Appeldoorn, is a stately brick edifice, built
"with architectural regularity; has finely decorated
"rooms, beautiful gardens, and round are superb alleys
"of oak and linden. "* There saunters pleasantly our
Crown-Prince, for these three days; -- and one glad
incident I do perceive to have befallen him there: the
arrival of a Letter from Voltaire. Letter much expected,
which had followed him from Wesel; and which he
answers here, in this brick Palace, among the superb
avenues and gardens. **
No doubt a glad incident; irradiating, as with a
sudden sunburst in gray weather, the commonplace of
things. Here is news worth listening to; news as from
the empyrean! Free interchange of poetries and proses,
of heroic sentiments and opinions, between the Unique
of Sages and the Paragon of Crown-Princes; how
charming to both! Literary business, we perceive, is
brisk on both hands; at Cirey the Discours sur VHomme
("Sixth Discours" arrives in this packet at Loo, surely
a deathless piece of singing); nor is Reinsberg idle:
Reinsberg is copiously doing verse, such verse! -- and
in prose, very earnestly, an "Anti-Macchiavel;" which
* Biischlng: Erdbeschreibung, Till. 69.
** (Enures, xxl. 203, the Letter, "Cirey, Jane 1738;" lb. 222, the Answer
to it, "Loo, 6th august 1738. "
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 213
6th Aug. 1738.
soon afterwards filled all the then world, though it has
now fallen so silent again. And at Paris, as Voltaire
announces with a flourish, "M. de Maupertuis's ex-
cellent Book, Figure de la Terre,* is out;" M. de
Maupertuis, home from the Polar regions and from
measuring the Earth there; the sublimest miracle in
Paris society at present. Might build, new-build, an
Academy of Sciences at Berlin for your Royal Highness,
one day? suggests Voltaire, on this occasion: and Fried- rich, as we shall see, takes the hint. One passage of
the Crown-Prince's Answer is in these terms; -- fixing
this Loo Visit to its date for us, at any rate:
"Loo in Holland, 6th August 1738. * * I write from a place
"where there lived once a great man" (William III. of Eng-
land, our Dutch William); "which is now the Prince of
"Orange's House. The demon of Ambition sheds its unhappy
"poisons over his days. He might be the most fortunate of
"men; and he is devoured by chagrins in his beautiful Palace
"here, in the middle of his gardens and of a brilliant Court.
"It is pity in truth; for he is a Prince with no end of wit (in-
"finiment iTesprit), and has respectable qualities. " NotStadt-
holder, unluckily; that is where the shoe pinches; the Dutch
are on the Republican tack, and will not have a Stadtholder
at present. No help for it in one's beautiful gardens and
avenues of oak and linden. *
"I have talked a great deal about Newton with the Prin-
"cess," -- about Newton; never hinted at Amelia; not per-
* Paris, 1738: Maupertuis's "measurement of a degree," in the utmost
North, 1736-7 (to prove the Earth flattened there). Vivid Narrative; some-
what gesticulative, but duly brief. The only Book of that great Maupertuis
which is now readable to human nature.
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? 214 AT KEINSBERG. [b0oKX.
6th Aug. 1738.
missiblel -- "from Newton we passed to Leibnitz; and from
"Leibnitz to the late Queen of England," Caroline lately
gone, "who, the Prince told me, was of Clarke's sentiment"
on that important theological controversy now dead to man-
kind. And of Jenkins and his Ear did the Princess say
nothing? That is now becoming a high phenomenon in Eng-
land! But readers must wait a little.
Pity that we cannot give these two Letters in full;
that no reader, almost, could be made to understand
them, or to care for them when understood. Such the
cruelty of Time upon this Voltaire-Friedrich Corre-
spondence, and some others; which were once so rosy,
sunny, and are now fallen drearily extinct, -- studiable
by Editors only! In itself the Friedrich-Voltaire Cor-
respondence, we can see, was charming; very blossomy
at present: businesses increasing; mutual admiration
now risen to a great height, -- admiration sincere on
both sides, most so on the Prince's, and extravagantly
expressed on both sides, most so on Voltaire's.
Crown-Prince becomes a Freemason; and is harangued
by Monsieur de Bielfeld.
His Majesty, we said, had three pleasant days at
Loo; discoursing, as with friends, on public matters, or
even on more private matters, in a frank unconstrained
way. He is not to be called "Majesty" on this occa-
sion; but the fact, at Loo, and by the leading Mighti-
nesses of the Republic, who come copiously to compli-
ment him there, is well remembered. Talk there was,
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? CHAP, v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 215
6th Aug. 1738. ,
with such leading Mightinesses, about the Jiilich-and-
Berg question, aim of this Journey; earnest enough
private talk with some of them: but it availed nothing;
and would not be worth reporting now to any creature,
if we even knew. In fact, the Journey itself remains
mentionable chiefly by one very trifling circumstance;
and then by another, not important either, which fol-
lowed out of that. The trifling circumstance is, -- That
Friedrich, in the course of this Journey, became a
Freemason: and the unimportant sequel was, That he
made acquaintance with one Bielfeld, on the occasion;
who afterwards wrote a Book about him, which was
once much read, though never much worth reading,
and is still citable, with precaution, now and then. *
Trifling circumstance of Freemasonry, as we read in
Bielfeld and in many Books after him, befel in manner
following.
Among the dinner-guests at Loo, one of those three
days, was a Prince of Lippe-Buckeburg, -- Prince of
small territory, but of great speculation; whose terri-
tory lies on the Weser, leading to Dutch connexions; and
whose speculations stretch over all the Universe, in a
high fantastic style: -- he was a dinner-guest; and one of
the topics that came up was Freemasonry; a phantasmal
kind of object, which had kindled itself, or rekindled, in
those years, in England first of all; and was now hover-
ing about, a good deal, in Germany and other countries;
pretending to be a new light of Heaven, and not a bog-
* Monsieur le Baron de Bielfeld: Lettres Familieres et Autrcs, 1763; --
second edition, 2 vols, a Leide, 17G7, is the one we use here.
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? 216 AT REIKSBERG. [BOOK X.
6th Aug. 1738.
meteor of phosphorated hydrogen, conspicuous in the
murk of things. Bog-meteor, foolish putrescent will-
o'-wisp, his Majesty promptly defined it to be: Tom-
foolery and Kinderspiel, what else? Whereupon in-
genious Biickeburg, who was himself a Mason, man of
forty by this time, and had high things in him of the
Quixotic type, ventured on defence; and was so re-
spectful, eloquent, dextrous, ingenious, he quite capti-
vated, if not his Majesty, at least the Crown-Prince,
who was more enthusiastic for high things. Crown-
Prince, after table, took his Durchlaucht of Biickeburg
aside; talked farther on the subject, expressed his ad-
miration, his conviction, -- his wish to be admitted
into such a Hero Fraternity. Nothing could be wel-
comer to Durchlaucht. And so, in all privacy, it was
made up between them, That Durchlaucht, summoning
as many mystic Brothers out of Hamburg as were need-
ful, should be in waiting with them, on the Crown-
Prince's road homeward, -- say at Brunswick, night
before the Fair, where we are to be, -- and there
make the Crown-Prince a Mason. *
This is Bielfeld's account, repeated ever since; sub-
stantially correct, except that the scene was not Loo
at all: dinner and dialogue, it now appears, took place
in Durchlaucht's own neighbourhood, during the Cleve-
Review time; "probably at Minden, 17th July;" and
all was settled into fixed program before Loo came in
sight. ** Bielfeld's report of the subsequent procedure
* Bielfcld, i. 14-16; Preu98, i. Ill; Preuss, Buch fur Jedermann, i. 41.
(Etivres de Frederic, xvi. 201: Friedrich's Letter to this Durchlaucht,
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 217
12th Aug. 1738.
at Brunswick, as he saw it and was himself part of it,
is liable to no mistakes, at least of the involuntary
kind; and may, for anything we know, be correct in
every particular.
He says (veiling it under discreet asterisks, which
are now decipherable enough), The Durchlaucht of
Lippe-Biickeburg had summoned six Brethren of the
Hamburg Lodge; of whom we mention only a Graf
von Kielmannsegge, a Baron von Oberg, both from
Hanover, and Bielfeld himself, a Merchant's Son, of
Hamburg; these, with "Kielmannsegge's Valet to act
as Tiler," Valet being also a Mason, and the rule
equality of mankind, -- were to have the honour of
initiating the Crown-Prince. They arrived at the
Western Gate of Brunswick on the 11th of August, as
prearranged; Prussian Majesty not yet come, but
coming punctually on the morrow. It is Fair-time; all
manner of traders, pedlars, showmen rendezvousing;
many neighbouring Nobility too, as was still the habit.
"Such a bulk of light luggage? " said the Custom-
house people at the Gate; -- but were pacified by
slipping them a ducat. Upon which we drove to
"Korn's H6tel" (if anybody now knew it); and there
patiently waited. No great things of a Hotel, says
Bielfeld; but can be put up with; -- worst feature is,
"Comte de Schaumbourg-Lippe*' he calls him; date, "Moyland, 26th July
1738:" Moyland, a certain Schloss, or habitable Mansion, of his Majesty's,
few miles to north of Mtirs in the Cleve Country; where his Majesty used
often to pause; -- and where (what will be much more remarkable to
readers) the Crown-Prince and Voltaire had their first meeting, two years
hence.
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? 218 AT BEINSBERG. [bookx.
15th Aug. 1738.
we discover a Hanover acquaintance lodging close by,
nothing but a wooden partition between us: How if he
should overhear! --
Prussian Majesty and suite, under universal cannon
salvos, arrived, Sunday the 12th; to stay till Wednes-
day (three days) with his august Son-in-law and
Daughter here. Durchlaucht Lippe presents himself at
Court, the rest of us not; privately settles with the
Prince: "Tuesday night, eve of his Majesty's de-
parture; that shall be the night: at Korn's Hotel, late
enough! " And there, accordingly, on the appointed
night, 14th-l5th August 1738, the light-luggage trunks
have yielded their stage-properties; Jachin and Boaz
are set up, and all things are ready; Tiler (Kielmanns-
egge's Valet) watching with drawn sword against the
profane. As to our Hanover neighbour, on the other
side the partition, says Bielfeld, we waited on him,
this day after dinner, successively paying our respects;
successively pledged him in so many bumpers, he is
lying dead drunk hours ago, could not overhear a
cannon-battery, he. And soon after midnight, the
Crown-Prince glides in, a Captain Wartensleben ac-
companying, who is also a candidate; and the mys-
terious rites are accomplished on both of them, on the
Crown-Prince first, without accident, and in the usual
way.
Bielfeld could not enough admire the demeanour of
this Prince, his clearness, sense, quiet brilliancy; and
how he was so "intrepid," and "possessed himself so
"gracefully in the most critical instants. " Extremely
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 219
15th Aug. 1738.
genial air, and so young, looks younger even than his
years: handsome to a degree, though of short stature.
Physiognomy, features, quite charming; fine auburn
hair {beau brun), a negligent plenty of it; "his large
"blue eyes have something at once severe, sweet and
"gracious. " Eligible Mason indeed. Had better make
despatch at present, lest Papa be getting on the road
before him! --Bielfeld delivered a small address, com-
posed beforehand; with which the Prince seemed to be
content. And so, with masonic grip, they made their
adieus for the present; and the Crown-Prince and
Wartensleben were back at their posts, ready for the
road along with his Majesty.
His Majesty came on Sunday; goes on Wednesday,
home now at a stretch; and, we hope, has had a good
time of it here, these three days. Daughter Charlotte
and her Serene Husband, well with their subjects, well
with one another, are doing well; have already two
little Children; a Boy the elder, of whom we have
heard: Boy's name is Karl, age now three; sprightly,
reckoned very clever, by the fond parents; -- who has
many things to do in the world, by and by; to attack
the French Revolution, and be blown to pieces by it
on the Field of Jena, for final thing! That is the
fate of little Karl, who frolics about here, so sunshiny
and ingenuous at present.
Karl's Grandmother, the Serene Dowager Duchess,
Friedrich's own Mother-in-law, his Majesty and Fried-
rich would also of course see here. Fine Younger
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? 22Q AT REINSBERG. [toOKX.
15th aug. 173S.
Sons of hers are coming forward; the reigning Duke
beautifully careful about the furtherance of these
Cadets of the House. Here is Prince Ferdinand, for
instance; just getting ready for the Grand Tour; goes
in a month hence:* a fine eupeptic loyal young fel-
low; who, in a twenty years more, will be Chatham's
Generalissimo, and fight the French to some purpose.
A Brother of his, the next elder, is now fighting the
Turks for his Kaiser; does not like it at all, under
such Seckendorfs and War-Ministries as there are.
Then, elder still, eldest of all the Cadets, there is
Anton Ulrich, over at Petersburg for some years past,
with outlooks high enough: To wed the Mecklenburg
Princess there (Daughter of the unutterable Duke),
and be as good as Czar of all the Russias one day.
Little to his profit, poor soul! -- These, historically
ascertainable, are the aspects of the Brunswick Court
during those three days of Royal Visit, in Fair-time;
and may serve to date the Masonic Transaction for us,
which the Crown-Prince has just accomplished over at
Korn's.
As for the Transaction itself, there is intrinsically
no harm in this initiation, we will hope: but it behoves
to be kept well hidden from Papa.
Papa's good opi-
nion of the Prince has sensibly risen, in the course of
this Journey, "So rational, serious, not dangling about
among the women as formerly;" -- and what a shock
would this of Korn's Hotel be, should Papa hear of it!
* Maavlllon [Fit$, son of him whom we cite otherwise): Geschichle Fer-
dinands Heriog von Braunschweig-Luneburg (Leipzig, 1794), i. 17-25.
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 221
15th Aug. 1738.
Poor Papa, from officious talebearers he hears many things; is in distress about Voltaire, about Hetero-
doxies; -- and summoned the Crown-Prince, by ex-
press, from Reinsberg, on one occasion lately, over to
Potsdam, "to take the Communion" there, by way of
casehardening against Voltaire and Heterodoxies! Think
of it, human readers! -- We will add the following
stray particulars, more or less illustrative of the Ma-
sonic Transaction; and so end that trifling affair.
The Captain Wartensleben, fellow recipient of the
mysteries at Brunswick, is youngest son, by a second
marriage, of old Feldmarschall Wartensleben, now de-
ceased; and is consequently Uncle, Half-Uncle, of poor
Lieutenant Katte, though some years younger than
Katte would now have been. Tender memories hang
by Wartensleben, in a silent way! He is Captain in
the Potsdam Giants; somewhat an intimate, and not
undeservedly so, of the Crown-Prince; -- succeeds
Wolden as Hofmarschall at Reinsberg, not many
months after this; Wolden having died of an apoplec-
tic stroke. Of Bielfeld comes a Book, slightly citable;
from no other of the Brethren, or their Feat at Korn's,
comes (we may say) anything whatever. The Crown-
Prince prosecuted his Masonry, at Reinsberg or else-
where, occasionally, for a year or two; but was never
ardent in it; and very soon after his Accession, left off
altogether: "Child's-play and ignis fatuus mainly! "
A Royal Lodge was established at Berlin, of which
the new King consented to be patron; but he never
once entered the place; and only his Portrait (a wel-
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? 222 AT REINSBERG. [BoOK X.
. 15th Aug. 1738.
comely good one, still to be found there) presided over
the mysteries in that Establishment. Harmless "fire,"
but too "fatuous;" mere flame-circles cut in the air, for
infants, we know how! --
With Lippe-Biickeburg there ensued some Corre-
spondence, high enough on his Serenity's side; but it
soon languished on the Prince's side; and in private
Poetry, within a two years of this Brunswick scene,
we find Lippe used proverbially for a type-specimen of
Fools. * A windy fantastic individual; -- overwhelmed
in finance-difficulties too! Lippe continued writing; but
"only Secretaries now answered him" from Berlin. A
son of his, son and successor, something of a Quixote
too, but notable in Artillery-practice and otherwise, will
turn up at a future stage.
Nor is Bielfeld with his Book a thing of much mo-
ment to Friedrich or to us. Bielfeld too has a light
airy vein of talk; loves Voltaire and the Philosophies
in a light way;-- knows the arts of Society, especially
the art of flattering; and would fain make himself agree-
able to the Crown-Prince, being anxious to rise in the
world. His Father is a Hamburg Merchant, Hamburg
"Sealing-wax Manufacturer," not ill off for money: Son
has been at schools, high schools, under tutors, posture-
masters; swashes about on those terms, with French
esprit in his mouth, and lace-ruffles at his wrists: still
under thirty; showy enough, sharp enough; consider-
* "Taciturne, Caton, avec mes bons parents,
Aussi fou que la Lippe nvec les jeunes gens. '1
? Eutre>>, jJ. 80 (Discours sur la Faustele, written 1740).
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 223
16th Aug. 1738.
ably a coxcomb, as is still evident. He did transiently
get about Friedrich, as we shall see; and hoped to have
sold his heart to good purpose there; -- was, by and
by, employed in slight functions; not found fit for grave
ones. In the course of some years, he got a title of
Baron; and sold his heart more advantageously, to some
rich Widow or Fraulein; with whom he retired to
Saxony, and there lived on an Estate he had purchased,
a stranger to Prussia thenceforth.
His Book (Lettres Farmlieres et Autres, all turning
on Friedrich), which came out in 1763, at the height
of Friedrich's fame, and was much read, is still freely
cited by Historians as an Authority. But the reading
of a few pages sufficiently intimates that these "Letters"
never can have gone through a terrestrial Post-Office;
that they are an afterthought, composed from vague
memory and imagination, in that fine Saxon retreat; --
a sorrowful ghost-like "Travels of Anacharsis," instead
of living words by an eye-witness! Not to be cited
"freely" at all, but sparingly and under conditions.
They abound in small errors, in misdates, mistakes;
small fictions even, and impossible pretensions: --
foolish mortal, to write down his bit of knowledge in
that form! For the man, in spite of his lace ruffles
and gesticulations, has brisk eyesight of a superficial
kind: he could have done us this little service (appa-
rently his one mission in the world, for which Nature
gave him bed and board here); and he, the lace ruffles
having gone into his soul, has been tempted into mis-
doing it! -- Bielfeld and Bielfeld's Book, such as they
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? 224 AT REINSBERG. [book X.
IStb Aug. 1738.
are, appear to be the one conquest Friedrich got of
Freemasonry; no other result now traceable to us of
that adventure in Korn's Hotel, crowning event of the
Journey to Loo.
Seckendorf gets lodged in Gratz.
Feldmarschall Seckendorf, after unheard-of wrest-
lings with the Turk War, and the Vienna War-Office
(Hofkriegsrath), is sitting, for the last three weeks, --
where thinks the reader? -- in the Fortress of Grata
among the Hills of Styria; a State-Prisoner, not likely
to get out soon! Seckendorf led forth, in 1737, "such
an Army, for number, spirit and equipment," say the
Vienna people, "as never marched against the Turk
before;" and it must be owned, his ill success has been
unparalleled. The blame was not altogether his; not
chiefly his, except for his rash undertaking of the
thing, on such terms as there were. But the truth is,
that first scene we saw of him, -- an Army all gone
out trumpeting and drumming into the woods to find
its Commander-in-Chief, -- was an emblem of the
Campaign in general. Excellent Army; but commanded
by nobody in particular; commanded by a Hofkriegsrath
at Vienna, by a Franz Duke of Tuscany, by Feldmar-
schall Seckendorf, and by subordinates who were dis-
obedient to him: which accordingly, almost without
help of the Turk and his disorderly ferocity, rubbed
itself to pieces before long. Roamed about, now hither
now thither, with plans laid and then with plans sud-
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 225
15th Aug. 1738.
denly altered, Captain being Chaos mainly; in swampy
countries, by overflowing rivers, in hunger, hot weather,
forced marches; till it was marched gradually off its
feet; and the clouds of chaotic Turks, who did finally
show face, had a cheap pennyworth of it. Never was
such a campaign seen as this of Seckendorf in 1737,
said mankind. Except indeed that the present one,
Campaign of 1738, in those parts, under a different
hand, is still worse; and the Campaign of 1739, under still a different, will be worst of all! -- Kaiser Karl
and his Austrians do not prosper in this Turk War, as
the Russians do, -- who indeed have got a General
equal to his task: Miinnich, a famed master in the art
of handling Turks and War-Ministries: real father of
Russian Soldiering, say the Russians still. *
Campaign 1737, with clouds of chaotic Turks now
sabring on the skirts of it, had not yet ended, when
Seckendorf" was called out of it; on polite pretexts,
home to Vienna; and the command given to another.
At the gates of Vienna, in the last days of October
1737, an Official Person, waiting for the Feldmarschall,
was sorry to inform him, That he, Feldmarschall Secken-
dorf, was under arrest; arrest in his own house, in the
Kohlmarkt (Cabbage-market so-called), a captain and
twelve musketeers to watch over him with fixed bayo-
nets there; strictly private, till the Hofkriegsrath had
satisfied themselves in a point or two. "Hmph! "
* See Mannslein for Miinnich's plans with the Turk (methods and
devices of steady Discipline in small numbers versus impetuous Ferocity in
great); and Berenhorst (Betrachlungen uber die Kriegskunst, Leipzig, 1796),
a firstrate Authority, for examples and eulogies of them.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 15
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? 226 AT REINSBERG. [boOKI.
15th aug. 1738.
snuffled he; with brow blushing slate-colour, I should
think, and gray eyes much alight . And ever since,
for ten months or so, Seckendorf, sealed up in the
Cabbage-market, has been fencing for life with the
Hofkriegsrath; who want satisfaction upon "eighty-six"
different "points;" and make no end of chicaning to
one's clear answers. And the Jesuits preach, too: "A
Heretic, born enemy of Christ and his Kaiser; what is
the use of questioning! " And the Heathen rage, and
all men gnash their teeth, in this uncomfortable
manner.
Answering done, there comes no verdict, much less
any acquittal; the captain and twelve musketeers, three
of them with fixed bayonets in one's very bedroom,
continue. One evening, 21st July 1738, glorious news
from the seat of War, -- not till evening, as the Im-
perial Majesty was out hunting, -- enters Vienna;
blowing trumpets; shaking flags: "Grand Victory over
the Turks! " so we call some poor skirmish there has
been; and Vienna bursting all into three-times-three,
the populace get very high. Populace rush to the
Kohlmarkt; break the Seckendorf windows; intent to
massacre the Seckendorf, had not fresh military come,
who were obliged to fire and kill one or two. "The
"house captain and his twelve musketeers, of them-
"selves, did wonders; Seckendorf and all his domestics
"were in arms:" "Jami-bleu" for the last time! -- This
is while the Crown-Prince is at Wesel; sound asleep,
most likely; Loo, and the Masonic adventure, perhaps
twinkling prophetically in his dreams.
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? CHAP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 227
15th Aug. 1738.
At two next morning, an Official Gentleman informs
Seckendorf, That he, for his part, must awaken, and
go to Gratz. And in one hour more (3 a. m. ), the Offi-
cial Gentleman rolls off with him; drives all day; and
delivers his Prisoner at Gratz: -- "Not so much as a
"room ready there; Prisoner had to wait an hour in
"the carriage," till some summary preparation were
made. Wall-neighbours of the poor Feldmarschall, in
his Fortress here, were "a Gold-Cook (swindling Alche-
"mist), who had gone crazy; and an Irish Lieutenant,
"confined thirty-two years for some love adventure,
"likewise pretty crazy; their noises in the night-time
"much disturbed the Feldmarschall. "* One human
thing there still is in his lot, the Feldmarschall's old
GrSfinn. True old Dame, she, both in the Kohlmarkt
and at Gratz, stands by him, "imprisoned along with
him" if it must be so; ministering, comforting, as only
a true Wife can; -- and hope has not quite taken
wing.
Rough old Feldmarschall; now turned of sixty:
never made such a Campaign before, as this of '37
followed by '38! There sits he; and will not trouble
us any more during the present Kaiser's lifetime.
Friedrich Wilhelm is amazed at these sudden cantings
of Fortune's wheel, and grieves honestly as for an old
friend: even the Crown-Prince finds Seckendorf punished
unjustly; and is almost sorry for him, after all that has
come and gone.
* Seckendorfs Leben, ii. 170-277. See Schmettan, pp. 27-89.
15*
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? 228
[book X. J5th Aug. 1738.
AT REINSBERG.
The Ear of Jenkins reemerges.
We must add the following, distilled from the
English Newspapers, though it is now almost four
months after date:
"London, 1st April 1738. In the English House of Com-
"mons, much more in the English Public, there has been
"furious debating for a fortnight past: Committee of the
"whole House, examining witnesses, hearing counsel; subject,
"the Termagant of Spain, and her West-Indian procedures;
"--she, by her procedures somewhere, is always cutting out
"work for mankind! How English and other strangers, fallen
"in with in those seas, are treated by the Spaniards, readers
"have heard, nay have chanced to see; and it is a fact pain-
"fully known to all nations. Fact which England, for one
"nation, can no longer put up with. Walpole and the Official
"Persons would fain smooth the matter; but the West-India
"Interest, the City, all Mercantile and Navigation Interests
"are in dead earnest: Committee of the wholeHouse, 'presided
"by Alderman Perry,' has not ears enough to hear the im-
"mensities of evidence offered; slow Public is gradually
"kindling to some sense of it. This had gone on for two
"weeks, when -- what shall we say? -- the Ear of Jenkins
"reemerged for the second time; and produced important
"effects!
"Where Jenkins had been all this while, -- stedfastly
"navigating to and fro, stedfastly eating tough junk with a
"wetting of rum; not thinking too much of past labours, yet
"privately 'always keeping his lost Ear in cotton' (with a
"kind of ursine piety, or other dumb feeling), -- no mortal
"n<>w knows. But to all mortals it is evident he was home in
"London at this time; no doubt a noted member of Wapping
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 229
15th Aug. 1738.
"society, the much-enduring Jenkins. And witnesses,
"probably not one but many, had mentioned him to this Com'
"mittee, as a case eminently in point. Committee, as can still
"be read in its Rhadamanthine Journals, orders: lDieJovis,
'"16? Martii 1737--8, That Captain Eobert Jenkins do
'"attend this House immediately;' and then more specially,
"'17? Martii,' -- captious objections having risen in Official
"quarters, as we guess, -- 'That Captain Robert Jenkins do
'"attend upon Tuesday morning next.
? 212 AT REINSBERG. [book X.
8th July 1738.
creature, after all, and "more serious" than formerly.
"Hm, you don't know what things are in that Fritz! "
his Majesty murmured sometimes, in these later years,
with a fine light in his eyes.
Loo itself is a beautiful Palace: "Loo, close by the
"Village Appeldoorn, is a stately brick edifice, built
"with architectural regularity; has finely decorated
"rooms, beautiful gardens, and round are superb alleys
"of oak and linden. "* There saunters pleasantly our
Crown-Prince, for these three days; -- and one glad
incident I do perceive to have befallen him there: the
arrival of a Letter from Voltaire. Letter much expected,
which had followed him from Wesel; and which he
answers here, in this brick Palace, among the superb
avenues and gardens. **
No doubt a glad incident; irradiating, as with a
sudden sunburst in gray weather, the commonplace of
things. Here is news worth listening to; news as from
the empyrean! Free interchange of poetries and proses,
of heroic sentiments and opinions, between the Unique
of Sages and the Paragon of Crown-Princes; how
charming to both! Literary business, we perceive, is
brisk on both hands; at Cirey the Discours sur VHomme
("Sixth Discours" arrives in this packet at Loo, surely
a deathless piece of singing); nor is Reinsberg idle:
Reinsberg is copiously doing verse, such verse! -- and
in prose, very earnestly, an "Anti-Macchiavel;" which
* Biischlng: Erdbeschreibung, Till. 69.
** (Enures, xxl. 203, the Letter, "Cirey, Jane 1738;" lb. 222, the Answer
to it, "Loo, 6th august 1738. "
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 213
6th Aug. 1738.
soon afterwards filled all the then world, though it has
now fallen so silent again. And at Paris, as Voltaire
announces with a flourish, "M. de Maupertuis's ex-
cellent Book, Figure de la Terre,* is out;" M. de
Maupertuis, home from the Polar regions and from
measuring the Earth there; the sublimest miracle in
Paris society at present. Might build, new-build, an
Academy of Sciences at Berlin for your Royal Highness,
one day? suggests Voltaire, on this occasion: and Fried- rich, as we shall see, takes the hint. One passage of
the Crown-Prince's Answer is in these terms; -- fixing
this Loo Visit to its date for us, at any rate:
"Loo in Holland, 6th August 1738. * * I write from a place
"where there lived once a great man" (William III. of Eng-
land, our Dutch William); "which is now the Prince of
"Orange's House. The demon of Ambition sheds its unhappy
"poisons over his days. He might be the most fortunate of
"men; and he is devoured by chagrins in his beautiful Palace
"here, in the middle of his gardens and of a brilliant Court.
"It is pity in truth; for he is a Prince with no end of wit (in-
"finiment iTesprit), and has respectable qualities. " NotStadt-
holder, unluckily; that is where the shoe pinches; the Dutch
are on the Republican tack, and will not have a Stadtholder
at present. No help for it in one's beautiful gardens and
avenues of oak and linden. *
"I have talked a great deal about Newton with the Prin-
"cess," -- about Newton; never hinted at Amelia; not per-
* Paris, 1738: Maupertuis's "measurement of a degree," in the utmost
North, 1736-7 (to prove the Earth flattened there). Vivid Narrative; some-
what gesticulative, but duly brief. The only Book of that great Maupertuis
which is now readable to human nature.
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? 214 AT KEINSBERG. [b0oKX.
6th Aug. 1738.
missiblel -- "from Newton we passed to Leibnitz; and from
"Leibnitz to the late Queen of England," Caroline lately
gone, "who, the Prince told me, was of Clarke's sentiment"
on that important theological controversy now dead to man-
kind. And of Jenkins and his Ear did the Princess say
nothing? That is now becoming a high phenomenon in Eng-
land! But readers must wait a little.
Pity that we cannot give these two Letters in full;
that no reader, almost, could be made to understand
them, or to care for them when understood. Such the
cruelty of Time upon this Voltaire-Friedrich Corre-
spondence, and some others; which were once so rosy,
sunny, and are now fallen drearily extinct, -- studiable
by Editors only! In itself the Friedrich-Voltaire Cor-
respondence, we can see, was charming; very blossomy
at present: businesses increasing; mutual admiration
now risen to a great height, -- admiration sincere on
both sides, most so on the Prince's, and extravagantly
expressed on both sides, most so on Voltaire's.
Crown-Prince becomes a Freemason; and is harangued
by Monsieur de Bielfeld.
His Majesty, we said, had three pleasant days at
Loo; discoursing, as with friends, on public matters, or
even on more private matters, in a frank unconstrained
way. He is not to be called "Majesty" on this occa-
sion; but the fact, at Loo, and by the leading Mighti-
nesses of the Republic, who come copiously to compli-
ment him there, is well remembered. Talk there was,
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? CHAP, v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 215
6th Aug. 1738. ,
with such leading Mightinesses, about the Jiilich-and-
Berg question, aim of this Journey; earnest enough
private talk with some of them: but it availed nothing;
and would not be worth reporting now to any creature,
if we even knew. In fact, the Journey itself remains
mentionable chiefly by one very trifling circumstance;
and then by another, not important either, which fol-
lowed out of that. The trifling circumstance is, -- That
Friedrich, in the course of this Journey, became a
Freemason: and the unimportant sequel was, That he
made acquaintance with one Bielfeld, on the occasion;
who afterwards wrote a Book about him, which was
once much read, though never much worth reading,
and is still citable, with precaution, now and then. *
Trifling circumstance of Freemasonry, as we read in
Bielfeld and in many Books after him, befel in manner
following.
Among the dinner-guests at Loo, one of those three
days, was a Prince of Lippe-Buckeburg, -- Prince of
small territory, but of great speculation; whose terri-
tory lies on the Weser, leading to Dutch connexions; and
whose speculations stretch over all the Universe, in a
high fantastic style: -- he was a dinner-guest; and one of
the topics that came up was Freemasonry; a phantasmal
kind of object, which had kindled itself, or rekindled, in
those years, in England first of all; and was now hover-
ing about, a good deal, in Germany and other countries;
pretending to be a new light of Heaven, and not a bog-
* Monsieur le Baron de Bielfeld: Lettres Familieres et Autrcs, 1763; --
second edition, 2 vols, a Leide, 17G7, is the one we use here.
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? 216 AT REIKSBERG. [BOOK X.
6th Aug. 1738.
meteor of phosphorated hydrogen, conspicuous in the
murk of things. Bog-meteor, foolish putrescent will-
o'-wisp, his Majesty promptly defined it to be: Tom-
foolery and Kinderspiel, what else? Whereupon in-
genious Biickeburg, who was himself a Mason, man of
forty by this time, and had high things in him of the
Quixotic type, ventured on defence; and was so re-
spectful, eloquent, dextrous, ingenious, he quite capti-
vated, if not his Majesty, at least the Crown-Prince,
who was more enthusiastic for high things. Crown-
Prince, after table, took his Durchlaucht of Biickeburg
aside; talked farther on the subject, expressed his ad-
miration, his conviction, -- his wish to be admitted
into such a Hero Fraternity. Nothing could be wel-
comer to Durchlaucht. And so, in all privacy, it was
made up between them, That Durchlaucht, summoning
as many mystic Brothers out of Hamburg as were need-
ful, should be in waiting with them, on the Crown-
Prince's road homeward, -- say at Brunswick, night
before the Fair, where we are to be, -- and there
make the Crown-Prince a Mason. *
This is Bielfeld's account, repeated ever since; sub-
stantially correct, except that the scene was not Loo
at all: dinner and dialogue, it now appears, took place
in Durchlaucht's own neighbourhood, during the Cleve-
Review time; "probably at Minden, 17th July;" and
all was settled into fixed program before Loo came in
sight. ** Bielfeld's report of the subsequent procedure
* Bielfcld, i. 14-16; Preu98, i. Ill; Preuss, Buch fur Jedermann, i. 41.
(Etivres de Frederic, xvi. 201: Friedrich's Letter to this Durchlaucht,
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 217
12th Aug. 1738.
at Brunswick, as he saw it and was himself part of it,
is liable to no mistakes, at least of the involuntary
kind; and may, for anything we know, be correct in
every particular.
He says (veiling it under discreet asterisks, which
are now decipherable enough), The Durchlaucht of
Lippe-Biickeburg had summoned six Brethren of the
Hamburg Lodge; of whom we mention only a Graf
von Kielmannsegge, a Baron von Oberg, both from
Hanover, and Bielfeld himself, a Merchant's Son, of
Hamburg; these, with "Kielmannsegge's Valet to act
as Tiler," Valet being also a Mason, and the rule
equality of mankind, -- were to have the honour of
initiating the Crown-Prince. They arrived at the
Western Gate of Brunswick on the 11th of August, as
prearranged; Prussian Majesty not yet come, but
coming punctually on the morrow. It is Fair-time; all
manner of traders, pedlars, showmen rendezvousing;
many neighbouring Nobility too, as was still the habit.
"Such a bulk of light luggage? " said the Custom-
house people at the Gate; -- but were pacified by
slipping them a ducat. Upon which we drove to
"Korn's H6tel" (if anybody now knew it); and there
patiently waited. No great things of a Hotel, says
Bielfeld; but can be put up with; -- worst feature is,
"Comte de Schaumbourg-Lippe*' he calls him; date, "Moyland, 26th July
1738:" Moyland, a certain Schloss, or habitable Mansion, of his Majesty's,
few miles to north of Mtirs in the Cleve Country; where his Majesty used
often to pause; -- and where (what will be much more remarkable to
readers) the Crown-Prince and Voltaire had their first meeting, two years
hence.
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? 218 AT BEINSBERG. [bookx.
15th Aug. 1738.
we discover a Hanover acquaintance lodging close by,
nothing but a wooden partition between us: How if he
should overhear! --
Prussian Majesty and suite, under universal cannon
salvos, arrived, Sunday the 12th; to stay till Wednes-
day (three days) with his august Son-in-law and
Daughter here. Durchlaucht Lippe presents himself at
Court, the rest of us not; privately settles with the
Prince: "Tuesday night, eve of his Majesty's de-
parture; that shall be the night: at Korn's Hotel, late
enough! " And there, accordingly, on the appointed
night, 14th-l5th August 1738, the light-luggage trunks
have yielded their stage-properties; Jachin and Boaz
are set up, and all things are ready; Tiler (Kielmanns-
egge's Valet) watching with drawn sword against the
profane. As to our Hanover neighbour, on the other
side the partition, says Bielfeld, we waited on him,
this day after dinner, successively paying our respects;
successively pledged him in so many bumpers, he is
lying dead drunk hours ago, could not overhear a
cannon-battery, he. And soon after midnight, the
Crown-Prince glides in, a Captain Wartensleben ac-
companying, who is also a candidate; and the mys-
terious rites are accomplished on both of them, on the
Crown-Prince first, without accident, and in the usual
way.
Bielfeld could not enough admire the demeanour of
this Prince, his clearness, sense, quiet brilliancy; and
how he was so "intrepid," and "possessed himself so
"gracefully in the most critical instants. " Extremely
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 219
15th Aug. 1738.
genial air, and so young, looks younger even than his
years: handsome to a degree, though of short stature.
Physiognomy, features, quite charming; fine auburn
hair {beau brun), a negligent plenty of it; "his large
"blue eyes have something at once severe, sweet and
"gracious. " Eligible Mason indeed. Had better make
despatch at present, lest Papa be getting on the road
before him! --Bielfeld delivered a small address, com-
posed beforehand; with which the Prince seemed to be
content. And so, with masonic grip, they made their
adieus for the present; and the Crown-Prince and
Wartensleben were back at their posts, ready for the
road along with his Majesty.
His Majesty came on Sunday; goes on Wednesday,
home now at a stretch; and, we hope, has had a good
time of it here, these three days. Daughter Charlotte
and her Serene Husband, well with their subjects, well
with one another, are doing well; have already two
little Children; a Boy the elder, of whom we have
heard: Boy's name is Karl, age now three; sprightly,
reckoned very clever, by the fond parents; -- who has
many things to do in the world, by and by; to attack
the French Revolution, and be blown to pieces by it
on the Field of Jena, for final thing! That is the
fate of little Karl, who frolics about here, so sunshiny
and ingenuous at present.
Karl's Grandmother, the Serene Dowager Duchess,
Friedrich's own Mother-in-law, his Majesty and Fried-
rich would also of course see here. Fine Younger
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? 22Q AT REINSBERG. [toOKX.
15th aug. 173S.
Sons of hers are coming forward; the reigning Duke
beautifully careful about the furtherance of these
Cadets of the House. Here is Prince Ferdinand, for
instance; just getting ready for the Grand Tour; goes
in a month hence:* a fine eupeptic loyal young fel-
low; who, in a twenty years more, will be Chatham's
Generalissimo, and fight the French to some purpose.
A Brother of his, the next elder, is now fighting the
Turks for his Kaiser; does not like it at all, under
such Seckendorfs and War-Ministries as there are.
Then, elder still, eldest of all the Cadets, there is
Anton Ulrich, over at Petersburg for some years past,
with outlooks high enough: To wed the Mecklenburg
Princess there (Daughter of the unutterable Duke),
and be as good as Czar of all the Russias one day.
Little to his profit, poor soul! -- These, historically
ascertainable, are the aspects of the Brunswick Court
during those three days of Royal Visit, in Fair-time;
and may serve to date the Masonic Transaction for us,
which the Crown-Prince has just accomplished over at
Korn's.
As for the Transaction itself, there is intrinsically
no harm in this initiation, we will hope: but it behoves
to be kept well hidden from Papa.
Papa's good opi-
nion of the Prince has sensibly risen, in the course of
this Journey, "So rational, serious, not dangling about
among the women as formerly;" -- and what a shock
would this of Korn's Hotel be, should Papa hear of it!
* Maavlllon [Fit$, son of him whom we cite otherwise): Geschichle Fer-
dinands Heriog von Braunschweig-Luneburg (Leipzig, 1794), i. 17-25.
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 221
15th Aug. 1738.
Poor Papa, from officious talebearers he hears many things; is in distress about Voltaire, about Hetero-
doxies; -- and summoned the Crown-Prince, by ex-
press, from Reinsberg, on one occasion lately, over to
Potsdam, "to take the Communion" there, by way of
casehardening against Voltaire and Heterodoxies! Think
of it, human readers! -- We will add the following
stray particulars, more or less illustrative of the Ma-
sonic Transaction; and so end that trifling affair.
The Captain Wartensleben, fellow recipient of the
mysteries at Brunswick, is youngest son, by a second
marriage, of old Feldmarschall Wartensleben, now de-
ceased; and is consequently Uncle, Half-Uncle, of poor
Lieutenant Katte, though some years younger than
Katte would now have been. Tender memories hang
by Wartensleben, in a silent way! He is Captain in
the Potsdam Giants; somewhat an intimate, and not
undeservedly so, of the Crown-Prince; -- succeeds
Wolden as Hofmarschall at Reinsberg, not many
months after this; Wolden having died of an apoplec-
tic stroke. Of Bielfeld comes a Book, slightly citable;
from no other of the Brethren, or their Feat at Korn's,
comes (we may say) anything whatever. The Crown-
Prince prosecuted his Masonry, at Reinsberg or else-
where, occasionally, for a year or two; but was never
ardent in it; and very soon after his Accession, left off
altogether: "Child's-play and ignis fatuus mainly! "
A Royal Lodge was established at Berlin, of which
the new King consented to be patron; but he never
once entered the place; and only his Portrait (a wel-
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? 222 AT REINSBERG. [BoOK X.
. 15th Aug. 1738.
comely good one, still to be found there) presided over
the mysteries in that Establishment. Harmless "fire,"
but too "fatuous;" mere flame-circles cut in the air, for
infants, we know how! --
With Lippe-Biickeburg there ensued some Corre-
spondence, high enough on his Serenity's side; but it
soon languished on the Prince's side; and in private
Poetry, within a two years of this Brunswick scene,
we find Lippe used proverbially for a type-specimen of
Fools. * A windy fantastic individual; -- overwhelmed
in finance-difficulties too! Lippe continued writing; but
"only Secretaries now answered him" from Berlin. A
son of his, son and successor, something of a Quixote
too, but notable in Artillery-practice and otherwise, will
turn up at a future stage.
Nor is Bielfeld with his Book a thing of much mo-
ment to Friedrich or to us. Bielfeld too has a light
airy vein of talk; loves Voltaire and the Philosophies
in a light way;-- knows the arts of Society, especially
the art of flattering; and would fain make himself agree-
able to the Crown-Prince, being anxious to rise in the
world. His Father is a Hamburg Merchant, Hamburg
"Sealing-wax Manufacturer," not ill off for money: Son
has been at schools, high schools, under tutors, posture-
masters; swashes about on those terms, with French
esprit in his mouth, and lace-ruffles at his wrists: still
under thirty; showy enough, sharp enough; consider-
* "Taciturne, Caton, avec mes bons parents,
Aussi fou que la Lippe nvec les jeunes gens. '1
? Eutre>>, jJ. 80 (Discours sur la Faustele, written 1740).
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 223
16th Aug. 1738.
ably a coxcomb, as is still evident. He did transiently
get about Friedrich, as we shall see; and hoped to have
sold his heart to good purpose there; -- was, by and
by, employed in slight functions; not found fit for grave
ones. In the course of some years, he got a title of
Baron; and sold his heart more advantageously, to some
rich Widow or Fraulein; with whom he retired to
Saxony, and there lived on an Estate he had purchased,
a stranger to Prussia thenceforth.
His Book (Lettres Farmlieres et Autres, all turning
on Friedrich), which came out in 1763, at the height
of Friedrich's fame, and was much read, is still freely
cited by Historians as an Authority. But the reading
of a few pages sufficiently intimates that these "Letters"
never can have gone through a terrestrial Post-Office;
that they are an afterthought, composed from vague
memory and imagination, in that fine Saxon retreat; --
a sorrowful ghost-like "Travels of Anacharsis," instead
of living words by an eye-witness! Not to be cited
"freely" at all, but sparingly and under conditions.
They abound in small errors, in misdates, mistakes;
small fictions even, and impossible pretensions: --
foolish mortal, to write down his bit of knowledge in
that form! For the man, in spite of his lace ruffles
and gesticulations, has brisk eyesight of a superficial
kind: he could have done us this little service (appa-
rently his one mission in the world, for which Nature
gave him bed and board here); and he, the lace ruffles
having gone into his soul, has been tempted into mis-
doing it! -- Bielfeld and Bielfeld's Book, such as they
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? 224 AT REINSBERG. [book X.
IStb Aug. 1738.
are, appear to be the one conquest Friedrich got of
Freemasonry; no other result now traceable to us of
that adventure in Korn's Hotel, crowning event of the
Journey to Loo.
Seckendorf gets lodged in Gratz.
Feldmarschall Seckendorf, after unheard-of wrest-
lings with the Turk War, and the Vienna War-Office
(Hofkriegsrath), is sitting, for the last three weeks, --
where thinks the reader? -- in the Fortress of Grata
among the Hills of Styria; a State-Prisoner, not likely
to get out soon! Seckendorf led forth, in 1737, "such
an Army, for number, spirit and equipment," say the
Vienna people, "as never marched against the Turk
before;" and it must be owned, his ill success has been
unparalleled. The blame was not altogether his; not
chiefly his, except for his rash undertaking of the
thing, on such terms as there were. But the truth is,
that first scene we saw of him, -- an Army all gone
out trumpeting and drumming into the woods to find
its Commander-in-Chief, -- was an emblem of the
Campaign in general. Excellent Army; but commanded
by nobody in particular; commanded by a Hofkriegsrath
at Vienna, by a Franz Duke of Tuscany, by Feldmar-
schall Seckendorf, and by subordinates who were dis-
obedient to him: which accordingly, almost without
help of the Turk and his disorderly ferocity, rubbed
itself to pieces before long. Roamed about, now hither
now thither, with plans laid and then with plans sud-
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? CHaP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 225
15th Aug. 1738.
denly altered, Captain being Chaos mainly; in swampy
countries, by overflowing rivers, in hunger, hot weather,
forced marches; till it was marched gradually off its
feet; and the clouds of chaotic Turks, who did finally
show face, had a cheap pennyworth of it. Never was
such a campaign seen as this of Seckendorf in 1737,
said mankind. Except indeed that the present one,
Campaign of 1738, in those parts, under a different
hand, is still worse; and the Campaign of 1739, under still a different, will be worst of all! -- Kaiser Karl
and his Austrians do not prosper in this Turk War, as
the Russians do, -- who indeed have got a General
equal to his task: Miinnich, a famed master in the art
of handling Turks and War-Ministries: real father of
Russian Soldiering, say the Russians still. *
Campaign 1737, with clouds of chaotic Turks now
sabring on the skirts of it, had not yet ended, when
Seckendorf" was called out of it; on polite pretexts,
home to Vienna; and the command given to another.
At the gates of Vienna, in the last days of October
1737, an Official Person, waiting for the Feldmarschall,
was sorry to inform him, That he, Feldmarschall Secken-
dorf, was under arrest; arrest in his own house, in the
Kohlmarkt (Cabbage-market so-called), a captain and
twelve musketeers to watch over him with fixed bayo-
nets there; strictly private, till the Hofkriegsrath had
satisfied themselves in a point or two. "Hmph! "
* See Mannslein for Miinnich's plans with the Turk (methods and
devices of steady Discipline in small numbers versus impetuous Ferocity in
great); and Berenhorst (Betrachlungen uber die Kriegskunst, Leipzig, 1796),
a firstrate Authority, for examples and eulogies of them.
Carlyle, Frederic the Great. V. 15
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? 226 AT REINSBERG. [boOKI.
15th aug. 1738.
snuffled he; with brow blushing slate-colour, I should
think, and gray eyes much alight . And ever since,
for ten months or so, Seckendorf, sealed up in the
Cabbage-market, has been fencing for life with the
Hofkriegsrath; who want satisfaction upon "eighty-six"
different "points;" and make no end of chicaning to
one's clear answers. And the Jesuits preach, too: "A
Heretic, born enemy of Christ and his Kaiser; what is
the use of questioning! " And the Heathen rage, and
all men gnash their teeth, in this uncomfortable
manner.
Answering done, there comes no verdict, much less
any acquittal; the captain and twelve musketeers, three
of them with fixed bayonets in one's very bedroom,
continue. One evening, 21st July 1738, glorious news
from the seat of War, -- not till evening, as the Im-
perial Majesty was out hunting, -- enters Vienna;
blowing trumpets; shaking flags: "Grand Victory over
the Turks! " so we call some poor skirmish there has
been; and Vienna bursting all into three-times-three,
the populace get very high. Populace rush to the
Kohlmarkt; break the Seckendorf windows; intent to
massacre the Seckendorf, had not fresh military come,
who were obliged to fire and kill one or two. "The
"house captain and his twelve musketeers, of them-
"selves, did wonders; Seckendorf and all his domestics
"were in arms:" "Jami-bleu" for the last time! -- This
is while the Crown-Prince is at Wesel; sound asleep,
most likely; Loo, and the Masonic adventure, perhaps
twinkling prophetically in his dreams.
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? CHAP. V. ] VISIT AT LOO. 227
15th Aug. 1738.
At two next morning, an Official Gentleman informs
Seckendorf, That he, for his part, must awaken, and
go to Gratz. And in one hour more (3 a. m. ), the Offi-
cial Gentleman rolls off with him; drives all day; and
delivers his Prisoner at Gratz: -- "Not so much as a
"room ready there; Prisoner had to wait an hour in
"the carriage," till some summary preparation were
made. Wall-neighbours of the poor Feldmarschall, in
his Fortress here, were "a Gold-Cook (swindling Alche-
"mist), who had gone crazy; and an Irish Lieutenant,
"confined thirty-two years for some love adventure,
"likewise pretty crazy; their noises in the night-time
"much disturbed the Feldmarschall. "* One human
thing there still is in his lot, the Feldmarschall's old
GrSfinn. True old Dame, she, both in the Kohlmarkt
and at Gratz, stands by him, "imprisoned along with
him" if it must be so; ministering, comforting, as only
a true Wife can; -- and hope has not quite taken
wing.
Rough old Feldmarschall; now turned of sixty:
never made such a Campaign before, as this of '37
followed by '38! There sits he; and will not trouble
us any more during the present Kaiser's lifetime.
Friedrich Wilhelm is amazed at these sudden cantings
of Fortune's wheel, and grieves honestly as for an old
friend: even the Crown-Prince finds Seckendorf punished
unjustly; and is almost sorry for him, after all that has
come and gone.
* Seckendorfs Leben, ii. 170-277. See Schmettan, pp. 27-89.
15*
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? 228
[book X. J5th Aug. 1738.
AT REINSBERG.
The Ear of Jenkins reemerges.
We must add the following, distilled from the
English Newspapers, though it is now almost four
months after date:
"London, 1st April 1738. In the English House of Com-
"mons, much more in the English Public, there has been
"furious debating for a fortnight past: Committee of the
"whole House, examining witnesses, hearing counsel; subject,
"the Termagant of Spain, and her West-Indian procedures;
"--she, by her procedures somewhere, is always cutting out
"work for mankind! How English and other strangers, fallen
"in with in those seas, are treated by the Spaniards, readers
"have heard, nay have chanced to see; and it is a fact pain-
"fully known to all nations. Fact which England, for one
"nation, can no longer put up with. Walpole and the Official
"Persons would fain smooth the matter; but the West-India
"Interest, the City, all Mercantile and Navigation Interests
"are in dead earnest: Committee of the wholeHouse, 'presided
"by Alderman Perry,' has not ears enough to hear the im-
"mensities of evidence offered; slow Public is gradually
"kindling to some sense of it. This had gone on for two
"weeks, when -- what shall we say? -- the Ear of Jenkins
"reemerged for the second time; and produced important
"effects!
"Where Jenkins had been all this while, -- stedfastly
"navigating to and fro, stedfastly eating tough junk with a
"wetting of rum; not thinking too much of past labours, yet
"privately 'always keeping his lost Ear in cotton' (with a
"kind of ursine piety, or other dumb feeling), -- no mortal
"n<>w knows. But to all mortals it is evident he was home in
"London at this time; no doubt a noted member of Wapping
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? CHaP. v. ] VISIT AT LOO. 229
15th Aug. 1738.
"society, the much-enduring Jenkins. And witnesses,
"probably not one but many, had mentioned him to this Com'
"mittee, as a case eminently in point. Committee, as can still
"be read in its Rhadamanthine Journals, orders: lDieJovis,
'"16? Martii 1737--8, That Captain Eobert Jenkins do
'"attend this House immediately;' and then more specially,
"'17? Martii,' -- captious objections having risen in Official
"quarters, as we guess, -- 'That Captain Robert Jenkins do
'"attend upon Tuesday morning next.
